Gu Pingyuan’s premonition had indeed come true. The lack of increase in customers pawning items at the pawnshop was already causing everyone headaches, but when they tallied the account books at mid-month, Second Manager Ding was even more shocked and alarmed, hastily summoning Third Manager and Gu Pingyuan to the back courtyard hall for discussion.

“Look at this—this is terrible!” He slammed the account book onto the table.

“Don’t panic first. Could there be an error in the accounts?” Gu Pingyuan glanced at the account book, thinking to himself that trouble had indeed arrived.

“Our pawnshop’s profits depend on two things: first, the interest from active pawns that are redeemed, and second, the sale prices of dead pawns whose owners don’t return. Now active pawning is already declining like a river flowing downhill. I originally thought to inventory those dead pawn items whose owners hadn’t come to redeem them by their due dates, then try to sell them for good prices to compensate for recent losses. But unexpectedly, when I looked at the account books, over these past ten-plus days, quite a few people have come to redeem their pawned items. Many came to redeem just before the deadline. Generally speaking, if half of ten active pawns get taken away, that’s already considered a lot, but now it’s ninety percent—we’ve never had such a situation before!”

“This way we also earned quite a bit in interest!” Gu Pingyuan reminded.

“Although there’s interest, active pawns give little pawn money, but when they become dead pawns, that’s where the real profit lies—much higher than interest,” Second Manager Ding explained.

“Exactly, active pawns becoming dead pawns is the pawnshop’s primary way of making money. If things continue this way, with items only leaving our warehouse and none coming in, wouldn’t we be sitting idle and eating away our reserves?” Third Manager kept rubbing his palms, his expression extremely anxious.

“I still have some impression of those pawn tickets—many were pawned by people in dire straits. Though they were active pawns, they didn’t look like they had the ability to redeem them.” Gu Pingyuan flipped through the account book. “I think we should follow the records in the base ledger and visit these families to ask what’s going on.” He had already guessed somewhat—this matter was eighty percent likely related to the Xiangyun Pawnshop across the street.

When the shop assistant sent out to investigate returned, Second Manager Ding was so angry he smashed his Yunding stone teapot that he always used for drinking tea.

“This is too much!” Second Manager Ding heavily slapped the table. “That boss surnamed Li actually dares to commit the great taboo of pawnshops, secretly collecting our pawn tickets behind our backs. This is absolutely detestable!”

Third Manager was an honest man, but this time he was truly enraged and suggested: “If he can collect ours, we can collect his—at worst we’ll fight to mutual destruction. Fourth Manager, what do you think?”

Gu Pingyuan had now become the strategist in everyone’s eyes. He lowered his head in contemplation for a moment, then slowly shook his head: “Since he dares to make the first move, he must be prepared for us to retaliate. I think they must have tampered with their own pawn tickets somehow.”

“Manager Gu, you’re right.” The last to return, Jin Hu, ran into the pawnshop, out of breath. After gulping down a bellyful of tea water, he placed a pawn ticket on the table. “This is from a relative of mine who pawned an active item at their shop. Please look at it, managers—I’ve never seen such a pawn ticket before.”

Gu Pingyuan picked up the pawn ticket and saw that it was largely the same as ordinary pawn tickets, also using Dongchang paper with Xiangyun Pawnshop’s stamp and seal, similarly filled with pawn characters. Only in the lower left corner was printed a line of small text stipulating that the original pawner must come in person to redeem, and on the back was the customer’s fingerprint pressed in red ink.

“Just as I thought.” Gu Pingyuan waved the pawn ticket. “If we were to copy this method, we’d have to trouble those customers to make a trip to the pawnshop. Not only would it be troublesome, but people might not be willing to come. Even if they did come, making such a big fuss would likely give others ammunition against us. When the time comes with witnesses and evidence present, we’d be the ones in the wrong.”

“What’s the background of that Boss Li across the street? His scheming is quite vicious.” Second Manager Ding thought left and right, then slapped his thigh. “Like this—we’ll also change our pawn tickets to be exactly the same as his, so at least future pawned items won’t be easily redeemed. Then I’m planning to also put up a sign at our door saying ‘Xiangyun Plus One’—we’ll fight him to the end.”

“Hard fighting isn’t the way.” Gu Pingyuan felt this was inappropriate. “Let’s not rush to change our shop rules—that would be like being led by the nose. Besides, whether changing pawn tickets or putting up signs, these aren’t small matters. If we really want to do this, we must get the Chief Manager’s permission first.”

Second Manager Ding had been impulsive just now, but Gu Pingyuan’s words awakened him, making him realize that such actions would indeed alarm Zhu Sheng, who was recuperating at home. He couldn’t help but feel discouraged.

Gu Pingyuan continued: “The sign at his door is open provocation, collecting our pawn tickets is undermining us from below. This combination of overt and covert tactics is really just competing with capital. We don’t know how much capital he has right now. If we rashly compete with him and he exhausts all the money in our shop, that would be no joke.”

Second Manager Ding and Third Manager exchanged glances, both breaking out in cold sweat. Gu Pingyuan was right—if the shop ran out of ready money, they could only close down.

“That Boss Li has a bellyful of devious schemes. He might well be trying to lure us into doing exactly this.” Gu Pingyuan was only thinking about business matters and inadvertently spoke carelessly.

No one else noticed, but Jin Hu heard it and asked: “Manager Gu, from your words, it sounds like you know that Boss Li?”

“Ah? No, no, I was just judging from his appearance—he doesn’t look like an honest person.” Gu Pingyuan quickly covered up. Fortunately, everyone was deep in thought and no one paid attention.

“This won’t work, that won’t work either—are we supposed to just sit and wait for death?” Second Manager Ding was truly worried.

The people at Wanyuan Pawnshop didn’t know that this trick of collecting pawn tickets was something Li Qin had learned from foreign trading companies. While learning business at a British-run trading house, he heard many British commercial stories, one of which told of two hundred years ago when pawnbroking began to flourish in England. At that time, there were thirteen pawnshops in the royal city of London, all doing good business with considerable profits, which aroused the covetous heart of a marquis. This marquis used his vast wealth to continuously collect the pawn tickets of those thirteen pawnshops. Eventually, each shop’s profit sources gradually dried up, and they were finally forced to sell their shops to the marquis. Triumphant, the marquis hosted a grand banquet, hiring ten bread bakers alone. To prepare for the next day’s feast, the bread ovens burned all night, but a fire broke out, causing a great fire in the royal city that burned down almost half of London, and those thirteen pawnshops were also reduced to ashes.

Li Qin loved hearing foreign stories and remembered them very clearly. This time, doing pawnbroking himself, he copied the method. This move was indeed vicious because the scheme was simple, purely relying on capital to suppress opponents, making it all the more difficult to crack. Gu Pingyuan paced back and forth on the ground, momentarily at a loss for a good strategy.

Just as everyone was frowning with worry, suddenly a young assistant from Taiyufeng arrived, repeatedly saying that Manager Wang wanted to see Gu Pingyuan. Gu Pingyuan was puzzled, not knowing why Wang Tiangui wanted to see him at this time. Could it be that he knew about the pawnshop’s predicament? But then he should go find Zhu Sheng, not him. Confused, he followed the young assistant to the entrance of the money exchange, just as Wang Tiangui came out from inside, accompanied by Crooked Hat.

“You’re here.” Wang Tiangui glanced at him. “Magistrate Chen just sent someone to invite me to his residence. I originally had business for you to handle, but now I don’t have time to explain it to you. Old Qu knows the details of this matter—go ask him.”

“Yes.” Gu Pingyuan bowed in agreement. “Please rest assured, Manager Wang, I will certainly serve with dedication.”

“Mm.” Wang Tiangui nodded and got into his “two-man sedan chair” and left. As Crooked Hat passed by Gu Pingyuan, his gaze swept coldly over him. Gu Pingyuan felt a chill rise from the depths of his heart, but he didn’t avoid or dodge that icy stare, looking directly into Crooked Hat’s eyes.

The two passed each other without either saying a word. Gu Pingyuan stepped into Taiyufeng, where Accountant Qu was calculating with an abacus in the front hall. He walked over and said: “Accountant Qu, Manager Wang said there’s business for me to handle.”

“Oh yes, there is something.” Accountant Qu had seen him come in earlier, but now suddenly put on a face full of smiles. “Secretary Xu from the county has business to discuss with the master. The master assigned this matter to you. Secretary Xu is, after all, an official of the imperial court. Whatever he wants, you must handle it well and can’t make mistakes. Do you understand?”

“I understand.” Gu Pingyuan agreed, and seeing that Accountant Qu had nothing more to say, he took his leave. After he left, Accountant Qu’s face showed a triumphant smile: “Gu Pingyuan, this matter will surely make you go from teahouse to bathhouse—getting scrubbed inside and out!”

Gu Pingyuan came to the government office to request an audience with Secretary Xu. The gatekeeper originally put on airs wanting a door fee, but upon hearing it was to see the secretary, changed to a annoyed expression and impatiently waved inward: “Go on, go on, no need to announce you. Secretary Xu is in the outermost document room—you’ll see it as soon as you enter.”

Gu Pingyuan wasn’t surprised by the gatekeeper’s attitude. His teacher often lectured him about officials and clerks at the prefecture and county level, including secretaries. Though a secretary ranked third among county officials and held a ninth-grade position, they were less valued than even unranked registrars, inspectors, and even constables. This was because secretaries handled documents and education—work that was both complicated and without profit, earning them the nickname “tofu official.” This had two meanings: first, that the position was too soft, anyone could squeeze it; second, that it was too bitter, only able to afford cabbage and tofu. So even a minor gatekeeper could look down on the secretary.

Gu Pingyuan came to the outer document room and knocked on the door. Someone inside responded, and Gu Pingyuan pushed the door and entered. Inside the document room, apart from some yellowed calligraphy and paintings, there were worn tables and chairs. There were quite a few books, piled high in a corner without any shelves for proper storage. Gu Pingyuan had already met Secretary Xu once at the Yellow Emperor Temple and, seeing this scholarly and book-loving person, knew he wasn’t a black-hearted official. He knelt and bowed, addressing him as “Your Honor.”

“Get up, get up. I knew I couldn’t get your Manager Wang to come, but at least sending someone shows he gave me face.” Secretary Xu complained somewhat but maintained courtesy, having his subordinate brew tea and asking Gu Pingyuan to sit. “What’s your name? What position do you hold at Taiyufeng?”

“I am Gu Pingyuan, serving as Fourth Manager at Master Wang’s business, Wanyuan Pawnshop.”

“A manager?” Secretary Xu was speechless with surprise, then shook his head with a bitter smile. “Sigh, Manager Wang truly deserves to be a businessman—his calculations are really precise. Look around this room—is there anything worth pawning? He actually sent a pawn manager. Alright, you can go back. I’m sorry for making you come for nothing.” He was about to serve tea to dismiss the guest.

From the moment he entered, Gu Pingyuan had been observing Secretary Xu and noticed worry on his face. Though secretaries lived frugally, they also bore no responsibility—they neither handled lawsuits and catching thieves nor managed tax collection. They had no troublesome official duties, so could this be a private matter causing difficulty?

Gu Pingyuan bowed in his seat: “Your Honor, though I am a businessman, I also understand principles of human relations. If Your Honor has any worries, since I’m already here, you might as well tell me. In ancient times, men of humble talents like chicken thieves and dog rustlers could save Lord Mengchang from danger, and wine sellers and pig butchers could help Lord Xuande achieve hegemony. How does Your Honor know I cannot lend you assistance?”

“Hmm?” Secretary Xu hadn’t originally paid attention to this businessman who rolled around in money, thinking he was just an ordinary clerk Wang Tiangui used to brush him off. But now hearing his extraordinary eloquence, with the style of Warring States period Su Qin and Zhang Yi, he was immediately startled. Looking more carefully, he found this person young yet able to maintain dignity without servility, with bright, crystalline eyes, and realized he had underestimated him.

“I misspoke. So you are a talented person from the marketplace—I nearly missed such an opportunity.” Secretary Xu was very pleased.

“I don’t deserve such praise. If I can share Your Honor’s burdens, this commoner will certainly do his utmost.” Gu Pingyuan cupped his hands.

“Sigh!” Secretary Xu sighed. “Actually, this matter doesn’t have much to do with me personally, but holding this humble office, I cannot help but carry the people’s suffering in my heart. I know my position is low and my words carry little weight, but there’s something happening that I truly cannot bear to watch.”

Listening carefully, Gu Pingyuan learned that outside the county was a village called Youlu Valley, which suffered a “widow plague” last year. Many able-bodied men in the village died, leaving behind elderly, weak, women and children unable to farm. At the beginning of this year, they borrowed money intending to plant jujube trees for a living, but then suffered another agricultural disaster and really couldn’t survive. Now creditors were pressing for debt, and the villagers had no choice but to plan to sell their children to pay debts.

“I went to see Youlu Valley—it’s truly tragic, with almost every household unable to cook meals. Now they want to sell people to pay debts—parents selling children, husbands selling wives, even parents-in-law selling daughters-in-law. This village is about to be finished. There’s another thing—when women are sold, most end up in those kinds of places, their reputations inevitably ruined. I’m in charge of education in this county, and moral instruction is my responsibility. Seeing so many women unable to preserve their chastity, I truly cannot bear it.”

Gu Pingyuan respectfully said: “Your Honor has a benevolent heart—you are truly a blessing to the people of this region.”

Secretary Xu waved his hands repeatedly: “My position is humble and small—I cannot protect the people of one region, but I hope to do what little I can. I invited Manager Wang here to discuss whether he could lend some silver to help Youlu Valley temporarily pay off their debts. Being from the same area makes things easier to discuss. I heard that Youlu Valley owes money to several merchants from outside, so they’re being pressed very urgently.”

Gu Pingyuan’s mind was quick. After Secretary Xu finished speaking, he understood why Wang Tiangui didn’t send someone from the money exchange but sent him, a pawnshop manager instead. That old fox Wang Tiangui had contacts in the county government and must have known Secretary Xu’s intentions early on. If he himself or someone from the money exchange came to discuss this, it would definitely involve “lending money.” But discussing business with a pawnshop required collateral. Secretary Xu clearly had nothing of value, and Youlu Valley had nothing to pawn either, so naturally the matter couldn’t be discussed. It seemed Wang Tiangui also knew this loan would inevitably default, so he hoped Secretary Xu would tactfully withdraw, keeping things friendly between both sides. But he, the one sent to take the lead, would inevitably offend someone.

As for Accountant Qu’s repeated insistence that he “handle things well,” that was hoping he would unwittingly take on the burden, shouldering a thousand-pound weight, ending up with effort unrewarded and offending Wang Tiangui in the process.

This seemed like a dilemma, so it was better to proceed slowly and cautiously. Besides, he had only heard Secretary Xu’s rough account and couldn’t give advice rashly. Having made up his mind, Gu Pingyuan said: “Your Honor, how about this—I’ll make a trip to Youlu Valley to see if I can find a way to help the villagers get through this crisis. After all, Your Honor just hopes the people won’t be separated from their families. As long as we can achieve this goal, Manager Wang doesn’t necessarily need to provide money.”

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Secretary Xu nodded repeatedly.

“Then there’s no time to waste—I’ll go now.”

Youlu Valley was in a mountain hollow seventeen li beyond the Xiaonan River on the other side. Gu Pingyuan hired a mule and reached the village in less than an hour. Looking from two li outside the village entrance all the way in, indeed though it was near the busy spring season, few people were working in the fields, and not even one ox was to be seen. Occasionally on the road were one or two yellow dogs with collapsed bellies from hunger, lying listlessly by the roadside. Seeing strangers, they only rolled their eyes, too lazy even to bark.

Gu Pingyuan asked two children playing with mud figures on a grinding stone at the village entrance where the village head lived. Following the dirt road through the village, he soon came to a house. Just as he was about to knock, he heard someone inside angrily saying: “Even if I sell myself, I won’t sell my sister-in-law!” With that, a person forcefully pushed the door open, nearly colliding with Gu Pingyuan.

“Qiao Songniаn?”

“Boss Gu!”

The two looked at each other and both exclaimed “Ah!” Gu Pingyuan asked: “Brother Qiao, why are you in this village?”

“What, aren’t you here looking for me?” Qiao Songnian was also startled.

Only after hearing this did Gu Pingyuan remember that at Wenchang Pavilion, he had rescued a woman from a madman, and then Qiao Songnian had come saying she was his sister-in-law, telling him to visit Youlu Valley outside the county when he had time. But with all the recent business, he had forgotten about this.

“Oh, I remember now—this is where your brother and sister-in-law live.” Gu Pingyuan smiled apologetically.

“Actually, it’s my sister-in-law’s parental home.” Qiao Songnian stepped down two steps. “It sounds like Boss Gu didn’t come specifically to find me, so what brings you to this village?”

“Brother Qiao, last time in our hurry I didn’t have time to explain in detail. I’m currently working as a manager at Wanyuan Pawnshop in the county. Please don’t call me ‘boss’ anymore—I’m younger than you, so let’s address each other as brothers.”

“This… alright, then I’ll presume to call you Brother Gu.”

“Brother Qiao, I came here actually on behalf of Secretary Xu from the county.”

Gu Pingyuan explained the situation, and Qiao Songnian raised his eyebrows: “I didn’t expect this Secretary Xu to be a good official. I just lost my temper at the village head’s house over this very matter. Sigh…” He sighed deeply.

“What happened?” Gu Pingyuan asked.

“Let’s not talk in the street. Walk a few steps—that’s my sister-in-law’s house.”

As Gu Pingyuan followed Qiao Songnian, he suddenly remembered: “By the way, last time I heard your sister-in-law calling her husband ‘Songnian, Songnian’—isn’t that your name?”

Qiao Songnian smiled: “That’s a long story.”

It turned out the Qiao family had two brothers—the elder was named Qiao Songnian, the younger Qiao Henian, taking the meaning of “pine and crane longevity.” Their parents died early, and the elder brother had always worked at the Qiao family compound in Qi County. Because the younger brother was talented at studying, the elder brother always provided money for his education. Sister-in-law Qiao Wenshi was extremely virtuous, not only supporting her husband in raising his younger brother-in-law but also saving her private money to help her brother-in-law marry and start a family. Qiao Wenshi was a famous beauty within ten li, and since marrying into the Qiao family, she devoted herself to household affairs, caring for her husband and children—truly a model among women.

“Unfortunately, Heaven must have been jealous of my elder brother’s virtuous wife and filial children, and gave him soul-separation syndrome.” Qiao Songnian’s face darkened.

That was three years ago. When the old master of the Qiao family compound died, elder brother Qiao Songnian, who had served him closely, probably from excessive grief, suddenly went mad. He recognized no one, spoke to no one, hit people and destroyed things, muttering constantly. The Qiao family had him tied up and sent home. Qiao Wenshi cried bitterly and could only care for him devotedly, but Qiao Songnian’s madness would flare up from time to time. If not watched carefully, he would run outside to beg for a living, causing great hardship for Qiao Wenshi, who had to tend to children while constantly searching for her mad husband. With no choice, she returned to live at her parents’ home in Youlu Valley, where with her parents’ help, things were somewhat better.

“I went to work at Xuanji Hall partly hoping to meet famous doctors to see if I could find good medicine to treat my brother. I also heard that this soul-separation syndrome might be cured if someone constantly calls the patient’s name—over time, the three souls and six spirits might be called back. Though this is superstitious talk from witch doctors, why not try treating a dead horse as if it were alive? So when I registered at Xuanji Hall, I simply used my brother’s name. No one there knew me anyway.”

“So you are Qiao Henian, not Qiao Songnian.” Gu Pingyuan finally understood.

Qiao Henian nodded, then suddenly pointed: “Here we are—this is my sister-in-law’s house.”

It was a small courtyard with three earthen walls, one main room with left and right sections, a chicken coop in the yard, and a granary. Scanning with his eyes, Gu Pingyuan noticed a low building made of yellow earth bricks outside the courtyard, covered with oil-felt paper held down by a dozen tiles, with a door made of a slanted wooden board.

“I’ve never seen a pigsty like this, built outside the courtyard—aren’t you afraid of theft?” Gu Pingyuan pointed at the low building.

Qiao Henian looked embarrassed: “Brother, that’s where I live. Since my elder brother has periodic fits of madness, if I lived in my sister-in-law’s house, it might cause gossip, so I built an earthen shed outside.”

Gu Pingyuan was startled—how could such a low building house a person? He pushed open the wooden board and bent over to peer inside. Though the tiny dwelling was small, it was kept clean and tidy. A grass mat was spread on the ground with not even a straw visible elsewhere. Bedding was neatly folded, with several books and an oil lamp by the pillow, plus a cushion for sitting cross-legged. Being scholarly by nature, Gu Pingyuan was moved by Qiao Henian’s adherence to propriety and diligent study, his eyes involuntarily moistening.

Qiao Henian invited Gu Pingyuan into the small courtyard. Seeing a guest, Qiao Wenshi hurriedly served tea and water. That day had been getting dark and the situation urgent, so Gu Pingyuan hadn’t seen Qiao Wenshi’s appearance clearly. Now looking, he saw that though she dressed simply, her beauty was not concealed. With willow-leaf eyebrows, phoenix eyes, pupils like autumn water, and graceful bearing, she was indeed a beautiful woman. Qiao Songnian squatted to one side, somewhat nervous at seeing a stranger in his home, standing by the door repeatedly rubbing his hands, appearing very uncomfortable, occasionally glancing at his wife.

“It’s alright—he’s Little Brother’s guest.” Qiao Wenshi softly comforted, taking her husband’s hand and leading him to another room.

“I see your brother is much better than when I last saw him.”

Qiao Henian smiled with relief: “My time at the medicine shop wasn’t wasted—I finally managed to get a famous doctor to prescribe a good formula. Since using the medicine from early this year, my brother no longer has fits of madness, though he’s still quite wooden in dealing with people and can’t remember many things from before.”

“The saying goes ‘illness comes like a landslide, recovery like drawing silk.’ With such improvement in just over two months, continued medication should bring complete recovery soon.”

“May your auspicious words come true.” Qiao Wenshi had settled her husband and returned to the room just in time to hear this, bowing to Gu Pingyuan.

“Sigh, but this medicine is too expensive, requiring aged ginseng among the ingredients. I’m trying to figure out how to raise money now.” A trace of worry crossed Qiao Henian’s face.

“By the way, Little Brother, when you went to the village head’s house to borrow money, what did he say?” Qiao Wenshi asked.

“Don’t mention it.”

“What happened exactly?”

“Not only wouldn’t he lend money, but he came up with a terrible idea.” Qiao Henian said unhappily.

Qiao Wenshi fixed her gaze on Qiao Henian, her eyes full of inquiry.

“In a few days the village will hold a human market where human traffickers will come. Each household will sell their sons and daughters. The village head advised our family to also…”

“Also what?” Qiao Wenshi bit her lower lip.

“He said of elder brother’s two children, we could keep the boy to continue the family line, but the girl should…”

“No!” Qiao Wenshi shook her head, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.

“I also said no, but then he said, he also said…” Qiao Henian glanced at his sister-in-law, hesitating with the words on his lips.

“Are you going to sell me?” Lady Qiao Wen’s face darkened.

“Heaven above, sister-in-law, I absolutely have no such intention. I said at the time: ‘I would rather sell myself than entertain such an idea.’ Brother Gu was outside the door then and must have heard it too.”

“Yes.” Ever since Gu Pingyuan entered the Qiao household, he had sat upright and proper without saying much, but now hearing Qiao Songnian mention it, he nodded.

Lady Qiao Wen walked a few steps in despair, her legs gave way and she sat down on the kang. At this moment, sounds of playing came from next door – it was Qiao Songnian playing with his two children. If not for his distinctive voice, one would think it was three ignorant children playing games. Lady Qiao Wen listened, and a bitter smile appeared on her face.

She suddenly stood up and knelt down before Qiao Henian with both knees, startling Qiao Henian who jumped up: “Sister-in-law, please get up quickly, how can I accept this?”

“Younger brother-in-law, sell me if you must. Otherwise my children will starve to death sooner or later, and your elder brother’s illness has no money for medicine. I only ask that you take good care of them for me, then I can be at peace.”

“Sister-in-law, how can you say such things? The situation hasn’t reached the point of pushing the cart against the wall. Moreover, no matter what, we cannot sell you to others – wouldn’t that scatter our family?”

Lady Qiao Wen knelt on the ground, only shedding tears in silence. Qiao Henian didn’t dare to reach out and help her up, so he could only look at Gu Pingyuan with his eyes, seeking his assistance.

“Sister-in-law Qiao, please get up first.” Gu Pingyuan said thoughtfully, “To be honest, I am the person the county sent to handle this matter. The county magistrate already knows about your hardships, and isn’t he trying to think of solutions? There are thousands and tens of thousands of roads in the world – when one road doesn’t work, you can take another. There will always be a way to figure something out.”

A woman like Lady Qiao Wen had never seen much of the world. Hearing that the county was willing to send someone to resolve this matter made her immediately feel hopeful. She wiped her tears and stood up, looking at Gu Pingyuan with expectant eyes.

“I heard Chief Clerk Xu give a general account of what happened, but he was also vague about details. Could you please tell me the story in detail?”

Sister-in-law Qiao nodded, took a small stool to sit on, and recounted the entire story from beginning to end.

During last autumn’s harvest, someone in Youlu Gully Village bought a half-grown calf from Gansu, originally intending to use it for spring plowing. Unexpectedly, this ox fell ill from the day it was bought back, and infected the nearby families’ cattle as well. Within half a month, more than ten cattle died in succession. For farming families, the two most important things are weather and oxen, so this caused panic. Unfortunately, there were several greedy good-for-nothings in the village who dug up the cattle that had been buried that day and cooked them to eat at night, and as a result, people also contracted the disease. This plague came both fierce and strange – everyone got sick, but it was the able-bodied men who died in large numbers. The doctors they called in said this was called “widow plague.”

Watching a large village of several hundred households lose over a hundred people in the blink of an eye, news spread and panic arose in the surrounding areas. The county sent constables to seal off the roads in and out of the village. But they didn’t just let the villagers wait to die – when the court encounters such situations, there are usually disaster relief funds allocated to buy medicine and distribute it to each household, but that medicine had no effect on this plague. By winter, most of the village’s able-bodied men had died. Every family had crying voices, every household added grave mounds, yellow and white paper fluttered throughout the village, making it look like a realm of ghosts at first glance.

“Fortunately this plague stopped when winter came, but our village was already severely damaged, and my parents also unfortunately died from the disease.” Lady Qiao Wen said mournfully, tears dripping from the corners of her eyes.

“The dead are gone, but the living must continue their lives. However, without oxen and laborers in the village, how can we manage next year’s spring plowing?” Qiao Henian took up the conversation.

The turning point came from a merchant from Jiaodong who had a batch of jujube tree saplings. He was willing to lend them to the villagers for planting first, and in the future when the jujubes ripened, he would also be responsible for buying them. After deducting the cost of the jujube trees, the remainder would belong to each household. This was originally a good thing, so the village head led all the household heads in the village to sign contracts with that merchant. Taking advantage of the recent thaw and snow-moistened soil, they planted this batch of saplings.

“Who knows what heaven was thinking – it just wouldn’t spare us poor families. A few days after the saplings were planted, a hailstorm with hail the size of eggs fell like raindrops, completely destroying the newly sprouted jujube trees. Unfortunately, the money and grain clerk from the county office came with constables to collect last year’s overdue grain. Any family that didn’t pay would have to send one person to the great prison, and reportedly those in prison wouldn’t be given food until they paid their grain debt. Village head Grandpa Ge was an old bachelor with a fiery temper. When notified about settling overdue grain at the beginning of the year, he argued back with the constables a few times and was arrested and thrown in the big prison. His body was sent back over a month ago – he had starved to nothing but a bag of bones. Now every family in the village owes debt, every household owes grain – we’ve truly been forced to a desperate situation.”

On one side merchants pressed for debt repayment, on the other the government pressed for grain payment, and they had neither people nor money – no wonder they had to sell sons and daughters. Gu Pingyuan recalled the “Grandpa Nine” he had seen in prison who had starved for several days and then been stuffed to death, and secretly nodded in his heart, understanding that Youlu Gully Village had indeed reached the point of family destruction and death.

“Since you’ve suffered another great disaster, why not apply to the court for disaster relief again? Places with severe disasters can by precedent petition the provincial governor to report to the Ministry of Revenue for appropriate exemption of taxes and grain obligations.”

“The village head asked about it. The county said they cannot provide relief twice within one year – consider it our bad luck.” Qiao Henian shook his head.

Gu Pingyuan laughed in surprise: “How can this be! If that were the case, spring droughts and autumn floods are common occurrences. If you could only choose one for relief, the common people would have rebelled ten or eight times over. This is probably some corrupt official unwilling to take on extra work, randomly making excuses to brush you off.”

“Is this true?” Qiao Henian straightened his back and asked urgently.

“You’re an honest scholar who focuses only on the Four Books and Five Classics – how would you know the tricks of the three courts and six offices? They are both greedy and lazy. When have they ever taken the life and death of common people to heart?” Gu Pingyuan stood up. “I’ll go back right now to report to Chief Clerk Xu. I’m afraid he’s still being kept in the dark.”

Chief Clerk Xu listened to Gu Pingyuan’s somewhat excited report with unexpected composure. He stood up and paced a few steps in the room, still remaining silent.

“Sir.” Gu Pingyuan thought he hadn’t heard his words clearly. “As long as we apply to the court for disaster relief, both problems can be solved.”

“How could I not know this? I’ve already mentioned this matter to Magistrate Chen long ago.”

Gu Pingyuan was greatly surprised: “What did the magistrate say?”

“He said that nowadays the court frequently uses troops, military expenses flow like water, and the Ministry of Revenue and provincial treasury are already stretched thin. As subjects, we cannot fail to share our sovereign’s worries. Even if there are difficulties, we must bear them somewhat. He also said that if relief grain were obtained but bandits attacked and there was no military grain, if the court blamed us, no one could bear the consequences.”

Chief Clerk Xu gave a bitter smile: “Hmph, he pressed down with this big hat, and I couldn’t bear it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to Taiyufeng to think of solutions.”

On one side fooling the people by saying they couldn’t have “two reliefs in one year,” on the other telling officials they must “share the sovereign’s worries” – Gu Pingyuan pondered this in his mind and felt there must be something fishy here.

“I also find it suspicious. Probably he’s afraid that too many disasters in his jurisdiction would interfere with his ‘outstanding performance’ rating when the Ministry of Personnel conducts year-end evaluations.” Chief Clerk Xu said disdainfully.

“How can this be acceptable? Human life is of utmost importance! Surely one cannot just watch subjects scatter and families break apart for the sake of promotion.”

“I naturally understand this principle, but reporting disaster relief to the province requires the magistrate’s official seal. With empty hands, no matter how anxious I am, it’s useless.” Chief Clerk Xu spread his hands.

“Is the magistrate in the office? I’ll go seek an audience with him.”

“You want to petition on behalf of the Youlu Gully villagers? Forget it. I’ve spoken to him several times already and it’s like mud cows entering the sea – what use would your going be? Besides, Magistrate Chen currently has a troublesome matter that’s giving him headaches and making him irritable. If you go touch his sore spot, you might get beaten with boards!”

Gu Pingyuan remembered that Wang Tiangui had hurriedly left earlier, saying the magistrate had summoned him. Could it be about this matter?

Chief Clerk Xu nodded: “It should be. If this matter isn’t handled well, he might lose his official hat.”

Gu Pingyuan thought that such an official would be better off gone sooner, and replacing him with a good official might still save Youlu Gully. As he thought about this, curiosity stirred in him, and he asked: “What major matter could be serious enough to cost the magistrate his official hat?”

“You must have heard of Prince Senggelinqin?”

Gu Pingyuan had certainly heard of him. Throughout the great rivers and north and south, anyone slightly familiar with court affairs would be hard-pressed not to have heard of this prince. He was the adopted son of Emperor Daoguang’s sister, making him the current emperor’s uncle by relation. Though a prince in peacetime, he had practiced martial arts since childhood. It was said he could tear apart lions and tigers with his bare hands and hit targets at a hundred paces – he was the foremost warrior among the Manchu and Mongol peoples. Since the Taiping Rebellion began, the court’s military deployment used the Yangtze River as the boundary. The south relied on Han officials like Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang to recruit Xiang Army and Huai Army troops, while the north depended on Prince Seng’s Mongol cavalry.

In the fifth year of Xianfeng, Hong Xiuquan sent Heavenly Official Prime Minister Lin Fengxiang and Earthly Official Prime Minister Li Kaifen on a northern expedition to the Central Plains. These two were the foremost of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s five tiger generals, extremely brave and skilled in battle. They set out from Nanjing, crushing cities and pulling down strongholds all the way, reaching Yangliuqing in Tianjin. The court and opposition were shaken, officials were terrified, and the inner court and Grand Council were already discussing relocating the capital. At this critical moment, Senggelinqin led two ten-thousand-man cavalry units in a nighttime march to defend the capital, intercepting the Northern Expedition army right in the suburbs of Beijing. At that time, Lin Fengxiang and his men could already see the walls of Beijing, but were forcibly stopped by Prince Seng.

Over two years, Prince Seng led Mongol cavalry in hundreds of battles large and small, completely annihilating the Northern Expedition army with none escaping. He captured Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifen alive, presented them as prisoners before the Great Qing Gate for slow slicing execution, and from then on his mighty reputation shook the realm. Emperor Xianfeng was greatly pleased, bestowed the title “Baturu,” awarded him the three-eyed feather decoration, and specially granted him four-clawed dragon robes with permission to wear them.

Among the Qing princes, for literary affairs it was Prince Gong who stood out, for military affairs it was undoubtedly Senggelinqin. He was both imperial relative and pillar of the state, enjoying the emperor’s great favor and fame throughout the world. But at this moment Gu Pingyuan simply answered three words: “I’ve heard of him.”

“Then you should know that whoever this prince wants to trouble really has big trouble.”

Three days ago, Prince Seng’s logistics officer came to Taigu, saying that Prince Seng was pursuing the main bandit force, heading straight for Xi’an. When passing through Taigu to inventory military supplies, he discovered the army lacked civilian porters and required Taigu County to recruit five hundred civilian porters within five days to follow the army. Conscription duties had always been difficult, but at this time it was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

“Do you know why?” Chief Clerk Xu asked.

“I imagine it’s because spring plowing is imminent, and every household cannot spare laborers.” Gu Pingyuan thought briefly and answered.

“Correct, that’s one reason, but not the most important one.”

The important thing was that becoming a civilian porter for Prince Seng’s army was like stepping onto the executioner’s block. Senggelinqin’s temperament was completely opposite to that of Sushun, who was executed last year. Sushun greatly respected Han people – the current commanding generals in the south, such as Zeng, Li, Zuo and others, were all recommended and guaranteed by him single-handedly. But Senggelinqin was completely different. He viewed Han people like pigs and dogs. Already brutal and bloodthirsty by nature, he was particularly cruel and merciless toward Han people. Whenever battles became stalemate and critical, he would often order civilian porters to be brought out as the vanguard to block arrows, and when attacking cities he would use swords to force porters to rush up scaling ladders first, thereby preserving his own troops’ strength. The result was that Prince Seng’s army constantly lacked civilian porters, and no one dared to go.

Originally Senggelinqin didn’t care – if no one volunteered he would just force conscription. But various places had multiple civil uprisings due to forced conscription, so this spring the court issued a stern edict. To allow the people to recuperate, they strictly forbade any more forced conscription in the army, and conscription required three times the usual compensation. The edict’s wording was severe, and Senggelinqin, under his advisors’ persuasion, didn’t dare act rashly either. So he changed from forced conscription to forced assignment, requiring local governments to find solutions. This time it was assigned to Taigu County.

“Magistrate Chen this time truly ‘spoiled the wife and offended the mother-in-law’ – caught in a dilemma. If he offends Prince Seng, one memorial sent up and his official hat won’t be secure. But if he forcibly assigns quotas in the county, everyone knows going means death. If this forces the people to rebel, he won’t just lose his hat – he might lose his head too.” Chief Clerk Xu also found it amusing. “Magistrate Chen has always been socially adept, never expecting to be caught between a rock and a hard place this time. He really can’t think of a good solution, so calling Wang Tiangui probably means he wants to buy porters with money. Just now I heard that Manager Wang still hasn’t left, probably because he also finds this trouble thorny.”

“I see!” As Gu Pingyuan listened, his eyes had already brightened.

“Eh, where are you going?” Chief Clerk Xu was focused on talking and suddenly noticed Gu Pingyuan standing up and heading out.

“I’m going to find the magistrate!” Gu Pingyuan strode out of the clerk’s office, heading straight for the rear residence of the government office.

As the saying goes, “officials don’t repair offices.” The court doesn’t provide this money, nor would any official willingly dig into his own pocket to repair official halls, so magistrates, despite their imposing authority, generally lived in rather modest conditions. But the rear residence of Taigu County’s office was an exception. When Gu Pingyuan said he had urgent business with Wang Tiangui, servants led him into the inner residence. As Gu Pingyuan walked and looked around, he saw the garden’s outer white walls were snow-white, clearly freshly whitewashed at regular intervals. Inside the garden were pine paths and osmanthus groves so dense they wouldn’t let rain through. In front of the pavilion was a water pool planted with green lotus and stocked with ornamental carp. Above the pavilion was a water pavilion carved with exquisite detail, like entering a fairyland paradise. Without question, the money for this garden renovation naturally came from donations by Taigu merchants, and Wang Tiangui had probably taken quite a bit. The county magistrate reciprocated the favor, naturally allowing him to do as he pleased within the county.

Gu Pingyuan felt indignant in his heart but showed nothing on his face. Following the servant to outside the water pavilion, the servant went to make the report while he waited outside.

Wang Tiangui was currently extremely troubled. Magistrate Chen had summoned him, and upon meeting, the magistrate repeatedly said: “Brother Wang, you must help me with this favor.”

“Brother Yao,” Magistrate Chen’s given name was Yaozong, and Wang Tiangui comforted him, “you and I share weal and woe – naturally I won’t stand by with folded arms.”

But when Magistrate Chen explained the situation, Wang Tiangui also frowned deeply. If they couldn’t forcibly conscript porters, that would be one thing. If time allowed, they could follow weaknesses to coerce and entice, but with only two days remaining, how could they find five hundred people?

“Brother Wang, I’ve thought it over repeatedly – under heavy rewards there must be brave men.” Magistrate Chen sipped his tea and glanced at Wang Tiangui.

Wang Tiangui, being crafty and experienced, naturally understood the magistrate’s meaning – he wanted him to contribute silver as a donation. He had spent considerable silver on this official, and if Magistrate Chen really lost his position, having to start feeding a new person from scratch would truly be uneconomical, so he would definitely maintain him if possible. But calculating the accounts in his mind, he couldn’t help being shocked.

“This isn’t a small matter that can be settled with ten or twenty taels. This is equivalent to buying a person’s life, and it must be men in their prime. Those are family pillars – whole families depend on them to earn money and support the household. Whether we can even find so many people willing to sell their lives for money aside, just the settlement fees would be frighteningly expensive.”

“In Brother Wang’s opinion, how much should each person receive?”

“Speaking of an ordinary family’s living expenses, they need at least thirty taels of silver per year. You’d have to give at least ten years’ worth to move people’s hearts.”

“Three hundred taels per person?” Magistrate Chen was also startled.

“That might not even be enough. Don’t forget this is blood money – doubling it wouldn’t be strange.” Doubling would be six hundred taels, and five hundred people would be three hundred thousand taels of silver. Now Magistrate Chen didn’t know how to bring this up either.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver – Wang Tiangui could produce it. However, using such an enormous sum to help Magistrate Chen with this favor made him feel the pinch. “Is one magistrate worth this price? If I don’t help him and another person comes, it wouldn’t take fifty thousand taels to make him completely obedient to me – much more economical than this.” Wang Tiangui’s mind kept weighing back and forth, calculating. The room fell somewhat silent for a moment, with only the fragrance of premium Dragon Well tea drifting in the air.

“Reporting to master, there’s someone outside saying he has urgent business requesting to see Master Wang. He says he’s Master Wang’s clerk.” A servant came to report, breaking the silence.

“Looking for me?” Wang Tiangui glanced at Magistrate Chen, begged pardon and rose, walking out of the water pavilion.

“It’s you – how did you find your way here! I don’t have time to listen to your reports right now. Go wait for me at Taiyufeng.” Wang Tiangui was currently irritated, and seeing Gu Pingyuan come to disturb him, spoke reproachfully.

Gu Pingyuan quietly listened to Wang Tiangui finish speaking, his gaze looking past his shoulder toward the water pavilion. He saw a person sitting in the main teacher’s chair facing forward. Though not wearing official robes, it was precisely Magistrate Chen whom he had seen outside the Chang family compound that day.

Gu Pingyuan lifted his feet and walked past Wang Tiangui, directly entering the water pavilion and kneeling before Magistrate Chen in obeisance.

“Commoner Gu Pingyuan pays respects to the magistrate.”

“Hmm?” Magistrate Chen hadn’t expected someone to barge into the water pavilion at this moment and was momentarily stunned.

“Gu Pingyuan!” Wang Tiangui thought Gu Pingyuan was taking desperate risks to accuse him before Magistrate Chen of illegally detaining Fourth Elder Chang and seizing the Chang family property. He wasn’t afraid of this, because Magistrate Chen had taken his silver and would definitely not stand up for Gu Pingyuan. But right now he didn’t want complications, so he came from behind and shouted sternly: “How dare you! Without the magistrate’s summons, how dare you trespass into the government office’s restricted area! Get out of here!”

Gu Pingyuan knelt on the ground without even moving an eyebrow, as if he hadn’t heard anything. By this time Magistrate Chen had recognized him.

“Aren’t you Brother Wang’s clerk? I’ve met you once – your poetry was very good. Get up. What brings you to see this official?”

“I came specifically to help ease your worries, sir.” Gu Pingyuan stood up and said sincerely.

“How strange – this official is a court-appointed magistrate governing the people. What worries do I have?” Magistrate Chen didn’t want to lose composure before a mere commoner, so he spoke with affected dignity.

“You have mortal worries, sir!” Gu Pingyuan said decisively.

“Nonsense!” Magistrate Chen slammed the table and looked at Wang Tiangui. “Brother Wang, your clerk speaks far too recklessly.”

“Gu Pingyuan! What kind of place is this where you dare speak so wildly? Get out!” Wang Tiangui also couldn’t understand what medicine Gu Pingyuan was selling in his gourd and repeatedly scolded him.

“Please let me finish speaking, sir. It won’t be too late to throw me out afterward.” Gu Pingyuan remained calm and composed, and that peaceful, unhurried bearing moved Magistrate Chen, who gestured for him to continue.

“You must currently be troubled about the porter conscription matter. If this task isn’t handled properly, Prince Senggelinqin’s explosive temper is known throughout court and country. Some years ago he beheaded a Baoding prefect for poor performance, chopping off half his head with one stroke, and afterward there was no word of court punishment.”

Magistrate Chen’s heart flipped – he had indeed heard of this incident. The brain matter had splattered and even scared a secretary to death on the spot. If a fifth-rank head could be chopped off like that, a seventh-rank one naturally wouldn’t matter either. His legs couldn’t help trembling somewhat.

“But handling this task well also brings trouble. Right now it’s spring plowing season. Even if you could conscript so many civilian porters, without people to work the fields they’d lie fallow. ‘One able-bodied man feeds five mouths’ – where would so many people find food? If violent uprisings occurred in your jurisdiction, court punishment would be one thing, but rioters storming offices and killing officials – isn’t that also common in recent years?”

Storming offices and killing officials would kill more than just one person. In the same province, the county magistrate of Shanyin County in Datong Prefecture had a family member appeal for justice in the market because of an unjust legal judgment. When constables’ suppression was too harsh, it aroused public anger. All the people in the market stormed the county office, killed the magistrate and his wife and eldest son, and his daughter was gang-raped. If the Green Standard Army hadn’t come to rescue, the county office would have been burned down. Thinking of this, Magistrate Chen shivered with a chill.

Gu Pingyuan observed coldly. Seeing that the purpose of frightening with harm had been achieved, next he should move him with profit.

“You needn’t worry too much, sir. This matter is like a double-edged sword. If handled well, you can earn military merit. You must know that civil officials earning military merit is the Southern Mountain shortcut. Who knows – if Prince Seng wins a great victory and rewards are distributed according to merit, you might exchange for a clam shell cap ornament.” Seventh rank used plain gold cap ornaments; only sixth rank used clam shell. Gu Pingyuan said this because he saw Magistrate Chen was keen on official advancement.

Magistrate Chen was made alternately hot and cold by his words, his heart jumping up and down without settling. His earlier dignified manner had long been cast to the ninth heaven. He leaned forward, staring at Gu Pingyuan and asked: “You say you’re here to ease my worries – don’t tell me you have a good solution?”

“Sir, if I had no solution, how would I dare speak so confidently before you?”

“What solution? Tell me.”

“I have my own way to find five hundred civilian porters for you. But you must also agree to two conditions.”

Magistrate Chen nodded. “Speak freely.”

“First – these civilian porters naturally require payment. Besides the ‘wages’ distributed by the military camp, each person needs fifty taels of silver, plus their families should be exempted from three years of taxes and grain obligations.”

“No problem.” Magistrate Chen agreed immediately. Fifty taels compared to the six hundred Wang Tiangui had mentioned was like comparing a small witch to a great one. This sum Magistrate Chen could produce himself, not to mention having Taiyufeng’s support nearby. The tax and grain matter was even smaller – with so many farming households in Taigu County, distributing the burden randomly would balance it out. The Revenue Office clerk could make this seamless just by flipping through the fish-scale registers used for tax collection – the magistrate needn’t worry about it at all.

“And the second?”

“As for the second, I’ll find people myself. As for how I find them, please don’t inquire, sir. I guarantee to complete the task on time.”

“This…” Magistrate Chen hesitated. This matter had such great stakes – how could he entrust his career and even his life to the word of a mere clerk? After long consideration, he looked at Wang Tiangui. “Brother Wang, what do you think?”

Wang Tiangui had been listening from the side, already greatly puzzled. Gu Pingyuan had no relatives or friends in Taigu – he was a person with floating roots. What ability did he have to suddenly find so many people to sell their lives? Now that the magistrate asked him, he was being asked to vouch for Gu Pingyuan. Wang Tiangui felt uncertain and called Gu Pingyuan aside, saying in a low voice: “This isn’t a joking matter. You’re not planning some trick, are you?”

“Manager Wang.” Gu Pingyuan remained composed and also lowered his voice. “You know my background best – my life is in your hands. If this were a joke, wouldn’t I fear losing my own head?”

“Then where will you find these five hundred people?”

“I can’t say, but as long as Manager Wang trusts that I have the ability, you might as well vouch for me.” Gu Pingyuan could be said to see the current situation as clearly as fire, and with one sentence hit Wang Tiangui’s heart. “I’m helping Magistrate Chen keep his position without requiring you to spend large sums of silver – why not?”

If this could really be done, Wang Tiangui had nothing to object to. But Gu Pingyuan’s refusal to reveal details made him very uncertain. He pondered back and forth for a long time. The magistrate on the side grew impatient and coughed.

Wang Tiangui was reluctant to part with three hundred thousand taels of silver, and wasn’t even certain that spending the money would definitely accomplish the task. Having no other choice, he could only turn around and say: “Brother Yao, this clerk has always been steady in his work, and I think highly of him. Since he says he’s confident, I believe this matter is feasible.”

“Good, since that’s the case, I’ll entrust this entire matter to you.” Magistrate Chen said to Gu Pingyuan, “I’ll issue a directive right now, specially commissioning you to handle this task. However, the military supply officer strictly ordered completion within five days, and this is already the third day, so no matter what, you must complete the assignment the day after tomorrow, or I’ll have you severely punished.” At the end, Magistrate Chen glared and displayed his official authority.

“Please rest assured, sir. I will serve wholeheartedly and definitely not bungle this matter.”

Gu Pingyuan hurried back to Youlu Gully Village without stopping. He wasn’t concerned about Wang Tiangui’s silver or Magistrate Chen’s official hat, but realized that doing this job well could kill two birds with one stone – both resolve the villagers’ crisis and incidentally help Wanyuan Dang escape their current predicament.

When he reached a small hillside not far from the village, he faintly heard sounds of weeping from behind the slope – sobbing and wailing that clearly came from more than one person. He dismounted from his mule and walked around the slope to see one man and three women standing under a crooked-neck tree, with an old man impatiently trying to console what were obviously three generations of women.

“Stop crying! Save your tears to shed in the underworld – maybe the King of Hell will show mercy and give you a good reincarnation. Who are you crying for now? There are no kind-hearted people in this world!”

Seeing the three women still crying with their heads together, he paced around anxiously in circles, then suddenly grabbed the little girl and put a rope around her neck.

“Mother, I’m scared, I’m scared.” The little girl was seven or eight years old, trembling with fear and burrowing into the young woman’s arms.

“Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon.” The old man’s lips were also trembling, but his hands didn’t stop. He closed his eyes and pulled the rope tight. The young woman knelt on the ground holding the child, seemingly not daring to resist, but pleading bitterly: “Father, please spare the child’s life!” The old woman beside them also beat her chest and stamped her feet, wailing loudly.

“Stop!” Seeing such a tragic scene, how could Gu Pingyuan stand by and watch someone die? He rushed over in a few steps, snatched the rope from the old man’s hands, and untied it in two moves. The little girl’s face had already turned blue from strangulation, but once the rope loosened, she finally burst into loud tears with a “wah.”

“Killing requires paying with one’s life, and even tigers don’t eat their cubs!” Gu Pingyuan angrily scolded. He could already tell that this old man and those women must be close relatives.

Caught off guard by this unexpected intervention, the old man was about to argue back when he suddenly felt deflated, sighed, and squatted down holding his head.

“How could I want to force my own family to death? This is all because heaven has no eyes!” The old man mumbled sorrowfully.

Gu Pingyuan vaguely guessed this family might be residents of Youlu Gully Village, and upon asking, it was indeed so. This elderly couple had only one son under their knees. They had finally managed to marry him a wife, and though she bore a daughter, the whole family loved her like a precious jewel, originally thinking “flowers first, then fruit” – with a daughter naturally comes a son. But unexpectedly, last year’s plague killed their son, leaving only the old father and mother facing tears with the orphaned daughter and widowed daughter-in-law.

“Don’t think only one person died – our family line is finished.” The old man said bitterly: “Now human traffickers have moved into the village, and the village head wants me to sell my daughter-in-law to save the whole family’s lives. I’ve studied in private school for several years and understand propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame. Thinking it over, this family doesn’t even have a single male heir – there’s no hope living on, and we’d only bring shame to our ancestors. Better to hang ourselves all together with one rope – that would be a clean death.” He wiped his tears and stood up to bow: “Sir, you are a kind person, but you can’t manage this affair. The great road faces heaven and we each go our own way. Please leave and don’t delay our whole family’s good time to ascend to heaven.” He picked up the rope again to put it around the little girl’s neck.

How could Gu Pingyuan allow this? He grabbed the man’s wrist: “Old sir, you’re wrong – I came specifically to manage this affair!”

“Ah!” The whole family was stunned upon hearing this and all turned their gazes to Gu Pingyuan.

“Ridiculous!” This village was mostly surnamed Wen, and the one speaking in the center of the village ancestral hall was village head Wen He. Though his name was “He” (harmony), his tone was anything but harmonious as he glared and asked Gu Pingyuan, who was surrounded by the crowd: “Women entering military camps as civilian porters? This is a wicked, smoking idea – who are you trying to fool? You’re clearly making the village women serve as camp prostitutes!”

“I was sent by Magistrate Chen to resolve this matter, with the county’s directive as proof. Moreover, Chief Clerk Xu is very concerned about the village people and repeatedly instructed me to handle this matter properly. Magistrate Chen has already agreed to the two conditions I mentioned earlier. As long as everyone is willing to let women serve as porters, I will definitely make this happen, which will be enough to resolve the village’s urgent crisis. As village head, you mustn’t act rashly but must consider the villagers’ welfare.” Gu Pingyuan spoke earnestly, and quite a few villagers whispered to each other, apparently discussing whether this was feasible. The village head looked around and showed some anxiety on his face. Just as he was about to speak, someone nearby laughed “ge-ge” and stepped forward.

“Sounds better than it sings. Where’s the directive? Let me see it!”

Gu Pingyuan looked this person over and felt he had a face full of greed and insatiability – he didn’t look like an honest farmer at all. But he didn’t argue with him and took out the directive from his bosom and handed it over. The man glanced at it briefly, then sneered and held up the directive, waving it around: “See here? This only says to let this person surnamed Gu handle the porter conscription, but says nothing about fifty taels of silver or exemption from three years of taxes. This is clearly big talk to deceive people. Once you send your women to the Mongol military camp, within a few days those wolf-like soldiers will ravage them!”

“Who are you? How dare you obstruct county government business!” Gu Pingyuan asked, unable to tolerate his troublemaking.

“His name is Huang Guanqiu, a human trafficker from the south.” Qiao Henian stepped forward from the crowd, looking at the man surnamed Huang with disdain and contempt.

“Don’t put it so harshly – what human trafficker! I specialize in finding servant women and maids for wealthy families. The women from your village who go with me are guaranteed to eat well and drink well. Usually they’ll chat with their masters, and after a few years of pleasing them, they might even get their indenture contracts returned and reunite with their families. What I do is half business, half charity – you shouldn’t be so ungrateful!”

The village head also shouted: “Qiao Henian, you’re not even a village person – why are you stirring up trouble! If you say one more word, I’ll drive you and that married-out Qiao Wenshi out of the village!”

Seeing Qiao Henian’s face flush red with anger, Gu Pingyuan gently patted his shoulder, then stepped forward and asked: “I was sent by the government, and this directive bears the county office’s great seal. Are you saying you don’t trust the local government but would rather trust a human trafficker who came from far away? Do you really believe what he says? Do you really believe he can ensure your wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law won’t be bullied and will live lives of luxury?”

The common people looked at each other. They had originally listened to the village head and were willing to sell wives and daughters to at least preserve their family line. Although they knew Huang Guanqiu’s words were like castles in the air and probably untrustworthy, they could only treat these lies as heart-soothing medicine, with families using these words to console each other to avoid making relatives sad and to leave themselves some hope. Now that Gu Pingyuan pointed out another path for the villagers to choose, naturally some were quite interested.

“Shut up!” The village head suddenly became angry, walked forward and shoved Gu Pingyuan, pointing at him and saying: “You’re some kind of swindler from who knows where! Let me tell you, even the real government can’t force women to be civilian porters, much less that our village’s affairs are already settled. These women will sign contracts tomorrow and hit the road. Get lost!”

Qiao Henian wanted to step forward to argue, but Gu Pingyuan glanced around and saw two people behind Huang Guanqiu who looked like thugs, all glaring at him viciously. His mind stirred, and he stopped Qiao Henian, deliberately saying loudly to Huang Guanqiu in front of everyone: “Hmph, you want to block me from carrying out my duties? Let me tell you – in terms of money, the city’s largest money exchange is opened by my employer. In terms of power, you’re probably a strong dragon that can’t suppress the local snake.” He turned to Qiao Henian and said: “Brother Qiao, I simply won’t return to the city for now. Tonight I’ll borrow that grass shed you built outside. Regarding using civilian women as civilian porters, I haven’t had time to report to the county magistrate yet. You and I will write a petition together tonight, and I’ll submit it to the county office first thing tomorrow morning. This is urgent county business – when Magistrate Chen gets the letter, he’ll definitely come personally. I don’t believe this man surnamed Huang would dare oppose the magistrate! When the time comes, one beating with boards will drive him out of the county!”

After saying this, he pulled Qiao Henian along and left the ancestral hall without looking back. As he was leaving, he glanced back and indeed saw fierce light blazing in Huang Guanqiu’s eyes as he turned to give one of his thugs a meaningful look.

Gu Pingyuan pulled Qiao Henian along and wouldn’t let him speak the whole way, which really frustrated Qiao Henian. Finally reaching his “snail shell dwelling,” just as he was about to speak, Gu Pingyuan still waved his hand, gently pushed open a crack in the crude wooden door, and looked outside. After a while he turned back, his eyes already showing a confident expression of certain victory, and nodded to Qiao Henian.

“Brother Gu, why did you drag me back here? Without making things clear and reasoning plain, how will these country bumpkins understand your good intentions?” Qiao Henian finally complained.

Gu Pingyuan smiled slightly: “Brother Qiao, never mind others for now – what about you? Are you willing to go home and persuade sister-in-law to serve in the military camp?”

“Yes! I trust you.” Qiao Henian didn’t hesitate at all.

“Right, you trust me because we got to know each other when I was trading medicinal materials in Mongolia, so you know I wouldn’t send women to be camp prostitutes like the human trafficker said. But these villagers don’t know me at all – how would they easily trust me? You’re also an outsider, and though you’re a scholar, I’m afraid your influence in the villagers’ hearts can’t compare to that village head.”

Hearing this, Qiao Henian was also stunned and stammered: “This… tomorrow they’ll sign contracts and take people away. Even if you go door to door persuading tonight, probably less than half would believe you.”

“This is precisely the difficulty of this matter. I can’t have even one less than five hundred civilian porters. Even if half were taken away by the human trafficker, my assignment would be ruined.”

Qiao Henian furrowed his brow and said repeatedly: “Difficult, so difficult!”

“Actually, it’s not difficult!” Gu Pingyuan suddenly said. Seeing Qiao Henian look up eagerly, he smiled unhurriedly, but his eyes held a cunning look of winning by surprise: “Though I can’t gain people’s trust overnight, I can make my opponent lose people’s trust before the contracts are signed!”

Qiao Henian really couldn’t understand and stared at him blankly. Who knew Gu Pingyuan’s next words would make him feel even more lost in the clouds.

“Are there any hunters in the village?”

That night, past the third watch, candles still burned in Qiao Henian’s small shed, and two figures could be seen sitting across from each other. Wind came through the door cracks, the flames flickered, and the shadows kept swaying.

In the surrounding pitch-black quiet night, though the whole village seemed to have fallen asleep, actually many families couldn’t sleep. Tomorrow morning, relatives they lived with day and night would follow the human trafficker south, probably never to meet again in this life. Who knows how many mothers at this moment were “stroking their children’s bodies and licking their faces” with tears streaming down, hoping for “a good harvest year when children could redeem their mothers.”

Just as cold crows were crying mournfully, suddenly gong sounds rang out in the village. The bronze gong clanged “gong-gong,” no less than spring thunder rolling across the ground. Along with the loud gong sounds, someone was shouting: “Catch the thieves! Thieves got into the village! Fellow villagers, come out quickly to catch the thieves!”

Though the village lacked able-bodied men, people of the same surname looked out for each other, plus many were already awake. Hearing this, they all grabbed rolling pins and door bars, looked outside, and saw fire at the village’s east end. So they called out to each other for courage and rushed over.

When they got close, they saw the burning structure was the shed outside Lady Qiao Wen’s house. Several people lay on the ground outside the shed, and two familiar village hunters stood guard nearby – one holding a five-pronged fork, the other an eyebrow-level staff. Those people on the ground kept rolling and struggling but were tangled up and couldn’t get up immediately. The one beating the gong was Qiao Henian. Seeing all the villagers had arrived, he pointed to the ground: “These three are the thieves. They came to my sister-in-law’s house to burn it down and were caught in the act.”

These three were truly unlucky – the whole village was full of pent-up anger and ready to take it out on someone. Immediately, kang-sweeping brooms and fire-stoking sticks were raised up and fell like raindrops, beating the three men until they howled like ghosts and wolves. Gu Pingyuan watched from the side. He naturally knew who these three people were. In his life he most hated two kinds of business – opium and human trafficking. Seeing these men were indeed cruel and vicious, and wanting them to learn a lesson, he remained silent throughout. Only when he saw they might be beaten to death did he finally step forward to speak.

“Fellow villagers and elders, please stop first. Look at who you’re beating?”

Everyone was tired from beating by now and gradually stopped. At this time the small shed had burned completely down. Someone held up a torch to illuminate them, and though the beaten men were bruised and swollen, they could still be recognized. Someone immediately cried out in surprise: “This… isn’t this Huang Guanqiu!”

“Exactly.” Gu Pingyuan took up the conversation and said loudly: “Seeing I blocked his business, he harbored evil intentions and brought two men to burn me and Qiao Henian to death in the night! Fellow villagers, with such a vicious person, would you really feel safe entrusting your relatives to him?” Gu Pingyuan had long been among convicts in the Fengtian Great Camp – what kind of vicious criminals hadn’t he seen? Yesterday in the ancestral hall, seeing that Huang Guanqiu and his two subordinates were not good people, and noticing this deal must bring him great profit so he definitely wouldn’t give up, he had deliberately made a show of force at the end, bringing up the county magistrate as a threat. Actually, this was to provoke him into rash action. He indeed discovered Huang Guanqiu had sent people to secretly follow him to the Qiao family, clearly with ill intent. Only then did he confidently have Qiao Henian find hunters, and taking advantage of the darkness, set trip ropes outside the shed and put two scarecrows brought from the fields inside, then quietly waited for the man surnamed Huang to take the bait. Now that the plan had succeeded, he publicly exposed his vicious nature.

The common people exploded with a roar, talking among themselves. Though there were many voices, their expressions were plain to see on their faces – almost everyone showed fear and alarm. Gu Pingyuan knew the matter was almost settled. He walked forward to Huang Guanqiu and reached into his clothes to search him. Huang Guanqiu had been beaten breathless and had no strength to resist.

Gu Pingyuan pulled out two pieces of paper from the human trafficker’s chest, glanced through them quickly by firelight, sneered, pocketed one sheet, and held up the other for everyone to see.

“Anyone who can read may come look. This is a contract he signed with a brothel in Guangzhou, specifying that he would buy women to take to Nanyang as saltwater girls – that is, to be defiled by foreigners.”

“Foreigners!” In this isolated small mountain village, foreigners were regarded as yellow-browed, green-eyed monsters. Hearing this, everyone gnashed their teeth and surged forward to beat him again. Suddenly someone outside the crowd urgently called out: “Everyone stop!”

It was the village head arriving. He had drunk several cups tonight and was finally roused with difficulty, hurrying to the area outside Lady Qiao Wen’s house.

“You surnamed Gu are clearly concerned only with your own assignment, which is why you’re unscrupulously framing Mr. Huang.” The village head pointed a finger at Gu Pingyuan’s nose, then turned to address everyone present: “Fellow villagers and elders, don’t listen to his smooth talk sowing discord. Tomorrow morning we’ll still complete the contracts as planned and take the silver to get through the famine.”

Hearing this, Qiao Henian angrily put down his bronze gong and argued: “Village head, how can you reverse black and white like this? The man surnamed Huang set fire to houses and tried to kill people – several of us are witnesses.”

“You few all took his money – your words can’t be trusted!” The village head kept his finger pointed at Gu Pingyuan, roaring: “Qiao Henian, you two brothers aren’t village people, yet Lady Qiao Wen, one woman, lives in the village with two men of different surnames – this is truly improper. I am the village head, and today I order you to move out of the village!”

“You…” Hearing him speak such slander, Qiao Henian nearly exploded with rage.

“Heh heh!” Gu Pingyuan had remained silent, but now suddenly laughed. He walked slowly to the village head and looked him up and down for a while, from head to toe and back again, making the village head’s heart race with nervousness.

“What are you trying to do!”

“Who exactly took whose money?” Gu Pingyuan spoke slowly, his voice extremely low, like a whisper: “Using a whole village of women’s chastity to preserve one’s own family’s lives – though I’m a businessman, I’ve never heard of such a shrewd calculation.”

Hearing these words suddenly, the village head’s face immediately lost all color, and he looked at Gu Pingyuan as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

“I currently have a document signed with your name in my chest. If I were to take it out and wave it around, without even going to court, these villagers could pounce on you and tear you apart!” Gu Pingyuan’s words all squeezed out through his teeth, making the village head shiver all over.

“I won’t expose this matter yet. You know in your heart what you should do!” Gu Pingyuan left the ashen-faced village head and stood on a large stone, calling out loudly: “Fellow villagers, this man surnamed Huang burns houses and sells good women into prostitution – he’s clearly a man-eating monster who doesn’t spit out bones. We absolutely cannot let our relatives go with him!”

“Right, right, exactly right!” The village people weren’t stupid – they could clearly see right from wrong. Looking at each other, they nodded one after another.

“Huang Guanqiu, you know I’m an official representative, yet you dared attempt to murder a government agent – truly audacious! But I have business at hand now and won’t settle accounts with you. Get lost! If you dare cause more trouble, don’t blame me for being merciless!” Though Gu Pingyuan wasn’t an official, when he put on official airs, he truly had impressive presence. Huang Guanqiu was also a man who had traveled north and south – he knew he had completely fallen to this young man this time. Being able to preserve his life was already fortunate; how would he dare linger? Covering his injuries, he limped away in panic.

“Village head, with this person gone, the village’s transaction is naturally cancelled. From now on, I hope you can assist the government in handling the porter conscription well. The two conditions I mentioned during the day bring nothing but benefits to the village people – please think it over carefully.”

“Yes, yes.” As the saying goes, “a thousand pleas aren’t as good as one scare” – the village head had been frightened out of his wits by Gu Pingyuan’s few threats. Now he responded submissively, his earlier imperious manner long cast to the ninth heaven.

Seeing this situation, Gu Pingyuan and Qiao Henian exchanged glances and smiled, knowing the rest would be slow, patient work.

Magistrate Chen waited patiently in the county office, but when the next day came there was no news. He became somewhat anxious, and after dark, he even sent constables to wait in the streets. But even when daylight came, there was still no news. Now Magistrate Chen was truly frantic with worry and sent someone to fetch Wang Tiangui to find out what was happening.

Wang Tiangui was also looking for Gu Pingyuan. After returning to Taiyufeng, the more he thought about it, the less confident he felt. He always felt Gu Pingyuan shouldn’t have such great abilities. So he sent out capable clerks to see what Gu Pingyuan was doing. Unexpectedly, the clerks came back saying Gu Pingyuan had never returned to the pawnshop and had vanished without a trace. Wang Tiangui’s heart jumped with alarm – could it be that he had decided to run away, leaving him with a nasty trick while conveniently ruining his patron? If so, he definitely wouldn’t let this kid off lightly, and including the Chang family, he’d make them pay dearly.

Though his heart was pounding, when facing Magistrate Chen he still had to offer comfort and speak well of Gu Pingyuan.

“Sir, don’t worry – it’s not even noon yet.”

“Noon? By noon it’ll be time for execution!” Magistrate Chen paced restlessly in the room, staring at the door, both fearing the military supply officer would come pressing for answers and hoping Gu Pingyuan would suddenly appear. His heart felt like it was being fried in oil.

Wang Tiangui was also made restless by him and kept taking out his pocket watch to check the time. They waited until two quarters past the hour of Wei in the afternoon, when Magistrate Chen finally couldn’t bear it anymore. He summoned all the fast constables and bailiffs from the three courts, ordering them to dispatch men and horses for a county-wide search – even if they had to dig three feet into the ground, they must find Gu Pingyuan.

Wang Tiangui sat woodenly in the grand teacher’s chair, watching Magistrate Chen issue orders, thinking: “Too late. If Gu Pingyuan wanted to flee, he’s probably crossed the provincial border by now. Never thought I’d misjudge him – he actually doesn’t care about the lives of Fourth Chang’s family.”

The head constable had just received orders and left the office when he came running back in.

“Didn’t I tell you to find Gu Pingyuan? Why are you back again!” Magistrate Chen now wanted to kick anyone he saw.

“He’s… he’s come.” The constable was out of breath from running.

Magistrate Chen jumped to his feet: “The military supply officer is here?”

“No… no, it’s that Gu Pingyuan.”

As he spoke, Gu Pingyuan had already pushed through the door and entered directly, his face dusty from travel but bearing a smile.

“You… you…” Magistrate Chen hadn’t expected him to actually come. Wang Tiangui also rose in astonishment.

“Congratulations, sir. The matter has been completed.” Gu Pingyuan’s casual words sounded like heavenly music to Magistrate Chen’s ears, but he still had to maintain his official dignity, suppressing his joy and nodding with feigned composure.

“Where are the people? Where are they?”

“The people are ready. They’re just waiting for you to personally announce the exemption of their taxes and grain obligations, then they can depart with the army. Of course, there’s also that fifty taels of silver.” Gu Pingyuan’s eyes were bloodshot, clearly showing he hadn’t slept well these past few days, but he spoke in an orderly manner.

“Yes, yes.” Magistrate Chen glanced aside, and Wang Tiangui, who had long been prepared, took out bank notes worth twenty-five thousand taels from his sleeve.

“Then please come with me, sir.” Gu Pingyuan turned around, and Magistrate Chen and Wang Tiangui followed him out one after the other.

Once outside the office, Gu Pingyuan mounted his horse. Magistrate Chen had no choice but to get into his blue cloth sedan chair, and another chair was provided for Wang Tiangui as they followed Gu Pingyuan.

As they traveled, Magistrate Chen kept lifting the sedan curtain to look out, discovering they had left the county seat and taken country dirt roads. After walking for over an hour, Gu Pingyuan finally reined in his horse and dismounted, coming to the sedan chair.

“Sir, we’ve arrived. Please step down from the chair.”

Magistrate Chen got out of the sedan and was startled by what he saw ahead – a mass of dark figures all kneeling on the ground, seemingly over a thousand people. Looking around, he recognized this place – wasn’t this Youlu Gully Village where the plague had occurred last year? Wang Tiangui walked over and whispered to Magistrate Chen: “Chief Clerk Xu is here too.”

“Oh?” Magistrate Chen turned around and indeed saw Chief Clerk Xu’s sedan chair arriving closely behind his own. “What’s he doing here?” Though he was his subordinate, Magistrate Chen had always paid little attention to this aloof Chief Clerk Xu, and the current matter had nothing to do with him.

Before he could figure it out, Gu Pingyuan said to him: “Sir, please clarify your promise to these people face to face. With a guarantee from a court-appointed official, they can set out with peace of mind.”

“Very well.” Facing so many common people, Magistrate Chen naturally had to display his benevolent governance. He said gently: “Fellow villagers and elders, please rise. Everyone knows that bandits are currently rampaging and causing trouble, and the imperial army is conducting suppression campaigns. The military naturally needs civilian porters, which is also a great opportunity to serve the court. When mentioned to children and grandchildren in the future, it will be a glorious and respectable matter. The court cherishes its subjects and spreads its grace everywhere. At the beginning of the year, there was already an edict that this year’s conscription wages would be increased to three times those of previous years. This county, following the court’s edict above and sympathizing with the people’s conditions below, has decided to give each person an additional fifty taels as compensation for settling their families. Furthermore, for every household willing to go, all will be exempted from three years of tax and grain obligations.”

“We thank the great magistrate for his kindness.” The crowd kowtowed in gratitude again.

The pleasure of being an official lies in nothing more than receiving people’s kowtows and reaching out to take money. Magistrate Chen was feeling smugly satisfied when he suddenly noticed something wrong with the voices of thanks. Originally half-closing his eyes, he now looked carefully and couldn’t help but fly into a rage.

“Gu Pingyuan!”

“What are your orders, sir!” Gu Pingyuan respectfully bowed from the side.

“Where are the civilian porters? Where are the civilian porters?” Magistrate Chen pointed frantically at the crowd before him. Wang Tiangui and Chief Clerk Xu had already seen clearly during his lengthy speech – among these thousand-plus people, most were old, weak, women, and children. There were very few able-bodied men – forget five hundred, there weren’t even fifty.

When Magistrate Chen lashed out at Gu Pingyuan, Chief Clerk Xu immediately broke into a cold sweat for him. Wang Tiangui was also nervous, watching silently.

Gu Pingyuan remained calm and unhurried, calling out to the people: “Everyone heard – the magistrate wants to inspect the civilian porters. Please have all unrelated people step aside.”

The crowd was indeed obedient, parting left and right like a tide, leaving about half the people behind. Gu Pingyuan then directed them to stand in neat rows. When Magistrate Chen looked again, he was dumbfounded.

All five hundred people before him were women!

“Gu Pingyuan, explain this clearly – what’s going on here! I asked you to find civilian porters, not to select palace maidens for the imperial court. How did you find five hundred women?” Magistrate Chen was truly anxious now. Time waited for no one, and evening was approaching – this final day was about to pass.

“Sir, when the military supply officer came requesting civilian porters, did he specify men or women?”

“No.” That was because it didn’t need to be specified – who would bring a group of women to serve as military porters? That would be insane.

“Since he didn’t specify, why can’t women do it?” Gu Pingyuan said matter-of-factly.

“This… this… this is obvious.” If not for his heavy concerns, Magistrate Chen would have been amused by his anger. “This has never been heard of since ancient times.”

“All things have their beginning with me!” Gu Pingyuan replied with a sharp gleam in his eyes that made Magistrate Chen’s heart skip a beat.

“Magistrate Chen, though these people are women, they’re not pampered young ladies from wealthy families. When it comes to work, they’re no less capable than men. They’re more than adequate as civilian porters – please rest assured about this.”

Magistrate Chen could indeed see this. He pondered and said: “I’m just afraid the military supply officer might…”

“Don’t worry, sir. You’re carrying out orders, and he’s carrying out orders too. If this task can’t be completed, when he reaches Prince Seng’s camp, he’ll have no way to explain either. As long as you explain things clearly to him and let him see that these women work just as well as men, and if you’re worried about causing scandal, just have them dress in men’s clothing. The military supply officer will definitely agree. Besides, you can always use silver to smooth the way.”

“Hmm.” This was Magistrate Chen’s specialty. As long as official business could be managed and he presented a sum of gleaming silver, there was no superior who couldn’t be handled.

“There’s one more thing – using women as civilian porters also solves the most troublesome problem.” Gu Pingyuan deliberately kept Magistrate Chen in suspense, serving up good dishes one by one.

“What problem?”

“Saving lives! I’ve been to Mongolia and know that Mongols, especially military warriors, never bully women. If they violated this taboo, they’d be looked down upon for life. Though Prince Senggelinqin has the habit of using civilian porters as vanguards, I guarantee he’ll keep these five hundred women properly in the rear camp, where they won’t even suffer arrow wounds. Otherwise, he couldn’t bear to lose face.”

Gu Pingyuan knew Magistrate Chen didn’t particularly value these people’s lives, but saying this was just laying groundwork – what came next was what Magistrate Chen loved to hear.

“Sir, please think about it. Who could send civilian porters to Prince Seng’s army and have them return completely unharmed? This is a political achievement that brings virtue to ten thousand people. When the Ministry of Personnel conducts evaluations in the future, those two words ‘capable official’ will be firmly established. How could your superiors not appreciate you?”

“Hmm…” Magistrate Chen’s mind turned over the possibilities, and he unconsciously nodded slightly. Gu Pingyuan secretly observed this and knew this hurdle was passed, feeling relieved.

Wang Tiangui listening from the side was increasingly amazed. This young man surnamed Gu had such precise understanding of officials’ psychology. It seemed Magistrate Chen quite appreciated him. In the future, he absolutely couldn’t give Gu Pingyuan too many opportunities to take center stage, or eventually the tail might wag the dog. He thought again – no matter what, Gu Pingyuan’s status as a convict couldn’t be changed. As long as he played this trump card, Gu Pingyuan couldn’t escape his palm.

Chief Clerk Xu had been watching dumbstruck from the side. Yesterday he had also sent people to investigate Gu Pingyuan’s background, thinking this person called “Madman Shopkeeper” truly lived up to his name. Such a shocking and unconventional idea probably couldn’t be conceived by a second person under heaven. Not only did he think of it, but he accomplished it, killing two birds with one stone – not only helping the county magistrate keep his official hat but also saving the lives of the entire Youlu Gully Village.

However, he also had hidden worries. He quietly tugged at Gu Pingyuan and pulled him aside, saying: “Gu Pingyuan, I know you’ve done a good deed this time. But even if, as you say, the Mongol soldiers don’t bully women and don’t violate them at all, what will people say when they return in the future?”

Gu Pingyuan smiled: “Sir, even so, how does that compare to being sold to brothels as prostitutes, losing their chastity, and never being able to reunite with their families?”

“That would naturally be much better.”

“Then that settles it. When choosing between two evils, take the lesser. This is also unavoidable. Besides, when they’re in the army, they’ll eat and live together. When the war ends and they return to the village, they can all testify for each other. Who would gossip about whom?”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Chief Clerk Xu’s face also broke into a smile. “It’s remarkable that you could think of such an idea on such short notice. Good, very good.”

“Gu Pingyuan.” Magistrate Chen was now thinking it over and finding it more and more wonderful. His face beamed with spring-like joy. “You’ve helped the county with such a great favor. I can’t let you work for nothing. What do you want?”

Gu Pingyuan wasn’t polite and immediately knelt down. “Sir, I have one request.”

“Speak.”

Wang Tiangui was suddenly alarmed – could Gu Pingyuan be asking Magistrate Chen to release Fourth Chang? That absolutely couldn’t happen! But listening further, it was completely different from what he expected.

“I work at Wanyuan Pawnshop. Currently, someone in Taigu County is disrupting business among pawnshops, secretly collecting other shops’ pawn tickets. If this continues, pawnshops will inevitably engage in malicious competition, and the common people will suffer. Please post a notice strictly forbidding this, with severe punishment for violators.”

“This is a small matter. I agree.” This cost nothing, and Magistrate Chen waved his hand. “What else?”

“I… I haven’t thought of anything else. Oh, right – if you ever need to pawn anything, please patronize Wanyuan Pawnshop’s business.” Gu Pingyuan had a flash of inspiration.

“Nonsense! How could the county magistrate go pawning things? You’re talking more and more inappropriately.” Wang Tiangui scolded.

Magistrate Chen was in a good mood and didn’t mind Gu Pingyuan’s words. Instead, he laughed heartily: “Brother Wang, he’s a businessman. Even when losing money, he still needs to drum up business, let alone when there’s profit to be made. Naturally, he has to keep business talk on his lips. Don’t worry – if I have idle items, I’ll naturally patronize Wanyuan Pawnshop.”

Magistrate Chen had the accompanying constables count the people and register them. Qiao Henian brought his brother and sister-in-law over and bowed to Gu Pingyuan: “Brother Gu, I never expected you to actually persuade the magistrate. I thank you on behalf of the whole village.”

“I knew from the start that without putting these five hundred people before his eyes, just empty words wouldn’t make him agree. I also thank you – without your accompanying me these past few days to persuade villagers door to door, I couldn’t have completed this matter so quickly.” Common people, especially women, were all frightened when they heard about the army. Fortunately, Gu Pingyuan first subdued the village head, and with Qiao Henian helping him analyze the pros and cons household by household, they managed to convince the entire village.

“Little brother-in-law, after I leave, you must help me take good care of your elder brother and the two children. Don’t let them go cold or hungry, and if they get sick, quickly call a doctor. Don’t delay at all.” Lady Qiao Wen earnestly instructed.

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. I’ll take care of everything here. When you’re in the army with everyone else, be careful in all things. We’ll wait at home for your return. By then, we’ll have silver, taxes will be exempted, and we can live prosperously again.”

“Mm.” Lady Qiao Wen nodded, her pretty face showing a look of hope.

“Gu Pingyuan, you have acquaintances in Youlu Gully Village?” Following his words, Wang Tiangui walked over. He had seen Lady Qiao Wen from a distance and his eyes immediately lit up. Wang Tiangui’s taste in women was different from others – while others preferred gentle maidens, he preferred beautiful married women. Seeing Lady Qiao Wen’s beautiful face and full figure, Wang Tiangui swallowed and stared at her with predatory eyes like a vulture eyeing prey.

“He’s a medicine shop assistant who went to Mongolia with me. This is his brother and sister-in-law.” Gu Pingyuan answered, then said to everyone: “This is my employer, Manager Wang of Taiyufeng Exchange in the city.”

The great manager of Taiyufeng – in farmers’ eyes, that was an incredible wealthy man. Lady Qiao Wen quickly lowered her head and turned aside.

“Oh, so you’re friends who shared hardships together. What, you’re also going to be a civilian porter?” Wang Tiangui deliberately spoke to Lady Qiao Wen.

“Yes.” Lady Qiao Wen answered in a low voice, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Ah, Gu Pingyuan, why didn’t you say so earlier! Since she’s a friend’s relative, why make her suffer the hardships of sleeping in the open? Following the army isn’t child’s play – it’s dangerous with weapons everywhere. Swords and arrows don’t have eyes. Who dares guarantee there’s definitely no danger?” Wang Tiangui pretended to blame Gu Pingyuan.

“How about this – you two come to my residence. Right now that big house still lacks servants. One of you can tend horses at the stable, the other can do needlework. The wages will be generous, and you won’t miss out on that fifty taels of silver or the tax exemption either.”

The three members of the Qiao family looked at each other. Qiao Songnian still wore his unworldly expression, and Qiao Henian, being an outsider, didn’t understand Taiyufeng’s background at all. He only thought this great manager was extraordinarily kind-hearted. Now his sister-in-law wouldn’t have to suffer, and even his elder brother had a place to go. He looked at Lady Qiao Wen to see what she thought.

Lady Qiao Wen was a woman who, though she had vaguely heard that Manager Wang of Taiyufeng was very powerful, saw that the person before her seemed quite amiable. She had no opinion and looked helplessly at Gu Pingyuan for guidance.

“What do you think, Mr. Gu?”

“Right, Gu Pingyuan is my assistant and your friend. Might as well hear what he says.” Wang Tiangui glanced at Gu Pingyuan.

Gu Pingyuan didn’t believe Wang Tiangui had any good intentions, but what he said wasn’t entirely unreasonable. Following the army, no matter how you looked at it, wasn’t as safe as staying in Taigu County. Besides, if husband and wife both entered the Wang residence, they could look after each other and shouldn’t encounter problems. Most importantly, if he said no, he’d have to break with Wang Tiangui on the spot – who knew if this was a test?

Thinking this way, Gu Pingyuan said somewhat reluctantly: “That’s good too. Sister-in-law Qiao will be spared the hardships of travel, and she can visit the children when she has time.”

At the mention of children, Lady Qiao Wen was even more willing and prostrated herself with her husband to thank Wang Tiangui. Wang Tiangui said with a smile: “No need, no need. Though it’s a master-servant relationship, you needn’t be too constrained.” As he spoke, his eyes stared directly at Lady Qiao Wen.

Gu Pingyuan suddenly remembered something: “By the way, Manager. The village head said that since these five hundred people are women who haven’t seen much of the world, if each household sent male family members to sign contracts with the government, first, too many people would be complicated, and second, after the plague, some families have no men left at all. So they want to follow the example of ‘pawning wives’ – have Wanyuan Pawnshop issue a pawn ticket, pawning these five hundred people to the pawnshop, with all matters handled by us in dealings with the government. I don’t have time to discuss this with Shopkeeper Zhu again. What do you think?”

“Fine, let’s do it that way!” Wang Tiangui agreed immediately.

The unprecedented news of five hundred women from Youlu Gully Village following the army spread like wind throughout Taigu County’s streets and alleys within three days. When everyone learned this was handled by the “Madman Shopkeeper” of Wanyuan Pawnshop, there was even more heated discussion. Gu Pingyuan originally thought this “great wife-pawning” was the most brilliant thing he had accomplished since returning to Shanxi. He never expected things to go against his wishes – the serious consequences this affair would bring were completely beyond his imagination at the time.