"Off you go."
By the time Zhang Xing reached the door of Li Ding, Deputy Director of the Chariot Bureau in the Ministry of War, it was already growing late. With a hand on his saber, he casually drew a few copper coins from his robe and pressed them into the hand of the post station helper who had shown him the way, then raised his Embroidered-Mouth Saber and tapped the door with its sheath.
He knocked several times, but no one answered. Left with no choice, Zhang Xing called out, "Zhang Xing, patrol rider of the Second Brocade-Clad Patrol Team of the Central Pacification Office, Jing'an Directorate, assigned by imperial order to patrol within and beyond the Two Capitals and Three Rivers. Having learned that Li Ding, Deputy Director of the Chariot Bureau in the Ministry of War, is here, I have come to pay a visit."
There was clearly some movement inside, but unexpectedly, the door still did not open.
At last, Zhang Xing lost patience. He rapped on the door with his sheath again and spoke bluntly. "Li Ding, you're a scion of a great clan. You should understand reason. Our inspector, Bai Yousi, just lost a cousin who was a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and now she's been saddled with this business involving your cousin. She's traveled for three days without so much as a peach to eat, and she's in a foul mood... She's a Condensing the Core Stage expert. If she cuts you down and insists you escaped along with your cousin, who takes the blame? Open up! Save yourself being strung up and whipped to teach you your place!"
There was more movement inside, followed shortly by silence again. Just as Zhang Xing prepared to kick the door down, it finally opened, and a middle-aged man slipped out.
The man was in his thirties, dressed in pale green official robes and wearing a Wingless Futou. He could be considered tall and broad, though he held himself slightly hunched. His features were quite regular, but his eyes were dull and his spirits listless, with clearly visible dark circles beneath his eyes, a stubbly beard, and a bluish complexion.
Zhang Xing paused, unable to resist blurting out, "So you're Li Ding? Deputy Director of the Chariot Bureau in the Ministry of War, the Han Rebel's cousin? I called all that time and you wouldn't open the door?"
The man nodded and could not suppress a yawn.
For a moment, the scene was rather awkward.
Just then, however, a summer breeze blew in from the peach grove outside the post station, carrying a swirl of fragrance out of the room. Zhang Xing immediately frowned. "You've been burning incense?"
Li Ding shook his head, seeming about to speak, then stopping.
"I was the one burning incense." A voice abruptly sounded behind Li Ding, and a purple-robed figure wearing a hat stepped out from behind the door.
The newcomer's voice was lovely, her figure tall and slender, her bearing enchanting, and her skin fair and smooth. Although dressed as a man, with her face concealed beneath a veiled hat, she was unquestionably an exceptionally beautiful woman.
Zhang Xing paused, then glanced at Li Ding. Enlightenment dawned, and he hastily said:
"Here's the thing. I don't want to disturb you two either... But with this damned business involving Han Shixiong, if our inspector can't handle it properly, I'm afraid the higher-ups will seize another person surnamed Bai and have their head cut off to take the blame. Deputy Director Li, please give me a satisfactory account, so I can give our inspector one in turn... The sooner we settle this, the sooner you can get back to enjoying yourselves."
The woman froze, then reached toward her waist as though to take something out. Li Ding, however, gave a helpless dry cough. "Let's do as this Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry rider says and settle this quickly."
Only then did the woman lower her hands. Zhang Xing strode past Li Ding into the room and seated himself without further ceremony. The Deputy Director of the Chariot Bureau at the door could only sigh, turn around, and take a seat.
The woman, meanwhile, shut the door behind her and stood just behind Li Ding to one side, one hand resting at her waist.
"I'll be direct." Zhang Xing tossed his Embroidered-Mouth Saber onto the table and addressed him seriously. "Li Ding, your mother is the Duke of Ying's own sister, and you yourself belong to the direct line of the Longxi Li Clan. With that background, and a reputation for talent in your youth, at thirty-six you're still only a Deputy Director of the Chariot Bureau in the Ministry of War, responsible for repairing post stations and roads..."
"My Li Lang is no creature destined to remain in a pond." The woman in purple could not resist interrupting. "Please conduct yourself with dignity."
"I know, I know."
Zhang Xing hastily brushed it aside. "I'm not saying this to insult anyone. I'm reminding Deputy Director Li that Han Shixiong's case reaches clear up to heaven and all the way down to earth. The higher-ups won't let it go, and neither will our inspector, who has immediate authority over it... Do you know that just on our way here, the Marquis of Ji'an's household gave every member of our Patrol Group fifty taels of silver for our trouble?"
Li Ding paused, then shook his head. "For an official household of that standing, it really isn't much."
"The price of silver has already soared," Zhang Xing replied helplessly. "And stop putting on airs as a great-clan scion. Let's discuss the matter itself. The chief suspects in this affair are none other than your Second Uncle, your Third Uncle, and you. The three of you, two uncles and a nephew, turning up one before, one during, and one afterward is far too convenient. And of the three, you have the weakest footing... If we really can't find your cousin and have to produce an account for the higher-ups, what I said while knocking might well come true!"
The woman in purple had long since become furious, yet she did not erupt. She merely glared at the visitor through her veil.
As for Li Ding, after a moment's silence, he finally answered seriously. "That may be so, but I truly did not do this."
"You didn't want to save your own cousin?" Zhang Xing frowned and glanced at him.
"Of course I did. My Eldest Maternal Uncle, the Former Duke of Ying, treated me extremely well. Even if I had no particular ties to my cousin, I would still remember my uncle's kindness." Li Ding sighed. "But there could be no saving him in this case. What could I do? Still, I won't conceal it from you: I volunteered to oversee these emergency road repairs. My original intention was to see my cousin one last time on the road and say farewell... Yet once the road was repaired and I arrived here, I learned that he had actually escaped."
Zhang Xing nodded and continued questioning him. "Then what do you think happened?"
"What do I think?" Li Ding asked in surprise.
"Exactly," Zhang Xing replied earnestly. "This case is troublesome for two reasons. First, it's a major case, an imperial case. As they say, the stakes are high, and failing to produce a result simply isn't an option. Second, it may be complicated, with numerous suspects... A fool in criminal investigations like me has no hope of getting to the bottom of it. But if someone of your caliber could offer an explanation that makes everyone, high and low, see the light, I could ask for nothing better. I imagine our inspector would be endlessly grateful too."
Li Ding hesitated, then gave an unsurprising answer. "Perhaps my cousin really could hold his liquor better than most, got the three of them drunk, stole the key, and escaped on his own under cover of the heavy rain."
Zhang Xing nodded, taking no particular exception. He simply rose, picked up his saber, and took his leave, even offering the lady in purple a brief clasped-hands salute.
Li Ding could only return a brief salute behind him.
"Brother, was he just asking for a bribe?"
As soon as he was gone, the lady in purple removed her veiled hat and demanded indignantly.
"No." Li Ding hesitated, but still folded his hands and told the truth. "He was reminding me that if they really can't find my cousin and things reach an impasse, the best solution would be for me to step forward and falsely accuse whichever of my uncles I please... That way, the daughter of the Marquis of Ji'an can give Intendant Cao of the Jing'an Directorate an account, and I can avoid being overturned by the great waves."
The woman in purple froze, then fumed. "How can such a villain exist?"
Li Ding shook his head slightly. "He isn't purely a villain. He's just a clever man. Having discerned the wishes of those above him, he spoke them aloud and passed them down."
"Brother, do you mean Bai Yousi?" The woman in purple grew still more astonished. "She has always enjoyed a fine reputation in the Eastern Capital. Would she really be so shameless for her lineage's sake?"
"No." Li Ding stood, turned back toward her, and spoke bluntly. "His Majesty and Imperial Uncle Cao."
The woman in purple was instantly dumbstruck.
After drawing a deep breath and considering for a moment, Li Ding took her hand and addressed her earnestly. "Shiniang, we've run into a tough opponent in this affair. Though I'm not on good terms with my two uncles, I cannot falsely accuse them. But if I stay here, I'm afraid I'll expose an opening and get dragged into this for nothing... I'll ask you just one thing, Shiniang. If I'm forced to flee into the world beyond the law and squander my years once again, would you still follow me?"
The woman's eyes instantly softened. "Brother, what are you saying? Having resolved to run away and been accepted by you, Shiniang has only one man in this life."
"Third Brother Zhang, you're back?"
When Zhang Xing returned to the main hall of Taolin Post Station, the Brocade-Clad Patrol Unit, which had taken over the entire station, was gathered for a meal. Bai Yousi sat at the head, with many washed peaches set on the table. The first person to speak upon seeing Zhang Xing return was none other than Qin Bao. "Third Brother, did you go see that deputy director, Li Ding?"
Zhang Xing hastily nodded, then went over and sat down.
"What did you think of Li Ding? Is he suspicious?" Across from him, Qian Tang immediately put down his steamed bun upon hearing this, his desire to ease the inspector's burdens all too obvious.
"How should I put it?" Having just sat down, Zhang Xing sighed in his seat. "Unfathomable!"
The hall fell silent.
Then Li Qingchen took the initiative to laugh. "You only met him once. How do you know he's unfathomable?"
"Here's the thing." Zhang Xing picked up a steamed bun and explained earnestly. "I couldn't see through Li Ding himself, but I did see a thing or two about his mistress..."
The hall became utterly silent. Almost everyone looked at Bai Yousi, whose face had darkened. She spoke coldly. "What about his mistress? How tall is she, how fat?"
"Describing someone like her in terms of height and weight would be shallow."
Zhang Xing clasped his hands toward his superior and explained. "That woman's looks, skin, movements, bearing, and voice were all among the finest I've ever encountered. And since I opened my First Six Orthodox Meridians, linking my Five Viscera and Four Limbs, although I'm still far from being an expert, my basic senses have clearly risen a level. Yet even so, I never detected where she was until she spoke. That shows her martial skill, or rather her level of cultivation, is very high too..."
Bai Yousi visibly narrowed her eyes, and everyone around him turned to regard Zhang Xing seriously.
Zhang Xing paid no attention to their gazes, merely continuing his earnest explanation:
"It's perfectly ordinary for a woman to excel in one respect. But for her to excel in every respect and possess martial skills like those, the only heroine I can think of who compares is our inspector... Everyone, think about it. Suppose one day our inspector suddenly abandoned her duties and gave herself to some deputy director, accompanying him when he traveled, sharing his bed when he slept, and regarding him as a hero under heaven. How do you think I should judge that man? Should I call him a good-for-nothing?
"I could only say, how unjust heaven is, that your aspirations should be denied their fulfillment!"
At this point, Zhang Xing followed Bai Yousi's gaze and turned toward the floor above. Assuming the man was still there, he called out from afar, "Deputy Director Li, do you take me for someone who buys the casket and returns the pearl, unable to recognize the true hero?"
"Stop shouting." Bai Yousi withdrew her gaze and spoke irritably. "He left outright when you picked up your bun!"
Zhang Xing broke his steamed bun in half and took a bite, entirely unruffled. "Since he fled, doesn't that show a thief's guilty conscience? All the better. Inspector, please seize him! Tie him up in the woodshed!"
Bai Yousi gave a rare smile, and the next instant vanished from the hall.
PS: Happy New Year, everyone!
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