Chapter 748: All Understood Without Words

Honglu Temple ah~~

Cao Nai instantly understood, saying: "Honglu Temple still has vacancies; since Yang Shan is about to be dispatched to Japan, let Pan Hong return and be promoted to Right Secretary of Honglu Temple."

Don't think all sixth-rank posts are the same—there are differences even among sixth-rank positions.

A Border Patrol Censor at sixth rank is just doing grunt work, and their achievements are rarely seen; promotion or even reassignment is as hard as climbing to heaven.

Why did the civil and military officials automatically overlook both Pan Hong and Xue Shao when Pan Hong was sent to the northwest for border patrols and Xue Shao to the south for inspections?

The south is dangerous; whether Xue Shao can even return alive is uncertain. The northwest has fewer hidden arrows but more open spears—not only is there the risk of enemy troops breaching the border, just enduring the wind and sand could kill a man.

Wang Wen made Pan Hong patrol the northwest, then the north, then the northeast, then turned him back to start again from the northwest—what could Pan Hong do?

Su Wu herded sheep for nineteen years; as long as Wang Wen doesn't fall, Pan Hong could endure wind and sand in the northwest for twenty years.

Even as Minister of Personnel, Cao Nai must get Wang Wen's approval to recall Pan Hong.

Cao Nai let out a light laugh: "Pan Hong really did have a good daughter."

Cao Nai sent someone to recall Pan Hong.

The Censorate refused his request and recommended two other candidates instead.

The Ministry of Personnel refused and insisted on recalling Pan Hong.

Wang Wen personally replied, stating that Pan Hong was currently patrolling the northwest and handling a major case, and could not leave without authorization; if Honglu Temple truly needed staff urgently, he had other suitable censors to recommend.

Cao Nai sneered and tossed the reply to Chen Xun: "See? I told you Pan Hong is hard to move."

If Pan Hong were in Jingcheng, he could bypass Wang Wen and approach Pan Hong directly—if Pan Hong agreed, Honglu Temple wouldn't object, and as long as the Ministry of Personnel issued the paperwork, the transfer wouldn't be a problem.

But now Pan Hong is away, and Wang Wen firmly opposes it—so the only option is to go through the Emperor.

Cao Nai formally submitted a memorial, proposing the Emperor recall Pan Hong to Jingcheng.

Wang Wen had already sought out Wang Zhen and whispered: "Mr., they want to recall Pan Hong—could it be they've already colluded with Pan Yun?"

Wang Zhen glanced at him and said: "If you don't release him, what can they do? Whoever holds Pan Hong holds half of Pan Yun's lifeline."

"I fear they'll go through Your Majesty…"

Wang Zhen remained calm: "I'll handle Your Majesty."

Wang Wen was reassured and continued refusing the Ministry's request, citing Pan Hong's ongoing investigation of a major case.

Neither of them knew that Pan Hong was genuinely investigating a major case.

The three of them now lay flat in a dirt pit, not daring to move, watching as the two sides completed their arrow transaction and walked away; only then did they slowly pull their heads back into the pit.

Constable Tao Ping exhaled, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and sighed in relief: "Thank heaven we weren't discovered."

He was the local constable assigned to guide Pan Hong—he never imagined he'd stumble upon such a secret.

Good heavens, there are soldiers in the border garrison colluding with foreign tribes to trade weapons—this is a capital offense.

Having served as a constable for over a decade, he never expected in his lifetime to uncover such a major case; he cautiously crept closer to Pan Hong and whispered: "My lord, what should we do?"

Pan Hong pondered, then whispered: "Return first. Keep this secret—don't tell anyone, not even your county magistrate."

The constable nodded vigorously.

Pan Hong immediately called for his two sons to follow; the four of them quietly returned to the city, pretending to know nothing.

After closing the doors and windows and lighting the lamp, Pan Hong mused: "Yue, tomorrow you take Er'er to Taiyuan for study, head south, and return to Jiangxi to find your sister."

Pan Yue: "Father, little sister isn't in Jiangxi—she's in Fujian."

Pan Hong: "Then go to Fujian."

"Father, I'm still in school."

Pan Yu: "You've already been pushed out for study—what school are you even attending? Father, I'll take Brother along—you'll be fine staying here, won't you?"

"Spit, spit, spit more and stomp on it," Pan Hong slapped Pan Yu's face to force him to comply, then punched him twice: "Your old man has always had good luck—without you two dragging me down, everything will go smoothly."

Pan Yu widened his eyes: "You've been falsely accused and exiled—how can you still call that good luck?"

"That happened after I turned thirty-five. Before thirty-five, my parents doted on me; whether it was the preliminary exams, county exams, provincial exams, or later the metropolitan and palace exams, I passed every round in one go—can you say my luck was bad?"

Pan Yu was speechless.

Pan Hong counted on his fingers: "There are few in this world as fortunate as I in passing the imperial examinations. Even Du Fu failed repeatedly; Han Yu took four tries to pass. But I not only passed smoothly, I married, had children, and raised both a son and a daughter!"

Pan Yu: …

Pan Hong sighed: "Except for your sister's frail health in childhood and my widowhood in middle age, nothing has gone wrong."

But you two—you were exiled as children, one failing in the examinations, the other struggling even to read, let alone pursue the exams. No career, no family—your luck is far worse than mine."

Even Pan Yue fell silent.

Pan Yu grumbled: "Is this our fault?"

Pan Hong tapped his forehead: "It's your fault for having bad luck—being born my son!"

Pan Yu froze.

Pan Yue said calmly: "Father, if we weren't your sons, we might have been born into a peasant family—unable to even learn to read or write, barely fed, living our whole lives in ignorance."

Pan Yu nodded quickly, generously saying: "Fine then—even if I die young, being your son, Brother Yue's brother, and Little Sister's elder brother—this life is worth it."

Pan Hong rolled up his sleeves. Pan Yu scrambled around the room, apologizing: "I won't mention death again, Father—I'm grown now, why are you still hitting my butt—"

The next day, Pan Hong saw them off outside the city.

Pan Yue and Pan Yu walked a mile, their steps slowing until they stopped and turned back—immediately ducking into the nearby woods.

Pan Yue opened his pack and pulled out two sets of old clothes: "Put these on."

Pan Yu: "Really won't tell Father?"

"This is too big a matter—Father won't want us involved. Telling him just leads to an argument and us being sent away anyway," Pan Yue changed clothes, then asked Pan Yu: "How are you doing with the internal energy method and sword manual your sister gave you?"

Pan Yu patted his chest confidently: "Can't say I've mastered them, but I've got seven or eight percent down."

"That's about five percent—enough for now," Pan Yue finished dressing and pulled him up: "Come on, let's find Sergeant Qin."

"Why find him?"

"Military matters naturally require finding him," Pan Yue said. "Father isn't familiar with them, and as a Censor, any direct contact would draw attention. We're different. We've already left the city, so we can sneak back to find him without anyone knowing."

Pan Yun asked, puzzled: "Elder Brother, does Father really not know we'll turn back?"

Pan Yue's steps faltered for a moment, then he pulled him along as they kept walking: "Whether he truly doesn't know or is only pretending not to, since he sent us out of the city, then as far as we're concerned, we've left. Hurry up."

Pan Yun pouted: "All that reading has made you stupid. If something can be said plainly, why not just say it outright? Why must you guess and have me guess too?"

Pan Yue: "That's called hearts being linked."

"What if I just don't get it?"

Pan Yue: "Which is why you need to read more."

Pan Yun: "... I miss Little Sister. I think at this moment only Little Sister could understand me."

A few days later, Pan Yun was also squatting by the sea, thinking of her father and elder brother.

She had just returned from the open sea. These past few days, she had followed Chen Wen's ship and toured all the important islands in the nearby waters.

This was preparation for future maritime trade.

All parties knew this perfectly well, and each permitted Pan Yun to freely enter and leave the prohibited sea zone.

The main reason was that she had real ability, and even if they tried to stop her, they couldn't.

This could also be called the aftermath of the bandit suppression.

Chen Wen had taken Pan Yun to overturn several pirate strongholds—all islands that had been missed during the June bandit suppression.

However, these people were basically all Great Ming common folk, small in scale, and their crimes still fell within the forgivable range—mostly robbery for money.

So Pan Yun very considerately told them: "Wae is full of silver. Go over there and mine it."

Pan Yun saw they were so hungry their faces had gone pale, and she looked at them with undisguised disdain: "You can't even fill your bellies, and you still want to be pirates?"

One pirate muttered quietly: "If you lot hadn't suppressed the bandits and scared off the sea ships..."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Chen Wen: "I just remembered to ask—lately I haven't seen any ships at sea. Those smuggling ships—oh, no, I mean, those ships belonging to important figures—none of them have been shipping goods?"

Chen Wen: "At a time like this they'd rather hide their ships away. Why would they ship goods?"

Pan Yun then said to the pirates: "Stop waiting. The court ministers are fighting each other over ships right now. Based on my brilliant intellect, I estimate it won't be settled in less than half a year. Can you starve for half a year?"

The pirates: "!!! You're not arresting us?"

Pan Yun: "Do you want to turn in your own fathers and elders so the Water Force Office can round up your families in one sweep?"

They shook their heads rapidly and shrank back half a step in terror.

Pan Yun waved her hand and said: "In that case, go to Wae. Rather than waiting to die on this little island, you'd do better seeking survival on a big one."

The pirates hesitated—some were tempted to go, others unwilling to leave their holes.

Pan Yun said coldly with a smile: "If you stay here, I'll be passing by every few days. Don't say there won't be ships at sea for you to rob—even if there were, you still wouldn't be able to rob them!

This poor Daoist has a few properties in Wae. You can go over on your own. If you're lucky, you can apply for a job yourselves; if not, farming or mining there isn't a bad option either."

Mining?

They didn't want to mine. Just hearing it sounded like a scam.

Pan Yun's expression softened: "This poor Daoist is Pan Yun, not like those black-hearted, rotten-livered mine owners. If you go to Wae to mine, the wages owed you will absolutely not be shorted a single coin. For farming, I'll only take forty percent of the rent!"

The pirates' eyes lit up at once: "Daoist Master Pan has farmland in Wae too?"

Not yet, but it won't be long before there is.

Pan Yun nodded with reserved composure: "Of course."

The pirates conferred among themselves for a moment, then one stepped forward and said: "Fine. We don't trust the imperial court, but we do trust Daoist Master Pan. Since you say Wae has a way out for us, we'll go to Wae."

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction and casually handed them a sea chart: "This is the sea chart to Wae, with markings on it. Whether you go to Nanao Harbor or Onsenjin Town, you'll find our Han people there." (End of chapter)