Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Forty-Third Episode

The Southern Yamen was a cold seat, but it wasn't easy to sit on, because to enter either of the two yamens as a Brocade Guard, one had to meet at least one of three conditions: be the son of a family with military merits, pass the rigorous selection as a commoner from humble origins, or inherit the position or enter through family privilege and backdoor connections.

Clearly, Lian Cheng was the latter—not even an heir, pure backdoor entry.

Yet Lian Cheng felt no shame about it; he went with the flow, adapting to the times. If he had been reborn as Wu Dalang, he would have happily carried his pole and sold sesame cakes every day from dawn to dusk.

But his first day on the job, in his view, was even worse than peddling cakes in the streets.

In the morning, Lou Lan sent a chiliarch named Wu Daping to take him on an inspection of the Military Ordnance Bureau. They didn't visit any high-end weapons manufacturing departments, but rather the alleyways of forges where common blades for soldiers and guards were made. Lian Cheng walked through it once and came out with his nose black from soot.

The chiliarch escorting him, named Wu Daping, was in his prime, sturdy in build, and had a simple, honorable demeanor. Seeing Lian Cheng in distress, he found a basin of water for him to wash his face and said, "Young Master comes from a distinguished family. Do you know what you did to offend Commissioner Lou?"

Lian Cheng scrubbed his face clean, looking bewildered, and said, "I don't know." Though he knew it like the back of his hand—Lou Lan's comment about the Lian family's duplicity was mostly due to the betrayal of the Former Crown Prince's old retainers—he naturally wouldn't tell Wu Daping this.

"Don't take his behavior to heart; he's a good-natured man."

Lian Cheng didn't see it that way.

Wu Daping saw Lian Cheng didn't believe him and dropped the subject. He took him to a street stall for a simple lunch. When the shopkeeper saw their clothes, his hands trembled as he served the food. Wu Daping was used to this, but Lian Cheng still thanked him and then ducked behind the counter to ask for vinegar. His sudden appearance nearly scared the man out of his wits. "What does Your Honor need? Just say the word, and I'll bring it over."

Lian Cheng felt uncomfortable with the man's groveling. He sat back down and asked Wu Daping, "Brother Wu, does the Brocade Guard have a bad reputation around town?"

Wu Daping gave a wry laugh. "When was it ever good? But the Southern Yamen has always only handled internal affairs, so its reputation is still passable. Those people probably mistook us for the Northern Yamen."

"Don't call me Brother Wu; it makes me sound frivolous. Call me Brother Daping."

Brother Daping? Big Flat Chest? That's even more frivolous, Lian Cheng thought, but he didn't say it out loud; they weren't close yet.

In the afternoon, the relationship between the two men grew much closer. From Wu Daping, Lian Cheng learned that the two yamens of the Brocade Guard were not united. The Northern Yamen was basically in cahoots with the Eastern Depot. What Venerable Eunuch Wu Yuanchen had said about merging the two into one was essentially the Eastern Depot swallowing up the Northern Yamen and now wanting to swallow the Southern one as well.

Another thing Lian Pu had written for Lian Cheng to know was that the Eastern Depot was directly under Wu Yuanchen's control. Whether it was the current emperor wanting to merge the two yamens for convenience, or whether Wu Yuanchen wanted to hold all the Brocade Guard in his own hands, was hard to say.

Moreover, Wu Yuanchen had said in front of Lou Lan that he would go persuade the emperor again. Lou Lan must have found that old thing utterly disgusting.

Wu Daping also told him many trivial matters about the yamen, like the makeup of several small factions within the Southern Yamen, who led them, and who was particularly close to the Northern Yamen, so he needed to be extra careful.

Lian Cheng listened as if he were hearing a storybook and remembered everything. The only thing that involved him directly, he underlined in his mind.

At dusk, when the yamen dismissed, Lian Cheng rode his horse through the streets. He bought several bolts of cloth at a fabric store and tied them to his horse, then went out and packed a lot of snacks and pastries. After mounting, he headed in the opposite direction from the Lian residence.

The chiliarch whose position had been taken away by a single remark from Wu Yuanchen was named Li San'er. He lived in a remote area. Lian Cheng looked around from horseback; it was even worse than where his aunt's lover lived. It was still early, and children were gathered playing in the street. Hearing the slow clip-clop of hooves, they quickly made way and looked toward the sound.

It was a Brocade Guard officer. Recognizing the blue-green uniform, the children froze in fear, pressing themselves against the wall until the horse, like a small hill, loomed before them.

Seeing their fear, Lian Cheng dismounted. Just then, a little boy ran away in fright without looking back. Lian Cheng quickly told the kids he wasn't there to cause trouble. "Does Li San'er live around here?"

Hearing the name Li San'er, the children's fear eased a lot. "You're looking for Uncle Li San? Keep going in; the house with only a stone lion on the left is his."

"Thank you." Lian Cheng untied a bag of pastries from the horse, crouched down, opened it, and offered it to them.

At first, they didn't dare and felt embarrassed. But seeing that the officer was so handsome, like Guanyin Bodhisattva, much more so than Uncle Li's fierce-looking colleagues, and the pastries looked so tempting that they couldn't resist, they all reached out with their little hands, grabbed some to stuff in their mouths, and even hid some in their sleeves to take home.

"This shop's candied fruit is so expensive! At New Year, Dad bought me a liang of their candied green plums, and I couldn't bear to eat them!"

"Their candied green plums are the best!"

Lian Cheng looked back. He hadn't bought any, so he asked, "Are they really that good?"

"Really, sir! Haven't you ever tried them?"

Lian Cheng shook his head. No.

The kids waved their hands and described how delicious the candied green plums were. So there was actually something that a Brocade Guard officer had never tasted but they had. Thinking about it, maybe they were even more impressive than him.

Next to the cracked stone lion on the left, a weary-looking man in plain clothes had appeared. A little girl noticed first and reminded Lian Cheng, "Uncle Li! This officer is looking for you!"

Lian Cheng turned and saw Li San'er motioning for him to enter the house. So Lian Cheng quickly gave the remaining candied fruit to the children, got up, led his horse by the bridle, and trotted into the home of the laid-off official.

This was Lian Cheng's first time stepping into a commoner's home in ancient times. He crossed the threshold into an unkempt yard. Li San'er took the halter from him, tied the horse to a tree, and led him inside. He moved a stool for Lian Cheng to sit on.

The windows were not bright, the walls were not warm, and the lighting was naturally poor. Since it was evening, the oil lamp wasn't lit yet; Li San'er brought one from an adjoining room and carefully placed it on the square table next to Lian Cheng. Then he brought a pot of tea and two plates of shriveled fruits before sitting down as the host.

After all, Lian Cheng was still a college student. He had read books and knew some theory, but his practical experience was nonexistent. Li San'er wasn't a member of his family whom he could joke around with to smooth things over. So he cleared his throat and first asked if Li San'er knew that someone had replaced him as chiliarch.

Li San'er smiled bitterly. "I learned about it during the day. I'm not surprised. For the past few months, I've rarely shown up at the yamen to check in. I'm grateful to the commissioner for covering for me and that I made it this far through heaven's grace."

"You're taking it pretty well," Lian Cheng said, with a complicated expression. "Do you know who replaced you?"

"You."

"..." Lian Cheng had intended to put on a pretense, but couldn't keep it up. He asked how Li San'er had found out.

"I've been at the Southern Yamen for nearly twenty years. If I couldn't get news like that, I'd be useless, wouldn't I?" Li San'er cracked a smile at this naive young lord. And thinking of how affable the officer had been with the children, he felt relieved that his position hadn't gone to some scoundrel.

Lian Cheng had nothing to say, so he drank his tea in one gulp, set down the cup, and stood up. He walked outside, untied all the items from his horse's back, carried them into the house, and with a thud, set them on the table in the main room. "This job came to me on a whim. I didn't expect to accidentally push you out. These things are my compensation to you. Please don't hold a grudge against me."

What Lian Cheng really meant was: from now on, we go our separate ways. Don't send anyone to ambush me, and don't get the senior officers from the Southern Yamen to gang up on me.

Li San'er was startled, then a look of alarm crossed his face. He stood up and bowed. "Officials come and go in the court. Why is Your Honor being so courteous?"

Lian Cheng helped him up and asked what his next plan was.

A woman's cough came from the room where the oil lamp had been taken. Li San'er, without answering, quickly let go and hurried over. Soon, soft voices were heard speaking.

Lian Cheng hesitated in the doorway, unsure whether to eavesdrop or go look. Before he made up his mind, he found himself already standing at the door.

Inside, only an empty bed could be seen, with the bed curtains drawn down, completely hiding the woman within. She spoke weakly, "Is it Lord Lou? Brother San, don't accept any more favors from Lord Lou. We can't repay them. I probably only have a day or two. You'll be free after I'm gone. But listen to me: after I'm gone, find a healthy woman to marry..."

Li San'er snapped, "Nonsense! You're a perfectly healthy person—where would you go?"

They talked for a while, both crying. When Li San'er came out, his eyes were red. He said to Lian Cheng, "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

Lian Cheng had already sat back down on the stool. "What illness does your wife have?"

"I don't know. Her face is jaundiced, even her eyes are yellow, and her belly is swollen like a ten-month pregnant woman. She's taken countless doses of medicine, but nothing helps," Li San'er said.

Lian Cheng knew immediately it was liver disease—the swollen belly was ascites. But he wasn't a doctor and didn't know how to treat it, so he could only sigh with Li San'er.

"My wife won't last. I've known it in my heart for a long time. Lord Lou has been taking care of me because of this, but I've always felt indebted to him, and even more so for the salary I received each month. Your coming, sir, has lifted a weight off my heart. Now I can accompany her properly in her last days."

Before leaving, Lian Cheng took silver from his sleeve and handed it to him. "Brother Wu told me you have excellent martial skills and wield a formidable blade. If you can't find a job later, you can come to the Lian residence and I'll feed you."

Li San'er thanked him deeply and saw him out.

-

Curfew was approaching, and Lian Cheng had not yet returned home. Zhang Ailian, worried, had long ago ordered a chair placed in front of the door and sat there waiting, almost becoming a statue of a waiting mother. The maids and housekeeper laughed, saying the lady usually didn't care about anything, but now that her third son had worked at the yamen for just one day, she was so worried she couldn't eat or drink.

But in less than fifteen minutes, another person came to Zhang Ailian's side: her eldest son, Lian Feng, who had already changed out of his official robes, with a furrowed brow. He greeted Zhang Ailian first. "I went to Penglai Pavilion earlier to find our third brother and ask how he was doing at the Southern Yamen, but the two maids said they hadn't seen him. It turns out he hasn't come home yet."

Zhang Ailian was anxious in her heart, wishing she could send someone out to search for him.

She sat there for a long time in silence.

"How is Yun Jie'er?" Zhang Ailian asked Lian Feng. "I haven't seen her for several days."

"She's been well recently. As Mother instructed, she has started school. Tomorrow I'll have her mother bring her to pay respects to Mother and show Mother how well she can read characters."

"That's good." Zhang Ailian couldn't help but smile, but the corners of her mouth soon drooped again.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure appear inside the gate, drawing closer. It was Sixth Brother Lian Xiusheng. He too had changed out of his crimson official robes and was wearing a less conspicuous moon-white straight robe, pure and spotless, as if carved from ice. "Curfew is almost here, Brother Sheng. Are you going out?"

"..." Lian Xiusheng hadn't expected Zhang Ailian and Lian Feng to be there. His expression remained calm. He first bowed to each of them, then said, "After leaving the office, I came home for dinner, but I still haven't seen Third Brother. I'm quite worried, so I came to wait for him to come back."