Chapter 36: Wind Rising

Late at night, unlike its usual pitch-black state, the Pang family medicine shop glowed with dim yellow firelight seeping from Pang Yu's room. Pang Yu and He Xianya each occupied one side of the square table, burning precious tung oil to work overtime.

Pang Yu grabbed an apple beside the table and took a bite, frowning at the sourness. There were no improved varieties like Red Fuji in this era; the local apples Tongcheng produced were only the size of plums. Though crisp, they tasted very astringent — somewhat useful for staying alert during late-night overtime.

Pang Yu preferred Beidi apples — red, large, excellent in appearance, and very sweet. Though a bit soft and lacking chew, they were still far better than Tongcheng's local apples.

But Pang Yu had no silver lately, and even these local apples were bought by He Xianya, so his complaints got him nowhere.

"Slap."

He Xianya swatted a mosquito dead and said with a pained expression, "Why are there so many mosquitoes in your house? Another quarter-hour at most, or my blood will be sucked dry."

"Can't even endure this little hardship."

Pang Yu cursed, but inwardly he was suffering too. Any lamplight at night attracted countless mosquitoes, and with no mosquito incense or anything similar available, Pang Yu's mother had brought a handful of leftover mugwort to smoke the room — probably stored too long, the effect didn't last.

"This half-volume is all Upper-Middle Fields. Don't write the tax rates wrong." Pang Yu rubbed his eyes and gave He Xianya some advice. "Energy is poor at night — be especially careful writing these tax tickets. If the first one is wrong, the rest will follow, and most of the night's work will be wasted."

"Second Brother, don't worry, I remember this." He Xianya yawned and continued, "Our Willow Tree Village has quite a few Upper-Upper Fields and Upper-Middle Fields, some Fish Fields too, and very little Reed Tax — it's considered prosperous among Tongcheng's forty-seven villages. Both silver-heads are there, making it more complicated than other villages. Let's not wait until all the tax tickets are written before delivering them. Better to send Willow Tree Village's first thing tomorrow; the silver-heads still need to be assigned to the Tax Household households."

"Then go to Willow Tree Village tomorrow afternoon and call both silver-heads back to the Household Office." Pang Yu rubbed his sore wrist. "These tax tickets are truly back-breaking. Why are there so few people in the yamen who can write?"

"The clerks in every office can write, but only the office heads can order them around. Don't even think about asking them yourself. Speaking of clerks, I saw that Jiang Guoyong this morning — he's a clerk too. The Punishment Office is said to be dismissing him. If not for what he said that day, Second Brother could have recruited him."

Pang Yu thought back briefly and recalled quickly. That man had made one careless remark that day and offended the entire yamen. In the end, he was beaten with twenty strokes of the staff. No one dared call a porter for him, and he had to endure the pain and crawl back on his own.

The clerical staff in the yamen had authorized positions — even the County Vice-Magistrate couldn't dismiss a clerk from the Document Receiving Office. But clerks and auxiliaries like this had no authorized positions; each office head could dismiss them.

Pang Yu shook his head. "The Punishment Office head naturally couldn't keep him. Someone like Jiang Guoyong — we absolutely must not get involved with him. I'd rather we stay up late and do a bit more ourselves."

"Eldest Brother asked me today about the bench-collection work, whether we still needed people. I think his opinion was that he wants to come too?"

Pang Yu frowned in thought. Jiao Guozha had been rather cold toward him lately — this might be a chance to ease things.

But Pang Yu also had some concerns in his heart. In the end, he shook his head. "I'd like to let Eldest Brother earn some silver too. That's how brothers should be. But with what Eldest Brother did before, he offended the Household Office. The County Vice-Magistrate called him out by name and wanted him caned. Now that we're working in the Household Office ourselves, our first consideration must be the Vice-Magistrate's and Clerk Zhao's thoughts. At least for now, it's not suitable to involve Eldest Brother in Household Office matters. Otherwise, none of us will come out well."

He Xianya sighed. "Second Brother speaks reason. I thought the same. It's just that he's not well-regarded in the Fast Squad now. Li Squad Leader used to treat him fairly well, but he's grown distant since returning. Knowing full well that Eldest Brother's leg still isn't right, he sends him out every day to hunt down that Old Zheng. Everyone knows Old Zheng is at the Wu family — how could they possibly catch him?"

As they spoke, He Xianya swatted two more mosquitoes. Seeing there was no way to keep writing much longer, Pang Yu could only say helplessly, "Then write five more and we'll call it a shift."

The two endured the mosquito bites and stubbornly finished five more. He Xianya swiftly cleared the table.

Pang Yu, scratching his itches, went into the courtyard. He looked up at the sky full of stars within that small square of space, then stretched long and deep.

To leave the Pang family medicine shop, one had to go through the main gate. Pang Ding slept right in the shopfront. They had to wake Pang Ding just to pass through. The two removed one door plank, just enough for He Xianya to exit.

He Xianya's home was in the direction of Xiangyang Gate, not a short journey. Just as the two were about to part, they suddenly heard a chaotic rush of footsteps outside. Pang Yu and the other stared wide-eyed and saw three figures on the pitch-black street hurrying from east to west.

"Who the hell runs that fast at night? Could the Ming Dynasty have night joggers too?"

Pang Yu cursed inwardly, somewhat baffled. After the night curfew, people were forbidden to walk outside. Aside from the gengfu, there were hardly any pedestrians on the roads. Few people ran about so recklessly.

The three figures seemed to notice the two people by the roadside as well. One of them fell in a fluster; the other two cursed under their breath. Once he scrambled up, the three headed west without stopping for a moment.

Pang Yu and the other exchanged a glance, both utterly bewildered. Pang Yu advised He Xianya to be careful on the road. He wasn't worried about the gengfu — He Xianya was from the county yamen; he only needed to declare his identity.

The two parted hastily. Pang Yu was also extremely exhausted. He fell onto his bed and slept instantly.

He slept until the end of the mao hour the next day before waking. Pang Yu had rarely enjoyed such a lazy sleep.

Ever since Magistrate Yang left for Anqing Prefecture on the seventeenth, Wang Instructor from the county school had been managing yamen affairs. This Wang Instructor didn't hold court sessions either. Each day he made one round through the offices, then went to the South Prison and called it a day.

With no Morning Session, there was no need to sign in at the Document Receiving Office. The two heads of the Household Office were also absent, so Pang Yu naturally didn't need to clock in on time.

By the time he finished washing up at a leisurely pace, the sky was already bright. Pang Yu gathered his things and reached the doorway, but Zhou Yueru, who was never late before, was nowhere to be seen.

"Could she be trying to dodge the mortgage and has already fled?" Pang Yu thought to himself. But Zhou Yueru had recently gained quite a few benefits following him. Aside from her poor performance at South Pond Neighborhood, she had been desperately chasing performance at all other times. Pang Yu had never once doubted her.

He stood at the doorway for a moment. The street was the same as always — the surrounding shops were all opening. But Pang Yu felt something was slightly off. Paying closer attention, he realized pedestrians were walking faster than usual. Two neighbors passed the door without even greeting him.

"What good deed are they up to?"

Just as he was wondering, he saw Zhou Yueru's figure jogging over from the distance.

Zhou Yueru's face was flushed, her expression somewhat flustered. "Something's happened, something's happened."

"Don't panic yet. Tell me clearly what happened. Has your father fallen ill again?"

"No, someone's been pasting notices all over the streets, saying there are a hundred thousand soldiers about to come to Tongcheng, acting as Substitute Imperial Law Enforcement or something."

Pang Yu said in shock, "What hundred thousand soldiers? Where are they posted?"

"Everywhere. I saw over ten just coming from East Street. Word is spreading everywhere."

Pang Yu whipped his head toward Yimin Gate. On the street, several clusters of people had gathered, all pointing at the walls. Large notices were conspicuously posted on the wall surfaces.

Pang Yu rushed to one of the notices, pulled aside two bystanders in front of him, fixed his eyes on the text, and read softly, "... he gentry and scholars openly proclaim virtue and morality yet secretly practice inhumanity. The king's law has long been absent in Tongcheng. We above connect to Jingxiang..."

"... elow reach the Meng River. We have trained soldiers for a full decade and gathered heroes numbering in the tens of thousands. Where the king's law fails, we shall carry it out. I shall act as Substitute Imperial Law Enforcement, eliminating..."

Inside the county yamen, Wang Instructor's expression was panicked as he read the anonymous notices sent from various places. As he read, a steady stream of reports poured in from all over the county seat. Notices had been posted on several main streets and in the markets, as well as at the crowded areas inside the six city gates. The entire city was in a state of alarm. The once-peaceful Tongcheng County Seat was suddenly gripped by tension.

Pang Yu had just rushed to the yamen as well. With He Xianya, he stood below the platform listening to the officials discuss. The number of people before the hall today was fewer than usual — he didn't know whether they hadn't come or had returned to their offices.

"Wh-what do we do?" Wang Instructor's forehead was covered in dense beads of sweat. He was only the Acting Magistrate's acting proxy, normally just managing the trivial matters of the county school. He had never handled a sudden crisis like this.

Wang Instructor suddenly pointed at one person. "Military Office Clerk, you manage military affairs. This should fall to you to handle. Tell us what to do now."

The Military Office Clerk stammered, "This subordinate only manages the stores, societies, and postal stations. Pacifying the locality, patrolling, and pursuing criminals — the Punishment Office is likely more suitable."

Zhang Clerk of the Punishment Office retreated two steps. "The Punishment Office only handles criminal cases and litigation, not catching people. That's the Fast Squad and Zhuang Squad's business."

Wang Instructor, tense and growing impatient, raised his voice and demanded, "Then where have the squad leaders of the Fast Squad and Zhuang Squad gone?"

No one answered. After a long silence, a runner beside him finally said, "Just now I heard Li Squad Leader went back to settle his family."

Wang Instructor and the several office heads looked at each other in dismay.

At last, the Yin-Yang Official stepped forward. "Since His Honor entrusted Wang Instructor with temporarily overseeing county affairs, Wang Instructor is Tongcheng's Zuotang Guan, the backbone of the yamen. You must not lose your composure first."

Wang Instructor quickly nodded. First steadying his nerves, he said, "Sir Tan speaks reason. However, where do we begin now? Can you propose a plan?"

"This has only just occurred. If it is mere intimidation, so be it. But if someone is truly plotting rebellion, this is a matter of the utmost gravity. Tan suggests you first dispatch mounted couriers to Anqing Prefecture to report the situation here to Magistrate Yang and Prefect Pi Daren. First, request Magistrate Yang to return and take charge; second, to inform Anqing Prefecture of the news as early as possible."

"But Anqing Prefecture has no troops."

The Yin-Yang Official argued, "Anqing Prefecture has no troops, but the Hoeryong-Chizhou-Taiping Military Defense Circuit certainly does."

The other Clerks objected in unison, "Troops must not be sent under any circumstances. We don't even know where the bandits are now. Summoning soldiers without cause will make it hugely troublesome to send them away later. If those grunts then go on to poison the countryside, we will have failed the common people."

Clerk Tan had no choice but to compromise. "It's not as if I can dispatch troops just by saying so. In any case, we must first invite County Magistrate Yang back."

Wang Instructor suddenly realized — as long as County Magistrate Yang returned, he would no longer have to bear responsibility. He immediately turned and barked at a Runner Squad runner beside him. "Yes, yes, quickly fetch someone from the Fast Squad, and make it a mounted courier! Tell the Groom to ready the horses. Go prepare them now!"

The runner, harried into a panic, scurried off to the Fast Squad to find someone.

Wang Instructor then said to Clerk Tan, "A trip to Anqing Prefecture will take at least two or three days round trip. But what are we to do about today?"

Clerk Tan paused in Strategic Patience, then said, "Sir, first dispatch all the yamen runners to tear down those papers and also post notices to reassure the people. Let everyone know the yamen is operating as usual. Then close the city gates and forbid all entry and exit. All runners are to patrol the streets to calm the people's hearts. Sir, your first priority must be to visit the local gentry in the city — first to reassure them, and second to rely on their help to stabilize public sentiment. They have wealth and many men; they should be able to assist you."

Pang Yu listened and nodded. Clerk Tan's thinking was clear; his caliber far exceeded that of the Instructor and the several Clerks.

"Yes, yes, that makes sense." Wang Instructor was panting.

"Sir Wang." Clerk Tan's voice was grave. "The most critical thing right now is that you, sir, must not lose composure. The County Magistrate, County Vice-Magistrate, and Chief Clerk are all absent. If you panic, the yamen will panic, and then there will be no one left in the county seat capable of keeping order."

Wang Instructor's forehead was covered in dense beads of Sweat. His face full of worry and distress, he said, "Everything Clerk Tan says is reasonable, but this official's heart is churning with unease. If those anonymous posters were merely common villains, that would be one thing. I fear they may be the vanguard of the Mountain-Shaanxi Roving Bandits, coming to seize the children and wealth of our Tongcheng."

"Sir, you must not think that way. Huaining, Qianshan, Shucheng — none of them have raised any alarm. The Roving Bandits can't possibly have flown here."

"But what if they crossed over Longmian Mountain from Huoqiu? That region is cut off by mountains and rivers, with no communication. In the sixth month, there was word that some so-called Sweeping King had been to Huoqiu. Those Roving Thieves burn, plunder, and slaughter — utterly vicious and monstrous. How could the common people of our Tongcheng possibly resist..."

"Sir Wang, and all you Clerks, do not be overly anxious. If the Roving Bandits were truly coming, Anqing Prefecture would surely have sent a warning."

The faces of everyone around were filled with fear. No one took in any of Clerk Tan's subsequent words of persuasion.

Pang Yu said quietly to He Xianya, "They are purely scaring themselves. If, as Wang Instructor says, the Roving Bandits really were coming, and their goal was to plunder children and wealth, they would want all the common people inside the city — easier to catch them all in one net. They wouldn't go to the trouble of putting up a bunch of anonymous posters and alerting the enemy."

He Xianya replied nervously, "Who knows how the Roving Bandits think? I've heard their slaughter in Henan and Huguang was horrific. Let's pray they never come to our Nanzhili."

Pang Yu pursed his lips. He still did not believe the Roving Bandits had come, but he had never imagined that a few posters could throw the yamen into such chaos.

Clerk Tan was driven to utter exasperation by a pack of pig-like teammates. It was not until around Noon that a final decision was reached. They also managed to locate the heads of the Zhuang Squad and Fast Squad, and finally dispatched someone to Anqing to raise the alarm.

The Zhuang Squad and Fast Squad went to reinforce the guards at the six gates. Pang Yu and the others from the Runner Squad were sent to the streets and markets to tear down the posters. Because of the morning's delays, the yamen's reassuring public notice had not yet been written, so when Pang Yu and the others arrived, they had to make an extra trip later to post it.

When they emerged from the yamen, some people carrying luggage had already appeared on County Front Street, most of them heading east — clearly fleeing the city to avoid disaster.

Pang Yu frowned as he watched these people. He had not expected that in just a single night, their peaceful lives could be thrown into such complete disarray. The hearts of Tongcheng's people were like loose sand; a few anonymous posters could plunge an entire city's populace into panic. If the Roving Bandits truly came, how could the city possibly hold?

The twenty-third day of the eighth month. Night fell.

Pang Yu had spent the entire day running around the city. Even his Bench matter at Willow Tree Village had been delayed. Not only did he have to tear down anonymous posters, but he also had to post reassuring public notices. As the day wore on, the number of yamen runners dwindled. Not even three in ten persisted until all the notices were posted; the rest had all slipped away midway.

That Wang Instructor was still earnestly overseeing affairs. At night, he even took a few men from the Fast Squad to patrol the walls. Even Pang Yu did not get home until the sky was nearly dark.

The Pang family ate their evening meal early and barred the door planks tightly. The neighboring shops and residences all did the same. No one was in the mood for business, and a tense atmosphere filled the street.

Pang Yu's father asked about the situation at the yamen. After hearing it, he fell into a silent brood.

His mother said worriedly, "Let's go hide in the countryside for a few days, and stay at my second brother's house."

His father replied, "His place isn't large either. If we can avoid imposing on him, it's better not to."

"But we have no other Method."

Pang Yu interrupted, "There's no need to worry. They're just some posters. A dog that barks fiercely doesn't bite. It might just be a scare prank."

His mother sighed. The family had no more words. They sat in the courtyard until midnight, then each returned to their room to rest.

Pang Yu placed a small herb-cutting knife by his bedside. Though it was not very handy, it was better than nothing.

But in his heart, Pang Yu was actually not very nervous. He did not believe the people who posted those anonymous notices were capable of anything major. The purpose of the anonymous posters might be to build momentum, but it could also just be that they lacked the guts to act and were releasing fake information to take revenge on society.

In a Confusion of half-sleep, around midnight, Pang Yu was jolted awake by a clamor. He heard panicked shouts outside and dogs barking everywhere in the city. He hurriedly got up and went into the courtyard.

By then, his father and mother were also up. His father was fastening the inner buttons of his outer robe. Seeing Pang Yu, he said, "Yu'er, go wake Pang Ding. Everyone grab a wooden club."

After Pang Ding was up, Pang Yu set up the bamboo ladder in the courtyard and climbed onto the roof. He saw raging flames in the Direction of the South Gate and East Gate. The sky was dyed a dusky yellow, flickering bright and dim with the dancing firelight.

On the street near Yimin Gate came the sound of footsteps, with two voices chasing after them and shouting loudly. He did not know who they were.

Pang Yu's hands trembled slightly; his heart pounded fast. The people who posted the notices were not making a Feint — they truly meant to act. Although only the South Gate was on fire now, the night was still long, and he did not know what their target was.

If it really was an attack by the Roving Bandits, how should his family respond? A feeling of helplessness surged into his heart.

Pang Yu took several deep breaths to maintain a Calm Demeanor, then climbed back down the ladder. He said to his father and Pang Ding, "There are fires to the southeast. Everyone get fully dressed. Keep the household knives and clubs in easy reach. Judging by the commotion, it's not large — probably not a large band of thieves. None of us should go out. Let's first hold our position at home."

Pang Ding's voice trembled. "But what if they come burning and killing this way?"

"If a large gang of thieves comes, we'll Go West. Gather up the bed sheets. If Yimin Gate won't open, we'll use the City Stairs to get onto the wall and tie the sheets together to lower ourselves out of the city."

The family rose again and sat in the courtyard, neither daring to sleep nor to open the door. Except for Pang Yu, who occasionally climbed the ladder to observe, everyone else sat idle in the courtyard, their hearts uneasy as they watched the shifting light and shadows in the sky.

By the latter half of the night, the firelight at the East Gate and South Gate had diminished, and the surroundings grew quiet. It seemed the scale of the disturbance was not large.

At last, they endured until daybreak. Pang Yu cautiously opened the door planks. The neighboring households had also just opened their doors. Many people were calling out to one another, hurrying eastward. Pang Yu tucked the herb knife into his clothes and, bringing Pang Ding, followed the others' footsteps. The people they encountered on the road grew more and more numerous; all were exchanging words and information. Pang Yu followed the crowd, not even pausing at the Yamen Gate.

Soon they reached Dongzuo Gate. The area around the gate arch was packed with crowds rushing over from Every Direction, all pointing up at the gate tower. Shrieks occasionally burst from the crowd.

Pang Yu slowly raised his head. On the gate tower, starkly visible, hung a charred black corpse, bound by the feet with rope and suspended upside down. Where the rope rubbed against the burned skin, the dark red muscle beneath was exposed. Beside the corpse hung a blood-dripping human head. At the severed neck, torn, ragged flesh dangled. The eyelids on the head were half-open, revealing pale white eyeballs. It swayed gently in the morning breeze above Dongzuo Gate.

People around them vomited from time to time. Many fled as if for their lives.

Suppressing the nausea in his stomach, Pang Yu stared at the head for a long moment. Though the head had lost its vitality, the features between the brows were still recognizable.

Pang Yu murmured, "Yin Deng!"