The sun was setting, a fiery orb half-hidden among the western mountains. Its orange-red afterglow painted half the sky, spilling over countless mountains and rivers, cresting the mottled mud walls, and landing upon the stone table in the courtyard.
And so, the setting sun and evening clouds were captured in the wine jug, then poured into the bowl.
"I truly admire the hero who killed Chong Jihu of the Tiger Gang and Duan Lang of the Wild Wolf Gang, ridding the people of a menace. I’m just sorry I can’t meet him and offer him a drink myself!"
Jiang Ping’an sighed with regret.
"Yes, he must be a free-spirited hero, one who rights wrongs as he sees fit."
Fang Rui nodded in full agreement and raised his wine bowl. "Enough about that... Come, Brother Jiang, let’s drink!"
CLINK!
He clinked his bowl against Jiang Ping’an’s, thinking, ’I’ll just take that as a toast for me.’
"Good wine!"
Jiang Ping’an drained his bowl, drinking down the sunset and evening clouds in one gulp. "Haaaah," he exhaled slowly, then picked up a fennel bean and chewed it deliberately.
He started talking about the current situation in the city, a pleased look on his face. "The Rebel Army is confiscating the property of the great families... distributing grain... portioning out land... The city has finally settled down!"
’Brother Jiang is a really interesting man,’ Fang Rui mused.
In the past, when the Government Office was rotten to the core, Jiang Ping’an went with the flow. He took his share of kickbacks and side-hustle money, but he had his limits and never committed any truly heinous acts.
When the Taiping Bandits besieged the city, chaos reigned. The old and weak suffered, and children the age of his own son, Niu Dun, met tragic ends. On nights when Jiang Ping’an drank himself into a stupor, he would point to his chest and say it made his ’heart ache to see it.’
Now that the Rebel Army controlled Changshan City and was ordering its subordinates to enact ’good policies,’ Jiang Ping’an was full of energy, cooperating wholeheartedly to implement them, even if it meant more hardship for himself.
He wasn’t some hero out of a story, a moral Saint, or some kind of villain. He was just a real, living person with his own moral compass.
It was precisely this authenticity that made Fang Rui, after all this time, consider him a true friend.
"Yes!"
Fang Rui raised his wine bowl, sipping from it as he agreed, "The city has been much more peaceful these past few days."
It was deeply ironic. The so-called ’Taiping Bandits’ were running things, yet their governance was actually better than that of the former Yu Country’s Government Office.
As for the Tiger Gang and the like?
Organizations like that were like shadows cast by the sun—impossible to ever truly eradicate. Forget about this world; wasn’t it the same in Fang Rui’s past life?
Best not to dwell on it.
As the two chatted, Fang Rui suddenly asked, "Brother Jiang, have you seen the Grand General Xuantong? What kind of man is he? Is he like the rumors say—eight feet tall and brawny?"
"Well... I’ve never actually seen him myself."
Jiang Ping’an shook his head. "A constable like me might be a step up from the basic governmental officers, but I still don’t have the standing to get close to a man like Grand General Xuantong. Seeing him from afar wouldn’t be an issue, of course... but he hasn’t been seen at all in recent days. I’ve asked around, but no one has any news..."
"You’d think at a time like this, the Grand General would be making more public appearances to reassure the people... For him to be missing for several days is a bit strange," Fang Rui said, frowning.
"Exactly. I was thinking he should be out there, reassuring everyone... And another thing—of all the great families they’re confiscating property from, I thought for sure the Lin Family would be first."
"After all, you make an example of the Lin Family to scare the rest, and all the other prominent families in the city would fall in line..."
"But I never expected,"
Jiang Ping’an’s face was also full of surprise. "...that by now, when they’ve already gone through most of the other great families, the Lin Family would be left completely untouched..."
"That is odd."
As Fang Rui listened, his eyes narrowed. The wine bowl paused on its way to his lips. ’Is Grand General Xuantong absent for some difficult reason? Or... could it be that he’s not even in Changshan City?!’
’My father also left on some secret mission. It’s being kept under such tight wraps that even his own family, like me, can’t get a single meeting with him... It wouldn’t be this difficult if he were still in Changshan City...’
’So, he’s probably not in the city anymore... Did he leave with Grand General Xuantong?!’
’But if they’re not in Changshan City, where could they have gone?’
At this thought, a flash of insight struck Fang Rui. ’Could they have gone to another county seat to take it by trickery?’
’That’s it, that’s entirely possible!’
As this idea took root, Fang Rui’s thoughts suddenly cleared. ’The Taiping Bandits took Changshan City, so it would be no problem for them to have the County Magistrate’s Seal and even a few officials who surrendered... With those, they could pose as fleeing soldiers from Changshan seeking aid, trick their way into another city... and then, by joining forces with other rebel groups, they would have a very real chance of success!’
’They could even take advantage of the fact that the Yu Country’s Government Office hasn’t had time to react. Speed is everything in war. If they repeat the trick, it’s not impossible they could sweep through the region like wildfire...’
Compared to that, getting rid of the Lin Family in Changshan City certainly wasn’t as pressing.
’What a brilliant scheme!’
The more Fang Rui thought about it, the more convinced he became.
In his past life, he had lived through the information age. His imagination was unbound, not tied to the thinking of one city or one region. He dared to consider any possibility.
As a result, he was sometimes more likely to stumble upon the truth.
"What’s the matter, Brother Fang? What’s on your mind?" Jiang Ping’an asked, seeing Fang Rui staring into space.
"Nothing."
Fang Rui snapped out of it. Though a flood of thoughts had just passed through his mind, only an instant had gone by in reality. He quickly took a drink of wine to hide his distraction.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling to share his guess with Jiang Ping’an, but rather that such information would bring his friend more harm than good. It would only cause trouble.
Jiang Ping’an didn’t seem to notice and continued, "But from what I can see, in the next day or two, the Rebel Army and the Xia Family are going to make their move on the Lin Family!"
"And for that, we have to thank the hero who killed Chong Jihu, the leader of the Tiger Gang, and Duan Lang, the leader of the Wild Wolf Gang,"