Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 135 : Earring

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The rain stopped the next day, but the sky was still overcast. 

Concubine Cai, who had been rebuked yesterday, pleaded illness early in the morning. Luo Mu did not sleep well during the night either. After his breakfast, his servant came to report that Cai Yu had sent him an invitation to a gathering.

Luo Mu took the invitation, knowing full well Cai Yu’s purpose for the invitation today. He wiped his hands. Without even changing his robe, he straight out said, “Prepare the sedan. I’ll go over now. Let’s not keep Elder Brother waiting for too long.”

Cai Yu was a known bandit in the Prefecture of Chazhou. Yan Heru of Hezhou addressed him as pa. Cai Yu was usually generous with his money, and he liked to assist the various bandits financially, so he was well-reputed among them as a loyal and righteous man who was always ready to offer help. However, he did not get along with Lei Changming from Mount Luo. No one knew the reason why. All they knew was that before Lei Changming’s death, both men would pay no heed to the other during the bandits’ gathering-cum-feasts. 

When Luo Mu arrived at the Cai’s residence, Cai Yu had already treated them to a round of drinks and food. Cai Yu’s residence was even more luxuriously built than Luo Mu’s, with more than a thousand servants inside. However, he was not a man who was particular about unnecessary and convoluted formalities; after all, most of his visitors were bandits and robbers. As such, the feasts he held were literally wine-and-meat feasts that boasted of all kinds of roast meats and strong wines. 

The moment Cai Yu saw Luo Mu, he leaned back and beckoned to him with a smile, “Mengzheng, you’re late. As punishment, you have to drink three cups of wine. Take a seat, quickly.”  

Luo Mu had always been servile and docile before Cai Yu, so he complied and took his seat. Even when he saw the weirdly-dressed strangers at the table, he did not probe. Cai Yu waited for Luo Mu to finish his drink before he said, “I heard my younger sister was bothering you yesterday.” 

Looking panicked, Luo Mu started, “Elder Brother—”  

“You were right to tell her off!” Cai Yu pressed down on Luo Mu’s arm and said with a smile, “You are her husband, and the man is in charge of the front hall. There are indeed many matters that aren’t up to her to dictate as she wishes. She’s used to being willful and spoiled at home, and even when she has gotten married, she has no respect for her elders. In the future, just tell her off where it is needed. There’s no need to give me face. She’s been so pampered that she’s getting more and more out of hand.”   

Cai Yu knew everything that happened in Luo Mu’s inner chambers like the back of his hand. He did not apply that much pressure on the hand that was pressing down on Luo Mu, but it was precisely because of this that it seemed to take him no effort at all. If he told Luo Mu to head left, then Luo Mu would not dare to go right. Luo Mu was an official who passed the rounds of imperial examinations at the various levels to make his way to Qudu the proper way, where he then underwent official inspections to be assigned this post outside the capital. But so what? In Chazhou, Luo Mu was just a yes-man. As they said, the sky is high, and the emperor is far—the local cities in remote places were beyond the reach of the authorities in the central administration. Banditry in Zhongbo was already a serious issue during the reign of Yongyi. Before the defeat of Zhongbo’s troops, they did not give two hoots about the Prince of Jianxing, Shen Wei, and after the defeat of the Zhongbo’s troops, they gave even less of a damn about Qudu. 

Fine sweat oozed from Luo Mu’s forehead.
Satisfied on noticing this, Cai Yu retracted his hand and said with a laugh, “Come to think of it, it’s really unheard of. Half a month ago, I heard that there was going to be a change of emperor. That Imperial Bodyguards Commander, Han Cheng, was so anxious that he ran back to his hometown just to find a child to be the imperial heir. But who knew, Secretariat Elder Hai did not agree and banged his head in the hall to his death. Blood and brain matter splattered all over Han Cheng, scaring Han Cheng so much that he peed in his pants right there and then.” 
All of them burst out laughing in unison. News that had spread by word of mouth had long rendered Han Cheng as a boorish, hunchback scum that bowed to powers that be.