CH 69

Xiao Chengjun spent the next few days holed up in his mansion, reading through the files from the last three years to understand what had been happening in his fief.

Lou Jing had originally thought that the two of them could have nice walks by the seaside and grill some fish, but he found himself staring at a pile of dusty records instead. It was enough to make a grown man cry. 

“Go and rest. I’ll accompany you when I’m done reading these,” Xiao Chengjun said, smiling faintly as he looked over at the fellow who seemed to be unable to sit still. He didn’t allow Lou Jing to go out to play because he wanted him to rest until his arm had fully recovered. Lou Jing would be returning to Jiangzhou in a few days, and once he got back, he would have to start catching bandits again as well as have a reckoning with the Prefectural Governor. It would be difficult for him to let his arm rest and heal then.

“I’m not tired,” Lou Jing said, rubbing his nose. He sat down next to Min Wang. “Come, I’ll help you.”

“How are you going to help me?” Xiao Chengjun asked, giving his splinted left arm a sideways glance.

Lou Jing took the brush from Xiao Chengjun’s hand. “You just need to go through the documents and read the parts you want to note down out loud. I’ll write it out for you,” Lou Jing said. His left arm might be broken, but his right hand was perfectly fine, and he could certainly write a few words. 

Xiao Chengjun thought about it and decided to go along with what Lou Jing suggested. “Then write this: The pirates attacked our shores in the seventh year of the Chunde Emperor’s reign at the following times: the twenty-eighth day of the fifth lunar month, the third day of the seventh lunar month… um, that’s not how you write ‘pirates’,” he said, looking at what Lou Jing had written down.

“Then how is it written?” Lou Jing asked, pushing the paper over to Xiao Chengjun for him to show him how to write the word. “Isn’t this more or less correct?”

“You’ve got one stroke missing,” Xiao Chengjun said, returning the paper to him.

“So long as you know what I’m writing, does it matter?”

The two of them bickered this way as they did the work, and even though this added quite a bit of work for Xiao Chengjun, the speed at which they went through the records wasn’t any slower than if he had been doing this himself, with the added benefit that the dusty old files now became interesting.

“In the twelfth lunar month of the eighth year of the Chunde Emperor’s reign, the County Magistrate Tao colluded with the Dongying pirates. He earned 3,000 taels of silver and one dancing girl.”

“Was the dancing girl from Persia?” Lou Jing asked, looking over curiously.

“It’s not stated. Why do you think she’s from Persia?” Xiao Chengjun asked, turning to look at him. 

“Well, they can’t be from Dongying. I heard that the people there all shave off half the hair on their heads,” Lou Jing said, grinning widely at his husband.

“… …”

A few days later, news came from the Capital, and at the same time, Lou Jing also received a secret letter from Zhao Xi. Both letters had the same content – the Imperial Examinations were over, and Zhao Xi was named the Zhuangyuan.

“The news from the Capital says that the ninth young master of the Zhao family who was named the Huiyuan in the prefectural examinations debated directly with the Emperor during the Imperial Examinations and rendered him speechless. He was appointed the Zhuangyuan on the spot,” Lu Tao reported. 

“He actually managed to get the top score again?!” Lou Jing exclaimed. In the whole of the Yu Dynasty’s history, no one had come out top in all three examinations. He’d thought Zhao Xi was just blowing his trumpet – who knew that that fellow’s abilities were this incredible?

Jieyuan, Huiyuan and Zhuangyuan – it was extremely difficult to achieve just one of these titles, but Zhao Xi had managed all three, and on top of that, he’d gotten them consecutively on his first try!

“I have to give him a big present for this,” Lou Jing said, grinning.

Wljb Jtfcupec cbvvfv. “Pa klii gjlrf fsfygbkr lo P ulnf j uloa ab atf Itjb ojwlis, rb P’ii aju bc ab ktjafnfg sbe ulnf tlw,” tf rjlv. 

Practically all of Lou Jing’s money was presently in Xiao Chengjun’s hands, so the task of actually buying the gift was given to the manager of the Min Wang residence. The current manager was the same person who managed the Min Wang residence in the Capital, and he knew exactly what gift would be appropriate to send. As was the usual practice, he sent the gifts in a pair and had them conveyed to the Capital in Lou Jing’s name.

Ktf uloa gfjmtfv atf Jjqlaji lc tjio j wbcat. Itjb Gejc ibbxfv atbeutaoeiis ja atf nfgs fzqfcrlnf uloa ktfc la jgglnfv.

“The Anguo Gong Shizi and Ji Ming are really very close. He’s even sent a pair of gifts instead of just one gift,” the Fifth Old Master of the Zhao family said, smiling.

Itjb Gejc ragbxfv tlr yfjgv. “Ktlr uloa kjr ulnfc ys akb qfbqif ab yfulc klat,” tf rjlv. 

The Fifth Old Master stared at him for a moment, then his brows came together slightly. “What you’re saying is…” he said, making a gesture in the Southeastern direction.

Zhao Duan nodded, then instructed people to keep the gifts.

The Fifth Old Master inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Then, that year when the Shizi did the salt trade business with our family, was it for…”

“Don’t say any more,” Zhao Duan said, raising a hand to cut his younger brother off. “Ji Ming will be going to the Hanlin Academy to start work soon. You should bring him to meet his superiors tomorrow.” 

The top three scorers in the Imperial Examination were exempted from the usual further examination administered to other scholars and could enter the Hanlin Academy directly.

“The Zhao family now has one person in the Hanlin Academy, one Assistant Minister, two officials serving outside the Capital, and a Minister of the Left,” the Third Prince said. He wasn’t grounded any more, and when he heard that Zhao Xi had been named as the Zhuangyuan, he entered the palace to discuss the matter with Chen Guifei.

“The genius of the Zhao family really lives up to his name,” Chen Guifei said, leaning back languidly on her daybed, her eyes lowered in thought.

She had originally assumed this ninth young master of the Zhao family was simply riding on Zhao Duan’s coattails, and had thought that his talents were greatly exaggerated. She’d been very surprised to find out that the rumours were not exaggerated in the least, and that Zhao Xi’s true talents in fact exceeded the rumours! 

“Thankfully, the Zhao family doesn’t have any girls who married into the Imperial family,” Xiao Chengduo said, sighing. The Zhao family’s star had been rising higher and higher in recent years, but their Chen family had been declining in power and influence. His two maternal uncles didn’t have high-ranking government positions, and of his two male cousins, only one had passed the Imperial Examinations.

Chen Guifei stared at Xiao Chengduo when he said this, and her eyes suddenly flashed with inspiration. “The Zhao family’s increasing success might actually be a good opportunity for us to take advantage of,” she said.

“Us?” the Third Prince asked, frowning. The Zhao family and the Chen family were mortal enemies. How could the Zhao family’s success possibly benefit him, Xiao Chengduo?

Chen Guifei smiled, but didn’t say any more. She called a palace maid over. “Go to Panlong Palace and say that the medicinal wine I personally made is ready to be drunk now. It’s also the right time to drink the wine now – it will complement the Immortality Pills the Emperor is taking. Ask the Emperor if he’s coming over tonight,” she instructed. 

Xiao Chengduo didn’t know what his mother’s intentions were, but he was used to letting his mother handle his affairs, so he didn’t think too much of this. He bowed to her and left the Luanyi Palace. On his way out, a sedan passed by right in front of him, heading for the Fengyi Palace. It looked like a sedan meant for a lady’s use. “Who is in the sedan?” he asked the eunuch next to him.

“Replying to Dianxia, yesterday, the Empress said that he missed Jing Wang’s little son, so his Consort probably brought the little prince in to meet the Empress today,” the young eunuch replied.

Xiao Chengduo pursed his lips. Any child born to that sickly old Xiao Chengjin probably wouldn’t live very long anyway, so this didn’t concern him at all. He continued his way out of the palace in a leisurely manner.

The Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor Lu Xin was not having a good time these past few days. The three-day deadline Lou Jing had set would be up very shortly, and he sent people to the Nansi Prefectural Troops to try and ask Lou Jing for a few days’ extension, but to his surprise, the Protector-General was not in the camp. When his people asked where the General had disappeared to, the two Captains only said that the General had urgent business to take care of. They refused to give any more information than that. 

By the time the Prefectural Governor’s messengers came back, the seven-day deadline was also nearly up. The Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor had no choice but to return the Wuwei General and a thousand cavalry first.

A few days passed, and nothing happened; the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Lou family Shizi was just a paper tiger, and didn’t follow through with his threats. “He probably doesn’t dare to make submissions to the Emperor randomly. He himself can’t manage his own troops properly, and he still wants to ask the Emperor to back him up?!” he sneered.

“My Lord, I hear that he’s gone to the South, probably to greet the Lingnan Pingjiang Hou and his family. Shall we…” the person next to the Prefectural Governor said, making a slicing motion at his neck as his voice trailed off.

“No,” Lu Xin said, cutting his subordinate off at once. “This sort of thing can only be attempted once. If we try again, we absolutely have to succeed, or it will arouse Lou Jing’s suspicions in respect of the Linjiang incident as well.” 

Whilst the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor and his subordinate were heaving collective sighs of relief, Lou Jing had returned to Jiuchang after attending Min Wang Dianxia’s handover ceremony.

“This subordinate Hua Xicheng greets General Zhennan,” the Wuwei General said, stepping forward to bow respectfully.

Lou Jing looked at Hua Xicheng. He seemed like a fellow who could read the room, and who knew when to push and pull. He was in his thirties, and he had a calm, serious face. Lou Jing had heard that he was a competent commanding officer. He nodded slightly in response to the greeting. “The Nansi Prefectural Army Camp has been well run under your charge,” he said.

This was the truth. Even though the ten thousand over men in the camp were not elite troops, they were very orderly and took instructions well. This saved Lou Jing a lot of trouble. 

“I dare not accept your praise. This is but my duty,” the Wuwei General said humbly.

“I see that Lu Xin is refusing to return my troops to me?” Lou Jing said, getting to his feet. He stood on the platform, looking down at the infantry soldiers training on the field below. They didn’t look like they had increased in number at all since he left for Minzhou.

“The Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor only allowed me to take a thousand cavalry when I returned to the army camp,” Hua Xicheng said rather helplessly.

Lou Jing raised his eyebrows. Did this Prefectural Governor think he was a soft target? “Bring me a brush and paper,” he instructed. 

Three days later, the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor received another letter from General Zhennan, and it was as terse as always.

“Your Lordship need not worry. The mountain bandits are running amok in the four southern counties, and we don’t have enough soldiers to counter them. This General has already borrowed soldiers from the Qingzhou Prefectural Governor, and we should be able to get past these difficulties soon.”

This message was written in the very centre of the paper, and General Zhennan’s brilliant red army seal was once again stamped in a corner of the message.

This letter from Lou Jing had arrived together with another letter from the Qingzhou Prefectural Governor. That letter was very politely worded, and the gist of it was that Qingzhou would be sending reinforcements to him very shortly. 

Lu Xin was so angry that he started shaking. The four southern counties were located in the southeastern parts of Jiangzhou, and logically, any reinforcements would ordinarily be sought from Yuezhou in the east, but Lou Jing had asked for reinforcements from Qingzhou instead, which was situated in the north!

Qingzhou was a complete mess right now, with the refugees from there all being chased into Jiangzhou. Lu Xin had not bothered to try and rectify this situation because he thought that the refugee numbers weren’t that high, and the situation would resolve on its own given time. However, now that Lou Jing had actively sought out the Qingzhou Prefectural Governor, who was Shen Lian’s lackey, that lackey would certainly use this opportunity to send him the refugees along with the soldiers! At that point, Jiangzhou would be thrown into real chaos. It wouldn’t just be a matter of being unable to earn merits as per his original plan; he might actually lose his job!

The request to borrow Qingzhou soldiers might have been Lou Jing’s, but the chaos in Jiangzhou fell entirely under the Prefectural Governor’s purview, and he would be the one that would be tarred and feathered for it. Also, if the Emperor investigated the matter thoroughly, he would find that all this started because he, Lu Xin, had refused to return the Nansi Prefectural Troops when asked to do so!

“Good, good, very good! Lou Zhuoyu, you motherf*cking bastard!” the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor spat, crushing the letters into a ball between his fingers. 

Lou Jing’s lips curved slightly upwards as he stood on the platform. Ten thousand infantry were slowly filtering into camp, having been returned by the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor.

“General, do we still need the Qingzhou Prefectural Governor’s soldiers?” the Wuwei General asked. He couldn’t hold back a faint smile as he said this.

“Of course I want them. But not for ourselves. The Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor must be sorely in need of troops now – send them all over to Lord Lu,” Lou Jing said, waving a hand dismissively. Those refugees wouldn’t be able to cross the river, so they wouldn’t interfere with the Nansi Prefectural Troops’ matters. That Prefectural Governor who had no idea how to wage war would be kept nice and busy with all these refugees coming his way.

Lin Dahu had been standing to one side listening to all this, and he was completely confused. He turned to look at Wang Zhi. “What’s going on?” he asked. 

Wang Zhi wasn’t very sure either, and he poked Zhang Rao with his elbow. “Do you know what’s going on?” he asked.

Zhang Rao laughed loftily. “You two wouldn’t understand even if I explained it,” he said.

“Oh please. You probably don’t know what’s going on yourself,” Wang Zhi said, his lip curling in annoyance. He leapt off the platform to train the troops.

Lin Dahu scratched his head, then turned to look at Yun Yi and Yun Jiu, who were standing just behind Lou Jing with cold, solemn expressions on their faces. He couldn’t help shivering a little. Perhaps it was better to know less, he decided. He turned to go and train his troops as well. 

Beansprout: Ok I see some comments that Lou Jing’s brilliance has confounded us all. Hahaha. So here is a simple explanation by way of mini-theatre:

Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor (PG): I refuse to return your troops! I need them to catch bandits and earn merits

LJ: Fine, I’ll get reinforcements from Qingzhou

Jiangzhou PG: WTF, why did you ask for reinforcements from Qingzhou instead of Yuezhou, which is much nearer?! Qingzhou is having a refugee problem and will send refugees to Jiangzhou on the pretext that they’re sending reinforcements! 

LJ: (Smirks) That’s precisely why I asked for “reinforcements” from Qingzhou

Jiangzhou PG: F*ck you LJ! Now I have to settle these bloody refugees! I can’t even complain to the Emperor that you wrongfully asked Qingzhou instead of Yuezhou for reinforcements, because if I do, the Emperor will find out that I wrongfully refused to return LJ’s troops to begin with!

LJ: (Smirks more)

Jiangzhou PG: On top of that, I can’t even earn any merits by catching bandits anymore! I have to spend all my time resettling these refugees, because if they make a mess out of Jiangzhou, I’ll lose my job! 

LJ: Fab, now I can catch my bandits in peace

XCJ: Fab, now the refugees are being resettled properly