Chapter 157: Yuan Fang Returns

Yanjing, capital of the State of Yan. The Song residence. The doors of Song Jiuming’s study remained tightly shut.

Steward Liu Lu paced back and forth in the courtyard, glancing from time to time at the closed doors.

Outside the courtyard, Song Quan came striding over in official robes. He had only just returned from the yamen after finishing work and had not even changed clothes before coming straight here.

“What happened? I heard Father shut himself in the study and hasn’t come out for half the day.”

Liu Lu lowered his voice. “News arrived that the Intelligence Directorate personnel planted at relay stations throughout the six states were suddenly raided by all six governments. The losses appear to be considerable.”

The Song family had eyes and ears of its own scattered through the various states.

Song Quan was startled. “How could that happen? Father wasn’t implicated, was he?”

After all, using the Intelligence Directorate had been his father’s idea. Damage to the State of Yan’s intelligence networks abroad was no small matter.

Liu Lu said, “The exact situation is unclear. The court already suffered a setback at Commandery Prince Yongping’s hands over Qingshan Commandery, and now this has happened to the Intelligence Directorate. You can imagine His Majesty’s mood. I hear Mo Bing was cursed bloody by His Majesty.”

“The Old Master went straight to the Office of Investigation when he heard and tried to ask Mo Bing what exactly had happened. He was turned away at the door.”

The Office of Investigation was, in fact, the State of Yan’s Intelligence Directorate. Naturally, it could not publicly call itself the Intelligence Directorate.

Mo Bing was the head of the Office of Investigation and simultaneously Commander of the Intelligence Directorate.

Song Quan’s voice sank. “Does Mo Bing intend to make Father shoulder the blame? No one is a fool. Even if Father still held office, he would have no authority to mobilize the Intelligence Directorate. The Directorate is controlled directly by His Majesty. How could this have happened without His Majesty’s approval?”

“Did Father not go see the Grand Minister?”

Liu Lu replied, “After being turned away by the Office of Investigation, the Old Master immediately went to the Grand Minister of Works’ residence. But the Grand Minister’s attitude this time was rather ambiguous.”

Song Quan frowned. “What does that mean? The Intelligence Directorate failed at its own job. How could the blame fall on Father?”

“Naturally it cannot openly be blamed on the Old Master. And that is precisely where the problem lies.”

Liu Lu continued, “I asked the Old Master what happened. He asked the Grand Minister which people had been punished over the Intelligence Directorate affair. He wanted to feel out Mo Bing’s situation and understand what being turned away by the Office of Investigation actually meant.”

“Who would have thought the Grand Minister would say the Intelligence Directorate had merit and no fault? That they had acted in time to prevent even greater losses, and that the Old Master need not concern himself with the matter any further.”

Song Quan did not immediately understand. “What does that mean? Isn’t that good?”

“How could it possibly be good?” Liu Lu said. “The conclusion that the Intelligence Directorate has merit and no fault is itself the problem. At the very least, it means the Directorate knows where the failure occurred.”

“Ordinarily, when something like this happens, responsibility is traced to the place where the failure began. Yet this time, responsibility cannot be pursued there.”

They were all men who had spent years moving within the court. Song Quan understood instantly.

His expression turned grave. “Someone blocked the investigation and pressed the matter down?”

Liu Lu nodded. “At the very least, whoever did it possesses influence at court, and with the Grand Minister, no lower than the Old Master’s.”

Now Song Quan understood completely. Losing intelligence networks abroad was no minor affair. Someone had to bear responsibility. It was impossible to pretend nothing had happened. If mistakes of this scale could simply pass without punishment, there would be no rules left at all. Only so many people were involved in the matter.

If the Intelligence Directorate was without fault, and His Majesty naturally could not be at fault, then only the person who had urged the operation in the first place remained. There was no need to say who that was.

A vicious look appeared on Song Quan’s face. “Someone is stepping on Father in order to protect another man!”

Liu Lu tried to console him. “The Grand Minister should still be protecting the Old Master.”

“Protecting my ass!”

Song Quan’s anger broke through. “Father has already left office. To claim that a man without an official post commanded the Intelligence Directorate would itself be a joke. They cannot openly pursue Father’s responsibility, but someone has still pinned the blame on him!”

He abruptly turned toward the tightly closed doors of the study. At last he understood his father’s mood.

Through clenched teeth, he said, “What a fine ‘merit and no fault.’ I’d like to see exactly who is protecting whom! Being without fault would already be enough, but they even turned it into merit!”

Liu Lu lowered his head gloomily. Whoever had acted had indeed struck hard in order to protect his man.

Not only did he intend to save that person, he intended to preserve the man’s future even through an affair of this magnitude.

In other words, anyone capable of pushing matters this far had demonstrated unmistakable resolve. He would not permit the Intelligence Directorate disaster to be dredged up later and used to block the protected man’s advancement.

Whoever was made to shoulder the blame now would have to keep carrying it.

Unless something exceptional happened, there would be no chance to overturn the judgment later.

“I said from the beginning Father should not have resigned so easily as Commandant of Justice. He believed Tong Mo’s nonsense, and now anyone can squeeze him as they please!”

Song Quan flung out his sleeve in fury. The situation was troublesome for him as well. Who did not know he was Song Jiuming’s son?

In a struggle like this, the opposing side had already struck hard at his father. Why would they allow the son to grow powerful enough to strike back later?

Liu Lu hurriedly warned him, “Walls have ears. Eldest Young Master, mind your words!”

Song Quan leaned closer instead and lowered his voice. “This cannot leak. If word gets out, the tree will fall and the monkeys will scatter immediately!”

He had barely finished speaking when someone entered from outside the courtyard carrying a letter, face taut. It was Song Shu. Song Quan and Liu Lu looked over.

Song Shu came up to them and held out the letter, his expression dark. “Wang Heng just sent men over and forcibly took his daughter away. This is a letter in Wang Heng’s own hand. He says his daughter is still young and that, as her parents, they cannot bear to see her remain a widow forever. He wants the Song family to issue a document allowing her to remarry!”

Song Quan took the letter and opened it. The contents were exactly as Song Shu had said.

The wording spoke of hoping the Song family would show compassion, but its tone left no room for negotiation. Liu Lu read it afterward. His face tightened just like Song Quan’s.

For Wang Heng to sever ties with the Song family at this particular moment meant the Emperor’s close attendant had almost certainly heard something. From the side, it confirmed their suspicions.

Under normal circumstances, Wang Heng wanting his daughter to remarry would not have meant much.

But at a moment like this, it was nothing less than kicking the Song family while it was down.

What would people with sharp eyes think when they saw it? Yet the Song family dared not refuse.

If they did, Wang Heng would only make a public scene and strip them of even more face. Was that not exactly what he wanted?

“Investigate.”

Song Quan’s face was iron-blue, his teeth clenched. “Find out exactly who acted, and whom they are protecting. And see whether there is any way to learn where the Intelligence Directorate’s failure actually occurred!”

He could already feel the signs of a storm approaching. Song Shu heard enough to realize Wang Heng’s move was not simple after all.

Puzzled, he asked, “What happened?”

The setting sun was infinitely beautiful—only, dusk was drawing near.

Qingshan Commandery. The commandery capital. Slanting rays of sunset lay over the city.

Veiled, Shang Shuqing paced atop the city wall, repeatedly looking toward the road in the distance.

Word had arrived that Yuan Fang had returned to the villa in Canglu County early that morning, but he had returned alone.

Finding the villa empty, Yuan Fang had immediately continued on toward Qingshan Commandery.

Judging by the time, and assuming he used relay-station horses along the roads within Qingshan Commandery, he should arrive around dusk.

Shang Shuqing had already been waiting on the city wall for two full hours. She did not know what Yuan Fang’s return alone meant.

Where was Niu Youdao?

Had something happened?

Unfortunately, Yuan Fang was not the sort to tell subordinates everything. The report from Canglu County naturally contained no information about Niu Youdao. In the distance, a trail of dust appeared. A lone rider galloped into view. Shang Shuqing stared. Joy gradually entered her eyes as she recognized the man. Yuan Fang.

Naturally, a rider could not simply charge straight through the city gates. His horse stopped outside. From the wall above came a gentle, pleasant, familiar voice.

“Abbot Yuan Fang!”

Yuan Fang looked up and grinned. “Commandery Princess!”

After that there was little to say. He entered the city without obstruction and was soon brought atop the wall.

Seeing his travel-worn appearance, Shang Shuqing greeted him with dignified courtesy. “Abbot, you’ve had a hard journey.”

“It was nothing, nothing.” Yuan Fang waved cheerfully.

Shang Shuqing invited him into the gate tower to rest. Tea was served.

After dismissing the attendants and waiting until Yuan Fang had set down his cup, Shang Shuqing finally asked, “Why did only the Abbot return? Where is Master Dao?”

Yuan Fang answered casually, “The Prince has already severed relations with Master Dao. How could Master Dao openly show himself and come back?”

Shang Shuqing fell silent for a moment. “Then did Master Dao return as well, only without showing himself?”

Yuan Fang waved a hand. “No. Master Dao still has business. He’s tangling with a pack of damned thieves and doesn’t have time to come back, so he sent me ahead.”

“Damned thieves?” Shang Shuqing asked quickly. “Did something happen?”

Yuan Fang slapped his thigh. “Something big happened! The Song family sent experts from three sects to hunt us the whole way. And not just the Song family—even the court of the State of Yan sent large numbers of men to encircle and intercept Master Dao.”

“We’ve practically been gambling with our lives this entire journey. If Master Dao weren’t so capable, we would have gone to meet the Buddha long ago!”

Shang Shuqing listened with her heart pounding.

She leaned slightly forward. “What exactly happened?”

Yuan Fang scratched his head. “Master Dao said nothing about our route can be revealed to anyone, otherwise things become even more dangerous. Commandery Princess, don’t make things difficult for me.”

“...”

Shang Shuqing was left speechless. She was not the sort to force him after hearing that.

If he had been told not to speak, she could hardly compel him. But this half-told, half-hidden account only made her more anxious. Three sects sent by the Song family to hunt them.

Large numbers of men sent by the court of the State of Yan to surround and intercept them.

Just hearing it was enough to make a person’s heart tighten. How dangerous must it have been?

“If it is so dangerous, why did Master Dao not return? Why did he send only you back?”

Yuan Fang replied, “Master Dao said that courtesy demands reciprocity. He’s still wrestling with them right now.”

“I didn’t want to come back either, but there was no choice. I had to help Master Dao bring in reinforcements.”

Shang Shuqing asked, “Do you need Tianyu Sect’s assistance?”

If that was the case, she was already prepared to plead for them.

Yuan Fang waved again. “No need. By the time Tianyu Sect’s people got there, everything would be over.”

“Master Dao already sent people to contact forces from all six states to help. I was responsible for the State of Zhao side. I’ve finished my part, and now it’s difficult to contact Master Dao anyway, so I returned first according to his instructions.”

Shang Shuqing froze. Forces from all six states? You were responsible for Zhao?

He spoke in terms of entire states as though it were ordinary.

For a moment she could not tell how large a matter Yuan Fang had handled, much less how large a matter Niu Youdao had set in motion.

“Commandery Princess, I hear the people from my temple have moved here too. I need to go check their lessons. If I’m not around, who knows whether they’ve been slacking!”

Yuan Fang grabbed the tea and gulped down a mouthful. Without another word, he rose and left. Shang Shuqing stood with him, left utterly helpless.

He had explained everything so vaguely that it only made her more anxious.

Still, judging from Yuan Fang’s relaxed manner, Niu Youdao seemed capable of handling the situation. That allowed her to feel slightly more at ease.

[End of Chapter 157]