Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 31
Chapter 31: The Politician and the Assassin
A black owl flies in, soaring over the black, carved eaves and landing on the window.
Tap, tap…
The owl gently taps the window with its beak. After two taps, the window is pulled open. A youth in a snow-white undergarment stands barefoot by the window, extending his hand and allowing the owl to land on his forearm. Before he can close the window, another owl flies in, becoming a black dot that shoots into the room, followed closely by another.
In an instant, Ying Xiu’s shoulders and forearms are filled with owls. He is stunned for a moment, and after confirming no more owls are coming, he quickly closes the window.
The youth, with his long, dark hair flowing to his waist, sits cross-legged on a low couch by the window. A faint yellow glass lamp stands on the small tea table. In the candlelight, Ying Xiu carefully unties the small scrolls from the owls. He reads through them quickly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.
These are messages from his colleagues, warning him that the Wang clan has learned about the events at the Yuan River ceremony. Several clients suspect his loyalty and have suggested that the eldest son of the family should eliminate him. He now has two options: run, or pretend to be ignorant and find an opportunity to prove his loyalty.
The candlelight flickers, and the wax drips down, mirroring Ying Xiu’s sinking heart. He sits still for a while, then opens the window and quietly releases the owls. He watches as each black dot flies away into the vast, boundless darkness of the night. These owls have a home to return to, but he feels lost.
A soft sound. A black dot brushes past the not-yet-fully-closed window and flies directly onto the table, shaking its wings and pacing back and forth on the sandalwood surface. Ying Xiu recognizes this owl. Its tail feathers have a hint of color that looks black from afar but is multi-colored up close. This is the owl of the eldest son of the Wang clan. A small, tightly rolled message is tied to its ankle. Ying Xiu doesn’t know what it says.
The young assassin stares at the small scroll. After a long pause, he finally reaches out and unties it. Under the glass lamp, the writing is elegant and clear: “In the eighth year of Yongning on the Guangling Road, without you, I would not be who I am today. It was my fault to treat you as a subordinate. I hope Fú Wēi can forgive his older brother.”
The thin message is held close to the lamp. The silk paper glows faintly, every word clear and profound. Ying Xiu looks at it for a long time. The two characters for “older brother” bring back distant memories.
In the tenth year of Yongning, he was helping the tenant farmers in the city when he encountered Xi An, who was traveling in Guangling. The young aristocrat and his companions were trampling the rice crops with their horses and were about to kick the farmers. To save them, he injured Xi An’s horse, causing it to fall and break Xi An’s leg.
The Xi clan of Gaoping was furious and demanded that Ying Xiu’s limbs be broken in retaliation. The master of the Wang clan was prepared to hand him over to appease the Xi clan. At that time, Wang Shouzheng, who had been left alone to guard the family’s ancestral home in Guangling, stepped forward. He said that Ying Xiu was his younger brother and that if they wanted to punish someone, they should punish him. Since then, they became a politician and an assassin.
Ying Xiu stares at the message, gently stroking the owl. The chubby owl presses its head against his hand, rubbing his palm.
In a quiet room several towers and balconies away, behind several layers of curtains, everything is silent. Not a sound of the wind or birds can be heard, making the atmosphere particularly solemn and dignified. In the overwhelming darkness, a branched lamp burns quietly, casting a huge, terrifying shadow on the wall. The owner of the shadow sits alone on a throne behind a wide, long desk. He is tall and slender, and his presence is as cold as iron.
Someone from the Xuanjing Division reports that four or five owls have entered Ying Xiu’s room, likely carrying messages from the Wang clan. What the messages say is unknown. The emperor pays no mind. On the long desk in front of him are the latest reports on the activities of the four great gentry clans.
The Xie clan of Jianzhang is in the capital, appearing to live in seclusion, but they have secretly sent letters to their family members in regional commands, instructing them to be cautious. The Wang clan of Langya, ranked second, is trying to seize control of the four-province waterway to monopolize trade and profit. The Huan clan of Qiaoguo, far away in Jiaozhou, is lying low. The Xi clan of Gaoping, on the other hand, wants a piece of the waterway business and has sent its young master, Xi An, to test the waters in Jiangzhou.
Xi An. The two black characters rest quietly on the silk report.
The emperor’s finger lightly taps the characters, causing a faint indent and a shadow under the lamp. The events of the tenth year of Yongning, the conflict between Ying Xiu and Xi An, are all clear to the emperor. That year, Xi An demanded that Ying Xiu’s limbs be broken as an apology. Wang Daokui was prepared to agree, but Wang Shouzheng used his mother’s family influence to threaten the Xi clan and told Wang Daokui that Ying Xiu was a skilled martial artist who would be a sharp weapon for the Wang clan in the future. From then on, Ying Xiu became an assassin.
He was only fifteen years old. What was fifteen-year-old Ying Xiu like? There are no records to be found.
…
Early the next morning, Ying Xiu goes to see Wang Shouzheng. The Wang clan’s residence is quiet. The clients he passes seem normal, nodding at him as usual. However, a close colleague mysteriously comes up to him, his face filled with curiosity, and whispers to Ying Xiu:
“What did you do last night? The clients were all arguing about ‘raising a wolf,’ and the eldest son of the family listened silently at first, then he dealt with the two loudest ones.”
Ying Xiu says nothing and asks in return, “Did anyone criticize you for lending me the owls?”
His colleague is surprised, then laughs and pats Ying Xiu’s shoulder. “How could they dare? But you, where did you get that token? That’s an envoy token. To put it bluntly, it’s an imperial commissioner, entrusted with a mission and given broad authority to act. Even the eldest son might not have seen one before.”
Ying Xiu is stunned. He asks softly, “…Can a token be passed down as a family heirloom?” His colleague is taken aback by the question but smiles casually. “I don’t know about that, but if the emperor doesn’t take it back, I suppose it could be passed down for generations.”
If the token Xie Zhou gave him is not a family heirloom, then what is it? A wild thought flashes through his mind, but it is too unbelievable, and Ying Xiu dismisses it as his imagination.
He walks into the main hall and immediately sees the elegant youth in a purple robe waiting for him. A curtain of dew drips from the eaves, and the assassin and the politician look at each other across the morning mist.
Like the morning dew, the days gone by are many. The phrase inexplicably comes to Ying Xiu’s mind.
Wang Shouzheng doesn’t mention last night’s events. He sits and brews tea for Ying Xiu, just as he always does. The fragrant steam of the Lu Yangchun tea takes Ying Xiu back to the two years he lived in Qionghuatai.
After a moment of silence, Wang Shouzheng finally speaks. “Since Xie Zhou can produce an imperial token, it shows he is no ordinary client. You must not be careless around him.” He says nothing about Ying Xiu publicly challenging the officials and winning the people’s hearts. The other shrewd clients have concluded that Ying Xiu is a traitor, putting on a show for reputation. Only Wang Shouzheng knows that Ying Xiu simply could not bear to see the gentry waste the people’s grain and wanted to get it back for them.
Politicians are always suspicious, but an older brother would not doubt his younger brother.
Ying Xiu nods. “I will be careful.” The client doesn’t seem to be as weak as he thought and doesn’t need his protection. If so, he won’t have to leave the Wang clan for Xie Zhou.
After two years together in Qionghuatai, Wang Shouzheng knows Ying Xiu’s personality well and understands that he hasn’t taken the warning to heart. He can only sigh silently. The child has grown up and found someone he likes. What else can he do but watch over him? He thinks that with Ying Xiu’s martial arts skills and lightness techniques, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to escape if he ever needs to.
Wang Shouzheng’s expression becomes serious as he moves on to business, explaining the situation in Jiangzhou to Ying Xiu without reservation. The Yuan River weir is complete, with 36 sluice gates and over 100 ports. Every ship must pay a tax to pass through each gate. The profits from trade and fishing along the river are immense. On the surface, this is revenue for the court, but in reality, very little is left after passing through the hands of the local gentry and officials.
“Our goal is to control the water transport of Jiangzhou,” Wang Shouzheng says. “With control of the waterways, I can take full control of the Wang clan, and then we will no longer be at the mercy of others.”
Ying Xiu understands this much: if Wang Shouzheng can get control of the waterway, he will no longer have to be an assassin used by Wang Daokui.
On the tea table is a register. Every name on it belongs to a powerful gentry family in Jiangzhou that controls a sluice gate. Now that the Xiangli and Weisheng clans are gone, and the emperor has recently purged a group of others, the remaining ones are not a threat.
But there is a new variable: Xi An of the Xi clan of Gaoping.
The head of the Xi clan of Gaoping is the Grand Minister of the Southern Dynasty. He comes from a humble Central Plains family and advocates for a hundred schools of thought. He accepts talented people regardless of their social standing and supports anyone with ambition. It is said that the clan has a thousand people responsible for recruiting, and their retainers are everywhere. The Southern Dynasty gentry families usually expand their influence through marriage, but the Xi clan of Gaoping was able to become one of the four great clans by opening its doors to anyone who sought a career, regardless of background. This “career” has crushed many.
Wang Shouzheng leans back and whispers to Ying Xiu, “Don’t offend Xi An. Let’s see what he wants first.” He knows that Xi An stopped Ying Xiu at the weir last night. However, it is not the right time to move against Xi An.
Ying Xiu hesitates. “If he comes to me and I can’t avoid him, what should I do?”