Chapter 148: The Game (7)

It seemed that the only way to resolve the current predicament was to move the plan up a bit.

Under the blazing sun, Wei Yixian narrowed his eyes and said to Mu Jiazhi with a beaming smile, "Military affairs are a real tangled mess. I'll leave them in your capable hands, Lord Mu."

Mu Jiazhi had worked alongside Wei Yixian for several years and felt that people had different ambitions—they'd never seen eye to eye.

Having been around the officialdom block for years, Mu Jiazhi saw clearly the purpose behind Le Wuya's move to seize on a pretext.

It was simply that the prefect wanted to knock one down and prop another up, so as to carve out his own little space in between.

This was only human nature.

But he didn't want Wei Yixian's resentment to upset the balance within the Tongzhou prefectural office.

With this in mind, he dropped his usual cold, aloof demeanor to offer Wei Yixian a word of comfort: "The situation in Tongzhou is complicated. Since Prefect Wenren was sent by imperial decree and is quite capable, he's bound to grab the reins of power for himself to fulfill his ambitions. This hot potato probably won't stay in my hands for long either."

"You're too kind, Lord Mu." Wei Yixian smiled amiably. "The way you put it, you'd think I was some petty, narrow-minded guy who doesn't know his place in the pecking order."

He looked Mu Jiazhi up and down, then added, "Lord Mu, you've really surprised me."

"In what way?"

"In all the years we've worked together, I've never once gotten a word of praise like 'quite capable' from you. Seems like Prefect Wenren really is a kindred spirit of yours."

Mu Jiazhi clasped his hands behind his back, his brow slightly furrowed.

Wei Yixian's words carried a hidden sting—on the surface they were compliments, but really they were insinuating that Mu Jiazhi was acting on private interests, colluding with the prefect to snatch power away from him.

...Whether or not he and Wenren Mingke were kindred spirits, he and Wei Yixian would never see eye to eye in this life.

Mu Jiazhi had always been a stickler for the rules, rarely showing warmth to anyone. His rare attempt at consolation had hit a cold wall, so he shot back flatly: "It's simply a matter of the capable taking charge."

Wei Yixian let out a derisive chuckle: "The capable do the heavy lifting. As a fisherman, if I can lift a little less, why not?"

Mu Jiazhi nodded once and swept off with a flick of his sleeve.

Wei Yixian's smile didn't fade. He turned around, set down his fishing rod, picked up a whole bowl of bait, crumbled it in his fingers, and tossed it into the lake.

Amid the thunderous battle cries of the garrison soldiers drilling, he smiled: "Eat up, eat up. Eat your fill first, then get to work."

...

Mu Jiazhi headed back to the training ground, just in time to see Qin Xingyue teaching the young soldiers how to handle spears and blades.

His gloomy demeanor from when he first arrived in Tongzhou had vanished entirely—he hopped around briskly, one leg faster than the other, clearly in high spirits.

Mu Jiazhi scanned the area but couldn't spot Le Wuya. Just as he was about to leave, someone tugged at his robe.

He looked down, surprised, and couldn't help but laugh.

Le Wuya had dragged a little folding stool to the edge of the field. Dressed in full military gear, with a bright red headband tied around his forehead and his curly hair pulled back into a simple high ponytail, he sat there with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. In posture and bearing, he looked every bit an energetic young lad—not a hint of prefect-like dignity.

He curiously followed Mu Jiazhi's gaze, looking around: "What rare treasure are you looking for, Lord Mu? Want me to help you find it?"

Mu Jiazhi: "..."

The prefect's outfit was way too improper.

Recently, rumors had been circulating in the prefectural office that the prefect had the archery skills of Hua Rong and Li Guang, and many young soldiers admired him a great deal.

Mu Jiazhi was busy sorting through the case files of the past five years and had no time to come to the training ground to see for himself. He figured it was just subordinates buttering up their superior with exaggerated claims.

When an official reached the rank of prefect, there was never a shortage of sycophants around him.

If one wrote calligraphy even slightly well, he was proclaimed a reincarnation of Yan Zhenqing or Liu Gongquan; if one had a hobby for carving, he was said to be Lu Ban reborn.

Such flattery was best taken with a grain of salt.

But the prefect was young after all—if he got carried away by all the praise, he might neglect his duties.

The former Prefect Feng Long had been the same way. He had been a reasonably capable and sensible man, but because he enjoyed appreciating antiques, he was flattered endlessly until he was elevated to the status of a living connoisseur. In recent years, every time Mu Jiazhi saw him, he was clutching a treasured vase.

Mu Jiazhi hastily bowed and was about to offer some admonishment when Le Wuya casually pulled him down onto another empty stool: "Lord Mu, come take a look at our garrison soldiers."

Mu Jiazhi's tailbone hit the stool with a jolt. He endured the pain for a long moment before gritting his teeth: "The prefect seems quite at ease."

"You've finished the handover discussions with Lord Wei, I take it?" Le Wuya asked in return. "Didn't get any advantage from him, so you've come to vent your frustrations on me?"

Even with his upright mind, Mu Jiazhi could tell that Le Wuya's remark was off-color and highly improper.

He was momentarily speechless: "Military affairs are numerous and complex. If you entrust them to me, aren't you afraid I'll make a mess of things?"

"That's precisely why I've entrusted you with personnel reassignments as well—I'm worried you won't have enough room to stretch your legs. If anyone refuses to obey you, just use your reassignment authority to deal with them." Le Wuya picked up a military canteen, took a long drink of water, and smiled at him. "And if you don't handle it perfectly, I'll give you a proper scolding, then kindly clean up after you."

Mu Jiazhi knew it.

The prefect was no lazy official content with eating, drinking, and pleasure. Taking back power from Wei Yixian and himself was only right and proper.

Two days prior, he had enthusiastically taken over the criminal and litigation matters of the prefecture, leaving Mu Jiazhi with only supervisory responsibilities.

As for Wei Yixian's side, had the prefect simply asked directly, Wei would not have refused.

But the prefect had insisted on having Mu Jiazhi intervene once—to screen the personnel, get things done, and then find some excuse to reprimand him, before comfortably gathering the reins of power back into his own hands.

...The prefect was unwilling to offend anyone, so he had dragged Mu Jiazhi in to take the fall.

Mu Jiazhi coldly saw through his little scheme: "Such a big mess, and you want me to clean it up before handing it back to you. You've certainly done the math well."

"It won't be a mess for long." Le Wuya stretched out lazily. "I'm asking the court for money—I'll make up the back pay first, then worry about the rest."

He knew how to speak to different people in different ways. With an upright gentleman like Mu Jiazhi, he naturally only mentioned the good parts, cleverly concealing all his scheming.

Mu Jiazhi started and rose to his feet: "The prefect has a way to obtain back pay?"

"Someone will speak on my behalf. ...Sit."

Le Wuya tugged at his robe, and Mu Jiazhi sat back down.

Le Wuya capped his canteen, turned his head, and asked with a grin: "Once the military pay is made up, things should be a bit easier to handle, shouldn't they?"

Mu Jiazhi's eyes lit up with brilliance.

"Easier" was hardly the word for it!

This was a great blessing for the people of Tongzhou!

His heart swelled with joy, and his words flowed more freely: "This official had assumed the prefect would be seeking money from County Princess Qi."

Le Wuya propped his hands on his knees, staring straight ahead: "If she's willing to give me her money, that's my own skill; and if I can openly get money from above to plug the gap, that's still my skill. Working under such a capable master, you should count yourself lucky."

Mu Jiazhi found these words rather shameless, so he simply didn't rise to the bait, lest he launch into endless self-praise.

Though he kept his face stern, the light in his eyes couldn't deceive anyone.

He was a man devoted to official duties, and in an instant, his thoughts had already drifted far into the future.

Le Wuya draped an arm over his shoulder and, amid the thunderous battle cries and drilling shouts of the soldiers, said something to him.

Mu Jiazhi, momentarily stunned and surrounded by the deafening noise, couldn't hear clearly: "My lord, what did you just say?"

Le Wuya shouted at the top of his voice: "I'm saying, doesn't my lord have a very capable registrar?"

Mu Jiazhi nodded naturally: "Is my lord asking about Zi Yongshou, the registrar?"

Le Wuya: "Was he personally promoted by you?"

Mu Jiazhi, without suspicion, nodded and said: "He comes from a scholar's background—though lacking talent for the eight-legged essay of the imperial exams, he's quite skilled in criminal law and prison matters, well-versed in forensic examination techniques. He's been by my side for over ten years now, and he's proven quite capable in his work."

At this point, Mu Jiazhi paused.

The prefect had already displayed his brilliance in criminal judgment, and Mu Jiazhi was naturally impressed.

As for the ragtag team around the prefect, Mu Jiazhi was well aware of it too.

He asked bluntly: "Is my lord wanting him to serve under your command?"

Le Wuya didn't look at him, only watching the soldiers that Qin Xingyue was putting through their paces, and said with a half-smile: "Lord Mu won't be needing him anytime soon, will he?"

Mu Jiazhi furrowed his brow for a moment, then shook his head.

Le Wuya clapped him on the shoulder: "Then I'll be taking what's dear to you."

...

Mu Jiazhi returned to his office with a heart buoyed by the prospect of resolving a difficult matter, and sent someone to summon Registrar Zi.

He wanted to give him a few words of instruction.

The page boy, long accustomed to serving him, hurried out and hurried back.

Having worked with Mu Jiazhi for so long, even the page boy had picked up his habits, reporting with a stiff face: "My lord, Registrar Zi did not come in today."

Mu Jiazhi frowned.

None of those under his command dared to be lazy or absent.

So he didn't think much of it, bending over to sort the papers on his desk: "Go to his home, see if he's ill, or if his brother has taken a turn for the worse again. From my private coffers, seal up ten..."

He thought about his meager salary and gave a wry smile: "Seal up five taels of silver. If it's not enough, come back for more."

The page boy acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

On the other side, Wei Yixian's page boy also strode swiftly to where Wei Yixian, having finished feeding the fish, was admiring the shimmering waves.

He reported: "My lord, Zi Yongshou did not report to the office today!"

"Oh?" Wei Yixian said lightly. "Daring to be absent under Mu Jiazhi's watch—is he not afraid of being scolded enough?"

"Lord Mu has already sent people to look for him, but just now I ran into Lord Mu's man at the gate, and he said..." The page boy, with an anxious look, leaned down and whispered to Wei Yixian: "...that Registrar Zi didn't return home last night."

Wei Yixian, who had been lounging elegantly under his umbrella, shot to his feet at this, his face drastically changing: "...What?!"

...

A registrar, for no reason, lost on his way home.

Late last night, before curfew, he had finished the work Mu Jiazhi assigned him and walked out of the office with a weary face, exchanging greetings with the gatekeeper guard.

Registrar Zi had long since divorced his wife, living alone with a frail, sickly younger brother.

When he didn't come home all night, his brother thought little of it, assuming his elder brother had been caught past curfew and stayed at the office to rest, so he tidied up and went to bed himself.

It wasn't until Lord Mu's man came knocking that the two sides talked and the brother grew frantic, wiping away tears, coughing and wheezing as he accompanied the page boy back to the office.

Mu Jiazhi frowned as he listened to the page boy's report, sensing something was amiss, and immediately dispatched men to search.

But Registrar Zi had worked late into the night before heading home, when the streets were nearly empty and most shops had already shuttered their doors and dimmed their lights.

Aside from the gatekeeper guard, no one had seen Registrar Zi.

For the yamen to lose a registrar out of thin air—how could this be easily resolved?

Some speculated that, given Tongzhou had recently beheaded many Japanese pirates, perhaps Registrar Zi had been seized by pirates seeking revenge, snatched away on his way home?

Mu Jiazhi happened to have just taken over military authority, making this the perfect opening to rectify military discipline.

And the soldiers who should have been patrolling the streets last night knew nothing of the situation when questioned.

Upon investigation, Mu Jiazhi discovered they had been drinking together, carousing until broad daylight.

The garrison commander of Tongzhou was stripped of his post that very day and thrown into prison pending trial.

Meanwhile, the perpetually good-natured Wei Yixian also erupted in thunderous fury, mobilizing every available hand, demanding that Registrar Zi be found at all costs.

The reason was simple.

...In the trap Wei Yixian had meticulously laid for Le Wuya, this Zi Yongshou was an indispensable key link.

He was the only one Mu Jiazhi could truly call a confidant, and his testimony against Mu Jiazhi would be the most powerful and irrefutable.

Wei Yixian had already struck a pact with Zi Yongshou.

He had considered that Zi Yongshou might waver at the last moment, might feel guilt—after all, Mu Jiazhi had been his patron; Zi Yongshou was merely a scholar, and his rise to clerk under the Vice-Prefect was entirely thanks to his old schoolmate bond with Mu Jiazhi.

Unfortunately, Mu Jiazhi neither took bribes nor sought personal gain, and he loved piling on work, driving people to the bone. He could neither give Registrar Zi more silver to properly treat his brother, nor grant him enough leave to spend more time by his brother's side—he could only watch as his brother's health deteriorated day by day.

Still, Wei Yixian was confident that with that sickly brother of his, Registrar Zi was like a kite tethered by a string—he couldn't fly away, couldn't run far.

Even if his conscience pained him and he ran to Mu Jiazhi to expose the plot, confessing and accepting punishment, what good would it do in the end?

In the end, Mu Jiazhi still had no money to see to his affairs—he himself was too poor to even marry, so how could he look after Zi Yongshou's brother?

But Wei Yixian had considered every possibility, never imagining that he would simply abandon his brother and vanish into thin air.

Yet this was precisely the move Wei Yixian feared most.

It was like pulling the firewood from under the cauldron, cutting off all his subsequent plans entirely!

If we can't get to Mu Jiazhi, we can't get to Prefect Wenren.

Every day we stall, the fence-sitters lose a little more faith in us.

By the time they realize the real power in Tongzhou Prefecture has truly fallen into the Prefect's hands, his own faction will scatter like rats from a sinking ship.

After all, the Prefect is a master at winning people over.

His skills are so formidable that even Wei Yixian envies him—how could people bound by self-interest possibly resist?

He's anxious, but Mu Jiazhi is even more anxious.

Mu Jiazhi isn't thinking that far ahead.

On one hand, he's moved his sickly younger brother into the government compound, sparing no expense on medicine and food, caring for him meticulously. On the other hand, he's frantically searching for any sign of Registrar Zi.

But first, no one saw when Zi Yongshou disappeared; second, Zi Yongshou is a quiet man who keeps his head down and does his work—no one's ever heard of him making an enemy. Mu Jiazhi searches high and low, only to work himself into a frenzy, and still finds nothing.

...

While chaos erupts outside, Hua Rong carries a small lunchbox through the new official residence, its blue bricks and dark tiles bathed in moonlight.

Yang Zheng pokes his head out and greets him: "Little Huarong, where are you off to?"

Hua Rong lifts the lunchbox in his hand and answers casually: "Brother Yang, the master got hungry reading for fun tonight and wants some steamed pork with rice flour. Want a couple bites? It's a pretty big portion."

Yang Zheng smiles and shakes his head: "Go ahead, then. My wife made braised fish today, and I'm already full."

Hua Rong says a cheerful goodbye to Yang Zheng and heads to a somewhat barren, open backyard.

Le Wuya had asked for a big courtyard, and this one is indeed huge—even bigger than Master Chen's estate back in Nanting County.

So large that someone could pull off all sorts of schemes here without anyone knowing.

He shoves aside a stack of enormous straw baskets, revealing the entrance to a cellar, secured with a brass padlock.

Hua Rong takes out a key, opens the lock, and cautiously pokes his head in to check the area. Only after confirming all is clear does he pull the hidden latch on the cellar roof.

A ladder drops down from above.

Hua Rong climbs down quickly and quietly, then closes the cellar cover from inside and bolts it.

The cellar is spotless.

In a pile of fresh straw lies a man stripped bare.

His neck and limbs are bound with iron chains, his eyes are covered with a black cloth, and a cloth strip is tied tightly around his mouth.

Beside him sits a basin of clean water for drinking.

Within reach of his chains is a chamber pot for when nature calls.

Without a word, Hua Rong opens the lunchbox, takes out a plate of steamed pork with rice flour and a bowl of rice, squats down in front of him, and unties the cloth strip from the man's mouth.

Seizing the chance, the man immediately lets out a hoarse cry for help.

Whether he weeps, curses, shouts, or yells, Hua Rong just listens in silence.

Only when he collapses to the side, gasping weakly, does Hua Rong spoon up the meat and rice and bring it to his mouth.

The man swallows a bite and croaks: "Who are you... What do you want from me?"

Hua Rong stares silently at Zi Yongshou, whose face is streaked with tears.

He had once asked Le Wuya what the point was in kidnapping Zi Yongshou.

Le Wuya chuckled and shook his head: "It's pulling the rug out from under them, of course. Why wait for Wei Yixian to make his move and then react? I'll flip his chessboard and see what he does."

Hua Rong has been with Le Wuya for a long time and has already figured out most of it: "How do you know Wei Yixian would come at him from that angle?"

"Because our Lord Mu is as hard as stone and has few people close to him," Le Wuya replied. "A knife cuts deepest when it's wielded by someone you love."

Hua Rong opens his mouth, about to say something, but stops himself.

"You want to say I'm too soft-hearted, right? By all rights, I should kill him quietly, bury him in the wilderness, or just sink him in the river to feed the fish, so Wei Yixian could dig three feet deep and find nothing?" Le Wuya crossed his legs, looking relaxed. "In the past, I would've done it. After all, this guy is scheming to kill Mu Jiazhi. Me beating him to the punch and ending it all would be just as good."

Hua Rong pressed his lips together: "Then why does the master..."

Le Wuya cleared his throat: "...It's his body, after all."

Hua Rong was confused: "...Huh?"

Le Wuya sat up straight and said with a straight face: "Because I'm a good man."

Hua Rong looked down.

What kind of good man kidnaps a man in the middle of the night?

Le Wuya turned another page of his book and said slowly: "When you go to look after him each day, remember to ask him a question for me."

...

Looking at the terrified Zi Yongshou, Hua Rong clears his throat.

"Does Registrar Zi have an answer to yesterday's question?" His voice is cracking lately, so he sounds like a young crow, just as hoarse as Zi Yongshou: "'Has Registrar Zi ever done anything that betrays heaven and his own conscience?'"

Zi Yongshou knows there's no hope of rescue, but he also doesn't understand what his captor wants, so he just chews his food with a blank expression.

He doesn't want to die, but he also doesn't want to answer this gut-wrenching question.

Seeing him stay silent, Hua Rong asks calmly: "Today, there's a second question for Registrar Zi."

"Registrar Zi, when Prefect Qian slipped while drunk and fell into the ice pit, whose fault was that?"