Chapter 67: Top Head

Below Guanye Cliff northwest of Tongcheng, there was a main road leading to Dice Mountain. The North Gate and Yimin Gate were close to the mountain region, and outside the city it was more desolate than the southeast side.

Now the autumn wind was bleak; among the dense woods below Guanye Cliff, fallen leaves swirled and flew, nearly covering the road surface.

Two riders came from the direction of Yimin Gate, galloping past a small northward path. After racing half a li past it, they suddenly stopped, turned around, and went back.

Pang Yu stopped before that intersection and observed the road ahead and behind. He and Pang Ding had left the city through the South Gate, made a large loop outside the city, repeatedly looking back and changing direction along the way. Only after confirming no one was following did they arrive below Guanye Cliff.

Now the city wall was already blocked from view by Guanye Cliff, and the road ahead and behind had no travelers. Pang Yu waved his hand in relief and led Pang Ding onto that small path overgrown with wild grass. After rounding the first bend, Pang Yu signaled Pang Ding to dismount.

"If anyone follows, shoot to kill. If anyone you don't recognize tries to leave, shoot to kill as well."

Pang Ding nodded silently, carrying that Jue Zhang Crossbow and hiding himself in a bamboo grove.

Pang Yu watched Pang Ding conceal himself, then led the spare horse deeper down the path. Not far ahead was the path's end, where a dilapidated enclosing wall stood. Half a plaque hung on the lintel, with the character 'Convent' still remaining on it. Inside the gate, several mud-walled tile-roofed houses could be seen, many places already collapsed.

All around the thatched huts was dead silence. Pang Yu did not dismount, carefully scrutinizing the surroundings.

"Second Brother."

He Xianya's voice sounded in front of the thatched huts, and then He Xianya's and Jiao Guozha's heads appeared at the doorway of the house on the right.

Only then did Pang Yu dismount and greet the two. He walked directly to the cellar behind the house, yanked aside the large winnowing basket covering it, revealing the cellar opening. A nauseating stench assaulted his face. Pang Yu waved his hand slightly to disperse it, squinting as he looked into the cellar, and saw a human figure lying on its back inside.

This was the place where Wang Guohua was imprisoned — an abandoned Buddhist convent. In earlier years, rumors spread that the area was haunted, and all the nuns in the convent fled. After years of abandonment, it was already uninhabitable. And because of the haunting rumors, even firewood-gathering farmers were unwilling to come in and rest, making it the most suitable place to hold Wang Guohua.

"Eldest Brother, you've worked hard." Pang Yu turned his head to look at Jiao Guozha. This eldest brother had guarded Wang Guohua all these days, with only Pang Ding relieving him for two days in between.

Because he had previously always been in the Fast Squad, he had some fighting experience. Compared to those two weaklings Pang Ding and He Xianya, Pang Yu could only rely on this eldest brother; he was basically the one guarding Wang Guohua the whole time.

Jiao Guozha had been staying in the wilderness all these days, worn down to a haggard appearance. Looking at Wang Guohua inside, he cursed, "When do we just kill this turtle-spawn with one stroke of the blade? A live man is far more trouble than a dead one."

"Constable Pang, haha." Wang Guohua on the ground lifted his head with difficulty. His hair was disheveled, his face grimy, he was bone-thin, and his entire cheeks had sunken in. Now his eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Pang Yu and laughed with effort, "Wang has been a hero all his life, yet today dies at the hands of a dog official's constable."

Pang Yu did not go inside. He just stood at the cellar opening and smiled, "Brother Wang, how do you know I came to kill you today?"

Wang Guohua let his head fall back to the ground, opened his eyes, and looked at the earthen ceiling of the cellar, saying, "Besides you few, under heaven only Wang alone knows that you got the silver. Scoundrels like you few naturally would not leave a living witness."

Pang Yu neither confirmed nor denied, saying, "Since Brother Wang knows, then Pang will do a good deed and let Brother Wang go more easily in a moment. However, Brother Wang should mind your words — the term 'scoundrels,' Pang truly does not dare accept."

Wang Guohua coughed twice and laughed bitterly, "You have the nerve to speak of good deeds. That day Wang was already poisoned, yet you few still had to break Wang's legs. If that's not scoundrels, what is?"

"Brother Wang's martial strength was formidable. Of course we had to break the legs to be safe. That way neither side had to suspect the other, and we could coexist peacefully all these days."

Wang Guohua heard Pang Yu speak without the slightest guilt and knew that words were useless against these few. Too lazy to argue further, he closed his eyes to rest a moment, then asked, "I only want to know: when you kept Wang alive that day, was it to make the Fang family wary of harming you?"

"Naturally. If we speak only of Brother Wang, Fang Kongzhao did show you the kindness of recognition and patronage. But what Brother Wang did was indeed to trap Mr. Fang in injustice."

"But after the rebellion started, I never permitted anyone to disturb the Fang family. I didn't even touch Fengyi Ward. Does that not count as repaying kindness?"

Pang Yu bent down and entered the cellar, walked to the direction of Wang Guohua's head, and sat down, saying, "Brother Wang is also a clever man. You collected fire-exemption silver from every gentry household in the entire city, and only left Fang Kongzhao undisturbed. That is not repaying kindness — that is repaying kindness with enmity, putting the Fang family over the fire to roast. How could Fang Kongzhao spare you?"

"If I had looted the Fang family, then collected fire-exemption silver from him, would he have spared me then?" Wang Guohua was silent a moment, then suddenly laughed bitterly twice. "Huang Wending and Zhang Ru, those two bastards — if they had listened to me, how could it have come to this day? We would have long since been recruited to surrender and become wealthy men, or at worst fled to another region. Regret not heeding them at the start, regret not heeding them at the start."

Pang Yu tilted his head and looked at Wang Guohua. "I have always wondered: Brother Wang surpassed Huang Wending in both talent and virtue, so why were you willing to serve Huang Wending as Alliance Leader, allowing great power to fall into another's hands, until it finally became unmanageable?"

"That day it was also my own selfish motive. These people are all ruiners, not builders. I figured that the deeds done by those below would all ultimately be counted on the Alliance Leader's head, and I feared that being Alliance Leader would make it hard to be recruited to surrender. So I lured Huang Wending into being Alliance Leader, and I could still have the chance to kill the Alliance Leader and redeem myself — it's just that I never got the chance to carry it out. When Zhang Ru was captured, I guessed those country gentry were going to act. Since I no longer had the great merit of self-redemption, I thought to take some silver and flee to another region. Who knew it would turn out like this."

Wang Guohua finished speaking, opened his eyes, and looked at Pang Yu. "Then to kill me today — have you already negotiated terms with the Fang family? Do you still need Wang's head to add to your merit?"

Pang Yu nodded.

Wang Guohua panted a while until his breathing steadied. When he spoke again, his tone was desolate. "Could you allow me to die of illness? Wang cannot hold on many more days anyway."

Pang Yu surveyed the dark, gloomy environment in the cellar and nodded, saying, "I respect Brother Wang. Then I shall grant you a few more days."

Wang Guohua's expression relaxed slightly, but then a violent fit of coughing seized him. It was a good while before it subsided.

Before he could even steady his breathing, a short blade suddenly stabbed down from above into the position of his heart. Wang Guohua's mouth gaped wide, his eyes round as he stared at the yamen runner before him.

His head trembled as he strained upward for a moment, but it lasted only a brief instant before his whole body went limp on the ground.

"Finally killed him." Jiao Guozha leaned back against the cellar wall behind him. "If he didn't die soon, I'd be worn to death by him first."

Pang Yu smoothed his hand over Wang Guohua's eyes to close them, and said softly, "Don't blame me. Going this way was the easiest."

……

When the sun was sinking in the west, Pang Yu returned to the county seat through Yimin Gate. These days, for fear of retaliation, he had not dared to return to his own shop, though he had passed by and looked a few times.

Some days ago, the door planks of the Pang Family Pharmacy had been smashed by someone, and the inside had been ransacked, though nothing was actually lost. But after that, Pang Yu was even more afraid to go home. He had been staying all along at the County Vice Magistrate Office, and after becoming Fast Squad Head, he stayed in the Fast Squad duty room.

Today, passing by his home's entrance, he saw that the door planks had already been replaced. Just as he was feeling surprised, the neighbors from all around gathered around him.

"Little Yu, we neighbors pooled some silver and helped your family replace those door planks."

"Tell your parents they can come back now. Haven't seen you in a few days, Little Yu — sure enough, now that you're Squad Head, you look full of spirit."

"Little Yu, listen to Aunt Xu: that girl from the Zilai Bridge family, she's still waiting…"

Pang Yu thanked them profusely, but he still did not dare stay at his own place. After dealing with them for a while, he hurried back to the yamen.

Jiang Fan saw Pang Yu at the entrance and quickly came up to him, saying, "Something happened in the court session today."

Pang Yu stopped, stunned. "What could happen in the court session?"

"When Old Zheng was being tried, he identified Clerk Zhao of the Household Office as colluding with household slaves. His Excellency Yang was caught completely off guard."

"Was Mr. Ma present at the hearing?"

"As it happened, he was. I thought I must tell the Squad Head early. In case His Excellency Yang suddenly orders Clerk Zhao's arrest, the Squad Head would still be completely unaware."

Pang Yu patted Jiang Fan on the shoulder in encouragement. "Well done on the assignment. Keep an eye on how this matter develops."

After Jiang Fan left, Pang Yu revealed a slight smile. "Now it's up to your own skill, Tang Weimin."

……

In front of the clerks' quarters behind the county school, Tang Weimin carried a jug of wine, swaying unsteadily as he arrived before a courtyard gate. He lifted a foot and kicked open the ajar gate leaf.

Clerk Zhao in the courtyard looked at Tang Weimin in surprise and quickly came over to support him. "Clerk Tang, what is the matter?"

Tang Weimin, with a slight smile, said, "Your Excellency Zhao… I… I, your subordinate, have come today to bid you farewell."

Clerk Zhao said in astonishment, "Weimin, why do you say such a thing?"

Tang Weimin buried his head and was silent for a moment, then said in a bleak tone, "These past years, your subordinate has received Your Excellency's guidance and promotion. To have been able to work alongside Your Excellency for several years is already Tang's good fortune. But the winds and clouds in the yamen shift unpredictably. There are some things a small man cannot do, and in the days to come, it will be hard to continue following Your Excellency."

Clerk Zhao suddenly grew somewhat indignant. "Could it be that that man surnamed Ma is threatening you?"

"He wants me to denounce Lord Zhao and link you to this civil unrest. He's already obtained the confessions of Old Zheng and the others; if he can get someone from the Household Office to testify, it'll be nailed down tight. How could I frame Lord Zhao? A man must act according to his conscience, never hedging his bets. Since I can't satisfy both sides, it's only a Clerk post — I, Tang, will simply not do it."

Clerk Zhao's eyes reddened slightly. He had usually been rather strict with the Household Office staff, and his dealings with Tang Weimin had been mere mutual exploitation. He never expected that at a critical moment, Tang Weimin would possess such moral integrity.

His voice choked with emotion, he said, "These years of our acquaintance have not been in vain. Some people you know their face but not their heart; with others, true feeling only shows in times of peril. Weimin, you need not lose on both fronts. I intend to let you take the top post."

Tang Weimin was startled. "Impossible! You are in your prime, my lord — how can you retire and return home now? Lord Zhao, you must not speak lightly of giving up."

Clerk Zhao shook his head and sighed. "That man surnamed Ma said that if I do not leave the yamen of my own accord, he will arrest me on charges of colluding with bandits. If it is listed under civil unrest, in the end I won't even get the Ding Shou Yin."

Tang Weimin smashed the wine jug to the ground and roared in fury, "How can Lord Yang allow a mere Advisor to wreak havoc in our Tongcheng county yamen?"

"Ah, he is from the Grand Coordinator Yamen. I have thought it over — I cannot oppose him head-on." Clerk Zhao's eyes held some tears, though no one could tell what those tears truly meant.

"Weimin, take this old man's advice: do not make futile struggles. Accept this Clerk post from me, and these years of our acquaintance will not have been in vain. Being able to give the Clerk position to you eases my heart somewhat. Weimin, say no more. Let us draft the Top-Post Contract and ask Zhou County Deputy to serve as Middle Witness."

"My lord…"

Tang Weimin was so choked with sobs he could not finish his sentence, nearly on the verge of old tears streaming down. Seeing this, Clerk Zhao could not help but be overwhelmed by a tumult of emotions. Ordinarily, the Household Office had three Clerks in total. After Clerk Zhao was implicated this time, the other two had both directly proposed taking the top post from him, even speaking with veiled threats — the very picture of petty men. Only Tang Weimin still treated him with respect. So letting Tang Weimin take the top post as Clerk was surely the most correct decision.

About half a shichen later, Tang Weimin and Clerk Zhao parted in tears. He went out the main gate, turned right, and arrived at Minglun Hall behind the county school.

Pang Yu was sitting on the steps waiting. Tang Weimin sat down beside Pang Yu.

"How did the talk with Clerk Zhao go?"

Tang Weimin's face was still wet with tears, but at this moment he did not bother to wipe them away. He pulled out a contract, gazed at it for a long while, then suddenly broke into a joyful smile. "The Top-Post Contract — I've got it."