Chapter Forty-Four: Unwilling to Suffer a Loss (Third Update)

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Fang Yanqian was only a little over forty. Yet his hair had already turned gray, making him look far older than he truly was.

He was a refined and scholarly man, with fair skin and a resolute, imposing face.

It was difficult to imagine that such a fair and elegant gentleman could bear the nickname “Black Fang.” He was not called that because of his complexion, but because of his uncompromising nature. When handling affairs, he was stern and decisive, never willing to bend or employ evasive tact.

In the three months since taking office, he had dealt with seventeen sons of officials of the third rank or higher, among them no small number of princes and imperial clansmen.

A man like that could be hated or cursed. Yet when one stood before him, one could not help but feel sincere respect.

At this moment, however, it was Fang Yanqian who stood beside the couch.

Zheng Yanching’s face was sallow, his eyes tightly shut. He had fallen into a deep, unbroken coma.

Two young mastiffs lay quietly at his feet, perfectly still, their wide eyes fixed warily upon everyone in the room. Quite a number of people had gathered in the little bedchamber. Besides Fang Yanqian, there were Zhang Cong, magistrate of Yanshi County, and Daxi Shanyi, commandant of Yanshi and, at the same time, a military officer of the Yanshi garrison under the Right Martial Guard.

Daxi was a Xianbei surname.

Its founding ancestor was Tuoba Daxi, younger brother of Emperor Xianzu Xianwen of Northern Wei, Tuoba Hong.

The clan took its name from the surname Daxi, which had been used in addressing the emperor’s subordinate tribes, and thus the Daxi family came into being.

Emperor Gaozu Xiaowen of Northern Wei was the fourth son of Emperor Xianzu Xianwen. Above him stood his eldest brother, Helu, who later adopted the Chinese surname Hu; his second brother, Pu, who changed his surname to Zhou; and his third brother, Tuoba, ancestor of the present-day Changsun clan. His younger brother was Daxi, who later changed his surname to Xi. During the Sui dynasty, however, people were still more accustomed to using Daxi.

The Daxi clan had produced its share of outstanding men.

The renowned general Daxi Changru of the Sui dynasty was one of them.

Daxi Shanyi was thirty years old. He had inherited his father and elder brother’s title and entered the Right Martial Guard to serve. Since the Right Martial Guard was responsible for the security of Luoyang, and Yanshi stood as the eastern gateway to the city, Daxi Shanyi held a military post while also serving as magistrate of Yanshi County.

As it happened, the attack Zheng Yanching had suffered at White Sparrow Monastery fell within Daxi Shanyi’s jurisdiction.

At this moment, Daxi Shanyi was terrified.

He was a tall, powerfully built man, half a head taller than Fang Yanqian. Yet standing behind Fang Yanqian, he felt an inexplicable chill.

Fang Yanqian had come to Yanshi with troops from three commanderies. It was said that the unconscious Zheng Yanching was the favored pupil of Changsun Sheng, Daxi Shanyi’s immediate superior. Changsun Sheng had already ordered the mobilization of all the military forces in the River Luo region, vowing to level Mount Shouyang.

If that truly happened, Daxi Shanyi’s guilt would be immense.

It would not merely be a matter of negligence. More importantly, if anything happened to Zheng Yanching, Daxi Shanyi’s career would be finished.

As he stared at Zheng Yanching’s unconscious form, Daxi Shanyi was consumed by anxiety.

Fang Yanqian sighed and asked Mao Xiaonian, who was kneeling beside Zheng Yanching, “Has Young Master Zheng still not awakened?”

Mao Xiaonian’s eyes brimmed with tears. Her face was pale, as though she had yet to recover from the shock.

She answered softly, “My lord, two days ago, Master Chao Yuanfang gave Young Master a Nine-Nine Pill and used a special acupuncture technique on him. Young Master awoke at the time and vomited two mouthfuls of blood, but his spirits seemed to improve somewhat.

“But that very night, he clamored to read a book.

“I casually brought him one. Yet after reading only two pages, he suddenly vomited blood again and fell unconscious. He has remained that way ever since.”

“What book was Young Master Zheng reading?”

“Oh, it seems to have been a book given to him by Young Master Xue back then. Please wait a moment, my lord…”

As she spoke, Mao Xiaonian hurriedly rummaged through the things beside her and produced a bloodstained book. With both hands, she respectfully presented it to Fang Yanqian.

It was a collection of Xue Daoheng’s poems, containing mostly works from his early years.

There was nothing unusual about such a collection circulating on the market. Fang Yanqian’s gaze sharpened as it passed over the bloodstains. He slowly opened the book.

This collection differed from the copies sold in the market in one respect: at the very end, it included The Treatise on Great Peace, written by Xue Shou at the close of the previous year.

The bloodstains upon the pages were horrifying to behold.

Clearly, something had happened while Zheng Yanching was reading that essay.

Fang Yanqian had read The Treatise on Great Peace as well.

His expression suddenly became extraordinarily solemn. After finishing it, he asked quietly, “Did Young Master say anything before he lost consciousness?”

“He seemed to say something about ‘the Yellow Heaven shall rise’ and ‘the year of Jiazi.’”

“‘The Yellow Heaven shall rise; the year is Jiazi’?”

“Yes, that was the sentence. After reading it, Young Master’s face became terribly grim. He kept muttering those two phrases, then suddenly collapsed.”

“I understand.”

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Fang Yanqian rose and, carrying the book, motioned for Zhang Cong and Daxi Shanyi to leave the room. In a low voice, he asked, “Commandant Daxi, you were the first to arrive at White Sparrow Monastery. Did you discover anything unusual?”

“My lord, by the time I reached White Sparrow Monastery, the bandits had already dispersed.

“The Hall of Guanyin was filled with corpses. Aside from Young Master Zheng’s attendants and household guards, every other dead man was dressed in white, with a red lotus platform emblazoned upon his chest. Neither Magistrate Zhang nor I had ever seen such attire.

“Later, we learned from a minor clerk that, toward the end of last year, many refugees passed through Yanshi. At that time, several White-robed Maitreyas had distributed talisman water and given aid to the refugees. Their clothing was extremely similar to that of these mountain bandits…”

“‘The Yellow Heaven shall rise; the year is Jiazi…’”

Fang Yanqian suddenly exclaimed, “Whether dwelling in the lofty court, one worries for the people; whether living in distant rivers and lakes, one worries for the sovereign! Young Master Zheng has answered his own former words through his actions. Though still so young, he worries for the nation and its people. How deeply he shames us useless men who occupy office while doing nothing!”

Zhang Cong and Daxi Shanyi were not fools.

They exchanged a glance and asked in trembling voices, “My lord, do you mean…”

“Young Master Zheng was trying to warn us that the White-robed Maitreyas harbor treasonous intentions!”

“What?”

“At the end of the Eastern Han, the three brothers Zhang Jiao distributed talisman water and spread demonic lies, claiming that the Yellow Heaven would rise in the year of Jiazi. They gathered followers and rebelled, thereby shaking the four-hundred-year foundation of the Great Han.

“Now these White-robed Maitreyas are employing the same methods. How are they any different from the Yellow Turban rebels of old?”

“My lord…”

“The matter of the White-robed Maitreyas must be spread far and wide.

“Magistrate Zhang, Commandant Daxi, I order the two of you to conduct an immediate search of Yanshi County. Any White-robed Maitreya you discover is to be arrested at once. Should anyone resist, you may kill them on the spot.

“I will leave troops from the three commanderies behind to assist you in suppressing the bandits of Mount Shouyang.

“As for me, I must return to Luoyang immediately and stop Lord Changsun from taking matters into his own hands.

“Hmm… I suspect that the number of White-robed Maitreyas in Luoyang will be no fewer than in Yanshi. The situation there may well be even more complicated.”

Fang Yanqian was a man of swift and decisive action. He immediately ordered preparations for his carriage and escort.

If Changsun Sheng mobilized the military forces of the River Luo region, the consequences could be even more serious.

Fang Yanqian therefore had to hurry back to Luoyang, confer with Changsun Sheng and the others, and purge the White-robed Maitreyas from the city.

Zhang Cong and Daxi Shanyi exchanged a glance. Their eyes held a murderous intensity.

“Pass on my order: Yanshi is to be sealed, and a curfew imposed at night. From this day forth, the entire county is to hunt down the White-robed Maitreyas. Anyone who conceals one is to be treated as an accomplice to treason.”

Zhang Cong issued the order, while Daxi Shanyi hurried outside the city to join the troops from the three commanderies.

Once Fang Yanqian had departed, and Zhang Cong and Daxi Shanyi had also set their orders into motion, Zheng Yanching, who had lain unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes. A faint smile appeared upon his sallow face.

“Young Master, they are all gone!”

Mao Xiaonian’s lovely face brightened with a smile as she gently closed the door.

“I was nearly suffocated!”

Zheng Yanching abruptly sat up. He looked nothing like a wounded man on the brink of death.

Sitting on the couch, he called out, “Xiaonian, open the window… My heavens, the smell in here is unbearable.”

As it turned out, after Chao Yuanfang had given Zheng Yanching the Nine-Nine Pill, Zheng Yanching had already been brought around with acupuncture and was no longer in serious danger. However, his heart meridians had been injured, so he needed a long period of recuperation. He could not recover in a single day.

After awakening, Zheng Yanching had asked about the condition of his household.

Including attendants and servants, fifteen Zheng family guards had suffered devastating casualties. Of those who survived, only the three Dang brothers, the uncle and nephew Xie Hong and Xie Ke, and Shen Guang and Xiaonian remained, along with no more than four or five others.

Three of the survivors had been crippled. Another had escaped permanent disability but was bedridden with severe injuries and would likely require more than a hundred days before he could move normally again.

In the ten years since his rebirth, Zheng Yanching had never suffered such a devastating loss.

More than thirty people—more than thirty living souls—had simply vanished from the world.

How could Zheng Yanching swallow such a grievance?

He would absolutely turn this game around—not only against the White-robed Maitreyas, but also against the person secretly directing them.

To accomplish that, he had to make thorough preparations.

Thus, he had secretly sent Shen Guang to Xingyang to inform Zheng Shi’an and calm his nerves. When he heard that Fang Yanqian was about to arrive, Zheng Yanching immediately arranged this little performance.

He knew that Fang Yanqian was a man of deeply restrained emotions. Though he had never openly shown Zheng Yanching any goodwill, he would use his actions to avenge him.

The White-robed Maitreyas?

Zheng Yanching did not believe he could deal with them by his own strength.

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In that case, the simplest, most direct, and most effective method was to borrow the power of the authorities and deal the heretical sect a crushing blow.

Unfortunately, up to now, the White-robed Maitreyas had concealed themselves extremely well.

Since he could not find their leaders, he would dig them out by their roots. The heretical sect was hidden among the common people, so he would use the power of the government to destroy the soil in which it survived.

Who could say what bloody storm this would unleash?

Zheng Yanching did not care. Nor did he have the leisure to care. What occupied his thoughts now was how to gain even greater benefits from the affair…

“How are Uncle and Nephew Xie?”

“Master Xie Hong left yesterday evening. After something so serious, he had to return to Yangxia and report to the family.”

“Oh.”

“Xie Ke is still here, though. His leg was injured, and he cannot leave his couch for the time being, so he stayed behind.

“Heehee, Xie Ke even said at noon today that he wanted to come and see you. I told him that you were gravely wounded and unconscious and could not receive visitors. He became extremely anxious.”

Zheng Yanching nodded. “Tell Pei Zi to keep a close watch outside.

“Oh, and prepare me something to eat. I still have questions for you, but I’m starving. I’ll ask while I eat.”

Mao Xiaonian agreed and hurried out of the room.

Few people knew that Zheng Yanching was unharmed. Pei Zi was one of them.

Mao Xiaonian gave Pei Zi a few instructions, then brought a jar of chicken soup from the kitchen. Its rich fragrance could be smelled from a considerable distance away.

The two young mastiffs, who had been frolicking with Yanching, immediately stopped and stared fixedly toward the door.

“Xiaonian, you said several monks rescued us?”

Holding a bowl of chicken soup, Zheng Yanching gnawed happily on a chicken leg as he questioned her between bites.

He was extremely curious about what had happened later that day at White Sparrow Monastery, especially those mysterious monks.

“Yes, those monks were truly formidable.

“The one leading them was a dark-faced monk named Tan Zong, I think. Master Xie said he wielded a Flying Dragon Chain Mace, also known as the Two-Headed Serpent…

“Heehee, when the fake Two-Headed Serpent encountered the real one, it took only a few blows to lose its life.”

“They were that powerful?”

Zheng Yanching practiced martial arts himself, so naturally he had heard of the Two-Headed Serpent weapon.

He bit deeply into the chicken leg, leaving grease smeared across his mouth. Mao Xiaonian took out a cloth and wiped it away for him with a giggle.

“Brother Shen later guessed that those monks might have been martial monks from the Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song… But he was rather unhappy.

“After Young Master knocked him unconscious, Brother Shen privately told me that he could never trust you again.”

Zheng Yanching smiled. He knew Shen Guang had only been venting his anger.

Still, he was extremely curious. He suddenly asked, “Xiaonian, is Shaolin Monastery far from here?”

“Oh, they say it is not very far. Perhaps a day’s journey at most. Young Master, do you want to visit Shaolin Monastery and thank them?”

Zheng Yanching nodded. “They saved my life. How could I not pay them a personal visit?

“But I’m afraid it won’t be possible for some time. Let us wait until this affair is over… Then I’ll take you with me to Shaolin Monastery.”

Xiaonian was overjoyed.

She nodded repeatedly and was just about to speak when a hurried rush of footsteps sounded outside.

Immediately afterward, a familiar voice called, “Little Demon, Little Demon, are you all right?… Pei Zi, don’t you dare stop me!”

Before the words had ended, the door was shoved open with a bang.

Pei Shuying, dressed in a fitted martial outfit, burst into the bedchamber.

But when she saw Zheng Yanching sitting there in astonishment, his mouth open around half a chicken leg, Pei Shuying froze as well.

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