Chapter Thirty-Four: The Night Raid (Please Continue)

"Commandant?"

Hui'an's stiff brain struggled to function. He lifted his rigid head to look at the young man in black, despair beginning to fill his eyes.

"Commandant Zhang, although it is a snowy night and the brothers have had a hard time, you must remember the lesson from this time."

"Your subordinate understands."

The young man in black nodded slightly and asked, "Did you find any items related to that person in his home?"

"No. We interrogated the others as well, but could not extract any information, so we ceased questioning on the spot."

Hearing this, the young man in black looked down at the shivering monk.

"Hui'an?"

"In response to your lordship, it is this humble monk."

"What is your relationship with the people in the Li residence?"

Upon hearing this, the nearby leader of the Jinwu Guard walked away, and the other guards followed suit, leaving the scene entirely to "Commandant Zhang" and his men.

Though Hui'an was kneeling in the cold mud, cold sweat broke out on his head at the question.

"This humble one... this humble one has had an illicit affair with the daughter of a steward at the Li residence."

The young man in black frowned slightly, and Commandant Zhang took matters into his own hands.

"Smack! Smack!"

After three slaps, Hui'an's eyes cleared, and he continued, "The daughter of Hu Dawei, a secondary steward of the Li residence, came to the temple to offer incense last year. The monk and she hit it off immediately, and thus we engaged in illicit relations."

The young man in black sighed with melancholy; if that was the nature of the relationship, this bald fool surely wouldn't know anything of importance. If Hui'an had been stealing time with Li Jingxuan's wife, there might have been a chance he knew something more.

"Do you know any other information?" the young man in black asked patiently. "For instance, about other people inside the Li residence?"

"This humble monk knows." Hui'an twitched his lips and whispered, "The concubine surnamed Liu in the Li residence has been stealing men in private; no one else in the residence knows."

The surroundings fell into a heavy silence.

The young man in black sighed again. Hui'an felt his scalp go numb, as if the hair he had lost years ago was about to start growing back at that very moment.

"Do you know who we are?"

Hui'an shook his head in terror.

"Then do you know who those people are?" The young man in black pointed to the side.

"The Jinwu Guard."

The young man in black leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "Even the Jinwu Guard has to stand watch for us. You had better think clearly about why we would mobilize so many people in the middle of the night to come find you."

Finding me... is it because of the Li residence?

Hui'an swallowed hard. He was still just a commoner, but unlike others, he had used his sturdy physique to befriend many female pilgrims, from whom he learned that the Li residence had been unsettled lately, as if they had offended someone in the imperial court.

After a long silence, he looked up and spoke with trembling lips.

The young man in black stood up straight and nodded with satisfaction.

"You have done well."

"This humble monk dares not..."

"Someone nearby has already recorded your confession. In a moment, someone will help you press your fingerprint."

A confession?

The young man in black stood up and said slowly, "My surname is Wu, given name An. By the grace of the Emperor, I hold the post of Zhechong Commandant."

Hui'an stared at him blankly, a chill spreading through his heart.

...

"This weather is enough to freeze a man to death!"

Heichi Changzhi sneezed violently, then gestured for Wu An to continue.

"And after he finished speaking? What was the fate of that bald donkey?"

Wu An sipped his tea and replied calmly, "He lent money for the temple at interest and often deceived honest families, using his influence to bully others. So, after I finished my questioning, I killed him."

Heichi Changzhi did not think killing someone was a major matter; he just snorted, "For someone like that, he should have been thrown into the snow and left to freeze to death."

"Although he was guilty, it was not my place to judge him. I have already broken the rules by doing this in private. The people above don't care only because the people killed were vagrants and beggars..."

"Alright, alright, enough of that talk." Heichi Changzhi tapped the desk. "The situation in Hexi has changed. I heard today that Li Jingxuan suffered a defeat earlier, but then followed it with a great victory. I fear the court will now look for opportunities to support him."

He stared at Wu An, and after a moment of silence, said, "Perhaps we should stop for now."

Some things, between men, can only be understood, not spoken. Heichi Changzhi felt that Wu An's life had not been easily won, and although he usually appeared calm, he could act recklessly at critical moments. This news would likely be a significant blow to him. He was prepared for Wu An to stand up in anger and question him.

"If you are unhappy, you can curse me now. But when you return and see the Empress Dowager, you must be respectful and never show the slightest hostility toward Li Jingxuan again."

To Heichi Changzhi's surprise, Wu An only pondered for a moment before asking a seemingly unrelated question.

"You said... you only heard this news today?"

"Yes."

But earlier, when the Empress Dowager handed over those two battle reports, she had mentioned in passing that "Heichi Changzhi has already seen them."

Wu An silently noted this detail and said nothing more, instead stating, "I have now received the Empress Dowager's permission to expand the Hundred Riders in the palace, selecting elite experts from all quarters to temporarily fall under my command."

"Short of men?"

Heichi Changzhi reacted immediately. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I hear the Hundred Riders are picked from the Left and Right Yulin Guards—they are true elites. If you select them under the same criteria and actually manage to build a 'Thousand Riders,' I don't think it's because they are treating you too favorably. You should think for yourself..."

He paused and added, "When you and I were in the military, if a superior intended to send you to breach a camp, they would certainly give you a hearty meal first and offer you excellent conditions."

Seeing Wu An remain silent, he warned, "I heard the court let Li Jingxuan act as commander based on the advice of a powerful figure, intending for him to commit a mistake so they could punish him. Now that you say this, I fear the court has other plans."

A minor soldier at the border biting back at Li Jingxuan was the limit. If they wanted him to do more, they would naturally have to support him to compete with other factions in the court. Even if he lost, the court would only have lost a minor soldier.

Heichi Changzhi's meaning was clear: no one knew better than them whether there was any blood-deep affection between the Empress Dowager and Wu An.

"I previously relied on Lord Pei's relationship to get that letter into the palace..." Heichi Changzhi paused, regretting, "Lord Pei is Pei Xingjian, the Grand Marshal of the Taozhou Circuit. He only agreed to deliver that letter for my sake. It is a pity you have no connection with him; otherwise, if he were to speak for you at a critical moment, no matter how many empty titles the one in the palace promises you, they would all eventually become real."

Pei...

Wu An mused for a moment and suddenly asked, "Is he also from the Hedong Pei clan?"

"That's right, a descendant of a prominent Tang family." Heichi Changzhi sighed; if there were a great clan surnamed Heichi among the Five Surnames and Seven Clans of the Tang, he would not have to risk his life at the border to earn military merit.

"I have remembered this."

"What's the use of remembering?" Heichi Changzhi rolled his eyes. "You don't know the man surnamed Pei, so you'd better stop thinking about it and focus on how to curry favor with him."

"But what if I really could..."

"Don't think too much." Heichi Changzhi stood up and said, "Lord Pei had a grudge with the Empress Dowager years ago. Even if you succeed, he cannot protect you for long. At most, he can let you bask in some reflected glory, making others think twice before moving against you. Instead of pondering these things, you would be better off trying to befriend some clever and discerning friends. With their help, a blockhead like you might be able to gain a foothold in this city of Chang'an."

Wu An was silent for a moment, then nodded gently.

...

That night, Wu An sat with Shangguan Wan'er in the study as usual, probing each other's depths, occasionally opening up to speak.

Shangguan Wan'er was mostly cold, but gradually, under Wu An's teasing, she would become annoyed or inadvertently cover her mouth to laugh, the haughty demeanor she usually maintained disappearing in his presence.

As they were talking, someone knocked gently on the door and whispered, "Young Master, there is a guest outside."

"The curfew is almost here; who would come at this hour?"

Wu An glanced at Shangguan Wan'er. She held a token from the Empress Dowager and was alone, so she could move freely at night. Unless it was a friend, most people would not choose to visit just before the curfew.

His first reaction was that someone from the palace had arrived.

"What is the man's name?"

"The man claims to be Zhou Xing, an official of the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Merit Evaluations."