When he was forced to work overtime that afternoon and discovered that Black Sash Hu Yan was absent, Zhang Xing had thought nothing more of it. Those were working hours.
When twenty or thirty of them gathered that evening and the second-ranking member of their little group still failed to appear, Zhang Xing could not help noticing... but considering that the man might be away on official business, or too old to enjoy this sort of outing, he merely noticed and gave it no further thought.
Once he discovered that this was an establishment offering no sexual services, however, and that Bai Yousi was in a bad mood, he connected this with the recent turmoil and certain things he had personally experienced that day, and a conjecture began to form.
It was only a conjecture. Guess right, and his superior would see him in a new light; guess wrong, and what harm was there?
In fact, Bai Yousi explained the particulars herself, but they differed little from what Zhang Xing had guessed.
Yang Shen had plotted rebellion and been captured, but his second-in-command, Li Shu, had fled without a trace. Previously, with no one probing too deeply, that had not mattered-but now Minister Zhang, Zhang Wenda, had taken charge, had he not?
Bolstered by Minister Zhang, the newly assertive Ministry of Justice had not only seized the files and prisoners connected with the case, but also begun arresting those implicated on a massive scale for interrogation and torture. Under these circumstances, Bai Yousi's patrol team's encounter with Li Shu during their tour of the Eastern Territories became a textbook pretext for assigning blame.
But that was not the only problem. For Bai Yousi, something even thornier was that, owing to certain calculations involving her family, she had chosen to stay out of the matter that day. As a result, every document concerning it bore the signature of Deputy Patrol Inspector and Black Sash Hu Yan.
Now that a great wave was about to break, how could Hu Yan not worry?
Perhaps tomorrow someone from the Ministry of Justice would arrive at the Jing'an Directorate with a written order, demanding that he come explain the circumstances... what would they do then?
This posed a problem for everyone.
Hu Yan would bear the brunt, Bai Yousi could not escape it either, and more than half the mounted patrol who had been present that day also had to consider it.
It was just that their worries pointed in different directions.
"I think I understand."
Holding his wine, Zhang Xing answered quietly. "Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu told you his difficulties. If you don't intervene, Inspector, you'll inevitably be suspected of abandoning him; but if you do, at a time like this, everyone knows Minister Zhang's ruthlessness and ability, and everyone knows his true targets are great houses like the Bai family... so you're worried that stepping forward might actually bring disaster upon your family? And you're also worried that this will alienate Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu?"
"It isn't a worry." Holding the wine jar, Bai Yousi shook her head slightly. "Brother Hu is already somewhat angry... you know what happened that day... now that things have reached this point, how could he not feel I deliberately used him as a cleaning rag?"
Zhang Xing held his bowl of wine without speaking, knowing that Bai Yousi must have an argument on the other side. Otherwise, with that understanding alone, she should already have taken the matter upon herself. Why would she specifically ask him?
"But someone has also advised me privately." Bai Yousi turned toward the hall below, where everyone was already laughing and joking together, her gaze somewhat unfocused and helpless. "Someone told me that without the skin, where could the hair cling? If something happened to my family, then even with abilities that reached the heavens, I could only become a fugitive. And if I had to become a fugitive, how could I protect my subordinates? Only by preserving my family, so my family could preserve me, could I protect people like Brother Hu."
Zhang Xing nodded. "So you're caught in a dilemma, Inspector?"
"Yes." Bai Yousi finally turned back, sitting on the railing and looking at the young man opposite her. "That's why I came to ask you."
Zhang Xing did not answer directly, remaining silent for a while, and Bai Yousi did not press him.
After quite some time, amid the music accompanying the dancing, the newly minted Zhang Sanlang suddenly drained his bowl. He set it down with one hand and wiped the corner of his mouth with the other. "This is actually very simple, but there are two things I need to make clear to you first, Inspector."
"Speak." Bai Yousi raised a hand.
"I'm only analyzing things for you. The decision is yours to make."
"Naturally."
"Also, I've actually already guessed which way you lean, but rest assured, Inspector: my analysis is absolutely not intended to follow your inclinations and help push your boat along with the current." Zhang Xing continued earnestly, "Since you've asked me, you should trust my character."
Her face flushed, Bai Yousi stared at him, likewise falling silent for a moment before nodding. "All right."
"The reasoning is actually very simple. Sometimes, when lesser principles start fighting right before your eyes, all you need to do is raise your gaze a little." Zhang Xing pointed upward, being slightly mysterious. "Inspector, you need a broader perspective!"
Bai Yousi tilted her head and thought briefly, then swiftly gave up. "Can't you be more direct?"
"It's like this." Zhang Xing stopped keeping her in suspense and went straight to the point. "Let's look higher up. In this entire enormous case, once Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu is dragged in, with written evidence implicating him, his life and whatever disaster befalls him will no longer be in his own hands... a single grain of sand shaken loose by any deity up above will land on him like a mountain. He could very well simply be gone. What if the Ministry of Justice really does casually beat him to death, or torture him into a cripple?"
Bai Yousi nodded repeatedly.
"But whether the Bai family survives-to put it bluntly, how could that possibly be decided by a trifling matter like letting Li Shu go on a river embankment? It isn't even something Minister Zhang can decide!"
At this, Bai Yousi was about to speak, but Zhang Xing raised a hand to stop her.
"As your subordinate sees it, only two things can determine the Bai family's survival... first, how much strength can that sovereign in Ziwei Palace still muster this time, and how much authority does he have left? That determines how many families he can eradicate without provoking general outrage. Second, in the eyes of that sovereign in Ziwei Palace, is the Bai family among the handful he finds most objectionable?"
Bai Yousi stood frozen, then suddenly glanced at the empty staircase behind her.
Zhang Xing understood, but did not mind. "In other words, Inspector... the Bai family's survival is far removed from your taking responsibility for Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu's affair. The two have no bearing on each other... if I were you, even if the Bai family were teetering on the brink, I would still save Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu first. That way, even if you were forced to flee into the wider world, to put it bluntly, you would still have an old subordinate from the Jing'an Directorate to help make arrangements."
Bai Yousi nodded emphatically. The next instant, however, she suddenly tossed aside the wine jar, swept out a hand, and pulled the man before her right up to her railing. Then she strained to lower her voice further:
"Then let me ask you: apart from the Yang and Li families, do you think the sovereign can strip another three Supreme Pillars of the State of their standing in one stroke? Have no reservations. Tell me directly."
"Why should what I think matter?" Zhang Xing fearlessly met his superior's fixed stare and answered sincerely. "If you ask me, of course the sovereign can do that... but the price would be certain rebellion in the Western Capital, Taiyuan, and Chengdu, and a mutiny here in the Eastern Capital as well... ultimately, who lost the most when two hundred thousand elite troops were wiped out? Who suffered the greatest losses when Yang Shen rebelled and plunged the Central Plains into turmoil? The sovereign has rather overexerted himself trying to recover his dignity... the key is what the others think."
"Which others?" Bai Yousi seemed to have grasped something.
"The gentlemen of the Southern Office, including our Intendant of the Imperial Surname, of course." Zhang Xing could not help chuckling. "You really don't need to ask me, Inspector. Just think about those gentlemen of the Southern Office. They aren't fools, yet they have repeatedly defied Ziwei Palace's wishes and insisted on caution. That, too, is a weighing of people's minds."
Bai Yousi nodded expressionlessly, then suddenly released him and waved a hand. "Go enjoy yourself!"
Zhang Xing knew perfectly well that for the powerful Inspector Bai to show even a little weakness and uncertainty to a subordinate was already no easy thing. He cared nothing about being tossed aside after serving his purpose. Under Qian Tang's murderous gaze, he walked leisurely downstairs, returned to his seat, and continued watching the singing and dancing.
At almost the very same time that Bai Yousi's patrol team was eating, drinking, and amusing themselves without restraint, Cao Lin, Intendant Cao, the highest-ranking official of the Jing'an Directorate, sat on the top floor of the black tower on the island housing the directorate, entirely unaware that people were discussing him.
Not only that, the venerable Great Grandmaster was actually still toiling by lamplight.
The contrast could hardly have been sharper.
"That will do regarding the prisoners. Say no more; I have my own plans." Having reached the realm of Great Grandmaster, Cao Lin had acquired a manner of returning to simplicity and truth. On this summer night, although he was not yawning incessantly or drenched in sweat, he showed some fatigue, yet could not be bothered to employ True Qi. "Is there anything else?"
"Reporting to you, Intendant."
One of the seven or eight Black Sashes standing below hurried forward, saluted with clasped hands, and presented a sheet of paper. "Your earlier order to examine the Upper Five Armies' rosters and compare them against the newly enlisted mounted patrolman has yielded results... these are the three closest names I found. This is the first."
"Zhang Xingyi..." Cao Lin took the paper and tilted his head as he unfolded it beneath the lamp.
"Yes. Zhang Xingyi best matches this man's own account." The Black Sash answered earnestly. "Born in the Northern Wasteland, twenty-three or twenty-four, both parents died early. He traveled by boat to Hebei, then enlisted at Ye Capital. Among his squad was a companion from Red Mountain named Du Meng... that should be a recording error; a Red Mountain man should be called Du Meng, with the surname written differently. He was recruited at Ye Capital at the same time. They initially belonged to the Central Rampart Army, but before departure, their whole squad was transferred to the Shesheng Army owing to troop quotas... all the essential details match. But because of his humble origins, there really are no additional records. Only, when they apparently asked during recruitment how he began cultivating Ice True Qi, he mentioned the Northern Demon-Suppressing Guard. He might have some connection to the Northern Seven Guards."
"In the Northern Wasteland, is there anyone with cultivation who has no connection to the Northern Seven Guards?" Looking at the few short lines on the paper, Cao Lin shook his head repeatedly. "The Northern Seven Guards really are trouble, and yet His Lordship the Black Emperor... heaven's will is unfathomable... so, if he's Zhang Xingyi, there's nothing more to be said?"
"Yes. It also matches this man's own account." The Black Sash answered earnestly, then presented another sheet.
"Zhang Xing? What's his story?"
"A Western Capital layabout. Both parents died early, twenty-four years old, began cultivating Ice True Qi after joining the army... there's little to say about him. His background is perfectly clear, and he belonged to the Longwater Army. He is included here really because his name is the closest match." As he spoke, the Black Sash presented a third sheet.
"Zhang Xingyan?"
After reading it aloud, Cao Lin's eyelid twitched. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Over a decade ago, during the Gao Lü and Heluo Fu case, Zhang De, one of the twenty-four generals, was implicated, stripped of his military command, had his family assets confiscated, and was demoted to Provincial Governor of Liangzhou. Several years later, Liangzhou suffered incursions by the Wu Clan, and amid the ensuing military turmoil, he died in office. His eldest son, Zhang Zhi, was cut off by the mutinous troops. Beset by illness and hunger, he had no choice but to sell his son Zhang Xingyan, then only five, before he could bring his father's bones back to Chang'an..."
"I remember." Cao Lin sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I remember... if that Zhang Xingyan were still alive, he should be about this age?"
"More than that," the Black Sash continued. "Zhang Xingyan enlisted in Taiyuan and served in the Longwater Army for four years. He was reportedly steady in character and equally accomplished in letters and arms, unlike someone of ordinary birth."
Cao Lin nodded. "I understand... Zhang Xingyi, Zhang Xing, and Zhang Xingyan, correct?"
"Yes." Having answered, the Black Sash withdrew into the line.
Looking at the three sheets on his desk, Cao Lin hesitated, then still raised his head in puzzlement. "How strange... tell me, what could make a man suddenly forget his own name and history, yet still understand worldly dealings and know how to practice martial arts and cultivate himself? Could an injury be so precise? Or is he really a Dongyi spy, the sort whose mind has been washed?"
The Black Sashes exchanged looks. Finally, a seasoned one respectfully clasped his hands and asked, "Intendant, is there really a way to wash someone's mind clean?"
"There is," Cao Lin answered seriously. "A secret method seals off part of the brain, and when necessary, another secret method releases it. The person will naturally recall their entire past... but even a Great Grandmaster cannot guarantee success in such a thing, and it consumes an immense amount of mental energy... besides, besides, I ought to be able to detect it."
"Exactly." The seasoned Black Sash spread his hands and asked in return, "Has that grand commander of Dongyi gone mad? With a war being fought at the front, would he expend so much effort just to create a single spy? If he had the inclination, wouldn't it be better simply to send in several hundred people? And why, anyway? They already won at Fallen Dragon Shoal."
"Indeed!" Cao Lin sighed. "None of it fits... never mind. Even if he is a spy, he is still someone Yousi brought in. When the time comes, Yousi will have to give me an explanation... put these away, file them, and simply keep him under observation."
Everyone hurriedly nodded.
PS: Thanks to reader Water Flows East for becoming a league patron... let me see which readers' names have suitable poems, and whether I can copy seven or eight hundred of them...
Finally, everyone, keep having a merry Christmas!
. Exorcising the Dragon: Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi by the great author Water-Fearing Grenade, provided for you
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