Martial Cultivator

Su Yin walked out of the main hall. Outside, the three men all wore suspicious expressions.

Leaving aside Sun Zhongting who had been kicked out with a single blow and then scrambled back to his feet, about to summon all the soldiers outside to swarm into the hall, even the commandery governor gave an awkward dry laugh. “Warden Su, could it be that the person inside is truly an old acquaintance? You coming out now, is it to smooth things over?”

Su Yin ignored the commandery governor and simply stopped Sun Zhongting, lowering his voice. “Old Sun, listen to my advice. The matter hasn’t blown up yet. Stop here. If this continues, it won’t just be a question of whether you can keep your official cap.”

Although Sun Zhongting was a martial artist, he was not merely crude. Otherwise, he would never have reached his current position. His friendship with Su Yin was not especially deep, but they had known each other for many years, and he understood Su Yin’s temperament well. For Su Yin to speak like this meant the stakes were enormous.

“Old Su, the person inside, does he have an even harder background than this?”

Though he asked the question, he did not truly dare to believe it. If someone were really more formidable than the backing behind that constable, what kind of background would that be?

Directly an imperial relative, surnamed Chen?

Su Yin glanced at him and said nothing.

If Su Yin had stated it outright, Sun Zhongting might still have doubted it. But precisely because Su Yin reacted like this, Sun Zhongting felt that the waters here ran far too deep.

“Since it’s some exalted figure, then I ought to go and offer my apologies.”

Sun Zhongting’s words were well chosen, both a final test of Su Yin and a statement entirely reasonable under the circumstances.

Su Yin thought for a moment, then said, “Go ahead.”

Sun Zhongting never expected such an answer. After a moment of hesitation, somewhat unsure, he ultimately decided to go and see for himself. After all, although this affair had already gone badly, with some maneuvering afterward, it might still be possible to turn a bad thing into a good one. Such matters were never certain.

Su Yin remained where he was, watching that General Sun enter the hall, and then come back out like an eggplant struck by frost. He narrowed his eyes, feeling a trace of schadenfreude, and even more a sense of shared misery.

“Old Sun?”

The constable finally sensed that something was wrong and asked in confusion. But no sooner had he spoken than Sun Zhongting, furious beyond restraint, kicked him hard in the stomach. “Calling your father, are you?”

The constable was sent flying by the kick. After scrambling back up, he shouted in rage, “Sun Zhongting, you don’t want to live anymore?!”

“Fuck your mother!”

Sun Zhongting strode toward the constable, cursing loudly. “You really think you’re some big shot? Borrowing a tiger’s hide to bluff people, huh? Your Father’s entire future has been ruined by you, you bastard!”

Already seething with anger, now that Sun Zhongting knew the truth, he wished he could beat the constable to death on the spot. But knowing he could not do that, he could only vent his rage with punches and kicks.

The commandery governor watched the scene. At first he was puzzled, but he quickly calmed down. After so many years as an official, if he could not understand what he was seeing, how could he possibly continue being a commandery governor?

“General Sun? Warden Su?”

Commandery Governor Liu glanced at the two of them, hoping to glean something from their reactions. But neither seemed inclined to say anything, especially Sun Zhongting. After giving the constable a thorough beating, he strode off in great steps. From afar, his furious roar could still be heard: “Withdraw the troops...”

Su Yin looked at the commandery governor, thought for a moment, and said, “Your Excellency, today’s matter must be properly investigated. Find out the truth, then draft a memorial and submit it to the prefectural authorities.”

The commandery governor wore a look of suspicion, still having no idea who was inside the hall.

Su Yin moved his lips, but in the end said nothing more. Finally, he gave the constable a long, deep look.

......

......

The group came and went in haste.

By the time Chen Chao walked out of the main hall, no one was left. Several men followed him out. The one in front, Zhang Da, suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. “This commoner Zhang Da thanks Your Excellency for saving my life!”

The men behind him also knelt, knocking their heads repeatedly on the ground.

Chen Chao turned around, saying rather angrily, “No need to kneel. Why should you kneel?”

“If anyone should kneel, it should be me kneeling to you!”

With one hand, Chen Chao lifted Zhang Da up. The others froze in place, not understanding why this Lord Warden Commander would say such a thing.

”Your Excellency...”

Zhang Da hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Chen Chao took a deep breath. His eyes had already reddened. “You bear no guilt. Even if you once had a moment of misguided thought, it was not a crime deserving death. Yet you nearly died at the hands of officials like these... You are not at fault. They are. And the one truly at fault is me...”

Chen Chao shook his head, exhaling several heavy breaths.

Though he knew full well that some things required time to accumulate, that they needed one person after another to struggle and strive, and could never be accomplished by a single individual, Chen Chao still felt deeply ashamed.

The Great Liang Dynasty had been entrusted to him by his uncle, and he ought to watch over it properly.

Drawing in a steady breath, Chen Chao said softly, “Go. Rest assured, today’s matter ends today. From now on, no one will be able to use what happened today to trouble you.”

After hesitating for a long while, Zhang Da finally nodded. But as he turned to leave, he turned back once more to look at Chen Chao and said in a low, firm voice, “Many thanks, Your Excellency. I will remember Your Excellency’s grace for the rest of my life. If in the future Your Excellency has need of me, this commoner will not refuse, even unto death.”

Chen Chao looked at him and said nothing.

Since he had said that today’s matter did not warrant thanks, then what Zhang Da was thanking him for was naturally clear.

This man might appear rough, but in truth he was meticulous. He had already guessed that last night’s events were no miracle of Master Dong manifesting, and that from beginning to end, it had all been the silver provided by this young Lord Warden Commander.

After those men had left, Chen Chao remained where he was, thinking for a long time. At the end, he glanced once more toward the great hall. The stone statue of Master Dong was no longer visible, but he treated it as if he had seen it.

Chen Chao stepped out of the Master Dong Shrine, and his whole spirit seemed to steady and lift.

Some guilt would remain, remain for a long time, but it had to be hidden deep in his heart. If it weighed on him constantly, that would not be a good thing.

After leaving the shrine, Chen Chao encountered someone. It was, in fact, exactly as he had expected: Su Yin.

Chen Chao cast him a glance. After hesitating for a moment, Su Yin spoke frankly. “This subordinate still wanted to say a few words to Your Excellency. After today, it seems it will be difficult to ever meet Your Excellency again.”

Chen Chao nodded and said, “The person coming to take over your post will arrive in about half a month. During these two weeks, you are still the warden. How you should act, this official need not say more, right?”

Su Yin nodded and said softly, “In these final two weeks, this subordinate will certainly do my duty well as warden.”

There was a trace of sorrow in those words.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chao said, “Great General Ning is currently in the north. He knows how to arrange matters for you. If you accumulate enough military merit in the north, and if you are fortunate enough to survive, it is not impossible to transfer you back.”

Among the various officials of Changban Commandery, like the warden faction, were ones Chen Chao could decide with a single word. As for the other officials, Chen Chao only needed to report the matter to the prefectural authorities, after which it would be handled in accordance with the laws of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Some matters had already produced established facts. In those cases, he could disregard everything else and kill first. But some matters had not reached that point, and there was no need to act so decisively.

What was unexpected was that after thinking for a while, Su Yin shook his head. “This subordinate has thought it through. I do not intend to leave the Northern Frontier for the rest of my life.”

Chen Chao glanced at him.

Su Yin explained, “This subordinate is actually not suited to being an official. Dealing with people is already exhausting, and I always fail do it well. Staying in the north is fine. At least I will no longer need to adapt to the scheming and intrigue of the officialdom.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chao said, “To you, are the evasions and pretenses of the officialdom like floods and ferocious beasts?”

At this moment, Su Yin looked as though a great burden had been lifted. After nodding, he said softly, “Fortunately, before this, this subordinate did not do anything that would make even myself feel irredeemable regret.”

Chen Chao asked, “So regarding today’s matter, you had already decided that you could not avoid it, so you came to take a look, but no matter what, you never intended to take action and kill anyone in the end?”

After thinking for a moment, Su Yin said, “Perhaps saying this now sounds like self-justification, but this subordinate truly thought so from the start. I never planned to kill anyone.”

Chen Chao smiled. “I believe you. A person’s words can be false, but what he does is rarely so.”

Judging from Su Yin’s previous conduct, Chen Chao was willing to believe that he was not someone with an inherently rotten nature.

As for Sun Zhongting, it was another matter altogether.

Even among martial artists, there were differences.

“But no matter what, when you encounter certain matters... certain evils, it is not enough merely to refuse to be an accomplice. Once you wear this official robe, you are destined not to be a bystander. You ought to dare to speak out against injustice, and dare to help those who have been wronged.”

Chen Chao looked at Su Yin and said calmly, “No matter what, you have failed the official robe you wear.”

After thinking for a moment, Su Yin said, “Do not scholars have a saying -‘When poor, cultivate oneself alone; when successful, bring benefit to all under Heaven’?”

Chen Chao sneered. “Are you a scholar? Or are you someone wearing an official robe, drawing a salary from the court?”

Su Yin was a little embarrassed. He had never studied many books to begin with, and after finally managing to show off a line, he had not even gotten it right.

Still, he could not help muttering to himself: was not the Lord Warden Commander standing before him also of martial artist origins? So how did he know so much?

Chen Chao seemed to know what he was thinking and said expressionlessly, “What’s wrong with coming from a martial artist background? That it somehow prevents this official from being fond of learning? That is unnecessary. Otherwise, if this official went to sit for the imperial examinations, I would certainly place highly. As for entering the academy, those academy tutors would be scrambling to take this official as a disciple.”

If it had only been the first half of those words, Su Yin might have half-believed them. But with the addition of the latter half, he did not believe a word of it.

Everyone under heaven knew that their Lord Warden Commander was on the worst possible terms with the scholars of the academy. Several times they had confronted one another directly, and each time it had ended badly.

If, under such circumstances, there were still academy tutors willing to take their Lord Warden Commander as a student, that would truly be beyond comprehension.

Not to mention their Lord Warden Commander, even those academy tutors themselves would not dare nod their heads lightly.

Chen Chao could not be bothered to say more. It had been a joking remark to begin with, not something meant to be taken seriously.

The two walked side by side to the city gate. Chen Chao was leaving Changban Commandery to continue north, toward the coast, while Su Yin only needed to remain here, wait for the new warden to arrive and complete the handover, and then head to the Northern Frontier himself.

At parting, Chen Chao patted Su Yin on the shoulder and said calmly, “Try not to die in the north. There is still hope for reviving the Su Family.”

Su Yin gave a bitter smile. “I’ll take that as Your Excellency’s kind blessing.”

Chen Chao remained silent.