Chapter 355: No Problem!

The moment Chief Constable Yan said those words, the old stall owner’s face turned green, then white.

His right hand began trembling slightly.

His gaze fell toward the knife he normally used to slice pig’s-head meat.

He was hesitating.

Hesitating over whether he should simply grab that knife and butcher the man who dared say such a thing in front of him!

The people of Yan revered martial spirit. Here, “martial” did not mean everyone practiced martial arts. It meant that a willingness to fight and refuse humiliation flowed in their bones.

Ran Min killing Monkey San inside the Nan’an County yamen had been the clearest example.

Killing a Chief Constable in the street would bring enormous trouble.

But swallowing this humiliation?

That was genuinely hard to swallow!

Still, the stall owner was only an ordinary commoner. He did not really think the words *I’ll make you Empress* carried some enormous political taboo.

Ordinary people simply did not possess so many schemes inside their heads.

Besides, Chief Constable Yan visibly looked “drunk.” A drunk man speaking drunken nonsense could say almost anything. Was the government really supposed to prosecute every foolish sentence a man muttered after drinking?

For one thing, the State of Yan had never been especially fond of punishing people merely for words.

For another, although Chief Constable Yan looked like someone from the “government,” his position did not even count as a properly ranked official post.

A true noble or great official naturally could not spout nonsense of this sort.

But when some low-ranking fellow ran his mouth, as long as he did not name specific people and say something genuinely forbidden, most others simply ignored it.

A customer in a brothel, surrounded by several girls, might sigh:

“Damn, right now I’m living even better than the old Emperor himself!”

Were the authorities supposed to arrest him for that?

Compared with her father’s fury, the butcher’s daughter reacted very differently.

Five parts shy.

Four parts nervous.

Only one part genuinely angry.

She glared at Chief Constable Yan once.

Then she felt that glare had been too weak, so she glared at him again.

Somehow, the second glare looked even gentler.

In his wild younger years, Yao Zizhan, Sage of Letters of the State of Qian, had once said there were three things in this world most difficult to predict.

The first was the ever-changing wind and clouds of Heaven.

The second was the intrigue and deception of the imperial court.

The third the heart of a young woman.

All three obeyed the same rule:

You could not guess.

You did not dare guess.

You could not guess correctly.

And even when you did guess correctly, it was practically the same as never having guessed at all.

“Dad, what happened?”

At that moment, a rough, heavy voice sounded from behind them.

Chief Constable Yan turned his head and saw a large, powerfully built man pulling a handcart toward the stall.

A pig lay on the cart.

It had just been purchased from one of the villages outside Nan’an County. The animal had been tied so tightly that only its snout remained free to grunt.

The old stall owner’s surname was He.

He had one son and one daughter.

Perhaps all the hardship Old He had endured in his own life had accumulated into blessings for the next generation.

He himself was short, fat, and round.

Yet his son had grown tall and strong.

His daughter had grown beautiful as a flower.

The son had been born at the beginning of the month, so he was named He Chu.

The daughter’s given name was a single character:

Si.

He Si.

Seeing his father furious, He Chu immediately dropped the rope tied around his waist and demanded to know what had happened.

A man without some temper and physical weight behind him could not protect a meat stall in the marketplace.

Chief Constable Yan shook his head helplessly and sighed.

He merely waved one hand, as though saying farewell to that reckless, romantic version of himself from moments earlier.

In this respect, he was actually rather similar to that brother of his surnamed Zheng.

Both possessed tempers in their hearts.

But outwardly, both knew perfectly well when to bend and when to stand.

The difference was however disgraceful that brother surnamed Zheng might behave, Zheng Fan at least had enough personal ability to bully men and seize women if he really wanted to.

He was, after all, a Seventh Grade Martial Artist.

There was no chance he would be weaker than the son of some butcher.

But himself?

Chief Constable Yan glanced around.

The county constables who normally bowed and scraped around him were nowhere in sight.

Fuck.

Right now he did not even possess the confidence to bully a man and seize his woman!

The evening wind blew past.

Chief Constable Yan suddenly felt another wave of desolation in his heart.

With a wounded expression, he turned away.

He did not even retrieve the piece of broken silver he had so grandly slapped onto the chopping board earlier.

Instead, he staggered slowly toward home.

Sway left.

Sway right.

Winter truly was heartless.

You finally managed to kindle one small flame inside yourself and the cold simply blew it out.

Still, the whole affair had not been completely without profit.

At least the Chief Constable’s uniform on his body ensured that the old stall owner, furious as he was, ultimately did not dare say anything.

He Chu was clearly a hot-blooded man too, but because his father had not spoken, he merely stared at Chief Constable Yan’s retreating back rather than attacking him.

Chief Constable Yan suddenly found this somewhat amusing.

Great Yan beneath Heaven at least for now really did possess a certain clarity and order.

It was not the sort of world where some man could simply shout, *Kill this dog official, raise a banner, and let’s fucking rebel!*

For that Chief Constable Yan silently sent another greeting toward his own father.

Thanks to the old man, even after his worthless son failed at bullying a man and seizing his daughter, he could still retreat with his body intact.

He staggered all the way back to the little courtyard he rented not far from the yamen.

The courtyard was narrow.

But for a bachelor living alone, it was more than enough.

He did not even keep a fire burning at home.

Once inside, Chief Constable Yan grabbed a ladle, scooped some water from the vat, and drank.

Some of it splashed onto his collar.

He scratched at the damp cloth without caring, pushed open the door to his room, and prepared to collapse into bed under the influence of drunkenness that did not actually exist.

*Thump.*

Down he went.

Humans were not plants or trees.

Who could truly be without feeling?

And the word *feeling* contained far more than love between men and women.

Reducing it to romance alone was far too narrow.

*My surname is Ji.*

*I received the State Preceptor’s blessing at birth.*

*My name is Chengjue.*

*Do you bastards even understand what the name Chengjue means?*

*You pieces of trash.*

*With those tiny schemes and petty calculations of yours, which one of you is actually enough for me to fight?*

*Then why?*

*Why?*

*Why?!*

*Goddamn it.*

*That fucking old man!*

A great deal of unhappiness in life came from comparing yourself with your closest friends.

She starts living well.

Then suddenly you think:

*Why is my own life so miserable?*

Human resentment sometimes that was all it took.

The coarse tea and plain rice sitting in front of you suddenly stopped tasting good.

General Zheng had no idea what kind of shock his achievements caused when news of them reached this small county town under Tiancheng Commandery.

Think about it.

When they first met you were nothing more than a miscellaneous Lieutenant Commander from Tiger Head City.

To seize one chance to rise, you were willing to stand in front of Sha Tuo Queshi and take a blow for me.

Back then, although I was already an idle and carefree prince, the distance between us was still Heaven and Earth.

And now?

Iron cavalry gathers behind you.

They follow you on thousand-li surprise attacks.

Beneath Snow Sea Pass, you pile your own achievements upon mountains of white bones.

Even that proud Sword Saint has to be used by you.

He obeys beneath your command.

He kills for you.

The jianghu spreads tales of your heroic spirit.

The imperial court speaks of your military merit.

Even inside one tiny teahouse, your stories fill the entire room.

The young men of Yan are afraid their fathers will beat them if they pretend to be the Marquis of Jingnan.

But surely imitating General Zheng cannot be wrong?

And me?

Inside Nan’an County, cracking melon seeds, patrolling the streets.

One moment smiling.

The next putting on a stern face.

I pretend I am calm as cloud and wind.

But when did either cloud or wind ever truly enter my heart?

I fooled other people.

In the end, I could not fool myself.

I thought I had put everything down.

I thought I was willing to abandon everything.

I could not hate enough.

I could not bring myself to hate.

I... did not dare hate.

But inside the sea of my heart, resentment had already been boiling for a long time!

Chief Constable Yan slapped the bed repeatedly with one hand.

Only now only at this moment could he release a little of the depression buried inside him.

No disguise.

No restraint.

No need to distinguish which household belonged to the Secret Intelligence Department, which belonged to the Silver-Armored Guard, and which little dogs and flies had been arranged by his Second Brother—the current Crown Prince—because that brother still did not trust his younger sibling.

People said Situ Lei’s rise had made him the Fledgling Phoenix of the Situ Clan.

Situ Yi and Situ Jiong could scheme however they wanted, yet neither could defeat him. In the end, they were driven onto the snowfields to gnaw on wind and snow.

But what did Situ Lei really amount to?

Soft-hearted.

Once he won, he thought he had won everything.

He actually sent those two elder brothers far away and left it at that.

If you refused to kill them, fine.

But you could not even keep them confined?

And no matter how things were described afterward you, Situ Lei, could only become some so-called Fledgling Phoenix because your father placed you on the board from the beginning.

Only then did you have the qualification to compete.

Otherwise you were nothing.

If you were not even on the board, you were fucking nothing!

*Knock knock knock knock.*

Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Chief Constable Yan froze.

*Knock knock knock knock.*

He hesitated.

Then he rose from the bed.

He had never removed his clothes or unfolded the bedding, so getting up required nothing more than standing.

Rubbing his brow, he walked to the courtyard entrance and opened the gate.

And there she stood.

Who else could it be but the butcher’s daughter?

The young woman held a basket.

The moment she saw Chief Constable Yan, her white teeth caught her lower lip.

She seemed to be struggling with herself.

But finally she said in a clear voice:

“Three jin of meat.

“Half a pot of yellow wine.

“Two little dishes I mixed myself.

“You paid too much. The remaining money is underneath.

“I brought it all back to you.”

Chief Constable Yan smiled.

He reached out and accepted the basket.

The young woman remained standing outside.

A sudden trace of disappointment entered her heart.

Then, her hand was seized too.

Chief Constable Yan pulled her through the gate in one motion.

“Your big brother here really is hungry.”

...

The light of dawn filtered through the paper window.

Chief Constable Yan woke to the sound of scissors.

He opened his eyes.

The butcher’s daughter was cutting away the patch of bedsheet stained red from the previous night.

He had once heard that brother of his surnamed Zheng say:

*Only the ox gets worked to collapse. No field ever gets plowed to ruin.*

Yet this young woman had lost her virginity last night and could still rise so early.

She had even pinned up her hair already.

Perhaps he himself really was somewhat lacking in endurance.

Then again, a butcher’s daughter probably possessed a stronger constitution than an ordinary woman to begin with.

Chief Constable Yan sat up in bed.

The young woman saw him wake and smiled.

Then she took a purse from the basket, opened it, and poured out a collection of silver.

Some pieces were small.

Some were larger.

Among the larger pieces was a single proper silver ingot she had deliberately exchanged for from broken silver.

“This is the private silver I saved for myself. Some came from needlework, some from little amounts I skimmed while helping at the stall. After all these years, this is everything I managed to save.

“I’m giving it all to you.

“Keep the broken silver and use it to buy pastries and dried fruit. Make the gifts come in matching pairs.

“Take the ingot and give it to my father as betrothal silver.”

For a moment, Chief Constable Yan did not know what to say.

The young woman thought he had misunderstood her meaning, so she immediately continued:

“You’re a Chief Constable, after all. My family only runs a little business on the street.

“Truthfully, I’m the one marrying upward.

“My family is the one reaching above its station.

“I’ve already given myself to you, but don’t worry. My father isn’t so blinded by pig grease that he’d try forcing you to marry into our household.

“And I won’t allow my man to do something so spineless either.

“Take this silver and give it to my father. A few days later, when I properly marry into your house, my father will have to send back twice as much as my dowry.

“Don’t underestimate the pig-slaughtering business. There’s plenty of profit in it.

“The silver we send out today— once I properly cross your threshold in a few days, won’t it all belong to us again anyway?”

Chief Constable Yan opened his mouth.

Still, no words came.

Marrying into the wife’s family?

Most men had probably fantasized about it at some point.

Most abandoned the idea after deciding they still needed to preserve their authority as husbands, but that never stopped them from leaning back, crossing their legs, narrowing their eyes, and savoring the fantasy from time to time.

Chief Constable Yan, however, had genuinely never considered it.

His father had never treated him especially well.

But imagine if one day his father suddenly learned that his son intended to marry into another household as a live-in son-in-law... and that household belonged to a butcher...

What kind of expression would the old man make?

“You’re tired. What do you want for breakfast? I’ll go buy something.

“There isn’t even rice beside your stove. This is no way to live.”

The woman kept talking.

She had already begun planning what household items needed to be purchased.

Chief Constable Yan suddenly felt very happy.

There had been a time when he too had enjoyed flocks of beautiful women around him.

But they had been like brilliant clouds at the edge of the sky.

You saw them.

They arrived.

Then they scattered.

The thing that truly remained beside you every day was the same eternal sunset.

The woman’s voice gradually grew quieter.

Perhaps because Chief Constable Yan had remained silent for so long, she finally stopped what she was doing.

Then she said to herself:

“If you don’t want to marry me, I won’t cling to you.”

As she spoke, her hand reached toward the hairpin holding up her married woman’s hairstyle.

Chief Constable Yan reacted instantly.

He caught her wrist.

“I’m hungry.

“Let’s go out and buy something to eat together.”

The woman answered softly.

Then the two of them stepped through the courtyard gate like a newlywed couple and Chief Constable Yan nearly jumped in fright.

Sitting right outside the gate was his new elder brother-in-law, He Chu.

A wine jar sat before him.

A butcher knife hung from his waist.

His face was covered in rough stubble.

He turned his head.

The moment he looked at Chief Constable Yan, his eyes seemed capable of spitting fire.

His father had tried stopping her.

He Chu had tried stopping her too.

But his younger sister had pressed a hairpin against her own throat and declared that if they refused to let her deliver the meat, she would die in front of father and son.

Helpless, they could only watch her enter Chief Constable Yan’s courtyard.

And then, He Chu sat outside the gate for the entire night.

He rose to his feet.

Then he looked at his sister’s hairstyle, now unmistakably arranged as that of a married woman.

He ground his teeth.

“If you bastard ever dare treat my little sister badly, I’ll definitely—”

Chief Constable Yan raised one hand.

Imitating the manner favored by that brother of his surnamed Zheng, he patted his butcher brother-in-law on the shoulder.

He Chu froze.

Clearly, apart from the Shengle Army, the rest of Great Yan still had not become accustomed to this particular custom.

Chief Constable Yan drew in a breath.

Then he rolled his neck once.

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

He Chu’s enormous frame tightened involuntarily.

The aggressive momentum he had carried a moment earlier seemed to scatter instantly.

Chief Constable Yan smiled again.

Looking at his new brother-in-law, he asked:

“Tell me.

“Do you want to become a Grand General?”

He Chu’s first reaction was unexpectedly not to curse the man for being insane.

Last night, this lunatic had tricked his little sister by promising to make her some ridiculous Empress.

Now, this morning, he was talking about making He Chu a general.

But for some reason, He Chu merely moved his lips.

Even his voice dropped several levels.

“I...

“I only know how to slaughter pigs.”

Chief Constable Yan patted He Chu’s shoulder again.

Then he turned toward the east toward Yanjing.

With tremendous heroic spirit, he declared:

“No problem!”

————

This chapter came out really well.

[End of Chapter 355]