Through the wards (7)

After a night's sleep, Zhang Xing rose early the next morning, before the ward gates opened, washed up, and ate breakfast at Ward Chief Liu's family stall. Then he went back and dressed properly—a headband, regulation close-fitting clothes, an Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber, and cowhide boots.

Once fully equipped, he did not go to read. Instead, he stood early inside the ward gate with a hand on his saber, waiting for the gate to open and Minister Zhang's carriage to pass before following it out and hurrying toward Water Street.

When he reached Water Street and entered the tavern, there were still few people there, but the atmosphere was already tense. More people kept gathering, while hangers-on came and went with reports.

Not long after the streets opened that morning, the tavern was already boiling with voices. The two squad leaders and the many officers and guards had almost all arrived fully armed. Every one of them personally questioned Zhang Xing about Xiao Zhao's whereabouts, then went to Feng Yong to swear solemn oaths that they could certainly distinguish black from white, right from wrong, and would risk their lives to demand Xiao Zhao's return.

Of course, Zhang Xing understood what they meant-the businesses he and Xiao Zhao had just raided were bound to have these men's fingers in them, and these men were also bound to have financial ties to the Green Fish Gang, the largest gang in Feng Yong's jurisdiction.

In other words, they too were suspects now!

This was what it meant to employ men through their faults rather than their merits.

Besides, when a proper fellow official was suddenly detained by a gang, anyone would feel the chill on their teeth when the lips were gone. They all made their living from this official skin they wore; if someone tore it off without permission, that meant making an enemy of everyone in office.

At a time like this, they had all the more reason to unite against a common enemy and hold their stance firm.

Thinking of it that way, though, Boss Sun had rather outsmarted himself and brought suffering on his own head... Of course, Feng Yong was also an old hand who had made a fine calculation in steering with the current.

And so they waited a little longer. Not only was the tavern packed, but the area outside it, both inside Jingshan Ward and along Water Street, was filled with hangers-on and burly men. Breakfast had been handed out four or five times before the news was finally confirmed beyond doubt.

At the urging of the many Street-Cleaning Tigers, idlers and shopkeepers from the streets inside and outside Shangshan Ward came in person to report, one after another. Multiple sources clearly verified that, late yesterday afternoon, Junior Officer Zhao had indeed entered Shangshan Ward alone in broad daylight, then walked into Boss Sun of the Green Fish Gang's great blue-tiled compound, complete with an upper story and a garden, in full view of everyone... After that, he had never come out.

At this, Feng Yong hesitated no longer. Before everyone, he put on his Seventh-Rank Official Robe, donned his Warrior Cap, buckled on his Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber, and led the crowd menacingly toward Shangshan Ward.

Before leaving, he also remembered to send people to report to the Jing'an Directorate and the Henan County government office and request support. It was a performance that let not a drop leak through.

In this procession, there were no fewer than twenty or thirty Jing'an Directorate soldiers wearing headbands and carrying sabers, along with over a hundred armed young hangers-on. Such a mighty column marching along the avenues between the wards had long since alarmed the Jinwu Guard, who sent someone over to inquire. Feng Yong caught hold of him too and asked him to join them in rescuing their man.

Now, the Jinwu Guard belonged to the imperial guard establishment and were not of a kind with the Street-Cleaning Tigers. There had always been grievances between them, never favors, and their original intention this time had been to find fault. Who could have expected Feng Zongqi to open with the manner of a man saying that one of their brothers in government service had been captured by thieves, and that he dared not go without his brothers backing him up? It left the Jinwu Guard unit leader rather dizzy, and in the end he was dragged along without quite knowing how.

Half a unit of Jinwu Guards-a full twenty-five armored soldiers-made their show of force still more imposing.

The markets had only just opened, the high officials had gathered at Ziwei Palace and had yet to return, the Jinwu Guard had been brought along, and both the Jing'an Directorate and the county government had been notified. The procession met with no obstruction at all, marching in force straight to Boss Sun's blue-tiled residence without the slightest hindrance along the way.

Of course, word had already reached the place, and its gates were tightly shut.

Upon arriving, Feng Yong maintained his imposing air. He had men surround the place while others fetched two stools, one for himself and one for the Jinwu Guard unit leader. Then he beckoned Zhang Xing over.

"Little Zhang... What happened yesterday wasn't your fault, and nobody blames you. But you were involved, after all, so I'll ask you to knock on the gate today. That will settle the account between us!"

Naturally, Zhang Xing did not refuse. He advanced with a hand on his saber, drew it, and, holding the blade in one hand, knocked on the gate with the scabbard in the other.

Before he had knocked three times, a creaking came from inside: someone was clearly opening the gate. Zhang Xing, who had detected someone behind it the moment he approached, hurried back into the ranks.

The gates swung fully open. Seven or eight imposing warriors wearing sabers walked out, followed by five or six more surrounding a short, fat middle-aged man with his hair coiled up.

It took no thought to know that this was the so-called Sun Wogua, Boss Sun.

"You, Feng! They all said you were sugar on the outside and blades within, and warned me to handle you carefully, but I didn't believe them! And sure enough, I fell into your trap!" The instant Sun Wogua emerged, he pointed at Feng Yong, seated squarely before the gate, and shouted harshly. "Yesterday you even sent someone with an invitation to throw me off, and today you suddenly come storming up to my door... All morning they've been telling me you were mustering men, and I still wouldn't believe it!"

"So you did indeed see the man I sent with the invitation yesterday, didn't you?!" Feng Yong calmly waited for him to finish before abruptly posing his question. "Where is he now?"

"What man?" Sun Wogua froze.

Zhang Xing, who had long since withdrawn into the role of a bystander, also felt a sudden jolt. He seemed to have grasped something, yet remained bewildered for a moment, unable to think it through quickly.

In fact, the situation gave him no time to think further.

"What man?"

Feng Yong repeated the question coldly, then answered it himself just as coldly. "Xiao Zhao! Zhao Shanhai! My brother! The one who brought the invitation yesterday! Everyone on the street can testify that he went through your gate and never came out!"

This was also the first time Zhang Xing had learned Xiao Zhao's name.

"Don't talk nonsense." Across from him, Sun Wogua was stunned for a moment before immediately denying it. "I accepted the invitation in front of everyone. Why would I keep the man? He must have left on his own!"

"But I never saw him." Feng Yong's expression grew increasingly grave. "Old Yang, who's been making flatbreads outside your gate for close to seven or eight years; Jiang Wu, who was clearing rubbish from the ditch by your back gate that day; even that member of your own Green Fish Gang who's the younger cousin of Liu San, an officer under me... Seven or eight different sources, a dozen or more people, and every one of them says he never saw Xiao Zhao come out... Could I have bought off so many people in a single night? Who's lying? And why?"

At this, Feng Yong did not stop. Instead, he kept pressing, his tone growing harsher.

"Sun Wogua! Tell me the truth. Just what have you done to my brother? I originally thought you were merely holding him to take me down a peg. Don't tell me you crippled him? Or beat him straight to death? Why else wouldn't you dare admit it? Killing a proper officer of our Jing'an Directorate in broad daylight-are you trying to rebel?!"

While the two leaders spoke, everyone around them fell silent, and nobody dared interrupt. The Jinwu Guard unit leader merely sat there smiling as he watched the show. But by the end, as Feng Yong pressed question after question, everyone, including that unit leader, had grown solemn.

In stark contrast, almost every one of the dozen or so warriors beside Sun Wogua shrank back. They could not help exchanging glances, signaling to one another in search of confirmation and answers.

"Feng Yong!"

Boss Sun was clearly somewhat rattled too, but could only stand his ground. "Don't spit blood and slander me!"

"Gentlemen."

Feng Yong ignored Sun Wogua entirely. He stood and turned toward those behind him, speaking with absolute conviction. "You've all seen the situation. I won't go on about how Xiao Zhao is my trusted man, or how worry cuts my heart like a knife... I'll speak of just one principle: we are the authorities, and they are thieves. There is no principle under which a government soldier falls into a thieves' den and his superiors and brothers dare not rescue him! If we don't see Xiao Zhao alive today, or his body if he's dead, who will serve the government in the future? Won't everyone become a thief instead? Now listen to my command. Shoulder to shoulder, we charge in together. If they dare stop us, that is treason and rebellion... Whoever gets killed in the process, I'll take full responsibility!"

As he spoke, the mustached Chief Banner Officer merely swept his gaze over the faces of his subordinate squad leaders and officers, then drew his Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber and pointed behind him. A dozen or so soldiers of the Jing'an Directorate's Eastern Pacification Office immediately drew their blades together, formed roughly three lines, and surged straight toward Sun Wogua.

Zhang Xing was among them, but he tucked himself into the second line-there was no helping it. The whole affair had caught him rather off guard. Even if it pierced the very heavens, it was still only a lowly street dispute, but he was involved in it now and could not extricate himself.

More importantly, he still had not figured out the truth of the matter. What had happened to Xiao Zhao?

"Let me see who dares!"

Sun Wogua was, after all, the leader of the largest gang in the area, with backing from the Northern Office. Naturally, he understood the stakes and knew that once he let them inside, everything would be over. At this crucial moment, he simply strode past everyone, drew his own saber, and rushed to the very front. "Which of you Street-Cleaning Tigers dares touch me? My uncle is a commander in the Northern Office! Enjoy yourselves today, and tomorrow my uncle can give your whole families something to enjoy!"

At this, taking advantage of several officers' hesitation, Sun Wogua turned back and barked at his own warriors. "And you lot, what are you afraid of? Even if the sky falls, my uncle can hold it down... Besides, what do I normally keep you martial artists and true qi practitioners for? If you go soft at the crucial moment today, who in the Eastern Capital City will dare employ you in the future?! Hold the line! Whoever dares come up, use your true qi and knock him back!"

With Sun Wogua staking his life on it, his bearing was naturally different. Several warriors gritted their teeth and followed him, while the squad leaders and officers each harbored their own private designs. Though the authorities still had the thieves pinned down in appearance, in reality a stalemate had formed.

Yet just as everyone thought this was a turn-based game and turned to look at Feng Yong again, this seventh-rank Chief Banner Officer of the Jing'an Directorate's Eastern Pacification Office actually sat back down at his leisure. He merely stroked his mustache and sneered, as though waiting for something.

He could not even be bothered to mention the universally known fact that the man in the Northern Office was really only Sun Wogua's distant uncle through a cousin.

Nobody understood why. Sun Wogua, too, was breaking into cold sweats, plainly uneasy.

Of course, their question was soon answered. Only a moment later, cries suddenly rang out from the rear side of the Green Fish Gang Headquarters compound, which had been formed by linking several residences together. Confusion followed, and before anyone needed to ask, someone inside the compound shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Deputy Gang Leader Shen opened the side gate! The Street-Cleaning Tigers are inside!"

That shout was like a military command. The previously hesitant squad leaders and officers hesitated no longer. Led by the two squad leaders, they shouted together and swarmed forward with sabers in hand.

Almost with that same shout, the hangers-on brandished their staffs and flails and followed.

Feng Yong merely threw back his head and laughed.

"Feng Zongqi, a fine move! I've learned something today!" Even the Jinwu Guard unit leader rose, laughing heartily. First he cupped his hands toward Feng Yong, then waved to the men behind him. "Brothers, thanks to Feng Zongqi today, we can rescue a brother in government service with full justification and still make ourselves a fortune!"

With a thunderous shout, the armored Jinwu Guards behind him, carrying crossbows, immediately rushed forward too.

The Jinwu Guard's involvement left Sun Wogua, who had still been intending to resist, utterly at a loss. He all but let several "officers" and "guards" surge up, take away his saber, and shove him aside... The warriors around him were clearly all cultivators he had recruited. Apart from two or three who had the sense to flee toward the rear, the rest were all seized as well, not daring to offer the slightest resistance.

Then everyone poured into the compound, and there was inevitably a round of smashing, wrecking, snatching, and looting.

That did not, however, prevent them from quickly learning exactly what had happened to Xiao Zhao.

"Old Shen."

Seated calmly in the main hall, Feng Yong addressed a middle-aged man bowing before him. "Since you were quick to see which way things were going today, I will naturally be clear in my rewards and punishments. Wait just a few months, and all the business in Shangshan Ward will be yours... But before that, you must first tell me what Sun Wogua did to my Xiao Zhao."

"In answer to Feng Zongqi, it was precisely because of this matter that I weighed the stakes and decided to open the gate."

The middle-aged man below answered swiftly. "Junior Officer Zhao was first injured by accident, then suddenly took a serious turn in the night. He's dead now... Sun Wogua himself was in a complete panic."

The hall, so lively a moment before, fell utterly silent. Zhang Xing, who had specifically followed them inside, froze. Feng Yong froze too, and so did the Jinwu Guard unit leader. None of them had expected that Xiao Zhao really was dead.