Chapter 67: Grand Feast (Part One)

Old Madam Zhao raising a finger to point at her granddaughter right at the main gate of the trading post was probably a hundred times more powerful than all the matchmakers and betrothal gifts put together.

And so, the matter was settled on the spot, with no room left for turning back.

After the two families went back inside for some mutual flattery and a fervent discussion of ceremonial details, and after Gongsun Xun personally drove them back home and then returned... the sky was already darkening.

"From now on, no more salted fish displayed outside!" The trading post had just closed for the day, and Stewardess Quan the Sixth was in the courtyard relaying the instructions of the household mistress. "Do you really think the court officials are all fools? Don't you know Donglai already has a salted fish tax? How many times have I said it — our Anli Trading Company only sells 'fresh fish,' not salted fish!"

The staff hurriedly agreed, but someone had clearly spotted Gongsun Xun passing by and could not resist calling out in jest and flattery: "But Sixth Steward, now that we're in-laws with the Grand Administrator's family, do we really need to be so proper?"

"If we weren't in-laws, there'd be no need to be so careful," Gongsun Xun laughed without turning his head. "It's precisely because we've become relatives that we must be more particular."

"Did you hear that, Quan—"

"Sixth Steward, forgive me — it's just that we received far too many goods today, and this fellow Mo Hukou has always been known for his honesty..."

Gongsun Xun smiled and shook his head, then went straight into the main hall to see his mother. When he pushed open the door, he saw that the candles had already been lit in the main hall, and Lady Gongsun was sitting alone in a chair, propping her forehead with her hand, lost in thought.

"I'm back." Gongsun Xun saluted and then sat down as a matter of course. "Mother, I've been wanting to ask you — what exactly is troubling you? First you spaced out in the street, and then once we were inside you actually asked your future daughter-in-law if she knew martial arts? Lord Zhao's face went completely dark!"

"Don't bring that up." Lady Gongsun's old face reddened, a rare sight. "Weren't we just talking about Zhao Yun earlier... you don't understand, we... ah... back in my day... you know, there were storybooks that portrayed Zhao Yun as a woman, just like the tale of Hua Mulan I told you when you were little."

Gongsun Xun had already burst out laughing: "If she were the Zhao Yun you speak of, why would I have needed to carry her back from the battlefield? She'd probably have had to carry me back instead. Didn't they say — the 'Yun' is the yun from the Huainanzi, as in 'the yun herb can bring the dead back to life'... Thinking of it now, it's rather fitting. This time, meeting me — the Xun jade from the Huainanzi — she can be said to have returned from death to life."

"You make it sound like Dream of the Red Chamber," Lady Gongsun scoffed. "A bond of wood and stone, is it? But leaving that aside, I have something to tell you as well..."

"Mother, please speak."

"Those one hundred and one beauties I arranged earlier — I had originally planned to select a few and send them to your side once things settled down. But now, with a formal betrothal imminent, this matter can no longer be mentioned. I'm afraid they'll have to be dispersed to work in various branches of the trading company. Otherwise... otherwise that Old Madam Zhao is not someone to be trifled with."

"Mother is right." Gongsun Xun could not help but sigh at these words — though whether it was regret over the hundred-plus beauties, or a lament about Old Madam Zhao, was unclear. "Old Madam Zhao is truly formidable... I just don't understand why she was in such a hurry, and why she set her sights on me?"

"It's precisely because she's formidable that she was in such a hurry," Lady Gongsun said with even greater feeling. "A person of her caliber, limited perhaps by her breadth of knowledge, may not necessarily know that the Great Han is about to collapse — but that this world is worsening year by year and trouble is bound to break out, that much is unmistakable. Besides, we worry that when the eunuchs and the partisans bite each other, rivers of blood will flow — why wouldn't she worry about the same thing? So I suspect this old madam also sensed something, which is why she urgently wanted to secure a place of refuge here in our Liaoxi borderlands."

"Indeed." Gongsun Xun nodded repeatedly. "Even a scoundrel like Lou Gui knows this world is bound to descend into chaos sooner or later, let alone someone like Old Madam Zhao. And thinking of it that way, our two families are truly a match made in heaven."

"A match made in heaven for you, but not necessarily for me." As she spoke, Lady Gongsun pressed her forehead again with some irritation. "That young lady seems quite meek, and that in-law of mine seems quite honest too — but to end up with a grandmother-in-law like that... senior in generation, advanced in age, ruthless in methods, and likely to be staying right here in Liaoxi for the next few years. When your mother has to engage in household power struggles from now on, I'm afraid I'll suffer a great loss."

Gongsun Xun kept a blank expression and pretended not to hear.

"Enough of this." Lady Gongsun waved her hand dismissively. "You may go now!"

Gongsun Xun rose and saluted. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something: "Oh, right, Mother — those hundred-plus beauties may not necessarily need to be sent out to work..."

"Take that up with your wife's grandmother," Lady Gongsun scoffed. "Don't plead with me."

"No, that's not it." Gongsun Xun hurriedly explained. "What I mean is... Han Dang and Cheng Pu are both young men not much older than me. Mother might consider paying some attention to their lives and marriages — this is the sort of thing where it's rather awkward for me to say too much."

Lady Gongsun first looked thoughtful at these words, then suddenly slapped the table: "Right!"

Gongsun Xun was badly startled. But although he had no idea what she meant, his mother had at least agreed, so he said no more and took his leave directly, leaving her alone to continue letting her imagination run wild.

Outside, the trading post was still bustling as before. The brief lecture had already ended, and the Anli Trading Company's people were tallying goods, sorting them into the warehouses, and there even seemed to be a festive distribution of celebratory money in honor of his betrothal... Gongsun Xun paid none of this any mind, but went straight to the rear courtyard to find Gongsun Yue and inquire about the situation at Lulong Pass.

However, just as he turned the corner, he ran into Han Dang at the entrance to the rear courtyard.

"Congratulations, Young Lord." Han Dang cupped his hands in greeting.

"Thank you, Yigong," Gongsun Xun greeted him with a smile. "Do you know where Ayue is?"

"To be honest, Young Lord — Young Lord Yue, Young Lord Fan, Lou Zibo, and Brother Demou are all at Young Lord Fan's place playing cards."

"That saves me trouble." Gongsun Xun laughed at once and, without slowing his steps, headed straight for Gongsun Fan's quarters.

But after only a few steps, a thought suddenly stirred in his mind, and he stopped again: "Yigong, why aren't you playing cards? Could it be you were waiting here specifically because you have something to say to me?"

"Exactly so," Han Dang answered solemnly.

Gongsun Xun quickly grew serious as well: "Between you and me, why stand on such ceremony? Whatever you have to say, speak freely."

"Young Lord." At these words, Han Dang bowed once more right there in the rear courtyard. "I have a matter that I've wanted to speak of since that day on the battlefield, but I'm clumsy with words and didn't know how to begin. Yet today, seeing the Young Lord's betrothal to the Grand Administrator's daughter, I knew that if I didn't speak now, I might end up making things worse instead of better... I just heard Young Lord Yue say that in two more days, Grand Administrator Wang of Youbeiping and Inspector Liu will both arrive here, and our Lord Zhao is going to hold a grand feast for the troops?"

A grand feast inevitably meant grand rewards.

Gongsun Xun immediately caught on: "Yigong, do you perhaps have some thoughts about the matter of receiving rewards? Last time on the battlefield, when I mentioned securing you a position as a Platoon Commander, you seemed... Yigong, this truly puzzles me. Is the rank of Platoon Commander insufficient, or is it unsuitable?"

There was a reason behind Gongsun Xun's question.

One must understand that the Han army operated on a battalion-company system. A company comprised two hundred men, led by a Company Commander, which was the rank of Platoon Commander, with a salary of six hundred dan. Above that was the Independent Division Major, a position commanding an unspecified number of companies — perhaps two, perhaps three, or even four — which was a standard thousand-dan senior officer.

And under the Han official system, anyone ranked six hundred dan or above was an imperial appointee, requiring a report to the imperial court, and possibly even a stint in the capital as a Gentleman of the Feathered Forest... to cultivate a heart of loyalty to the sovereign and love of country before being allowed to hold such an important post.

As for Gongsun Xun saying this back then, it was already somewhat boastful... At the time, he merely felt that with such a great victory, Han Dang had both significant merit and military seniority at Lulong Pass, so Grand Administrator Zhao probably couldn't refuse. Even if the higher-ups really wanted to make an issue of it and summon Han Dang to the capital as a Feathered Forest Gentleman, the person currently overseeing such matters was Liu Kuan — which was why he dared to put in that extra word.

But thinking back now, Han Dang's family background was ultimately too low, so it was probably still difficult to arrange. It was only now that Grand Administrator Zhao had become his father-in-law that he had a bit more confidence.

Who would have thought that Han Dang would still be... somewhat unwilling?

"Young Lord." Seeing this, Han Dang hurriedly performed another extremely respectful salute, his tone growing somewhat anxious. "Am I the sort of person who doesn't know when he's well off?"

Gongsun Xun's expression softened slightly: "In that case, you have some other thoughts?"

"To be perfectly honest, Young Lord." Han Dang straightened up and sighed. "If a year and a half ago, someone had told me they would recommend me for a six-hundred-dan Platoon Commander position, I would have been too happy to sleep — because back then, my only thought was to trade my skill with bow and horse for a future, and I didn't have much broader understanding. But over this past year and more, traveling and studying with the Young Lord and the two young masters, by the official road at the foot of Goushi Mountain... seeing with my own eyes so many high officials and nobles rushing about, rising in the morning and falling by evening, hearing with my own ears of so many heroes whose ambitions were thwarted, stranded and adrift in foreign lands — if I still didn't understand how this world works, wouldn't I be a fool?"

Gongsun Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, genuinely intrigued now: "So what exactly does Yigong want?"

"Young Lord." Han Dang said solemnly. "Let me speak plainly. If you recommend me to the Grand Administrator for a Platoon Commander post, I will naturally be moved to tears of gratitude... But I must understand that in this world, whether you can hold an official post securely depends not only on whether you have the ability, but also on whether you have a patron. If I become this Platoon Commander today, I'll be relying on you, Young Lord, and the Grand Administrator. But the Grand Administrator will eventually leave in three to five years, and as for you, Young Lord, who knows when you'll rise to prominence and take up an official post in another commandery? When that time comes, a man of humble birth like me sitting in such a position — I fear it will be just like Brother Demou's situation in Youbeiping: once the patron is gone, someone will easily topple me..."

Hearing this, Gongsun Xun could no longer restrain himself. He stepped forward half a pace and tightly grasped the other man's hand: "Forgive my presumption... Yigong, are you saying that you no longer care about this merit at all, and that for this life, for this body, you are determined to follow me, Gongsun Xun?"

"That is exactly what I mean." Han Dang met his gaze frankly. "I've had this intention for a long time, but I, Han Dang, am merely a military man. I truly didn't know how to express it, nor did I know if there was some proper ritual, nor how Lu Fan went about it..."

"There's no need for expression." Gongsun Xun could no longer contain the excitement in his heart and answered boldly on the spot. "And no need to think of others! From now on, you, Han Yigong, and I shall share wealth and honor together! That is enough!"

"Han Dang, courtesy name Yigong... a man from the Grand Ancestor's home district... In the final years of the Han Xiping era, he once accompanied the Grand Ancestor beyond the frontier as a retainer, and faced the Xianbei in battle. The enemy chieftain, arrogant and overbearing, rode out ahead of his troops; Dang felled him with a single arrow, stunning the three armies, and thus came a great victory. Afterward, the Grand Ancestor said to him: 'Yigong is valiant and martial — he should be recommended for the post of Platoon Commander.' Dang remained silent. The Grand Ancestor asked again: 'The rank of Platoon Commander is six hundred dan — to leap from a common retainer straight to six hundred dan, is that still not enough?' Dang then said: 'Indeed it is not enough.' The Grand Ancestor, greatly surprised, asked: 'A six-hundred-dan Platoon Commander is the utmost I can manage — what rank do you desire?' Dang, standing beside his horse, answered boldly: 'In this life, Dang has no other thought but to wish that our Illustrious Lord's virtue may extend across the four seas. When that day comes, Dang shall naturally gird himself in the blue and purple ribbons of high office!' The Grand Ancestor sighed deeply and said: 'This is Heaven bestowing Yigong upon me!'" — Old Book of Yan, Volume 69, Biography 19: Han Dang

PS: Thanks to Taimei for the third grand tribute.

Also... there was an error in editing the synopsis... a grammatical mistake, rather embarrassing — everyone please ignore it.

Lastly, new book group: 684558115

(End of chapter)