Chapter 813: All Sides Stir

Ruhui, seated to the side, wore a blank expression, but inwardly she was somewhat dismissive. For someone as brilliant as Wang Zhaojing to only reach this judgment now — it really was a case of concern clouding one's wits. Shouldn't he have reached that conclusion from the very start?

Think what she might, Ruhui naturally would not voice it. Zhao Jin, seated there, looked weary; he had barely rested during this stretch. Hearing Wang Zhaojing's words, he merely nodded and spoke slowly: "Word has come back from the capital."

Outside Scripture Factory Hutong on the western side of the capital. The Scripture Factory was where the Directorate of Ceremonial printed scriptures and books, and because of this, many of the capital's book-printing and book-selling shops had clustered here.

Wencheng Bookshop was one of them. The name sounded like it honored the ancient sages, but in reality it was the hometown of the shop's proprietor, Hu Rubin.

This Hu Rubin held the status of an Imperial Academy student, and his daily bearing and manner were those of a scholar, but there was nothing strange about that — in this era, far too many scholars were in business.

What set it apart from other bookshops was that few people came and went from Wencheng Bookshop, because the books inside were far too expensive, and they could only be bought as complete sets. The Four Books and Five Classics were one thing, but a set of, say, the Tang History or Song History cost nearly as much as a small estate. And since his books were no rare or fine editions, naturally no one inquired about them.

Moreover, the customers who did come seemed to have nothing to do with scholars or the like. There were wealthy merchants, stewards from great houses, even military officers, and eunuchs were not uncommon either. Shady, furtive figures often came and went as well, which made others keep their distance all the more.

Fortunately, Wencheng Bookshop was located at the edge of this district; otherwise, the other bookshops would surely have driven him out, or moved away themselves. Still, everyone was waiting for this shop to fail and close on its own, so no one made trouble.

Yet Wencheng Bookshop stayed open all this time, and Scholar Hu's ostentation showed no sign of diminishing. People began to speculate that this was some wealthy scion's shop, opened for amusement.

That morning, Wencheng Bookshop received a group of travelers — a band of itinerant merchants wearing wide-brimmed hats against the sun. Travel-worn and dusty as they looked, they seemed to have nothing whatsoever to do with reading or writing. But not long after they arrived, Hu Rubin was seen hurrying over, and then the bookshop closed and shuttered for the day.

"Ma Liu, you've actually got the nerve to come to the capital. Do you have any idea how many people are looking for you and your master? The bounty's up to several thousand taels."

Watching the group drinking tea, Hu Rubin chuckled as he teased them. He was not tall. In the courtyard, several of the bookshop's assistants were lean, tough, and sturdy, weapons and tools in hand, their expressions all quite wary.

"Shopkeeper Hu, it's been a long time!" Ma Chonghao's personal attendant Ma Liu, however, was very composed and greeted him politely.

Hu Rubin swept his gaze over the five people sitting there drinking tea. Apart from Ma Liu, all were unfamiliar faces. They looked ordinary enough, their expressions placid, but Hu Rubin dared not be careless. After all these years, he could see what lay beneath the surface. These men were not simple; each had blood on their hands, yet they were restrained and steady — top-tier, elite operatives. Such men were not something even ordinary great houses could necessarily boast.

Calculating inwardly, Hu Rubin's face remained perfectly calm. He sat down with a smile and asked, "Didn't Commander Ma offend the Nanjing side as well? They say he swindled everyone out of a great deal of silver, and plotted rebellion or something. Are you still working for him? Or have you struck out on your own?"

"I am still in my master's service."

"Still with Commander Ma, eh? That fellow's ambitions are too grand. Think about it — in your position, you just take the money and that's that, but he insisted on doing great things, proper things, and ended up pleasing neither side. That's how he stirred up all that trouble in Nanjing too, isn't it?" Hu Rubin teased.

Seeing a trace of a bitter smile flicker across Ma Liu's face, Hu Rubin knew he had hit the mark, but he did not stop talking: "Old Ma, we've been dealing with each other for more than a year or two. You know I'm a man of my word. Let's the two of us sell Commander Ma out together — six thousand taels of silver in hand, and a huge favor owed to boot. Maybe you'll even get an Embroidered Uniform Guard centurion's post out of it. Commander Ma has offended far too many people; even those the Zheng family kept down back in the day are coming back to settle scores. Why suffer this hardship with him?"

His tone was jovial, impossible to tell if he was serious or not. But at these words, the four men sitting there drinking tea glanced in his direction. Hu Rubin instinctively sat up straight and gave a heavy cough. At that cough, the bookshop assistants nearby immediately tensed, their hands gripping their weapons.

"Shopkeeper Hu, don't jest. That child in Sweet Water Well Hutong in the eastern city — he's yours, isn't he? If his current father were to find out, what would you do?" Ma Liu countered with a smile.

At this, Hu Rubin froze, and his expression immediately changed. Before he could speak, Ma Liu continued, "Don't even think about silencing us. Even if you could stop the few of us here, word would be out by tonight. Would you make it out of the city in time?"

The shifting expressions on Hu Rubin's face did not last long. He waved a hand dismissively, his face breaking into a broad smile. "Ma Liu, you just can't take a joke. Why would I ever call the authorities to arrest anyone? If I did that, who would ever do business with me again? Old Ma, you don't visit without a reason. Out with it — we can't just leave money sitting there unearned."

Ma Liu exchanged glances with his companions, then stood and walked toward Hu Rubin. The movement put both sides on edge, and Hu Rubin's body tensed as well. But in the end, nothing happened. Ma Liu merely produced a letter and handed it to Hu Rubin, then leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Opening the letter and hearing Ma Liu's whisper, the smile vanished from Hu Rubin's face. He studied Ma Liu with some shock and suspicion, and when he spoke again, all trace of jest was gone: "Old Ma, this is no joking matter. Even just passing a message inside carries risk for me. You'd best find someone more capable. And rest assured, I won't breathe a word of this."

Rebuffed, Ma Liu did not give up. He simply said, with solemn gravity, "Shopkeeper Hu, if this matter succeeds, you will have earned an immense favor from that quarter. The palace will also regard you as a capable man..."

"What use is that to me? Without my head, I can't spend a single copper..." Hu Rubin replied with a bitter smile.

Ma Liu did not try to persuade him further. He gestured to the side, and his four companions immediately began untying their bundles, laying items out on the table one by one.

The bookshop men had been on high alert, thinking they were reaching for weapons to start a fight, but they stopped short at once. They watched as gold ingots were placed on the table, one after another; the glittering radiance seized everyone's attention. Hu Rubin's words cut off mid-sentence as he stared, dumbstruck, at the ingots.

"Three hundred taels of gold. This is the deposit. Upon completion, another three hundred taels of gold will be paid. Shopkeeper Hu, at market rates, even getting a message to the Chief Clerk of the Directorate of Ceremonial is a matter settled with no more than five hundred taels of silver. This deal is well worth doing!" Ma Liu's voice remained as calm as ever.

The bookshop proprietor Hu Rubin ignored Ma Liu. He simply stood and walked toward where the gold ingots were laid out. Reaching them, he picked one up, weighed it in his hand, bit down on it, examined the teeth marks, and when he turned around, a smile had already spread across his face. "With all the years of friendship between us, I'll take this job. But let me be clear upfront: I'm only responsible for passing the message along. Whether it succeeds or not is none of my concern. You know the rules."

Ma Liu nodded and said gravely, "Naturally, I understand that. However, the message must be passed along today. Don't blame me for being cautious, Shopkeeper Hu — I'll be making inquiries elsewhere as well. If this message hasn't been delivered, things will turn ugly. Don't think that just because we're at the Emperor's feet, a man can't die without much trouble."

"Understood, understood. Hu here has been in this business for many years; I know how to weigh what's important." Hu Rubin had reverted to his earlier demeanor, speaking with a grin.

Ma Liu said nothing more. He merely nodded and made to leave. Hu Rubin hesitated a moment, then sighed with emotion: "Old Ma, who exactly have you and Commander Ma latched onto? A figure like the very King of Heaven himself — how is it I've never heard of him in the capital?"

At this, a smile touched Ma Liu's face. He turned his head and said, "Xuzhou is a remote place. Naturally, his reputation hasn't carried this far."

Ma Liu and his group left the bookshop, mounted their horses directly, and rode off. Only after trotting past two streets did they slow their pace. After another half a street, someone finally muttered, "No one from the bookshop followed us."

Though everyone was composed, hearing this still brought some relief. Someone could not help but ask, "The palace is such a critically important place — can that fellow Hu really get a message inside?"

"He can. Who knows how many people inside the palace rely on this for extra income," Ma Liu answered with certainty.

Seeing the puzzled looks on his companions' faces, Ma Liu did not bother to guess whether the expressions were genuine. He simply explained, "The eunuchs value wealth and goods greatly, but not many have opportunities for outside income. Passing messages, pulling strings, and making inquiries — these are one of their sources of revenue. Did you think this Shopkeeper Hu personally established a line into the Great Within? It's people from the palace who keep this bookshop out here to serve as a go-between. The other places we sought out all operate on the same principle — it's just that the people they're connected to inside are different."

Connecting this to what had been said before, everyone finally understood. Ma Liu smiled and added, "And Hu Rubin wouldn't dare fake it. That Xiao Zhou we contacted has a grudge against him. If the message isn't delivered, we'll definitely find out."

Outsiders looking at the Inner Court's Twenty-Four Offices judge them by official rank — who is a Junior Supervisor, who is a Eunuch Director. The higher the rank, the higher the status.

But the eunuchs themselves do not see it that way. Whether a eunuch is of noble and weighty status does not depend on what post he holds, nor on his rank, but on whether he has the Emperor's favor. As long as he possesses the imperial grace, even if he is the lowliest menial in the Laundry Bureau, he can become a grand eunuch of the Inner Court. Without trust and favor, even if you are the Seal-holding Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, sooner or later your fate is to tend vegetables and sweep the imperial tombs.

For example, the foremost man in the Inner Court at present is, without question, Wei Zhongxian, the Supervising Eunuch Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial. Wei Zhongxian superintends the Eastern Depot, and by regulation is only the second-ranking official in the Directorate of Ceremonial. Yet Wang Tigan, the Seal-holding Eunuch Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, dares not claim the senior position and defers to Wei Zhongxian in all matters.

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