“If you want to report a crime, you came to the wrong place. The Town Supervisor’s Office handles that. If they won’t take the case, then it’s even less our place to go arrest someone.” He Jie was plainly uninterested in what Zhao Wei had to say. Once he finished speaking, he turned to leave.
Zhao Wei hurriedly called after him. “Jie, don’t go!”
He pulled He Jie aside and secretly stuffed a bottle of liquor into his hand. He Jie disliked being touched and forcibly pulled his arm back, then brushed at his sleeve in disgust before finally accepting the wine flask.
“Where’s it from?”
“Chen’s.” Zhao Wei figured that He Yi no longer ran errands for He Jie these days, so He Jie had probably gone quite a while without drinking and ought to be craving it by now.
But he had forgotten that He Jie had already moved into town. Getting liquor was incomparably easier for him than before, so He Jie did not think much of the gift at all. “No, no. You think this little thing is enough to get me to help you? You really think being an official runner is that easy?”
Seeing that He Jie would not budge, Zhao Wei grew anxious and kept repeating himself. “That fellow hits hard! Who knows if he came down from some mountain stockade full of bandits? Everyone in the village is scared stiff! Jie, you’re such a good fighter. That brat definitely wouldn’t be a match for you. Help us out, Jie.”
What irritated He Jie most was that Zhao Wei followed him around like a dog, yet because he was older and technically senior to him, he still took liberties with how he addressed him.
The gatekeeper kept glancing over at them. He Jie truly could not stand Zhao Wei making a scene like this, but it would not look good to hit him either, so in the end he agreed.
“Fine. Wait here. I’ll find a few people. Afterward, get an ox cart to take them over.”
“All right, all right. Thank you, Ah-Jie. Here, take this.” Delighted, Zhao Wei hurriedly shoved the liquor back into He Jie’s hand, unable to suppress the smug, scheming smile on his face.
When the men finally arrived, however, Zhao Wei realized none of them wore the uniforms of runners from the Patrol Inspector’s Office. They were dressed only in dark coarse-cloth work jackets, with no sabers at their waists. Each carried nothing more than a wooden club. They looked more like gambling-house thugs than men who ate government grain.
Once they were on the cart, Zhao Wei led them straight to Madman Tang’s home.
From several days of staking the place out, he had only ever seen Xue Ci entering and leaving around this residence. He was therefore certain that Xue Ci lived in Madman Tang’s house.
When the group barged into the Tang residence, Madman Tang was the only person home. He showed no sign of panic whatsoever. Sitting leisurely in a rattan chair, he skimmed tea foam from his cup and turned his head. “What brings you gentlemen here today?”
When Zhao Wei saw that the men in front of him were all silent, he had no choice but to step forward himself. “Madman Tang, you’re in trouble. Someone reported a crime, and these runners were sent here to arrest someone.”
“Oh? Who committed a crime?”
“That outsider who comes and goes from your house every day. You’re harboring a criminal. If you know what’s good for you, hand him over quickly! Then the officials in town probably won’t hold it against you. But if you refuse…”
“An outsider? I truly don’t recall anyone like that. Why don’t you describe him and see whether it jogs my memory?” The faint smile disappeared from Madman Tang’s face as he quietly glanced toward the East Courtyard.
“Quit pretending! I saw him myself. That brat isn’t from the village at all, and his eyes are blue! He must be hiding in your house right now! Hurry up and hand him over!” Zhao Wei had never been this bold before. It was only because he had people backing him that even his tone became several degrees more arrogant.
“You were the one who reported him, weren’t you?” Madman Tang studied the silent thugs behind Zhao Wei. They clearly lacked the confidence ordinary official runners would have when coming to make an arrest. Looking at Madman Tang’s imposing residence, they were already beginning to retreat inwardly, wondering whether they truly wanted to clash with the distinguished man in front of them.
Zhao Wei did not answer Madman Tang’s question directly, but his refusal to answer told Madman Tang enough. Zhao Wei had never wanted to put himself openly at the front. He wanted others to do his dirty work for him. Yet he could not command these men at all, and he could also tell they were close to being bluffed by Madman Tang’s composure.
Seeing his plan about to fail, Zhao Wei could not accept it. He egged the thugs on in a low voice. “Sirs, Madman Tang refuses to cooperate. Why don’t we search the village house by house? When the villagers blame him for all the trouble, he’ll have no choice but to hand the man over if he wants to keep living here.” As for why Zhao Wei did not suggest forcing their way inside and searching the Tang residence directly, it was because even he was wary of the rumored people backing Madman Tang.
The men exchanged looks, communicated silently for a moment, then all shook their heads. They were not fools. They had only come on this trip for their young master, because their master wanted to curry favor with He Jie. But if He Jie himself had been unwilling to touch the matter, then it obviously was not very important. If this were truly the sort of assignment that could earn merit, would it ever have fallen to them?
Besides, there were only five of them. If they truly followed Zhao Wei’s suggestion and caused that much commotion, they had no idea whether the whole village would turn Madman Tang into the target of its resentment. What was far more likely was that the entire village would come together to block them. After all, they were not real official runners. They were merely retainers of a young master who had connections with one. How could they afford to offend so many villagers?
Thus, before Madman Tang even had to say much, the men began mocking Zhao Wei instead, cursed him harshly a few times, then apologized for the disturbance and shoved him out of the Tang residence with them.
“…” Madman Tang relaxed slightly, but the worry between his brows did not fade. He narrowed his eyes and stared toward the gate for a long while.
The thugs had come charging in to arrest someone only to come up empty-handed, so naturally they did not simply let Zhao Wei off. They insisted on going to his house and turning the place upside down. Only after stealing the several hundred wen he had hidden in a crack between the bricks did they get back onto the ox cart and leave.
Zhao Wei nearly made himself sick with rage.
Back to He Yi.
After finishing his work in the fields, He Yi was about to return to the Tang residence when he saw the big goose taking itself for a swim in the river. It paddled about happily on the surface, occasionally plunging its head into the water to nibble on aquatic plants.
He Yi smiled at the sight. It seemed his new house really ought to have a pond. Then the goose would not have to travel this far every time, and if he raised ducks later, they could use it too.
He had also noticed that the goose especially liked wet, fresh greens. It would eat grass seeds and other things when it found them, but fresh green plants were its favorite. He Yi walked down to the riverbank and planned to gather some ixeris greens to take home.
Elio’s Notes: 苦荬菜 (kǔmǎi cài) refers to Ixeris polycephala, a leafy plant that commonly grows around fields, grassland, and riverbanks.
Before long, the goose in the middle of the river swam over to He Yi, honked twice, lifted its head, and prodded his arm.
He Yi turned toward it, only for the leaves in his hand to be snatched away at once by its black beak.
“…I’m picking them for you. What’s the rush?”
The greens in his hand were gone in no time, but the goose was still unsatisfied and continued prodding him. Helpless, He Yi could only pick while feeding it and say, “Can’t you fly up here and eat them yourself? I was planning to gather some to put in your pen too.”
The goose was fat, and when the snow leopard had chased it before, it had not managed to get airborne. But judging by how often it came out to play in the water, He Yi knew it actually could fly. It was simply openly, shamelessly lazy. It paddled back and forth in the water and simply refused to come ashore.
“You really aren’t afraid I’ll sell you.” The goose was actually quite clingy. At first it had only stayed with the chicks, so He Yi had not noticed this trait. Later, he began seeing it follow him around, waddling behind him wherever he went. Sometimes it even came to the fields and helped by nibbling weeds, yet it never touched the seedlings he had planted. It was remarkably clever.
So He Yi indulged its laziness. The goose seemed to understand that he was only joking and was not afraid in the slightest. It honked twice more and continued stealing leaves straight from his hand.
Looking at the plump, enormous goose, He Yi could not help sighing. How nice it would have been if it were female and could lay eggs, but unfortunately it was a male. Now that he had grown attached to it, he could hardly actually sell it or cook it.
He Yi patted the knob on the goose’s head. “That’s enough. I’m taking the rest of these home. Have you had enough of the water? If you have, come back with me.”
The goose shook its head and short tail feathers, blinked its little black-bean eyes, then stretched its long wings sideways and laboriously hopped up onto the bank. It followed at He Yi’s feet, leaving a trail of water behind as it waddled cheerfully back toward the Tang residence.
“These little creatures really do like you,” Madman Tang said. He simply could not understand why the goose did not much care for him. It did not attack him, or it would never have survived this long, but every time it saw him, it kept its distance.
The goose behaved exactly the same way now. He Yi stopped, but it did not. Instead, it hurried straight into the West Courtyard and vanished within moments.
He Yi neither agreed nor disagreed. He simply sat down in the main hall.
“Something you need to tell me?”
Madman Tang smiled, forced to admire He Yi’s sharp instincts, then told him about Zhao Wei bringing people over to arrest Xue Ci earlier that day.
He Yi frowned deeply after hearing the story. “Who is this man? Does he have some grudge against Xue Ci?”
“You’d probably know better than I would whether they have a grudge. But I do know a little about Zhao Wei himself. He’s just one of the village louts. He used to be close to He Jie. He’s twenty-eight and was married once. Apparently he beat his wife until she ran away, though it’s also possible she died. Either way, no one in the village has ever seen his wife again.”
“…” That was genuinely disturbing. He Yi could not help wondering how far Zhao Wei might go if he lost control. This time he had actually gone so far as to report Xue Ci. The men who came were neither soldiers nor official runners, but Zhao Wei was clearly serious about it. He truly wanted Xue Ci taken away.
“Xue Ci… doesn’t have household registration in the village. Does that really mean he can’t stay here?”
“Then register him.”
“What conditions would he have to meet?”
“There hasn’t been any war in this area lately, nor any catastrophic natural disaster, so movement between places is checked rather strictly.” Madman Tang hooked his little finger against the lid of his teacup and scraped at it while thinking. “Someone without identity papers is very unlikely to be entered into the household register. If he gets caught, he’ll either be exiled or driven away, or else entered into the slave register.”
“Then… is there really no way at all?” He Yi knew that people of the Qian Dynasty were registered in the town or county when they were born and issued a unique set of identity papers. Even if someone later fled to another place, as long as they still had those papers, they would not be forced into slave status and could settle and register elsewhere.
“Not necessarily.” Madman Tang paused. “There is a way, but it’s rather unconventional.”
He continued, “I know people who work at the border. Getting entry papers wouldn’t be difficult. But once Xue Ci is given foreign-resident papers, he’ll officially be treated as a foreigner. There are all kinds of restrictions on that status, and getting him into a local household register afterward would still be difficult.”
The advantage was that, in the short term, foreign-resident papers would count as temporary but lawful identity documents, so Xue Ci would not have to be sent back.
“…” He Yi could not help picturing Xue Ci’s sky-blue eyes, strikingly foreign in appearance, and thought that this plan might actually be quite workable.
At the same time, he remembered that the snow leopard’s eyes were almost exactly the same color. He had the vague feeling he had overlooked something, but then he remembered that he still did not know how difficult household registration would be, and his attention shifted away again.
“Once we get the foreign-resident papers, what would he have to do to enter the household register?” He Yi asked.
Madman Tang was rather surprised by how readily He Yi accepted such a daring plan. He muttered inwardly that somehow He Yi seemed even crazier than he was.
He kindly explained, “I’d have to ask someone about the specifics, but if I remember correctly, he would have to buy land and also perform corvée labor.”
“Corvée labor?!…” He Yi’s expression changed, and for a moment he was speechless.
After calming down for a while, He Yi said solemnly, “Xue Ci has to decide this for himself.”
Madman Tang lifted his eyelids and nodded. “Naturally.”