Chapter 67: Contradiction (2)

Chapter 67: Contradiction (2)

Before Le Wuya could get too choked up, Wenren Yue grabbed him and pulled him into the study.

Wenren Yue's chest rose and fell slightly, his emotions churning: "Brother Gu, life and death are no small matter—don't say such things lightly!"

Hearing this, Le Wuya looked surprised: "If you hadn't tried to hang yourself back then, I never would've ended up here."

Wenren Yue said flatly: "That was different."

"How is it different?"

"I died for the people—willingly."

Le Wuya reminded him: "You died 'cause you were stupid."

Wenren Yue, still nursing some anger, couldn't help but laugh at that.

Once he'd steadied himself, his tone became much gentler: "So, getting a second shot at life, I cherish it all the more and have no desire to repeat past mistakes. Brother Gu, what about you?"

Le Wuya's hand gave a slight twitch.

He sensed that he couldn't just laugh this one off like he usually did.

He hid it by fussing with his robes and asked in return: "...Me?"

Wenren Yue moved a little closer: "A tiny county like this—with your talent, Brother Gu, handling it would be a cinch. If you were to walk the path of benevolent governance, wouldn't that let you breathe a little easier?"

Hearing that highfalutin talk, Le Wuya couldn't help but laugh: "Enlighten me, Scholar Ming, what does 'walking the path of benevolent governance' mean?"

Wenren Yue could hear the edge in his voice: "Today's business—you set that up on purpose, didn't you?"

Le Wuya admitted readily: "Yes."

"Not many of the Village Elders are dummies. Brother Gu, you've profited from them. Once they catch on, what's your move?"

"So what if they catch on? They've bled the land dry for years—paying back the village and the folks is the least they owe. I'm helping them bank some good karma so they don't end up in the eighteenth level of hell after death."

Wenren Yue knew he shouldn't laugh, so he just pursed his lips: "They won't accept this quietly. They'll find ways to bleed the people dry to make back their losses. When officials and gentry collude, the people suffer; when officials and gentry clash, the common folk suffer as well."

Le Wuya flashed a bright smile and looked down, fiddling with his sleeve.

Wenren Yue understood at once: "Brother Gu... you've been hoping they'd make the first move, haven't you?"

"You're giving them too much credit," Le Wuya said. "They wouldn't dare."

"Like you said, I'm baiting the hook. You can see it, and so will they. For now, they'll go after Ding Zhe first—the one who stuck his neck out. That latrine-pit loss—not too big, not too small—they can choke it down. Once this blows over, they'll find other ways to mess with me. I need to use this window to cut off every road they could take. For instance..."

He picked up his teacup, a little smug, his tail practically wagging: "...For instance, they'll find out that Sheng Youde, that local bigwig, won't dance to their tune."

"Whatever dirty tricks they pull, it'll all end up right under my nose."

"Worst case, I'll hand them another mole from the young masters' circle... Hua Rong's a good pick. After that wandering beggars thing, I made a point of not promoting him—just slipped him some perks on the sly. With that ready-made trap left dangling, it's just a matter of when they take the bait."

Seeing him so full of himself, Wenren Yue wanted to laugh along but couldn't: "Brother Gu, have you noticed? If you keep going like this... it'll be one endless fight after another. Those people will hate you, fear you—and once they get a chance, what do you think they'll do to you?"

Le Wuya answered without hesitation: "They'll die a gruesome death."

Wenren Yue fell silent.

He went quiet, but Le Wuya wasn't about to.

"Now you," he countered. "Is this 'benevolent rule' you dream up really gonna make my life easier?"

"'Cut spending, lower taxes, put the people to work at the right times, secure their livelihoods'? 'Make sure they can care for their folks above and feed their families below—full bellies in good years, no dying in bad ones—then steer them toward virtue'? That's the dream of the little guy, not these gentry clans."

Le Wuya rattled off the classics, his voice lilting, his words sharp and quick, with a breezy, cutting edge: "Let me tell you what 'benevolent rule' really looks like in the official world."

"If you just play defense, hide in the yamen, and never make the first move, the gentry will come to court you. You'll have three choices: either cooperate with them and exploit the people; or refuse them, and they'll drag their feet, cry sickness and hardship, and leave your orders dead in the water; or you can pick a side, crush the other, and build up your own clout. But to join a faction, you can't do it with empty words. That magistrate's chair under your ass means squat to them—all they want is the real flesh and blood squeezed out of the common folk."

"Once you're in the muck, you can never wash clean!"

Le Wuya, getting swept up in his own words, grew more and more aggressive, backing him into a corner: "Nobody's ever gone after you like this before, have they?"

"Because back then, in their eyes, you were nothing—not even worth exploiting!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the study fell into silence.

Wenren Yue looked up at him, and in his eyes there was no anger—only a faint trace of pity.

That flicker of pity ignited the small guilt Le Wuya felt at misspeaking, and inexplicably stirred a towering rage within him: "...Why are you looking at me like that?"

Wenren Yue: "Brother Gu, living like you do—constantly on guard against scheming and slander—isn't that exhausting?"

"Keep house for three years, and even the cats and dogs will complain. What they say behind my back, I can't control; if they make a fuss, so much the better. Anyway, having lived two lives, I'm long used to it." Le Wuya lowered his head, gazing at the flickering candle flame nearby. "Didn't you say this body belongs to me now? You're meddling too much."

Wenren Yue suddenly raised his voice: "I don't care about this body—I care about you!"

At those words, both of them froze.

Wenren Yue's ears tinged with a faint red.

But since it had come to this, he no longer hid his feelings. Looking straight into Le Wuya's eyes, he said plainly: "I know you can handle anything, Brother Gu. But isn't this way of yours... walking back down the old road?"

"Brother Gu, in your past life—fighting against others, fighting against fate—were you truly content?"

Le Wuya froze, a wave of bitterness rising in his chest.

His past life...

As a child, he'd wanted to win his family's favor and secure a title for his mother.

As a youth, he'd thought of the Little Phoenix, wanting to carve out a future for the two of them.

What came after, he could no longer remember.

It was one endless struggle after another, a life of dancing on strings like a puppet.

He fixed his gaze on Wenren Yue and asked slowly: "Then, if our positions were reversed, how would you deal with these people?"

He decided that if Wenren Yue dared say something foolish, he'd smash his head in.

But instead, Wenren Yue said: "Using Chen Yuanwei's rebellion as a pretext, I'd redraw the Village Elder selections, divide households and land, throwing their ranks into disarray first. Then I'd promote handicrafts and commerce, cut the ground from under them by gathering up the landless peasants—these gentry, to keep their tenant farmers, would have to improve their treatment, creating a balance between workers and landowners. I could then maneuver from there."

Le Wuya was silent for a moment, then his tone softened: "Our Lord Wenren's backbone has grown sturdy."

Wenren Yue said modestly: "I know there are still many flaws in this plan—various new problems may arise during execution..."

"Too modest." Le Wuya cut him off. "From the moment you redraw the Village Elder selections, someone will be plotting to poison you, to have you die suddenly in office."

This is even considered polite.

Le Wuya rolled his eyes slyly, and a thousand vicious schemes to ruin his his official reputation popped into his head.

Wen Ren Yue dropped his head with a faint smile. "Shou Yue is still too green."

"Not that green, actually. He's fine. At least he doesn't try to reform them or make them see the error of their ways." Le Wuya let out a long breath. "That sets my mind at ease."

Although they were not alike in temperament or approach, they ultimately ended up on the same path.

He added offhandedly, "With me here, you can skip the whole 'walking into a trap' part. After this, there's bound to be infighting among the elders of Nanting. The fact that you know to support commerce and rein in the big families means you're on the right track. Even if I left right now, I could rest easy."

The instant he said that, the study went dead silent.

Wen Ren Yue paused, a pained expression crossing his face.

"You're still clearing the path for me?" Wen Ren Yue caught the implication precisely. "You still don't want to stick around in this world?"

Le Wuya initially wanted to weasel out of it, but under the other's sincere gaze, he decided to be honest for once.

He grinned and said, "Ah, you got me."

Wen Ren Yue dropped his head, looking like he'd been punched in the chest—a dull, suffocating ache he couldn't put into words.

He took two sharp breaths, as if he couldn't hold back the gloom, and blurted out, "No one's figured out Lord Yue's identity yet, so why the rush to leave?"

Le Wuya blinked, confused. "...Huh?"

Wen Ren Yue's face stiffened: ...Did I guess wrong?

Maybe not.

Brother Gu was always good at covering his tracks.

"Nothing." He ducked his head, putting on a look of respect and disappointment. "Brother Gu, it's late. My mother's still waiting for me, so I'll head off. I've left today's essay on your desk. Please take a look."

With that, he grabbed the book bag he'd packed earlier, slung it over his shoulder, gave a polite bow, and turned to go.

Only when the door clicked shut did Le Wuya finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

...That nearly gave me a heart attack!

If a familiar face had recognized him, that was one thing. But how did he figure out who he was?

Wen Ren Yue had gone on and on today, telling him to be moderate, to rest, and Le Wuya hadn't paid any of it any mind.

But that last probing remark sent a chill down his spine and broke him out in a cold sweat.

He started to seriously wonder: Should he really dial back his sharp edges from now on?

Le Wuya paced the room with his hands clasped behind his back, feeling the place too small and stifling. He gave up and headed out to stroll the streets.

By the time they'd finished arguing, the moon was high and the stars were few and far between.

Most of the street stalls had already shut down, but a few vendors who were still open recognized Le Wuya and eagerly asked if the magistrate wanted a late-night snack.

In normal times, Le Wuya would have taken a bite or two, but he was upset and had no appetite, so he waved them off.

He'd stepped out to clear his head, but the more he walked, the more pissed off he got.

He roamed aimlessly around Nanting, still seething, half-ready to march over to Ming Xiangzhao's place and kick his door in.

Standing in the middle of the street, he gritted his teeth and muttered indignantly, "...He's all nice to everyone else, why does he have to be harsh with me?"

He didn't care whether he himself could be harsh to others.

Him baring his teeth at others was the norm.

But if anyone dared to bare theirs back at him, that was unacceptable!

"Who are you talking about?"

Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Le Wuya spun around.

"...Why is it you?"

Author's note:

Please choose the storyline you'd like to see:

The newcomer is: A. Xiaoliu (Xiang Zhijie); B. Little Phoenix (Pei Mingqi)

Players (not really), please head to the comments section and vote by liking!