Chapter 442: Enter Seclusion

The newly appointed magistrate of Yushan County, Cai Cheng, looked bewildered and asked cautiously, "My lord, has Pan Yun committed some offense outside?"

"Answer what I ask, and ask no extra questions," the brocade uniform guard snapped, then asked again, "Where are her indenture and redemption documents?"

Cai Cheng immediately turned to the county lieutenant: "Quickly retrieve everything on file concerning this person."

The county lieutenant: "... Magistrate, everything is right here."

Cai Cheng frowned. "Then where are the indenture and redemption documents?"

The county lieutenant opened his mouth, glanced at the Registrar, saw he had no intention of speaking, and with the brocade uniform guards watching closely, reluctantly explained: "The indenture was naturally returned to them; after the transfer of household registration, whether they keep or destroy it is their own affair. As for the redemption document..."

He took a deep breath. "This entry right here is the redemption document."

Everyone looked, and saw his finger pressing down on a line of text: "Redemption to commoner status, processing fee three cash, settled."

The brocade uniform guard's expression darkened; Cai Cheng couldn't help but lose his temper and scolded, "Nonsense! Redemption documents must be issued in duplicate. She's an outsider seeking household registration—she needs the document as proof. How could the household office handle this so carelessly?"

The county lieutenant could not say it was because Wang Cong and the former magistrate Ming Ren were close friends, so they cut corners; instead he said, "My lord, her household registration was processed on the same day, and..."

He paused, then leaned close to the new magistrate's ear. "My lord, our county office has no money."

Cai Cheng frowned. "What do you mean, no money?"

The Registrar, who had been silent until now, finally spoke: "My lord, Yushan County has mountains but little arable land; tax revenue has always been low, and the annual budget for expenditures is meager. Every cash coin must be split in half. For matters like this, which can be settled immediately, there's no need to waste extra paper and ink—just record it properly."

Cai Cheng was stunned, disbelieving. "How much could two sheets of paper cost? Papermaking has improved repeatedly—now a ream costs only twelve cash. How can such a large county office not afford two sheets?"

The Registrar immediately realized this newly appointed magistrate came from wealth and knew nothing of common life.

He quickly glanced at the brocade uniform guard, dared not say anything deeper, and together with the county lieutenant bowed deeply: "It is our incompetence."

Cai Cheng had no recourse but to look helplessly at the brocade uniform guards. "My lords, what do you make of this...?"

The brocade uniform guards scowled and snorted. They were not Cai Cheng—they understood perfectly well what the Registrar and county lieutenant meant.

Though they had come from Jingcheng, their duty was to supervise officials; regarding the people's livelihood, they knew no less than local magistrates.

So the brocade uniform guards ceased pressing the matter and instead asked detailed questions: Who handled this record? What questions were asked at the time? They inquired about every detail, no matter how small.

Only after finishing their questioning with blank expressions did they turn cold and sharply ask the clerk: "What is your relationship with Wang Feiyin and his son of the Three Pure Ones Temple?"

The clerk jumped, waving his hands frantically. "My lord, I swear, I have no connection with Master Wang!"

"If you had no special connection, how could you remember a public matter from years ago so clearly?"

The clerk immediately replied: "Of course I remember! Though years have passed, they were seeking household registration. Yushan County, being poor, hasn't conducted a population census in many years. Someone like Pan Yun—redeemed from servitude to become a commoner—is exceedingly rare."

He added: "Moreover, Master Wang of the Three Pure Ones Temple was close friends with our magistrate. This matter was specifically instructed by the magistrate himself—I naturally paid extra attention, which is why I remember it so clearly."

Cai Cheng immediately distanced himself: "That magistrate is not me."

The clerk hesitated, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes—it was our former magistrate Ming." The brocade uniform guards sealed the files and took them away, immediately splitting into two teams: one to the Three Pure Ones Temple, the other to find Ming Ren, who had left with Gao Sheng.

Once they were gone, the county lieutenant and Registrar looked at Cai Cheng and sighed together.

Cai Cheng was deeply displeased. He growled: "What did you mean just now? What do you mean, 'Yushan County is poor'? That's clearly your negligence and carelessness!"

The Registrar hurriedly said: "My lord, don't underestimate the savings from two sheets of paper. There are so many townships under our county—every day, for every official matter, saving two sheets adds up over time to substantial savings."

"And if this small matter is not restrained, once allowed to expand, the cost could become three, five, even ten times the normal expenditure."

Cai Cheng, newly appointed and having served as magistrate for barely two days, frowned. "Don't try to deceive me. I know—you're taking advantage of me being new, bullying the newcomer. Use paper as you should. I'm not so destitute I can't afford it. Don't scare me with talk of threefold, fivefold, tenfold costs—I want to see exactly how you'd spend three, five, ten times more."

The Registrar and county lieutenant had nothing to say. They wanted to abandon him entirely, but both were natives of the county; if Cai Cheng caused chaos, it would be their own relatives and neighbors in Yushan who suffered.

Yet if they didn't let him act, it would be themselves who suffered later.

So they exchanged a glance and decided to let this new magistrate learn a lesson through this incident.

The brocade uniform guards headed straight for the Three Pure Ones Temple.

Wang Feiyin, who had been chatting with villagers in the Mountain God Temple, suddenly paused, as if sensing something. He pinched his fingers in calculation, pinched again, then sighed and rose. "Friends, I've had an epiphany—I must enter Shenshan to cultivate in seclusion. I won't emerge for a hundred days or more. Please help me watch over the temple. If Wang Cong and the others return before I come out, tell them to at least leave someone behind to guard the house."

The villagers readily agreed, then resumed their chatter.

!. Read

Wang Feiyin, seeing their indifference, smiled faintly, swung his wide sleeves, and stepped out the door. Soon he vanished into the valley.

None of those seated in the temple or laboring in the fields noticed Wang Feiyin's departure.

When the brocade uniform guards arrived, the villagers merely pointed up the mountain. "Only Master Wang remains in the temple. Go up and find him."

Two brocade uniform guards spent hours struggling up to the Three Pure Ones Temple. When they arrived, the temple gate was tightly shut, utterly lifeless.

After considerable effort, they forced open the lock and entered. Brushing their fingers across the table in the main hall, they found no dust—but the incense burner was cold. Looking at the color of the incense ash inside, one guard said: "He's been gone no more than a day."

"Search! Dig up the ground to three feet deep—find him!"

The two men turned the mountaintop upside down. They found nothing.

At dusk, the mountain mist thickened, shrouding the entire peak in clouds. The two men stood within it; though separated by only four or five steps, their view of each other was blurred.

"Looks like rain tonight on the mountaintop."

"Should we go down?"

"No. Stay here. He won't stay away forever."

Wang Feiyin didn't return. Not that night. Not the next night. On the third day, the two brocade uniform guards finally descended.

The villagers below, seeing their dark faces, finally realized: "Oh! Master Wang said he entered the mountains to cultivate in seclusion—he won't come out for a hundred days or more. You waited up there? Of course you found nothing. You must search deeper in the mountains—you might find him there."

Caught a cold from the chill, taking one day off

(End of this chapter)