Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 30
The attendant immediately began watching Wei Yan’s expression cautiously.
He said in a low voice, “Bring it here.”
Only then did the attendant go to the study door and carefully carry the brocade box to the desk.
Wei Yan’s phoenix eyes, old yet still as sharp as ever, studied the brocade box before him. The box was clearly quite old; the layer of brocade cloth pasted over its body had already yellowed with age.
He knocked open the lock and lifted the lid. The moment he saw what was inside, a shadow fell over his eyes.
Seeing his expression change, the attendant hurriedly glanced at the contents as well, then turned pale with shock. “He… He Jingyuan saw this letter?”
Inside the brocade box lay a letter and a token made of dark iron.
Wei Yan picked up the letter. The envelope was old, but its seal remained intact, and there was no signature or name anywhere on it. It looked as though, long ago, someone had placed the contents inside a fresh envelope for safekeeping.
In a low voice, he said, “He didn’t dare open it.”
He tore open the envelope. Inside was indeed another letter—one that had already been opened. Both the paper and outer cover had yellowed with age, and dried bloodstains, turned a pale yellow through oxidation, marred the surface.
Written across the cover in bold, vigorous characters were the words: “To Be Opened by Meng Shuyuan.”
Wei Yan had held the Son of Heaven hostage to command the feudal lords for many years. Though he was reviled by many at court, his calligraphy was nonetheless renowned enough to rank among the great masters of his generation.
Anyone who had seen his handwriting could tell that the characters on the envelope had been written by him.
Upon seeing the letter inside, the coldness in Wei Yan’s expression eased somewhat. Yet his eyes remaine as keen as a hawk’s. “The item I sent the Black-rank death warriors to retrieve, how did it end up in He Jingyuan’s hands?”
The attendant lowered his head, cold sweat pouring down his back. “Laonu will have someone investigate at once.”
Wei Yan merely raised a hand, indicating that there was no need. He noticed that another memorial from Jizhou had been delivered along with the brocade box. After opening it and reading it through, he tossed it onto the desk and said, “He is asking me to spare the two daughters of that traitor who betrayed his master.”
The attendant had served at Wei Yan’s side for many years and was naturally skilled at reading his master’s thoughts. One glance at He Jingyuan’s memorial, which stated that bandits had raided Qingping County, killed multiple households of innocent civilians, and had now been brought to justice, was enough for him to understand what Wei Yan meant.
He Jingyuan had recovered the thing Wei Yan wanted. In return, he hoped Wei Yan would call off the hunt and spare the traitor’s two daughters.
The attendant’s eyes flickered. “General He is likely thinking of the bond they shared as comrades in arms. Earlier, when you wanted to test whether General He was truly loyal and ordered him to kill those two, did he not carry out the orders without question? One imagines General He has always been loyal to you. This is merely a case of misplaced compassion.”
Wei Yan gave a cold laugh. “Do you think he obtained this thing long ago, or is it truly as he claimed in his memorial—that he mistook the incident for a bandit problem in Qingping County, sent troops to suppress the bandits, and accidentally captured the Black-rank death warriors, only learning then that Laofu was searching for this item?”
The attendant considered his words carefully. “After you ordered him to kill those two, didn’t you send people to keep watch over him? He Jingyuan doesn’t appear to have known about this thing. One believes the latter is more likely.”
Wei Yan said coldly, “Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one slip through. He may not have opened the letter, but the fact that he thought to use it to ask me to spare the traitor’s daughters means he must have already guessed what it is.”
The attendant ventured cautiously, “You mean… do the same thing we did to Houyé…”
He drew a finger across his throat.
Wei Yan stared at the memorial on the desk and fell into thought for a long while. In the end, he shook his head. “It has been more than sixteen years since the Battle of Jinzhou. It was only a few months ago that word of Crown Prince Chengde and Xie Linshan’s deaths was suddenly brought up again among the common people. Zheng’er’s decision to investigate the records concerning that battle, someone with an agenda must have guided him there. The person behind all this has yet to show himself, yet he has already forced Laofu to sacrifice the best blade in my hand.”
At this, Wei Yan’s tone suddenly turned razor-sharp. “The war in Chongzhou is currently locked in a stalemate. Perhaps that mastermind has tampered with matters there in secret as well. If I break He Jingyuan too, the southwest will practically be handed over to others. That traitor clearly had some sense, too. He never told his two daughters a single thing about what happened back then. Those two little girls are no threat. For now, let them live.”
The attendant praised him, “Chengxiang is truly wise.”
Yet in his heart, he understood why Wei Yan was willing to compromise and spare He Jingyuan’s life. Once He Jingyuan learned the truth of the Battle of Jinzhou, he could still be made useful to Wei Yan. As for the man who had betrayed Wei Yan, he had only two daughters left behind. What could women possibly do to avenge him? There was no need to worry about any hidden threat.
But Xie Zheng was different.
The murder of one’s father was a debt that could never be shared under the same heaven.
That was why the man before him had struck first, laying a trap amid the war in Chongzhou so that Great Yin’s God of War—who had been granted a marquisate through military merit before even reaching twenty—would be brought down there.
Wei Yan paid no heed to the attendant’s flattery. He cast one last glance at the letter, yellowed by sixteen years of time, then flicked his hand and tossed it into the charcoal brazier beside the desk.
The red-hot silver-bone charcoal instantly burned a hole through the paper. As the dark-brown hole widened, the entire sheet was gradually swallowed by the flames. The battles and bloodshed of sixteen years ago seemed to turn to smoke and ash in that fire as well, leaving no one to ever know the truth of what had happened back then.
Firelight reflected in Wei Yan’s eyes. He said in a low voice, “For now, leave the situation in Chongzhou to He Jingyuan. The one who is so determined to bring the Battle of Jinzhou from sixteen years ago into the open will not stop. Have the Earth-rank death warriors keep a close watch. If anything else happens, Laofu will have that rat hiding in the shadows and stirring up the winds of chaos brought before me!”
The attendant asked, “Could it be the faction of Grand Tutor Li…?”
Wei Yan shook his head. His aged face held the composure of a mountain standing firm above a sheer abyss. “If that old bastard had noticed any clues about the Battle of Jinzhou back then, he would not have waited sixteen years before bringing the matter up again.”
He said slowly, “After Crown Prince Chengde died in battle all those years ago, the East Palace caught fire. The Crown Princess and the Imperial Grandson both perished in the flames. Half of the Crown Princess’s face remained recognizable, but the Imperial Grandson was burned into a dried corpse. Let us hope that the child who died back then truly was the Imperial Grandson.”
The attendant understood the implication behind his words, and cold sweat broke out across his body. “The one who could have died alongside the Crown Princess could only have been the Imperial Grandson. Other than the Imperial Grandson, what other young boy could have been in the Eastern Palace?”
Wei Yan merely said, “Let us hope so.”
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
In Jizhou Prefecture.
It was New Year’s Eve, but with the imperial army’s defeat in Chongzhou Prefecture, and Jizhou lying adjacent to Chongzhou, none of the officials in Jizhou ranked Seventh Grade or above had been able to enjoy a peaceful New Year. They had all been summoned to the Jizhou Prefectural Office to discuss how to deal with the situation.
A military dispatch was delivered to He Jingyuan’s desk. After unfolding it and reading it, He Jingyuan could only sigh. “The Prime Minister’s eldest son must think the flames on the Chongzhou battlefield aren’t burning fiercely enough!”
Zheng Wenchang, standing below him, asked, “What makes Daren say that?”
He Jingyuan handed the official document, bearing the seal of the Northwest Military Commissioner, to his subordinate. After the officials in the study passed it around and read it, they began discussing it among themselves.
Zheng Wenchang said angrily, “The entire Great Yin court consists of one capital and seventeen prefectures. Four of those prefectures lie in the northwest, and now that Chongzhou has rebelled, only Huizhou, Jizhou, and Taizhou remain. Huizhou is a military garrison, and in order to weaken the military power of the Military Commissioners, the court has always strictly forbidden garrison lands from stockpiling grain or farming. Now, of the entire northwest, only Jizhou and Taizhou remain as sources of grain, yet Wei Xuan wants each of our two prefectures to raise 100,000 shi of grain within three days. Isn’t that simply asking the impossible?”
Another official said, “I heard Taizhou couldn’t raise enough grain, so just yesterday the Military Commissioner sent troops to forcibly requisition it. They even seized the grain farmers had set aside as seed! Never mind planting in spring next year—even surviving this bitter winter without starving to death would be a blessing for the people!”
“The soldiers under Wei Xuan don’t see the common people as human beings. I hear they even beat several farmers to death for refusing to hand over their grain. This hasn’t spread yet, but once word gets out, the Wei family will have another stain on its name!”
He Jingyuan listened to the prefectural officials arguing noisily below him without saying a word. Only when their voices grew louder and louder did he ask, “Why is the northwest unable to raise enough grain this year?”
The grain supplies for the one hundred thousand soldiers stationed at the Huizhou Garrison had always been provided by the imperial court. But with the war in Chongzhou disrupting the grain routes, the supplies had been delayed and could not arrive.
Had the Battle of Chongzhou ended sooner, things would never have reached this point. But the God of War of Great Yin, Marquis Wu’an, had fallen there, and the impact on the morale of the three armies was immense.
The newly appointed Military Commissioner, Wei Xuan, was also a man hungry for glory. In order to seize control of the one hundred thousand troops in Huizhou as quickly as possible, he demoted or reassigned the senior commanders under Marquis Wu’an.
The men he had brought with him were completely unfamiliar with the military situation in the northwest. They suffered defeat after defeat, dealing repeated blows to morale and forcibly stretching the front lines until they had exhausted the grain supplies remaining at the Huizhou Garrison.
With Huizhou in urgent need of supplies, the other three prefectures of the western region should, in principle, have been able to provide aid first. Even with only two prefectures remaining now, they should not have been completely unable to requisition grain.
Zheng Wenchang, who had been fuming like a firecracker this whole time, clasped his fists and said, “I’ve had people look into it. Not long ago, a merchant surnamed Zhao bought up a considerable amount of grain at high prices in Jizhou and Taizhou. The common people kept only the grain they needed for spring planting and the coarse grain for their own consumption, selling everything else for silver to celebrate the New Year.”
He Jingyuan said, “Look into that merchant surnamed Zhao.”
Zheng Wenchang acknowledged the order.
He Jingyuan said, “It is New Year’s Eve. We’ll discuss no more matters today. Go home early, all of you.”
The officials below him had all been wearing long-suffering expressions, but upon hearing this, their faces lit up with delight. They nevertheless restrained their excitement, properly bowed, and took their leave one after another.
Only Zheng Wenchang continued to stand there with his brows tightly furrowed.
After everyone else had left the room, he alone remained standing there.
He Jingyuan rose from behind his desk. Seeing that Zheng Wenchang was still standing there, he could not help asking, “Why haven’t you gone home?”
Worry crept into Zheng Wenchang’s voice. “Daren, since Wei Xuan has explicitly ordered our Jizhou Prefecture to raise 100,000 shi of grain within three days, what are we to do if we cannot produce it when the three days are up?”
He Jingyuan said, “Didn’t I just tell you to investigate that merchant surnamed Zhao?”
Zheng Wenchang said nothing. That merchant had begun buying grain long ago. Even if they tracked him down, if the grain had already been sold elsewhere, the distant water can’t quench nearby thirst.
He Jingyuan suddenly stopped walking and looked at the young man before him. His gaze was gentle yet firm. “Do you want me to do what Wei Xuan did—to have the people beneath me seize grain from the hands of the common people at swordpoint?”
Zheng Wenchang hurriedly said that he would never dare suggest such a thing, but hesitation still lingered on his face. “Then… how will you answer to the Wei family?”
“There is always a way,” He Jingyuan said. “But that way is not to hold a knife to the throats of the common people. Wenchang, it does not matter what party the court officials and scholars accuse us of belonging to. What matters is that we ourselves know in our hearts that we hold these offices to serve the people of Great Yin.”
Zheng Wenchang lowered his head in shame. “Xia Guan stand corrected.”
He Jingyuan said nothing more.
Outside, great flakes of snow were falling. Yet as He Jingyuan stepped out of the study, his thoughts were on the things he had sent to the capital after learning of the defeat in Chongzhou. Wei Yan must have seen them by now.
The transfer order from the capital had arrived before Wei Xuan made his move, so Wei Xuan was no longer a cause for concern.
Wei Xuan was in such a hurry to requisition grain now, likely because he was afraid of being punished by Wei Yan and was therefore desperate to produce some results.
There was no one left in the northwest; he was the only man Wei Yan could still make use of. If he took the risk of using that method to buy the two sisters a chance at survival, there was a good chance it would work.
There was only so much he could do.
Hearing the crack of firecrackers from the distant streets, a trace of complicated melancholy appeared in He Jingyuan’s eyes. “Whenever the festivals come around, I should at least burn some offerings for the people over there. There is an old friend whom no one else will remember to burn paper money for anymore. I have no face to meet him. Wenchang, come with me outside the city. Help me burn some paper money for an old friend.”
Zheng Wenchang acknowledged the order.
A carriage left the main city of Jizhou and stopped at a hillside.
The mountain wind howled. He Jingyuan personally lit the incense and bowed three times toward the north before planting the incense in the earth. He then stepped away, leaving Zheng Wenchang to burn all the paper offerings there.
The wind whipped up the flames, scattering the stack of spirit money that had not yet finished burning in all directions. Against the white expanse of falling snow, the white sheets of spirit money mingled with the flakes, lending the scene an inexplicably desolate air.
When Zheng Wenchang finished burning the offerings and walked down the low slope, he saw He Jingyuan standing with his back to the slope, his expression touched with sorrow.
On the way back, he could not help asking, “Daren has always been a generous and kind-hearted man. Why say you have no face to meet your old friend?”
He Jingyuan sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, seemingly resting. At Zheng Wenchang’s words, he merely replied, “In times such as these, there are always things one has no choice but to do.”
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
In Lin’an Town.
The snow-covered ground was strewn with paper offerings softened and ruined by water.
Whenever the wind blew hard, quite a few sheets of spirit money would be swept up into the air.
The road, now that the snow had melted, was a muddy mess. Fan Changyu carried Changning as she walked along the narrow ridge between the fields, while Xie Zheng followed behind, expressionless, carrying her bamboo basket, filled to the brim with incense, candles, and paper offerings.
It was the custom in town that on New Year’s Eve, people went to the graves of their deceased family members to offer incense, light candles, and burn paper money.
Fan Changyu’s parents were buried on a mountain just outside town, in a spot with exceptionally good feng shui.
Because the graves were still new, there were hardly any weeds growing around them. Once they arrived, Fan Changyu set Changning down.
It had been nearly two months since their parents’ deaths, yet the moment Changning saw the two mounds of earth, tears immediately welled up in her grape-like eyes.
“Dad, Mom…”
Fan Changyu stroked her little sister’s head and coaxed, “Don’t cry. It’s New Year’s. You should be happy. If Father and Mother can see us from Heaven, they’ll be at peace.”
Little Changning sniffed hard and held back her tears.
After lighting the incense and candles, Fan Changyu had Changning kowtow before the graves while she took the spirit money from the bamboo basket and burned it in an iron basin specially made for collecting paper ashes.
After Changning finished kowtowing, she squatted down beside Fan Changyu and helped her burn the paper money. Seeing Xie Zheng standing off to the side, she divided a large handful of the spirit money in her hands and held it out to him, “Jiefu, burn the paper!”
After a moment’s hesitation, Xie Zheng took the spirit money and began burning it as well. The smell of the ashes was somewhat choking, and the smoke made Changning unable to keep her eyes open, so she could only retreat to the side for the time being.
That left only Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng beside the brazier.
Xie Zheng noticed that she had divided the spirit money in the basket into four portions and asked, “Who are the other two portions for?”
“My maternal grandfather and grandmother,” Fan Changyu said. “My parents used to burn offerings for them. Now that they’re gone too, I figured I might as well burn some for them at the same time.”
Xie Zheng’s brows drew together almost imperceptibly. If her mother did not even know her own original surname, how could she possibly know her parents’ birth dates and times?
He was increasingly certain that the surname on her mother’s spirit tablet had been deliberately concealed.
As for why her father’s surname had not been concealed, either Fan was not his father’s original surname, or… her father had once gone by another surname.
Though suspicion had already taken root in his mind, he had no intention whatsoever of asking Fan Changyu for her grandfather’s surname.
He could already guess the answer. Even if he asked, she would know nothing about it.
Seeing his silence, Fan Changyu assumed he was thinking of his own deceased parents. She said generously, “There’s still plenty of spirit money at home. You should burn some for your parents later too.”
Xie Zheng held a sheet of spirit money between his long, slender fingertips, letting the flames catch along its edge. In the firelight and smoke, his features took on a touch of detachment, “Does burning these things really do anything?”
Fan Changyu genuinely had no answer to that. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Maybe it does. The old folks say that once people reach the other side, they still need money to grease the palms of the ghost officials, otherwise they’ll suffer. Even if it doesn’t work, it’s still something to hold on to.”
When people burn paper money for the dead during festivals, it means that there are still people in this world who remember them.
Xie Zheng said nothing more. He only tossed another handful of spirit money into the brazier from time to time, his lashes lowered halfway, making it impossible to tell what lay in his eyes.
He threw in too much at once, and the unburned paper piled up and produced a thick cloud of smoke. Fan Changyu’s eyes nearly watered from the fumes. She squeezed them shut and turned her face aside, “Don’t put in so much at once.”
She reached into the bamboo basket for more spirit money, but instead of paper, her fingers brushed against a large hand, cool to the touch.
Fan Changyu immediately jerked her hand back as though shocked by electricity. She opened her almond-shaped eyes, already glistening with tears from the smoke, and looked both embarrassed and flustered, “Sorry.”
The warm sensation still lingered across the back of his hand. Xie Zheng pressed his lips together slightly. He had been about to say, “It’s nothing,” but when he looked up and saw the tears caught at the corners of her eyes and her disheveled, red-rimmed eyes, he paused.
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