Chapter 3: Cultivating Killing Intent
The sword was drawn, its mirror-like blade reflecting a pair of calm eyes.
Xiao Yi held the sword and turned to look at Shi Hongzhao, wondering why he had ordered Zhang Mantun to hand him the sword.
Shi Hongzhao had just slammed the table, stopping his eldest son who had repeatedly spoken out of turn. He then ordered Xiao Yi, “We have a traitorous scholar held at the manor. Go and kill him.”
Shi Desheng’s expression changed upon hearing this, and he was about to speak when Shi Hongzhao shot him a cold glance.
“Zhang Mantun, if he cannot bring the scholar’s head, then you will bring yours.”
“Yes!”
Zhang Mantun responded and forcefully pushed Xiao Yi on the shoulder.
As he left, Xiao Yi glanced back and saw Shi Deyuan being dismissed. Shi Desheng sat down on the left with a look of wanting to speak but not daring to.
Leaving the hall, they passed through the corridor.
“Here, to cleanse your palate.”
Xiao Yi conjured two dried jujubes as if by magic. He had them on him from before; they were his sole inheritance from Xiao Yi.
He not only offered one to the other person but also ate one himself first. It wasn’t about ingratiating himself, but about sharing. In his previous life, he had relied on this kind of mutually respectful interaction to handle jobs alone and build relationships with all sorts of people.
Zhang Mantun gave him a strange look and said, “You were just fighting me to the death, and now? You hit me and then give me a date? You’ve got a lot of twists and turns.”
“Minor disagreements are inevitable, but we are all family, united in heart.”
“You servant, are you very familiar with me?”
Xiao Yi thought it was better not to be familiar, and said aloud, “People, by nature, start from being unfamiliar with each other.”
This attitude of resolving all past grievances and ignoring class distinctions surprised Zhang Mantun. He finally took the dried jujube, tilted his head, and said, “You let me off twenty strokes of the cane, and that’s why I’m eating this.”
“Yes.”
Zhang Mantun opened his mouth wide and tossed the dried jujube in. The jujube was very sweet, and he smiled, his large beard spreading.
This man, when not smiling, looked like an iron god, but when he smiled, he was very approachable, like a black bear that had stolen honey.
His hand, as big as a cattail leaf fan, patted Xiao Yi’s shoulder.
“At your young age, your martial arts are not bad.”
“I’m just showmanship. The seniors who fight on the battlefield possess true skill,” Xiao Yi said. “I still have much to learn.”
“Why call me senior? It sounds so stuffy. Just call me ‘Brother Mantun’, or you can call me by my military nickname, ‘Tie Ya’.”
“Brother Mantun is a formidable nickname. How did you get it?”
This question hit Zhang Mantun’s sweet spot. He chuckled and revealed his uneven and broken teeth.
“Heh, I was a guard general fighting on the battlefield, not a gatekeeper. Let me tell you the story.”
The two slowed their pace, and Zhang Mantun recounted an old story.
“In the first year of Tianfu, Li Congke attacked. I was sixteen and followed the Marshal to guard the supply route of Jin’an Village. That year was a drought, and we were so thirsty we could only drink sewage. After seven days, the enemy’s ‘White Flag Division’ almost breached the village wall. I was stabbed in the leg by the enemy general Yao Hong’s long spear. Damn it, I climbed up the spear and bit off his throat. Later, the Marshal pried open my mouth and saw fragments of bone stuck between my teeth, and he praised me with eight words.”
“What eight words?”
“‘Gnawed at the formation like a mastiff, this is Tie Ya!’ ” Zhang Mantun smacked his lips proudly. “Ever since then, every time I eat meat, I still feel like I can taste a bit of Yao Hong.”
“Truly remarkable!”
Zhang Mantun spat the date pit casually under a corridor pillar and sighed, “Unfortunately, Emperor Jinzu was dishonorable, becoming a puppet emperor to the Khitans and ceding the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Later, the Marshal established the Later Han dynasty.”
Xiao Yi didn’t know who “Emperor Jinzu” was. When he heard about the ceding of Yan and Yun, he realized it referred to Shi Jingtang, who founded the Later Jin. He guessed that Shi Hongzhao was originally a general of the Later Jin, and after its fall, became a general of the Later Han.
Anyway, emperors changed frequently during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Zhang Mantun asked, “Do you know what the Marshal’s ambition is?”
“Where is it?”
“The Marshal once said, ‘Holding the Han imperial authority, recovering Yan and Yun, and beheading barbarians to atone to the world – this is what a man of integrity should do.’ In today’s world, the Marshal is the foremost hero!”
Xiao Yi didn’t know if Shi Hongzhao was a hero, but he knew that it wasn’t until Zhu Yuanzhang’s northern expedition that the Han dynasty recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Even the Song dynasties, for three hundred years, hadn’t accomplished this, let alone Shi Hongzhao?
However, he didn’t show it on his face and only said, “I truly envy Brother Mantun for being able to serve the Marshal.”
“Haha!” Zhang Mantun put his arm around Xiao Yi and said, “Isn’t the Marshal cultivating you? Letting you get your first taste of blood, and building up your killing intent, so you don’t get scared and wet your pants on the battlefield like a child soldier.”
Suddenly, a dog bark was heard from ahead.
“We’re here,” Zhang Mantun said. “We’ll chat more later. First, let’s chop off this troublesome scholar so I can report back.”
Xiao Yi naturally asked, “I wonder what this scholar’s background is?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t come back to you,” Zhang Mantun, though seemingly rough, was quite shrewd. He scoffed, “He’s too cautious. He’s just someone without much connection.”
Speaking of no connection, Xiao Yi thought of Shi Desheng’s hesitation to speak and instead felt that the matter was not simple.
“Then why kill him?”
“He insulted the Marshal in public.”
“Is that a capital offense?”
“Of course. The Son of Heaven is young, and the Marshal is Assisting the State. He needs a few foolish heads to establish his authority. Stop chattering and get to it!”
With that, Zhang Mantun pushed open an archway ahead, and a strong, foul smell assaulted them.
This was the Shi family’s dog kennels. More than ten large hunting dogs were chained to stone posts. Upon seeing strangers approach, they immediately strained their chains, barking ferociously and revealing scraps of flesh and blood between their sharp teeth.
Broken bones lay scattered everywhere; it was unclear whose bones they were.
Opposite the stone posts was a large cage, inside which was a young scholar, huddled in a corner, trembling.
“This is the one,” Zhang Mantun grabbed a piece of linen cloth and threw it to Xiao Yi. “Use this to wrap his head.”
Xiao Yi approached the cage.
The scholar in the cage turned his head, and the glare from the blade made him close his eyes and murmur, “I knew it, you’re going to kill me?”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yi told himself he had to adapt to this era, and raised his sword.
The scholar tried hard to appear brave, but his body uncontrollably trembled and he fell to the ground, finally crying out.
After a while, he choked out, “Why aren’t you acting yet?”
“I’m wondering, since you knew you were going to die, why did you curse?”
“The Imperial Guard abused their power and arrested us. I couldn’t bear it, so I said, ‘When martial men rule, the country will cease to be a country’.”
“Arrested you first?” Xiao Yi caught a hint of something amiss and asked, “Why?”
“We were petitioning at the Ministry of Personnel.”
“Why petition?”
“We Tribute Students protested, naturally displeased with the Imperial Examination Fraud. Our examination papers were all defaced and we were disqualified for violating regulations. Those who passed were all mediocre talents. How could we endure this in silence?”
Xiao Yi noted Shi Hongzhao’s crude and uncultured demeanor and intuitively felt he wouldn’t care much about the imperial examinations, let alone manipulate the Imperial Examination Fraud.
“Do you think the Marshal orchestrated the fraud?”
“As the Chancellor of the Imperial Secretariat, he arrested us without asking right from wrong. There must be something suspicious.”
“Wait… were you arrested at the Ministry of Personnel today?”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yi thought of the iron armor under Shi Hongzhao’s cloak and the mud on his boots. He turned to Zhang Mantun and asked, “Did the Marshal go to the Ministry of Personnel today?”
“The Marshal wouldn’t go to that place for civil officials. Today, he was drilling troops outside the city.”
After saying this, Zhang Mantun saw Xiao Yi still pondering and urged, “Still dawdling? Hurry up and do it.”
Xiao Yi mused, “There’s something strange about this matter. It needs to be reported to the Marshal.”
“But you still have to kill him first, or you’ll surely die. If you don’t believe me, you’re gambling with your life, and it’s not worth it for this damned scholar.”
Xiao Yi shook his head and said, “No, it’s not for him, it’s for myself.”
————————
The sword was sheathed and dangled from Zhang Mantun’s waist.
He returned to the Main Hall to report. Upon reaching the threshold, he stood there and waited for a while, as Shi Hongzhao in the Main Hall was talking with his eldest son.
“The Emperor insists on burying Madam Geng with the honors of an Empress.”
“May I ask Father, what are Yang Bin’s and Su Fengji’s views?”
“Yang Bin naturally disagrees. Su Fengji flatters the Emperor’s will.”
“Actually… I was thinking, why doesn’t Father side with the Emperor this time?”
Shi Hongzhao shook his head.
Shi Desheng glanced at Zhang Mantun outside the door and continued, “The Emperor is young, and Yang Bin and Su Fengji are more concerning.”
“Young people making their own decisions,” Shi Hongzhao’s voice was like iron, and he said, word by word, “This precedent must not be set.”
“My son understands.” Shi Desheng said with awe.
After speaking, Shi Hongzhao beckoned Zhang Mantun over and asked, “Killed him?”
“Reporting to the Marshal, no.”
Shi Desheng was surprised and asked, “Then did you kill Xiao Yi?”
Zhang Mantun cupped his fists and reported, “Xiao Yi discovered something strange. He said that the Tribute Students were protesting the Imperial Examination Fraud, and someone deliberately used the Marshal’s name to kill people and cover up the crime.”
“As expected,” Shi Desheng raised an eyebrow. “The scholar was insolent, and the Censorate should handle him. This is not a military matter, yet the court sent him here. If he were killed, the blame for defying the court and slaughtering scholars would fall upon Father, while the mastermind of the fraud would remain at large. This person is insidious. My son suspects it might be… Su Fengji.”
Shi Hongzhao knew immediately and raised his hand to stop him, asking Zhang Mantun, “Why didn’t you kill the scholar and then report?”
“Xiao Yi said that the scholar was presumptuous and deserved to die, but the Marshal should not be manipulated. This is his loyalty.”
“Good!” Shi Desheng slammed the table in appreciation and praised sincerely, “He is a talented individual.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Mantun suddenly understood and thought to himself that Xiao Yi had earned merit this time, and the Marshal would reward him.
However, Shi Hongzhao said, “Twenty strokes.”
Shi Desheng was greatly taken aback. After much thought, he couldn’t understand why.
He wanted to intercede, but a flash of inspiration struck him, and he understood his father’s intention. It actually had nothing to do with Xiao Yi, but rather with the statement from earlier:
“Young people making their own decisions, this precedent must not be set.”
