Chapter 58: Water Dragon Song (Part 3) -2
Xu He Xue sheathed his sword. Qian Wei Yin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at Jiang Xian Ming’s fine clothes, then down at his own beggarly attire, he gave a wry smile. “Among our old friends, only you are so successful.”
“Did you abandon your post and flee because of Du Cong, or someone above him?” Jiang Xian Ming didn’t beat around the bush.
Hearing this, Qian Wei Yin’s eyes widened in surprise. “You… what do you know?”
“You should have heard about Du Cong. His ledger is in my hands. Recently, I’ve also been investigating a secret ledger from Manyu Bank.” Jiang Xian Ming had been worried about how to continue the investigation, but unexpectedly, someone had come knocking. This fugitive, Qian Wei Yin, had taken the initiative to contact him.
“Old Qian, you’ve sent a lot of money to Du Cong over the years. But among you people, only you were demoted.”
Jiang Xian Ming’s words struck a nerve with Qian Wei Yin. His face was ashen, and he sighed deeply. “That’s because I couldn’t afford to pay anymore.”
“You passed the imperial examinations, why didn’t you know your place?” Jiang Xian Ming’s feelings were complex. When he had associated with this man, he had been full of spirit and ambition.
“Know my place? How could I?” Qian Wei Yin, dressed in filthy rags, devoid of his former official demeanor, sat down on the ground. “Jing Nian, I’ve been stuck in the mire for sixteen years.”
“Sixteen years ago, Du Cong, then known as Du San Cai, was ordered to transport military rations from the Daizhou granary to the Yongzhou border. That year, you were the Assistant Magistrate in Daizhou.”
Qian Wei Yin’s expression changed as he heard the veiled young man speak. He turned to look at him.
“Qian Wei Yin, did your mire begin sixteen years ago at the Daizhou granary?”
Xu He Xue stared at him from behind his veil.
Qian Wei Yin remained silent.
Hearing the mention of sixteen years ago, and Xu He Xue’s reference to Du Cong transporting grain, Jiang Xian Ming’s heart skipped a beat. He was filled with uncertainty and immediately said, “Old Qian, you asked me to see you, wasn’t it to explain everything to me?”
Qian Wei Yin looked at the straw sandals on his feet. He thought about his escape from his post, about hiding all this time. His throat tightened. “Yes, my troubles started sixteen years ago at the Daizhou granary.”
“That year, General Yu Jie was fighting the Danqiu barbarians at the border. The Emperor issued an edict, ordering the nearby Daizhou to open its granary to supply military rations to the border for emergency relief. But, Jing Nian, Daizhou had no grain…”
“How could there be no grain?” Jiang Xian Ming was incredulous. “I’ve seen past reports from Daizhou. The Daizhou Governor that year clearly stated that there were ample grain reserves. That’s why the Emperor ordered Daizhou to release grain for emergency relief.”
Qian Wei Yin nodded. “The report wasn’t wrong. There were originally enough grain reserves. But the Emperor’s birthday was approaching, and Daizhou was building a Taoist palace. The funds allocated by the court weren’t enough. The Governor was worried about missing the deadline, so he came up with an idea—to sell grain from the granary to temporarily resolve the urgent need. If the Emperor hadn’t suddenly issued the edict to open the granary, we would have had a chance to cover it up.”
“You dared to sell the court’s grain?!”
Jiang Xian Ming was both shocked and furious.
“When Du Cong arrived, there was no grain left. We were guilty of a capital offense. He was delayed on the road, which was also a capital offense. But he told us someone could protect us.”
“Who?”
Qian Wei Yin shook his head. “I still don’t know who it is. The grain carts Du Cong transported to Yongzhou were empty. Only we knew this. He escaped the death penalty, and we escaped with him. Because of this, we were tied to Du Cong. Those who obeyed were promoted, those who disobeyed, those who dared to go to the capital, died on the way.”
“Then how dare you risk your life coming to Yun Jing now?” Jiang Xian Ming said coldly.
“Among those people, there was one who climbed higher than me and took my daughter.” Qian Wei Yin’s eyes moistened as he clenched his fists. “Two years ago, she died.”
“Jing Nian, I don’t want my life anymore. I just want to ask you, do you dare to handle this matter?”
Do you dare?
Jiang Xian Ming was speechless for a moment, then said, “Come with me first.”
Ni Su had remained silent, listening to Qian Wei Yin and Jiang Xian Ming. After Jiang Xian Ming left with his men, she and Xu He Xue walked down the street with their lamps, noticing his unusual silence.
“With Qian Wei Yin as a witness, why is Censor Jiang hesitant?”
Ni Su broke the silence.
Xu He Xue came back to his senses. “Even if Jiang Xian Ming dares to submit a memorial, the Emperor will likely ignore it, or even punish him.”
“Why…” Ni Su stopped abruptly, suddenly understanding. After the grain in the Daizhou granary was embezzled, all the money was used to build the Taoist palace for the Emperor. The Daizhou granary incident implicated those dozen officials. None of them dared to mention it, precisely because they knew where the root of the problem lay.
Bringing up the Daizhou granary incident was tantamount to accusing the Emperor.
Would Jiang Xian Ming dare to mention it, and would the Emperor dare to admit it?
“Then your case…” Ni Su’s heart was heavy.
If even Jiang Xian Ming didn’t dare, who in the world would?
Xu He Xue didn’t speak. Finally, he had pieced together the truth of the grain supply case. The silence of those officials had resulted in the Jing’an Army’s 30,000 soldiers being left without supplies, forced to fight on empty stomachs.
“General, oh, young Jinshi! Just listen to me and eat this half of a sesame cake! You’ve given yours to the men, what about yourself?”
In his memory, someone stuffed a hard, stale half of a sesame cake into his hand.
“This is terrible, Xue Huai,”
He threw the sesame cake back. “I only eat the sesame cakes from Pang’s shop in Yongzhou City.”
“Come on, General, don’t think I don’t know you just want me to eat it.” Xue Huai said with a hearty laugh.
That half of a sesame cake was eventually broken in two.
Xu He Xue no longer remembered what that sesame cake tasted like. He only remembered that it was truly awful.
Fighting on empty stomachs wasn’t the entire truth behind the Jing’an Army’s massacre at Mu Shen Mountain. Xu He Xue had employed the tactic of living off the land, using the barbarians’ supplies to feed his troops. It was only difficult at first; later, the deeper they went into barbarian territory, the less they had to endure hunger.
However, Xu He Xue believed that the person behind Du Cong in the grain supply case was inextricably linked to the treason charges against him and the Jing’an Army.
“Xu Zi Ling.”
Suddenly, Xu He Xue heard the woman beside him call his name. He looked up and saw Ni Su stop, her eyes studying him intently. He felt the weight of his attire, while some things could no longer be hidden.
“Before your death, your teacher hoped you would become a civil official. When you said you disappointed him, did you mean you became a military official in Yongzhou?”
Otherwise, Ni Su couldn’t understand why he hated Du Cong so much, and how the grain supply case, concealed by those officials, could be related to him.
Xu He Xue hadn’t known how to tell her about his identity, but since Jiang Xian Ming’s case, he had stopped hiding from Ni Su.
She was an intelligent woman. Hearing tonight’s events, how could she not figure it out?
Later, she would learn that he wasn’t just a military official, but also the General Yu Jie that Qian Wei Yin had mentioned.
The night wind blew Xu He Xue’s robes. His pale shadow and her dark shadow were clearly distinct in the lamplight. “Will you believe me?”
“Believe you about what?”
“I…”
Xu He Xue’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t care about the slander and misunderstandings of others, but Ni Su, before him, made him feel apprehensive and uneasy.
He said, “Ni Su, I truly desire your trust.”
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