Chapter 79: Heads

"Sir Pang, you needn't worry about who's coming — it's what's right in front of you that deserves your concern, General!" Before Pang Tianci could even turn his head, Lei Xianchu had already placed his piece, then burst out laughing. "Dead game. Sir Pang, you've lost."

Pang Tianci turned to look, and sure enough, Lei Xianchu had already checkmated him. He said distractedly, "Your Excellency is still the better player. I am full of admiration — truly, truly."

As the two were speaking, the hoofbeats drew near from afar. When they arrived, it was a party of several riders. The moment Lei Xianchu saw the mount beneath the lead rider, his eyes lit up, and he thought to himself: what a fine big blue-black horse!

That only a few men had come let Pang Tianci breathe easier. Seeing that Lei Xianchu had been composed from start to finish, he felt rather ashamed of his own earlier reaction, and also somewhat admiring of Lei Xianchu.

Worthy of a hereditary military officer — his nerve and judgment truly surpassed the common run of men.

Lei Xianchu's subordinates were already barking orders for the soldiers to form ranks. Though the other side numbered only a few men, appearances still had to be kept up; otherwise the Mobile Corps Commander would lose face.

Under the shouts of several officers, the Gaozhou soldiers reluctantly got up and formed ranks at the front. It was a disorderly mob, but they managed to get the ranks drawn up before those riders dismounted.

Zhou Shixiang reined in his horse and halted, not hurrying to dismount. He first studied the men opposite, then asked the Ge Zheng and Ge Yi brothers behind him, "Is this what Li Dingguo's troops look like?"

"If Li Dingguo's troops were this pathetic, why would the Tartars fear him?" Ge Zheng cast a contemptuous glance at the other side. "Most likely they're a ragtag bunch of irregulars Zhang Xiaoqi scraped together. If you ask me, this Lei fellow is probably a ragtag sort himself."

"What bullshit Mobile Corps Commander. With trash like this, if they really dared to swallow us up, no need for the Battalion Commander to lift a finger — I, Ge the Sixth, could handle them myself."

Ever since Zhang An had told him that Gaozhou had sent a Mobile Corps Commander to swallow up the Taiping Camp, Ge the Sixth had been burning with anger. Brother Hu's bones were not yet cold, and Gaozhou was already scheming to take over the Taiping Camp.

This Yongli court was a damned disgrace, Cheng Bangjun was no good bird either, and Zhang Xiaoqi was even worse — all those years Brother Hu was alive, he never stopped going on about "His Excellency Zhang" this and that.

"Don't act rashly. They've come as guests, and as representatives of the Governor of the four prefectures. Until they state their business, we must not fail in courtesy. Otherwise, we'd be the ones in the wrong."

Zhou Shixiang feared that the rough Ge Yi would cause trouble, so he gave him a word of warning beforehand, then swung down from his horse and led the brothers forward. As he walked, he clasped his fists in salute and called out, "Which of you is Mobile Corps Commander Lei of Leizhou?"

"General Hu, no need for such ceremony!"

Pang Tianci had assumed the man coming was Hu Quan. Seeing that the man had a refined appearance, with not the slightest trace of bandit air, he took an immediate liking to him and rose with a smile, nodding in greeting.

"I am Lei Xianchu."

Lei Xianchu did not rise politely the way Pang Tianci had. He did not even stand, merely sat there and gave Zhou Shixiang a condescending nod, putting on the airs of an elder.

Such posturing naturally angered the brothers who had come with Zhou Shixiang, but Zhou Shixiang remained impassive.

He stepped forward and clasped his fists to Lei Xianchu again, saying neither servilely nor overbearingly, "Sir Lei, you have come a long way, and the journey must have been tiring.

Please come into the city with me — I have already ordered a modest banquet prepared to welcome you and wash off the dust of travel."

"Drinking won't be necessary. Wine leads to trouble; I gave it up years ago."

Lei Xianchu looked Zhou Shixiang up and down, then finally stood. An attendant beside him quietly edged two steps closer and murmured something. After hearing what the attendant said, Lei Xianchu's eyes filled with doubt. He stared at Zhou Shixiang and said, "You are Hu Quan?"

Zhou Shixiang saw his expression, and the strange look on the attendant's face, and guessed that they had probably met Hu Quan before and knew he was a one-armed man — while his own face did not match Hu Quan's and he still had both arms, which had raised their suspicions.

He did not try to hide it.

"I am not Hu Quan."

The moment he heard the man was not Hu Quan, Lei Xianchu's face darkened. "Where is Hu Quan? Why has he not come to see me?"

Before Zhou Shixiang could answer, Ge Yi, who had been simmering with anger, cut in, "Our big brother is dead. If you want to see him, it won't be easy.

Hmph. Even if our big brother were alive, he's an Assistant Regional Commander and you're a Mobile Corps Commander — what right would you have to make our big brother come see you?"

"Hm?"

At Ge Yi's barbed words, Lei Xianchu's anger flared, and he swept a furious glare around, ready to explode. But Pang Tianci was quick to seize the opening and also spoke up: "How did General Hu die?" The interruption made it awkward for Lei Xianchu to lose his temper.

Zhou Shixiang could not very well rebuke Ge Yi for speaking out of turn, so he briefly recounted the battle with the Green Standard troops of Deqing. After hearing it, Pang Tianci could not help sighing. Whether or not he was sincere, he offered a few words of lament for Hu Quan's death.

Lei Xianchu, however, felt no lament — only astonishment. How was it that these bandits had dared to attack the Qing troops at Deqing on their own initiative? Could their strength really be that great?

Astonishment gave way to delight. If these bandits were indeed strong, then this trip to Luoding would prove worthwhile.

The fellow opposite had spoken unpleasantly, but this young man before him clearly knew how to conduct himself. Behind him stood the court and His Excellency the Governor; surely this fledgling would not dare act recklessly.

Once they entered the city and he soothed him properly, all the men Hu Quan had left behind would be his.

At that thought, his face softened considerably. After offering a few perfunctory words of regret for Hu Quan's death, he asked Zhou Shixiang, "Who are you, and what post do you now hold in Luoding?"

"I am Zhou Shixiang. Thanks to the regard of my brothers, I am for the time being acting as their leader," Zhou Shixiang said.

"Leader this, leader that — it sounds like bandit talk.

Since you have already accepted amnesty, from now on you should regard yourselves as government troops and take pride in the court's commissions. This 'leader' business must not be spoken of again."

Lei Xianchu shifted tack.

"Since Hu Quan is dead, I will of course petition the court for a posthumous title for him.

As for the rest of you, I will make my own arrangements."

At these words, Ge Yi could not hold back and was about to explode again, but his brother Ge Zheng held him back. Zhou Shixiang also turned and glared at him, which finally made Ge Yi swallow his words.

"This is no place for discussion. Please enter the city first, sir. After the welcoming banquet, we can talk about this tomorrow — there's no hurry."

"Very well."

Lei Xianchu did not refuse. He introduced Pang Tianci and the several subordinates who had come with him to Zhou Shixiang, and Zhou Shixiang clasped his fists to each in greeting. Then he led the way, guiding Lei Xianchu's party back toward the city.

On the road, perhaps because he knew Hu Quan was dead and there was no longer any obstacle to seizing his Assistant Regional Commander's seal and his troops, Lei Xianchu was in an unusually good mood.

He even exchanged a few pleasant words with Zhou Shixiang, and asked a great many questions about their two battles at Luoding and Deqing.

Zhou Shixiang answered everything he was asked, though clearly not everything there was to say — of the many crucial details, he told him not a single word.

Pang Tianci was not much of a horseman, and the ride had chafed his thighs raw. Fortunately Luoding was not far now, so he gritted his teeth and endured, interjecting a few remarks now and then, nodding or looking startled at the right moments — a fine supporting performance.

Zhou Shixiang, for his part, did not forget to probe obliquely, trying to find out why it was a military officer like Lei Xianchu who had come to Luoding, and where Cheng Bangjun, the Director of the Bureau of Operations in the Ministry of War, had gone.

But just as he deliberately held things back, Lei Xianchu and Pang Tianci likewise said little on these matters.

Seeing they were unwilling to speak, Zhou Shixiang stopped asking and instead inquired about the current state of the anti-Qing war. Lei Xianchu was not very clear on this and so said little.

Pang Tianci, however, had perhaps gotten some news from his clansman brother Pang Tianshou: he said the Prince of Qin, Sun Kewang, was leading a great army in a standoff with the Qing forces in Huguang, and intended to march down the Yangtze to seize Nanjing.

If that could be accomplished, the restoration of the Ming would be within sight.

Seizing Nanjing by way of the Yangtze would indeed be a great undertaking. If it succeeded, a Southern Ming revival would truly not be idle talk.

But Zhou Shixiang knew well that in his historical memory there was no campaign to seize Nanjing led by Sun Kewang — there was, rather, Zheng Chenggong's battle on the Yangtze. And Sun Kewang's final fate was to surrender to the Qing.

From this it was plain that what Pang Tianci said about the Prince of Qin marching to take the southern capital was likely empty talk.

He then asked about the Prince of Xining, Li Dingguo — but this truly put them in a difficult spot.

Lei Xianchu was nothing more than a ragtag Mobile Corps Commander under Zhang Xiaoqi, and Pang Tianci, though he had a clansman brother who was the Seal-holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, was himself only a seventh-rank County Magistrate.

The news that the Prince of Qin, Sun Kewang, meant to take Nanjing had only been mentioned in passing by Pang Tianshou; the rest was Pang Tianci's own speculation. How could he truly know what the princes were doing?

During the conversation, Lei Xianchu more than once praised the big blue-black horse Zhou Shixiang rode.

When he learned the horse had been seized from You Yunlong, an Assistant Regional Commander of the Tartars' Han Banners, Lei Xianchu grew even more envious, his gaze falling on the horse again and again, so much so that he failed to hear Pang Tianci speaking to him.

Zhou Shixiang merely noted this privately and did not take issue with him over it.

After that, the two sides had nothing more to say, and they rode on in silence. Hurrying as fast as they could, they finally caught sight of Luoding's crumbling walls just before sunset.

Before the city gate, they saw a squad of soldiers guarding two horse-drawn carts parked there. From the look of them, they had clearly been waiting on purpose.

"What's on the carts?"

Lei Xianchu spurred his horse up to the carts. Seeing them heaped with hay, tightly covered as though concealing some treasure, he was puzzled and looked at Zhou Shixiang, who had ridden up right behind him, with a baffled expression.

Pang Tianci was curious too and could not help wanting to see what was loaded on the carts, while Ge Zheng, Ge Yi, and the others were secretly laughing to themselves, each keeping a straight face as they waited for the show.

"What a stench!"

A Gaozhou officer who had come with Lei Xianchu, seeing his superior's puzzlement, moved to pull aside the hay. But before he could get near the cart, a strange odor made him stop instinctively. The stench was truly unbearable, churning his stomach and making him desperately want to vomit.

"What is that? It reeks!"

At the same time, the Gaozhou soldiers who had come closer were all covering their noses. Pang Tianci's attendants looked at the cart with outright disgust, and Pang Tianci himself pinched his nose and dodged aside as though he had seen a night-soil cart.

There was no help for it — the smell coming from the cart was simply too foul.

"What in the world is it?"

Lei Xianchu was seething. They had not even entered the city and already he was assaulted by this stench. What were these bandits trying to do? Did they mean to cow him with the stink of shit? If so, it was utterly childish!

Pang Tianci also frowned. His instincts told him that whatever was on those two carts was nothing good — quite possibly these bandits had done it deliberately. He suppressed his displeasure and asked Zhou Shixiang, "What is loaded on the carts?"

Zhou Shixiang said slowly, "Heads. Qing soldiers' heads."

"Heads?!"

Pang Tianci started in fright and leaped far back, eyes bulging, his face a picture of disbelief.

"What is there to fear in heads? I have campaigned north and south for many years — there is nothing I have not seen!"

Lei Xianchu, however, was utterly unperturbed, showing neither fear nor alarm. He assumed these Luoding bandits were testing the courage of him, a Mobile Corps Commander, deliberately trying to frighten him.

Since he had already resolved to swallow them up, he absolutely could not show weakness before them — otherwise how could he command their respect!

Even as he spoke, he reached out and pulled at the hay on the cart. Seeing their commander act, two Gaozhou soldiers immediately stepped forward to help. But the moment the hay was pulled away, the three of them stood frozen as if possessed, not daring even to breathe.

"They really are heads…"

The two Gaozhou soldiers' faces went white, their voices stammered, and their legs trembled.

Lei Xianchu, however, did not turn pale, nor did he recoil in fright. He simply stared blankly at the heads piled on the cart, his jaw twitching uncontrollably.