The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 062 Don't Be Afraid
As late August arrived, heavy rain continued to drench the northern regions.
On the streets of Cizhou City, only the sound of rain hitting the ground could be heard. Occasionally, a few officials in official robes would rush from one end of the city to the other.
At some point, three distinct factions emerged within Cizhou City. The first, naturally, was led by the chief inspector Ji Zhi and his inspection team. The second was led by Zhang Feng, the governor of Cizhou, comprising officials who had been stationed in Cizhou for months, or even longer. The third was led by Su Wenyun, a group of officials not accepted by the previous two factions.
Su Wenyun was an inspector with no direct involvement in the construction of Cizhou's official road, and he wasn’t part of the inspector team either. This placed him in a rather awkward position.
But there was someone even more awkward than Su Wenyun.
That was Tang Shen.
As for Zhang Feng and Xie Cheng’s faction, Tang Shen didn’t even need to think about it—it had nothing to do with him. Su Wenyun’s faction was even less worth mentioning. Su Wenyun had hidden the hidden double-entry ledger in Tang Shen’s room, practically pushing him into the fire, and after that, whenever he saw Tang Shen, he acted as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t sneaked into Tang Shen’s room that night.
As for the inspection team, Tang Shen had originally belonged to this faction. However, Ji Zhi somehow discovered Tang Shen had secret dealings with Su Wenyun and subtly excluded him.
That morning, Tang Shen left the government’s office, holding a bamboo umbrella, and walked to a nearby bun shop.
“I’ll take two vegetable buns.”
“Coming right up!”
The vendor wrapped the steaming buns in oiled paper and handed them to Tang Shen. Noticing Tang Shen’s official robes, he cautiously asked, “This daren, have you just come from the government office?”
Tang Shen: “I have.”
“I’ve had this bun shop across from the government office for years, but I’ve never seen such a handsome official as you are before. From your accent, you’re not from Cizhou?”
“I’m from Jiangnan.”
“No wonder.”
With nothing else to do, Tang Shen decided to sit in the bun shop and chat idly with the vendor.
As Right Vice Minister of Works Xie Cheng and Cizhou Governor Zhang Feng left the office, they spotted this scene from afar. A young official in deep red robes was sitting at a dim stall, eating buns while casually chatting with the common folk. Zhang Feng pointed and said, “That... seems to be Tang Shen, Tang daren?”
Xie Cheng glanced over. “Who knows what he’s up to.”
Zhang Feng: “It seems the inspector team no longer associates with him because he’s too close to Su Wenyun.”
Xie Cheng let out a nonchalant “Oh,” and the two left together.
On the surface, Cizhou City was peaceful, but beneath it, dark currents were swirling.
That night, Ji Zhi suddenly ordered the arrest of Yue Ziguang, a Ministry of Personnel official. Yue Ziguang was shocked, his face draining of color. Zhang Feng, hearing this, asked in astonishment, “Ji daren, what is the meaning of this?”
Ji Zhi sneered, tossing a small gold leaf to the ground, and sternly demanded, “What do I mean? That’s something Yue daren should answer. Now, please tell me, what is this? Yue daren, you came to Cizhou four months ago to manage the personnel for the road construction. You brought your family with you, which is understandable since the road construction would take over a year. But this gold leaf was a reward your son gave to a courtesan in the city a month ago while he was out enjoying himself!”
Everyone gasped. Zhang Feng was dumbfounded. “Yue daren?”
Yue Ziguang stammered, “This... this is part of my wife’s dowry. Is there something wrong with that?”
Ji Zhi: “Take him away! I’d like to see how an ordinary farmer’s daughter came by such a dowry.”
Yue Ziguang collapsed to the ground, unable to utter another word.
Zhang Feng immediately dispatched officers to arrest him.
Before they could catch their breath, Ji Zhi continued, “We should also clarify Gao daren’s situation.”
Upon hearing “Gao daren,” Xie Cheng’s eye twitched. He turned to Ji Zhi and smiled, “Which Gao daren are we talking about?”
Ji Zhi: “From the Ministry of Works, Yu Department, Gao Wei.”
Xie Cheng: “What about him?”
Ji Zhi motioned to his subordinate, who brought out a thick stack of promissory notes. Xie Cheng’s face darkened as he read through the records, and he said no more. Gao Wei had gone to Shengjing to report to the Emperor about the collapse of the Jing River Bridge just half a month ago. Although he was still in Shengjing, the evidence was irrefutable. Ji Zhi immediately wrote a report detailing the crimes of both Yue Ziguang and Gao Wei and sent it to Shengjing overnight.
A galloping horse sped along the muddy road, delivering the report to Zhao Fu’s desk before dawn the next day.
During the morning court, Zhao Fu flew into another rage, tossing the report onto the ground. The officials kept their heads down, not daring to breathe.
After court, Minister of Rites Meng Lang fanned himself with his hand and sighed to his subordinate, “Wang Zifeng sure is lucky. He went to Cizhou and won’t be back for five or six days at the earliest. Meanwhile, we’re the ones suffering—His Majesty is furious and taking it out on us.”
The Left Vice Minister of Rites chuckled, “The Minister of Revenue being sent to Cizhou is basically being demoted, and must redeem himself.”
Meng Lang snorted, “Demoted? Gold falling from the sky would be more likely to happen. Ai, when will today's sour plum soup arrive? This weather is unbearable.”
In the eastern part of Shengjing, in the garden of the Fu Residence, Fu Wei was feeding a rare canary hanging from a tree branch. The bird, skittish and spoiled, had finally eaten a few bites after much coaxing. Just as it began to settle, a series of heavy footsteps outside the wall startled it, causing the bird to retreat again.
Fu Wei frowned, “What’s going on out there? Which military unit is disturbing the peace?”
Half an hour later, Fu Qin came running in, panting. “Master, I found out! It’s Gao daren’s family! The Imperial Guards arrived with a troop of armored soldiers and ransacked their home. Everyone in the Gao family was terrified stupid, and I heard old Madam Gao even fainted!”
“Ransacking a home doesn’t mean they can disturb the peace! I can’t even feed my bird in peace. What kind of military brutes are these?”
Fu Qin thought to himself: Their home is being ransacked, and there’s blood everywhere, but you’re still thinking about your bird. You have no heart!
Fu Wei clapped his hands. “Let’s go have a look.”
Fu Qin was taken aback. “Master?”
“To watch the excitement, of course.”
“Alright!”
In a single day, the homes of both Gao Wei and Yue Ziguang were completely ransacked.
The messenger returned to Cizhou that night, informing Ji Zhi that the emperor had dispatched more officials over. Ji Zhi was shocked. “His Majesty sent more people to Cizhou?”
The messenger replied, “Yes. Minister Wang of the Ministry of Revenue is leading them. They left yesterday morning and should arrive tomorrow.”
As Tang Shen entered the room, he crossed paths with the messenger who was leaving.
Ji Zhi had been about to say something but fell silent when he saw Tang Shen.
Tang Shen smiled helplessly and, after closing up the office, returned to his quarters with his umbrella. The sky rumbled with thunder, but despite the ominous clouds, it hadn’t started raining yet. A fierce wind picked up, blowing his hair back.
Tang Shen softly muttered, “The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains.”
With that, he shut the door and blew out the candle.
As night fell, silence took over, broken only by the howling wind slamming against the doors as if it wanted to tear the building apart. In the stillness before the storm, several black-clad figures scaled the walls and swiftly approached Tang Shen’s door. One of them slid a knife through the gap in the door to unlock it.
Once inside, one of the men pulled out a cloth laced with a drug and quickly approached the bed. As he lifted the covers to smother Tang Shen, he froze, realizing, “He’s not in the bed!”
The others were equally stunned, searching the room frantically. But after a thorough search, Tang Shen was nowhere to be found.
One of the men said in frustration, “Just search the place! We don’t need him anyway.”
They turned the room upside down, but after half an hour of searching, they still found nothing. As they were discussing what to do, the sound of footsteps echoed outside. Quickly hiding, they watched as five more masked men entered the room.
Upon seeing the ransacked room, the newcomers drew their swords, shouting, “Who’s there?”
Knowing they had no choice, the original intruders drew their swords and attacked.
A crack of thunder tore through the sky, followed by a torrential downpour. The sound of clashing swords was drowned out by the roaring rain, but the blood could not be concealed. Bright red blood flowed with the rain out of the room. In the dead of night, a government officer at the posthouse got up to relieve himself and was horrified to see the courtyard filled with blood, and shouted out in fear.
The posthouse was filled with officials, as all the officials from the inspection delegation were staying there, and all the local officials had also moved in to stay with them.
Awakened by the scream, Zhang Feng, the governor of Cizhou, Xu Linghou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xie Cheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Ji Zhi, the Supervising Censor, all rushed out of their rooms. Seeing the blood-stained ground, Zhang Feng immediately summoned government officers from the office.
Three men in black were still alive in the room. Seeing the situation, they reached a silent agreement to stop fighting and flee.
Zhang Feng hurriedly shouted, “Don’t let them escape!”
At this moment, Su Wenyun stepped out of his room, sneered, and said, “Go catch the one running east. As for the other two, they’ve already been injured. By tomorrow, we’ll find them easily. They won’t be able to escape.”
Zhang Feng was stunned and looked at Su Wenyun, saying, “Su daren, how can you find those two in a city as large as Cizhou?”
Feigning surprise, Su Wenyun said, “A city full of people? Zhang daren, are you joking? Why look among a sea of people when you can just find them among the servants of your own residence?”
Zhang Feng’s face turned red. “Su Wenyun, what do you mean by that?”
Mocking him, Su Wenyun replied, “What do I mean? What do I mean, Zhang Feng? You don’t know? Go, chase after that uninjured assassin!”
“All of them should be pursued,” said a calm and regal voice from outside the posthouse, stunning all the officials present.
Hearing this voice, Xu Linghou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, showed a strange expression. He coughed and quietly moved into the crowd.
“Boom—”
A bolt of lightning split the night sky, illuminating the posthouse.
At the posthouse’s main entrance stood Qin Si, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, holding a large oil-paper umbrella and following behind Wang Zhen, who had just entered. Qin Si held the umbrella over Wang Zhen, who was dressed in a white brocade robe, adorned with gold and jade. In his right hand, he carried a white paper fan, which he tapped gently against the palm of his left hand.
With a single tap of the fan, a group of Imperial Guards, clad in armor, surged in behind him. Another tap, and the left general of the Imperial Guards, Shao Wenzhao, entered the posthouse, sword in hand, and reported to Wang Zhen, “Daren, we have captured all three assassins.”
The officials looked at Wang Zhen with grim expressions, but Su Wenyun’s reaction was the most remarkable. At first, he was shocked and bewildered, but then his expression shifted to mocking derision, as if he were looking at a defeated adversary.
Wang Zhen turned to Qin Si and said, “Qin daren, I can hold the umbrella myself.”
Qin Si smiled and replied, “It’s just a small gesture, Minister. Don’t mention it.”
Wang Zhen took the umbrella from his hand, not sparing a glance at the other officials in the courtyard, and walked into Tang Shen’s room. His steps were casual, and his movements were unhurried, as if he weren’t in the least bit concerned. Upon entering, he first went to the bedside, and seeing no one there, the hand that was tightly gripping the umbrella handle loosened slightly. No one knew that his fingers had turned pale from the strain. He then removed the masks from each of the corpses on the floor but did not find the person he was looking for. With a relaxed expression, Wang Zhen stood up and returned to the courtyard.
Su Wenyun smiled and said, “Wang daren, I heard you weren’t supposed to arrive in Cizhou until tomorrow. How did you arrive tonight?”
Wang Zhen glanced at him and replied gently, “We traveled through the night, of course, to avoid missing such a grand spectacle.” He then gave orders to the Imperial Guards, “Take these bodies to the office.”
“Yes.”
The rain continued to pour down as the officials and government officers followed the group to the office, while others stayed behind to clean up the aftermath at the posthouse.
Wang Zhen continued searching the posthouse for a long time before finally finding a secluded woodshed. This woodshed was usually used for keeping horses and storing tools to shovel manure. Before even entering, he was hit by the pungent stench. Dressed in white, umbrella in hand, Wang Zhen pushed open the door to the woodshed.
As the door creaked open, the boy curled up in the corner of the woodshed tightened his grip on a dagger, staring at him wide-eyed. When he saw who it was, Tang Shen’s bloodshot eyes, which had remained open all night, suddenly filled with warmth. He opened his mouth slightly, looking at Wang Zhen as he closed the umbrella and placed it by the door, then stepped inside.
“Senior… Senior Brother.” Only after speaking did Tang Shen realize how hoarse his voice was, with a trace of fear that he couldn’t hide.
Even after living two lifetimes, he had never truly encountered such a dark side of society, nor had he ever put his life so close to the edge of a blade, walking barefoot across it.
Wang Zhen pulled Tang Shen up and embraced the frail youth, speaking in a voice so gentle it seemed almost like a coaxing lie, “Jing Ze, don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
The tears came suddenly, and Tang Shen reached out to hug Wang Zhen back, burying his face in his shoulder without making a sound.
The two stood in the woodshed like that for a long time. When Tang Shen finally calmed down, his trembling stilled. He tucked the dagger back into his pocket and looked up at Wang Zhen, his eyes still wet, but his gaze resolute.
Tang Shen said steadily, “The situation in Cizhou is far more complicated than even you, with all your foresight, could have imagined. I can’t explain it all now, but a few days ago, Su Wenyun showed me a ledger. He said it contained the secret accounts behind the Jing River embezzlement case.”
Wang Zhen frowned. “Is it the real ledger?”
“It’s real,” Tang Shen said with an ironic smile. “That night, after Su Wenyun left my room, he left the ledger there, thinking he could hide it with me and make me a target. But what he didn’t know is that I have an eidetic memory. After looking at it once, I memorized every word in that ledger. So I know the one he left in my room was a fake!”
“As for where the real ledger is… Senior Brother, I don’t know where Su Wenyun has hidden it, but now, we also have that ledger.”
The two of them entered an empty room, and just as Tang Shen was about to grind ink, a pale, slender hand reached out and picked up the black inkstone before him.
Tang Shen looked up at him.
Wang Zhen smiled slightly. “Now, it’s my turn to grind ink for you, little Junior Brother.”