Mo Sang – CH 327

Chapter 327. Struggle

Li Sangrou chatted with Empress Zhou for a while, drank several rounds of tea, and then excused herself. Princess Ninghe and Gu Fei accompanied Li Sangrou out, talking as they saw her off to the Donghua Gate.

Gu Xi and Wen Cheng, however, were kept behind by Gu Jin.

In the evening, Li Sangrou packed her things and was preparing to return to Chaomi Alley when Gu Xi rushed in through the courtyard. Seeing Li Sangrou, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Leaving already? Good thing I made it in time. Want to eat together? Which restaurant do you want? I have something to tell you.”

“Let’s go across the street.” Li Sangrou pointed to Pan Tower across from Shunfeng.

Gu Xi smiled and agreed, turning around and leaving Shunfeng’s main branch with Li Sangrou, entering Pan Tower.

Ru-Yi, with his long legs, had already gone straight to Pan Tower to make preparations.

The manager of Pan Tower had already reserved Gu Xi’s favorite lakeside private room after Li Sangrou and Gu Xi had visited several times. Upon hearing from Ru-Yi that the Prince and the Boss were coming for dinner, he hurriedly instructed the tea and wine server to prepare tea and water and invite them to the lakeside room.

Li Sangrou and Gu Xi ate their meal and sat by the water.

It was already the middle of the eighth month, and the lake breeze was quite cool.

“Are you not cold?” Gu Xi looked at Li Sangrou, who was dressed in summer clothes.

Li Sangrou propped her feet on the railing, glanced at him, ignored his question, took a sip of wine, and asked, “You said you had something to tell me; what is it?”

“Oh.” Gu Xi leaned back in his chair. “Just some trivial matters.

“First, Meng Yanqing and Dong Chao went to see my Elder Brother, hoping to follow you and grow old in Shunfeng. My Elder Brother agreed.”

Li Sangrou gave a soft hum.

Meng Yanqing had told her about this.

When the Privy Council and the Ministry of War were awarding merits, every member of the Old Yunmeng Guard was commended, and their contributions were considerable. Meng Yanqing came to see her and said he had inquired with each of them, and they did not intend to accept the merits and rewards. Like their Boss, they would leave after their work was done.

They were not after the merits and rewards in the first place.

“Secondly, since Shunfeng opened, Shouzhen and I have planted quite a few people within Shunfeng. You know about this,” Gu Xi continued.

Li Sangrou nodded.

“Many of these people used to be spies in Southern Liang. After the war started, they directly switched to military affairs. They’ve been doing military work all these years. This time, my brother’s idea is that if they are willing, they can be brought out of the shadows, rewarded, and given various positions.

Since they were placed in these positions, especially during these years of war, they’ve always been under Shouzhen’s management. Even the matters of rewards and honors were arranged by Shouzhen.

Shouzhen inquired and found that only five or six people were willing to move from covert to overt positions. The rest, more than half, wanted to stay in Shunfeng, only holding the official Shunfeng post, saying they’d been overworked for years and wanted a rest in this peaceful era.

The other half wanted to remain as before, openly serving in Shunfeng, but secretly acting as the court’s eyes and ears.

My Elder Brother asked me to ask your opinion.”

“I do not care about that. I do not know who these people are, and I do not want to know. Shunfeng has its own rules, and the daily management is handled by the head manager. I do not interfere.” Li Sangrou smiled and spread her hands.

“Shouzhen said you would definitely say that. Since you say so, then let them have their way. They’ve indeed been exhausted these past years.

There’s one more thing.” Gu Xi paused, looking at Li Sangrou and asking, “Have you heard of the feud between the two families?”

“Where?” Li Sangrou asked in surprise.

“You’ve actually not heard of it? In Gaoyou, Linze Town,” Gu Xi sighed in annoyance.

“Why are they fighting?”

“On the surface, it is because a member of the Yao family, who was studying at the town’s affiliated school, drowned while playing outside.

The Yao family says he was held down in the river and drowned by two members of the Zhang family, while the Zhang family says the Yao family member could not swim and drowned himself. Each side has its own version of events, so the fight started.

At first, it was the Yao family fighting the Zhang family, but then it escalated. Now, there have been four fights, each bigger than the last, dragging in in-laws from both sides.” Gu Xi sighed.

“Actually, the conflict likely stemmed from disputes over school places.

The Yao family originally came from Rugao, supposedly as salt slaves. Fifty or sixty years ago, the court was in chaos and could not attend to the Rugao coast. The Southern Liang frequently raided the borders, and pirates roamed freely. To escape, the entire Yao clan fled west to Gaoyou.

At that time, Gaoyou had just been ravaged by the Southern Liang.” Gu Xi paused, then sighed softly. “You’ve seen Yangzhou; it was a similar situation. The Yao family settled in Linze, Gaoyou, and made peace, but they were never able to register their residence there.

In earlier years, survival was difficult for the Yao family. Gaoyou was a good place. After a decade or so, the Yao family gradually became wealthy, and some of their children began to receive an education. In the last ten years or so, quite a few Yao children have been studying, and it is said that many are quite talented and learned.

The Zhang family is a prominent local clan, with four or five scholars among them. It is said they’ve been using their status and connections to suppress the Yao family’s offspring, refusing to provide guarantees.”

Gu Xi paused, looking at Li Sangrou. “Several years ago, the Zhang family suppressed two Yao family members, refusing to provide guarantees. Shunfeng’s spies reported this to Shouzhen at the time, but Shouzhen was extremely busy and considered it a minor matter, so he put it aside.

Just now, Shouzhen apologized.

Logically, it would be best for Shouzhen to handle this, but he’s getting married in the ninth month. My Elder Brother wants me to go. Firstly, to resolve the feud between the two families; secondly, to check along the canal to see if similar incidents exist elsewhere.

In the last hundred years, the canal area has suffered repeated wars and relocations, so I am afraid there are many similar cases.”

“What about the local officials? What about the county magistrate?” Li Sangrou frowned.

Did such a matter require him, a prince, to personally handle it?

“The Gaoyou County government only has a magistrate and a judge, with twenty-one people in total, including yamen runners and clerks. They are incapable of dealing with this conflict between the two families.

The Gaoyou garrison is not allowed to interfere in local affairs. To mobilize the Gaoyou garrison, we need to request approval from the Ministry of War. From Gaoyou to here, and then back again, it will take at least twenty days round-trip. It is too slow.

Moreover, my Elder Brother wants me to go and see what’s going on and, ideally, come up with a way to completely suppress this feud between the two families.”

Li Sangrou hummed in agreement, then frowned and asked, “Whose school is it in town? The Zhang family or the Yao family?”

“Yours.” Gu Xi looked at Li Sangrou and spread his hands.

“Huh?!” Li Sangrou was taken aback; she had never run a private school before!

“It’s yours. If you do not know what’s going on either, that’s perfect. Let’s go take a look together. My brother wanted me to invite you too, saying I am too impatient, always ready to fight, and do not like the hassle of dissecting fish heads. You are more meticulous than I am,” Gu Xi explained carefully.

Li Sangrou frowned and nodded.

She really needed to see what this private school was all about.

………………………………

Li Sangrou and Gu Xi were both impulsive travelers. Early the next morning, Li Sangrou, along with Da Chang, Meng Yanqing, and others, each on two horses, met up with Gu Xi and the others outside the city and rode towards Gaoyou County.

On the matter of travel, Li Sangrou and Gu Xi were in complete agreement: as fast as possible.

Five days later, the group arrived in Gaoyou County.

Ru-Yi, carrying Gu Xi’s official seal, went straight to the Gaoyou County yamen to inform the magistrate.

Dong Chao, with most of the Old Yunmeng Guards, temporarily rested at Shunfeng Post Station outside the city, while Gu Xi’s deputy commander of the guards, with over a hundred guards, found an inn in Gaoyou City.

Gu Xi and Li Sangrou, along with Da Chang, Ji-Xiang, and more than twenty others, headed straight for Linze Town.

Ru-Yi arrived at the Gaoyou County yamen, only to find it deserted. Ru-Yi immediately turned his horse around and rode out of the city towards Linze Town.

When Li Sangrou and Gu Xi arrived in Linze Town, the usually bustling town was almost deserted.

Li Sangrou gestured to Hei Ma, who looked around in his stirrups and spotted an old man with a cane craning his neck to look at something near the entrance of the ancestral hall at the town’s edge. Hei Ma quickly dismounted and went straight to the old man.

“Grandpa, where are the people in our town?” Hei Ma asked in a thick Gaoyou accent.

“You…” The old man leaned on his cane, moved closer, and squinted at Hei Ma. “What’s your surname?”

“My surname is Ma. What’s wrong with my surname?” Hei Ma looked puzzled.

“Oh, Ma.” The old man pointed to the hitching post at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

“Where are the people in our town?” Hei Ma asked again.

“What’s it to you?” The old man turned and glared at Hei Ma.

“Grandpa, what’s your surname? Yao or Zhang?” Hei Ma looked at the irritable old man, stepped aside, and stuck his head in front of him, blocking his view.

“Of course, Zhang! Yao, ptooey!” The old man spat on the ground.

“Were they all fighting? Over there?” Hei Ma pointed in the direction the old man was looking.

“You outsider, get out of here!” The old man snapped, raising his cane and slamming it on the ground twice.

“I came here for the fight, to smear some scraps off the dead.” Hei Ma rubbed his fingers together at the old man.

“You scoundrel!” the old man roared. “Get out, get out! You outsiders are all scoundrels, scoundrels! Get out!”

The old man brandished his cane at Hei Ma.

Hei Ma leaped and bounded past, then quickly ran back, pointing in the direction the old man had been staring. “Hurry, hurry! It looks like they’ve started fighting!”

“Go!” Gu Xi immediately jerked the reins and galloped off in the direction Hei Ma was pointing.

Li Sangrou followed closely behind.

They had not gone far when they saw the fighting crowd.

A threshing ground was empty in the middle, but on both sides stood strong young men wielding shovels, bamboo poles with branches, and clubs, glaring at each other, occasionally exchanging insults and taking a few steps forward.

The two groups of strong young men were numerous, and the crowd stretched from the threshing ground all the way into the adjacent rice paddies, trampling the nearly ripe, heavy rice into a mess.

Between the two groups of young men, Magistrate Wu of Gaoyou County, his hat gone, hair disheveled, half-covered in mud, ran back and forth, his voice hoarse as he raised his hands, shouting, “Go back! Go back! Do not fight! Do not fight anymore! Go back!”

The clerks who had come with Magistrate Wu hid behind the yamen runners, who gripped their fire-and-water sticks tightly, running back and forth in a huddled mass following Magistrate Wu.

Gu Xi’s horse did not slow down at all, galloping diagonally through the rice paddies and into the middle of the two groups of young men.

Li Sangrou followed closely behind Gu Xi. Gu Xi reined in his horse and stopped beside Magistrate Wu. Li Sangrou also reined in her horse, loosened the reins, stretched out her left hand, rolled up her sleeve, took out a crossbow from the pouch hanging beside her horse, and tied it to her wrist.

“You are Wu Chengsi,” Gu Xi ignored the young men on either side, looking at the disheveled Magistrate Wu, and asked loudly.

“Yes, and who are you?” Magistrate Wu wiped the mud and sweat from his face, looked up at Gu Xi, and subconsciously used the polite form of address.

“Not bad. Which side is the Yao family, and which side is the Zhang family?” Gu Xi ignored Magistrate Wu’s question, waving his whip and pointing to both sides.

Li Sangrou had already prepared her crossbow and began to load the bolts one by one.

The young men on both sides stopped shouting and cursing. Most of them stared at Li Sangrou as she bound the crossbow and loaded the bolts, while the other small group sized up Gu Xi and the guards who had rushed in from both sides, standing between the two groups, back to back, coldly watching them.

The young men on both sides fell silent, even subconsciously taking a step back. These horses and these people were unsettling.

“That’s the Yao family over there, and the Zhang family over here. Who are you?” Magistrate Wu wiped his face again.

“Where are the clan heads and elders of both families?” Gu Xi ignored Magistrate Wu’s formality and continued to ask.

“When I arrived, they were almost fighting, so I did not see them,” Magistrate Wu replied, wiping his face again.

“Go and bring the clan heads and elders of both families here!” Gu Xi snorted coldly.

Li Sangrou raised an eyebrow, a slight smile appearing on her face, and gestured to Meng Yanqing and Wei Fu.

Meng Yanqing, Wei Fu, and the others rode off, each heading towards one of the families along with Gu Xi’s personal guards to bring their clan heads and elders.

Only Gu Xi, Li Sangrou, and two or three servants, including Ji-Xiang, remained in the middle of the threshing ground. The able-bodied young men on either side grew bolder. In the middle of one side, a middle-aged man, wielding an iron shovel, shouted, “They are all bad outsiders! Get rid of them!”

Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, Li Sangrou raised her right hand, tapped her hair bun, and simultaneously pulled the trigger with her left. A small crossbow bolt whistled through the middle-aged man’s hair and embedded itself in the wooden stick held high by a young man behind him.

Both the middle-aged man and the young man screamed simultaneously. The young man clutched his head, while the middle-aged man’s hairband was severed, his hair falling loose across his face.

Li Sangrou calmly reloaded the crossbow.

“You are Sang… Sang Sang Sang…” Magistrate Wu’s eyes widened, and he only managed to utter the word “Sang” before Gu Xi glared at him, causing him to repeat “Sang Sang Sang” repeatedly.

“Do not move! Do not move if you do not want to die! Wait for your clan leader, wait for your clan elders! Do not move!” Magistrate Wu paced back and forth, waving his hands and shouting hoarsely.

Meng Yanqing and his group returned quickly, two groups of people carrying several elderly men in brocade robes, riding up and throwing them in front of Gu Xi and Li Sangrou’s horses.

“Are these the clan leaders and elders of the two families?” Gu Xi pointed at the men in brocade robes with his riding whip and asked Magistrate Wu.

“Yes, yes, yes! This is Clan Leader Yao, this is Clan Leader Zhang, and these are all clan elders. I’ve had to explain to them so much; it is really…” Magistrate Wu pointed to the seven or eight men who had been thrown into a heap.

“As clan leaders and elders, you should lead by example for your clan. If they want to fight, you fight first; if they want to die, you die first.” Gu Xi reined in his horse, circled the seven or eight clan leaders and elders who had been thrown into a pile, and turned to Li Sangrou. “If they want to fight, let them fight. It would be best to kill these few on the spot. If not, you can help by giving each of them an arrow.”

“Alright,” Li Sangrou replied with a smile.

“Let’s go; let’s make way.” Gu Xi nudged Magistrate Wu’s shoulder with his whip.

“Huh?” Magistrate Wu stared in disbelief.

Wei Fu, who was closest to Magistrate Wu, bent down, lifted him, and spurred his horse away.

The yamen runners and clerks followed closely behind the lifted Magistrate Wu, running much faster than the four-legged horse.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Xi, Li Sangrou, and the others, along with their horses, had all retreated, leaving only the clan leaders and elders of the Yao and Zhang clans, who were still unable to stand, among the able-bodied men.

The two groups of young men looked at each other, then at their clan leaders and elders, who were now standing up one by one, their legs trembling.

The clan leaders and elders, now standing in two groups, helped each other up. They looked at Gu Xi and Li Sangrou watching them from a distance, then at each other, and then at Gu Xi and Li Sangrou again. Almost simultaneously, the two groups of clan leaders and elders turned around, waving as they walked back to their respective camps, saying, “Let’s go back first.”