The houseboat moved quickly, and before midnight they had already reached Jiangzi’s ferry crossing. Guards were stationed there; ordinary folk weren’t allowed to disembark so late. But the Dingxi Marquis’s iron medallion could smooth the way anywhere. When the squad leader learned the Marquis himself had come, he bowed and scraped, hastening to let the boat dock. Not only did he personally escort the party to the post station to lodge for the night, he also offered to notify the county magistrate at once. Xing Muzheng merely said there was no need, cutting off the man’s eager zeal.
That night passed without incident.
The next morning the sky was heavy with dark clouds. Even by the hour of chen, it was still gloomy, pressing down on the small county like a weight. Xing Muzheng and Qian Jiaoniang went walking the streets, hoping to find some local delicacies for breakfast. Yet the main street was nearly deserted, as though people feared rain. Few stalls were set out; even several shops kept shutters closed. Those open barely called out for business, and if anything seemed eager to shoo customers away.
“Lord Marquis, what do you think they’re all looking at?” Qian Jiaoniang felt it odd. Every shopkeeper seemed to be watching toward the city gate, as though wary of someone’s arrival.
Xing Muzheng had of course noticed the townsfolk’s strangeness. He had seen such eyes many times before—the eyes of displaced people in wartime.
“I don’t know…”
He hadn’t finished when a wave of fearful cries broke out. Hoofbeats thundered, accompanied by wild, arrogant shouting. The group whirled around to see a dozen mounted bandits, faces masked, waving broadswords. Laughing and hollering, they charged in, hacking indiscriminately, snatching chickens and ducks. Jiangzi’s people scattered in panic, chaos everywhere.
As the horses bore down toward Qian Jiaoniang, Xing Muzheng yanked her aside, shielding her in his arms. Ah Da’s brows shot up and he moved to strike, but Xing Muzheng stopped him, forcing him to stand down.
Held against Xing Muzheng’s chest, Qian Jiaoniang watched as the gang swept through the main street, then wheeled their mounts and galloped back the way they had come—leaving wreckage behind, the cold wind whistling through.
Only then did a handful of constables arrive belatedly, asking what had happened. Some wept out their complaints, others only shook their heads with despair.
Qian Jiaoniang stared, wide-eyed, while voices of bitterness and anger rose around her.
“What’s the use of telling those useless constables? Waste of breath!”
“When will the court send soldiers to wipe out this scourge!”
“They sent them—twice already! Each time they failed and came back empty-handed!”
“Are we to spend our lives bullied by these cutthroat thieves?”
“If only General Xing hadn’t laid down his armor—if we could ask him to come, he’d slaughter every last one of them!”
Listening to the crowd, Qian Jiaoniang realized Jiangzi hadn’t been attacked once or twice, but was being plundered constantly!
Just then, an eight-man sedan chair appeared hurriedly around a corner. The bearers wore yamen uniforms; leading them was the same squad leader who had yielded the way last night. Spotting Xing Muzheng and his party, he immediately ordered the chair set down. Before it had even stopped, a man wearing an official hat pushed out from inside. He was dark-skinned and plump, with a large mole by his mouth, dressed in the robes of a seventh-rank official. Following the squad leader’s pointing finger, he caught sight of Xing Muzheng and bustled forward, bowing obsequiously, smiling broadly.
“This humble official greets the Dingxi Marquis! I am Jiangzi’s county magistrate, Bao Li. I have long admired the Marquis. To meet you today, your bearing is truly extraordinary! Is the Marquis traveling incognito? If I kneel and pay respects here, would it harm your exalted identity?”
Qian Jiaoniang stepped back, leaving XIng Muzheng’s embrace. Xing Muzheng drew his hand behind his back and nodded to Bao Li, saying, “No need for such ceremony, Magistrate Bao. First, deal with the matter at hand.”
“The matter at hand…” Magistrate Bao looked somewhat blank. He turned his head toward the street full of chaos, then suddenly realized, slapping his thigh hard. “Those beasts!”
“What sort of men are those bandits?”
Magistrate Bao’s lips trembled with anger, and after two heavy sighs he said, “My lord may not know—those beasts are the roaming bandits of Wuling Mountain!”
“Roaming bandits?”
“Indeed. … This is not a convenient place to speak. If the Marquis does not mind, please sit within the yamen.”
Xing Muzheng considered briefly, then nodded his agreement.
At once Bao Li’s face bloomed with joy. “This way, Marquis, please!”
“Lord Bao, after you.”
They all went to Jiangzi’s county yamen. Inside the small compound it was empty, with only two servants sweeping fallen leaves. Bao Li invited Xing Muzheng to sit in the inner hall, then fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed. When he learned that Qian Jiaoniang was the Marquis’s wife, Bao Li hastened to give her the proper courtesies as well. After ordering maidservants to bring the finest green tea, Bao Li began pouring out his grievances.
As it turned out, Wuling Mountain had never housed permanent bandit camps. Rather, three years ago when Xing Muzheng was returning to the capital with his army, he had suppressed bandits along the way. Some bandits, hearing word, hid themselves, and once the winds passed, came out again to wreak havoc. The Wuling bandits arose in this way. From their accents, they seemed to have come from Qian Mountain in Baohua County. These bandits had made themselves kings of the mountain, numerous and fierce; the few constables of Jiangzi’s yamen were completely helpless against them. Bao Li had invited nearby garrisons to come suppress them several times, but each attempt ended in failure. Even when heavily armed troops stormed the mountain, the stronghold was empty, as if the bandits had fled. But once the soldiers withdrew, they emerged again from nowhere. The people of Jiangzi suffered bitterly, and Bao Li worried daily over it.
“These men, they really came from Qian Mountain?” Qian Jiaoniang, seated beside Xing Muzheng, asked curiously after hearing Bao Li’s complaints.
Bao Li hastened to reply: “This is only my guess. Those bandits are cunning; to this day I still do not know their leader’s face nor their true origins. Back then Qian Mountain’s bandits ran rampant, but when the Marquis went, he found nothing. And since I hear some of them with Baohua accents, I speculate thus.”
Qian Jiaoniang slowly nodded.
Xing Muzheng said to Bao Li, “In truth, my coming here this time is also because of these bandits.”
Bao Li was stunned. “The Marquis came for them as well? Did you hear of them from someone and come to suppress the bandits?”
“Not so,” Xing Muzheng replied evenly. “They robbed me of two chests of gold. I have come to the yamen to file a report.”
