Chapter 66: Miscellaneous Tales

Without offering any detailed explanations, Li Po simply told Cheng Zhijie that the house had already been sold to the family of Military Scribe Wang, and whether it burned down or not had nothing to do with him anymore.

Hearing this, Cheng Zhijie's anger instantly turned to joy. He showered him with praise, declaring that selling the house was a brilliant move, otherwise he would have lost his entire capital.

Li Po appreciated the gesture. Regardless of personal likes and dislikes, anyone who genuinely looked out for you was worth befriending. Major matters aside—those required testing true mettle—in minor affairs, they could exchange what they had for what they lacked from time to time.

After making plans to go drinking and play around another day, Cheng Zhijie left happily.

A few days later, bearded Cheng came looking for him again, dragging Li Po out for drinks. This time, old Cheng was paying out of his own pocket because his military pay had arrived.

He was the type of person who wouldn't rest until every coin in his pouch was squandered. He valued righteousness over wealth, though the righteousness wasn't entirely obvious yet, the part about holding wealth lightly was indisputably true.

Over drinks, Cheng Zhijie cheerfully informed Li Po that Merit Scribe Li Zongfang had lost his official post, and presumably, a figure like that would soon vanish from Mayi.

As for his brother-in-law who had set the fire, he had already been escorted under arrest to Yanmen.

Those who had sided with Li Zongfang were also out of luck. The crime of privately altering service records was no trivial matter. Li Zongfang came from a powerful Guanzhong aristocratic family and was the commandery magistrate's own nephew, so he merely lost his office, but the others wouldn't get off so easily.

Currently, more than a dozen people were locked up in the commandery prison, awaiting the magistrate's return to deal with them.

When Li Po heard this, immense joy filled his heart. The flogging he had wrongfully suffered at the city gates that day had finally been avenged, and these bastards were now getting what they deserved.

Having a few friends really made a difference; you got to hear all sorts of gossip.

The old man certainly knew much more, but the old man could be considered half-master of the commandery office. He had once served as a elite imperial guard under the Supreme Pillar of State and Great General Han Qinhu, and later followed Li Jing to perform bodyguard duties.

He was both like an elder brother and a servant to Li Jing, and later married Li Jing's sister-in-law, Lady Chen. Yet Li Jing's children all called him "Uncle," which showed how deeply respected he was.

Being a master figure, he naturally wouldn't gossip about the affairs of the commandery office.

Cheng Zhijie was different, however. Half-drunk, he began to chatter away about all sorts of trivial matters.

For instance, there were quite a few outsiders in the commandery office, mostly coming from Hebei and Shandong, but none of them amounted to much. The real power remained in the hands of the Guanzhong people and the local people of Jin.

An official of the outer courtyard lost a yellow dog, turning the whole place upside down. The men from Hebei claimed the Shandong fellows had stolen and butchered the dog, while the Shandong faction retorted that the dog meat had long since ended up in the bellies of the Hebei folk.

After arguing back and forth, the Jin locals joined in, making a huge uproar. In truth, none of them actually intended to strike a blow or give the courtyard official a chance to vent. No one was afraid of anyone else, and fighting to the death over it was pointless.

In the end, while the shouting was still going on, that courtyard official and another courtyard official started fighting each other instead, leaving everyone else as mere spectators.

He also mentioned that the commandery magistrate cared little for wine or women, but loved reading military treatises. Anyone who could acquire one or two books on military strategy that the magistrate hadn't read yet and present them to him would undoubtedly receive a handsome reward.

Unfortunately, most of the fellows were illiterate. Even if a military manual were placed right before their eyes, they wouldn't be able to recognize it, so that path clearly led nowhere.

Still, a few fellows who fancied themselves clever went out and procured a few copies, only to show them to someone literate and find out they were just the most widely circulated standard texts. They had wasted a fair amount of money for nothing—they would have been better off treating everyone to drinks and meat.

He then spoke of the various eccentric figures and anecdotes of Mayi, keeping Li Po utterly enthralled.

Among them was Liu Wuzhou from the Military Bureau.

According to Cheng Zhijie, despite that fellow smiling all day long, he was actually vicious. Not a single shady, underhanded deal in the city of Mayi lacked his involvement.

Moreover, the people he associated with were less like heroes and more like desperate outlaws. If not for the commandery magistrate's strict decree that no armed brawls were permitted within the city walls and any homicide would be thoroughly investigated to the bitter end, Liu Wuzhou's hands would likely have been stained with countless lives by now.

Upon hearing this, Li Po understood immediately: this was obviously a mafia boss who had infiltrated the government.

When he later learned of Liu Wuzhou's background, Li Po couldn't help but admire Cheng Zhijie's discernment.

Indeed, Liu Wuzhou was also a native of Shandong. After having a falling out with his elder brother back home, he was driven away, accused of associating with bandits and sooner or later bringing disaster upon his family and relatives. That was why Liu Wuzhou had brought his younger sister and come to Mayi.

Of course, Cheng Zhijie also mentioned that most of these people within the city were rather unexceptional; the true crouching tigers and hidden dragons resided in the military camps outside the city.

While this statement was somewhat biased, it also demonstrated that the prestige of military achievements under the Great Sui had deeply rooted itself in the public consciousness. Those with ambitions for greatness mostly yearned for glory in the army, and Cheng Zhijie was no exception.

After finishing the round of drinks, Li Po felt he had gained a wealth of knowledge.

Returning to the stables, he had to endure another bout of nagging from the old man. The old man no longer lost his temper with him, but his palate had been spoiled by Li Po; if he missed even a single meal cooked by Li Po, he would feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

So the nagging still boiled down to complaining that Li Po was starting to neglect his proper duties—implying that instead of earnestly worshiping a true deity like him, Li Po was off practicing heterodox ways and hanging out with idlers and vagrants, which brought great shame upon his old face.

As soon as the old man finished his nagging, Yuanlang quietly sneaked over to tell Li Po that the next time he went out for drinks, he had to bring him along, otherwise, he would go tell Grandpa...

When night fell and he lay in bed, he had to listen to Li Chun's complaints as well, grumbling that whenever he went out nowadays, he never took her with him anymore.

Li Po was utterly speechless. *Didn't I just go out for a few drinks? Do you all have to make such a big deal out of it, as if none of you can survive without me?*

At that thought, a trace of pride inevitably welled up inside him. The feeling of being needed was, after all, not a bad thing at all.

The next day, Third Lady appeared at the stables once again.

This time it was for official business. She was leading a group to inspect the horse ranches and needed grooms to accompany them.

The Transport Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the Military Bureau, but for a Military Bureau Scribe to personally inspect the regional horse ranches could only mean one thing: the footsteps of war were drawing closer and closer.

The old man was no longer young, so Li Bi naturally wouldn't want to subject him to such hardship; she simply wanted Yuanlang to come along.

This was a good thing. Putting everything else aside, going out in the entourage of the Military Bureau Scribe wouldn't take many days, and for Yuanlang, it served as both a credential and a tempering experience.

The old man understood what Li Bi had in mind. Serving as a Military Bureau Scribe meant walking the well-worn path of the Guanzhong scions: serving as generals in the field and officials at court, with the ultimate pinnacle being a general abroad and a statesman at home.

At times like this, one needed trusted confidants close at hand to dispatch on errands.

After pondering it for a while, though he felt a pang of reluctance, the old man ultimately decided that his son had indeed reached the age to enter official service and could not always be kept sheltered by his knees—that would be no different from trapping a young eagle inside a bamboo cage...

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