Chapter 1939: Two Thousand Strings, and It Drags Up a Heaven-Sized Entanglement?

The Kangning case was like a thread-end poking above the water's surface — unless someone pulled hard on it, no one would ever know how many people and affairs were tangled beneath. After several days of fermentation, the attitudes of the Western Capital's powerful families implicated in the case had gradually begun to show themselves.

Most people would at least make some inquiries, and most could hold steady — they did not much believe the Kangning case could be all that serious, nor how it could possibly implicate them. Of course, that was true only for those magnates whose involvement was shallow.

But some were different — a thief's heart is always uneasy. Weighing themselves and measuring their own conduct, they found it hard to sit truly still as anglers on their platforms. Those who could watch the situation develop and move only later were already the ones with steady nerves; those who could not sit still had already rushed off to inquire and intervene.

Of course, all beings show a hundred faces, and there was no shortage of people like the Emperor's maternal uncle Li Ye — who saw risk as opportunity, crisis as a golden chance, and were secretly stirring and sharpening their knives. There were quite a few of them, and especially under Li Ye's personal invitations and string-pulling, even more were tempted.

As a result, noticeably more people came to the Court of Judicial Review to put in a word or probe for information, and their purposes were just as noticeably varied — which only deepened the confusion of the Court's Vice Minister Xiang Minzhong. Especially when a censor submitted an open impeachment, accusing him of trying the case without diligence and harboring private motives. Such an accusation startled and enraged Xiang Minzhong, while deepening his bewilderment and anxiety over the Kangning case. He grew even more cautious and conservative, daring no rash moves, suppressing the ideas of his subordinate officials hard, deferring entirely to orders from above...

The Yangyi Marquis Estate sat in the northern city, in the northeastern quarter of the Western Capital's inner city. Yangyi Marquis Zhang Yongde was a first-rank Marquis. Decades had passed, and most of the meritorious old generals had either withered away or retreated behind the scenes, but a small few still held their posts at the center of military and political power — Zhang Yongde was one of them, serving at the time as Chief Commander of the Imperial Guard Command.

Night fell, and the marquis estate settled into a tranquil, serene atmosphere. Having just finished dinner with his family and enjoyed a measure of domestic bliss, Zhang Yongde went to his study as usual, intending to read a bit and look over some important news and intelligence. Before he could get into the swing of it, a servant came to report that the Guyang Earl had arrived.

The Guyang Earl was Li Chongjin, nephew of the late Duke of Xing, and likewise close to the Guo family. But compared to Zhang Yongde's lifelong smooth sailing, Li Chongjin's fortunes had been markedly more bumpy and tortuous. Calling his fate ill-starred might be overstating it, but that his official career had been fraught with difficulties was acknowledged by all among the meritorious elite.

If Li Chongjin himself had been incompetent, that would be one thing — but he was not. Though Li Chongjin had some flaws of character — hot-headed, impulsive, quick to anger — he was diligent in his efforts, serious in his work, fierce in battle, and always loyal to the court. He had rendered no small number of meritorious services in his early years, and with the influence of the Guo family behind him, his promotions had not been slow — at least in the early period, no slower than Zhang Yongde's rise.

But at every critical moment for promotion, Li Chongjin would always run into some problem — either he poked a hole in his own bucket, such as the massacre of prisoners during the Huainan campaign, or he simply lost a battle.

The most typical instance was during the Qianyou Northern Expedition, when he and Shi Yande, both eager for merit, recklessly pursued the enemy, galloping headlong in a wild rush — and walked straight into a Liao army ambush, costing the court several thousand elite cavalry of the imperial army. The lesson was so bitter that Li Chongjin became one of the few senior officers in the aftermath of the Qianyou Northern Expedition to be demoted rather than promoted. For a man who always carried a pride in his heart, this was no small blow.

In the subsequent process of the Great Han unifying the realm, Li Chongjin did get some fighting to do and won some merits, but compared with generals of the same seniority and generation, he had already fallen considerably behind.

In the early years of Kaibao, when Emperor Liu bestowed ranks and honors, the relevant offices, after detailed, rigorous, and comprehensive weighing, proposed enfeoffing Li Chongjin as a second-rank Earl. Emperor Liu raised no objection and granted him the title of Guyang Earl. But Zhang Yongde's Yangyi Marquis was a first-rank title — how could Li Chongjin find balance in such a gap? He thus dwelt long in a state of stifled grievance and unwilling resignation.

In every major or minor campaign of the early Kaibao years, Li Chongjin would volunteer himself each time, yet never managed to win any outstanding merit. All the way to the Kaibao Northern Expedition, Li Chongjin, already nearing fifty, still actively begged to join the fight, hoping through such a war to gain military achievements, win honor, raise his rank, and improve his treatment.

To that end, he did not begrudge serving alongside his juniors in the dangerous and arduous vanguard duty. But the result was that before the expedition achieved victory, his old ailment flared up again. The grand, thunderous Kaibao Northern Expedition ultimately made a mere spectator of him — and one stationed close to the battlefield at that...

After the Kaibao Northern Expedition, even a man of iron will like Li Chongjin could not help but grow disheartened and listless. In the tenth year of Kaibao he began to withdraw — first requesting to be transferred out of the imperial army's ranks, and being assigned to the Southern Yan Mountains Circuit as Deputy Chief Commander. Two years later he retired completely, leaving the army where he had spent the better part of his life.

Having left the military, Li Chongjin stepped into politics and went to a local government office, starting directly from the position of a prefectural governor. Considering that he had no experience in civil administration, Zhao Pu had intended at the time to give him a sinecure in the circuit office to hang his name on. But Li Chongjin's background was solid enough and his seniority old enough that in the end he landed the substantive post of Prefect of Shangzhou.

However, Li Chongjin was, after all, only a military man. Commanding troops he could manage, but in governance he truly had nothing praiseworthy. First, no experience; second, little patience; third, a single-minded desire to accomplish things and produce results — and the final result, naturally, was trouble.

That very year, over the matter of the autumn tax collection, Li Chongjin acted too rashly and with too rough a manner, which provoked a popular uprising. To suppress the rebellion, he chose harsh crackdowns, and ended up with several dozen lives on his hands...

Thus, having served as Prefect of Shangzhou for less than half a year, he was stripped of his post outright. From then on, Li Chongjin was thoroughly reduced to a man of leisure — and a man of leisure he remained for over a decade.

During those ten-odd years, unlike some of the meritorious elite, Li Chongjin, after retiring, was very well-behaved and very well-adjusted. After all, whether in the military or in officialdom, he had weathered too many setbacks and ups and downs; once he stepped down, he instead saw things more clearly, and actually attained some measure of tranquil detachment.

Therefore, Li Chongjin was not the most comfortable-living of the meritorious elite, but he was absolutely the most at ease and peaceful...

If the Western Capital had a real-time trending list, the Kangning case would absolutely top it. Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, it shook both court and country, and many people who ordinarily kept their profiles low surfaced — in ways that startled and surprised everyone.

No exception — the reason Li Chongjin had come to the Yangyi Marquis Estate was likewise tied to the Kangning affair. Originally Li Chongjin had not intended to come, but he could not withstand the pressure from several of his own worthless sons and grandsons — rumors and gossip, pressure from both inside and outside — forcing Li Chongjin to come to the door to discuss the matter.

The Guo and Chai bloc — this great power group, these two great clans — their current prestige was naturally not what it once was. But as long as there was still Consort Guo Ning in the palace, and two Dukes outside it, they remained among the most illustrious families.

And counting through the sons of the two great clans currently in power, the only one who could make Li Chongjin bend his back and come calling was Zhang Yongde. The two of them counted as the highest in seniority and the oldest in standing within the power bloc.

In the study, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy. Zhang Yongde listened to Li Chongjin's account, his old brows slightly furrowed. He drank two mouthfuls of tea, pondered deeply for a good while, and only then asked: "What you say is certainly accurate? Between you and that Kangning there is only this debt relationship, and nothing else?"

Seeing that Zhang Yongde seemed faintly suspicious, the bad temper Li Chongjin had suppressed for over a decade flared up at once. He sprang to his feet, pointed at heaven, and said solemnly: "I've swallowed my pride and come to your door to seek counsel — what else is there to be evasive about? If not for those two unfilial sons of mine, how could I ever beg at your doorstep? That unfilial son of mine merely fell into someone's trap. Even if it came to implications, they hold no office and no power — how deep could the implication reach?"

Seeing Li Chongjin's indignant look, Zhang Yongde slapped the table too. He knew in his heart that with this old tiger, one had to keep the pressure on to have any normal communication. Before others, Li Chongjin was always normal — only when facing him did he grow so easily angry. There was a hurdle in his heart that he could not cross...

"What use is shouting at me? If you act rashly without understanding the situation, who can say whether the result will be escaping the mire or sinking deeper into it?" Zhang Yongde said coldly, lecturing Li Chongjin: "I warned you long ago — you need to keep your family and descendants in line..."

"Is my family not well-behaved enough?" Li Chongjin refused to accept this: "Speaking fairly, all these years, when has my family ever caused trouble? Have we broken the law? Or done evil? That nephew of yours may be good for nothing, but he has always been proper and filial! Your grandson nearly killed someone before — how did you discipline him? And on what grounds do you blame me?"

Seeing this old fellow openly exposing his shortcomings to his face, Zhang Yongde's expression naturally could not be pleasant. But looking at Li Chongjin's white-haired, rage-roused appearance, and then noticing his own graying beard and hair, he could not help but give a wry laugh or two.

Calming his emotions, he waved a hand: "What are we arguing here for? What good will it do?"

Zhang Yongde's tone softened, and Li Chongjin had vented his feelings as well. He said in a low voice: "We must find some way to make amends! Right now the capital is in an uproar over this affair. What others think or do is none of my business — what I fear is His Majesty! That Kangning is certainly no good thing — scheming and harboring treacherous designs. Now that it's come to light, his death would be no loss. What I fear is that His Majesty will use this to launch a great purge of implicated parties — such a thing, His Majesty is quite capable of doing!"

"Mind your words! Mind your words!" Though they were in a private study, hearing Li Chongjin speak thus, Zhang Yongde wished he could rush over and cover his mouth.

Seeing his reaction, Li Chongjin realized he had gone too far and decisively shut his mouth. Zhang Yongde was thus able to think seriously once more, and said slowly: "This matter is not as serious as you make it out to be! If it's only a debt relationship, then hold fast to that point. While there's still no verdict, pay the money back and first sever the connection! How much did you borrow from the Kang family?"

"Two thousand strings..."

At the mention of it, Li Chongjin's anger surged anew — after all, he was a Guyang Earl; how could he possibly be short of a mere two thousand strings?

"Two thou—" Zhang Yongde was clearly choked for a moment. He looked at Li Chongjin, somewhat incredulous, and sighed: "For a paltry two thousand strings, you've stirred up a heaven-sized entanglement. After this affair is over, you truly must discipline my nephew well!"