Chapter 63: The Twins, Rancy and Ranyan

The finest tavern in Ziyang County had been entirely reserved for the evening.

Inside, the lights blazed brilliantly, and glasses clinked amid a lively din.

At the head of the table sat Zhao Yi in an imposing posture. No sooner had his cup emptied than Magistrate Liu Yang by his side eagerly filled it again, his face wreathed in flattering smiles.

The folds of flesh on that fat face were bunched so tightly they could have crushed a mosquito.

" Lord Zhao! You are a noble presence descended from the heavens. To condescend to visit our impoverished backcountry is an immense blessing! This humble official… this humble official will drain this cup first as a toast!"

Liu Yang tilted his neck back, pouring the entire cup of wine into his bottomless pit of a stomach.

Zhao Yi accepted all comers. He raised his own cup and drained it in a single draught, then slammed it heavily onto the table. A reek of alcohol emanated from his face, radiating unbridled arrogance.

"Fine wine!"

Seated to his left was a man of about fifty, attired in a brocaded long robe.

He wore a gentle smile and an amiable demeanor, but his heavily calloused hands betrayed the fact that he was no ordinary citizen.

The local tyrant of Ziyang County, Zhao Wuji.

"Lord Zhao possesses a boundless capacity for liquor!" Zhao Wuji slowly raised his cup, his voice unhurried. "I have long heard that Young Master Zhao is a dragon and a phoenix among men. Only upon seeing you today do I realize that reputation falls short of reality. This old man, too, offers a toast to Your Lordship!"

"Hahaha! Well said! Well said!" Zhao Yi burst into laughter, throwing an arm around the shoulder of a local gentry member seated nearby with a force that made the man wince.

"What dragon or phoenix! Let's not be so formal!"

He swept his gaze across the room, extending a finger to point drunkenly at the officials and gentry seated around the table one by one.

"All of you, listen well and remember this! From now on, in this Ziyang County, even if the King of Heaven himself descends, it is useless—I am the one who gives the orders!"

"Whoever is dissatisfied," he gave a drunken hiccup, "go make your case to my father, go make your case to the reigning emperor! Let's see whose fists are bigger!"

Such words were unimaginably wild and utterly foolish.

Liu Yang and Zhao Wuji exchanged glances, the glint of contempt and delight in each other's eyes barely contained.

A useless piece of trash, indeed nothing more than a pampered fool who knew only how to rely on his father.

Seated at a secondary table, Zhao Changge frowned deeply as he watched his older brother's hopelessly drunken state. The chopsticks in his hand were nearly snapped in half.

Could this… could this really be the same brother who had engaged in a war of wits with a host of scholars in the Golden Throne Hall and turned the Dali Temple upside down?

As for the brothers Li Jin and Li Yin, they presented an entirely different spectacle. They had already linked arms with several county constables, shouting and playing drinking games to a din that made the entire tavern buzz.

"Elder Zhao, is it?" Zhao Yi suddenly turned his head, narrowing his eyes at Zhao Wuji. "Your wine… is passable. It's just a bit lacking compared to the 'Celestial Nectar' of the Immortals' Tower in the capital."

The smile on Zhao Wuji's face stiffened momentarily before returning to normal. "Your Lordship is entirely correct. How can a rustic backwater compare to the prosperity of the capital?"

"Yet I like it!" Zhao Yi slammed his palm down on the table, rattling the cups and plates. "I just happen to like your sort of… sensible attitude!"

He stood up, swaying as he walked to the center of the hall, and spread his arms wide.

"My purpose in coming here this time is by imperial decree—to build roads and till the fields!"

"However," he abruptly changed his tone, a reckless grin spreading across his face, "as for doing the work, there's no rush! I intend to amuse myself for ten days to a half-month first!"

"Magistrate Liu, Elder Zhao, what entertaining places and pretty maidens does this Ziyang County have? Arrange them all for me! If you make me happy, everything else is negotiable!"

The very last shred of doubt in the hearts of Liu Yang and Zhao Wuji completely vanished.

So he was simply a profligate son of privilege waving the banner of an imperial commissioner to come down and fleece the common people while eating, drinking, and making merry.

Such a person was all too easy to handle.

"Rest assured, Your Lordship!" Liu Yang bent his waist even lower. "This humble official guarantees that we shall make you feel… entirely at home!"

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food.

Zhao Yi was already swaying drunkenly, his speech slurred as he was supported on either side by Li Jin and Li Yin.

Liu Yang bustled forward with a smiling face: "Lord Zhao, seeing that the hour is late, this humble official has already arranged accommodations for you and your entourage in the inner courtyard of the county yamen. I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

"S-satisfied?" Zhao Yi gave a drunken hiccup. "What if I am… not satisfied?"

"You will be satisfied! Absolutely satisfied!" Zhao Wuji patted his chest, smiling meaningfully. "This humble official guarantees that Your Lordship will spend an unforgettable night this evening."

...

The inner courtyard of the county yamen.

Li Jin and Li Yin supported Zhao Yi to the edge of the bed, then tactfully withdrew and closed the door behind them.

Zhao Yi straightened up, swaying slightly, not a trace of drunkenness remaining on his face.

He surveyed the room.

A faint, cheap fragrance of cosmetics hung in the air.

On the bed, the quilts were mounded up, and two slender figures draped in thin gauze were trembling slightly.

Zhao Yi walked over and yanked the quilt away.

They were two young girls, identical in appearance with melon-seeded faces, almond-shaped eyes, fair skin, and exquisitely delicate figures.

Twins.

A clever maneuver.

"Get out." Zhao Yi's voice was chillingly cold.

The two girls trembled violently. The bolder of the two raised her head, tears welling in her eyes.

"My lord… we cannot leave..."

The other began to cry as well. "If we just leave like this, we will be… we will be beaten to death!"

Zhao Yi slumped into the chair beside the bed and crossed his legs.

"Speak. What is going on here?"

The two girls froze, looking at each other in confusion, unable to fathom his intent.

"What are your names?"

"I… my name is Lan Xi, and she is my younger sister, Lan Yan," the first girl whispered in reply.

"Lan Xi, Lan Yan." Zhao Yi nodded. "Did Zhao Wuji send you here?"

Lan Xi trembled even more violently. She bit her lip and nodded.

"Then let's have a chat," Zhao Yi assumed a more comfortable posture. "Tell me about your family. If your story is good, this official might just spare you from being beaten to death."

Lan Xi and Lan Yan exchanged glances, seeing only despair in each other's eyes.

Through her tears, Lan Xi recounted the whole sequence of events from beginning to end.

Their family had been honest, law-abiding tenant farmers in the county. A few months ago, wishing to reclaim a few more mu of barren land but lacking the funds, their father had borrowed ten taels of silver from the accounts office of Zhao Wuji's estate to buy seeds.

Little did they know, it was a bottomless pit.

"Interest rolling upon interest… we could never pay it back," Lan Yan sobbed uncontrollably. "They claimed we owed them a hundred taels! Even if our family sold everything we owned, we couldn't scrape together that much money!"

"And then?"

"Then… they broke my father's leg and seized the two of us…" Lan Xi's voice was laden with hatred and helplessness. "They said if we failed to serve Your Lordship properly, they would sell us to a brothel!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yi's expression remained neutral.

He merely stated a factual conclusion aloud.

"A textbook predatory loan."

"Ah?" Both girls were stunned.

"First, lure honest folks like you who are in urgent need of money with what looks like a low interest rate," Zhao Yi's voice lacked any emotion, like someone dissecting a frog.

"The IOU states ten taels, but what you actually receive in hand might only be eight taels. Those two taels are called 'head-cutting interest'."

"Then, the contract is full of wordplay. They won't tell you the interest is calculated daily. The moment you fail to repay on time, exorbitant 'liquidated damages' and 'late fees' pile up."

"You thought you were borrowing money, but the moment you signed your name, you fell into a trap. What they wanted was never for you to repay the loan."

Zhao Yi pointed at them with his finger.

"What they want is your land, your house, and… your bodies."

Lan Xi and Lan Yan were utterly dumbfounded.

Every word Zhao Yi uttered was like a knife, laying bare the bloody nightmare their family had endured right before their eyes.

Not a single detail was wrong!

"Thud!"

The sisters slid off the bed in unison, kneeling before Zhao Yi and kowtowing frantically.

"My lord! You are a great official from the capital! Magistrate Liu and Elder Zhao both said so! I beg you, save us! Save my father!"

"I beg of you!"

Zhao Yi looked at their reddened foreheads and waved a hand impatiently.

"Get up, stop crying. If you cry more, your eyes will be swollen tomorrow and you won't look pretty."

He stood up, walked to the window, pushed it open, and gazed out into the pitch-black night.

"If you want me to save you, very well."

"Tell me everything you know about Zhao Wuji and Liu Yang."

"How they bully the common people, how they seize people's lands, how they commit murder and arson."

"Leave nothing out."

The sisters stopped crying. They knew this was their only chance.

Taking turns, they poured out everything they had witnessed and heard in Ziyang County over the years.

It matched the intelligence provided by Tian Yi almost perfectly.

In fact, it was even more shocking than Tian Yi's report.

Having heard it all, Zhao Yi mentally marked a large, heavy cross against those two individuals in his mind.

"Very well, I understand," he turned around and looked at the two girls still kneeling on the floor.

"Tonight, you sleep here. Starting tomorrow, you are my people."

The sisters looked up abruptly, their faces registering an incredulous, ecstatic joy.

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord, for saving our lives!"

They moved to kowtow again, but Zhao Yi stopped them.

"Enough, stop kowtowing. Come here and undress this official."

Lan Xi and Lan Yan flushed crimson, hastily rising to their feet as they clumsily began to untie the frog buttons of Zhao Yi's official robe.

Their warm, soft fingertips inadvertently brushed against his skin.

In his heart, Zhao Yi let out a long, tragic sigh.

Damn it.

This accursed feudal society!

Little Zhao, I've wronged you.

For the sake of these two girls' lives, tonight, just consider it sacrificing yourself for your country!

...

Early the next morning.

Zhao Yi yawned as he stepped out of the room, looking like a man hollowed out by excessive indulgence.

Liu Yang had been waiting outside for a long time. The moment he saw Zhao Yi emerge, that fat face instantly plastered itself with a solicitous and leering smile.

"My lord, did you… rest well last night?"

Zhao Yi cast a sideways glance at him, reached out, and heavily patted Liu Yang's shoulder with a look of extreme satisfaction.

"Magistrate Liu."

"You are quite good."

"You certainly know how to handle things."