"Hearing you say that proves our friendship wasn’t for nothing, Brother Fang. But... there’s no escaping this!"
Jiang Ping’an shook his head. "I’m on the Government Office’s roster. If I really try to hide, it won’t be a beating I get, but the blade!"
"What about a bribe? I have some silver here."
Fang Rui knew that the Changshan Government Office was rotten to the core. As long as you had money, anything could be arranged.
"That won’t work either."
Jiang Ping’an shook his head again. "The ones supervising this time aren’t the Government Office, but the great families... If we don’t go, they’ll have to send their own men. When it’s the great families enforcing things, how could they possibly go easy on us?"
Unlike the Government Office, which would dare to sell its very authority for enough silver coins, the great families were doing this for themselves. Their supervision was bound to be severe.
It wasn’t to say there were no loopholes, but they were incredibly hard to navigate. At least, Jiang Ping’an had no way to do so.
Fang Rui... couldn’t either—not unless he revealed his Sixth Grade strength. That might offer a possibility, but the cost would far outweigh the benefit.
"So there’s no getting out of it," Fang Rui said, frowning.
"Yeah."
In the alternating light and shadow of dusk, half of Jiang Ping’an’s face was cloaked in darkness as he spoke slowly. "Sometimes, I think, if this city just... fell, there wouldn’t be so many problems..."
The words were rather taboo, something he shouldn’t have said, but the buzz from the alcohol and the gloom in his heart compelled him to say them anyway.
—Of course, daring to say this to Fang Rui was also a sign of his deep trust.
"True," Fang Rui nodded.
If the city fell, it would naturally be a great disaster for the wealthy families. But for constables and governmental officers like Jiang Ping’an, if the city fell and the rules disappeared, their situation might actually be a little better...
—The Taiping Bandits’ purge was unlikely to fall on their heads. Don’t you see: even when dynasties change, the low-level functionaries are largely the same people.
As for the common people...
Right now, they were already living hand-to-mouth. But a crumbling order was still an order, and that was better than no order at all.
However, while the fall of the city would undoubtedly be a great calamity, once it was over, life would probably be a little better.
It was hard to say which was worse for the common people: the long, slow pain or the short, sharp one.
CLANG!
The two men clinked their bowls and drank.
The alcohol took hold, amplifying the negative emotions in his chest, and Jiang Ping’an began to lose his composure. "Brother Fang, you have no idea... these past few days on patrol, how chaotic it’s been outside, how miserable the common families are..."
"Too many people are dead! Women, young children... some of them were about the same age as my Niu Dun..."
He pointed to his chest. "Seeing it all just knots me up inside... but I can’t do anything about it, I don’t dare to! Going to the city wall... at least that’ll be a quick end. That’s fine! That’s fine, too!"
"Brother Jiang..."
Fang Rui looked at the undisguised exhaustion on Jiang Ping’an’s face and sighed deeply.
These past few days, the Taiping Bandits and the city’s forces had been locked in a stalemate...
He himself was fine. Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, the Third Lady, Nannan, and Fang Ling were also managing under his protection.
But other families, the common folk, and even governmental officers and chief constables like Jiang Ping’an, were being dragged down into utter exhaustion, not just physically, but mentally...
—Many of the tragic sights, even if they didn’t affect one personally, were a form of torture just to see and witness.
’Not everything in this world has a quick and clean resolution. This kind of indefinite waiting is often more agonizing than a bad outcome that has already been decided...’
"Brother Fang, never mind me... Right now, there’s only one thing I can’t let go of... If the worst should happen to me, I’m entrusting Sister-in-law Jiang, and your nephew and niece, to you..."
This was practically him arranging his final affairs.
It wasn’t that Jiang Ping’an didn’t have other friends, but after spending time with them, he still felt Fang Rui was the most dependable, the most charismatic.
This was no joke—Fang Rui had transmigrated here, and in his dealings with people, he carried an innate sense of equality. He was neither servile nor arrogant, which made him very comfortable to be around.
Back then, this was a large part of the reason why the Third Lady had lowered her guard around Fang Rui, and later, slowly grew to like him.
"Brother Jiang, you trust me this much?"
"I do. Why wouldn’t I?"
Jiang Ping’an laughed loudly and pointed to his own eyes. "This pair of peepers of mine, they’re pretty good at judging people. Brother Fang, in your dealings... you’re a bit on the cautious side, but you don’t have a malicious bone in your body. You don’t make grand promises, you honor your commitments to your friends, and whatever you agree to, you almost always get it done..."
’Am I really that good?’
Fang Rui shook his head, his expression turning more solemn. He said, "Brother Jiang, if something were to happen to you, I will do my best to look after Sister-in-law Jiang and your two children. But it will only be my best. I can’t promise more than that..."
"Haha, Brother Fang is as frank as ever... Your best is enough. If things truly don’t work out, then that’s fate..."
Jiang Ping’an gripped Fang Rui’s wrist tightly, shaking it twice. "Thank you!"
"Brother Fang, I’m not one for sappy words... Let the wine do the talking!"
He raised his wine bowl.
CLANG!
Fang Rui clinked his bowl with Jiang Ping’an’s. "Brother Jiang, you’re a man of great fortune. You may not even need this backup plan of mine. Perhaps things will take a turn for the better, you never know..."
"Then I’ll take you at your good word, Brother Fang," Jiang Ping’an said, and tilting his head back, he drained the wine in his bowl. He clearly just took it as a kind wish and didn’t put much faith in it.
"Drink up! Drink up!"
Seeing this, Fang Rui said no more. He raised his wine bowl and also took a large gulp, a thought stirring in his mind.
He truly wanted to do something, not just for Jiang Ping’an, but for himself as well.
’Even someone with Jiang Ping’an’s status has to go to the city wall! If the situation keeps getting worse, an unattached Martial Artist like me might not be able to just lay low and survive...’
This wasn’t some unfounded anxiety, but a very real problem!
’A man who doesn’t think about the future will soon have worries at his door,’ Fang Rui sighed internally and made up his mind.
Just then, SIZZLE!
In the kitchen, hot oil hit a wok for stir-frying, releasing a tantalizingly rich aroma that wafted out into the courtyard.
His appetite whetted, Fang Rui got up and went to the kitchen. "Mother, Third Sister, Sister-in-law Jiang, is dinner ready? How about bringing over some of the finished dishes for us to eat with our wine?"
"Just the stir-fried bean sprouts left. The mushroom-stewed chicken, preserved pork with dried wild vegetables, and steamed egg custard are all done. You can take those out first..."
"No need for all that, just put some in a bowl for us. And you four little ones over there, stop hiding. Come on, wipe your drool. Take this and share it!"
...
「After a sumptuous dinner.」
Fang Rui suggested that Jiang Ping’an watch over the house for a bit, as he had something to take care of.
Although Jiang Ping’an found it odd, he didn’t ask any questions and readily agreed.
His tolerance for alcohol was decent, not much worse than Fang Rui’s. In the past, they had even competed to see who could feign being drunk better, putting on an act for each other.
Earlier, they had spoken of drinking until they passed out, but Jiang Ping’an was a man who knew his limits. He knew he had to be on the city wall tomorrow and didn’t actually get blind drunk, the kind that would last until the next day—that would be suicide.
Fang Rui had Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, the Third Lady, Sister-in-law Jiang, and the rest of the group head into the cellar. He also temporarily lent his Broadsword to Jiang Ping’an.
Then, he moved a huge boulder to block the cellar entrance, only then leaving the house with his mind at ease.
The boulder outside the cellar was one line of defense. Jiang Ping’an was a second. And Fang Rui’s recent reputation in the area, which intimidated local thugs and kept them away, was a third, unseen line of defense.
With these three layers of protection, and the fact that Fang Rui wouldn’t be gone for long, their safety was well-assured.
...
Outside the Xia Mansion, a row of fiery red lanterns cast a brilliant glow on everything.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, a wooden plank shot through the air, striking the main gate with a sharp crack.
CREAK!
The old gatekeeper opened the door, looked around suspiciously, and picked up the plank that had fallen to the ground. The moment he saw it, his expression changed drastically.
He whirled around and ran. In his panic, his mind in turmoil, he tripped over the threshold, but he scrambled back up and continued running inside without even bothering to pat the dust off his clothes.
From the shadows, Fang Rui, his face masked with Ge Cloth, gave the Xia Mansion a long look, then quickly departed.
He wasn’t surprised by the gatekeeper’s reaction.
The plank was just an ordinary piece of wood, but—
—on it were thirteen words, etched with Power that Fang Rui had channeled through his fingertip as if it were a brush, written in a sharp, powerful script: ’The Lin Family will surrender the city, joining the bandits to kill the Xias!’
...