Along Heaven Street (7)

"Lad, how much did last night's gathering cost altogether?"

Early the next morning, at the slightest stir outside, Qin Bao rolled out of bed, waking Zhang Xing, who shared his couch. As soon as Zhang Xing got up, he in turn alerted those outside the door. Someone immediately asked whether they wanted breakfast, then brought pickles and porridge for their morning meal, along with a pot of warm tea... Zhang Xing had always been curious, and when he came over bare-chested to eat, he could not help asking another question.

"Since you ask, sir, I wouldn't dare withhold an answer. For our young Du Zhi's banquet, opening the main hall for thirty guests costs a base fee of sixty strings of cash. There are three grades of food, and last night's was the highest, costing thirty strings. Additional wine is charged separately. I don't know the exact figure, but I imagine it came to another thirty strings or so. The music and dancing are provided in-house, so that's only ten strings... As for last night's lodging and this morning's tea, those are all complimentary." The servant was accustomed to such occasions. He immediately stood respectfully with his hands clasped and explained everything politely and clearly.

"I see. Thank you for your trouble." Zhang Xing understood and gave a slight nod.

"It was no trouble at all." Hearing this, the servant sounded a little warmer still, then withdrew.

"By that reckoning, didn't we spend two whole fine horses last night?" Once the servant left, Qin Bao, who had also sat down bare-chested, could not help doing the sums. "Wouldn't this Du Zhi Xiao Lin earn six hundred horses in a year?"

"For a thirty-person gathering like this, once or twice every ten days would already be remarkable. Otherwise, do you want to work Du Zhi Xiao Lin to death?"

Drinking his porridge, Zhang Xing fought down the urge to mock the other man's unit of measurement. Holding his bowl and planting a foot on a stool, he made an effort to explain.

"Besides, those two horses don't all go to Du Zhi Xiao Lin... First, you subtract two horse legs for the food and wine. Madam An takes rent here, probably another two horse legs. The remaining four legs are shared by everyone in the courtyard, from top to bottom-not just the people drifting around in front of us, but also the cooks, guards, cleaners... I reckon Du Zhi Xiao Lin gets a little over a horse leg and a half. Twenty strings."

"Even someone as capable as Du Zhi Xiao Lin only brings in a horse leg and a half in a night... That's still a lot, but it doesn't sound so frightening anymore." Qin Bao nodded repeatedly, then shook his head. "But that Madam An is no good, taking two horse legs for nothing just because she owns the building!"

"What are you thinking?"

Zhang Xing was utterly speechless. He downed an entire bowl of porridge in one go before continuing his instruction.

"You think Madam An can take those two horse legs and stuff them straight into her own stable? She has to share them out too, only her shares go outside... Ordinary taxes are one thing. The local Street-Cleaning Tigers and gang bosses probably all get a cut. Even that Azure Emperor Temple in the middle of the ward probably needs regular offerings... But looking at it the other way, Madam An is probably a capable woman, and both the elder and younger Du Zhi Xiao Lin have some top-level connections, so they won't be bullied too badly. The less prominent head entertainers and Du Zhis in this ward have probably long since been devoured, flesh and money alike, by those local Street-Cleaning Tigers and gang bosses. Never mind the girls selling their bodies across the way."

Qin Bao's face turned pale, then ashen. For a long while he said nothing, nor did he touch his porridge.

By this point, Zhang Xing had already wiped his mouth and returned to the couch to sort out his clothes. Seeing Qin Bao like this, he still could not shake his habit of armchair politicking and kept babbling:

"When all's said and done, Qin Erlang, do you really think respectable women all enter Gentlemanly Ward willingly, aspiring since childhood to become a Du Zhi? Or do you think every woman under heaven is as formidable as our inspector, who can make even Sima Second Dragon give her a wide berth just by raising her voice?"

"Then I won't come to Gentlemanly Ward anymore!"

The bare-chested Qin Bao had actually not swallowed a single mouthful of porridge.

"No need to go that far." Pulling on his socks, Zhang Xing hurried to persuade him. "There's a line in Biography of the Heroine Li Yue quoted from Lord Azure Emperor's Great Mystery Scripture that's rather interesting... It says that all things must have a beginning... Meaning you should get to the root of everything. Rather than thinking about giving up Gentlemanly Ward, you'd be better off enforcing the law impartially on duty, so there are fewer people selling their sons and daughters in this world."

Qin Bao nodded heavily, lowered his head to drink two mouthfuls of porridge, then rose to dress. It seemed he did have some thoughts about it after all.

But after standing up, he seemed to realize something and solemnly cupped his hands toward the already dressed Zhang Xing. "Thank you for your guidance, Third Brother."

Zhang Xing instinctively realized he had been running his mouth too much, then realized that "Third Brother" meant him. He hurriedly waved his hands. "It's all idle talk. Just conduct yourself uprightly and have your own judgment. Don't take it too seriously."

Qin Bao flushed slightly and nodded, then went to get dressed as well. Soon he was fully dressed and followed Zhang Xing into the side courtyard in the first faint light of dawn. To their astonishment, apart from a few servants moving about, of all their many colleagues from last night, only the two of them had risen early. But since they were up, it would not do to go back to sleep, so they took turns holding each other's legs and feet, loosening their muscles a little.

In this setting, Qin Bao once again could not hold back. "Third Brother Zhang..."

"Go ahead."

"You weren't an ordinary rank-and-file soldier, were you?"

"Why do you ask?" Zhang Xing was not particularly surprised. That was the sort of person he was: he had not thought much while letting loose last night, but now he already regretted it.

"Otherwise, how would you know so much, Third Brother?" Qin Bao asked earnestly as he helped hold down Zhang Xing's leg. "Looking at you among us now, it's just like how I used to be among my friends in the village... I'm not boasting. I really think there's more to you, Third Brother."

"What more?" Zhang Xing pressed.

"Do you have some background that's hard to talk about, Third Brother?" Qin Bao lowered his voice and asked sincerely. "Like how my family served as officials in Eastern Qi for generations, only your origins are even more impressive and harder to speak of."

"No." At this, Zhang Xing instead looked bewildered. "Why do you ask?"

"Look at our inspector, and Sima Second Dragon, whom we heard about yesterday." Qin Bao sighed. "And our Intendant... Aren't all these formidable people of noble stock?"

Zhang Xing was speechless at this. "What nonsense are you talking? You've gone muddleheaded... I'll give you just one example, and you'll see how far off the mark you are."

Qin Bao immediately pricked up his ears.

"Weren't you the one who told me there's a Supervisor Niu from Fuyang in the Northern Office? Is he of noble stock too?" Zhang Xing looked at him teasingly.

Qin Bao promptly struck his forehead with his hand.

"Of course great noble houses produce experts more easily, and people of excellent upbringing too. That's because they never have to worry about food or clothing from birth. They can cultivate and study without concern."

Seeing this, Zhang Xing took the opportunity to stand up and continued with sneering mockery, practically the picture of bitter cynicism.

"When there's something they don't understand, they can find a renowned teacher to clear it up. With their families' overwhelming power, they don't have to suffer grievances at every turn like everyone else. With more money than their families can spend, they don't have to stew in resentment over a few copper coins like others... Take the simplest example. A farming household has a dozen or so mu of land. When a son reaches twelve or thirteen, he can certainly spend a hundred days on Foundation Establishment, but he can also work in the fields. Supporting him for a hundred days with nothing in return, then having him practice martial arts, open his meridians, and temper his body every day until he's twenty or thirty-that alone kills any thought of cultivation for nine-tenths of the common people. But the children of great houses? Almost every one of them takes Foundation Establishment for granted... Weren't you the one who gave me that example? Why have you gone stupid when the very same principle applies higher up?"

"Yes." Qin Bao was completely relieved. "I was overthinking it. Those scions of great noble clans may be strong, but we shouldn't belittle ourselves."

Zhang Xing nodded and was about to pour in some more uplifting platitudes to help tug the seedlings taller.

Just then, however, in the pitch-dark morning light, a man suddenly walked over awkwardly and stood with his arms folded, watching the two of them exercise, forcing Zhang Xing and Qin Bao to fall silent.

"You're that Zhang Sanlang?" After watching for a while, the man asked.

"That's me. What should I call you, brother? Is there something you need?" Zhang Xing had long since noticed the man putting on airs and was on full alert. He immediately stopped stretching.

"Nothing. I'm with the Crouching Dragon Guard of the Jing'an Directorate's Western Pacification Office. My name's Wang Zhen. Last night I heard our Sima Changjian shouting something about Zhang Sanlang's natural literary brilliance, so I came specifically to take a look... I didn't expect your cultivation to be merely at the Orthodox Meridian body-tempering stage. Quite a shock." The man sneered with his arms folded.

Zhang Xing and Qin Bao exchanged glances. Clearly, both thought this man was terribly tiresome, even more childish than Li Qingchen.

After a long pause, Zhang Xing finally nodded. "That's right. I've only opened five Orthodox Meridians, too. I've made a fool of myself before you, Brother Wang."

Seeing that neither man felt ashamed, Wang Zhen also found it dull, but was unwilling to leave just like that. He dithered for a while, then suddenly thought of something and finally asked with another smile:

"Wasn't it you who said just now that noble stock was nothing special, Zhang Sanlang? Could it be that you look down on our Sima Changjian?"

This was picking a fight.

Qin Bao immediately frowned and was about to explain.

Only Zhang Xing found it tiresome, yet his response was exceptionally decisive. He turned straight toward the main building behind him and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Inspector! Sima Erlang's Crouching Dragon Guard has come looking for trouble! There's a fellow named Wang Zhen saying you're a nasty drunk and nobody wants you at twenty-five or twenty-six!"

The moment he said this, lights throughout the courtyard, from the guest rooms to other parts of the building, came on almost instantly. Shouting and cursing rang out without end.

The Crouching Dragon Guard named Wang Zhen froze for a moment. Not even daring to return to his room, he took to his heels and ran straight into the ward.

Wang Zhen had fled, but though the Daoist could run, the Supreme One's statue could not. Several dozen Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry and seven or eight Crouching Dragon Guards were roused from sleep and began shouting in the courtyard, which then developed into a mass brawl.

In fact, in a real fight using true qi, the clearly more elite Crouching Dragon Guards would certainly have had a slight edge. But weren't Inspector Bai and Sima Changjian both here? Besides, dawn was gradually breaking, and Inspector Bai was leaning at a third-floor window drinking her porridge, watching the battle herself with an amused expression.

Worse still, Wang Zhen of the Crouching Dragon Guard had fled, knowing he was in the wrong. Even if Sima Erlang wanted to smooth things over, he had no one whose head he could press down in apology.

In the end, it was actually the group of Crouching Dragon Guard experts who fled in disgrace.

A farce, not worth mentioning.

However, the weather that day was muggy, with low-hanging clouds. Everyone had worked up a sweat that morning and felt irritable, so they tossed aside their red cords on the spot and dispersed, agreeing to go back and change before heading to the island to await orders.

Zhang Xing welcomed this slacker's holiday. He returned to Chengfu Ward with Qin Bao and showed him the courtyard in detail. They agreed to rent it together, each taking a separate section. Only then did Zhang Xing change into his brocade uniform, strap on his Embroidered-Mouth Curved Saber, and head unhurriedly toward the island.

By the time they reached the island, black clouds pressed down over the city, and rain immediately began falling again. Apparently there had originally been some assignment to the imperial palace, but that was canceled outright, leaving everyone to keep gazing at the sky, slacking off, and shooting the breeze.

Yet by this point, on what counted as his first real day on the job, Zhang Xing had already noticed how much higher-end the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry were compared with the Street-Cleaning Tigers... Both slacked off, but the Street-Cleaning Tigers only sat in the tavern discussing street gossip, market prices, and ways to make a fortune. Here in the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry, it was who had been promoted where and which family had married into which. Even the lowest-grade gossip could reach into the palace and touch the chief ministers and ministers.

They loafed from morning into afternoon. Another pleasant day, and Zhang Xing felt thoroughly encouraged. His only regret was forgetting to bring a book. Otherwise, listening to political gossip while reading a historical novel-wouldn't that have been lovely?

Rain pattered down, and the Street-Clearing Copper Alms Bowl finally sounded feebly. Everyone began to disperse, and Zhang Xing was thinking only of bringing a book starting tomorrow... But just as more than half the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry had left the island, a rider suddenly came through the rain toward it.

As he reached the bridge, his horse slipped, sending him tumbling off in a sorry state. Yet he was actually wearing the uniform of the Ministry of Justice.

Many who had originally been about to help merely watched coldly. Not one paid him any attention.

But a moment later, this Ministry of Justice rider, whose leg was clearly injured, shouted from the muddy water words that made everyone's scalp prickle. "The Ministry of Justice prison has been raided! Hundreds of fugitives have escaped! Our vice minister sent me to ask the Intendant to dispatch troops! Take me to him at once!"

So soon? Zhang Xing could not help sighing inwardly.

PS: Happy Christmas Eve, everyone.