Chapter 393 Yangzhou

Chapter 393: Yangzhou

"What took you two so long?" Ge Quan set Fang Jinrong down from the horse, and Song Tingzhou rode out to talk with Ge Quan.

Because Prince Lian had "fled," the Emperor was furious and vowed to send someone to capture him. Due to the previous relationship between the Luo family and Prince Lian, even though over a hundred of their direct descendants had died, they were still listed as the number one suspect.

Ge Quan had brought over twenty Jinyiwei guards armed with embroidered spring sabers on this trip, ostensibly to "capture Prince Lian."

He and Song Tingzhou ostensibly each had their own duties. Song Tingzhou had been appointed by imperial decree as Governor of Jiangnan, with temporary jurisdiction over grain supplies, civil affairs, and military farming in over a dozen prefectures including Suzhou, Yangzhou, Lin'an, Songjiang, Huai'an, Luzhou, and Huizhou—all his old stomping grounds, so it was familiar territory.

Beyond that, knowing this would be a hard battle, the Emperor had granted Song Tingzhou immense authority, also conferring on him the title of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

In the Censorate, the left was considered superior, and the Right Censor-in-Chief was essentially a concurrent title, allowing him to exercise supervisory and impeachment powers locally—he could directly impeach local officials and even settle minor matters on the spot without first reporting to the court.

As for Ge Quan, on the surface he was going to arrest a rebellious prince, but in reality he was using that as an excuse to clear obstacles for Song Tingzhou, keeping the Luo family—the most powerful clan in the south—in check so they wouldn't dare make a move.

Ge Quan's martial arts had reached the absolute peak of perfection. Unless he faced a truly formidable enemy, he usually didn't bother carrying his sword. But now he had one strapped to his side—over three feet long, with a scabbard engraved with a five-clawed golden dragon amid clouds.

He pulled a long rectangular rosewood box from his robes and handed it to Song Tingzhou. "This is a secret edict from His Majesty. You hold onto it—I'm afraid I might lose it."

Song Tingzhou held the reins with one hand and pushed open the box with his thumb, revealing a secret edict written on bright yellow silk brocade.

Song Tingzhou let out a wry laugh. "Brother Ge really trusts me. If something like this got lost, it'd cost us our heads."

Ge Quan smiled gently. "If His Majesty wants to punish me, I'll take Rong'er and leave Shengjing. I'll entrust Tong'er to your care."

Song Tingzhou: "..."

He couldn't quite manage a laugh—he felt Ge Quan was serious, and quite looking forward to it.

The carriage passed smoothly through the city gates and only stopped once they reached a secluded spot in the outskirts.

Fang Jinrong poked his head out the window. "Why are we stopping so soon? You need to take a leak?"

Meng Wan was still slowly sipping his bottle of milk and nearly sprayed it all over Fang Jinrong's face. "Cough... no, there's something else."

Fang Jinrong was munching on the buns Meng Wan had brought—the Song family's cook was far better than his own family's. With his mouth still full, he mumbled, "What's up?" He was curious by nature and loved getting to the bottom of things.

Meng Wan didn't hide it from him. With a half-smile, he said, "Some clueless bastard has been causing trouble behind our backs. I sent people to root him out."

"Someone dared to offend you? They really must be blind." Fang Jinrong leaned against the window, the spring breeze brushing his forehead and caressing his clear, bright face. "Where is he? Let me see who's so bold."

Outside, Gui Qian and his men were waiting under a few poplar trees, a disheveled scholar bound hand and foot at their feet.

Meng Wan and Song Tingzhou hadn't brought many servants on this trip south. Song Tingzhou had brought Tao Shi and seven or eight other skilled fighters, along with Qiao Xingyuan, the trusted Prefectural Judge from Shuntian Prefecture.

Meng Wan had left Huang Ye in the capital to watch over the residence, bringing only Chi Yu, Zhifan, and Zhimao along.

Gui Qian had finished dealing with the man and would need to return to the residence afterward. Seeing Meng Wan descend from the carriage, he dragged the scholar over and greeted him, "Master, we've caught him. The bastard had fled to a small village outside the city—I tracked him down by asking around."

"Good work. I'll have Huang Ye double your monthly wages." Meng Wan was quite satisfied with Gui Qian's efficiency. The young man was shrewd and knew which way the wind blew. Having grown up poor, he kept a clear head and wouldn't pull any foolish stunts like Qiuse used to.

"Thank you, Master!"

Meng Wan already treated his household servants better than anyone, and Gui Qian was close to saving enough to buy himself a small courtyard. In his excitement, he gripped harder, yanking the scholar's hair and making him hiss in pain. "What are you doing?! You dare kidnap a provincial graduate in broad daylight? I'm Su Jin, a registered juren of Yingtian Prefecture in the Imperial Academy! Who dares lay a hand on me!"

"Who dares touch you? Do I need to remind you how you ended up with that limp?" Meng Wan kicked the leg Su Jin dragged behind him.

The wound in his heart was torn open, and Su Jin nearly went hysterical. His eyes bloodshot, he screamed in a mad rage, "If it weren't for you meddling, I'd already be the Gu family's prized son-in-law, have passed the imperial exams, and returned home in glory!"

Meng Wan listened to Su Jin's words, marveling at his audacity to turn the blame around. Unruffled, he smiled and scolded, "Su Jin, Su Jin, you really have some nerve. You had the nerve to do it, but do you take everyone for fools? Lady Gu isn't some naive young lady from the inner chambers. You thought you could threaten Lord Gu, who cares so much about face, but you didn't realize such a trivial matter would never even get to him. Breaking your leg was the least of it—missing the imperial exams was your own damn fault!"

"What's wrong with planning for my own future?! You people who don't understand literature or the classics—how would you ever understand!" Su Jin's broken leg was the pain of his lifetime. He blamed everyone and everything, but never admitted it all came from his own greed. Though who knows if he ever had regrets in the dead of night.

Seeing him spitting venom at Meng Wan, Gui Qian shoved him to the ground. "Shut your mouth! How dare you disrespect our master!"

Meng Wan looked down at Su Jin pinned to the ground. He wasn't here to argue with scum like this, and killing him wasn't worth soiling his hands.

A sly smile on his face, Meng Wan said, "I'm a cultured man—I never go in for violence. Looking at that face of yours, you could pass for a kept man. You like being a live-in son-in-law, don't you? I'm quite fond of matchmaking, so I'll do you the favor."

As the carriage started moving again, Fang Jinrong pulled his head back inside from the window. "What did you do with that man?"

Meng Wan picked up his folding fan and flapped it a couple of times. "What do you mean, 'do with him'? I'm so kind-hearted—of course I found that poor scholar a good home!"

Fang Jinrong looked at him suspiciously. "What good home? Sent him to haul sacks at the docks?"

Meng Wan broke into a smile. "Much more comfortable than hauling sacks. He'll earn money on his back."

—

At the end of April, the boat sailing south from Shengjing cut through the canal's waves and pulled into Yangzhou's docks. From afar, one could see rows of blue-brick walls along the shore, dense as a reed thicket.

As the busiest dock in all of Shengjing, countless vessels of all sizes came and went. Merchant ships bore the insignias of various trading houses—half of them carrying salt, with the rest split between grain, cloth, tea, and porcelain.

The dock was a sea of people. Shouts, work chants, and street vendors' cries mingled into a boisterous, vibrant torrent that even drowned out the sound of oars slicing through water.

Goods from north and south were piled up like mountains. Porters worked bare-chested, their bronze skin glistening with sweat in the spring sunlight. They bent their backs, shouting earth-shaking work chants as they unloaded heavy cargo from ships to shore, then moved it to waiting carts or warehouses.

The air was thick with moisture, fishiness, sweat, and the distinctive smells of various goods—complex yet strangely harmonious, vivid and real.

As Song Tingzhou's party disembarked from the big ship, porters immediately swarmed them.

"Sir, need some laborers? We brothers are dock veterans—strong and our prices are fair!"

"You gentlemen look unfamiliar—first time in Yangzhou? I know all the inns and shops in the city. I'll find you a good place!"

"Watch your step, sirs—the dock is crowded and full of pickpockets..."

A kind-hearted street vendor had barely finished speaking when Ge Quan grabbed a shifty-eyed, short, skinny man whose hand had just been reaching toward Fang Jinrong—a would-be pickpocket trying to take advantage of the chaos.

Having failed, the thief tried to raise a fuss. Usually, travelers who'd just disembarked from a long journey, exhausted in body and mind, wouldn't bother making a fuss.

But the next second, the twenty-odd men behind Ge Quan simultaneously drew their sabers partway, revealing gleaming, snow-white blades that flashed blindingly in the sun.

Not only was the thief scared half to death, but the bustling atmosphere around them seemed to die instantly, the very air freezing for a moment.

Song Tingzhou's gaze swept across the bustling crowd at the dock and landed on a group of yamen runners in black uniforms on the shore.

That group of runners had been about to head to the dock when their leader happened to see Ge Quan's men catch the thief. He glanced at the embroidered sabers at the Jinyiwei's waists, then hurried over with his men. Scanning the crowd, he clasped his hands in salute to Song Tingzhou and Ge Quan, who stood at the front, his manner respectful yet wary: "I'm Li Yue, Chief Constable of Suzhou Prefecture. Might I ask if you two are Lord Song and Lord Ge from Shengjing?"

Ge Quan stepped back—he was only there for the muscle; dealing with local officials was better left to Song Tingzhou.

Song Tingzhou took out his credentials and fire token from his travel bag. The credentials were identity documents issued by the court, stating his imperial commission, the purpose of his mission, and the scope of his travels. The fire token was used to requisition relay horses and lodging along the way.

Yangzhou had a strong literary tradition, and even a lowly constable could read. Li Yue didn't dare take the credentials Song Tingzhou offered—he just glanced at them in Song Tingzhou's hand. His eyelids twitched, and he bent at the waist in a deep bow. "So you're His Excellency the Governor-General! Our prefect has had us waiting here for days. We've already prepared accommodations for you gentlemen in the city. You and your family must be weary from the long journey—please allow me to escort you to your lodgings first. I'll send someone to inform the prefect."

Song Tingzhou had expected this and didn't refuse. "Please lead the way, Constable Li."

Li Yue was flattered. "You're too kind, Your Excellency."

The traveling party was neither too small nor too large, and Meng Wan still had two carts' worth of luggage that needed porters to haul.

They disembarked in the afternoon, and by the time they got their lodgings sorted out, it was nearly dark.

The Yangzhou prefect had set aside two adjoining three-courtyard compounds for Song Tingzhou and Ge Quan, located in the bustling city center. The residences were elegantly arranged, nothing out of place—solid, if unremarkable.

The western compound was set aside for the imperial guards and Song Tingzhou's subordinates, while the Song and Ge families shared the eastern compound. Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan stayed in the main courtyard with their servants and luggage, while Ge Quan and Fang Jinrong, the couple, took the rear courtyard.

The residence came with a resident cook and five or six general servants, all seeming honest and hardworking. Yet everyone knew full well that they were probably planted there as spies, possibly even from more than one faction.

Traveling by boat was always more comfortable than by carriage. After a month on the road, Meng Wan was still full of energy. "Jinrong, have you ever been to Yangzhou before?"

Fang Jinrong was rummaging through his meager luggage. "I have. Remember that noisy hen I told you about? I rescued her here in Yangzhou."

He rarely remembered anyone he'd met so vividly, which shows how mad he'd been—he still remembers it to this day.

Meng Wan hadn't expected his question to stumble onto that topic and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. "I've been here before too, though I never got to stay long. But there's a restaurant here whose salt-braised duck is exceptionally savory and tender. How about I take you there in a few days?"

Fang Jinrong, in truth, didn't feel much about it anymore—he had only mentioned it in passing and quickly let it go. "Why wait a few days? Why not go today?"

Meng Wan: "Huh? Now?"

Meng Wan always liked to settle in first when arriving somewhere new, and he wasn't quite used to Fang Jinrong's impulsive, spur-of-the-moment nature.

"Ge Quan, I'm going to that restaurant for salt-braised duck!" Fang Jinrong shouted toward the front courtyard.

A voice came back right away: "Let me freshen up and change, and I'll take you there."

The two of them had each packed just one spare outfit and somehow made do the whole trip, entirely accustomed to it. On the way to find the restaurant, Fang Jinrong detoured into a ready-made clothing shop and bought several outfits inside and out.

Having traveled far and wide with Ge Quan for years, he had developed good judgment and wouldn't fall for the shopkeeper's spiel. He simply bought what was comfortable and practical for his needs.

Yangzhou's brocade, satin, silk, and gauze were far cheaper than elsewhere. Coming out of the clothing shop, Fang Jinrong had changed into a pale yellow gauze long gown, layered with a short-sleeved jacket with three collars—light and easy to move in, looking comfortable just to look at.

Meng Wan hadn't brought many clothes either. He pulled Fang Jinrong over to take a look. "Not bad. Tomorrow I'll have Zhifan and Zhimao buy a few sets for me too."

Salt-braised duck was a famous Yangzhou dish, available at any decent-sized restaurant. Meng Wan picked the busiest, most lively establishment he could find and went in, generously reserving a private booth on the second floor and ordering seven or eight local specialties and pastries.

The private booths on the second floor were separated by screens decorated with plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum motifs. Meng Wan's booth cost an extra three hundred coppers, and its window opened out onto the canal, where vendors on both banks sold snacks and handicrafts—far more bustling and vibrant than the solemn, imposing capital of Shengjing.

Yangzhou was not short of wealthy men, and there were even finer establishments above the second floor, but the four of them were only out for a meal, so there was no need for extravagance.

As soon as they sat down, the waiter briskly poured tea—the flower tea Meng Wan had purchased. The dried leaves slowly unfurled in the water, releasing a fragrant aroma.

Fang Jinrong, seeing the tea was still too hot to drink, leaned over to the window and gazed at the crowded streets along the canal below. "Yangzhou is lively, sure, but the whole city stinks of merchant greed. Heshang feels a lot more human and warm."

Heshang was the pride and joy of Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan. Meng Wan loved hearing such words. His eyes grew nostalgic, and he let out a soft sigh. "Heshang is certainly different, but rather than staying 'simple and honest' forever, I'd rather see the common folk live prosperous lives. Everyone looks down on merchants as lowly, yet the reason Yangzhou became one of Yu's finest prefectures is precisely because of the constant flow of merchant ships and goods moving north and south. A city only comes alive when it's in motion."