Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

Lin'an Town.

Xie Zheng finished selling pork and frowned as he wiped his hands clean with a handkerchief.

Only then did he lift his gaze to glance at the sun, realizing it was nearly noon. His already furrowed brows deepened.

Lin'an Town wasn’t far from the county seat—why had she been gone so long?

Xie Zheng closed up the shop. Passing through the market, he spotted a foreign merchant’s stall displaying various animal pelts and leather goods. His eyes settled on a pair of vambraces.

Noticing his interest, the merchant called out, “Looking to buy vambraces, young master? These are made of deerskin—truly fine work. Though for you… they might be a bit small. I’ve got some made of roe deer hide here. Care to take a look?”

As he spoke, he picked up a much larger pair and offered them to Xie Zheng.

But Xie Zheng didn’t take them. Instead, he picked up the deerskin vambraces, examining them before lightly gripping them in his palm, as if measuring their size from memory. After a moment, he said to the merchant, “These will do.”

He paid and was about to leave when he overheard a group of men in a nearby tea house sighing heavily.

“Poor souls from Majia Village—dozens of lives lost! Those damned officials are truly heartless!”

“Let’s just hope that scholar escaped. Maybe he can expose the atrocities those dogs have committed!”

Xie Zheng paused, glancing toward them. Seeing his interest, the merchant sighed and said, “It’s about the massacre in Majia Village. A scholar from the village couldn’t stand the government’s brutal grain levy and planned to lead the villagers to kneel before the Jizhou Prefecture Office, begging to leave some seeds for the farmers. The whole village set out last night, trying to avoid detection, but this morning, they were found slaughtered on the main road. The scholar’s nowhere to be seen—either captured or escaped.”

A cold glint flashed in Xie Zheng’s eyes. “Did the officials kill them?”

The merchant replied, “That’s what everyone suspects. They were just poor farmers—what bandit would target them? It’s not like they’d block the road just to kill dozens of peasants for sport.”

“Strangely enough, right after the massacre, all roads to Jizhou Prefecture were blocked by bandits. What a coincidence, eh? Clearly, they’re afraid someone might report this to the prefecture. Farmers from the neighboring villages have already armed themselves, saying they’ll join the Rebel King in Chongzhou.”

The merchant shook his head. As a foreigner, he traveled the land only to trade pelts, but as a commoner, he couldn’t help but lament such a tragedy.

Xie Zheng’s brows tightened. As someone in power, he sensed something amiss.

The Majia Village massacre seemed deliberately orchestrated to incite rebellion among Qingping County’s people.

If that scholar survived and escaped, he would surely expose the slaughter to Jizhou Prefecture—or even the capital.

The government’s ruthless grain levy had left the people with no way to survive. When they knelt before the county magistrate, pleading for mercy, they were ignored. Turning to the prefecture, they were slaughtered on the way. Anyone hearing of such a tragedy would wish to tear those officials limb from limb.

Such atrocities fueled public outrage, and inciting rebellion in Qingping County would undoubtedly strike a blow to the imperial court’s military efforts.

Recalling the similar tragedies reported during the grain levy in Taizhou, Xie Zheng’s gaze turned even colder.

Every atrocity tied to the grain levy seemed to have someone deliberately fanning the flames behind the scenes.The only ones who benefited were undoubtedly the rebels in Chongzhou—

Jizhou Prefecture.

Wei Xuan sat in the main seat, watching impatiently as his subordinates tallied the provisions collected from various counties.

Soon, a personal guard reported, "General, the grain from Qingping County has not yet arrived."

Wei Xuan, already in a foul mood, grew even angrier. He kicked over the low table in front of him and roared, "How dare a mere county magistrate defy my military orders?"

Drawing his sword, he stood up. "Men! Mobilize the troops! We’re going to Qingping County to collect the grain ourselves!"

Just then, a scout rushed in urgently. "Report—urgent dispatch from Yanzhou, eight hundred li away!"

Wei Xuan’s expression darkened. Yanzhou was nothing more than a barren, mountainous backwater near Mount Yan—the very place where he had exiled Xie Zheng’s former subordinates. What urgent news could there possibly be?

When he unfolded the letter and saw the familiar handwriting, his blood ran cold.

The personal guard didn’t understand why his general’s face had suddenly twisted in fury—until Wei Xuan abruptly drew his sword and hacked the overturned table in half, his eyes blazing with rage. "He’s not dead! He deliberately waited until now to reveal himself, just to humiliate me after my defeat!"

A trusted aide picked up the discarded letter from the floor. Upon seeing the bold, unrestrained script and the signature—"Xie Jiuhang"—he too was horrified.

The Great Yin’s Wu'an Marquis, surnamed Xie, given name Zheng, courtesy name Jiuhang.

This courtesy name had been bestowed by his teacher, Grand Tutor Tao, who said the character "Zheng" (meaning "to conquer") carried too much aggression and feared he might act recklessly in pursuit of victory. Thus, he gave him the courtesy name "Jiuhang" ("nine measures") to temper his nature—while others needed only to think twice, Xie Zheng was to weigh matters nine times before acting.

All these years, Xie Zheng had indeed lived up to Grand Tutor Tao’s expectations, never acting rashly on the battlefield. Though he had risen to fame at a young age, his prudence rivaled that of seasoned veterans.

The personal guard, being Wei Xuan’s confidant, naturally knew about the Wei father and son’s scheme against Wu'an Marquis during the Chongzhou campaign.

He immediately advised, "Wu'an Marquis has been lying low all this time, surely biding his strength to avenge that day. In this letter, he orders you to retreat to Huizhou and guard the northwestern gateway against foreign enemies—this could very well be a trap! The northwest is no longer safe. The Prime Minister’s transfer orders will arrive soon—returning to the capital is your best course of action!"

Wei Xuan grabbed the guard by the collar and snarled, "You think I’m afraid of him?"

The guard knew Wei Xuan despised being compared unfavorably to Wu'an Marquis, but now was not the time to worry about provoking him. He pleaded earnestly, "General, don’t let pride cloud your judgment! The northwest is already in chaos. The remaining seventy thousand soldiers in Huizhou were all trained by Wu'an Marquis himself. They obeyed your orders only because they believed Wu'an Marquis had died at the hands of the Chongzhou rebels and sought vengeance for him. Now that he’s alive, we’re nothing but fish on his chopping block if we stay here!"

Wei Xuan knew the guard spoke the truth—but the more he understood, the more infuriated he became. He had been overshadowed by this man since childhood. Xie Zheng was a thorn in his eye, one he could never pluck out.

Yet in the end, Wei Xuan had no choice but to swallow his pride. With two thousand personal guards in tow, he stormed out of Jizhou Prefecture in a rage.

When He Jingyuan heard of this in his residence, he sighed—half in relief, half in shame.

Relieved that the famed "Slaughter General" was ruthless only toward foreign enemies, yet still held compassion for the people of Great Yin.He felt ashamed that as a local official, he had allowed Wei Xuan to push the people of Jizhou to such dire straits.

Zheng Wenchang asked for his instructions: "Sir, what should we do with the military provisions that were collected?"

He Jingyuan replied, "Return the grain seeds to the farmers. Spring has arrived, and we must not delay next year's planting."

Zheng Wenchang acknowledged the order.

He Jingyuan then asked, "I heard one county did not submit any provisions. Do you know which one it was?"

Zheng Wenchang answered, "Qingping County."

Hearing the name again, He Jingyuan's expression darkened. "County Magistrate Cui Shoude is a coward. How dare he refuse to submit provisions? There must be something unusual about this. Take some men and investigate."

Just as Zheng Wenchang was about to clasp his fists in acknowledgment, a guard hurried in and reported, "Sir, trouble! A scholar is beating the drum outside the government office to proclaim his grievances, composing poems denouncing the authorities for forcibly seizing military provisions and slaughtering the farmers in the fields. The whole city is in an uproar!"

Both He Jingyuan and Zheng Wenchang were startled.

Zheng Wenchang quickly clasped his fists and said, "After receiving your orders, I have been keeping an eye on the soldiers under Wei Xuan who were collecting provisions. I did not find any evidence of them killing people or seizing grain by force."

He Jingyuan simply instructed the guard, "Bring the man here. I want to question him."

The guard obeyed and left.

In Qingping County.

Fan Changyu's suggestion of kidnapping the county magistrate was, unsurprisingly, vetoed by Wang Furen. She sighed helplessly, "The yamen runners in the County Government Office number around a hundred in total. How could we possibly kidnap the magistrate?"

Afraid of alarming Wang Furen, Fan Changyu lowered her head and stayed silent, though she thought to herself, No matter how many there are, they can't follow the magistrate every hour of the day. He must have moments when he's alone.

Before Wang Furen could say more, a commotion erupted from the street ahead.

A group of fierce soldiers marched past, escorting a line of people bound with ropes. Fan Changyu recognized their clothing and gasped, "Those are the staff from Overflowing Fragrance Pavilion!"

Wang Furen's heart skipped a beat. "Is the magistrate acting so quickly?"

Fan Changyu didn’t see Yu Qianqian among the captives and quickly pushed through the crowd to get a closer look.

The onlookers murmured among themselves, "Why have all the cooks and staff from Overflowing Fragrance Pavilion been arrested?"

"I heard someone died after eating their food. The family carried a coffin to the pavilion's entrance to protest. The authorities sealed the place and took everyone in for questioning to investigate."

Fan Changyu stood on tiptoe to scan the procession and finally spotted Yu Qianqian, her hands bound, walking in the middle. Yu Qianqian also saw her and subtly shook her head, signaling her not to approach. She silently mouthed two words.

From her lips, Fan Changyu discerned the words "Bao'er."

Fan Changyu scrutinized the escorting soldiers but saw no child among them. She realized Yu Bao'er must have been hidden somewhere by Yu Qianqian, and the silent message was a plea to look after the child.

Wang Furen had caught up and, fearing Fan Changyu might act rashly, tightly gripped her hand, whispering in her ear, "No matter how close you are to that manager, don’t approach now. If the soldiers notice you, you might bring trouble upon yourself."

Fan Changyu understood and forced herself to stay still.

Only after the soldiers had passed did Wang Furen look at Fan Changyu and say, "If you need maps of the County Government Office or the magistrate’s residence, I can get them for you."Fan Changyu knew that given the situation in the Wang household, Wang Furen's willingness to offer such words was already a rare gesture. She expressed her thanks, saying she would retrieve it when needed, then hurried toward the Overflowing Fragrance Pavilion.

Yu Qianqian had been arrested at the Overflowing Fragrance Pavilion, and Yu Bao'er might very well be hidden somewhere inside by her.

Upon reaching the main street, Fan Changyu spotted the grand entrance of the pavilion already sealed with an official notice from afar. She circled to the back alley and saw that even the courtyards where the pavilion's servants lived had been sealed off. Glancing at the rear wall of the pavilion, she was about to climb over when a hand suddenly reached out from the side, pulling her into a narrow, dark alley between two outer walls.

Fan Changyu reflexively grabbed the person's collar, ready to throw them to the ground with a forceful twist of her arm. But the moment she caught the scent of bitter medicine and tangerine peel candy on them, her grip loosened abruptly.

"Yan Zheng?" she called out.

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes, signaling her to stay silent, his phoenix-like gaze coldly sweeping the alley's entrance. Fan Changyu instinctively tensed as well.

The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder—a squad of soldiers had taken position outside the pavilion's rear gate. "By the county magistrate's order, until the murder case at the Overflowing Fragrance Pavilion is resolved, the premises shall remain sealed. To prevent the destruction of evidence, guard this building strictly!"

Fan Changyu whispered, "Yu Bao'er wasn't taken by the soldiers. I'm afraid Yu Qianqian hid him somewhere inside."

They stood so close that each other's breaths were audible. To avoid detection, she kept her voice extremely low.

Xie Zheng felt as if an insect were crawling in his ear. Frowning, he straightened and stepped back slightly. "I arrived a quarter-hour before you. I've already entered and taken him away."

Relieved, Fan Changyu finally asked, "Weren't you at the butcher shop? Why did you come to the county town?"

Xie Zheng's gaze turned frosty. "After selling the pork, I noticed you hadn't returned for a long time, so I came to check."

"I'm fine," Fan Changyu said. "But Shopkeeper Yu is in trouble."

After explaining her and Yu Qianqian's suspicions, she added, "I plan to kidnap the county magistrate to save Shopkeeper Yu. You take Yu Bao'er and Ning Niang to hide somewhere. If I'm caught, please look after Ning Niang for me."

Xie Zheng frowned at her. "Who gave you such a foolish idea?"

Baffled by his retort, Fan Changyu thought for a moment and assumed he was angry at her for risking herself and then burdening him with the children. "It was my own idea. I only mentioned the possibility of being caught—of course, I'd strike when the magistrate has few guards around. How could I actually get caught...?"

Xie Zheng scoffed. "Many farmers in the countryside have already rebelled, ready to storm the County Government Office before joining the Rebel King. Do you think the magistrate, if he were the mastermind, would put himself in such danger?"

Fan Changyu understood his implication—kidnapping the magistrate wouldn't save Yu Qianqian.

After a moment of fruitless thought, she raised her clear, guileless eyes to Xie Zheng. "Then what should we do? Who is the mastermind? Would kidnapping them work?"

Hearing she still clung to the kidnapping plan, Xie Zheng nearly laughed in exasperation.

"Kidnapping anyone would be useless," he said. "This is someone's scheme to sow discord, incite the people of Qingping County to rebel, and then lure Jizhou's garrison troops to suppress the riot. That way, the rumors of the court's grain levies driving the people to revolt would be confirmed."Qingping County had not delivered the levied grain to Jizhou Prefecture. Given Wei Xuan's temperament, he would surely march on Qingping County immediately. Once his forces clashed with the rebels, there was every possibility Wei Xuan would order his men to massacre the entire county.