Chapter Thirteen: Tales from the Tavern

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Leaving the Grand Commander's Residence, Pei Min gazed at the evening clouds glowing in the twilight, his mind turning over several names: wealthy local magnates, smugglers trafficking between the northeast, powerful underworld figures, and even local officials of the prefectures. No wonder Xue Ne dared not investigate openly. None of these people were to be trifled with, nor were any of them truly clean. If someone of Xue Ne's rank were to launch a thorough investigation, whether or not he unearthed anything, it would surely cause a panic, with everyone on edge, and the entire region of Youzhou would be thrown into turmoil—an opportunity the Xi and Khitan tribes would not miss. Only someone as unremarkable as himself could move freely right under their noses without drawing notice.

But as for where to begin the investigation, Pei Min still had no leads. He would have to ponder it carefully later—there was no rushing this. In any case, as Xue Ne had originally suggested, sometimes waiting was a method in itself.

After walking two streets, Pei Min suddenly caught the enticing aroma of soy sauce mingling with hot meat. He had come to Ji City from Huairou County to study, surviving on dry cakes along the way. So much had happened since he arrived in Ji City that he hadn't even managed a proper meal and was now famished. Following the scent, he crossed another street and soon found himself before a humble little tavern.

Though modest, the tavern was packed with guests, the inside a swirl of lively commotion. Even from afar, one could hear the shouts of the serving boys and the cacophony of animated conversation, all blending into a single roar of life.

Pei Min was quite pleased with the setting and entered without hesitation. The sharp-eyed server greeted him at once.

He ordered rice and two small dishes, then sat and listened as a medley of characters from every walk of life gathered to boast and debate.

Most of the patrons here were merchants or local ruffians. The merchants, being itinerant traders, were especially worldly. They traveled far and wide, always chasing profit, and their breadth of knowledge was unmatched by ordinary folk. The ruffians, scattered throughout the city's alleys, were masters of first-hand gossip. Their wild tales and boasts were not to be taken at face value, but nor were they entirely false.

If one wished to know all the happenings of the world without ever leaving home, the tavern was the place to be—a fact acknowledged for centuries.

As Pei Min listened with pricked ears, he found that, as expected, the talk was all of current affairs: the young widow in Yongjie Alley with her charms, the old widow from Zhang Village caught in scandal—strange and salacious stories, told with particular relish and coarseness by the local toughs.

Pei Min chose to tune them out, searching instead for topics of true interest.

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It was a merchant to his right whose tale piqued Pei Min’s curiosity. He spoke of one of the very people on Xue Ne’s list—Jiang Bo, the black market dealer. The so-called “black merchant” was, in truth, a smuggler.

Empress Wu Zetian was a master of political intrigue but, when it came to military affairs, her record could only be described as laughable. Under Emperor Taizong’s reign, nearly every foreign campaign ended in victory; his only failure was his own ambition—he considered the conquest of twenty-one cities in Liaodong no triumph if Goguryeo remained unconquered. Emperor Gaozong’s reign saw some defeats, but still the Tang’s power cowed all neighbors, and the empire reached its greatest extent. But Wu Zetian, in her reign, had purged generals like Cheng Wuting, Wang Fangyi, and Heichi Changzhi, leaving the Tang army to one defeat after another and the nation’s prestige in tatters. Vassal states once loyal to the Tang broke away, ceasing tribute and even cutting off trade.

It was in these times that black market dealers became especially prized.

Such smugglers used all manner of channels to traffic coveted foreign goods for immense profit.

Jiang Bo was just such a figure. With the Xi and Khitan tribes occupying Yingzhou, the northeast trade routes were severed. Yet Jiang Bo could transport all manner of rare treasures from Changbai Mountain to Youzhou by land, seemingly without hindrance. Such feats could not be achieved without significant connections among the Xi and Khitan. Thus, Jiang Bo was highly suspect.

A traveling merchant, with a hint of schadenfreude, recounted, “Old Li, you should have seen Jiang Bo’s humiliation this time! You weren’t there, but I saw with my own eyes—his face turned from green to purple…”

Old Li, sitting across from him, looked incredulous. “Are you serious?”

The traveling merchant patted his chest. “Would I make it up? I wasn’t the only witness—there were plenty of eyes on the main road. Just wait, this story will spread before long. You’ll see for yourself whether it’s true.”

Old Li hastened to reply, “It’s not that I don’t believe you. We’ve known each other too long for that. It’s just… hard to believe. I heard Jiang Bo’s guards are all top-notch fighters, hired at great expense from the martial world, each able to take on several men at once. How could they be so easily beaten? More than twenty of them, yet two people trounced the lot?”

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The traveling merchant sneered, “That’s because they’ve never met real masters. When they did, you can’t imagine how badly they lost. You missed out by not being there. In all my years traveling the land, I’ve never seen such beautiful skill. Those two young fellows, wielding wooden swords, moved as gracefully as dancers—mesmerizing. I was so captivated I didn’t even realize that, in a blink, the twenty-odd strongmen had all been knocked to the ground, unable to rise. Over twenty men against two, and they couldn’t even touch the hems of their opponents’ robes. Tell me, how could Jiang Bo not be utterly humiliated?”

Old Li, though astonished, knew his friend wouldn’t speak without cause. After a long silence, he said, “I wonder when these two appeared in Youzhou. They must have some nerve. Even a dragon from afar dares not provoke the local snakes, and with Jiang Bo’s strength in the north, I doubt those two will have many easy days ahead.”

The traveling merchant glanced around and suddenly lowered his voice, “It wasn’t that they provoked Jiang Bo. Jiang Bo took a fancy to something they had—seemed to be a calligraphy scroll of some kind—and tried to seize it by force. But he picked the wrong targets and got a harsh lesson for it.” He tried to speak quietly, but being used to shouting, his voice was still loud enough for Pei Min to catch every word.

Their conversation soon turned elsewhere, wandering from topic to topic.

Pei Min soon grew bored. Just then, the waiter brought his food; he buried his head in the meal and ate ravenously.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Pei Min overheard another intriguing bit of news: earlier that very day, Yuan Hao had been soundly defeated by a girl of seventeen or eighteen wielding a wooden sword. Their duel lasted over thirty moves, and throughout, Yuan Hao was only able to defend himself, never once seizing the initiative.

Pei Min, of course, knew Yuan Hao—he was head instructor at a martial school in Ji City, a swordsman of considerable renown in the north. Pei Min himself had learned the signature move “Spare Them Under the Sword” from Yuan Hao’s eclectic sword style.

And yet, Yuan Hao had been so utterly outmatched by a mere slip of a girl?