CH 4

Cui Xie grabbed at the arm clamped against his neck, pulling it straight outward, but his kidnapper turned the hilt of his sword, striking him hard on his collarbone, telling him to stop struggling. Pengyan, who was on the ground, saw Cui Xie getting knocked at. He cried out “da-ge”, wanting to rush over to rescue him. Cui Yuan also charged over from the front of the carriage, kneeling in front of the jinyiwei, begging them to save Cui Xie.

Jinyiwei: means the ‘Embroidered Uniform Guard’; and was essentially the Imperial secret police that served the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. They are given the authority to overrule judicial proceedings in prosecutions with full autonomy in arresting, interrogating, and punishing anyone, including nobles and the Emperor’s relatives. The guards would usually don a distinctive golden-yellow uniform with an identifiable plaque hanging near his torso and carrying a special blade weapon. 

Da-ge: older brother; in this case it is used by family servants and family members to refer to the Cui Eldest Young Master; an affectionate term of endearment

Those jinyiwei dressed in disguise had already drawn out their swords, pointing them towards the kidnapper. They slowly pressed forward, but ultimately they were apprehensive since the hostage was the child of an official working in the Ministry of Revenue, so they did not dare to directly make a move.

The man in turquoise robes who had jumped from the inn’s second-floor was standing ten steps away from Cui Xie and his kidnapper, brandishing a xiuchun sword, indifferently speaking to the kidnapper: “Patriarch Xu, the four heavenly kings of the White Lotus Society* have all been arrested. Several jinyiwei have mounted horses and are riding towards the pier where your secret hideout is located as we speak. Just where do you think you are going?”

*The White Lotus Society was a religious and political movement, much like a sect or cult, that appealed to many Han Chinese who found solace in the worship of Wusheng Laomu (“Unborn Venerable Mother”, who was foretold to gather all her children at the millennium into one family). Basically in response to famine, crowded conditions, and harassment from petty government officials, White Lotus leaders in central China began a rebellion; they promised their followers that there would be the return of the Buddha and the end of suffering. They were heretics who wished to overthrow the current government.

Here, Patriarch means founder of a sect/society.

xiuchun sword: general term used for the official knife issued by the court for the Imperial guards, and there were multiple shapes and designs, Most official swords used by Imperial guards used a lot of silver, gold and jade decorations, hence the coquettish sounding name of ‘embroidered spring’.

White Lotus Society! Was that not the infamous cult that had risen up in insurrection, this dynasty’s famous evil sect that tried to overthrow the current dynasty?!

Cui Xie could not help but turn his face, glancing at Patriarch Xu whose face was laced with grievances. The man’s right hand tightened around his neck firmly, and he whispered into Cui Xie’s ear: “I just want to escape from here and do not want to hurt anyone. You are the son of a high-ranking official right? If you want to live, ask those jinyiwei to make way, get into the carriage with me, and send me off!”

The jinyiwei who had stopped the carriage immediately stepped forward to remind: “Colonel da-ren, this is the son of Cui Que, the head of the Yunnan Division in the Ministry of Revenue. He had just left the capital and was heading towards Qian’an when he accidentally came across the jinyiwei handling matters, as such, these subordinates stopped them.”

Da-ren: honorific term used to address government officials

Colonel Xie nodded, and stood in place, holding his knife in a reverse grip with the hilt on top and the blade pointing out on the bottom, and said: “Doesn’t matter if he is the son of a high-ranking official. Even if Official Cui himself fell into their hands, he would still have to be loyal to his country until the very end. If you kill him, it is simply adding another crime to your name. You can’t escape from your inevitable death sentence. Doesn’t your White Lotus Society claim to help the people to attain salvation? Do you still wish to commit evil when death is so close at hand?”

Colonel Xie’s expression was cold, but he had a pair of naturally upturned lips, speaking softly and slowly as if he was merely chatting with Patriarch Xu.

It was a pity that Patriarch Xu did not share the same leisurely intentions. Tightening his grip around Cui Xie’s neck, he sternly shouted: “Attaining salvation? Killing you dog officials and hawks and hounds is saving the world and helping the people! We are all benevolent laymen who recite the Buddhist scripts and worship the Bodhisattva, but the Imperial court wants the lives of our people for no reason. Then should we keep our heads down and let others kill us? If you take another step forward, I will chop off this puppy’s arm first!”

‘hawks and hounds’: idiom; running dogs or hired thugs

Colonel Xie sighed: “It’s a pity. Don’t worry Young Official Cui, after your show of martyrdom, this official will personally report your merits. The Emperor is benevolent and wise, His Majesty will extend kindness and favor to your father, Official Cui.”

Cui Xie dryly coughed twice and said with a wry smile: “Then I must thank da-ren for your good intentions. But can da-ren exchange this favor and ask the Emperor to commend my biological mother instead?”

Da-ren: honorific title used to address government officials; literally means “big person”

Colonel Xie’s smile finally reached his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up even deeper. Nodding, he remarked: “It is rare that a son has such a high notion of one’s duty. Xie-mo has noted it and will certainly request this on your behalf.” After he was done speaking, he lifted the sword in his right hand, brandishing and waving it, charging forwards with the rest of the jinyiwei. 

‘has such a high notion of one’s duty’: idiom; to be highly principled

-mo is a term that officials and high-ranking ministers use to refer to themselves, similar to I, analogous to when Emperors refer to themselves in third person with ‘zhen’.

Patriarch Xu gritted his teeth and said: “Good, good, since you are not afraid of death, I’ll first kill you. On behalf of my fallen brothers, I will pay them with your life!”

Previously, in order to conveniently drag Cui Xie, he had grasped onto Cui Xie’s neck with his arm, the tip of his sword facing outwards. Now that he had murderous intentions, his wrist rotated, and he adjusted into a position that would make it easy to cut down at his hostage. Cui Xie suddenly lifted his head to look towards the roof, screaming: “White Lotus Venerable Mother!”

Patriarch Xu subconsciously looked over, his hand movements pausing. Cui Xie took the opportunity to take the arm and pushed it outwards. He suddenly slammed his head backwards, and did not know what he had knocked into. Either way, he was in so much pain it felt like his brains had become mush, even the injuries on his legs seemed to be implicated by this sudden move of his. His feet went soft, and his entire body fell to the ground, even Patriarch Xu’s arm had been dragged down with him. 

Patriarch Xu’s body followed him forward, the sword in his hand was narrowly gripped, and the unsteady, slanting sword’s tip was angled towards Cui Xie’s shoulder. The blade slashed across, opening up a single, shallow blood-red streak. But, at that moment, Cui Xie’s bottom fiercely slammed against the road’s limestone surface, the wounds aching piercingly painful all the way down to the bone marrow. Due to the pain coming from his bottom, he couldn’t even feel the shallow wound on his shoulder at all. After impact, he rolled onto his side, changing to a position that let him put his weight on his stomach instead, but was left stunned from the pain. 

This series of reactions had already exhausted his strength and patience. If Patriarch Xu were to raise his sword to slash down at him right now, he would not be able to avoid it.

Patriarch Xu had been hit so hard that  he felt a tingling sensation in his nose, and his eyes dazzled with tears, vague and blurred. He had nearly released his sword in his agony. After struggling to blink back tears, he finally realized that the jinyiwei had already encircled him, and he was surrounded by layer upon layer of Imperial guards. Lastly, Colonel Xie’s xiuchun sword had finally entered his view.

xiuchun sword: general term used for the official knife issued by the court for the Imperial guards, and there were multiple shapes and designs, Most official swords used by Imperial guards used a lot of silver, gold and jade decorations, hence the coquettish sounding name of ‘embroidered spring’.

Knowing he had no hope of escaping, he cursed Cui Xie in his heart, hating him in his bones. Disregarding the sword that was pointed towards his chest, he drew out his sword and slashed directly towards Cui Xie.

But, before the blade could fall, a slender xiuchun sword obstructed its path mid-air, striking his Japanese-style sword. The crisp sound of gold and jade resonated together, and it easily parried the Japanese-style sword. The xiuchun sword moved downward, gliding down the Japanese-style sword’s shaft before hacking into flesh and blood. Another twist of the hand crippled Patriarch Xu’s right arm.

The jinyiwei approached from the left and right to tie up Patriarch Xu as Colonel Xie sheathed his sword. He stooped over to pull up Cui Xie, the corners of his mouth still traced with a smile, and he warmly said: “It seems that I don’t need to ask for a grace for Young Master anymore.  Today, you have helped the jinyiwei capture the White Lotus Society’s Patriarch Xu. This merit will be personally reported by me, and I will not let you suffer this fright in vain.”

The wounds on Cui Xie’s legs had finally split open after his fall, and at this moment, his trousers were moist, but his clothes were loose and hadn’t been completely soaked. But after the wound had reopened, he had lost consciousness for a few seconds, and could not get up by himself.

Colonel Xie pulled at him, but couldn’t get him to move. At first, he thought it was a little strange, but afterward, he recalled that Cui Xie was a scholar. After coming across this sort of difficult and intimidating situation, how could one not be paralyzed by fear? So he squatted down, and supported Cui Xie with his body, smiling: “Weren’t you just very courageous just now? Dared to deceive even the Patriarch of the White Lotus Society, but now you’re scared? Not to mention, I’ve only heard that the White Lotus Society’s religion believed in Maitreya Buddha, so what is this ‘White Lotus Venerable Mother’ you just shouted? Just where did you hear such a thing?”

What? In the movies, didn’t all the White Lotus Societies have a ‘Venerable Mother” of some kind? Did he misremember, maybe it was ‘Saintess’?

Cui Xie was not sure. He glanced at the seemingly presentable Patriarch Xu lying on the ground, all tied up. Seeing that there were some bafflement and confusion on Patriarch Xu’s face, Cui Xue lowered his eyes and said with a guilty conscience: “This one does not know if they have such a thing, but only felt that all living things are balanced with their respective yin and yang. If there is a heretic Patriarch, then there must be a “Venerable Mother” to match, so that was just casually thrown out.”

The jinyiwei all broke into laughter, only Pengyan rushed into the crowd, hugging him and crying: “Da-ge, da-ge, your wounds have reopened! I beg da-ren to let my Young Master into the inn to rest and help us invite a physician for him!”

Colonel Xie’s gaze followed Pengyan’s hands downwards, only to find that the hem of his robe was stained with blood. So it turned out, the legs hadn’t been frightened till it went soft, but because it was originally badly injured. The corners of his upturned mouth were slightly pursed, and he glanced at Pengyan. Frowning, he asked, “Your Young Master is the eldest son of an official who works in the Ministry of Revenue, how could he have been beaten to this point? Who dares to indiscriminately use the wooden plank on the son of an official from the capital? Your Master must be confused, not even knowing to report this to the Ministry of Justice, or the Dali Supreme Court. Instead, he even let his son leave the capital with such heavy injuries.”

Only then did Pengyan start becoming scared, his voice trembling as he spoke: “No….it was my household’s da-ren’s order to beat Young Master like this. It was only because the Young Master had accidentally pushed the Second Young Master in the garden, so my family’s Master declared that he lacked brotherly affection and ordered someone to beat him, and then drove him out of the capital…”

The corners of Colonel Xie’s mouth gradually pursed even tighter as he ordered his subordinates: “Have someone bring a wooden bench here, and carry Young Master Cui into the inn. Then order a clever person to take my nameplate and go to the capital and send for Yonghe Palace’s retired Imperial Physician Liu to come and treat his injuries.” And then he spoke again: “We can’t manage your family’s affairs, but us jinyiwei still have some face.” He pointed at one of his subordinates, “You there, go get some ink and brushes to write a letter to Official Cui,” he turned back to Cui Xie, “I will call for someone to send that letter on your behalf, lest your esteemed father rebukes you for not honoring your father’s order because you are temporarily staying in Tongzhou midway through your journey.” 

Immediately, someone fetched an ink brush and some paper. Pengyan turned around obediently and asked someone to spread the paper on his back so that Cui Xie could write.

Cui Xie took the brush in one hand, and pressed the white paper with the other. He gestured in the air for a long time, but he did not dare to write—he hadn’t seen the original body’s handwriting yet, and after his parents passed away, he was unable to formally continue cultivating his calligraphy skills. That is, later on, he only wrote simple announcements and letters for his university, something worthy of light praise, but not much else. What would he do if his handwriting accidentally revealed himself?

Drops of sweat started to form on his forehead, and his wrists shook.

Colonel Xie was still propping Cui Xie up and could feel him trembling slightly from his legs to his arms. Thinking that his injuries had been too severe and that he was too weak, Colonel Xie took the brush, saying, “Writing is also labor-intensive. I will write a card and send it to the Cui Residence later. You can rest here at ease, do not worry about your Father’s fury or anger—there has never been an occurrence under the heavens that there is a principle that a person who has helped the Emperor is to be condemned.”

Cui Yuan and his son stared at Colonel Xie with wide eyes, hoping that this man could persuade Master to welcome the Young Master back home again. Only Cui Xie did not want to go back, but it was not easy to say so, so he just took out the prior persuasions Pengyan had used on him as an excuse, saying: “Many thanks for Colonel Xie’s kindness, but Qian’an is where my family’s ancestral home is located, and it is cleaner than home. It is more convenient to remain there to study in preparation for the Imperial examinations.”

Colonel Xie observed him and saw that Cui Xie’s eyes were clear and harbored no resentment. It really looked like he felt the countryside was quite good. Feeling quite surprised, the Colonel’s eyebrows raised, and he responded, “Since this is the case, I will arrange it for you.”

At this time, a waiter from the inn was sent over with the wooden bench. Helping Cui Xie up onto it, Colonel Xie stepped back and looked at him, “I have an Imperial decree resting on my shoulders and must take these criminals away and fulfill the decree. I am afraid I cannot stay any longer. Young Master Cui must rest well and recuperate, diligently and frequently study. Let us meet again in the capital.”

Cui Xie lay on the stool, not even able to cup his hands in greeting because he was so inconvenienced, so he merely nodded and remarked, “Thanks for Colonel Xie’s care. It is currently inconvenient for this one to get up. And so, right here, I wish you da-ren smooth sailing and bright prospects for the future. 

With the leaders of the White Lotus Society in custody, the jinyiwei left, and the inn slowly revived and became lively again. The inn’s owner personally arranged the best room for Cui Xie, and refused to accept payment for the room and even invited a locally famous physician to prescribe medicine for his injuries, especially setting aside a small stove to cook Cui Xie’s medicinal cuisine.

Cui Xie felt very apologetic and asked Pengyan to pay, but the inn owner insisted on not accepting it. He personally went to Cui Xie’s bed and explained: “Previously, it was my inn that was incompetent, actually letting the leader of the White Lotus Society rest here. This is a criminal charge that can lead to death. If it weren’t for this little official’s efforts to help catch the criminal and also get wounded because of this, and the fact that you wanted to rest at my inn, how could those of the qianhu office let me off so easily? Today, if Patriarch Xu had gotten away, let’s not say that I can no longer keep operating this inn, all of the inn’s employees would have to enter Beizhen’s provincial prison. Our skin would be torn off one layer at a time. This little official is our benefactor, just peacefully rest here, no need to mention any payments.”

*Qianhu: A Colonel in charge of 1,000 men. The Ming Dynasty had multiple marshal offices and administrative offices set up under high commanding officers.. Qianhu, is one of many types of administrative titles given to senior and junior Colonels. There were a total of 17 Qianhu offices,, each office and their Colonel were in command of 1,000 households. 

This inn operated between a rather important sector, laying between the area where dealings between the capital and the North Canal took place, its business was very profitable. Its backer that it relied on was bound to be an important figure who was close with the authorities. As long as it had not colluded with the White Lotus Society, there was no reason for the jinyiwei to casually arrest them.

Since the other party was willing to take care of him, Cui Xie accepted the kindness and rested with ease at the inn. 

Cui Yuan and his son moved the luggage to the guest room, replacing the bedding and pillows with their own, and borrowed a folding screen to block the bed, giving it some privacy. When the windows were opened in the morning and evening, Pengyan placed an apricot fragranced pellet brought from home into a jar, and lit it, borrowing the cool breeze to spread and disseminate the lingering sweet fragrance throughout the guest room.

Cui Xie had wounds all over, and his nose was constantly filled with the smell of herbal medicine and blood. Suddenly, inhaling in this fresh and clean, yet pleasantly sweet scent, he immediately felt his spirits refreshing and rousing itself, his injuries seeming to be less painful.