Chapter 1349: Another Jiang Gan! (Please Subscribe)

The man Wu Guoyong said could be of use to the Embroidered Uniform Guard was none other than Niu Jie, the one who brought calamity by inviting a wolf into the house — Niu Jinxing's son!

This fellow had attempted suicide at the Battle of Niulan Pass and failed — when he was surrounded by a dozen Western Sichuan troops, he tremblingly pulled the imperial-gifted crane-crest poison from his bosom, removed the stopper, and was just about to drink it when he was suddenly seized by poetic inspiration, feeling he ought to recite a few verses that would endure through the ages. Before he finished reciting, they came to take him alive. Seeing things go wrong, he hurriedly tried to drink the poison, but before it went down, a long spear smacked him — the poison spilled, he was knocked flat, and then he became a prisoner.

After becoming a prisoner, Niu Jie was still a man of mettle: he begged no mercy, sought no survival, and simply waited to die a noble death. Moreover, to hasten his death, he did not say he was Niu Jinxing's son Niu Jie, but claimed to be Li Dingguo's adopted son — wasn't he "Young Master Li"? Saying he was Li Dingguo's adopted son would probably be believed. And Li Dingguo was the Great Ming's sworn enemy! Once the Great Ming caught him, it would surely be a clean cut!

But after the Ming troops learned he was "Li Dingguo's adopted son," they instead stopped wanting to kill him, and sent him and his accomplices to the Son of Heaven's temporary residence, handing them over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for interrogation.

Niu Jie naturally could not confess honestly. No matter how many beatings he took, he refused to divulge the Shun's secrets — though in truth he knew no secrets either; apart from his real identity, he had nothing else to hide.

Later the Embroidered Uniform Guard men lost interest and stopped beating him, instead locking him up together with several captured Shun Trade Bureau agents, including that Fat Liu (the one who had posed as the manager of the Fair Winds Trading House). Then they were all escorted to Yong'an and Fengdu.

Niu Jie took it all in stride — he ate when there was food, drank when there was drink, and simply waited for the blade.

But that Fat Liu could not manage it: he could not eat, could not sleep soundly. His weight dropped steadily, and by the eleventh month he had gone from Fat Liu to Skinny Liu.

Creak — within Fengdu city, the door of the Embroidered Uniform Guard cell, temporarily converted from a former garrison storehouse, was gently opened.

The two men huddled inside were startled at once. Sunlight streamed in through the doorway; both squinted, shading their eyes with one hand while straining to look toward the door, trying to see who had come in.

These two were, of course, Niu Jie under the alias Young Master Li, and Fat Liu, whose real name was Liu Yishi — this Fat Liu was in his thirties, certainly not a second-generation idler but of hardscrabble origins, originally a soldier of the Children's Camp under Luo Hu. He lacked Luo Hu's luck in office and could not become a lord or minister, but because he was fairly quick-witted he got a post in the Trade Bureau, toiled diligently for over ten years, and only then reached the position of manager of the Fair Winds Trading House — never expecting to fall so utterly.

Unlike the newborn-calf Niu Jie, he had lived within the Great Ming for many years, and moreover worked at the lucrative Fair Winds Trading House, so his life had been very comfortable.

He had even bought a courtyard house in the prefectural city of Jingzhou, kept a concubine, and recently gained a plump baby boy. He had also used his position to skim quite a bit of money, depositing over ten thousand taels of silver in an account at the Salt Merchants' Bank.

With such a good life, he naturally valued his skin. After being escorted to Fengdu by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Liu Yishi had even discussed with Niu Jie the possibility of escaping death. The two of them were certainly rebels in the Great Ming, and major rebel leaders at that, so a death sentence was certain. But the Great Ming was relatively lenient here: a death sentence did not necessarily mean death. One could also be exiled to the Southern Seas. Going to the Southern Seas as an exile was six chances in ten of death and four of survival — the odds of survival were a bit low, but not nonexistent.

Moreover, Liu Yidan had specifically studied the policy and found that the survival odds of exile to the Southern Seas depended on money. If one went empty-handed, the chance of dying there was not sixty percent but seventy or eighty percent! If one brought one or two thousand taels in silver notes (deposit certificates) to the Southern Seas, spent a thousand taels there on bribes (actually not really bribes, but gifts to the lords of the Southern Seas duchy), one could then live in a Southern Seas city, and the chance of falling ill would be much lower — though of course returning to the Central Plains was impossible. Those lords who took the money would not let exiles move freely; exiles could only live in designated cities. Liu Yidan had long prepared and hidden away a sum of money that could buy not only his own life but also Niu Jie's!

Although Niu Jie was tougher than Liu Yishi, he still somewhat feared death, so he was moved, and even confided in Liu Yishi, telling him that he was Niu Jinxing's son, and that he had a sister married to the Shun's Army-Pacifying Crown Prince!

And he also knew how to get from the Great Ming duchy in the Southern Seas to Burma. Once they reached Burma and joined the Shun Crown Prince, the two of them would have nothing to worry about.

Just as the two had finished planning to preserve their useful bodies in service of Li Jicheng, an Embroidered Uniform Guard officer wearing a flying-fish robe and carrying an embroidered-spring saber suddenly arrived at the cell where they were held.

The visitor was Zhang Xiucai. The xiucai had become an official — an Embroidered Uniform Guard official at that — and had soared straight to the rank of Centurion! Now he was radiant, looking seven or eight years younger, no longer drowning his sorrows in drink, busy every day, living a very full life.

Seeing that the visitor was Zhang Xiucai, Niu Jie was instantly enraged, his eyes blazing as he stared at Zhang Xiucai. Had the wooden bars not been in the way, he might well have lunged at him.

Unable to lunge, he could only shout: "Zhang! Kill me if you must — even as a ghost I will not let you off!"

Zhang Xiucai, however, laughed: "Young Master Li, why such a temper?" As he spoke, he clasped his hands toward Niu Jie and Liu Yishi and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, congratulations! Your prison meals have come to an end!"

What did that mean?

Niu Jie knew something of prison customs and what saying "congratulations" and "prison meals coming to an end" to a condemned man meant — it seemed to mean execution!

He immediately turned to look at Liu Yishi. Liu Yishi's face was pale, his lips trembling. "It's over, it's over... The Ming emperor has personally arrived at Fengdu. He must be about to attack Chongqing, and he's going to kill us to consecrate the banners!"

Niu Jie sighed: "Brother Liu, this is our fate!"

Zhang Xiucai burst out laughing and said to Niu Jie: "Young Master Li, don't be afraid — it's not beheading!"

Not beheading? Niu Jie drew a sharp breath: "Could it be death by a thousand cuts?"

Zhang Xiucai waved his hand with a smile: "Aiyo, why do you keep thinking in that direction! It's nothing that serious — not to kill you, but to release you!"

"Release?" Niu Jie could not believe his ears.

How was that possible?

Zhang Xiucai smiled: "The court has granted amnesty to your foster father Li Dingguo and your foster uncle Ai Nengqi. The two of them are now Military Commissioner and Vice Military Commissioner of Ü-Tsang! You are now a young master of the Military Commission, so how could His Majesty kill you?"

What? Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi had been granted amnesty by the Ming?

"Impossible, impossible..."

Zhang Xiucai gestured, and at once several Embroidered Uniform Guard riders came over to open the barred cell door. Others brought clean clothes and wine and food, all laid out neatly.

Zhang Xiucai smiled: "Eat quickly, eat quickly. When you're full, bathe and change, then go kowtow to His Majesty to thank him for his grace. After that you may leave — someone will escort you to Commissioner Li's army in Long'an Prefecture."

"This... this... this..." Niu Jie was utterly bewildered. This did not look false! Could Li Dingguo really have surrendered to the Ming? What was to be done! He was a pillar of the Shun — if he surrendered to the Ming, what would become of the Shun?

Besides, he himself was not really Young Master Li! Once he reached Li Dingguo's army he would certainly be exposed — what then?

As Niu Jie stood stunned, Liu Yishi suddenly spoke: "Zhang... Centurion Zhang, am I to be released too?"

Zhang Xiucai nodded and smiled: "Releasing one is the same as releasing two. Commander Zhu feared Young Master Li would be lonely on the road, so he had you go along. Heh heh, make the best of it! Once you reach Commissioner Li's army, be an honest subject of the Great Ming and don't think about rebellion again."

"Yes, yes, yes! I will be a loyal subject! I, Liu Yishi, swear to Heaven!" Liu Yishi beat his chest. "For the rest of my life I will be utterly devoted to the Great Ming!"

(End of Chapter)