Chapter 17: Tight Shoes

In the Pang family courtyard, Pang Yu's mother had just come to, her eyes wandering dazedly over her surroundings.

"Ma, what happened to you? I saw Aunt Liu being carried back too — did you get in a fight with her?"

"Aunt Liu?" His mother slowly sat up. Pang Yu hurried to support her. She stared blankly for a long moment before her eyes finally regained some focus.

"Bah, me fight Aunt Liu? I'd sooner save my strength to beat a dog." His mother clutched her chest and let out a long sigh. "Ma got it off her chest, and it feels good. After all these years."

As she spoke, she began sniffling again. Just then, Zhou Yueru came over carrying a wooden ladle and handed the water to Pang Yu.

"This, this girl..." His mother pointed at Zhou Yueru in astonishment. Zhou Yueru, both embarrassed and frightened, blushed as red as a monkey's backside, quickly turned around, and crouched on the ground to cut a lotus leaf with the fodder chopper.

Pang Yu's mother watched in amazement and whispered to Pang Yu beside her, "Yu'er, where did this girl come from? Did that white-bearded old grandpa throw in a wife too? We mustn't owe people too much."

"What are you talking about? This girl is that Zhou Family daughter who hit me. She came specially to help out."

Pang Yu didn't want to discuss this with his mother. He stood up and went over to the winnowing basket, pretending to sort the medicinal herbs. His mother saw this and, sure enough, forgot all about the Zhou Family daughter. She came over and pulled him aside. "Aiya, don't touch that herb — that's Grass Crow Poison, it's toxic."

"What poison is so untouchable? Can it be more poisonous than crane's-crest red?"

His mother slapped his hand. "What crane's-crest red? That's just Arsenic, nothing more. People who don't know better see arsenic's red color and give it some fancy name. Our family sells medicine — we can't go spouting nonsense and make the customers laugh. This Grass Crow Poison is even more toxic than Arsenic. Your father said that in the old days, soldiers in battle would smear this stuff on their blades. If you got hit, even if you didn't die, you'd lose half your life. The common name for it is Five Poison Root."

"What's there to fear from the raw stuff?"

"The raw stuff is the most toxic. Keep your distance."

Pang Yu looked curiously at the jet-black medicinal material. It was dark and inconspicuous. In any case, he had no intention of helping out — he'd never liked housework in either of his lives, and he certainly wasn't planning to actually do any chores with these herbs.

His mother stole another couple of glances at Zhou Yueru. "That Zhou Family girl — how could you let her come here? It's not proper. And she hits pretty hard, too."

"She knows she was wrong. She feels bad about our family and came on her own to help."

Zhou Yueru seemed to know they were talking about her. Red-faced and head bowed, she busied herself with who-knew-what.

His mother sized her up and said, "That waist, those legs — looks like she could bear children."

Pang Yu said with a straight face, "Mother, with all due respect — the Zhou family was wrong to hit someone, and they've been punished and admitted their fault. But their family is broken now. The girl came to work and earn a little Bangyong money. Your son is doing a good deed here. When others hear of it, they'll say the Pang family is magnanimous, that old Pang has face. Don't go sizing up every girl for childbearing — then people will say we're exploiting someone's misfortune, taking their daughter. Am I that kind of person?"

His mother was stunned speechless by Pang Yu's words. When she looked at her son, she felt as if a layer of righteous radiance had settled upon him.

Pang Yu lowered his voice. "But right now, our family has urgent matters. The capital chain is barely holding on and still can't flow freely. We're short by at least thirty or forty taels of silver — that's the big issue. Why fret over a wife? Your son has had his Spirit Awakening now. There's a line waiting outside. When the time comes, I'll find you one with thick hips who'll pop out two or three at a go."

His mother beamed. "Now that would be wonderful. Let that Liu family see — they'll die of regret."

"What's the Liu family? Your son's journey is the sea of stars. Mother, just wait for the good days. I'm no fool now. Let's see who dares bully us again!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a loud shout came from outside the gate: "Pang the fool, Squad Leader Wang wants you at Dongzuo Gate tonight for night watch."

"Your granny's Wang Dazhuang — bah."

A mouthful of thick phlegm flew into the air, spun twice, and vanished into the darkness below the City Tower.

The moon was dark and the wind high. Pang Yu stood atop Tongcheng's Dongzuo Gate, inwardly cursing Squad Leader Wang Dazhuang of the Runner Squad. He'd dodged the County Vice-Magistrate's cudgel of authority, but he hadn't dodged this squad leader's hidden weapon. Truly, a county magistrate is no match for one's direct superior. Now that he'd be serving under this man, who knew how many tight shoes he'd be forced to wear.

Below the City Tower, Tongcheng was dotted with lamplight. A faint mist drifted over layer upon layer of bracket-set flying eaves. Outside the City Wall, there were also many homes, their dark, shadowy forms stretching far into the distance in overlapping tiers.

Tongcheng's County Seat had built its brick walls during the Wanli era. The city was six li in circumference, backed by mountains to the northwest and overlooking the River Barrier to the southeast. It had six city gates in total, measured 827 zhang, and had 1, 73 battlements. The construction had cost 21, 00 taels of silver at the time.

The city's population was not large then. Later, as the economy developed and the population grew, the areas outside the walls gradually began to urbanize. The North Gate did not lie on a major thoroughfare, so the outside was relatively desolate. The East Gate and West Gate, however, grew increasingly prosperous. Outside Dongzuo Gate alone, there were three or four main streets. The street within the moat that ran along the City Wall was called Zilai Street — precisely where Pang Yu's mouthful of thick phlegm had flown.

"Pang the second fool! Gu Xiaowu! Standing around admiring the view? The city gate and City Wall are a grave responsibility, all entrusted to your hands. The peace of ten thousand homes within and without the city, the countless common folk — all depend on us to guard them. Think of your wages and provisions — every last bit is the blood and fat of the people. Is it for you to shirk and slack off? Light your lanterns and patrol the wall at once. If anything goes wrong, I'll have your dog lives."

The one shouting was tonight's shift leader, Wang Chaofeng. Tongcheng had been at peace for decades, and city defense had never seen any major incidents. So-called night watch at the city gate simply meant sleeping in the City Tower and getting up at the night watches to check the area around the gate tunnel. But word had spread that Pang Yu had offended Wang Dazhuang's brother-in-law, so the shift leader was naturally not going to let Pang Yu off easy. All night, he hadn't let Pang Yu rest — either walking the wall top or walking the wall base, and after that, going inside the gate tunnel to inspect the crossbeam that barred the city gate.

"Going right away," Gu Xiaowu answered in a low voice.

"One lantern each — don't think you can slack off." Wang Chaofeng finished speaking and went back into the City Tower.

Pang Yu hoisted the long-poled lantern, and the two of them trudged listlessly toward the North Wall. They had to walk all the way to the North Back Street intersection before they could turn back, and then they'd have to head south to Xiangyang Gate.

Walking around with a lantern on a July night attracted swarms of mosquitoes and biting insects. Wang Chaofeng was malicious — he deliberately made them carry extra lanterns to draw the bugs. Gu Xiaowu clearly knew the routine; he pulled out a gauze veil and hung it over his face. Pang Yu was utterly unprepared and could only rely on one industrious hand, constantly slapping. He felt he'd killed more mosquitoes this one night than in an entire lifetime in his previous existence.

"That dog Wang! He looks down on people like a dog."

Once they were far away, Pang Yu cursed resentfully. Beside him, Gu Xiaowu kept his head down and said nothing. He was about Pang Yu's age, with a small round face and a thin, frail build. When he looked at people, his eyes were shifty and evasive. He also lived near the West Gate, not far from the Pang family.

Pang Yu knew that Gu Xiaowu was also out of favor in the Runner Squad, so he wasn't afraid of Gu Xiaowu snitching. He'd cursed Wang Dazhuang and his lackeys quite a few times that night. Gu Xiaowu had chimed in a couple of times at first, but later he'd said little.

Precisely because neither of them was well-liked, there was a sense of fellow sufferers' sympathy. Night patrols of the city were boring, and they had to exchange a few words. Pang Yu asked casually, "Brother Gu, how exactly did you offend Wang Dazhuang?"

Gu Xiaowu said listlessly, "Brother Yu, I've told you several times and you keep forgetting. I don't even want to tell you anymore — you never pay attention."

"Well, I did get hit on the head. Tell me this time and I won't forget again."

Gu Xiaowu waited a moment, and perhaps because he truly felt the silence was too boring, he replied lazily, "My father used to be a clerk in the Household Office. Wang Dazhuang started out as an Auxiliary in the Household Office, and he was always shirking and slacking on assignments. Maybe my father criticized him a few too many times, and he harbored a grudge. As soon as my father passed away, he started making trouble for me at every turn. What talent or Virtue does Wang Dazhuang have to be squad leader? He just latched onto Clerk Zhao in the Household Office. And that Clerk Zhao is no good either. He's only been head of the Household Office for a few years, and not only did he drive me out, he replaced every last one of the other old hands in the office. The Rations and Pay business — that's all been handed over to that crew of Zheng Lao, Zheng Chao, and Kang Jin. He and Wang Dazhuang are both petty men drunk on power."

So it was a family feud. Pang Yu had seen the Ming bureaucracy today and hadn't observed much brotherly love. A veteran clerk of the Household Office was naturally higher in status than a runner. Back in the day, Gu Xiaowu's father probably hadn't made life easy for Wang Dazhuang. Just as Wang Dazhuang was now forcing tight shoes onto Pang Yu, if Wang Dazhuang's son ever fell into Pang Yu's hands someday, Pang Yu had no intention of repaying evil with Virtue.

Gu Xiaowu looked back over his shoulder and continued, "In the Runner Squad, you're the only one I can really talk to, Brother Yu. I see that since you came back this time, you're not as dull-witted as before. We're no stupider than Wang Dazhuang — we can't let him bully us our whole lives. If that opportunity ever comes, I'll make sure Wang Dazhuang gets what's coming to him, make him wish he were dead. And Clerk Zhao of the Household Office, and Clerk Tang — they'll all have to kowtow before me and beg forgiveness!"

"What opportunity?" Pang Yu turned his head to look at Gu Xiaowu when he heard this. He saw a fierce glint flickering continuously in Gu Xiaowu's eyes, his right hand clenched in a fist, gently pumping as if to psych himself up — a world apart from the cowardice he'd shown earlier in front of the shift leader.

Pang Yu frowned slightly and said perfunctorily, "Naturally, we can't let him have his way. Whatever I can do to help, brother, I'll definitely help."

Though he said this, he still didn't know when the new Hall Officer would arrive. And Wang Dazhuang was the squad leader — he surely had plenty of silver on hand. Even if a new Hall Officer came, Pang Yu might not necessarily gain any advantage. The most immediate problem for Pang Yu was how to deal with Wang Dazhuang's current retaliation.

"That opportunity is still uncertain. But I thank you for your goodwill, Brother Yu. Our Gu family is in hard times now. If I ever rise in the world one day, I'll definitely donate for a Clerk position, or at the very least donate tribute for a post as a clerk. Then I won't have to fear Wang Dazhuang." Gu Xiaowu's face was full of longing. "When that time comes, I won't forget you, Brother Yu. Any good assignments, I'll send them all your way."

After he finished speaking, Gu Xiaowu paused, then took off his face veil and handed it to Pang Yu. Seeing Gu Xiaowu's frail appearance, Pang Yu quickly declined. "Brother Gu, I can't take this. What will you use if you give it to me?"

"Brother Yu, take it. You've just suffered a calamity of blood — how can you endure this torment? I'm strong and healthy right now. This is exactly the time to look after a brother."

Hearing him say this, Pang Yu accepted it. Looking at Gu Xiaowu's slight frame, he felt a touch of emotion in his heart. Since arriving in this Ming dynasty, aside from his cheap parents and Jiao Guozha, hardly anyone had truly cared about him. Tonight, from this Gu Xiaowu, he at least felt a hint of friendship. But he also sensed that this person would inadvertently reveal a certain ferocity from time to time, which made Pang Yu reluctant to get too deeply involved with him.

Still, judging from Gu Xiaowu's words, Gu Xiaowu's father had once held some standing in the Household Office. Those he'd collaborated with outside were likely a different faction. After the current Clerk Zhao arrived, he'd replaced everyone in the Household Office with his own people, and then transferred the high-profit business related to the office to that crew of Household Slaves like Zheng Lao — which had led to the Gu family's current decline.

"Then I wish you every success, Brother Gu." Pang Yu recalled Gu Xiaowu's earlier words and asked, "Clerk and clerk positions can both be donated for?"

"Brother Yu, you've been hanging around the yamen for over a year now. How come you don't know anything?"

"Brother Wu, how about this — since we've got nothing to do on night patrol anyway, tell me everything about the yamen again, whatever it may be. It'll pass the time too."

"Well... where to begin? His Honor isn't here lately. Let's start with the County Deputy Magistrate. County Vice-Magistrate Zhou is originally from Henan. He has an official examination degree, but he's not too clear on criminal law or Rations and Pay — he listens to his Advisor in everything. That's the man who stands behind him every day in court, called Mr. Yu..."