Chapter 8: 008 Boiling Over

Below the city wall.

Fei Yinghuan sized Zhao Han up with a glance and said, a little puzzled, "You are... the son of which old friend of mine?"

"My father was a provincial graduate of Wuqing County, Bazhou Prefecture, surname Zhao, taboo name Vice Minister." Zhao Han lied through his teeth without the slightest change of expression, straight-up promoting his certified student father to provincial graduate.

"Zhao Vice Minister?" Fei Yinghuan racked his brains, then shook his head. "I have never heard your esteemed father's great name."

No kidding — a failed xiucai; it would be strange if you had heard of him.

Zhao Han put on a face of deep grief and said, half in truth, half in pretense, "My father was upright and principled. Though he passed the juren examination, he remained as poor as water. This year a great drought struck our county, and Father took the whole family to flee the famine. North of Tianjin city we ran into horse bandits. Father, Mother, and my eldest brother all perished. I and my little sister barely escaped alive..."

Fei Yinghuan looked somewhat moved by this, and moreover, during his stay in Tianjin, he had learned that horse bandits had appeared outside the city — which matched exactly what Zhao Han said. He could not help sighing, "Ah, in this filthy, degenerate age, even a scholar can meet such a tragic fate."

Zhao Han pointed at his half-conscious little sister, then raised the spear in his hand and said, "I took my little sister begging in Tianjin and was often bullied by other beggars. Fortunately, I had once practiced martial arts with my father. On the journey south, my little sister fell gravely ill. I wanted to enter the county seat to seek a doctor and medicine, but the city gate was shut tight and we could not get in."

Fei Yinghuan glanced at Zhao Zhenfang and said sympathetically, "You brother and sister are so young; the journey here must have been hard."

Fine — all high-sounding, empty words. This fellow was a master of beating around the bush.

Seeing the man still unwilling to offer help, Zhao Han suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed. "Sir, please take my sister and me into the city!"

Wei Jianxiong, standing nearby, suddenly chimed in, "Young master, it's merely the lift of a hand."

Fei Yinghuan shot his servant a glare, then said, "Get up. Just wait here with me."

They waited about a quarter of an hour. Wang Yongshi, the County Magistrate of Jinghai, finally appeared atop the gate tower.

Fei Yinghuan smiled and cupped his fists in greeting. "Brother Qizhao, parted for several years — I have missed you greatly."

Wang Yongshi kept a stiff face and said sourly, "Fei Dazhao, I hear you're heading back to Jiangxi to ruin my reputation?"

Fei Yinghuan said with a grin, "How could I dare? Your foolish elder brother has merely come to Jinghai because I've run out of travel money and hoped to borrow a few taels of silver from Brother Qizhao for the road."

Wang Yongshi suddenly burst out cursing, "Fei Dazhao, you bastard! I am of the Wang clan of Yangcheng, Shanxi — I have no damn connection to the Jiangxi Wangs. Go ahead and spread your rumors in Jiangxi if you like; today I really won't let you into the city!"

"Heh heh," Fei Yinghuan kept laughing. "If you truly meant to keep me out, little brother, why would you come up to the gate tower in person to see me?"

Wang Yongshi gave a cold snort, then told the gate soldiers, "Lower the willow basket. Haul this son of a bitch up!"

His mouth was full of vulgar abuse, utterly devoid of a scholar's decorum.

Wang Yongshi, courtesy name Qizhao, was a man of Yangcheng, Shanxi, descended from the Three Pagoda Tree Wang clan, and a provincial graduate of the thirty-seventh year of Wanli.

The two were friends of many years, having sat the metropolitan examination together three times — and both had failed each time.

Wang Yongshi, unwilling to sit the exams again, asked his family elders to put up money and secured him the post of County Magistrate of Kaocheng. During his tenure, he punished the wicked and rid the place of evildoers, winning considerable popular support. After observing the three-year mourning period for his father, last year he was transferred to serve as County Magistrate of Jinghai.

There was a branch of the Wang clan in Jiangxi, an offshoot of the Yangcheng Wangs.

Over ten years ago, the Jiangxi Wangs built an ancestral hall and wished to revise their genealogy, sending men to Shanxi to contact the main lineage. Wang Yongshi, as a representative of the main lineage, went to Jiangxi to help compile the genealogy, during which time he met Fei Yinghuan and they became close friends.

Two willow baskets were lowered from the gate tower. Fei Yinghuan stepped into one and sat down with leisurely ease, as if riding in a sedan chair, and even waved his folding fan to give the order: "Hoist!"

Before Wei Jianxiong could enter the basket, Zhao Han stepped forward and blocked his way.

Facing Wei Jianxiong, Zhao Han bowed deeply from the waist and said nothing.

From their brief contact just now, Zhao Han had already sensed it: Fei Yinghuan, who seemed amiable and kindly, was actually very hard to deal with. The rough and fierce Wei Jianxiong was, on the contrary, a warm-hearted man.

Sure enough, faced with Zhao Han's deep bow, Wei Jianxiong did not step into the willow basket. He pulled out his wrought-iron staff with a backhand grip, turned to face the starving people closing in, and said to Zhao Han, "Get in yourself."

"Many thanks!"

Holding his little sister, Zhao Han sat down together in the willow basket.

Wei Jianxiong let out a thunderous roar and brandished his wrought-iron staff at the starving crowd. "Whoever dares take one more step forward, I'll see to it his skull blooms!"

The man's face was ferocious, and it instantly frightened the crowd back.

Zhao Han reached the gate tower and bowed to the County Magistrate in thanks. Wang Yongshi merely gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

Fei Yinghuan leaned against the parapet crenel, looking utterly languid. He gazed down at the misery outside the city as if utterly indifferent and said offhandedly, "These two children are the offspring of an old friend of mine. Ah, the whole family died tragically; only the two of them are left to depend on each other. Little brother, would you trouble yourself to find them a good doctor?"

Wang Yongshi could not be bothered to ask more and directly told his attendant, "Take them to the county yamen and summon a physician to see to the illness."

"Many thanks to both benefactors!"

At these words, Zhao Han immediately knelt, expressing his gratitude with utter sincerity.

Once the brother and sister had left and Wei Jianxiong had also been hauled up, Fei Yinghuan suddenly turned around and said with a grave expression, "The county of Jinghai is strewn with corpses of starvation. Worthy brother, why do you still send runners into the countryside to collect the land tax? Are you not afraid of sparking a popular uprising?"

Wang Yongshi gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Those runners were not sent by me. Would Elder Brother believe that?"

Fei Yinghuan nodded. "Coming from anyone else, I certainly would not."

Wang Yongshi explained, "The administration of Jinghai County is entirely controlled by the Registrar. In the year since your foolish brother took office, I have been unable to lay a finger on any matter — grain and horse levies, tax collection, household registers, patrols and arrests! Even the Assistant Magistrate is in the same position as I am. It is as if the Registrar were the chief official of this county!"

"Such a thing? Ha ha, worthy brother, you are truly a useless official!" Fei Yinghuan actually burst out laughing uncontrollably.

Wang Yongshi gave a cold sneer and said self-mockingly, "Ah, what can one do? The Registrar's daughter is a concubine of the Vice Prefect of Hejian. We scholars toil away at our cold windows in bitter study, yet we cannot match the pillow-talk of a lowly concubine."

Fei Yinghuan rubbed his wrist and said, "Worthy brother, you have endured for a year, and now the whole county is stricken by disaster. Is it not time to draw in the net?"

"He who knows me — Fei Dazhao of Yanshan!"

Wang Yongshi laughed. "Elder Brother Dazhao, you have come at the perfect time. Tonight, we brothers shall join hands and give those treacherous merchants and corrupt clerks a thorough lesson!"

Fei Yinghuan rubbed his palms eagerly and said to his servant Wei Jianxiong, "Old Wei, it's time for you to show your prowess."

Wei Jianxiong said disdainfully, "A few petty rats — easily caught."

Wang Yongshi immediately burst out laughing. "Brother Wei is as bold and valiant as ever. Tonight, you shall be our vanguard general!"

The county yamen.

"Cold pathogen binds the exterior; the five qi are disharmonious; constraint turns to heat — hence the fever." The physician released Zhao Zhenfang's arm and said to Zhao Han, "I will write a prescription. Decoct and take it morning and evening; she may recover."

"May recover?" Zhao Han said, alarmed. "Doctor, is my sister's illness very serious?"

The physician stroked his beard and explained, "It is merely a common cold-damage disorder, but the patient is physically weak and has suffered from pent-up constraint for a long time. This is not an illness of a single day or night, but one that has accumulated over a long period and now erupted. Ah, it is hard to say — it depends on her fortune." He shifted tone. "Now, the consultation fee — who will pay it?"

There it was: Magistrate Wang had only ordered a physician summoned but had not instructed his subordinates to cover the medical expenses.

Zhao Han asked, "How much?"

The physician spread open a palm. "Out of respect for His Honor the Magistrate, I'll take only five mace of silver."

Zhao Han very nearly punched him. This was just the consultation fee, medicine not included, and the man had the nerve to demand half a tael of silver.

Medical treatment was expensive, in ancient times as in the present.

Pulling out broken silver from his breast, Zhao Han felt a stir of unease — his money was nearly gone, and only a few pieces of jewelry remained that he hadn't dared touch.

The physician accepted the silver, had the apprentice beside him bring out a small scale, weighed it, and gave Zhao Han a few copper coins in change. He added, "My clinic also sells medicine. I can have the apprentice fetch the herbs."

"In that case, I'll trouble you, Physician." What else could Zhao Han say? A doctor summoned by the County Magistrate was at least more reliable than one he found himself.

The medicine money was insufficient. All of Zhao Han's worldly goods could only buy two days' dosage.

Then he'd buy two days' worth for now. When he saw Magistrate Wang tomorrow, he'd see if he could shamelessly beg for some more.

If he couldn't beg any, he'd think of something else!!!

The physician left. Zhao Han stayed alone by the sickbed, waiting for the clinic apprentice to deliver the medicine.

"Young master, the water's here." A serving maid came in carrying boiled water — she was Magistrate Wang's maidservant.

Zhao Han hurriedly rose and said, "Thank you, elder sister."

The maid smiled. "Young master has a sweet tongue. I'm just a servant who waits on the master."

"Elder sister is beautiful and virtuous — you're bound for wealth and honor one day. Your little brother here doesn't know how to decoct medicine; could elder sister trouble herself to help once more? This is a small token of regard — please accept it." Afraid the maid might not put her heart into it, Zhao Han promptly produced a hairpin. He'd had it appraised at a pawnshop in Tianjin: copper, set with colored glass, not worth much.

The maid was thoroughly delighted. She accepted the copper hairpin and said, "Just decocting medicine — leave it to me!"

"Not worth much" depended on who was looking. If this copper hairpin were brand-new, it would cost at least three or four hundred cash to buy.

Before nightfall, the clinic apprentice delivered the medicine, and the maid immediately took it away to decoct.

Before the medicine was ready, Zhao Zhenfang woke. She stared dazedly at the canopy of the bed. "Second Brother?"

"Second Brother's here." Zhao Han hurriedly took his little sister's hand.

Zhao Zhenfang asked, "Where is this?"

Zhao Han said, "The home of a former friend of Father's. Rest easy, take your medicine, and recover."

"Oh." Zhao Zhenfang was still dazed.

The boiled water had cooled somewhat. Zhao Han helped his little sister sit up, gave her a small sip, and stayed by the bedside talking with her.

A while later, the maid came in and said, "Young master, the medicine's ready. I've set it on the table to cool."

"Thank you, elder sister." Zhao Han rose.

……

That night.

Jinghai County suddenly erupted with shouts of killing. County Magistrate Wang Yongshi personally led a force to arrest the most powerful local magnate in the city. The charges: colluding with bandits, harboring wanted criminals, secretly stockpiling weapons and armor, and plotting rebellion!

Registrar Li Xing, upon hearing the news, scrambled out of his concubine's bed and rushed to the scene in a sedan chair.

"Magistrate Wang, stop this at once!" Li Xing shouted.

Wang Yongshi turned with a smile. "Registrar Li has also come to assist in apprehending the rebel conspirators?"

Li Xing was beside himself with fury and roared, "Utter nonsense! This is the residence of a law-abiding gentry household — where are these so-called rebel conspirators?"

Suddenly, Wei Jianxiong emerged from the inner compound, threw two suits of armor onto the ground, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Honor, two suits of armor were found in the residence."

Wang Yongshi gave a sinister smile. "May I ask Registrar Li, under the Great Ming Code, what is the penalty for privately stockpiling armor?"

"You — you… you're framing them!" Li Xing flew into a rage and directly threatened, "Wang, don't be so ungrateful. You don't call the shots in Jinghai County!"

Wang Yongshi put on an expression of great surprise and said in a mocking tone, "Registrar Li, you're so panicked and furious — could it be that you too are in league with the rebel conspirators?"

"Bullshit!" Li Xing was so angry his liver ached.

Wang Yongshi paced over and said in a low voice, "Registrar Li, of the six offices in the county yamen, two are already in my service, and Assistant Magistrate Zhang has taken another. Can you still cover the sky with one hand? Oh, and the new Prefect has already assumed office — he's an old friend from my metropolitan examination days. Know your place and behave. During this great disaster, I don't want to tear off all pretense!"

"The new Prefect is here? Which lord is it?" Li Xing was instantly shocked. He suddenly clutched his stomach and said, "Aiyo, my bowels are acting up — help me home to the privy."

Watching Li Xing leave, Wang Yongshi spat, ground the spittle underfoot, and said, "A dog of a thing, not even a juren, and he dares strut and bluster before his grandpa. Once the disaster refugees return home, I'll have your head off your shoulders!"

Fei Yinghuan sauntered over and teased, "Worthy brother, that new Prefect in Hejian did indeed take the metropolitan exam with us. But he's no old friend — you beat him black and blue back then over a romantic rivalry."

Wang Yongshi sucked his teeth. "Such private matters — how would a mere xiucai-born Registrar ever know of them? Nothing to fear."

……

Time pulled back to that same afternoon.

Twenty li away at Yangliuqing Town, the Heaven-Stormer's band had swelled to over four thousand, completely surrounding the manor of the town headman, Zhang Jichen.

Heaven-Stormer raised a torch and bellowed, "Listen up, everyone! This Zhang has preyed on the countryside and driven us to sell our sons and daughters. Today, if you have a grudge, take your revenge; if you've been wronged, right that wrong! Kill Zhang's whole family and throw this dog into the pot to make soup! Follow me — kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Many lacked the strength even to lift the clubs in their hands; they merely propped them on the ground and staggered forward, like the shambling zombies of a science-fiction film.

More precisely, a zombie tide!

The household guards crouched atop the compound wall, each one drenched in cold sweat.

The gate had not only been barred with multiple bolts but also blocked with all manner of heavy objects. The starving people pressed against it from outside, unable to push it open, but they shoved one against another, layer upon layer, until the gate hinges groaned and creaked as if about to collapse at any moment.

Heaven-Stormer, seeing they could not break through, roared, "Everyone back! Set fire to the gate!"

Great piles of withered grass and dead branches were brought and heaped before the gate and set alight. Half a quarter-hour later, the gate began to burn.

"Master, flee quickly — the rebel mob is about to break in!"

"Master, there are rebels at the back gate too — there's no way out!"

"Master, someone's climbed over the wall!"

"…"

Another two quarter-hours passed.

"Bang!"

The blazing courtyard gate was shoved down with a thunderous crash.

Several household retainers guarding the compound, facing disaster victims too weak to truss a chicken, suddenly turned and raised their blades: "Kill! Cut down Zhang Jichen and share out the grain!"

The other household slaves came to their senses too — since they couldn't win, they chose to join in, eagerly leading the famished mob deeper inside.

The frail disaster victims, originally the wronged party, now turned utterly savage, having completely lost all reason and humanity.

They killed everyone they saw, seized everything in reach.

Not a chicken or dog was left alive; women and children all perished; even the innocent and the weak were not spared.

Word of the uprising spread, and disaster victims from the countryside came flooding in, willingly following Tapotian in rebellion.

Two days later, the peasant army had swelled explosively to over six thousand, and with their families in tow they marched on Jinghai County.

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(End of chapter)