Wen Qiluo looked at the wooden post fifty paces ahead of her. "How about over there?"
As her words fell, Xiahou Xian gripped the bow tightly in his left hand, nocked an arrow with his right, and pulled hard on the string, drawing the bow into a full moon.
After taking brief aim, he let the arrow fly with a whoosh!
The arrow struck the wooden post squarely in the center.
"Excellent! Your archery is remarkable, Prefect." Wen Qin clapped in praise at the sight, while Wen Qiluo's mouth fell open in surprise.
One had to understand that one shi in this era was roughly equivalent to sixty modern jin, and an ordinary soldier who could fully draw a one-shi bow was already quite good.
By fully drawing a two-shi bow, Xiahou Xian had already surpassed some generals who had spent years campaigning.
It was said that Huang Zhong could draw a three-shi bow in his youth. Terrifying indeed.
But historical romances claimed that Lü Bu could draw a nine-shi bow... er, perhaps those were set in a high-martial world.
Although Wen Qiluo had practiced martial arts since childhood, she was ultimately constrained by her physique and could draw no more than an eight-dou bow. She had an innate, inexplicable respect for the strong.
Xiahou Xian looked into Wen Qiluo's eyes. Her brows and eyes were quite distinctive: delicate moth-wing brows and lovely eyes, limpid as autumn waters, yet her gaze carried a stubborn refusal to lose.
"Well?" Xiahou Xian asked casually.
Wen Qiluo lowered her head slightly and cupped her hands. "This humble woman is impressed."
She had thought her elder brother merely wanted to cling to the powerful and send off a burden like her in the process, achieving the best of both worlds.
But seeing Prefect Xiahou's conduct today had left her with a very good first impression, and much of the wariness in her heart had dissipated.
Xiahou Xian said, "Since you've entered my household's service, there's no need for fighting and killing. You can start as a maid..."
Xiahou Xian had meant to say "maidservant," but before he could finish, Wen Qin rushed to say, "A female household guard sounds wonderful! Little sister, you must obey the prefect from now on."
Xiahou Xian found that Wen Qin could be quite quick-witted at times. He had intended to feign anger and scold him, but thought better of it. He had only been teasing her in the first place, so he would not take issue with Wen Qin.
He had the steward, Shi Feng, arrange a room for Wen Qiluo and instructed him to take good care of her.
Wen Qiluo felt this was inappropriate. Since she had become a household guard, she felt she ought to fulfill her responsibilities.
She immediately asked Shi Feng for several household servants to serve under her, saying she would train them herself, and got to work that very day.
Hmm... she was quite career-minded.
After settling Wen Qiluo in, Xiahou Xian entered the prefectural offices.
There was an additional minor official in the offices today.
Jia Chong had begun giving the clerks tasks as soon as he took up his post. Until Xiahou Xian asked, he did not even know what Jia Chong had instructed them to do.
"Master Jia, you are so diligent. I was right about you." Xiahou Xian still felt it best to offer some praise. Children all liked being praised, did they not?
Jia Chong pointed at a stack of bamboo slips in the hands of a busy clerk. "Prefect, although I haven't finished reviewing all the records of Shouchun's troops, money and grain, taxes, households, and so forth, I have a general grasp of them."
"Give me a few more days, and I will provide you with a detailed report."
Xiahou Xian thought to himself that Jia Chong was a workaholic, but it was hard not to like a subordinate like this.
Watching Jia Chong bustle about, he could hardly bear to interrupt him, but after some thought, he spoke anyway:
"The General of the Vanguard has assigned me a task: to thoroughly root out spies from Wu State, and also investigate whether any officials in the commanderies of our Yang Province are betraying the country and colluding with the enemy."
"Do you have any plans, Master Jia?" Xiahou Xian added, "Oh, this has come rather suddenly. You needn't answer at once. Just let me know once you've thought it through."
Jia Chong remained silent for quite some time, and Xiahou Xian almost thought he had no good countermeasures at all.
Yet after a while, Jia Chong suddenly set down the bamboo slips in his hands and declared loudly, "This is easily handled. Simply throw the city gates wide open."
"In my view, there is absolutely no need to close the gates with such fanfare. Wu's spies aren't fools. How could they fail to see through it?"
"Those few days deliberately left open are entirely unnecessary as well. If I were a Wu spy, I wouldn't enter the city at such a critical juncture. I would hold my position instead."
Good grief, he had just rejected Man Chong's entire plan...
"Prefect." Jia Chong suddenly raised his head. "Wei and Wu have been at war for many years, and their infiltration of each other runs very deep. Uprooting it all in a short time is absolutely impossible."
"In my view, Uncle Man's intention isn't really to catch a certain number of spies. His true purpose is merely to establish his authority over Huainan's officials."
At first, Xiahou Xian did not register the words "Uncle Man," but then he recalled that Jia Kui and Man Chong had worked together in Yu Province for many years and were close, so he no longer found it strange.
Jia Chong's thinking did make some sense. Initially, he too had been at a complete loss as to how to proceed with this matter, but now he had something of a direction.
"Then how do you think we should begin, Master Jia?" Xiahou Xian asked.
Jia Chong immediately replied, "Since the decision to seal the city has already been made, we should play out the act to the full."
"Prefect, under what circumstances would a city usually be sealed and placed under martial law?"
After a moment's thought, Xiahou Xian blurted out, "War!"
"Precisely." Jia Chong continued, "Why not openly muster troops, but keep this information as secret as possible, then quietly find an opening to deliberately leak it?"
Understanding dawned on Xiahou Xian. "If it were ordinary intelligence, Wu's spies might avoid acting during this period. But if it concerns urgent military intelligence, they will have to find a way to get the information out no matter what. That is when they will show their tails."
"That is your plan, Master Jia, isn't it?"
Jia Chong kept his head lowered and continued sorting documents.
Today, Xiahou Xian truly saw this thirteen-year-old boy in a new light.
Just as the two fell silent one after the other, someone entered the hall.
"Forgive me, Prefect, forgive me. This subordinate has arrived late."
This man was the prefectural office's chief recorder, Ji Shao, courtesy name Zhaochu. He had been a minor clerk under the previous prefect, Cheng Wu.
He reeked of alcohol and had clearly let drinking interfere with his duties. Presumably, Cheng Wu had not liked him either and had not promoted him after transferring posts.
Naturally, Xiahou Xian had no regard for such a mediocre fellow. However, he had heard that the man came from a local gentry family and possessed considerable wealth. Since he currently needed people, he would make use of him for the time being.
By contrast, the clerk beside Jia Chong, patiently sorting documents for him, was much more pleasing to Xiahou Xian's eye.
This man was named Chen Yuan, courtesy name Zhongbo, and hailed from Guangling.
He now served as a records clerk in the prefectural office.
It was said that the former prefect, Cheng Wu, had been very fond of him and had once wanted to take him along.
But considering that Chen Yuan's wife and children were all in Huainan, he had not forced the matter.
That had allowed Xiahou Xian to pick up a bargain.
Chen Yuan was an easygoing man in his twenties, yet he showed no contempt whatsoever for this newly appointed "young chief clerk."
Even when the other party's attitude was very unfriendly, he would patiently explain things to him.
Earlier, Jia Chong had sent him to fetch documents, and he had only just returned to the office hall.
"Chief Clerk Jia, these are all the commandery's tax records for this year. I've added annotations in some places to make them easier for you to consult."
"Why do something unnecessary?" Jia Chong's tone was very cold.
Chen Yuan hurriedly apologized. "I'll keep that in mind. It won't happen again."
Xiahou Xian watched a boy in his teens point at and berate a young man of twenty. The scene looked utterly absurd.
"Oh, yes. Among these volumes, the detailed grain levy records for each county begin in the third volume."
Jia Chong remained silent, then after a while suddenly asked in an offhand manner, "What about Hefei County's?"
"They begin in the seventh column of the fourth volume. If I remember correctly, this year's amount should be twelve thousand seven hundred and forty-six shi."
A moment later, Jia Chong suddenly looked at Chen Yuan with a meaningful gaze.
"Clerk Chen, could you have a photographic memory?"