Chapter 574: The Visitor from Luzhou

Outside the Eastern Capital's city walls, the land had already become one massive construction site. The expansion of Kaifeng began from the Eastern Capital. The Kaifeng Prefecture conscripted over ten thousand laborers at once, and several hundred craftsmen from the Eastern Capital and its vicinity. Stone, brick, and timber from all over arrived at the Eastern Capital boatload after boatload.

As far as Liu Chengyou knew, more than a dozen new brick kilns had been built in the suburbs of the Eastern Capital, taking clay to fire blue bricks, devoted entirely to the Eastern Capital's great works. Merchants chased profit, and many saw the opportunity. Inside and outside Kaifeng, several merchants with deep backgrounds had begun to plunge heavily into the "building materials" trade.

What Liu Chengyou himself failed to realize was that the city construction projects had in turn spurred another wave of commercial prosperity. Thanks to the court's lenient policies, the commercial atmosphere in the Eastern Capital grew ever thicker. Merchants from across the realm gathered, wealth gradually accumulated here, just waiting for the day when policies tightened, and a harvest could be reaped...

The imperial carriage returned to the palace. Liu Chengyou, as usual, first went to Ciming Hall to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager and, in passing, look in on his eldest son. Liu Xu was already past four years old—a small child, gentle and endearing. Under his grandmother's tutelage, he had already begun learning characters.

Though raised by the grandparental generation, the lack of maternal love was an undeniable fact. Liu Xu appeared very quiet, not as lively as his younger brothers. The little child's gaze toward Liu Chengyou already carried a hint of estrangement. It stirred in Liu Chengyou a feeling of compassion, of pity.

Occasionally, Liu Chengyou would entertain the thought of finding a mother for Liu Xu. But the Empress Dowager had personally raised him all these years, and Lady Li would surely find it hard to let go.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Xiangzhou!" Returning to Chongzheng Hall with a touch of displeasure, Zhang Dejun came forward to report, handing over a sealed memorial.

Breaking the seal, a single page of paper—he gave it a slight shake to unfold it and scanned it. Liu Chengyou's brow furrowed involuntarily. The secret memorial read:

"Your servant Zhang Zhi, confidential officer of the Wude Office in Xiangzhou, reports to Your Majesty: Commissioner of the Wude Office Wang Jingchong, at Anyang, has detained Military Governor Liu Zhu. He has extensively fabricated evidence of Liu Zhu's crimes and misgovernance, hunted down Liu Zhu's relatives and partisans, sealed off information, intimidated military and civil officials, and applied cruel tortures with vicious means. He has extorted several hundred thousand in cash and silk. Most of the wealth Liu Zhu had amassed has fallen into his hands. Liu Zhu, unable to bear the humiliation, took his own life on the night of the seventh day of the ninth month. Liu's wife hanged herself and died."

Slowly he folded the letter paper, carefully creased it, and returned it to its envelope. Then he had Zhang Dejun bring a palace candle and burned it directly.

The orange-red flame gradually devoured the secret report, giving off a slightly unpleasant odor. The firelight flickered, casting shadows across Liu Chengyou's face, which had already become extraordinarily calm.

Before long, Liu Chengyou received Wang Jingchong's memorial concerning the Liu Zhu case. Some things could be sealed off, but the death of the principal offender Liu Zhu—such a matter could not be concealed.

Of course, from Wang Jingchong's side, it was a different story altogether. Regarding Liu Zhu's oppressive governance and lawbreaking, the evidence of his extortion and harm to the people had been collected quite thoroughly—that much was true. As for Liu Zhu's death, Wang Jingchong glossed over it, saying that due to negligence in guarding him, Liu Zhu had taken his own life out of fear of punishment, and he requested that Liu Chengyou punish him. Clearly, Wang Jingchong wanted to accept a minor punishment to avoid a major fault.

"Send word to Wang Jingchong: the officials, clerks, and people of Xiangzhou are all without guilt; there shall be no implication of others or harassment of the populace. The wealth Liu Zhu amassed shall be registered in ledgers and sent in full to the Eastern Capital, to be used for repairing the city walls!" Liu Chengyou instructed. "Tell Wang Jingchong that he was ordered to investigate, and he represents the court. He should harbor a heart of benevolence and forgiveness, act with prudence in all matters, and mind his methods. He must not be too hasty, lest he commit a grave error!"

"Also, circulate the following: Liu Zhu's crimes were grave, and he took his own life out of fear of the law. But in the end, he was a founding elder of the Great Han. Though I resent his perversion of the law and harm to the people, I cannot help but pity him. Order that the bodies of Liu Zhu and his wife be properly encoffined, and that his descendants return them to their native place for burial! After his son's mourning period ends, have the Ministry of Personnel evaluate him according to his abilities and grant him an official post!"

"As for Xiangzhou, it shall be renamed Zhangde Prefecture. The Ministry of Personnel shall send someone to take office and govern its affairs!"

And so the Liu Zhu case came to a hasty end. Clearly his sins were grave, but after Wang Jingchong's maneuvering, the outcome could not help but be sorrowful. Perhaps it was simply that the dead are given the benefit of the doubt.

As for Wang Jingchong's matter, Liu Chengyou had let him off lightly. And in his heart, he had to admit that Wang Jingchong was truly no gentle character. Liu Zhu himself had been a ruthless figure—vicious of heart, cruel of hand, a killer without number—yet falling into Wang Jingchong's hands, he had met the bleak end of taking his own life...

Liu Chengyou took a tolerant, ambiguous stance toward Liu Zhu's case and toward Wang Jingchong. But news from the north stirred fresh waves in the court. Censors and remonstrance officials vied to submit memorials, citing Wang Jingchong's arbitrary actions and his driving of a senior military governor to death, and petitioned Liu Chengyou to recall Wang Jingchong for questioning.

The court officials seemed to have forgotten that not long ago, they themselves had been indignant at Liu Zhu's tyranny in the region and had attacked him vociferously. As for the storm in court, Liu Chengyou again issued an edict to calm it. One Liu Zhu did not seem enough—he still wanted to use Wang Jingchong.

Night had fallen. Guards cleared the way ahead, two lanterns bearing the character "Guo" lighting the street. The carriage moved slowly and came to a stop before the Guo residence gate.

Lifting the curtain, he stepped down from the carriage. The deep autumn night wind blew past, quite cold, and Guo Rong could not help but shiver. He looked up at the night sky—the moon gave no light, the stars were sparse, and beneath the dark canopy, gloomy clouds seemed to gather on all sides. Not good weather.

Alighting from the carriage, Guo Rong coughed a few times. A servant hurriedly fetched an outer robe and draped it over him. In the main hall, his wife and children were all present. On the food table, the meal had already been prepared. His two sons were drowsy, clearly having waited a long time.

Seeing Guo Rong, they all perked up. Guo Rong's wife, Lady Liu, came forward to greet him, helping him remove his outer robe and putting it away, while instructing the servants: "Take the food and reheat it, and prepare hot water for washing!"

Lady Liu was Guo Rong's first wife—virtuous and chaste, and the two had a good relationship. Watching the servants take the food away to reheat, and then looking at his two famished sons, who were so weak even their bows of greeting seemed feeble...

Guo Rong could not help but sigh to Lady Liu: "I've told you before—if I return late, you needn't wait long. Just eat first!"

Lady Liu set the outer robe aside, personally offered him a cup of tea, and gave Guo Rong a gentle smile: "My husband is the head of the household, toiling over state affairs and official business. Waiting for your return is what a wife ought to do!"

As she spoke, a servant brought the hot water. Lady Liu personally took a towel, soaked it, wrung it dry, and handed it to Guo Rong.

"It's my fault too—once I get busy, I lose track of time and forget to send word." A trace of emotion surfaced on Guo Rong's perpetually stern expression.

Tonight, Guo Rong had worked overtime again, handling a batch of military affairs for the Hebei garrisons, and had returned rather late. Over these past months, the local armies across the Great Han's circuits and prefectures had undergone frequent adjustments, resulting in a heavy load of military paperwork. Zhe Congruan was old and lacking in energy, so the burden on Guo Rong's shoulders had naturally grown much heavier.

He washed his face, took his seat, and took the opportunity to examine his two sons' studies. Only when his stomach began to rumble did the food finish reheating and was brought back up.

Guo Rong now had four sons; the two youngest were still nursing. As the family of four ate, a servant came to report that a guest had arrived—a visitor who surprised Guo Rong: Chang Si, Military Governor of the Zhaoyi Army of Luzhou.

In the study, each took a seat. Guo Rong looked at Chang Si with undisguised puzzlement: "Lord Chang, why are you in the capital, and why visit at night?"

"To be frank with you, young lord Guo, I arrived in the Eastern Capital this afternoon and lodged in the city. I had someone watch the Guo residence. The moment you returned home, I received word and came!" Chang Si spoke somewhat urgently.

Hearing this, Guo Rong's brow furrowed even deeper, and his voice rose: "The court has not summoned you. Why have you returned to the capital without permission? And having arrived, why did you not enter the palace to see the Son of Heaven, but instead hide in your lodgings waiting for me?"

A look of ill fortune spread across Chang Si's aged face. He clasped his hands to Guo Rong: "Young lord Guo, you must save me!"

"What exactly has happened?" Seeing him behave this way, Guo Rong was even more bewildered.

Chang Si quickly dispelled his confusion, explaining: "It's that vicious wolf Wang Jingchong of the Wude Office! After Xiangzhou, he's now taken Wang Jihong of Cizhou. Now he's passing through on the pretext of the Son of Heaven's mission and the court's banner, wanting to investigate and root out wrongdoing.

I know he's coming for me. Think of Liu Zhu—a proper military governor of a whole garrison—and yet this man drove him to death. I'm old and frail; how could I withstand his interrogations? Fall into his hands, and I'd surely suffer harm. So, with no other choice, I had to temporarily leave Luzhou and come to the capital to seek help!"

Hearing Chang Si's words, Guo Rong's brows knitted deeply, and his expression turned grave. Of course, he quickly understood the crux of the matter. The root lay in the "Liu Zhu case." The Son of Heaven had sent Wang Jingchong to investigate local wrongdoing, and after Xiangzhou, he still would not stop. With Liu Zhu's fate as a precedent, how could the remaining military governors not be alarmed, not be worried, not be afraid? And Chang Si, as Wang Jingchong's next target, was even more like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

Being in the court, how could Guo Rong not know of this matter? But he himself truly had no intention of intervening, nor was it convenient for him to participate, and he had never made any statement on the matter.

Now, Chang Si had come begging at his doorstep. For Guo Rong, this was trouble landing on his shoulders...

After a moment's deliberation, Guo Rong asked: "Lord Chang, what would you have me do?"