Chapter 216: A Coincidence?

Xi is now the Left Clerk of the Prison Office in the commandery, equal in rank to Heifu, with the Commandery Assistant in charge of law as his superior, so he still does his old line of work: trying cases. But Xi's attire remains as plain as ever, a set of dark, somber black robes with no adornment. Since he was not in court, he had not even worn his xiezhi cap, only a simple flat crown. Compared to two years ago, a few strands of white had already appeared — he was, after all, a man in his forties.

With Xi, Heifu always comported himself as a junior, bowing respectfully to him. It was just a pity that Xi was still so rigidly formal: Heifu addressed him as "Lord Xi," yet Xi addressed Heifu as "Left Troop Office Clerk."

So Heifu never got the chance for the usual pleasantries of meeting an old acquaintance in a strange land. He had no choice but to come straight to the point and ask about the case that concerned him.

"Dou Ran?"

Xi furrowed his brow. "That would be the Chu county duke you people captured last year. I have seen his name in the dispatches. In the twelfth month he was detained in Nanyang Commandery; he should still be in Wancheng now…"

He raised his eyes. "The Left Troop Office Clerk brings up this man — is there some matter?"

Heifu made his purpose clear: "I would have Lord Xi know, back then within Chu territory, we were trapped in an isolated city. The Chu army was too numerous to fight off; we could only outwit them. So I feigned surrender on Commandant Li's orders. Inside the Chu camp, this Dou Ran casually let slip a remark that has weighed heavily on my mind ever since…"

Thereupon, Heifu lowered his voice and told Xi what had happened that day. When Xi heard that Dou Ran had been exchanging letters all along with a "former retainer" the Ruo'ao clan had left in Qin, and that this "former retainer" was very likely leaking Qin secrets to Chu, Xi became like a Heavenly Hound that had caught the scent of prey — his whole being came alive.

He lowered his voice. "The Left Troop Office Clerk means to say, you want this matter thoroughly investigated?"

"Exactly."

Heifu said, "Qin and Chu are now enemy states. Nan Commandery and Anlu are border commanderies and border counties. If a Chu spy truly lurks within them, then our country's true strength and weakness will lie completely open to Chu eyes. A thousand-li dike collapses from an ant's burrow; a hundred-chi hall burns from a spark shooting through a crack — this cannot go unguarded against! Unless this white ant is dug out, I will not have a single day of peaceful sleep!"

Xi nodded. "This matter must be reported by the Left Troop Office Clerk in person to the Prison Office before a case can be filed. At that point, the Commandery Assistant can issue a dispatch to Nanyang Commandery, ordering Nanyang to transfer Dou Ran to Nan Commandery for detention and interrogation…"

"When the time comes, could I trouble Lord Xi to personally preside over this case?"

Heifu made his request: "Though Heifu is ignorant, I have heard a saying: a man of petty knowledge cannot be entrusted with planning affairs; a man of petty loyalty cannot be put in charge of the law. Those former retainers of the Ruo'ao clan who remain in Qin are surely still a great local clan, well-informed, and may even have patrons in the commandery. Affairs succeed through secrecy and fail through loose talk. I cannot trust an ordinary law clerk. Only Lord Xi, a man of great knowledge and great loyalty, is fit to preside over this major case!"

"I will certainly do my utmost to secure it." Xi nodded and accepted the matter.

After the two of them had settled this matter in the shadows beside the Commandery Governor's residence gate, Xi looked at the youthful Heifu and, for some reason, suddenly recalled that brash young man who had stopped the carriage and cried out his grievance by the shores of Cloud Dream Marsh over two years ago. For a moment, his mind drifted…

Back then, he would never have imagined that one day this young fellow would become his colleague, and that they would be standing here together discussing how to root out "Chu spies" within their borders.

"Left Troop Office Clerk, if I am not mistaken, you are only twenty years old, are you not?"

"Twenty-one by nominal count." Heifu now always liked to count his age on the higher side. In officialdom, letting people think you were too young was no good thing.

"As a village head, you cracked major cases one after another; as an army officer, you repeatedly performed extraordinary deeds. A true all-round talent."

Xi could not help but sigh. How had tiny Anlu County suddenly produced such a figure? To be sure, Heifu's own ability played a part in his rapid rise in rank, but was it not also fortune smiling upon him? An ordinary Qin clerk would mostly toil bitterly at the grassroots for twenty or thirty years and retire from the very same post he had always held.

Only, who could say whether this meteoric ascent, his name known to the Commandery Governor and even to the king's ear, was a good thing or a bad thing for this young man?

But all that was no concern of Xi's. Compared to another man's official career, he was far more interested in the case in his hands.

As they were taking their leave, Xi recalled something. "That reminds me — when I entered just now, the Commandery Governor even asked me about the Left Troop Office Clerk."

Heifu smiled. "Is that so? Did Lord Xi put in a few good words for me?"

Xi's face stiffened. "No praise, no disparagement, no extolling of virtues, no covering up of faults. Everything the Left Troop Office Clerk did in Anlu, I reported exactly as it was!"

…

Heifu had assumed he would be summoned very soon. To his surprise, after Xi left, he waited for quite a while, until the hour of "market closing," when the distant bell signaling the end of the market rang out. The minor clerks queuing with him in the hall had dwindled to almost none. Only then did the two subordinate clerks who had brought him come out and invite Heifu inside.

By now, the day's official business was drawing to a close, and many officials and clerks were beginning to leave work. It was only then that Heifu realized the minor clerks were leading him not to the office area on the right side of the Commandery Governor's residence, but to the private quarters where the Commandery Governor lived, on the left side of the main gate!

"Wait — the Commandery Governor is seeing me in his private residence?" Heifu stopped in his tracks at once.

The subordinate clerk, a trusted aide of the Commandery Governor, smiled. "Yes."

After that, he kept his lips sealed and continued leading the way. Heifu could not pry a single word out of him and could only follow behind, full of misgivings.

"The Commandery Governor and I are complete strangers. Why would I receive treatment normally reserved for his trusted confidants?"

What Heifu did not know was that the minor clerk ahead of him was thinking, "Ever since the Commandery Governor took up his post, he has been wholly absorbed in official duties and rarely receives guests in his private residence. Especially for commandery officials, if there is official business, he mostly receives them in the public hall. Even just now, Xi, whom the Commandery Governor treats with considerable courtesy, discussed matters in the public hall. Why is this young Left Troop Office Clerk being treated like this? I can't fathom it either!"

With his mind so heavy with misgivings, Heifu had no attention to spare for sizing up how fine or large the Commandery Governor's residence was. All along the way, every few steps they would encounter serving maids and young slaves, presumably the Commandery Governor's personal servants, who stared at this unfamiliar young official with surprise.

Very soon, the two passed through a corridor, crossed a moon gate, and arrived at a small hall — likely the Commandery Governor's study. Following the minor clerk, Heifu removed his shoes at the door and entered wearing only his foot-wraps.

"Reporting to the Commandery Governor: the Left Troop Office Clerk is here."

"This humble clerk pays his respects to the Commandery Governor!"

Although Heifu's rank exempted him from bowing to a county magistrate or county assistant, the man before him was a high official of two thousand dan, so he still had to perform the ritual. He immediately hastened forward and prostrated himself. Only when he raised his head did he get a clear look at the Commandery Governor's appearance.

A middle-aged man past forty, with a face as gaunt and sharp as a knife. Even after returning to his residence, he had not changed into informal clothes; he still wore the Commandery Governor's black robes. His cap, sash, silver seal, and blue cord were laid out on the desk, and at that moment he was leafing through a bundle of bamboo slips.

When Ye Teng raised his eyes, Heifu saw a pair of greenish-black pupils, like two ancient wells, bottomlessly deep, as if they could see right through a man's heart.

Heifu immediately lowered his head in deference, not meeting that gaze directly. The man opposite him was the great figure who, at the end of the Warring States, had been the first to accomplish the feat of destroying a state and razing its capital — a grand governor whose word was life or death for all of Nan Commandery. Better to play the part for now.

"You've come? Dispense with the formalities. Sit."

Ye Teng spoke tersely, with virtually no pleasantries or courtesies, much less a single word of praise for Heifu as a "young talent." He went straight to the point and said to him, "I summoned you here today concerning the establishment of medical rescue personnel in Nan Commandery…"

Hearing this, Heifu breathed a sigh of relief. He had guessed correctly — Nan Commandery was also going to implement this policy.

What followed was Ye Teng asking about some details regarding emergency aid and wound dressing. Whatever he asked, Heifu answered honestly, without the impassioned exhortations he had used when proposing the idea to Chen Wujiu. He simply claimed that when he was a platoon leader, he had personally witnessed the soldiers under his command die of their wounds, which had given him this idea. Now that it could truly be realized, he was truly happy for the thousands of wounded soldiers…

"Oh? A mere platoon leader could possess such vision, and put forward a proposal so beneficial to the army and to the state?"

Ye Teng's smile was unsettling enough at the best of times, but when he smiled it was even harder to read his intent.

Fortunately, his smile quickly faded. "The King has decreed that each commandery, under the Troop Office, shall establish a new section specifically responsible for training medical rescue personnel, striving to ensure that for every hundred soldiers, there is one medical rescuer to treat the wounded and sick on the battlefield. Nan Commandery needs to train over three hundred people. Since this policy was your proposal, and you hold a post in the Troop Office, this matter shall be your responsibility…"

"Yes!"

Heifu acknowledged the order, then added, "This matter should first be reported to the Commandant…"

"As for Commandant Li, I will send a dispatch to inform him myself."

What a domineering top official!

Heifu grumbled inwardly. Ye Teng had all the imperiousness of a commandery chief. Any other Commandery Governor, if not exactly currying favor with Li Si's son, would at least treat him with the courtesy due a guest. Yet when Ye Teng mentioned Li You, it was as if he were speaking of a junior, a mere youngster. And now, on this matter, he had directly decided everything himself and would only inform Li You afterward. Was he not afraid of causing friction? Or was he certain Li You would not dare object?

"Heifu."

At that moment, Ye Teng spoke Heifu's name, then continued, "Are you wondering why this Commandery Governor summoned you alone, instead of having the Commandant come over to discuss it together? And why it is here, in the private hall of my residence?"

"I would not dare…" Heifu raised his head. Though Ye Teng's gaze was still intimidating, his own puzzlement could no longer be concealed.

"Because the matter I must ask you about today cannot be spoken of in a public hall."

Ye Teng said, as if it were a trivial matter, "It is like this. This Commandery Governor has encountered a curious affair. Perhaps you can clear it up for me."

He waved his hand for everyone in the room to leave. Once the door was shut, he began to read aloud from the bamboo scroll before him.

"Heifu, native of Zhaoyang Village, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nan Commandery, age twenty, rank of Official Grandee. Formerly Chief of Huyang Station, Yunshui Township, Anlu County; served as Platoon Commander in the Wei campaign; also served as Acting Patrol Officer at Huyou; served as Hundred-Man Commander of Commandant Li You's personal guard, distinguished himself breaking through encirclement. Now serving as Left Military Section Clerk of Nan Commandery..."

"Yuan, native of Zhaoyang Village, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nan Commandery, registered as an artisan, age approximately twenty-eight or nine. Previously presented the treadle pestle, which halved the labor of pounding grain, and was thus granted the rank of Gentleman of Public Service. Now has also presented the water-powered pestle, which saves tenfold in manpower, and should be promoted to Superior Accomplishment, retained in the Commandery Works Section as Master Artisan."

These were the native-place and service records of Heifu and Yuan. Before Heifu could figure out what this was about, Ye Teng began reading out a third name.

"Zhong! Native of Zhaoyang Village, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nan Commandery, age approximately thirty-one or two, rank of Gentleman of Public Service. Presented the methods of composting and water-retting fertilizer, which doubled the yield per mu, and was promoted to Superior Accomplishment. Now serving as Field Steward of Zhaoyang Village..."

After finishing Zhong's record, Ye Teng raised his head, his gaze sharp and pressing.

"Heifu, last year and this year, this commandery governor has reaped a bountiful harvest. Whether the composting and water-retting fertilizer methods, the treadle pestle and water-powered pestle, or even the proposal for medical corpsmen — all are policies that benefit the state and the people. But what is peculiar is that all three of these matters came from the hands of your household brothers. Is this coincidence? Or is there another reason?"

(End of chapter)