Chapter 381: The Strong Bully the Weak — and the Strong Grow Stronger

The young monk waiting at the gate immediately lowered his head when he saw Lieutenant Li. He shrank back instinctively, still looking terrified. Seeing this, the confusion in Lieutenant Li's heart actually cleared a little — perhaps he had misheard earlier after all.

Eunuch Yu had sent fifteen men in total. They had all been called out by now, every one of them bleary-eyed and drowsy as they followed the guiding monk forward.

"We've got the lord's money — let's stay here a few more days and enjoy ourselves. This place is way better than Fengyang!"

"I hear Pizhou is even better. That's where the real bustle is!"

They chattered among themselves. Some talked about the women from the night before, a stream of filthy talk unending. The monk leading the way up ahead was red to the ears from listening; he just kept his head down and walked faster, which only made the eunuchs' personal guards roar with laughter, their words growing more and more obscene.

They hadn't walked long before arriving at a residence up ahead. This residence was a side courtyard of the Buddha Hall, used to house worshippers during Buddhist ceremonies and left empty at other times.

After entering the courtyard, they saw no high-ranking monks in kasayas. The monks who had led the way went out through another door at the front, and the ones behind them did not follow in either — instead, they closed the door on their way out.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"What are these bald donkeys playing at!" Lieutenant Li had just barked this out when he saw a group of sturdy young men in short robes file in through the front gate.

Troops from Xuzhou? Lieutenant Li immediately thought of that. Only the military could produce such a disciplined band of young men. But Lieutenant Li instantly sensed something off — their uniforms were neat and uniform. Though the fabric was coarse, it was all brand new. Every man looked well-fed and robust, and their movements and bearing were extremely orderly. A unit like this was probably some commander's personal guard. In the Xuzhou region, the only one who could field a force of this scale was the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander.

The man at the head wore a blue short robe; a few others wore gray short robes, and the rest were in coarse brown homespun. They looked at this side with calm expressions that made one's skin crawl.

"All of—"

"Leave Cloud Mountain Temple now. Leave Xuzhou immediately!" the man in the blue short robe said two sentences.

Lieutenant Li froze. He even turned back to look at his companions and found them all wearing expressions of shock. Only then did it sink in, and he flew into a rage. He spun around, pointed at those men, and roared: "I am Lord Yu's personal guard lieutenant! Personal guard lieutenant to Eunuch Yu, the Fengyang Garrison Eunuch! Even mobile corps commanders and chiliarchs have to be polite to me! How dare a guard of the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander speak to me like this!"

"We are not the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander's men. Are you leaving or not!" the man said coldly.

"Not the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander's? I don't care who you are! If you want me to leave, you'll have to ask this blade in my hand first!" Lieutenant Li Jun was now blazing with fury. No longer caring about the other party's background, he drew his waist saber directly. His men all shouted and drew their blades as well, surging forward with fierce momentum.

"Those with weapons, step forward! The rest, haul the weapons!" The blue-robed man barked an order, then turned and left. Lieutenant Li spat on the ground smugly and cursed: "A bunch of cowards! Daring to bluff in front of me!"

His words caught halfway in his throat. He saw several dozen men behind leveling long spears as they stepped forward. In an instant, the courtyard fell dead silent. Lieutenant Li's Adam's apple bobbed. Staring at the coldly gleaming spearheads opposite, he felt his calves begin to tremble.

He was a lieutenant, at least — he knew that waist sabers against long spears basically meant being skewered to death. And judging by the look and bearing of these men, they were clearly battle-hardened elite soldiers. His own lot, ruined by wine and women, only good for throwing their weight around — how could they possibly win?

"... Let's... let's talk this over nicely. Why resort to blades and spears!" Lieutenant Li immediately switched to a smiling face. He also noticed the contempt on the faces of those sturdy young men opposite, none of them very old — but who could care about that now? Saving his skin came first.

The blue-robed man who had turned away earlier had also come back. Now over a hundred men in the courtyard all held long spears, the spear tips reflecting the sunlight, radiating nothing but dense killing intent.

"Get lost! Get out of Xuzhou right now!" The other side offered not the slightest courtesy.

"We're going, we're going. But this is Lord Yu's assignment, after all. Could you gentlemen at least give a name, so this humble one can report back?" Lieutenant Li said, all careful deference.

This time there was no answer from the other side — they simply leveled their long spears and took two steps forward.

The monks of Cloud Mountain Temple hadn't been completely ruthless. At the very least, Lieutenant Li and his men's mounts had been well looked after, and they even brought the horses over for them.

Lieutenant Li and his crew mounted up in disgrace and hurriedly spurred their horses down the mountain. They didn't stop until they reached the foot. Looking around, they saw no one but traveling merchants and pilgrims. Only then did this bunch work up their righteous indignation again, each one shouting and cursing from horseback: "Chief, we can't let this slide! Let's go to the prefectural city and find the prefectural officials. I refuse to believe we can't deal with these bald donkeys!"

"Right! Reveal the lord's identity — that'll scare the piss out of them!"

"Back to Fengyang!" Lieutenant Li said through gritted teeth. Everyone was stunned and all turned to look at him.

"Are you all blind? The men those bald donkeys called in are definitely from an official background. Heaven knows whose personal guards and household troops they are. If we go blundering into the city like this, don't give them an excuse to arrest us. There's a pack of bastards just waiting for a chance to make trouble for the lords. Let's not deliver ourselves to their doorstep. Back we go — back to ask Lord Yu to take charge!" Lieutenant Li said bitterly.

Eunuchs ran roughshod everywhere, but there were also people who specifically targeted eunuchs and their followers. Once caught, they were dealt with severely. Whatever the intent, outsiders saw it as harsh punishment of the eunuch faction — a righteous act, naturally, that also won enormous renown. The eunuchs themselves were on guard against such setups and repeatedly warned their underlings. Lieutenant Li's thoughts had turned precisely to this. And the elite quality of those hundred-plus men made him think even further. In the Xuzhou region, someone who could deploy such force — and use it against Lord Yu's men, no less — realistically, only Assistant Regional Commander Zhou had the standing. Yet those men had denied being Commander Zhou's subordinates.

That wasn't strange, either. In this kind of offending business, no one wanted to expose themselves. But if it really was Commander Zhou's men protecting Cloud Mountain Temple, that meant trouble for their side too. Behind Commander Zhou there was surely a big shot on par with Lord Yu. This sort of matter was beyond his ability to meddle in — better to hurry back and report.

"The Seventh Company's company commander is a straightforward man. When that lieutenant asked, he should have just answered directly that they were Commander Zhou's men. Fortunately, he had enough sense after that to know not to reveal his own origins." Ruhui reported to Zhao Jin.

Word of what happened at Cloud Mountain Temple quickly traveled back to the He Family Estate. Reports came in continuously along the way, saying that Lieutenant Li and his crew barely paused, galloping all the way back to Fengyang Prefecture.

"Commander Zhou has dealings with us, and we've helped each other out before. Pinning it on him won't do much good anyway — one confrontation, one investigation, and everything comes out. With the Zhao Camp's name as big as it is, it would be all too easy for them to investigate. We'll just be ready for whatever comes." Zhao Jin said, perfectly composed.

Wang Zhaojing, meanwhile, had just rushed back from the city. He sat to the side, listening to the account of the day's events. When Zhao Jin finished, he said with a wry smile: "My father says there's no perfect solution to this kind of thing. Either you pay up to buy peace, or you meet force with force. Big Brother needn't worry about the official side of things. If Eunuch Yu dares to tear off all pretense and bring this into the open, someone will immediately seize on it as leverage against him. But while he won't dare act openly, he won't skimp on underhanded schemes. Big Brother must be extremely careful."

"No matter what, we must be careful." Zhao Jin said gravely.

Around supper time was when Zhao Jin gathered with his companions and the various core figures of the Zhao Camp. They were together, of course, not to drink and make merry, but simply to review the day's affairs.

"There's word coming from Fengyang Prefecture that things are in utter chaos over there. This spring and summer, huge numbers of refugees fled. In the autumn, when there was at least a bit of a harvest, they all went back. Who would've thought that several Fengyang big shots would use this chance to declare all the farmland ownerless? Right now they're selling it off to the local gentry and powerful families. Anyone who goes back to claim land gets arrested as remnant bandit riffraff and sold to the rural gentry as slaves. As a result, the refugees who had just started settling down are fleeing in droves again. There's a good chance they'll end up coming our way." Liu Yong spoke up.

"They really care more about money than face." Zhou Xuezhi said, stunned. But no one laughed — everyone's expression was grave.

"If the refugees head our way again..." Chen Sheng said slowly.

Zhao Jin shook his head and stood up. He spoke to Liu Yong: "Xiaoyong, the Scent-Smelling Sect followers here in Xuzhou need to be strictly investigated. Have Zheng Quan and his people do a self-investigation. Don't let any more people with ill intentions slip in. Spread the word to the gentry and prominent households everywhere — tell them to stay vigilant too. Keep gathering intelligence diligently. And our own training must not slacken."

Everyone who had been given orders looked solemn. Only Ruhui sat there shaking his head with a bitter smile. When Zhao Jin looked his way, he said earnestly: "Master, official business must be handled, but the master's family affairs are also of great importance. In just over ten days it will be the master's joyous day. The master must spare at least some thought for it — otherwise the Xu family will have things to say."

Zhao Jin froze for a moment, then let out an awkward chuckle and said: "In any case, the elders are handling everything. I'll just show up when the time comes. The Xu family's eldest young lady is busy every day handling family business too — busy swallowing up Kong Jiuying's properties in Feng County and Pei County."

Everyone was stunned, then burst into laughter. This husband and wife were truly a perfect match.

From Xuzhou into Fengyang Prefecture territory was a single day's ride on a fast horse. But Fengyang Prefecture was larger than Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture combined — from the border to the prefectural seat at Zhongdu took nearly two days of hard riding.

For all that Lieutenant Li and his crew had been utterly humiliated in Xuzhou, the moment they entered Fengyang Prefecture territory, everything changed. The local officials along the way had to provide for them with all their might; even the powerful and wealthy families dared not slight them. This bunch rarely got an assignment away from home, and after catching their breath on the return, they simply took it slow and savored the journey.

There might be some eunuchs with good reputations under heaven, but in the Fengyang Prefecture region, the personal guards of the Fengyang Garrison Eunuch had a name truly like wolves and tigers. At the sight of their uniforms, common folk fled far away, terrified of falling victim to their depredations.