It was already late in the evening when Gu Pingyuan entered Qiankou Town with great excitement. He had originally planned to find lodging in town, seek out a clean inn to get a good night’s sleep, and then travel the final twenty li of mountain road back to Gu Family Village at dawn the next morning.

It wasn’t that Gu Pingyuan didn’t want to see his family sooner—he had his own filial considerations. Having been stationed far away on the frontier for over six years, his beloved mother at home must have shed countless tears. If he were to return home in the dark of night, appearing under lamplight travel-worn and haggard, wouldn’t that make his mother even more sorrowful? Since reaching Qiankou Town was like having one foot already in Gu Family Village, there was no need to rush for the moment. Resting for a night to restore his spirits and buying some gifts in town tomorrow to bring home would be better.

Though Gu Pingyuan’s wishful thinking was clever, upon entering the town he immediately realized something was wrong. The entire street was filled with refugees, with reed mats spread everywhere under eaves and in corners, people sitting or lying about haphazardly, sighing and groaning.

Huizhou Prefecture governed six counties: She County, Yi County, Xiuning, Wuyuan, Jixi, and Qimen. She County was where the prefectural government office was located—it was actually jointly administered by prefecture and county. Qiankou Town was a large town under She County’s jurisdiction and the closest town to Gu Family Village. Seeing the town in such chaos, Gu Pingyuan’s heart immediately turned to worry about his family. Leading his horse, he walked to a general goods stall on the street and bent down to ask: “Shopkeeper, pardon the intrusion, but may I ask what’s happening on this street? Why are there refugees everywhere?”

The small merchant was an old man who had probably never been called “shopkeeper” before. He was stunned for a moment before saying: “This gentleman, you’re not local, are you?”

“I…” Gu Pingyuan hesitated briefly, “I am local, just having been away from home for many years.”

Huizhou people often left their homes to do business—being away for eight or ten years wasn’t unusual—so the old man simply nodded and pointed toward the street: “These are all victims of military disaster. Their homes were all destroyed in the fighting, the able-bodied men were conscripted into armies, so naturally the old, weak, sick and disabled fled to town. At least the town has local security forces, so small military units don’t dare enter easily. If a large army really came, even the local constables would have to flee with their entire families.”

Gu Pingyuan recalled that when he was at the Yellow River, he had only heard that Sanhe Town in Luzhou Prefecture had fallen to the Taiping rebel Chen Yucheng, while there had been no fighting in Huizhou territory. All along his journey he had heard no war reports from Huizhou Prefecture—how had fighting suddenly broken out for no reason?

How could he know that this was precisely the “playing both sides” strategy devised by Prince Gong and Baojun in Beijing? Anhui Provincial Governor Yuan Jiasan, upon receiving Baojun’s secret letter, didn’t dare delay and urgently arranged military affairs. Miao Peilin was an old fox who, though outwardly obedient, secretly refused to deploy his actual strength, fighting the Taiping Army only half-heartedly as a facade. Yuan Jiasan’s troops had originally been ordered merely to observe from the sidelines, but unexpectedly, as Miao Peilin and the Taiping Army fought, like a twisted rope they also entangled the government forces. When all three sides began fighting, the battlefield continuously expanded, and half of Huizhou Prefecture’s six counties suffered to varying degrees, with the villages around Qiankou Town being among the most severely destroyed.

“How is Gu Family Village now?” Learning from the old man that several villages around Qiankou Town had all failed to escape this calamity, Gu Pingyuan’s heart began to panic.

The old man replied: “Gu Family Village? Ah, I heard that place suffered the worst. Several groups of soldiers collided head-on in the village, and the defeated ones even set fires. I heard the entire village was reduced to rubble.”

The old man’s words had just fallen and he was still sighing when, looking up, the young man before him had already disappeared without a trace.

After mounting his horse, Gu Pingyuan spurred it forward, wishing he could return home a moment sooner to see what had happened. All along the way he dared not imagine the situation in Gu Family Village after the disaster, only hoping that his mother and younger siblings were safe—that would be the greatest fortune.

Following the mountain road eastward, the path wasn’t wide, only allowing two people to walk side by side. After dark, galloping on horseback along this narrow trail was actually quite dangerous—one careless moment could send him tumbling into the Xin’an River tributary below the mountain. But Gu Pingyuan couldn’t care about that, just urging his horse forward at full speed, feeling the rocks and trees beside him whizzing past. After more than an hour, he reached the entrance to Gu Family Village.

Gu Family Village was built in a mountain hollow, sheltered from wind with good feng shui. In front of the village flowed a long stream, with high mountains on both sides like a phoenix spreading its wings—truly excellent feng shui. However, this good feng shui had failed to protect Gu Family Village’s peace this time. Now the village under cover of night had been burned to scattered bricks and broken tiles, with many collapsed roof beams still emitting wisps of smoke. Looking from the village entrance, not only were there no people visible in the entire village, there wasn’t even a single dog to be seen.

Having been away from home for five years, Gu Pingyuan was already full of homesickness and separation anxiety. How could he bear to see such a tragic scene? His eyes swelled with tears, and he was already weeping while still on horseback. Though the houses were destroyed, the stone-paved roads remained, so Gu Pingyuan had no trouble finding his home. His family had originally owned a three-courtyard compound, but to support her children, Gu’s mother had sold the front two courtyards to the village’s wealthy family. As a widow maintaining her household alone, she had bricked up the connecting door to the front courtyard and opened another door from the back wall. Though this made walking more circuitous, it avoided unpleasant gossip.

Now the front two courtyards sold to others had burned completely, leaving not a tile intact. Gu Pingyuan’s home, being separated from the main road, had only had one side wing scorched by the fire, while the other three sides of the “four waters return to the hall” courtyard remained intact.

Gu Pingyuan rushed into his home, shouting loudly: “Mother! Second Brother! Little Sister!” He called until his throat was hoarse, but no one answered.

Gu Pingyuan slumped dejectedly into a chair in the room, pondering: “Where could Mother have taken my two younger siblings?” Either they had fled to town for refuge, or they had been captured by the military, or else… Gu Pingyuan shook his head, not daring to think further, and stood up deciding to return to town to search.

He had just led his horse out of the house when he saw a black shadow walking toward him from the end of the long stone road. Upon seeing him, the figure hesitantly stopped.

“Hey, you are…” Gu Pingyuan called out.

That black shadow actually turned and ran. Without thinking, Gu Pingyuan leaped onto his horse and gave chase. Though his horse had just run a great distance and was tired, when it spread its four hooves it was still much faster than a person. Before long, Gu Pingyuan had caught up from behind. The person looked back, panicked, stepped into a roadside ditch, and tumbled to the ground with a splash.

Gu Pingyuan dismounted again, rushing over in great strides, and heard the person cry out in terror with a cracking voice: “Don’t, don’t, don’t kill me!”

Gu Pingyuan knew the person had mistaken him for government soldiers or Taiping rebels. Taking two more steps forward to offer comfort, he suddenly widened his eyes and cried out: “Pingwen!”

Hearing someone call out his own name, the person lying on the ground was no longer so frightened. Though there was moonlight above, he saw Gu Pingyuan backlit, a dark blur whose features he couldn’t make out, and asked with a trembling voice: “You, you are…”

“I’m your big brother.” His younger brother Gu Pingwen was five years younger than himself, now exactly the age he had been when he left home. The childish features were still faintly recognizable, though black down had also appeared on his lips.

Seeing that Gu Pingwen was still staring at him blankly, Gu Pingyuan simply pulled him up: “Look, am I not your big brother?”

“Big Brother, Big Brother!” Once Gu Pingwen clearly recognized that the person before him was indeed the elder brother who had been exiled to the frontier and whom the whole family had been longing for day and night, he joyfully embraced Gu Pingyuan and wouldn’t let go. Though his mouth was smiling, his eyes couldn’t stop the flowing tears.

Gu Pingyuan also shed tears, but having matters on his mind, he had to quickly calm his emotions and asked: “Where are Mother and Little Sister?”

“Living in the tea shed up the mountain. Most of our village people are hiding there. I snuck down the mountain back home to see if I could find some food for Mother and Sister.”

The tea watchers’ shed was secluded with a small target—indeed a good place to hide from trouble. Gu Pingyuan followed his brother to a nearby mountain slope, which was Gu Pingyuan’s family tea field, usually contracted to neighbors for cultivation.

Before reaching the bamboo shed, Gu Pingwen excitedly called out: “Mother, look who’s come back!” and dove inside.

Gu Pingyuan had dreamed of this day day and night. Now that he had truly returned, he felt his legs weighed a thousand pounds. Hearing his mother’s familiar voice inside ask: “Who is it?” immediately his heart felt like the great tide of Qiantang River washing over him. With a heavy “thud” he knelt heavily on the ground, sobbing as he answered: “Mother, your unfilial son has returned to see you, Mother.”

For a moment there was complete silence inside, then he heard Gu Pingwen urging: “Mother, come out and see, Big Brother has returned.”

“Help me up…” Gu Pingyuan’s mother, Mrs. Hu, also spoke with a trembling voice. When she said “help,” it was naturally because upon hearing her son’s call, her legs had also gone soft and she couldn’t stand up.

When Gu Pingwen helped his mother out and she saw Gu Pingyuan kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down his face, Mrs. Hu staggered a few steps forward, her body swaying as she sat on the ground, extending a trembling hand to stroke Gu Pingyuan’s face: “My son, my son…” She called out like this countless times. Each time she called, Gu Pingyuan responded “Mother,” then she’d call again, and he’d respond again. In this emotional scene, mother and son both unconsciously thought of that poem “Lament of Selling a Son” that the son had once recited during his studies. The mother thought of the lines “When will we meet again after this parting? I caress my child’s body and lick his face,” never expecting that Heaven would open its eyes and send this son back to her side. Gu Pingyuan thought of those two lines “I urge you, child, don’t worry about your parents, for if worry becomes illness, who will care for you?” Ever since leaving Huizhou that year, having experienced so many trials, he now deeply felt that in this world, besides his mother, who else could be so selflessly and uncomplainingly good to him, always thinking of him. At this thought, the mother and son cried heartbrokenly.

Later it was Gu Pingyuan who, fearing his mother would cry herself ill, first stopped his grief and forced a smile: “Mother, don’t cry anymore. Your son has returned safe and sound, and from now on can serve at your knees and attend to you.”

Gu Pingwen also kept urging from the side, and only then did Mrs. Hu reluctantly stop her tears. The family of three entered the small shed, with Mrs. Hu holding her son’s hand and asking about everything—whether he had suffered hardships outside these years, how he could return to his hometown before his exile term was complete. Gu Pingyuan, not wanting to make his mother sad, told half-truths, picking out the good things to say. From his mother’s mouth came a continuous stream of “Buddha protect us, Bodhisattva protect us.” The family of three looked at each other through tear-filled eyes, crying and then laughing, laughing and then crying again.

Gu Pingyuan dared not say he had privately fled back inside the pass, only claiming commuted sentence and release. He had a question that had been weighing on his heart, and after talking for so long finally couldn’t help asking: “Where is Little Sister?”

Little Sister Gu Yuting was one year younger than Pingwen, sweet and lovable since childhood. Gu Pingyuan remembered when he left home for the imperial examination in Beijing, his sister had held his hand asking him to bring back tasty fruits from Beijing. By now she must have grown into a young woman.

Strangely, when Gu Pingyuan asked this question, both his mother and Pingwen fell silent. Just as Gu Pingyuan was getting anxious from waiting, his mother finally said: “Your sister is over by the mountain cliff taking care of Teacher Bai.”

This “Teacher Bai” was none other than Gu Pingyuan’s beloved teacher and mentor. He truly regarded his teacher as a father, and immediately asked urgently: “What happened to Teacher?”

“Sigh, it’s truly hard to explain in words. Just a few days ago everything was fine, how did such a disaster suddenly befall us for no reason?” Mrs. Gu’s face, which had just been beaming with joy, grew melancholy with Gu Pingyuan’s question.

“Big Brother, let me tell you.” Gu Pingwen first had his mother sit to one side, then recounted the general course of events to Gu Pingyuan.

Gu Family Village had suffered military disaster ten days ago. Three groups of soldiers had originally all just been passing through, none initially intending to kill or burn, but inadvertently they all collided in the village, immediately fighting bloodily. The village head, who was also the clan chief, was fairly level-headed and hastily organized the villagers to flee to the mountains while avoiding these fighting men. Unfortunately, Gu Pingyuan’s teacher, being an upright man, saw that even government soldiers were burning and looting like bandits. Having served as county magistrate for two years, he harbored the thought of “pleading for the people” and actually walked onto the battlefield seeking to speak with the government forces’ leader.

On the battlefield everyone’s eyes were red with killing—who would pay attention to this old man? The kinder ones simply pretended not to see, but there were naturally those vicious by nature who struck the old man down with a single blade. Teacher Bai’s daughter rushed from behind to save her father, but before she could get close, she was seized by some unknown group of soldiers.

Teacher Bai had been struck in the back, lost quite a bit of blood, and was seriously injured, but didn’t die on the spot. After those fighting armies withdrew, he was rescued up the mountain by several villagers and was recuperating in a wooden shelter by the mountain cliff. Lacking medical care and medicine, after several days he was barely clinging to life.

“Child, when you go see Teacher Bai, absolutely don’t mention that Yimei was taken by soldiers. Since your teacher’s wife passed away, this child Yimei has been his life. If he knew about this, he wouldn’t be able to hold onto his life.”

After hearing this, Gu Pingyuan’s heart felt cut by knives. He hurriedly nodded, left his brother to accompany their mother, and quickly walked toward the mountain cliff.

Not far from the mountain cliff, Gu Pingyuan could already hear his teacher’s weak coughing and low labored breathing. In his mind immediately appeared the scene from six years ago by the small river in front of the village, when his teacher had seen him off for one stretch after another, his eyes full of caring expectation, only urging him to be extremely careful on the road. Only at the end did he mention the examination, saying: “Don’t discuss literature during the examination. Achieving gold list fame would be best, but if unsuccessful, just come back home to continue studying. Nowhere else has water that nourishes people like home.”

Thinking of this, Gu Pingyuan’s throat choked up, but he didn’t dare cry aloud. He quietly wiped his tears before walking to the thatched shed built with wooden frames.

At this moment a woman in rough cloth dress emerged from the shed. Though her lovely face showed nothing but worry, she was startled upon suddenly seeing Gu Pingyuan, then slowly furrowed her brow, then slowly relaxed it. Her small mouth gradually opened wide, her voice somewhat trembling: “Big, Big Brother?”

Truly “a woman changes dramatically at eighteen”—Gu Pingyuan could recognize his younger brother but couldn’t possibly recognize that this graceful young lady standing before him was the sister who had pestered him for candy five years ago.

“Little Sister, it’s me. I’ve returned.” Seeing his sister about to cry, Gu Pingyuan quickly stopped her, saying softly, “Teacher is inside.”

“Mm, probably the wound hurts, he can’t sleep peacefully. I’ll go call Pingwen to come change Teacher’s medicine.” Little Sister understood and also lowered her voice.

“No need, I’ll do it.” Gu Pingyuan told his sister to go back first, then bent his head and entered the wooden shed. Upon entering, his nose immediately stung and he thought about not wanting to disturb his teacher, but tears kept rolling down—how could he stop them?

Inside the wooden shed was only a reed mat spread on the ground. His teacher lay gaunt and emaciated on the mat facing inward, the wound on his back wrapped with cloth strips still seeping blood. He coughed from time to time, probably pulling at his wound, immediately groaning in pain. Gu Pingyuan gently squatted down, slowly supporting his teacher’s shoulder, calling softly: “Teacher, Teacher, I’m Pingyuan. I’ve returned, come to see you.”

Teacher Bai was running a high fever, semi-consciously opened his eyes a crack, then closed them again. His throat made “gurgling” sounds, like speaking, yet like gasping.

“Teacher, don’t exert yourself, just rest. When you’re better we can talk.” Seeing this, Gu Pingyuan could only first change his teacher’s medicine. When he picked up the medicine bowl placed to one side, Gu Pingyuan felt even worse. What kind of medicine was this? It was nothing but crushed fresh leaves from the tea field. Though tea leaves did have heat-clearing and blood-cooling properties, their medicinal effect was limited. It was just that with no medicine available they had to make do. With trembling hands he applied the “medicine” to the wound on his teacher’s back, then used a handkerchief dipped in water to wipe his teacher’s face and helped him drink a few sips of water. Seeing his teacher finally fall into deep sleep, Gu Pingyuan couldn’t bear to look anymore. He steadied himself and walked out of the wooden shed, returning to his own family.

With the family reunited, naturally there were endless things to talk about. Gu Pingyuan roughly recounted his experiences over the past few years, only then learning that his younger brother had already dropped out of school to return to farming, managing this tea field for the family, while his sister helped their mother with needlework to supplement the household income. The family’s life was naturally hard.

“Son, it’s good that you’ve returned. No matter what, the family is together again. Even if it’s harder, your mother can close her eyes in peace.” Separated by thousands of li, with Gu Pingyuan in the dangerous frontier lands, Mrs. Gu had originally thought she’d never see her eldest son again in this life. Now the joy of “reunion” was enough to comfort the pain of “family destruction” from years past, her eyes and face all carrying smiles.

Gu Pingyuan said: “What words are these, Mother? Your unfilial son hasn’t spent a day abroad without thinking of Mother. These years have been thanks to younger brother and sister fulfilling their filial duties. Now it’s my responsibility. Mother can rest assured—our family’s good days are ahead. Just wait to enjoy happiness.”

This one sentence made the whole family happy. Little Sister Yuting was a straightforward girl who immediately said: “With Big Brother back, our family finally doesn’t have to fear being bullied anymore. Not like Second Brother who’s even more timid than an unbetrothed daughter-in-law.”

“I’m not…” Gu Pingwen blushed and argued half a sentence before being interrupted by his sister.

“Not? That’s strange. If you don’t believe it, Big Brother, ask Mother. Sigh, I’m just a woman, otherwise I would have come out long ago to stand up for our family. Listening through the door to Second Brother’s stammering few words with those people nearly made me die of anger and frustration.”

“What? Someone’s been bullying our family? Is it people from the clan?” Gu Pingyuan was startled.

“No, no, the clan has always looked after our family. Don’t listen to your sister—she makes a small matter sound bigger than the sky.” Mrs. Gu wanted peace above all and didn’t want her eldest son to worry about family matters right after returning.

Gu Pingyuan frowned: “Mother, since there is a matter, I’ll find out sooner or later. Though we don’t provoke trouble, when there are problems we can’t be afraid either.”

Mrs. Gu thought about it and sighed: “Since that’s the case, there’s no harm telling you. Actually it’s not such a big matter.”

As Mrs. Gu said, the matter wasn’t large, but for the Gu family it brought considerable trouble.

The matter involved a tea merchant surnamed Hou who had been in the tea business for over ten years. He bought tea and processed it into tea bricks to sell to Tibet. His capital was neither large nor small—he was a respectable figure whom the trade respectfully called “Second Master Hou,” though behind his back everyone called him “Oily Second Master,” taking the homophone of “Hou” and “oil” to mockingly criticize his greedy and domineering nature, squeezing oil even from stone cracks.

Tea merchants buying tea was like salt merchants buying salt—there had always been territorial divisions. Once boundaries were set, no one could cross into another’s territory to buy tea, otherwise they would violate trade rules and face group opposition. In other words, which merchant tea farmers sold their tea to was also fixed by precedent, with little random reselling. The advantage of this system was that buyers didn’t worry about having nowhere to buy and sellers didn’t worry about having nowhere to sell. According to that year’s seasonal tea prices, it was one hand pays money, one hand delivers goods, saving much trouble.

If everyone conducted business this way, naturally no one would complain. But there were always those who liked to take advantage, and Second Master Hou was one such person. Coincidentally, his tea purchasing territory included this plot belonging to the Gu family. Originally when the Gu family rented their tea field to neighbors there were no problems, but once the Gu family began cultivating it themselves, Second Master Hou found many things to complain about. Sometimes he said the tea quality was poor, sometimes that they weren’t careful in processing, and later he even picked on the Gu family’s tea field feng shui, saying first Gu Pingyuan’s father had disappeared and his fate was unknown, then Gu Pingyuan was exiled to the frontier, implicating his family in sin. Therefore he said tea grown on Gu family land couldn’t be bought at the same price as other families.

“Big Brother, listen to this—he’s clearly bullying Second Brother’s honesty. Mother and I can’t show our faces publicly to reason with him. The result was he forcibly pressed down our family’s tea price by thirty percent. Life was already difficult, how could we endure such bullying…” As Gu Yuting spoke, her small mouth turned down, only forcing herself not to cry.

As Gu Pingyuan listened, anger was already rising in his heart. Considering his mother was beside him, he only forced a smile: “It’s alright. Since Big Brother has returned, naturally I’ll go reason with him.”

Gu Pingyuan currently had no time to deal with Second Master Hou’s matter. What concerned him most was still his teacher’s injuries. He wanted to immediately return to town to find a doctor and buy medicine for his teacher, but outside it was already completely dark. In these times of war and chaos, with mountain roads difficult to travel, how could Mrs. Gu let him go? After much persuasion, she finally said: “Safety must come first. In this pitch darkness, if something happened to you too, how could your teacher plus our entire family continue living?”

Hearing this, Gu Pingyuan could only temporarily rest outside his teacher’s wooden shed, finding a corner sheltered from wind to doze fitfully. But this entire night he never slept soundly, frequently getting up to check on his teacher, also thinking about his teacher’s daughter Bai Yimei who had been seized by rebel soldiers—her whereabouts unknown. Even if his teacher’s wounds healed, once he learned of this matter he would probably go mad with worry.

Bai Yimei was his childhood sweetheart.

Gu Pingyuan had studied at his teacher’s home, seeing Bai Yimei almost daily during those years. Though they spoke little due to proprieties between men and women, seeing each other morning and evening, they had mutual affection and secret feelings had long sprouted—they just hadn’t broken through that final barrier.

Gu Pingyuan’s teacher had actually long regarded him as the ideal choice for son-in-law. Gu Pingyuan had originally planned to inform his mother after the imperial examination and have someone propose marriage. Who could have known that disaster would strike? Since being exiled to the frontier, he felt ashamed of being a criminal with ten years of distant garrison duty ahead, so he had long given up thoughts of marriage with Bai Yimei, forcing himself to erase the girl’s lovely image from his heart.

Now learning that his former beloved had been seized by military bandits—what a woman would suffer in such circumstances was obvious—Gu Pingyuan’s heart felt like someone was squeezing it tightly with their fist. Thinking about it, he always found it hard to fall asleep. Standing up to look down the mountain, he discovered his second brother Pingwen walking toward him—apparently he too had been unable to sleep all night.

“Second Brother, you’ve come at the right time. I have something to ask you.” What Gu Pingyuan wanted to ask about was precisely the matter of his teacher’s daughter. “She was abducted—didn’t her husband’s family go searching for her?”

“What husband’s family? Sister Yimei has never married.”

“Never married? I remember she’s four years older than Yuting, so she must be exactly twenty this year. How could she not be married?” Gu Pingyuan was extremely surprised.

Gu Pingwen shook his head: “I wouldn’t know about that. There have been quite a few marriage proposals, but none succeeded—Sister Yimei always refused. Little Sister often goes to play at her house, and according to Little Sister, Sister Yimei once said she wanted to stay and care for her old father with filial devotion, never marrying for her entire life.”

After hearing this, Gu Pingyuan stood stunned and speechless. In his heart, half-understanding yet half-unclear, he roughly guessed Bai Yimei’s thoughts. His heart ached, and he sighed with his head lowered, saying nothing.

“Big Brother, speaking of these past two years, we really owe Sister Yimei a debt of gratitude. She often came to sit at our house, keeping Mother company and talking with her. Neither Little Sister nor I could help Mother resolve her worries like she could. If not for her, Mother would have long since fallen ill from anxiety over your situation.” Gu Pingwen, not noticing his big brother’s expression, continued speaking.

“Say no more.” Gu Pingyuan closed his eyes and painfully shook his head. “Second Brother, I owe Teacher’s family far too much. Help me look after Teacher—I’m going to town right now to fetch a doctor and buy medicine.”

“But, but it’s not even dawn yet.”

“I can’t worry about that. If Mother asks, just tell her I left at daybreak.” Gu Pingyuan gently led his horse over, walked far enough that the hoofbeats wouldn’t disturb his mother, then mounted and galloped away.

This time he rode even faster than when coming, fortunately having just traveled the road once, he knew in his heart where the dangers and gentle slopes were. Just as dawn was breaking on the horizon, he had already reached the gate of the earthen wall at the town entrance.

The city gate wasn’t yet open. Several other country folk who had also risen early to enter town were dozing against the earthen wall by the roadside. Gu Pingyuan had urgent matters on his mind and couldn’t wait like this, so he went forward to knock on the gate.

After shouting several times, a militiaman came out, but upon hearing that Gu Pingyuan was neither a government courier nor carrying official dispatches, he said impatiently: “Go, go, go, stand aside and wait. Here I thought it was something important—you’ve disturbed my good dreams.”

“Sir, I truly have urgent business. Please do me a favor,” Gu Pingyuan said with patience.

The militiaman glared: “Do you a favor? Who’s doing me favors? Right now outside the city there are both Taiping rebels and bandits. If I open the city gate and let in bad people, are you responsible or am I?”

He paused, looked Gu Pingyuan up and down several times, then smiled with ill intent: “Just looking at you, you’re a stranger to me. Maybe you’re a Taiping spy sent to trick your way into the city.”

Gu Pingyuan knew that reasoning with these military ruffians was useless—better to settle matters with silver. But reaching into his clothes, he discovered that in his haste he had left his traveling bag in the tea shed, bringing no loose silver, only a one-thousand-tael silver note sewn into his jacket.

This silver note was from when Fourth Master Chang had helped Qiao Zhiyong open the tea route, leaving over two thousand taels in surplus. When returning it to Gu Pingyuan, Gu Pingyuan had kept half and given the remainder to Fourth Master Chang to restart his business. This thousand-tael major denomination note was Gu Pingyuan’s capital for returning home to rebuild and start a career. For his teacher’s sake, he naturally wouldn’t be stingy with money, but the problem was that bribes don’t come with change—he couldn’t very well give out the entire thousand taels.

As Gu Pingyuan was in difficulty, the militiaman was already extremely impatient, yawning as he turned to go back inside.

Gu Pingyuan was truly anxious now. He lifted his foot and kicked the city gate twice, shouting loudly: “Open the gate! Open the gate!”

The early morning hours were naturally the quietest time. In the complete silence, Gu Pingyuan’s two kicks were no less than two cannon shots, with the echo in the gate tower frighteningly loud. The militia soldiers guarding the city had already been scared into nervous wrecks by the recent fighting outside the city. Now they all scrambled up in panic, confused about what had happened.

“Old Liu, what’s wrong?”

“Damn it, is it Taiping rebels or bandits? How many?”

With everyone asking questions at once, the “Old Liu” who had first come out to answer pointed outside the gate in panic: “Just one person, but this bastard’s got real nerve—coming to attack the city single-handed with just a horse.”

Hearing there was only one person, the militiamen’s courage immediately grew, and they developed thoughts of capturing someone for reward, saying one after another: “This must be a Taiping scout. Let’s catch him and collect the reward money.”

Just as they were about to open the city gate to capture the person, they saw someone emerge unhurriedly from the small gatehouse room to the side, speaking slowly: “Wait a moment—where are you all going?”

“Oh my, Master Hao, why didn’t you rest at the town office last night? We’ve disturbed you too—such a transgression, such a transgression.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Do you think when I inspect the city defenses of various counties and towns for the prefect, I’m just going through the motions? Without staying at the city gate for several days, how would I know whether you rabble are working hard to guard the city?” The newcomer pointed and scolded with a laugh.

“I heard everything you just said from inside. You’re all looking to die. If that person outside isn’t a Taiping rebel, that’s one thing, but if he really is a Taiping rebel, there must be a large group hiding behind him, just waiting for you to open the city gate so they can rush in. You bunch of bastards, still thinking about capturing people—better worry about getting your heads chopped off.”

When this Master Hao spoke thus, it made all the militiamen feel apprehensive. They looked at each other, and their earlier enthusiasm had long since vanished without a trace.

Master Hao smiled: “Look at you cowards. At least you should ask clearly—we can’t very well keep the city gate closed all day.”

Saying this, Master Hao climbed up the city wall, stuck his head out and said: “Just what kind of person are you? I, surnamed Hao, have sharp eyes like fire—don’t think you can fool me.”

Gu Pingyuan heard the conversation inside the city gate clearly. First he was amused that the soldiers took him for a Taiping rebel, then hearing that Master Hao speak with a clear head, though his voice sounded somewhat familiar. Unable to see his appearance through the city gate, when the man stuck his head out, Gu Pingyuan immediately recognized him and said joyfully: “Old Romantic!”

“Eh?” Master Hao hadn’t expected someone to call him by his nickname so early in the morning. He claimed to have sharp eyes like fire, but was actually quite nearsighted. Squinting to look, he couldn’t see clearly: “Who are you?”

“I’m Little Gu. Have you forgotten? When we went to the provincial capital for the rural examination, staying in the literary hall, you said you were hungry in the middle of the night and insisted on dragging me to eat oil-wrapped pancakes at Fat Shi’s place…”

Master Hao immediately remembered, his mouth splitting into a wide grin: “It’s Brother Gu! Come in, come in quickly! Damn it, you bunch of thieving soldiers, you gave me such a fright. What Taiping rebels—this is my literary friend, the talented scholar Gu who ranked third in the rural examination that year. I only made it to the bottom of the list.” Muttering and grumbling, he directed the militiamen to open the gate.

Seeing it was him, Gu Pingyuan secretly laughed to himself. This man surnamed Hao had originally been a repeatedly unsuccessful scholar who kept taking the autumn examinations. Missing the age limit by just one year before turning forty, he was still taking rural examinations, and that year Gu Pingyuan happened to share the same room with him in the literary hall.

When they entered the examination booth and the topics were distributed, the poetry topic involved the character “late.” This Scholar Hao was touched emotionally and composed a poem titled “An Old Woman Marries,” which read: “At thirty-nine years of age, marrying brings such shame. Looking in the mirror, wrinkles form dimples; holding the comb, snow fills my head. I know myself to be truly a virgin, yet people call me ‘old romantic.’ I send word to young women: don’t boast of being good matches.”

His paper had already been rejected by the room examiner, but that year the education commissioner reviewing papers, Master Zhang, was also a humorous person. Seeing that Scholar Hao’s eight-legged essay was mediocre but his poetry showed genuine self-mockery and self-deprecation, he promoted it and placed it at the very end of the first list.

Scholar Hao became Graduate Hao after passing the examination. He didn’t thank Commissioner Zhang or his own paper, but insisted it was thanks to Gu Pingyuan’s influence. After the rural examination, he kept inviting Gu Pingyuan to meals and drinks. Gu Pingyuan also liked his straightforward personality, unlike the hypocrisy of literati. Though they differed in age by over twenty years, they became close friends. However, when his poem spread, everyone who heard it covered their mouths and laughed, earning him the nickname “Old Romantic.”

When Gu Pingyuan went to Beijing for the metropolitan examination, he had seen him at the Anhui Guild Hall. Now it had been over six years since they’d met. Master Hao welcomed Gu Pingyuan into the city and immediately asked: “Brother, weren’t you exiled to the frontier? You must have been released—truly cause for celebration.”

Gu Pingyuan nodded vaguely. Master Hao’s expression suddenly changed as he said: “Seeing you reminds me of something. Come, let’s go aside to talk.”

“That won’t do.” Gu Pingyuan was anxious as fire and had no mind for reminiscing, so he explained his reason for coming to town.

“Oh, very well then. You handle your urgent business first. I’m currently holding an idle position at the Huizhou Prefectural office, and I won’t be leaving for several days anyway. I’ll come find you to talk another day.”

Gu Pingyuan cupped his hands from horseback, and the two parted hastily.

With so many displaced refugees, there were indeed many sick people in town, but only one doctor who couldn’t spare time to go to Gu Family Village. After asking about Teacher Bai’s condition and learning it wasn’t any difficult or complex illness, he prescribed both internal and external remedies and told Gu Pingyuan to fetch the medicine himself.

Gu Pingyuan rushed non-stop to the money exchange to cash his silver note, obtained the medicine, and hurriedly returned to Gu Family Village.

The medicine was indeed effective for the symptoms, but the teacher was old and weak, and treatment had been delayed for several days, so even after taking medicine his condition fluctuated. Though the fever subsided, his mind remained unclear.

During this time, everyone in Gu Family Village learned that Gu Pingyuan had returned, which counted as one fortunate event amid their misfortunes. Gu Pingyuan was very generous, grateful to his clansmen for caring for his elderly mother and young brother these years. Seeing the village had suffered this great disaster with many families already worrying about food and clothing, he took out half of the silver note he had cashed for medicine and gave it to the clan to buy rice and flour. Though it was insufficient for everyone’s needs, it still helped villagers resolve many urgent problems.

Thus over ten days passed, with Gu Pingyuan keeping watch by his teacher’s side daily, becoming much thinner from exhaustion. On this day, as he was brewing medicine outside the wooden shed, Gu Pingwen came running up breathlessly.

“Big Brother, the clan chief wants to see you.”

“What for?”

“I heard that the Provincial Administration Office sent people to the village to inspect disaster conditions and prepare relief aid. Several clan elders are accompanying them, but for some reason they want Big Brother to come too.”

Gu Pingyuan frowned. He was a fugitive, and though no one knew this currently, he was reluctant to deal with government officials. But since the clan chief had summoned him, he couldn’t refuse. After giving his brother some instructions, he walked down the mountain.

Gu Family Village was now a pile of rubble. Only the earth god temple at the village entrance, being far from the residential houses, had safely survived the disaster. Several village elders were sitting and talking with an official wearing a seventh-rank hat ornament. Seeing Gu Pingyuan enter, the clan chief quickly introduced: “Master Qiao, this is the Gu Pingyuan I mentioned.”

The outside light was glaring, and Gu Pingyuan couldn’t see clearly upon first entering. When he focused his eyes, he nearly cried out in surprise.

This Master Qiao was none other than Qiao Henian, whom he had just parted from half a month ago!

While he was still stunned, Qiao Henian had already spoken first: “Gu Pingyuan, this official has come especially under orders from the Provincial Administration Commissioner to inspect disaster conditions in the villages of She County. Upon entering the village, I immediately heard of your public-spirited righteousness and generous charity, ensuring that not a single person in Gu Family Village starved to death. This merit cannot be called small.”

Gu Pingyuan was extremely clever and, hearing Qiao Henian’s tone suggesting he would pretend they were strangers, quickly knelt and replied: “Your Excellency’s words are too kind. This humble citizen has also read some days of the sages’ books and understands the principle of ‘repaying origins and returning to beginnings.’ Being born and raised here, how could I bear to see fellow villagers suffer without extending a helping hand?”

Only after he knelt did Qiao Henian feel somewhat embarrassed, fortunately someone beside them spoke up.

“Your Excellency, Gu Pingyuan is an acquaintance of mine. He ranked third in the rural examination that year—a famous child prodigy and talented scholar.” Only then did Gu Pingyuan notice that Master Hao was also present.

“Oh?” Qiao Henian didn’t know this and was truly astonished. “If so, then he’s someone with an official degree. Why does he call himself a humble citizen?”

“Ah, Your Excellency doesn’t know.” Master Hao explained that past incident in detail.

Seeing the village elders all present, Gu Pingyuan thought this was exactly the right opportunity to explain, otherwise people had been constantly asking why he returned before his sentence was complete, and if it aroused suspicion and someone reported to the authorities, that would be troublesome. So he continued from Master Hao’s words: “Originally the ten-year sentence was incomplete, but I happened to encounter the former emperor’s passing and the new emperor’s accession, when imperial grace was extended to benefit all quarters. Even someone like me with remaining sins received the imperial favor and was released early to return home.”

This wasn’t made up—in fact, half a month after he fled back inside the pass, the court issued a general amnesty edict, with crimes like Gu Pingyuan’s included in the pardon list. This was truly a strange coincidence. Had Gu Pingyuan known of this edict earlier, why would he have risked death to flee back inside the pass? Now not only could he not be pardoned, but his crimes were compounded. Fortunately, after inquiring these days, he learned that the frontier military camp had issued no documents for his arrest, apparently because the camp officers, to avoid charges of lax supervision, had conspired together to cover up the matter. This meant that as long as no one reported him, he was relatively safe inside the pass, though he needed to be constantly careful not to walk into danger.

This was also Qiao Henian’s first time hearing Gu Pingyuan tell this story. He first ordered Gu Pingyuan to rise, then nodded and sighed: “Time, luck, and fate. Though your official degree was stripped, when one has poetry and books in the belly, one’s bearing naturally shows refinement. Observing your conduct this time reveals your character. When a great man establishes himself in the world, he need not be overly concerned with official degrees. As the saying goes, ‘In all three hundred sixty trades, each trade produces its champions.'”

These words struck right to Gu Pingyuan’s heart. He respectfully replied: “Yes, Your Excellency’s instruction—Pingyuan will remember it carefully.”

“You are old friends with many years of friendship—meeting again you surely have much to discuss. I still need to visit South Mountain. Master Hao need not follow this official—just stay here and chat with your old friend.” Saying this, Qiao Henian gave Gu Pingyuan a meaningful look, indicating he would handle official business first and they could talk slowly later, then continued his inspection accompanied by several elders, leaving Master Hao and Gu Pingyuan to converse in the temple.

The two naturally had to discuss their situations since parting. Master Hao had failed the metropolitan examination twice but was content with his fate, knowing his passing the rural examination was already fortunate, so he gave up thoughts of becoming a jinshi. Graduates were among the gentry and by regulation couldn’t fill vacancies, but could seek positions in government offices—success depending entirely on personal connections. Master Hao had spent these years moving between various Anhui government offices, and thanks to his diplomatic nature, he occasionally obtained assignments. With assignments came extra income, and though Master Hao couldn’t handle big matters, he kept busy with small ones, making his yearly life quite comfortable. Like this time, when superiors sent people to inspect disaster conditions, he came along with Acting County Magistrate Qiao Henian, nominally as an assistant, but actually just tagging along for appearances and to collect travel expenses upon return.

Gu Pingyuan also selected what he could tell, relating his experiences over the years to Master Hao. When he finished, Master Hao’s expression grew heavy: “Sigh, when you got into trouble back then, I was also in Beijing but couldn’t help much. Thinking about it afterward always…”

“Brother Hao,” Gu Pingyuan waved his hand, “you were also unfamiliar with people and places in the capital, naturally having the will but lacking the power. Besides, so many years have passed—why blame yourself?”

“It’s not that simple. As friends who know each other, there’s something…” Master Hao was usually straightforward, rarely showing such hesitation as if something were stuck in his throat. Gu Pingyuan couldn’t help but grow curious.

“Brother Hao, just speak directly if you have something to say.”

“Then I’ll speak directly.” Master Hao straightened his posture, his expression becoming serious. “That bastard who spread false information outside the examination booth window to harm you—he wasn’t actually never found. The examination hall was strictly guarded—even if a fly entered, countless eyes would be watching. He’s not a deity—how could no one have seen him?”

Gu Pingyuan never dreamed Master Hao would bring up this matter. Though he already knew it was Zhang Guangfa who did it, he couldn’t help but listen attentively.

“I heard that people from Shuntian Prefecture caught that person the very next day, but quietly released him the day after. They neither said whether they caught the right or wrong person, and everyone including the assistants in the examination hall were warned not to mention this person again.”

“Then, what about this person?” Gu Pingyuan asked urgently. What he wanted to know was whether anyone had pursued the matter further.

“Don’t know. After being released, he disappeared without a trace. Several times when I took assignments requiring travel to Beijing on official business, I specifically made inquiries about this matter. With time passed, the news wasn’t so restricted anymore. Guess what?” Master Hao looked around, lowered his voice slightly: “Reportedly, this person could be released because Beijing merchants used silver to smooth things over, and also used Beijing merchant influence to pressure Shuntian Prefecture. Prefect Yang of Shuntian Prefecture always had a good official reputation, but in the end he too remained silent.”

“Beijing merchants?” Gu Pingyuan murmured to himself. He had thought that with Zhang Guangfa’s death, the truth of his wrongful conviction would sink like a stone to the bottom of the sea. He hadn’t expected Master Hao’s words to show him another glimmer of light. “So it wasn’t just him who framed me—there were other Beijing merchants also scheming behind the scenes.”

“But…” The more Gu Pingyuan thought about it, the more puzzled he became. “From when I arrived in Beijing to entering the examination hall was barely a month. To say I might have accidentally offended one person is possible, but to say I offended Beijing merchants enough that they would use heavy methods against me—isn’t that ridiculous?”

Master Hao shook his head: “I’ve handled quite a few criminal cases over the years. Some things are so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face—impossible to see through or understand clearly.” He pulled out a short pipe from his waist, filled it with tobacco and lit it, took a long draw and exhaled, then continued: “Criminal cases always need a reason. Often the case circumstances are bizarre, but the motives are commonplace. Like the Nine Lives Strange Injustice case in Huguang during Yongzheng’s reign—when finally resolved, it turned out to be nothing more than a principal wife’s jealousy of a concubine. Or the Shandong County Magistrate Suicide Case during Jiaqing’s reign—only on the day of vindication did they understand it was because a superior was corrupt and his subordinate refused to participate in evil, so the superior bribed the subordinate’s servants to strangle him and disguise it as suicide. All such cases, in the end, mostly come down to these six characters: ‘gratitude, resentment, emotion, revenge, fame, profit.’ But you also need both witness and material evidence, plus an official who understands affairs thoroughly, and a legal secretary with clear knowledge of regulations—only then can the truth come to light. As for your case, it was never even tried—wanting to clarify it would be a fool’s dream.”

These words made perfect sense. Gu Pingyuan also knew that racking his brains for so many years had yielded no understanding, and with Zhang Guangfa’s death, there was no one left to confront. Master Hao’s words were entirely correct—he shouldn’t harbor any hopes. However, when Master Hao mentioned “gratitude, resentment, emotion, revenge, fame, profit,” Gu Pingyuan’s heart suddenly stirred, as if he had thought of something but couldn’t grasp it. Just as he was frowning in deep thought, someone outside the earth god temple laughed: “Hearing your discourse is better than reading books for ten years. In my view, Master Hao has profound understanding of legal principles.”

With these words, Qiao Henian walked in alone.

Master Hao quickly stood up: “Magistrate Qiao, you must have finished your official business—you’ve worked hard.”

Gu Pingyuan was about to kneel, but Qiao Henian quickly stepped forward to support him: “Pingyuan, given our friendship, in front of outsiders we must maintain official protocol and hierarchy, but now with only your acquaintance here, why be so formal?”

“You two…” Master Hao’s eyes widened.

Seeing that Qiao Henian didn’t wish to conceal anything, Gu Pingyuan naturally also selected the important points to tell how he had met Qiao Henian in Shanxi. Of course, some details were elaborate while others were brief, and some couldn’t be mentioned at all. Like the matter of joining with Qiao Henian to outmaneuver Prince Gong, Gu Pingyuan didn’t mention a word. The Diaosi Ridge incident he kept completely silent about, and to preserve dignity, Gu Pingyuan also didn’t say much about Qiao Henian’s family affairs. As a result, he ended up talking more about himself and less about Qiao Henian. This account left Master Hao completely astounded.

“Good heavens, Brother Gu! You, you’re truly remarkable! Meeting wind you become a dragon, meeting rain you become a tiger. Though you lost your official degree, you’re just as outstanding in business—remarkable!”

After Gu Pingyuan modestly deflected the praise, Qiao Henian suddenly showed worry: “Speaking of your village, it’s truly been severely destroyed. Just now I walked around the village—every household’s residence and the clan ancestral hall have all been burned clean. To rebuild everything from scratch, wouldn’t that require tens of thousands of taels of silver?”

As soon as Gu Pingyuan opened his mouth: “Your Excellency…”

“Pingyuan, given our friendship, wouldn’t calling me that create distance between us?”

“Then I’ll follow Brother Hao’s lead and call you ‘Magistrate Qiao.'” This was how people in official circles addressed each other, sounding quite proper, and Qiao Henian nodded.

Gu Pingyuan continued: “Magistrate Qiao, you must have seen that the tea fields are unharmed. Apart from those who’ve gone out to do business, our village lives by growing tea. Spring tea picking is about to begin—as long as we can sell the tea leaves, every household can catch their breath. With frugal living for a few years, they can rebuild their houses.”

After hearing this, Qiao Henian shook his head slightly, while Master Hao let out a cold laugh: “I’m afraid it won’t be that easy.”

“Brother Hao, what do you mean by that?”

“We went to the county office first from the provincial capital. The clerks in the revenue department told us that the tea merchants have currently banded together and are all refusing to come collect tea from these disaster-stricken counties. Magistrate Qiao is worrying about this very matter.”

Gu Pingyuan was startled: “Not collecting tea? Why is this?”

“What’s unclear about this? As you just said, disaster-stricken areas urgently need money. If tea merchants delay, they can drive down prices.” Master Hao said disdainfully, “They’re all from the same local area, yet so black-hearted. No wonder people say ‘no merchant is not…’ ” He glanced at Gu Pingyuan and swallowed the rest of his words.

Gu Pingyuan understood immediately and quickly asked: “Are the prefecture and county just sitting by and doing nothing?”

“How can they intervene? The merchants aren’t engaging in forced buying or selling—they’re just clutching their silver and refusing to buy. Among the 460 articles of the Great Qing Legal Code, not one can deal with these unscrupulous merchants. Even the prefect can only invite their leaders for gentle persuasion, but can’t do anything to them.” Qiao Henian said with a bitter smile.

“I understand. They’re also taking advantage of the fact that villages have no money to transport tea elsewhere and can only sell to them, so they act without fear.” Gu Pingyuan asked again, “Who’s the leader?”

“I heard he’s called Second Master Hou, nicknamed ‘Oily Second Master’—a tea tyrant. This whole affair was his idea, jumping up and down to incite a bunch of tea merchants.”

“So it’s him!” Just hearing Second Master Hou’s name made Gu Pingyuan furious, and he secretly gritted his teeth.

Qiao Henian looked at Gu Pingyuan, then at Master Hao, his mind constantly working. Ever since arriving at the provincial administration office to report for duty and submitting his calling card, the provincial administrator had only spared time for a brief meeting with a cold tone, not mentioning appointment to a vacancy at all. Though Qiao Henian went to the office daily to await instructions, whether for permanent posts or temporary assignments, his name never appeared on the roster. After some discreet inquiries, he learned that the provincial administrator came from the Ministry of Revenue background. Without question, Baojun must have given advance warning—wanting to get an appointment under this man would be harder than reaching heaven.

After being strung along for over ten days, Qiao Henian was trapped in worry. Several times in despair he wanted to throw down his official hat and resign, but each time he endured it to save face. After several more days, the military disaster in She County was reported layer by layer upward. The provincial administration office assigned the task of finding someone to inspect the various villages, but not only did no one volunteer, those who were assigned all fell ill. Actually, this wasn’t surprising—disaster relief was usually a lucrative assignment, but unfortunately this disaster was military in nature, and Provincial Governor Yuan Jiasan’s troops were the very instigators. Once sent out to inspect, upon return one would have to file detailed reports. Not reporting would mean dereliction of duty; reporting would offend the provincial governor. Moreover, Governor Yuan would certainly want to cover up this matter, so disaster relief funds would likely be difficult to obtain. When the time came, the officials sent to inspect would bear the brunt, caught between the governor and resentful civilians, inevitably ground to powder.

It seemed no one was willing to go, but there happened to be someone bold enough. This person was precisely Qiao Henian. Others felt this assignment might turn out like “Zhu Bajie looking in a mirror—not human inside or out,” but Qiao Henian had unique insight, seeing that the provincial administrator was troubled by this matter, as was the governor. If this assignment were handled well, both major officials in the province would owe him a favor. Since being stuck here wasn’t working anyway, better to take a gamble. With this thought, he accepted the assignment. The provincial administrator was indeed worried—controlling a province’s finances, disaster relief was his responsibility. If he didn’t act and disaster victims rioted, that would be serious indeed. Originally the governor had caused the trouble, but it would end up with him taking the blame—too disadvantageous.

Rare that Qiao Henian volunteered at this moment, the provincial administrator was naturally overjoyed. He summoned Qiao Henian to the office document room, unusually speaking warmly, while hinting that if this assignment were completed satisfactorily, he could guarantee Qiao Henian a real appointment to a prefecture or county position.

For this reason, Qiao Henian had put considerable thought into his journey. He also saw that though She County’s disaster was severe, military disaster was different from drought, flood, or locusts—only civilian residences were damaged, while crops, especially the tea fields that She County people depended on for livelihood, were mostly intact. This made things easier. As long as tea could be sold, common people would have ready money. Qiao Henian himself came from a poor background and understood common people’s thinking better than anyone. As long as they hadn’t reached desperation, as long as they still had food and drink, who would rebel and cause trouble? Once money was in hand, people’s thoughts would naturally turn to how to use this money to rebuild their livelihoods. So whether there was disaster relief silver didn’t matter much—the urgent task was to quickly help people sell their tea.

Who knew things wouldn’t go smoothly, running into Second Master Hou taking advantage of the situation to bully and dominate the market. When the prefect mediated, he was there as an appointed special commissioner, so he was present and had dealt with this Second Master Hou once. Observing coldly, this man had the look of a jackal, his face full of greed. Relying on wealth and power, he didn’t regard Qiao Henian at all. Though superficially respectful, his words had barbs, constantly invoking court regulations and law, saying merchants couldn’t be forced to buy tea. The result was choking Qiao Henian speechless.

If tea couldn’t be sold, real chaos would indeed break out. Predictably, when that time came, the one taking blame wouldn’t be the provincial administrator, but himself, this seventh-rank minor official. Qiao Henian was so anxious he couldn’t sleep. Suddenly at night he remembered that when they parted under Anqing city walls, Gu Pingyuan had mentioned his hometown was Gu Family Village in She County. After their encounters in Shanxi, Qiao Henian knew well that Gu Pingyuan had excellent business talent—perhaps he had a solution to this matter. So Qiao Henian’s coming to Gu Family Village wasn’t coincidental meeting with Gu Pingyuan—he had come specifically to seek advice.

Qiao Henian felt his relationship with Gu Pingyuan was quite subtle. Originally in Mongolia, Gu Pingyuan was Boss Gu while he was a small clerk—they were friends in adversity. Back in Shanxi, Gu Pingyuan had generously helped him, and later they had joined forces to drive out Wang Tiangui—this friendship was extraordinary. Only Gu Pingyuan knew about his time as a bandit, and it seemed he wouldn’t reveal it, but bonds of gratitude were needed for peace of mind. Moreover, coming alone to serve as an official in Anhui, wanting to accomplish anything, it seemed he must rely on this person’s capabilities.

Thinking this, Qiao Henian felt he should clarify his purpose, lest Gu Pingyuan see through it and make things awkward.

“The situation is as I’ve described. Waiting for government relief is like flowers in a mirror or moon in water. If tea can’t be sold, there’s no guarantee against riots.” After explaining the situation, Qiao Henian lowered his voice: “Pingyuan, speaking honestly among our own people, it’s quite possible Governor Yuan is hoping for exactly this.”

Master Hao was experienced in officialdom. Though never an official himself, he had observed much through exposure. Hearing this, he was visibly moved and gave a thumbs up: “Magistrate Qiao’s thinking is truly sharp—you’ve probably hit upon the governor’s real thoughts.”

Gu Pingyuan still didn’t understand, so Master Hao also said in a low voice: “If villagers are really driven to rebellion, even just gathering to petition could be viewed as Taiping rebel activity. Then wouldn’t it prove the governor’s troops were justified in their previous suppression? Moreover, they could legitimately suppress again, making it all a confused account that imperial censors couldn’t investigate.”

“This… surely not.” Gu Pingyuan was horrified to hear this. After all, they were officials—surely they couldn’t be more vicious than bandits.

“I hope I’m worrying unnecessarily, but officialdom is dirty. To protect their positions, they’ll do anything—one can’t help but be on guard.” Qiao Henian said.

“Then we absolutely must quickly resolve this matter, let nearby villagers sell their tea for good prices, giving everyone a way to live.”

“Exactly.” Hearing Gu Pingyuan say this himself, Qiao Henian quickly picked up the thread: “But that Second Master Hou has his mouth clamped tight, seemingly with insatiable greed. Even the prefect’s personal intervention failed. I really can’t think of any other solution.”

Gu Pingyuan clenched his fists, paced back and forth twice in the earth god temple, then stopped and said with determination: “Even if we weren’t related, I couldn’t watch this Second Master Hou ruin merchants’ reputations. Much less being from the same local area—I can’t sit by while fellow villagers suffer. Right now I don’t have any good ideas, but ‘plan thoroughly before acting’ can’t be wrong. Magistrate Qiao, Brother Hao, if you two have no pressing matters, why not stay temporarily in my Gu Family Village for a day or two? After I gather some information, we can discuss further.”

Qiao Henian and Master Hao looked at each other and both nodded.

Gu Pingyuan sent his brother to gather information, but unfortunately Gu Pingwen wasn’t a businessman, so it wasn’t until three days later that he brought back reliable news.

“Magistrate Qiao, it turns out this Second Master Hou is single-mindedly determined to squeeze the tea farmers. He’s calculated that tea farmers have no alternative, so they’ll eventually sell him tea at reduced prices. He’s even put down deposits on water and land transport, just waiting for tea farmers to deliver goods before shipping via Chengdu to Tibet and the Western Regions.”

“So he’s not as leisurely as he appears on the surface?”

Gu Pingyuan nodded: “Exactly. If the deadline arrives and there’s still no tea to load onto vehicles and boats, he’ll first have to pay a large sum in transport fees. That’s just the surface—since he’s arranged transport, he must have also notified buyers on the other end, who would also need to clear warehouse space and arrange resale. So if he can’t get this tea, his reputation will suffer greatly, and he might even have to compensate downstream buyers for losses.”

“But regardless, tea farmers’ urgency to sell is a hundred times greater than this Second Master Hou’s.” Master Hao reminded.

Gu Pingyuan smiled: “We won’t worry about that. As long as Second Master Hou is also anxious, we’ll make him suffer a loss he can’t speak about.”

Qiao Henian’s eyes lit up: “Pingyuan, do you have an idea?”

“I have one idea, and it comes from you, Magistrate Qiao. Without you, this plan would have no chance of success.”

“What do you need me to do? Just say it.” Qiao Henian knew Gu Pingyuan wouldn’t say this without confidence.

“You want the department to issue such a notice? This is simply nonsense!” The provincial administrator was a Manchu banner man named Bukhe. He had never held much hope for Qiao Henian’s mission, just wanting to find a scapegoat. Now hearing Qiao Henian’s report, he immediately flew into a rage.

“Your Excellency, please allow me to explain.” Qiao Henian was furious inside—when sending him out, they had promised full support, but now refused to take any responsibility. However, arguing with superiors was a major taboo in officialdom, so he spoke softly and reasonably: “The key to this disaster relief lies entirely in whether tea merchants are willing to buy tea at previous years’ prices. If willing, all will be well; if not, it could easily lead to civil unrest. To make tea merchants submit, this notice from the provincial administration office is essential.”

Bukhe’s expression grew even darker: “From your tone, it seems that if I don’t issue this notice, then the responsibility for poor disaster relief and inciting civil unrest all falls on this official.”

“This subordinate would never dare suggest such a thing.”

“Enough.” Bukhe impatiently interrupted, “You should know that once this notice is issued, if civilians panic and cause trouble, that would entirely be this official’s responsibility. Think of another solution—I absolutely will not allow this!” Having said this, he didn’t see his guest out, but stood up and angrily hurried out of the document room.

When Qiao Henian emerged from the provincial administration office, Master Hao was waiting outside. One look at his expression told the story.

“Administrator Bukhe indeed refused?”

“As expected.”

“So you’re really going to take this risky move?”

“There’s no choice in the matter. Now with a thousand-pound burden on my shoulders, I can’t shirk responsibility. Poor disaster relief will make me a scapegoat—one impeachment memorial and my official hat is gone. Since that’s the case, better to take desperate measures. I’ve sized up this administrator—he’s smooth in his official conduct. If something threatens his career, even if I offend him, he’ll swallow his anger for the moment, and instead we might accomplish this matter.”

“Just afraid of settling scores later.”

“One takes things step by step. First get through the current assignment, and future matters can be dealt with later.” After arriving in the provincial capital, Qiao Henian had been recommended a servant named Kang Qi by a fellow provincial. Officials, no matter how poor, needed at least one servant to help deliver calling cards, carry clothing bags, and lift curtains. Qiao Henian thus employed Kang Qi, and now beckoned him over.

“Take the things and come in with me,” he instructed.

“This…” Kang Qi had previously served two other masters, and his mouth twisted: “Master, this doesn’t seem proper.”

Qiao Henian glared: “If I’m not afraid, what are you afraid of? If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up. Let’s go!” Saying this, he turned and strode back into the provincial administration office.

Master Hao watched Qiao Henian’s departing figure and nodded admiringly. This official seemed different from others—worth supporting. Thinking this, he also hurried toward the teahouse where government runners usually drank tea and chatted.

“Outrageous! Simply improper! Three days now—does he really think my provincial administration document room is an inn’s upper room?” Bukhe raged in the government office’s rear flower hall. For three days, many provincial capital officials had borrowed the excuse of conducting office business to actually come gawk. This dignified government office had become a theater stage—where was official dignity?

At this moment his two secretaries, one surnamed Jia and one surnamed Qin, were both in the flower hall. Secretary Jia always acted according to Bukhe’s moods, and now also spoke indignantly: “Traditionally only superiors urge subordinates to handle assignments, but now it’s reversed. A mere seventh-rank official dares threaten Your Excellency—refusing to give him the notice so he sleeps in the document room, even moving in bedding and luggage. In my opinion, directly order people to throw him and his bedding onto the street, then impeach him to have him dismissed and sent packing.”

Secretary Qin had a clearer head. Seeing Bukhe eager to try this, he immediately waved his hands: “No good. Taking such action at this juncture would give Your Excellency a bad reputation.”

“How so?”

“This man surnamed Qiao dares act this way, clearly not considering consequences. Now someone outside is building momentum for him, all saying he’s wholehearted for the people, honest and pitiable. Your Excellency, think—if you beat and impeach him, Your Excellency’s official reputation…”

“This…”

“Also, Your Excellency’s original intention was to have this man surnamed Qiao stand in front, avoiding conflict with the provincial governor. Now if you really impeach him, that’s easy enough, but where will you find another such scapegoat and sacrificial lamb? So I say this man surnamed Qiao is taking a risky move that looks rash but is actually quite calculating. He might even be trying to use this opportunity to escape.”

“According to you, this official can do nothing to him.”

“Not necessarily.” Secretary Qin said slowly, “The notice might as well be given to him first. This way Your Excellency has done everything possible. If he uses this notice to handle the assignment beautifully, that’s still Your Excellency’s achievement. If he can’t handle it, hmph, then Your Excellency can deal with him, and no one could say a word against it.”

After long consideration, Bukhe finally nodded: “Fine, I’ll retreat one step first and see just what capabilities this man surnamed Qiao has!”

“Pingyuan, take a look.” Qiao Henian had barely slept a wink in the provincial administration document room. This matter was too critical—anyone who could sleep soundly wouldn’t be human. Now his eyes were bloodshot as he held a written notice bearing the official seal of the provincial administration.

“This notice exactly meets your requirements, stating that because Taiping rebels have invaded this area, the tea mountains will soon be burned to scorched earth to prevent tea from being seized by rebels and thus aiding the enemy.”

Master Hao also craned his neck to look: “Brother Gu, I completely understand your strategy. It’s drawing the bow without releasing the arrow, forcing those tea merchants to buy tea. If they don’t buy, they won’t be able to buy even if they want to later. But my concern remains—this tactic is actually just big talk to deceive people, not matching facts. Taiping rebels only seize grain supplies—I’ve never heard of seizing tea leaves, much less seizing unharvested tea leaves.”

“Brother Hao,” Gu Pingyuan said calmly, “what you say is factual, and this point you know, I know, but those tea merchants don’t know. They make money from tea leaves—in their eyes tea leaves are silver, and naturally everyone wants to seize silver. This belief is deeply rooted in their hearts. As the saying goes, ‘one leaf blocks the view of Mount Tai’—once the notice appears, they’ll panic and won’t have time to carefully consider the flaws in this reasoning.”

Qiao Henian said: “You’re gambling on their psychology. There aren’t many knowledgeable people among tea merchants—I think this notice should frighten them.”

Once the prefectural notice appeared, the previously united tea merchants immediately fell into chaos. They had originally gathered in Qiankou Town to await news, never expecting to receive such a thunderbolt.

The notice was posted early in the morning at local security offices in various villages and towns, but Second Master Hou was unaware. He came to the famous “Tianhe” tea shop in town for breakfast—a steamer of crab roe soup dumplings, two oil pancakes, four small dishes, plus a pot of scalding Maofeng tea. He was eating with relish when a group of tea merchants rushed in frantically to find him.

“Second Master Hou, this is terrible!”

“Hmm, what’s happened?”

“The provincial administration office posted a notice saying they’re going to burn the tea mountains.”

Second Master Hou was startled: “Burn tea mountains? Why would they burn tea mountains for no reason?”

“Oh, we can’t explain clearly either. You should go see for yourself.”

Surrounded by the crowd, Second Master Hou came to the wall outside the town office, where indeed a notice was posted bearing the prefectural seal. Second Master Hou carefully read the text and pondered its meaning, then burst out laughing.

“You can still laugh! We should hurry to collect tea. If we’re late and the tea mountains really get burned, this year we won’t just fail to make money—we’ll lose a fortune.” Everyone discussed anxiously.

“Everyone please wait.” Second Master Hou raised both hands, and when the surroundings quieted somewhat, he pointed at the notice on the wall: “No need to panic—this notice is fake!”

Government notices were like imperial edicts in common people’s eyes—who dared question them? When Second Master Hou declared it fake, the tea merchants immediately became agitated again, with everyone talking at once.

Second Master Hou pressed his hands downward and said loudly: “Everyone listen to me. A few days ago the prefect invited me to discuss purchasing tea leaves—you all must know this, and also know that for everyone’s benefit I didn’t take the bait. Officials want to protect their positions, so there’s no reason they’d let us tea merchants watch white silver slip by without earning it, right?” He spoke in a mocking tone: “If they won’t drink the offered wine, naturally they must be force-fed. This notice must be a scheme the government devised specifically to deal with us tea merchants. Because we won’t buy tea, they say they’ll burn the tea mountains to force us to buy tea. If you all go, that would be falling short of success at the final step—falling into their trap.”

This Second Master Hou was truly cunning, dismantling Gu Pingyuan’s stratagem with just a few words, and only then did the tea merchants realize what was happening.

“That’s right, that’s right, that’s the reasoning. If not for Second Master Hou, we really would have fallen for this trick.”

Second Master Hou said smugly: “Everyone go do what you should be doing. Third Master Li, go listen to your opera. Fifth Master Wang, Third Brother Zhao, go play your mahjong. Brother Chen, if you don’t accompany that new concubine you just married, I might go keep her company instead.”

Amid everyone’s laughter, Second Master Hou added: “Rest assured, they urgently need money and can’t hold out much longer. This windfall of ours is certain.”

Ever since the government office issued the notice, Qiao Henian had been staying in Qiankou Town, borrowing the local security office as his place to work and rest. Daily he sent people to inquire whether any tea merchants had gone to the countryside to buy tea, but they all returned disappointed.

By now, news of his falling out with Administrator Bukhe had spread throughout the province. Prefects and county magistrates wished they could stay far away from him, lest Administrator Bukhe mistake them for being in league with him. Since Qiao Henian was willing to exert effort and take responsibility, local officials were happy to wash their hands of the matter.

“When I was first assigned here, these officials held grand banquets to entertain me. Now in the blink of an eye, I’m sitting on the cold bench.” Qiao Henian said with a bitter smile.

“Such is officialdom. Who told Your Honor to offend a superior while having no power in hand? If you held authority, would you worry about having no one to serve you?” Master Hao had seen much of this over the years and wasn’t surprised at all.

“Now that I’m despised by all, Master Hao alone remains loyal—truly rare.” Qiao Henian glanced at Master Hao.

Master Hao held up three fingers: “There are naturally reasons for this. First, this is also my native place, and since Your Honor is willing to exert yourself to maintain order, naturally I have no reason not to help. Second, Your Honor is Brother Gu’s close friend, and I’m Brother Gu’s old acquaintance—this favor cannot go unrendered. As for the third,” a sly smile appeared on his face, “if Your Honor succeeds in this matter, naturally I’ll benefit by association. Even if it fails, it won’t implicate this poor graduate who holds no position or office.”

“Ha ha ha.” Qiao Henian laughed heartily. “Master Hao speaks frankly. I hope this matter succeeds—then naturally I’ll have use for Master Hao’s talents.”

Though he spoke thus, ten days passed in a flash with no movement from the tea merchants. Tea farmers were all anxiously waiting, and some were already preparing to sell at low prices. Knowing that once this opening appeared, things would spiral out of control, Qiao Henian urgently sent Kang Qi to fetch Master Hao for consultation.

“Master Hao, have you heard that some tea farmers are already preparing to sell tea at cheap prices?” As soon as Master Hao entered, Qiao Henian asked impatiently.

Master Hao nodded helplessly, then said: “Now we’re in real trouble. Every household is waiting for rice to cook. Once someone sells at the low price offered by tea merchants, many will follow suit. Once these unscrupulous merchants taste success, they’ll press prices even lower, and even autumn tea prices will plummet. I’m afraid tea farmers won’t be able to recover for several years.”

Qiao Henian frowned deeply: “This is exactly what I’m worried about. Now the Taiping rebels are constantly recruiting soldiers. If the people can’t eat their fill or dress warmly, isn’t this forcing them to rebel? Hateful that officials throughout the province only look at immediate concerns, completely disregarding future consequences.”

A seventh-rank acting official constantly thinking about governance—truly having the flavor of caring for family, state, and world. Master Hao listened and secretly admired this.

“Most hateful are those tea merchants who only care about making money, completely without conscience. Your Honor has repeatedly tried gentle persuasion, but they just won’t listen!” Master Hao was also losing his composure, then continued: “Perhaps if we wait a bit longer, Gu Pingyuan’s stratagem might still prove useful…”

Qiao Henian shook his head: “It won’t work. If the tea merchants had been fooled, they would have come to buy tea long ago. It seems they’ve seen through our trick. Sigh, it’s also my fault for thinking things too simply. By the way, Gu Pingyuan hasn’t been seen these past days. You often visit Gu Family Village—what is he doing?”

“He…” Master Hao opened his mouth. In fact, these past days Gu Pingyuan had only occasionally asked whether any tea merchants had come to buy tea. The rest of the time he was either talking with his mother or keeping watch by his teacher’s bedside, bringing soup and medicine. Though this had been his idea, now he seemed completely unconcerned, as if it had nothing to do with him. Master Hao couldn’t understand what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Seeing Master Hao’s hesitant manner, Qiao Henian understood somewhat and shook his head with a sigh: “I’m afraid he too has become disheartened. It looks like I’ve made a cocoon to bind myself, trapping myself inside.”

“Now you know!” The words came with the person, as Provincial Administrator Bukhe strode in from outside. Qiao Henian and Master Hao quickly stepped forward to greet him.

Bukhe’s face was clouded with anger, smiling without warmth: “Master Qiao, initially you spoke so boldly, ‘One notice to pacify the realm’—how is it now?”

“…” Qiao Henian had no words in response and could only remain silent.

“By order of the Provincial Governor, Acting County Magistrate Qiao Henian acted arbitrarily and missed the opportunity for disaster relief. To appease popular anger, he is to be dismissed from office pending investigation.” Bukhe’s voice carried no emotion. “The impeachment is official business of the department—tomorrow I shall submit the document to the Ministry of Personnel.”

For such an impeachment case, the Ministry of Personnel would naturally have no reason to reject it. Qiao Henian steeled his heart, ignoring Master Hao’s restraining look, and removed his official hat: “Since this subordinate’s position is definitely being removed, why make extra trouble? Please accept it today, Your Excellency.”

“You do know your place.” Bukhe sneered and gestured for someone nearby to take it. Just at this moment, a servant came running urgently from the second gate, apparently having run so hard he was out of breath: “Report, report to Your Excellency…”

The one running in was precisely Kang Qi. Qiao Henian was startled and turned to ask: “What matter is so urgent?”

He heard Kang Qi say intermittently: “Outside, outside, burning, burning…”

“What?” Everyone present was shocked, including Bukhe, all thinking there was a fire in town, deeply fearing a Taiping sneak attack. Everyone rushed out of the government office in great strides. Looking around, they saw nothing amiss. Just as Qiao Henian was about to scold Kang Qi, Master Hao beside him suddenly pointed into the distance: “Your Honor, isn’t that fire?”

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw thick black smoke rising from mountains in the far distance, in the direction of Gu Family Village.

“Your Excellency, Gu Family Village has suddenly caught fire. Since Your Excellency has already arrived in Qiankou Town, it’s only twenty-some li away—shouldn’t you go comfort the villagers?” Seeing Bukhe just staring blankly, Qiao Henian felt disgusted and said coldly.

Bukhe was startled—he didn’t have the courage to go. If it were just an accidental fire that would be manageable, but if it were Taiping rebels setting fires, wouldn’t he, a third-rank official, be walking into a trap? But the provincial administrator was specifically in charge of civil affairs. Seeing the fire was substantial, not going required a face-saving reason.

“Qiao Henian, the department assigned you specifically to manage disaster relief. Isn’t this fire a disaster? This matter is precisely your responsibility—how can you push it off on your superior?”

Qiao Henian really wanted to say: “Didn’t Your Excellency just dismiss this subordinate from office? How did you forget so quickly?” Saying it would be satisfying, but the situation would become completely deadlocked. He gently nudged Master Hao standing beside him with his heel. Master Hao had long wanted to speak for Qiao Henian but couldn’t find an opportunity. Seeing this situation, he immediately stepped forward to mediate.

“Administrator Bukhe just now didn’t accept Master Qiao’s cap, presumably still wanting to rely on his talents. Since this is so, shouldn’t Administrator Bukhe temporarily suspend execution of the Provincial Governor’s order, so Master Qiao can comfort the people in his official capacity?”

“Very well, you go to Gu Family Village first. Whatever you do, don’t let any disturbances occur. If you handle it well, naturally I’ll put in a good word with the Provincial Governor and preserve your position.” Having said this, Bukhe hurriedly left this troublesome place with his people.

When Qiao Henian reached the vicinity of Gu Family Village, the fire source could be clearly identified—it was the tea fields on the back mountain. Qiao Henian thought Gu Family Village was truly suffering one disaster after another, and ordered his sedan chair to turn toward the back mountain.

Arriving at the head of Gu Family Village, Qiao Henian ordered the sedan chair set down. Looking up, he was stunned. Though the fire was fierce and a patch of tea garden had been burned black, strangely the villagers of Gu Family Village were gathered around the fire site, watching with their own eyes but not fighting the fire, only preventing its spread.

Qiao Henian was also a clever man. Upon getting out of the sedan he was momentarily confused by this scene, but quickly understood. When he saw Gu Pingyuan approaching with a slight smile on his face, he understood everything. After thinking, he actually stepped forward and, wearing his official robes, bowed to Gu Pingyuan.

“Your Honor.” Gu Pingyuan hastily stepped forward to support him, saying in a low voice, “Court ceremonial protocols are involved—Your Honor absolutely must not do this.”

“I’m thanking you on behalf of the tens of thousands of tea farmers in Huizhou Prefecture. This is your own family’s tea garden being burned, isn’t it? This action truly has the style of ancient righteous heroes, putting all those government officials to shame.” Qiao Henian said with deep emotion.

“Your Honor’s words are too kind.” Seeing the fire situation was under control, Gu Pingyuan invited Qiao Henian and Master Hao to the earth god temple at the village entrance to talk.

“Brother Gu, back in the day you didn’t have so many twists and turns in your thinking. These years of exile to the frontier seem to have taught you quite a few cunning tricks. Though those tea merchants are crafty, this time they’ve definitely fallen into your trap.” Master Hao gave a thumbs up in admiration.

Gu Pingyuan smiled: “Just drawing the bow without releasing the arrow—how could that fool Second Master Hou? Since he won’t shed tears until he sees the coffin, what harm is there in letting him see the coffin? This tea garden is indeed my family’s. I already had clansmen harvest all the tea leaves overnight before setting this fire.”

“I wondered why you’ve been so quiet these past days—turns out you’d already planned to do this. But your family’s loss this time is too great. This season’s tea was harvested, but next season… sigh.” Master Hao sighed deeply.

Gu Pingyuan just smiled, seeming completely unconcerned. Actually, burning his own tea field served multiple purposes: first, to help fellow villagers; second, to teach that Second Master Hou a lesson. Beyond this, Gu Pingyuan had his own calculations. If this assignment could help Qiao Henian handle matters smoothly, when he later got a real appointment, it would certainly be of great benefit to Gu Pingyuan’s own business ventures in Huizhou. The gains and losses involved couldn’t be calculated by one or two tea fields.

“Things have reached this point—the notice has been issued, the tea field burned. The performance is complete. Now we’ll see whether Second Master Hou takes the bait.” Gu Pingyuan’s eyes looked toward Qiankou Town, drawing Qiao Henian and Master Hao’s gazes in that direction as well.

Gu Pingyuan’s burning of the tea mountain indeed alarmed the tea merchants gathered in Qiankou Town. Word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and all the tea merchants gathered at the town entrance, gazing toward Gu Family Village. After several hours, those sent to investigate returned, dismounting to report: “They’re, they’re burning tea gardens. I heard government officials sent runners to each village, saying if they don’t burn the tea gardens, they’ll be treated as collaborating with bandits. They’ve only burned one place so far but are about to set fires everywhere.” Little did he know these words had been spread in advance by Gu Pingyuan, just waiting for tea merchants to send people to inquire.

“This is terrible! Oh no! What can we do?”

Each tea merchant was jumping with anxiety, which was understandable. Tea collection areas had fixed regulations—apart from this region, if they wanted to collect tea elsewhere, they’d have to pay high prices, inevitably losing their capital.

Seeing their scheme to profit backfire, the hot-tempered Third Master Li pointed at Second Master Hou’s nose and cursed: “I say, Second Master Hou, you, you’re damned lacking in virtue! The day before yesterday I said we should quit while ahead, but what did you say? That we shouldn’t stop until prices hit rock bottom. Well now, I think it’s all completely ruined!”

“I borrowed at high interest to collect tea this year, all because I listened to this rotten advice. If I really lose everything, I’ll never be done with you!”

With someone taking the lead, the tea merchants began cursing one after another.

Second Master Hou was also sweating profusely from anxiety. Angered by the scolding, he overturned the tea table in front of him with one hand, stood up and glared fiercely, stretched his arms to sweep around the entire scene, pointing at everyone: “Fine! Now you all come to curse me. Originally wasn’t each one of you more eager than the next to earn extra money? When I proposed this idea, which one didn’t clap and cheer? Now you all cry injustice to heaven. If you’re so capable, why did you originally think about earning this money?”

In terms of wealth and power, he ranked first among local tea merchants, always accustomed to being domineering, plus having a powerful backer no one dared provoke. So when he showed his authority, he really did intimidate everyone.

Realizing internal conflict was inadvisable, Second Master Hou softened his tone: “Let’s inquire further…”

This one sentence set Third Master Li off again: “Bah! Inquire about what? If we inquire any more, we’ll only be able to collect tea ashes. Everyone, listen to me—let’s get carts and go collect tea!” Saying this, he spat on the ground and stormed off.

“Let’s go, let’s go, follow Third Master Li.” The tea merchants called to each other and hurriedly departed one by one.

The price agreement among tea merchants had only been a verbal understanding. Now with the situation hopeless, the alliance crumbled instantly. Second Master Hou tried to hold people back but couldn’t. Watching the departing figures of the tea merchants, he understood that regardless of whether burning tea was real or fake, his hope of making a fortune from the military disaster had already vanished. Thinking that if he fell behind he might not collect even a single tea leaf, he angrily stamped his foot and also hurried back to his shop to get silver for buying tea.

“Pingyuan, this affair was truly satisfying. I toast you with tea in place of wine!” Qiao Henian’s face couldn’t hide his joy as he raised his cup with both hands.

“I’ll join the toast.” Master Hao also raised his cup.

“I should be toasting Magistrate Qiao and Brother Hao instead, thanking you for helping tea farmers in these ten li resolve their crisis.” Gu Pingyuan also raised his cup. He and Master Hao were currently in the main hall of Gu Pingyuan’s home in Gu Family Village. Though Gu Pingyuan’s house had also been damaged by fire, it wasn’t severely burned, with several rooms barely habitable. The family had now moved back, and Gu Pingyuan had also arranged for his teacher to be cared for at home.

Recalling the day’s events, Master Hao couldn’t help bursting into laughter again. That Second Master Hou had come running to Gu Family Village looking disheveled, and upon seeing the scene knew he’d been thoroughly tricked. When he thought of notifying the other tea merchants, it was already too late. Knowing the situation was irreversible, he could only hatefully pay for the tea.

“It was laughable how he still wanted to suppress your family’s tea price, but was controlled by your few words.”

Gu Pingyuan smiled faintly: “If he didn’t buy our family’s tea at proper prices, other families wouldn’t sell their tea to him either. They’d rather all sell at slightly lower prices to others—this was personally promised by the clan chief.”

“That’s also because your righteous deed this time won great popularity in the village, so everyone was willing to help you.” Qiao Henian needed to return to the provincial capital to report, and seeing it was getting late, he rose to take his leave.

“Brother, be careful of that Second Master Hou. I was watching from the side today—his eyes wanted to bore a hole right through you.” As he was leaving, Master Hao pulled Gu Pingyuan aside.

“Brother Hao, rest assured, I’ll be careful.”

After seeing Master Hao off, Gu Pingyuan invited his mother into the room and called his younger siblings—he had a matter to announce publicly.

“Mother, you know that your son’s official degree has been revoked. In the future I must also have a way to make a living—I plan to go into business.”

Mrs. Gu listened in silence, only gazing at the lamp flame lost in thought.

“Mother, Big Brother says he wants to go into business. Say something!” After a long while, Little Sister Gu Yuting couldn’t help speaking.

Mrs. Gu gathered her thoughts and forced a smile: “Actually, according to my true feelings, I still want you to stay home and farm, tend the tea garden well—isn’t that also a living? But children grow up beyond parental control. If you want to do business and I obstruct you, I’m afraid you’ll resent me in the future.”

Gu Pingyuan said fearfully: “Mother, what words are these? Your son naturally listens to Mother. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do.”

Mrs. Gu shook her head. The child had no father, so inevitably suffered bullying when young. As the eldest brother, Gu Pingyuan sometimes protected his younger siblings, fighting with village children and getting beaten bloody. He would wash the blood off in the river at the village entrance, then return home as if nothing had happened to continue studying, all to avoid making his mother sad. Mrs. Gu had actually seen all these things and knew that because of this, Gu Pingyuan had been unwilling to be outdone since childhood. If she forced him to farm at home, he’d probably eventually become ill from frustration.

“Women follow the three obediences and four virtues—before marriage, obey father; after marriage, obey husband; after husband’s death, obey son. Your father has had no news for so many years—certainly not to be counted on. You’re the eldest in the family, so from now on you’ll manage this household. I’ll just help you with domestic affairs. You needn’t ask me about outside matters.” Mrs. Gu paused briefly, turned away to wipe her eyes, then continued: “Actually, it’s because your grandfather and father both came to bad ends through business that I didn’t want you to follow their old path. But since you have this intention, Mother will naturally fulfill your wishes.”

Mother’s words were heartfelt, and Gu Pingyuan felt a warm surge in his heart, saying with a choked voice: “Since this is so, forgive your son’s presumption in discussing future plans.”

Gu Pingyuan was no longer the naive graduate he’d once been. When he explained his calculations, his family was left dumbfounded.

Though Gu family’s tea garden had been burned, it would be compensated by the government office, plus the harvested tea had been sold for silver, so losses weren’t great. Of the thousand-tael note Gu Pingyuan had brought home, half had been given to the village, leaving five hundred taels. Calculating available ready money, he now had over a thousand taels. The family had borrowed some debts over the years, which could all be repaid at once, still leaving several hundred taels of silver—money that could be very useful.

“The family is fortunate, but repairing the house will cost over two hundred taels—this is urgent.” Gu Pingyuan said slowly. “If we’re to do business, we’ll start with our own family’s tea production. Now that tea trees have been burned, rather than buying tea seedlings and waiting two years, I think it’s better to spend more money transplanting tea trees from elsewhere. If successful, even autumn tea harvesting won’t be delayed.”

“This will also cost over two hundred taels. Additionally, for household daily expenses and getting medicine for Teacher, we should set aside a hundred taels.” Gu Pingyuan finally said, “This way, we’ll have roughly two hundred taels remaining.”

With such precise calculations, allocating every tael clearly, his family was already stunned. Gu Yuting asked in amazement: “Big Brother, were you really exiled to the frontier these past years, or did you go learn business? How can you calculate so precisely?”

Gu Pingyuan smiled: “Our family has a merchant background—I probably have a natural talent for calculations.”

“Shameless, shameless…” Gu Yuting made a face while covering her cheeks. Gu Pingwen was even more delighted. The Gu family hadn’t heard such heartfelt laughter in years. Mrs. Gu smiled as she watched from the side, and when her eyes met her eldest son’s, they both noticed tears in each other’s eyes.

Unable to bear looking at his mother’s eyes any longer, Gu Pingyuan turned his gaze to his second brother. “Pingwen, Big Brother knows you’ve suffered these years. What would you like to do in the future? If you want to continue studying, Big Brother will use the remaining money to hire you a good teacher.”

Gu Pingwen had just been listening with a smile, not expecting his brother’s question, and couldn’t respond immediately.

“No matter, if you haven’t decided yet, you can tell me in a few days.” Gu Pingyuan patted his brother’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Hmph, look how thoughtful Big Brother is. You’re really useless.” Gu Yuting was only a year older than Gu Pingwen, had never feared this introverted second brother since childhood, and seized every opportunity to mock him.

Stung by his sister’s words, Gu Pingwen’s face reddened as he protested loudly: “Who says I’m useless? Big Brother, I’ve decided—I want to go into business with you too.”

Gu Pingyuan hadn’t expected his brother to say this. Stealing a glance at his mother’s expression, he smiled: “Having Big Brother earn money for the family is enough. Second Brother should focus on studying to bring honor to our family name.”

“No!” Though usually mild, Gu Pingwen now spoke from his heart: “Actually I’m not cut out for studying either. Even if I achieved official rank, I wouldn’t make a good official. Better to do business with Big Brother.”

This reasoning made sense, but Gu Pingyuan felt his mother’s agreement to his own business venture was already reluctant—with second brother saying this… he couldn’t help glancing at his mother again.

Mrs. Gu’s face showed no anger, instead saying: “In war, rely on blood brothers; in battle, rely on father and son. With you two brothers together, I’m actually more at peace.”

Since Mrs. Gu spoke thus, Gu Pingyuan also went with the flow and agreed to his brother’s request. The two brothers agreed to do business in Huizhou, while Gu Yuting would help Mrs. Gu manage the household.