Chapter 22

 

The Jinwu Guards were responsible for both the palace guards and the night curfew security in the imperial city. Therefore, in addition to having left and right guard offices within the palace, similar to those of other officials, there were also left and right Jinwu Guard offices outside the palace.

Now Qingtou lived with Pei Xiaoyuan in a residence behind the Left Jinwu Office in Yongxing Lane, north of the city, which was a government quarters connected to the office. It was not far from the imperial palace, where every inch of land was valuable. Since it was a government quarter, the residence was naturally not big, just a courtyard. Fortunately, it had everything, including a living room and a stable. There were only master and servant, plus the maid Chengping sent a few days ago to cook and sweep the floor. It was a little cramped, but it was sufficient.

In fact, there was originally another place to live.

As far as he knew, on the third day after his master arrived, the emperor granted him an official title, a horse and a mansion in Yongning Lane. The location was in the city center, not as noisy as the north of the city, nor as deserted as the south of the city. It was not far from the East Market, and it was a perfect place to live. Moreover, it seemed that it was the old house of the Pei family. After the Pei family left the capital, it changed hands several times and finally became a house of an old prince. It was said that the old prince lived a luxurious life, and one meal would cost tens of thousands of coins. Naturally, the mansion was also beautifully built. A few years ago, the old prince committed a crime and died, so the mansion was vacant again.

Although the place had been vacant for several years, and it might take some effort to clean it up, it didn’t matter. Qingtou had plenty of time and was diligent enough. Not only it was the old residence of the Pei family, the location was also good. The emperor gave it back to him, but he didn’t live there, as if there was no such thing at all. Qingtou felt very regretful inside, but he didn’t dare to say it.

Based on his experience in the past few days, he concluded that his master must not have returned at this time today.

As expected, Pei Xiaoyuan was not there, but two servants-looking men were waiting in the residence. In the main hall, there were two lacquered boxes with handles, each stacked with several layers. A portly middle-aged man, dressed in a brocade robe adorned with floral patterns, was seated there. He looked like a steward from a noble household in the capital. Hearing Qingtou’s footsteps, he initially thought it was Pei Xiaoyuan, so he got up and walked out. But when he saw that it was just a servant boy who had entered, his face showed a look of disappointment

Qingtou was born and raised in Weiyuan County, and entered the county governor’s mansion when he was in his teens. But after spending so much time with Prince Ashina, he had become more worldly and knew that his master’s status was no longer what it once was. As the most useful person around him, how could he embarrass him. Moreover, in the past few days, he had seen many people who came by to deliver various visiting cards and gifts, and he could handle them well. But the portly man who came today looked different from others, as if he looked down on him. He was secretly angry, so he introduced himself first, saying that he was the personal attendant of Lieutenant General Pei, the Chief of Luwu Division of the Jinwu Guard.

“When Chief was still a young man, I was by his side, going through life and death together, earning his deep trust. This time, entering the capital, I was personally chosen by Lord Pei to accompany him here. Who might you be, and what is your business here?”

The steward looked at him, thought for a moment, and said his surname was Wang and he was from Cui Mansion.

“On the day Master Pei arrived, he visited Uncle Cui. I’m sure you know that.”

Qingtou was stunned. It turned out that the people who came were from the Cui family. No wonder they were so different.

Needless to say, the Cui family was a well-known family. He would never be able to get a chance to visit them even if he was reborn ten times. Besides, they were the family of Pei Xiaoyuan’s uncle. The momentum he had just built up suddenly deflated, and he hurriedly said, “It turned out to be Steward Wang! Master Pei hasn’t returned yet. If there’s anything, please tell me, and when he comes back, I will inform him.”

The person who came was the steward who had received Pei Xiaoyuan the last time he went there. After waiting for a while, he heard the sound of evening drums on the street and asked, “When will Master Pei return?”

“He has been leaving early and coming back late these days. Last night he didn’t get back until third watch11 pm – 1 am.”

The steward looked around and said, “It’s fine then, when young master comes back, tell him that his aunt has recovered now and ask him to come visit whenever he’s free. If it’s troublesome to clean up the old house in Yongning Lane and the young master has no time to take care of it, just let us know and the Cui Mansion will send people to repair it. If he lacks people, the Cui Mansion will also send them over. The young master doesn’t need to worry about it at all.”

Qingtou was overjoyed and bowed: “Aunt is so thoughtful! I will tell Master when he comes back!”

Steward Wang also said that the local specialties from Ganliang that he brought back last time were rare and difficult to buy even with money in the capital, he must have prepared it with great care.

“Yes, yes, yes! Cui Amu prepared it herself and asked me to bring it here! It exactly to honor Uncle and Aunt, and let them have a taste of it!”

Steward Wang smiled and nodded slightly: “I know her. It’s been hard for her. She has been out for many years, but she still remembers her old master. The things are very good, Lady Wang likes them very much.”

Qingtou was even more delighted when he heard this.

Steward Wang pointed to a pair of boxes he brought and said they contained some food and palace-style pastries prepared by Wang shi herself.

“Lady Wang also told me to tell young master not to work too hard in the future and to just delegate those tasks to subordinates. In the past, the distance made it difficult to assist, but now that we’re all in the capital, he should visit his uncle more often.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell him everything when he got back!”

The gate was about to close, and Steward Wang could no longer stayed. He lifted up the corner of his clothes, stepped out of the threshold and left with his servants. Qingtou sent him out respectfully, stretched his neck and began to wait for Pei Xiaoyuan to come back. He waited until the evening drum sounded quietly and the moon rose to the middle of the sky, but still there was no sign of him.

After the second watch that night, the curfew began as usual. At the third watch, a martial patrol team near the East Market found a man hiding in a ditch on the side of the street and ordered him to come out. The man climbed out of the ditch and immediately ran forward to escape. He was ordered to stop, but on the contrary, he only ran faster.

The martial patrol caught up and fired an empty bowstring at him as a warning. The second shot was aimed at the ground near his feet, ordering him to stop. Seeing that he was still running wildly, the martial patrol loaded his arrows and was about to shoot him down directly when a team of cavalry came from the opposite side. The person in the lead used the scabbard of his sword to block the person, and the fleeing man immediately fell off beside the horse.

The martial patrols rushed forward and restrained him. Looking over, they saw that the man was a young Jinwu military officer, with the torchlight illuminated his clear features. Some of the martial patrols who had seen him recognized him. He was the popular figure that almost everyone in the officialdom of the capital had been talking about in private these days, Pei Xiaoyuan, the Chief of the Luwu Division, who was summoned to the capital and took charge of the division.

Even if the people in the Jinwu Guard had never heard of his name before, after these few days, everyone had already known it, not to mention the team of martial patrols who were on night patrol tonight.

Since the first day that Luwu Division was set up, they received an order from above that all personnel below the sixth rank, regardless of left or right, would be directly under the command of Luwu Division at anytime and anywhere.

It could be said that the young military officer in front of them was their highest superior. And the martial patrol and cavalrymen who were responsible for the night patrol were the lowest class in the Jinwu Guard, and their work was the hardest.

Compared with ordinary people, their backgrounds were naturally better, but most of them were from low-level officials or good families. Normally, they rarely had the opportunity to get close to an official of Pei Xiaoyuan’s status. But now they unexpectedly had the chance to meet him face to face. How could they not be surprised? They all came up to salute him and introduced themselves.

It was only a few days since Pei Xiaoyuan took on a new position and set up a division office. Although he had the full support of General Han Kerang, there were still a lot of miscellaneous tasks to deal with. In addition to his responsibilities, he also needed to familiarize himself with the conditions of each lane as soon as possible, such as the household registration of residents, the number of inn and lodging in each lane, the distribution of temples, shrines, Zoroastrian temples, and Persian temples, as well as the nearly thousand martial patrol posts spread throughout the city. There were a lot of things to do.

Although he used to live in Chang’an when he was young, many years had passed. Now that he had returned, many places had undergone war destruction and restoration, and their appearance had changed greatly. It would take some time to get familiar with them. Tonight, he just returned from a night patrol in the west of the city. When he passed by nearby and heard the noise, he came back and stopped the fleeing man.

Pei Xiaoyuan nodded in response and turned his gaze to the man who was lying on the ground and trembling.

The team leader went up and kicked him, scolding him for running away and whether he was a criminal or a spy. The man kept kowtowing and said that he was from Luzhou and had just arrived to visit relatives. He had arrived in the evening and had not yet found his relatives when a thief stole his money bag along with his travel pass. Hearing the sound of drums on the streets and noticing the hurried footsteps of passersby, he initially didn’t understand what was happening. Later, realizing that something was wrong, he asked people and learned that the capital had a night curfew. By the time he wanted to find a place to stay, it was too late. He saw that all the gates of the lanes along the street were closed. As night fell, he was the only one left on the road with nowhere to stay. Finally, he found a dry ditch on the side of the road and hid there. But when he was discovered just now, he panicked and fled, fearing he would be arrested.

While he was begging for help, his bag had already been searched thoroughly.

“I am not a criminal! My pass was stolen. I am really from Luzhou! I have been on the road for several months and only arrived yesterday evening. I beg the military officer to spare my life!”

Obviously, this person must be an unlucky person who had just arrived from out of the city and missed the evening drum and was left on the streets outside. Such things were not uncommon and happen almost every day. The experienced martial patrol knew all the best places to hide people in Chang’an after nightfall.

Normally, when encountering such a situation, the law enforcement could be lenient or strict. If there was no major problem, reprimanded a few words or took some opportunity to extort some money, and then they would be let go. However, recently, because the general had issued a strict order not to let any suspicious person go, and since this person had no way to prove his identity, and the new Luwu Division head was present, the team leader was simply eager to turn him into a spy on the spot to win credit, so he kicked again and scolded him: “If you have nothing to hide, why are you running! I told you to stop just now, but you ran even faster! If you were not lucky enough to meet Chief Pei, you would have been shot with an arrow! According to the law, you should be flogged twenty times first, and then sent to prison for interrogation, just in case you’re criminal!”

The man was so frightened that his soul left his body, his eyes were filled with tears, and he kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, but it was useless. He was dragged to the side of the road and beaten by those martial patrols who wanted to appear as fierce as wolves in front of their new boss.

When Pei Xiaoyuan heard the man’s wailing, somehow his thoughts were drawn to another person he knew.

She also lived in Luzhou and traveled all year round. He didn’t know where she stayed tonight, or whether she had returned.

If she encountered this kind of accident in a foreign land, would she be treated in the same way…

“That’s it!”

Pei Xiaoyuan spoke out to stop them.

At this time, the man had been beaten six or seven times, and the martial patrols stopped the torture upon hearing it.

“Take him back tonight and keep him in custody temporarily. Tomorrow checks the address of his relatives. If it’s correct, then release him.”

He gave the order.

The team leader immediately agreed.

Pei Xiaoyuan looked at the other person and said, “You just said your surname is Cao, right? The night patrol is quite careful, and you can find people hiding in the ditch. That’s very good. I’ll remember you.”

The team leader was overjoyed: “Thank you for the compliment, Chief! I I’m not boasting, but in all 108 lanes of Chang’an, there’s no place where someone could hide without my knowing! If there’s anything I can do to serve in the future, just give the word. Even if it’s a matter of life and death, I won’t hesitate for a moment!”

Pei Xiaoyuan nodded, said a few more words of encouragement, then turned his horse and left.

It was already the third watch. He dismissed the people who were traveling with him and returned to his residence alone.

At this moment in Chang’an late at night, only the dim moon could be seen in the sky.

He rode alone on the wide street, his mind filled with many complicated thoughts.

He wondered if there had been any new progress with He Jin’s search for people.

Miss Ye must be found. He would not be at peace until she was found. This was his responsibility.

As for his uncle Pei Ji, he wondered where he was now, but he should be arriving in the Eastern Capital soon.

The emperor’s intentions behind this whole arrangement, while not fully understood, were nonetheless quite clear to him. He promoted him to his current position and used him as his lackey, but he was not at ease with him. Transferring his uncle Pei Ji to replace the ailing Prince Ning and serve as the Resident Regent of the Eastern Capital, appears to be a prestigious and honorable appointment, but in reality, it meant to keep him in check, effectively holding his uncle as a hostage. Not only that, this move could also prevent Pei Ji from connecting with the remnants of Crown Prince Jingsheng’s party, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.

The night before the trip, Pei Ji had told him about how he had submitted his resignation petitions several times in the past few years but had never received a response. At the time, he was puzzled and thought that perhaps the emperor had completely forgotten about this old minister who had been demoted to the border. Now it seemed that the emperor must have had such a plan for several years, so he had been suppressing the release of this minister.

If the figure hidden in the darkness that he saw when he entered the palace on the night he arrived in the capital appeared before his eyes again, the shadow looming over Pei Xiaoyuan’s heart would only grow even darker.

He then arrived at the residence.

Qingtou knew he was coming back late, so he left the gate unlocked. The lights in the main hall were still on, but no one came out. He led the horse into the stable, gave it some night food, and came back to see Qingtou still sleeping soundly on a couch in the main hall, with a stream of saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth. He walked over and coughed, and Qingtou was startled, opened his eyes blankly, and suddenly jumped up.

“Master, you’re back! The water for washing is ready in your room! I asked A Mu to go to bed, while I’ll wait for you here! Where’s the horse!” After saying that, he wanted to go out and led the horse.

Pei Xiaoyuan untied the belt around his waist that had been binding him all day, and walked towards the bedroom, telling him to go to sleep as well.

Qingtou wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, followed him, and told him what happened when the Steward Wang from the Cui Mansion came here during the day.

“You can eat the food they brought.”

“Lady Wang also said that the old house in Yongning Lane can be cleaned up for you, so you don’t have to do anything at all!”

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t even turn his head, just hummed, didn’t stop, and didn’t ask any more questions. Qingtou felt that he didn’t seem to be very interested, so he stopped mentioning it. Seeing that he was about to go in, he suddenly remembered another thing and shouted at his back: “I seems to see Miss Ye in the West Market today!”

Pei Xiaoyuan had just reached the door of the bedroom, one hand undoing the belt at his waist while the other was pushing the door open. Hearing this, he suddenly stopped and turned his head sharply.

“What did you say?”

Master was usually calm in the face of things. Having served him for many years, Qingtou had never seen him show such a strong expression of shock, which startled him. Recalling the scene at that time, he suddenly felt unsure. Fearing that he might have spoken too hastily and could be proven wrong, he scratched his head and changed his tone: ‘Um… I’m not saying that the person I saw was definitely Miss Ye, but she just looked a little bit like her… Maybe I saw it wrong, or maybe it’s just someone who looked a bit like her. Master, don’t take it too seriously…’

Pei Xiaoyuan had turned completely to him: “What happened? How did you come across her?”

Qingtou hurriedly recounted his experience of going to the West Market to return items and buy shoes.

“…I spent ten gold coins to buy that brush, but the damn shop owner was only willing to pay three gold coins! He didn’t even open the box! No wonder people say that all businessmen are dishonest, and none of them are good. It’s not unjust to arrest and behead them all! Of course I won’t sell it–”

“Tell me how you met her!” Pei Xiaoyuan cut off his words sharply.

“Okay, okay, don’t be impatient, Master! I’m going to tell it now!”

Qingtou hurriedly recounted the story of how he accidentally saw someone on the other side of the river while buying shoes.

“There was such a wide river between us! The streets were full of people, and I couldn’t see clearly. By the time I crossed the bridge and squeezed to the other side, the person was gone, and the old man who was talking to her was nowhere to be seen! I looked for her all over the West Market, and I searched until the market closed, but I didn’t see her again. I had no choice but to come back…”

Qingtou was afraid that he would be scolded for being useless, so he stole a glance at his master’s face while he was talking. Seeing that he seemed to be about to ask something again, he rushed to say, “Fortunately, I did not gain nothing! The old man seemed to be delivering water. There is a water shop nearby, so I went to ask before I came back. The owner said that the old man would come every few days. Master, you go and do your own thing. Next time he comes to deliver water, I will go and ask him who the young man who talked to him on the roadside that day.”

Pei Xiaoyuan remained silent after hearing this. Qingtou felt that he seemed to have recovered from his initial shock, so he whispered a few words: “Master, don’t take it too seriously… Maybe I’m really seeing things. How could Miss Ye come to the capital alone? There are so many people in the world and it’s possible for someone to look similar…”

Pei Xiaoyuan asked for the location of the water shop and told him to go to sleep.

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