The Northern Liang Prince’s Mansion was plastered with inverted “Fu” characters, and the New Year’s Eve dinner was simple—just dumplings. Xu Fengnian and Xu Longxiang, the two brothers, had dragged Xu Beizhi and Chen Xiliang into helping with the cooking. The women, including Wang Chudong, had no martial arts to show off here. After the meal, Xu Fengnian had the two strategists keep Xu Xiao company for a chat, while he himself visited the cold, quiet tomb. Upon returning, the entire group gathered in the Wutong Courtyard to stay up for the New Year, enjoying each other’s company. The maids in the adjacent house finally had a moment of respite and gradually moved to the next room to read by lantern light the piles of intelligence reports.
Chen Xiliang had brought a young girl from Northern Liang, who had already fallen asleep nestled in his arms. Xu Fengnian let him take the little girl back to rest, and Chen didn’t insist. Wang Chudong, who loved hibernating most of all, had long been dozing off in her seat. Xu Fengnian half-carried, half-supported her out of the Wutong Courtyard.
When Xu Fengnian returned to the courtyard, Xu Wei Xiong had already gone to the adjacent room to handle military affairs, leaving only Xu Beizhi, an outsider by blood, and Xu Xiao, the old man who had once been both a Grand Pillar of the State and a Supreme General. Strangely enough, the old man was now asking the young man about the different levels of officialdom. Xu Beizhi was not intimidated at all, and spoke so convincingly that Xu Xiao nodded repeatedly in agreement.
When Xu Fengnian sat down, oranges were being discussed, and the conversation had already reached the nineteenth to the sixteenth levels of officialdom. Not satisfied with Xu Beizhi’s explanation, Xu Fengnian pressed him to explain again. Xu Beizhi began:
Those who rely solely on ancestral merit and sit comfortably on their family register, earning minor posts, are “grandson-officials.” Those who only bark orders but never take responsibility are “frog-officials.” Those who are vicious and cunning, bullying the weak while fearing the powerful, bowing to the mighty and barking at the common folk, are “dog-officials.” Those who merely follow rules without contributing, feasting on benefits without knowing how to avoid disaster, are “corpse-officials.”
Xu Fengnian chuckled and asked, “What level do the current clerks in Lingzhou belong to?”
Xu Beizhi replied, “Fox-officials. They ride on the tiger’s might, skilled in reading expressions.”
Xu Fengnian countered, “Then what about those county magistrates and military commanders who incite those clerks to stir up trouble? Are they tiger-officials?”
Xu Beizhi nodded with a smile and added, “Above tiger-officials are ghost-officials—those who do every evil imaginable, pulling strings from the shadows, rarely seen in public. The common folk, unaware of their true nature, still believe them to be upright officials. These are the most formidable among the first fourteen levels.”
Xu Fengnian continued, “Then where does Zhong Chengxin, the Prefect of Longqing County, fall?”
“Zhong Chengxin is at the fifteenth level. In my opinion, there is nothing easier than being an official who does not take bribes or seek profit, advancing steadily with the help of advisors and strategists, and indulging in poetry and wine without major achievements or faults, maintaining a peaceful coexistence with the common people.”
“What about Wang Xihua, the Assistant Governor of Huangnan County?”
“He governs adequately and enjoys a good reputation, never oppressing or harming the people. When his superiors implement good policies, he supports them wholeheartedly. To the people below, he treats them as if they were his own children. This is the kind of official the common folk most desire, and he belongs to the sixteenth level. The magnitude of their achievements depends on whether their superiors are wise and just. When the system is clear, their influence naturally rises. But when the system is corrupt, such officials can only resign in protest, claiming not to bow for five measures of rice, picking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence. It’s not that they don’t wish to serve, but that they lack the strength to turn the tide. They retreat and protect their reputations, withdrawing from turbulent waters. Many officials remembered in history belong to this category, though they must leave behind a few memorable poems. Many so-called upright ministers praised by later generations were actually ignorant of the greater picture, their actions bringing no real benefit to the realm. They were merely martyrs seeking fame and favor. If the emperor was foolish, they might succeed. But if the ruler was cunning, especially petty-minded, with a few tricks, they could spend their entire lives in frustration.”
Xu Fengnian asked, “Then what about Song Yan, the new Deputy Governor of Lingzhou, who will soon become your assistant?”
“He belongs to the sixteenth level—the capable official. They may not be skilled in seeking fame, but their political maneuvering is not poor. They can govern their jurisdiction well, seeing beyond the first fifteen levels of officialdom. However, they genuinely care for the people. But such individuals are destined to reach a certain rank in the bureaucracy. Unless they have a powerful patron in the court, they will be stuck. Not to mention that the common folk, limited by their own short-sightedness due to their lowly status, may curse them during their tenure. Yet, throughout history, many long-lasting and far-reaching policies have come from such officials.”
Xu Xiao, who had been silent all along, peeled an orange and asked with a light smile, “Beizhi, what about Li Degong?”
Xu Beizhi replied straightforwardly, “He is not as incorruptible as a clean official, nor as capable as a skilled official. He takes bribes but also gets things done. Overall, he balances both sides and can be considered a good official. Governor Li is the best among this kind of official. If not for his somewhat narrow-mindedness, he could have risen even higher. He has the talent of a prime minister but lacks the magnanimity. He is suitable as a governor in Northern Liang, but if he were to occupy a critical position in the imperial court, like a calf pulling a heavy plow, he might cause great harm.”
Xu Xiao nodded and handed the peeled orange to Xu Fengnian, saying, “If so, then Bi Yanye can be considered a pillar of a dynasty, a statesman who reformed a nation. He had no flaws in self-cultivation or governance, and personally initiated a new era for the world. Would he be at the eighteenth or the final nineteenth level?”
Xu Beizhi took half the orange from Xu Fengnian, popped a slice into his mouth, and smiled, “Eighteenth.”
Xu Xiao fell into thought.
Xu Fengnian broke the silence with a laugh, “Xu Xiao, you really don’t know how to flatter. After speaking of the eighteenth, only the nineteenth remains. Beizhi specially saved a big compliment for you, but you turned the horse’s head toward our orange boy. How is he supposed to flatter you now?”
Xu Xiao was momentarily embarrassed and smiled apologetically, “I always thought I was at most a ghost-official. Beizhi, I’m truly sorry.”
Xu Beizhi shook his head with a smile, finished the orange, and took his leave.
As soon as he left, a fat pig waddled in behind him, rolling into the room.
Xu Fengnian immediately raised his hand and shouted, “Silence!”
The fat man swallowed his nearly blurted-out wail of despair. Xu Xiao waved him over, “Lushan, come sit.”
Chu Lushan, now promoted to the rank of Second Class Northern Liang Commander, smiled as he rubbed his hands together and plopped down on the warm floor heated by underfloor heating. He whispered guiltily, “Father, I’ve come here with the young master and the second princess to apologize with thorny branches on my back. But it’s the New Year, and if I took off my shirt and carried the thorns, it might look too inauspicious.”
Xu Fengnian sighed helplessly, “As for the matter of Song Gu, you already know what’s what. There’s no one smarter than you in the world. And as for my sister, don’t go annoying her anymore.”
Chu Lushan said obediently, “Yes,” and fell silent.
Xu Weixiong, hearing the commotion, stepped out and coldly said to Chu Lushan, “You, the mighty Northern Liang Commander, have been doing such trivial and despicable things for half a month. Don’t you find it tiresome?”
Chu Lushan shrank his fat neck, almost invisible, and dared not reply. In the past, in the Xu family, the eldest princess Xu Zhihu had always loathed this fat man, but Xu Weixiong had no such prejudice. She turned to Xu Xiao and said, “Father, based on Xu Beizhi’s classification of officials, I will create a covert secondary evaluation system for Northern Liang officials. It won’t be made public, only given to Fengnian as a reference.”
Xu Xiao nodded.
Xu Fengnian whispered, “Lushan, what terrible things have you done to make my sister so angry? Did the Falcon and Eagle soldiers have a big fight?”
Chu Lushan scratched his head and replied cautiously, “No, no, just some little jokes during idle time, not worth mentioning.”
The more Chu Lushan tried to hide it, the more curious Xu Fengnian became. He pressed, “Tell me about it.”
Chu Lushan scratched his head again and whispered carefully, “Before, the Northern Liang spies were all under my control, so I knew about some of the young master’s three journeys. And during the third trip to the Northern Barbarians, Father told me even more, so…”
Xu Fengnian laughed and scolded, “Spit it out already!”
Chu Lushan, as if resolved to face whatever came, poured out the whole story, leaving Xu Fengnian in silence. It turned out that the current situation in Northern Liang was subtly unstable, with unrest brewing. After becoming the Northern Liang Commander, Chu Lushan did not immediately expand his influence. Feeling idle, he randomly picked a few unlucky individuals and threw them into the Fushui House for severe punishment. These people included villagers, scholars, officials, martial artists, and soldiers—seven or eight in total—all talkative types. They were similar to the ones Xu Fengnian had overheard in a tavern recently, boasting and bragging. Xu Fengnian usually ignored such things, even if he, the young master, encountered them. But Chu Lushan clearly had no such tolerance. He sent them all to the Fushui House and, with his boundless imagination, designed a torment that made their lives miserable.
Among them was a middle-aged villager who, while drinking with friends, said that Xu Fengnian had it too easy as the Northern Liang heir, having never suffered hardship. The young master lived in luxury, while his father had toiled in the mountains burning charcoal and tending crops. In the Fushui House, he was beaten with over 160 strokes, each time with different numbers and varying severity. After each beating, high-quality wound medicine was applied immediately, and he was served fine wine and beautiful women. Once healed, the next round began. The reason for so many strokes was not arbitrary. Chu Lushan had calculated based on the young master’s journey—starting from when he first began training on Wudang Mountain, the sixteen light and heavy blows he had endured, the enemies he faced at Wudang, the Eastern Yue attendants of Princess Sui Zhu, the battle at the Reed Marsh Reed Marsh (reeds marsh), the killing of the Person A (armored man), the fight at Duckhead Green, the siege by Tuoba Chunshun, the duel with Di Wuhe in the Rouran Mountains, and the later battles at Iron Gate Pass and Shenwu City, as well as the beating by Liu Haoshi, and so on. Before administering the punishment, Chu Lushan told them that if they endured enough suffering, depending on their backgrounds, they could each receive ten thousand taels of silver, command of 1,600 soldiers, or a seventh-rank official post. If they couldn’t endure, they would be released.
In the end, none of them survived more than 200 strokes. Two tough martial artists couldn’t endure the blow that pierced the armpit and abdomen, screaming that they no longer wanted to be founders of martial sects in Northern Liang—the very technique mimicking the Thunder Spear (thunder spear) strike of Duan Boyun. Among the seven or eight people, the scholars and literati cried out in pain after just one stroke and fled. Surprisingly, the villager endured the longest, but ultimately couldn’t withstand it either. The Fushui House never told them how many strokes there would be, and even the executioners didn’t know the exact number—only Chu Lushan did.
None of them died in the Fushui House. After returning home, those with mothers lost them, those without mothers lost their fathers, those with sisters lost them, and those without sisters lost their younger sisters. Moreover, their close friends were either crippled or maimed, and afterward, it was said to be their fault. Some scholars who valued reputation became infamous hypocrites, universally despised. In short, whatever they cherished most, Chu Lushan made sure they lost it. His cruelty lay in the fact that when these people were on the brink of madness, Fushui House spies appeared before them again, offering a second chance. Not one of them accepted. Then there was no more, because Chu Lushan killed them.
Chu Lushan, sitting on the ground, smiled calmly and said lightly, “Before they died, I told them that in the past, they complained about their poor origins, lacking only family background, but not fearing hardship. So I gave them a chance. Based on the young master’s injuries over the years, disregarding his cultivation and physical endurance, and according to the strength and pain tolerance of the person receiving the strokes, in my view, for an ordinary person, it was actually quite minimal—just 314 strokes in total.”
Xu Xiao popped a slice of orange into his mouth and smiled indifferently.
Xu Fengnian frowned and said the same words as Xu Weixiong, “You don’t find it tiresome?”
Chu Lushan raised his head, his face bright with a smile, shaking his head.
Xu Fengnian said calmly, “Don’t do such things that harm your karma anymore.”
Chu Lushan, usually obedient to the young master, for once said, “If I don’t see or hear it, it’s fine. But if I do see it, I’ll deal with it. The Fushui House isn’t short of tools or people. Besides, the new recruits need to warm up their hands.”
Xu Fengnian turned his head and stared at Chu Lushan slowly, saying, “They are all people of Northern Liang.”
Chu Lushan’s smile faded. He looked up at the young master with a frown, “I may not bear the surname Xu, but I am still a Xu family member. I have always been the General’s adopted son and have never known what Liyang or Northern Liang mean.”
Xu Fengnian angrily said, “Chu Lushan! I told you to stop!”
Chu Lushan clenched his fists tightly on his knees and gritted his teeth, “Your Highness!”
Chu Lushan used one hand to push himself up, and as he rose, he let out a series of low, cackling laughs, mocking himself, “I have a compulsion for cleanliness, changing into expensive clothes every day, loving luxury, changing horses every day, loving fine food, and demanding new dishes from the chefs every day. I change everything except my master. I wish every ungrateful wolf in Northern Liang who has benefited from the Xu family would understand one simple truth—life has two sorrows: wanting something and not getting it, having something and losing it. As long as Your Highness grants me power for one day, I will never tolerate someone standing idly by and talking nonsense.”
After standing up, this remarkably talented and deeply calculating man, known as Chu Bachi, lowered his head, his eyes red, and slowly said, “My only master is Father. As for the young master, since the first time I held the baby boy from Mother’s hands and saw him smile at me, I have always treated him as my own younger brother!”
Xu Xiao laughed heartily, “Alright, alright, Lushan, sit down with Father. What are we arguing about? After all, arguing is good too. Speaking out our hearts makes every obstacle passable.”
Chu Lushan obediently sat back down.
Xu Fengnian silently walked out of the house and stood alone in the courtyard.
Xu Xiao said softly, “Lushan, Fengnian is only doing this for your own good. He believes in fate and values blessings and relationships the most. He fears that you will suffer retribution. Father has already lost three adopted sons. If you die or Yuan Zuozong falls in battle, he will blame himself, but to whom can he turn? These years, he has cherished the maids in the Wutong Courtyard, yet he dares not care too much, fearing that one day they might suffer misfortune because of him…”
Upon hearing this, Chu Lushan wanted to speak but stopped himself. Xu Xiao waved his hand and said, “Maybe not before, but now he can bear it. There’s no way around it, who made him my son?”
Chu Lushan slammed his fist hard on his knee.
Xu Xiao smiled and said, “That little girl Changsheng, she has a blessed appearance. Father likes her. Since Father’s mind is still clear and he can still manage things, why not settle this childhood engagement now?”
Chu Lushan was stunned, then saw Father pull out a jade bracelet from his sleeve, soaked and clearly worth only a few silver coins. But Chu Lushan, this fearsome villain who could make children stop crying, suddenly burst into tears.
Xu Xiao stood up from his chair, squatted in front of Chu Lushan, and sighed, “In principle, this heirloom bracelet of our Xu family should be passed by Father from your adoptive mother to the future Northern Liang King’s official wife. But since the matter of the Northern Liang King is still uncertain, Father thought, instead of giving it to a daughter-in-law, giving it to a daughter-in-law of the next generation is just as good. You know, among the six adopted sons, your adoptive mother loved you the most. She said you were talented, honest, grateful, and urged you to read more. You know how rarely your adoptive mother cried. That time you took so many sword and spear wounds for Father, and she saw you carried back on a horse, she cried in front of everyone and scolded me, Xu Xiao, for not treating you as a son. And when you led the thousand riders into Shu, she calculated the days and waited for you on the mountain for several days, fearing you wouldn’t return. She even said to Father, that once you had a daughter, she must be married to your family. But you ended up having a string of sons. Before she passed away, she still remembered this, saying it would probably have to become a granddaughter-in-law.”
Chu Lushan held the bracelet, the engagement token his adoptive father had once given his adoptive mother, and wept like a child.
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