Chapter 180: Wild Grass Grows in the Desolate Court

To be frank, after being enfeoffed as a marquis at a young age and donning the purple cord and golden seal, Gongsun Xun had clearly become somewhat carried away.

Before even reaching Handan, he had first sent Lu Fan ahead early to invite Tian Feng; then he had Shen Pei go directly home to visit his family and, along the way, help invite the renowned Ju Shou of Hebei; finally, he even dispatched Lou Gui and Han Dang, his personal civil and military aides, just to investigate the situation of the Taiping Dao and Zhang Jiao.

And at this moment, though he was already all alone, he still seemed utterly unconcerned about everything... Hearing that Zhao Ping, who held the post of Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace, was in the south of the city, he merely sent Qian Zhao and a few newly arrived volunteer followers to deal with him, and then entered the city alone by himself, to face the entirety of Handan.

With the purple cord and golden seal, surrounded by calls of acclaim on white horses, and being the specially appointed resident of this city, his passage was naturally unimpeded.

However, when Gongsun Xun arrived directly at the official temple where the Chancellor of the Principality resided, he suddenly discovered that he had indeed underestimated the people of the world...

"My lord, be careful!"

A crowd of attendants surged forward in a flurry, helping Gongsun Xun to his feet, and incidentally hacked the vine that had tripped their lord into a thousand pieces.

"What is this?" Gongsun Xun, after getting up, pointed at the ground with a nearly trembling finger and demanded. "What is the meaning of this? Why is the official temple of the dignified Chancellor of the Principality overgrown with wild grass, the paths on the ground covered by vines? From Liaodong to Luoyang, I have never in my life seen an official temple like this!"

"In reply... in reply to my lord." Two commandery clerks standing in the underbrush on the side were trembling all over and directly fell to their knees in terror to beg forgiveness. "Between spring and summer, all things flourish; it rained a few days ago, and before we knew it, the vegetation had grown so thick. We truly did not anticipate this."

This reasoning was so sound that Gongsun Xun was left utterly speechless.

However, he quickly recovered his wits: "Is this a matter of spring or summer? I ask you, Xiang Xu... does Chancellor Xiang not normally handle official business in this temple? Could it be that His Highness the Prince has granted him a side hall for public duties? If that is the case, why did you still lead me here?"

Gongsun Xun had reason to ask this, because Handan was an ancient city, a capital of six or seven hundred years, and had been the residence of feudal princes since the Former Han dynasty. The Zhao Prince's palace, renovated over several centuries, was even more majestic and spectacular.

A few decades later, a local scholar would even write the famous "Rhapsodies on the Three Capitals," specifically praising Handan, Yecheng, and Luoyang. Among them, the "Rhapsody on the Zhao Capital" says:

The capital walls stretch a myriad of paces, a hundred li in circumference; nine thoroughfares intersect, three gates open to the sides; tiered towers and sparse pavilions, linked buildings and joined steps.

The grandeur and magnificence of the Zhao Prince's palace and Handan city are clearly evident.

Given this, it would be understandable if Xiang Xu disliked the dilapidated official temple and asked the Prince of Zhao for an unused side hall in the palace to use. And that would naturally explain why the Chancellor's official temple was overgrown with wild grass.

But if Xiang Xu was not here, why had these two commandery clerks led him into such a desolate and ridiculous place? Had they been instructed by someone to deliberately make a fool of him?!

"In reply to my lord!" One of the older clerks, likely more experienced and guessing what the other was thinking, immediately smiled bitterly from the ground. "How would we dare to mock my lord? The truth is that our Chancellor, since arriving in Handan nearly two years ago, has always been right here in this official temple."

Gongsun Xun looked around, dazed and bewildered, truly unable to understand how this Chancellor could live in such a place.

"It's just that he has always preferred to lie in repose in the rooms of the rear courtyard," the younger clerk on the side quickly explained. "Aside from eating and using the privy, in two years we have rarely seen him get out of bed more than a few times. The bedboard has been worn with the impression of his body from his lying there, let alone the grass growing in this courtyard here?"

"That is indeed the case," the older clerk continued. "In truth, if one enters from the rear courtyard, there is a small path there used for delivering meals and water, washing clothes, and removing night soil and filth. That path is walked daily and the ground is clean. But my lord is newly arrived at his post and has come to pay a formal visit to the Chancellor; how would we dare let you enter through the small rear gate?"

Gongsun Xun finally came to his senses. He shook off the support of his attendants, walked forward several paces, and stood up straight just inside the gate, gazing out at the main courtyard of the Zhao Principality Chancellor's official temple. Yet no matter how he looked, the courtyard full of verdant wild grass and vines, along with the few wildflowers swaying in the breeze... all stirred within him a feeling of utter absurdity!

This was the core of power in the Zhao Principality, and the Chancellor Xiang Xu, who held the greatest authority in the principality, was right inside the official temple before him. Yet how could it be overgrown with grass and blooming with flowers?!

In fact, when he had crossed the border at Bairen County in the northernmost part of Zhao, because the local county magistrate, Shen Yu, styled Shen Zhongyan, was a student of Liu Kuan and one of Gongsun Xun's fellow classmates, he had specially stopped there to inquire about the situation in the Zhao Principality and Handan... What were the major local clans, who were the powerful magnates, how was the public order? What influence did the Taiping Dao have here? Had there been any major events in Handan recently?

He had asked everything he should and should not have asked!

That being the case, the most important point—who the Chancellor was and what kind of person he was—Gongsun Xun naturally would not have overlooked. For this was, in theory, the only person in Handan city whose authority exceeded his own, and his direct superior.

And to be honest, when he heard from his senior classmate that the Chancellor of Zhao was the 'old acquaintance' Xiang Xu from the banks of the Yellow River, and that this man spent all day merely 'lying in repose,' Gongsun Xun had been completely at ease. After all, in his view, that kind of good-for-nothing was born to let someone like himself seize power, just like Gao Yan! As long as he first made an example of that Prefect of the Gentlemen Zhao Ping, like killing a chicken to warn the monkeys, and then pressured and intimidated this Xiang Xu, it would probably be very easy to get a handle on this Henei celebrity who only knew how to recite the Classic of Filial Piety, sideline him, and then calmly encroach upon the commandery office's authority, right?!

When the time came, wouldn't it be just as comfortable as in Liaodong?

But no matter what was said, Gongsun Xun had never, ever imagined that Xiang Xu's 'lying in repose' was this outrageous! The official temple was overgrown with grass and blooming with flowers, for heaven's sake!

Overgrown with grass and blooming with flowers!

"You two, please rise," Having been shaken by the courtyard full of wild grass, Gongsun Xun had reined himself in considerably, and even cupped his hands slightly toward the two clerks. "May I ask you two, how does the Chancellor normally handle official business?"

"In reply to my lord," After rising, the younger clerk, seeing the other's attitude soften, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and spoke frankly. "Our Chancellor does not handle official business."

"The affairs of the commandery..."

"The affairs of the commandery, such as litigation, taxation, and public order, are naturally handled by the Commandery Aide and the heads of the various bureaus."

"And where are the Commandery Aide and the heads of the various bureaus?"

"They normally handle business from their homes," the older clerk suddenly interjected. "My lord arrived too quickly today and came directly here; they likely could not make it in time, otherwise they would certainly have been here to welcome you... However, by tomorrow or the day after, once His Highness the Prince and the prominent households of this commandery have all met with my lord, they will surely come to pay their respects."

"Putting that aside for now, does Lord Xiang also not manage matters of personnel appointments and dismissals, rewards and punishments?" Gongsun Xun grew increasingly uneasy.

"Naturally, he does not."

"Then have no clerks in this principality ever left their posts due to old age or illness, to the point of vacancies?" Gongsun Xun truly found this hard to understand.

"My lord jests," the older clerk could not help but give a dry laugh upon hearing this. "Our Chancellor has been here less than two years. He does not manage affairs, nor does he reward or punish. How could many personnel vacancies have opened up?"

"To be perfectly honest with my lord, throughout this entire principality, even the two of us were appointed before he arrived at his post..." the younger clerk also interjected. "Even though the Head of the Personnel Bureau is getting on in years, doesn't he also handle business from home? He naturally has his sons and nephews to help manage official duties."

Gongsun Xun nodded repeatedly, as if to indicate that he had truly broadened his horizons.

However, since these two clerks were quite obliging and cooperative, he simply continued his questioning: "And what of last year's Filial and Incorrupt nominees..."

"The Filial and Incorrupt nominees were decided by public discussion among the various clans of the principality, who put forward the Wei clan's prodigy. The Chancellor then summoned him, had him recite the Classic of Filial Piety before his bed, and also examined him on the Book of Documents. Finding him satisfactory, he directly applied his seal."

"Public discussion?" Gongsun Xun was taken aback upon hearing this, clearly somewhat alarmed. "Then what about official documents from other commanderies and principalities, and correspondence from the province?"

"Those have not been delayed," the older clerk answered candidly at this point. "The Chancellor can handle such matters with composure, writing replies to documents directly from his bed. As for people from the province coming to inspect, at first there were indeed some who came to question him. The Provincial Governor, Lord Wang, even came in person once, intending to urge the Chancellor on, but was scolded back by him! Later on, the Provincial Governor's office no longer dared to send anyone..."

Gongsun Xun started to speak but stopped... He suddenly realized that Xiang Xu was a celebrated scholar of Henei, a greatly renowned one at that, personally recommended by Yuan Kui, and appointed directly to a two-thousand-bushel rank upon entering office. Who would dare provoke him? Besides, he was merely negligent in his duties, and negligence in duty by definition would not lead to any major mistakes. If he made no mistakes, the Provincial Governor could do nothing about it, right?

So if you came to urge him and he scolded you back, what could you do? Could you forbid him from setting his mind on the mysteries of the universe and the vastness of the starry seas?!

It was just... from Gongsun Xun's perspective, he was here to seize power. But this fellow Xiang Xu, clutching his official seal and lying in bed all day, would only scold you back if you provoked him. How could one seize power then?

Moreover, where exactly did this Chancellor of Zhao's authority lie?! If this authority did not even exist, how could Gongsun Xun seize it?

Yes, there was the official seal... but how could one seize the official seal? Was he supposed to do as he had done that time by the Yellow River, slap him unconscious in public and snatch his seal away? But if he really did that, did he believe that Wang Kao, the Inspector of Jizhou, who had previously been scolded back by Xiang Xu, would not immediately rush over from Yecheng, dozens of li away, to punish him, the Handan Prefect, for insubordination and bullying his superior?

In short, after having stumbled cleanly and decisively the moment he entered the gate, Gongsun Xun, who a quarter of an hour ago had been brimming with confidence, now felt quite at a loss.

Of course, no matter what, he still had to meet the man; this was, after all, his direct superior.

In the rear courtyard of the official temple, Gongsun Xun, having dismissed his attendants, was led by the two clerks to the bedchamber. In truth, just as the clerks had said, this area was still fairly clean. There were even a few young and pretty official maidservants attending nearby, who now hurriedly dodged away in alarm upon seeing Gongsun Xun arrive... The Zhao region was known for producing beauties, and in any case, no one dared to truly neglect the man who governed this entire principality.

If he starved to death, who would be held responsible?

"Lord Xiang? Chancellor?" Before the open bedchamber, Gongsun Xun let out a long breath and finally mustered the courage to step inside. "Is the Chancellor in? The newly appointed Prefect of Handan, Gongsun Xun, has come to pay his respects."

The moment he entered, from the bed at the very back of the chamber, a tall, thin man with deeply sunken eye sockets and a purple headscarf suddenly turned over and spoke, giving Gongsun Xun a great start. "I remember you! You are the one who struck me by the Yellow River that day!"

Gongsun Xun was initially greatly startled, but immediately felt not alarm but joy... because in his view, what he feared most was precisely that this man would just keep lying there, not stirring up trouble, not doing anything. As long as this Henei celebrity stirred up trouble and did things, even if he was picking a fight with Gongsun Xun himself, he had ten thousand ways to make him fall into a pit, and then go with the flow.

"The Chancellor is quite right!" With this thought, Gongsun Xun immediately stepped forward and proudly admitted to the incident that day. "That day at Mengjin, it was indeed I who struck you!"

"I have been searching for you." Seeing the other admit it, Xiang Xu, with his deeply sunken eyes, suddenly sprang up from the bed with a whoosh. "After I awoke at Mengjin that day, I asked the clerks at the ferry crossing who it was that had struck me, but they said they did not know. When I went to Luoyang and told others of this matter, they all said they did not know either. After much difficulty, I finally found out it was you, but I had to come to the Zhao Principality to take up my post... By the Sage above, today I, Xiang Xu, have laid eyes on you again!"

Gongsun Xun stole a glance at the human-shaped imprint on the bed board behind the man, feeling a faint sigh of emotion himself, then straightened his expression and cupped his hands according to proper etiquette: "Indeed it was my doing. May I ask what instruction the State Chancellor has for me?"

The two clerks following behind exchanged bewildered looks, almost wanting to flee… Heaven have mercy, why did these two great figures have a personal grudge, and how were two mere clerks supposed to handle themselves in this situation? In terms of real authority and direct oversight, of course State Chancellor Xiang Xu carried more weight, yet the man was a complete waste; and this newly arrived Handan Magistrate before them was clearly a rare eccentric himself — a thousand-bushel county magistrate, standard subordinate to the State Chancellor, yet wearing a purple cord and gold seal — was that someone easy to offend?

If these two before them started quarreling here, wouldn't the two of them be trapped to death? Tell me, how did they end up following such a State Chancellor? If only this Xiang Xu were even the slightest bit normal, it wouldn't put them in such a difficult position, would it?

Just as the two clerks were panicking, Xiang Xu over there had already shuffled over in his wooden clogs, eyes glaring, and reached Gongsun Xun in a few strides:

"I was just about to reason with you!"

At least it wasn't a brawl.

"Please speak plainly, State Chancellor." Gongsun Xun straightened his chest even more. "I, Gongsun Xun, am not afraid to reason with you."

"Tell me," Xiang Xu jabbed his finger, speaking indignantly, "when the solar eclipse receded that day and order was restored at the ford, was that not the result of my reciting the Classic of Filial Piety? Why do you usurp Heaven's credit, disregard moral scholarship, and tell others that the lack of chaos at the ford during the eclipse was your achievement in killing a horse to assert authority?! How can a calamity of bloodshed dispel a solar eclipse? How can moral classics be so ignored?"

Gongsun Xun was dumbstruck.

"Detestable are those ignorant commoners and foolish women, and detestable too are those ignorant worms in the court! They clearly knew I was chanting the Classic of Filial Piety by the riverbank, yet they are still deceived by you, speaking only of how you kept calm in the face of danger, but never mentioning my merit! Never mentioning my merit would be one thing, but why ignore the Classic of Filial Piety? Can the state endure, can scholars be scholars, can the common people live in peace — are these not the achievements of such classics?" At this point, Xiang Xu actually covered his face and wailed loudly. "Pity my full scholarship, yet I must come to this filthy place, where there are hardly any who can debate the classics, and today I must be colleagues with someone like you, even living in the same city… Alas, woe is me!"

Gongsun Xun came back to his senses, watching the State Chancellor who had returned to his bed and was wailing loudly, and in his heart he felt three parts frustration, three parts helplessness, and three parts irritation, with a final one part pity!

He would rather have Dong Zhuo as his superior than deal with this man!

With this thought, Gongsun Xun did not spare the man another glance, simply turned around, flicked his sleeves, and left!

The two commandery clerks, who had been equally frightened by their own State Chancellor moments before, now breathed a sigh of relief and quietly withdrew along with Gongsun Xun.

"Just now I thought that you commandery clerks not working at the government office meant you were indulging in improper acts in private residences with no one to supervise you," Gongsun Xun said as he walked out of the rear courtyard and returned to the front courtyard where grass grew tall and grasshoppers flew, shaking his head with feeling. "But now I can understand them. Under heaven, is there anyone who could stay in the same place as this State Chancellor and still persist in handling official business?"

The two commandery clerks could only exchange bitter smiles.

"You two have toiled hard guarding this place. Setting aside that meeting is fate, you have also been diligent in your duties. What are your names?" Gongsun Xun, with his volunteer retinue waiting there, lifted his foot to leave, but when he reached the main gate of the government office, he suddenly turned back.

"Wang Ran, courtesy name Qiming, currently serving as Assistant Charioteer to the State Chancellor." The older clerk hurriedly bowed and replied.

"That post must be hard on you." Gongsun Xun could not help but feel a sudden understanding upon hearing this.

Assistant Charioteer, also called Imperial Charioteer — both mean the same thing — is essentially the post that manages the official carriages of the commandery state and is responsible for the Grand Administrator's or State Chancellor's travel, summons, message delivery, and escort duties. Ordinarily it should be a top-tier desirable post, with considerable authority and responsibility. However, stuck with a State Chancellor who lies in bed all day, this post was reduced to nothing more than watching the gate.

"Deputy Assistant Charioteer," the younger clerk also replied awkwardly. "Li Ming, courtesy name Yizhi."

"Both of you have it hard!" Gongsun Xun looked at the two clerks with sympathy, then simply waved and left, heading directly to the county office two streets away to assume his post.

By the afternoon, Qian Zhao also arrived from outside the city leading a large group of people.

However, Gongsun Xun had just settled down at the county office and asked a few questions in the hall when an uninvited guest suddenly arrived.

"My Prince respectfully invites the Marquis of Wulu Precinct to a banquet!"

Glancing back at Zhao Ping, the Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace standing rigidly to the side, and seeing Gongsun Xun sitting in the hall with a darkened face and saying nothing, the messenger delivering the invitation was also trembling with fear, as if treading on thin ice. "The Great Prince and the Prince's Tutor are both waiting!"

"Wait until I finish handling this case," Gongsun Xun said offhandedly, then turned his head back to look at Zhao Ping. "Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace Zhao Ping, you just said you did not forcibly seize a commoner woman?"

"Absolutely true!" Zhao Ping, hearing this, hurriedly swore oaths again, continuing the topic from before the messenger's arrival. "Everyone south of the city saw it with their own eyes. Before your lordship's messenger even arrived, I had already ordered my men to turn back… A gentleman's courtship springs from emotion and halts at propriety. Since Miss Qin was unwilling, I naturally turned and left at once!"

"Woman of the Qin clan," Gongsun Xun was nearly exasperated. "Is what he says true? Do not be afraid, speak plainly. You must know that I am the Handan Magistrate, in charge of all administrative affairs in this county. Anyone who dares commit such evil deeds within my jurisdiction — even a Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace can be executed!"

The mulberry-picking girl Qin Luofu, suddenly coming back to herself, replied in a daze: "I dare not deceive you, my lord. It is truly that this Prefect of the Gentlemen indeed suddenly withdrew of his own accord. Luofu… Luofu does not know what happened either…"

Qin Luofu's voice grew softer and softer, while Zhao Ping's face lit up with delight: "My lord, not only the Qin woman — even the several concubines I previously took in the Zhao Kingdom were all with mutual affection…"

They've already become your concubines, marriage ties already formed — what more can be done? Gongsun Xun felt utterly disgusted in his heart and could only cut the man off with a darkened face:

"Regardless, trampling the young crops is true, isn't it?!"

"This humble clerk is willing to accept punishment!" Zhao Ping, hearing this, seemed almost overjoyed. "Deduct my salary, fine me copper — I will send someone to fetch money at once to compensate the household and pay the fine, and I am also willing to go to the State Chancellor to accept a salary deduction!"

Gongsun Xun pondered this over and over, but could do nothing. In the end, he could only rise abruptly, call for that messenger, summon a few attendants, and with a stomach full of frustration head straight to the towering and magnificent Zhao Prince's Palace to attend the banquet.

——————— I am the dividing line where grass grows and grasshoppers fly ———————

"In former times, when the Grand Progenitor of this dynasty was transferred to be Handan Magistrate, it happened that Xiang Xu was Chancellor of Zhao. Xu was a famous scholar of Henei, his nature always eccentric and unconventional. Upon taking office, he barely glanced at official documents, but sat upon his couch day and night, sometimes whistling long, sometimes lying loftily, until mugwort grew within his quarters. The Grand Progenitor entered and spoke with him, but left after only a few words. His attendants, puzzled, asked why. The Grand Progenitor sighed and said: 'Those who will cause the House of Han to lose the realm are all such hypocritical pretenders as this! How can one associate with them?'" — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Hypocrisy

PS: Xiang Xu's absurdities… hard to describe in a few words

(End of chapter)