Chapter 173: Good And Evil Are A Single Thought Apart
When one autumn leaf falls, a vast swath of autumn leaves will soon follow. This is the so-called law of nature. There will be no signs of improvement during this time, nor any miracle of withered leaves turning green. When things overall turn bad, they will only become endlessly worse.
After the struggle between Grand Marshal Zhou Bo and the Great Han Emperor had completely reached its end, Great Wall Grand Governor Zhao Shu returned from Chang’an.
Back then, he had taken nearly seventy thousand Great Wall Garrison soldiers along with his massive clan from the Great Wall to Chang’an. When returning, he had only fewer than three thousand personal guards at his side, as well as a clan numbering over two thousand.
When leaving, the old fellow was full of vigor and spirit. No matter how his subordinates advised him, hoping he would value the territory he had managed for nearly thirty-six years and not be tempted by Chang’an’s prosperity, the old fellow said, “Opportunity is like a white horse passing through a crevice, fleeting in an instant and not to be missed.” All voices of advice stopped.
When leaving Chang’an, the old fellow sighed on Chang’an’s East Suspension Bridge: “I was deceived by villains, abandoned the Great Wall, and came to Chang’an—this is the shame of my life. Now this old man returns north, to regroup and start anew.”
He actually did not want to leave Chang’an. In the mere forty-eight days since arriving in Chang’an, he had purchased a house of fully six hundred mu in Chang’an. Within just five days, he had recruited four thousand retainers in Chang’an. It was said that this house in the best location on Chang’an City’s east side had pavilions and towers galore, not to mention carved beams and painted rafters, overlaid with gold and jade, extravagant to the extreme.
The former owner of this house was the Great Han Left Prime Minister Hou Qian’s house. After he moved in, he soon died by being torn apart by chariots for doing wrong, his children and clan bundled up and sold off. It was said that on that day, the slave trade in Chang’an City was unprecedentedly bustling.
Before Hou Qian lived there, the house’s owner was named Lu Kuang, a Great Han silver-blue light-lu doctor. Unlike Left Prime Minister Hou Qian as the emperor’s confidant, Lu Kuang was Grand Marshal Zhou Bo’s daughter’s father-in-law. He too seemed to have done wrong, was seized by Left Prime Minister Hou Qian on a pretext, and beheaded at Chang’an’s Chongguang Gate. When he died, his entire clan hid in the Grand Marshal’s Mansion and dared not come out. Later it was said they were all smilingly accepted by the Grand Marshal.
Before Lu Kuang lived there, the house’s owner was Lou Wan, a Great Han imperial merchant. Under her command were over two thousand four hundred caravans traversing the Great Han’s east, west, south, and north, her wealth beyond measure even by “gaining a dou of gold daily.” It was she who spent a fortune to buy these six hundred mu of land, taking eleven years to build this mansion she called “Blessed Land.”
In the end, before she could even move in, she was shocked to hear that her caravans had been ambushed by strongmen in all positions across the Great Han’s east, west, south, north, and central regions. She ran through the mansions of former friends and kin, hoping to borrow some strength to save her caravans, even just a part.
1 In the end, it drew more doggies. In half a year, they swallowed up clean a colossus with over two thousand four hundred caravans.
1 Lou Wan hanged herself at the great gate of Blessed Land. Before dying, she said: “Those who live here will come to a bad end.”
1 Lu Kuang and Hou Qian—these two great figures’ fates seemed to prove Lou Wan’s curse. They truly died miserably.
1 Zhao Shu did not die. He is currently the only one who has emerged unscathed from the jaws of Blessed Land, which devours great figures.
1 But he too did not exit Blessed Land without cost. After the Grand Marshal and the emperor joined hands to divide, dismantle, reorganize, and purge his army, Shao Fu Wu Tong subjected him to inhuman exploitation and squeezing. Only after paying an extremely heavy price could Zhao Shu make that “I will return” declaration on the East Suspension Bridge.
1 Along the way, Zhao Shu filled his stomach with fodder grain, hurrying day and night with his personal guards and clan. He thought that as long as he returned to the Great Wall, he would still be that majestic Great Wall Grand Governor.
1 He began at the Great Wall’s outermost Tiger Head Pass calling for the pass to open the city. But Tiger Head Pass atop was dead silent. No matter how the white-haired Grand Governor Zhao Shu personally shouted, no one answered.
1 After staying a full night outside the city, the next day he shouted again, still no answer. The flags atop the walls were still the familiar ones, but alas, that flag no longer recognized him.
1 Jingkou Pass was the sixteenth city Zhao Shu wanted to get to open. The previous fifteen cities, not one had opened for him.
1 Even Yun Ce was shocked by the old fellow’s shameless, persistent spirit.
2 Cao Kun, who had come from afar to see Zhao Shu in his sorry state, felt no surprise. He thought this lost dog Zhao Shu was now gambling small for big. Once he got one city gate to open, he would cling there tenaciously and not leave.
2 “Liu Che, do you still remember how this old man treated you when you first entered the Grand Governor’s Mansion? Today this old man is in dire straits, and you won’t even let me enter the pass to rest a moment?
2 Liu Che, one cannot be so heartless. If you reject this old man today, someday when you are in straits, others will surely treat you the same…”
2 Cao Kun listened to Zhao Shu’s pleas and asked Yun Ce.
2 “Who is Liu Che?”
2 “The former Jingkou Pass Commander.”
2 “What did you do to him, kill him?”
2 “No, he asked me for six million cash, then forcibly handed Jingkou Pass to me, took the money, and ran off with his clan.”
2 Cao Kun said angrily: “Is there really such a good thing?”
2 Yun Ce spread his hands: “That’s how it is. Everyone in all of Jingkou Pass knows. If you don’t believe it, ask the Jingkou Pass Deputy General or the clerk over there.
3 By the way, how many passes has your family taken?”
3 Cao Kun suppressed his anger: “One and a half.”
3 Yun Ce said in surprise: “What do you mean by half?”
3 Cao Kun said: “Sharing one pass with others.”
3 Yun Ce curled his lip: “As long as it weakens court control, your cooperative methods are truly flexible.”
3 Cao Kun dug in his ear, glanced disgustedly at Zhao Shu shivering below the city, and said: “Well, do you want to keep listening to this old thief’s babble?”
3 Yun Ce shook his head and went down the city tower with Cao Kun.
3 Seeing the people on the city tower leave, Zhao Shu said no more, took the water flask from his equally aged son’s hand for a drink, then hoarsely said: “On to the next pass.”
3 Zhao Shu’s elderly son Zhao Huan said anxiously: “Father, must we endlessly endure this humiliation?”
3 Zhao Shu glanced at his equally white-haired son: “Whether you and I live or die is no longer important. There are a few promising ones among the great-grandchildren at home. They cannot die.
4 I, Zhao Shu, was once a titan of a generation. Now fallen into the mud pit, I must follow the mud pit’s rules. Only if I run through the Great Wall, rejected by all eighty-two passes atop it, will people believe I can no longer make a comeback.
4 Only then might they spare our family, giving those somewhat promising descendants a chance to live.”
4 Zhao Huan said: “When will such days end? Even if the younger ones like Sun-er are capable, others won’t give them a chance to rise.”
4 Zhao Shu took another drink of water: “It won’t be long. This world will soon be in chaos. In chaotic times, as long as you have ability, you will be used. Who will care about your family background?”
4 Zhao Huan said: “Father, do you really think Iron Enclosure Pass cannot hold?”
4 Zhao Shu sighed: “If Iron Enclosure Pass were truly as impregnable as people think, do you think your father would really abandon the Great Wall to wade into that muddy water in Chang’an?
4 It was all to save our lives. I thought even if we failed, the family would just make a trip to a protectorate prefecture. I didn’t expect they wouldn’t give me any chance to recover at all.
4 And that Shao Fu Shen Tong is truly vicious. Remember this: once the Zhao Clan rises, we must uproot that Shen Tong completely.”
4 Zhao Shu continued along the Great Wall with his personal guards and clan. Yun Ce and Cao Kun came to the Yun Clan’s mountain villa north of the Great Wall.
4 Cao Kun lay in the hot spring pool and said contentedly to Yun Ce: “Your family only has this water that’s good.”
5 Yun Ce said nothing, just used a towel to splash water on his head.
5 Cao Kun rubbed his stomach: “Your family’s meals are good too. Oh, that bell-ringing musician is good. Mm, those little dancers are passable too.”
5 Yun Ce said: “Tell me about the bad things in my family.”
5 Cao Kun sighed: “Just too poor… Gulu Lu.”
5 Yun Ce glanced at Cao Kun with his head buried in the water blowing bubbles. He was worried too. This guy had brought him eight thousand people this time, just as he said at Ghost King Mountain—mainly scholars, young women, and children.
5 So many people at once piled more strain on Yun Ce’s already tight finances. Though difficult, whether Yun Ce, E Ji, Zhang Min, Feng An, Liang Kun, Qin Shu, or He Qingfang, all believed these people must be kept, persevering even if necessary until the dawn arrives.
5 Now it was Deep Winter Month. Outside the wasteland was blanketed in snow. People could do nothing but sleep and eat.
5 Only outflow without inflow is a great taboo for healthy finances. Seeing E Ji so anxious her lips blistered, Yun Ce was tempted to ride his red date horse to rob some distant wealthy places.
5 “You have a good cavalry, right?” Cao Kun lifted his head from the water and said to Yun Ce.
5 Yun Ce nodded: “Five hundred cavalry.”
6 Cao Kun added: “Five hundred cavalry who killed two thousand three hundred devils.”
6 Yun Ce said: “What do you want to do?”
6 Cao Kun said: “You’re twenty this year, right?”
6 Yun Ce kept nodding: “Yes.”
6 Cao Kun continued: “Starting to build your estate at this age is already several years behind others. If you want to catch up and surpass them, you inevitably have to take some shortcuts. Don’t you think?”
6 Yun Ce kept nodding: “Right, that’s how it is.”
6 Cao Kun wiped the water from his face with his hand and grinned at Yun Ce: “I have a friend. He’s very rich, but lately he’s run into some trouble and wants to hire reliable martial power to resolve it.
6 After thinking it over, I think you’re just right.”
6 Yun Ce pondered a moment: “Off the record?”
6 Cao Kun nodded: “Off the record. No name when setting out, no name when returning. You take the benefits; they use the reputation. Afterward, we can supplement you with large amounts of provisions and materials.”
