Chapter 66: Qianyou Association

Jiang Changbai merely took it as Song Juguang being in jest, and didn't reply, lowering her head to flip through the memorials on the desk. Song Juguang, seeing Jiang Changbai hadn't replied, raised her brows and walked behind her, her fingers inexplicably landing on the spot between her shoulders and neck. Jiang Changbai, seeing Song Juguang had come over, didn't bat an eyelid, pulling out the other memorial, spreading it across the desktop. By the time she sensed a chill at her neck, what was spread on desk was once more the list of names that the Ministry of Appointments had sent.

Song Juguang, seeing her motions, didn't say anything, rather saying, "Does Bixia have a headache over this? Out of this many people, there isn't a single one who's useful?"

Jiang Changbai nodded somewhat stiffly. "Not a one of them has any major skills, but their relations aren't insignificant. Even if one of them were placed to be used, after a while, I'd suspect that they'd be no different from those they replaced."

Song Juguang's lips twitched. "Ah, well, if you don't want to use them, then don't use them—right now, these positions are all empty, yet I haven't noticed the court fail to operate."

Hearing this, Jiang Changbai's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she'd achieved comprehension. Since the currently empty positions weren't impacting much of anything, then others could be allowed to temporarily lead them. After the imperial exams in a few months, when the talents that could be used were selected wouldn't be too late to deliberate then.

But under this memorial was flattened another piece of paper; with Song Juguang standing behind her, Jiang Changbai couldn't very well make a move. Song Juguang affected at helping Jiang Changbai, massaging her shoulders, and her gaze slid over the corner of the letter paper visible from beneath the spread open memorial; she muttered to herself, "Returning at daybreak from the dead, the reappearance of the sun and moon make clear the will of the heavens."

She spoke softly, but when they struck against Jiang Changbai, she grew rigid. Song Juguang, seeing something was wrong with her, leaned down to ask with concern, "Bixia, are you uncomfortable?"

"En," Jiang Changbai nodded stiffly, "these past few days, I've frequently had a headache—ah, go ahead and call an imperial physician."

"Understood," Song Juguang replied, about to head out, but just as she was about to step a foot over the threshold, she heard Jiang Changbai's voice calling her to a stop.

"That sentence you just recited—where did you hear it?"

Song Juguang suddenly halted, but didn't turn her head. "Ah, that—just now, when I took Liang Jiwen to sweep the grave, I heard some children singing it; the melody's quite nice, so I remembered it."

"Alright."

Jiang Changbai didn't say anything further, merely silently watching Song Juguang leave. Only once the sound of the door's closing rise did she slowly shift aside the memorial on the desk. Atop the letter that had just been covered up by the memorial was, shockingly, written as well, "returning at daybreak from the dead, the reappearance of the sun and moon make clear the will of the heavens".

The skies gradually darkened.

Today, Xie Qianbing had just left the Palace and was wandering about on the streets; she hadn't gone far when she heard the sound of a quarrel. She looked in the direction of the sound, but could only see a woman wearing a veil who was just then having an argument with a stallkeep. Only on approaching and listening for a bit did she learn that it was merely some small matter.

The stallkeep, confident and self-assured, said, "I've been doing business here for so long—if you don't believe me, then just go and ask about; when have I ever sold damaged goods? You're a little girl who's afraid of interacting with people, yet you're talking about me—who knows that you didn't break it yourself and come looking for me!"

"Nonsense," that veiled woman replied, equally angry, "it's clearly that you're shameless, and you're even making false accusations against me!"

Each of them were sticking to their own version, and the more they argued, the more vicious they grew. Xie Qianbing felt, more and more, that that woman looked familiar, and just as she was about to come forward, the woman's veil happened to fall off in the dispute. So, even if Xie Qianbing's memory were even worse, she'd have to recognise here—there weren't many Shejinese in the capital city.

Xie Qianbing had only seen Liang Jiwen at a distance a few times, and the two couldn't be counted to be well acquainted. But now, since Liang Jiwen lived in the Imperial Palace, her actions in the capital represented the imperial family's honour, and both emotionally and logically, Xie Qianbing had to intercede to help.

"If you've done a shameful deed but refuse to admit it, would you like to go to the authorities?" Xie Qianbing called out as she approached the stall.

The stallkeep's temper, seeing Xie Qianbing's court attire and knowing she wasn't a common person, weakened a few degrees. But she still insisted, "When she took it from my stall, it was clearly in fine condition—she chose it herself; I didn't force her to take it. She left so long ago and came back wanting to exchange it now—I'm a petty merchant; if everyone breaks their things and comes to exchange them, even if they tricked me, it wouldn't be enough to replace them."

Xie Qianbing didn't pay here any mind, merely picking up the other things laid out on the stand to look at. This stallkeep was selling her hand-made wooden birds, and when their tails were moved to and fro, the little wooden bird could make a whistling sound. The design was elaborate, but they were easy to break. She raised her head to look at the stallkeep, and discovered that the hair at her forehead had already grown white, and there were scars of varying sizes on her hands, perhaps left behind from when making the small wooden birds.

The stallkeep's gaze fell faintly on Xie Qianbing. She knew that the person before her was a major official, and with a single sentence, could make her unable to continue living in the capital. But she couldn't compromise just like that—otherwise, if she replaced this one, what would happen if others wanted to exchange theirs as well? She couldn't replace it.

The stallkeep's heart hammered.

Xie Qianbing took the already-broken wooden bird from Liang Jiwen, scrutinising it; after a long while, she returned it to Liang Jiwen, and looked at the stallkeep. "How much did it cost?"

"Ten copper coins."

Not inexpensive, but not something onerous. Xie Qianbing picked a new one up and pushed it into Liang Jiwen's hand, and from her purse, grabbed a handful of copper coins. She didn't count them carefully, but there were definitely more than ten of them. Now, Xie Qianbing was long since not someone who needed to pawn off all of her belongings anymore; the Minister of Affairs' salary was high, and she could often receive rewards from Jiang Changbai—her life was far easier than it had been before.

But the stallkeep wasn't willing to comply, and counted over the copper coins, then placed the excess back into Xie Qianbing's hand. "I only earn what I ought to earn."

Xie Qianbing stilled, then nodded and placed the coins back into her purse. Just as she and Liang Jiwen were leaving, she heard a burst of noise rise from a distance. A few men were scuffling, and Xie Qianbing faintly heard them yelling something about a Qian Youhui.

She knew that most of the Great Li's population believed in the Supreme Yuanhe; besides that, there were some other doctrines. But she'd never heard the name "Qian Youhui" before—there wasn't anyone with in the capital of influence with such a name.

The city guards arrived to pull those scuffling apart; Xie Qianbing, feeling it was somewhat strange, headed back, and inquired of the stallkeep from just then, "Would you happen to know who the 'Qian Youhui' they were speaking of is?"

The stallkeep had originally not wanted to reply, but on seeing Xie Qianbing was adamant, looked all about, and then lowered her voice. "It's an organisation that's just newly appeared recently in the capital; they consecrate Qian Weishen.^[1] It's said that that Qian Weishen will bless and protect merchants, so they can profit stably and not have losses, and in the long term, can restructure the capital's rising yin and declining yang atmosphere. It's said that even Honghailou is a consecrant—as soon as you enter their lobby, you can see it. But I can't afford Honghailou's costs, and haven't gone before, only heard it said."

"Rising yin and declining yang?" Xie Qianbing didn't have the mind to think about the rest of what the stallkeep had said; catching the words "rising yin and declining yang", she subconsciously chased after.

The stallkeep swept a gaze across the court attire Xie Qianbing was clothed in, and once more remembered her identity. Only then did she notice how she'd just misspoken, and so she wasn't willing to speak further, even, in the next moment, gathering up her stall and turning around and leaving.

Xie Qianbing hadn't gotten a clear answer, so how could she let her go? Turning her head, she urged Liang Jiwen to stay in place and wait for her, and then took great strides to chase after the stallkeep. The stallkeep was carrying a large bag of things on her back, so naturally she couldn't outrun Xie Qianbing; after a bare few steps, she caught up, but this time, here eyes were only filled with terror. "Daren, just let me go, I really don't know anything at all," she said as she reached into her purse to grab at something, and the next moment, pulled out a handful of copper coins. "I'll give you back all your money, give it back to you; just let me go, I only want to do some petty business, I really don't know anything at all."

The dispute had attracted the attention of the passersby, and Xie Qianbing knew as well that this attire of hers didn't make it easy to go about the streets. So, her mind a jumble, she grabbed the stallkeep's collar, and dragged her towards where there wasn't anyone. Though the stallkeep wanted to struggle, she couldn't do so, and could only extend her hands in vain, watching as her unsold wares grew further and further away.

By the time she'd been let go, the stallkeep had long since taken on a despairing expression. "I really don't know anything, daren, just let me leave."

Xie Qianbing pulled out a silver ingot and placed it in her hands. "Count is as my having bought up all your little wooden birds; I'll just ask you a few questions—relax, regardless of what you say, I won't blame you."

The stallkeep had thought of playing the fool, but weighing the ingot in her hand, she was somewhat hesitant. She raised her head to look at Xie Qianbing, and felt that her features were benevolent. So, in the end, she spoke. "The Qianyou Association says the yin is rising in the capital city and the yang declining; what was meant to remain hasn't remained, while those who weren't meant to leave have left, and so there's often hauntings. I've lived so many years, and have never heard of so many incidents of hauntings as in these recent days. There are many homes in the north of the city that were haunted—and what's strange is, the ghosts that couldn't previously be driven away by mighty Daoists calmed as soon as someone from the Qianyou Association went.

"It spread like wildfire, and many people have started to believe in the Qianyou Association. At start, the merchants didn't put much stock in it, but the textile merchant on the east of the street drove away the Qianyou Association's people, and the previously flourishing business's lobby is desolate now; the fried rice merchant on the west of the street only just consecrated Qian Weishen and it's as packed as a marketplace, and as soon as it's a mealtime, it's staggeringly busy." As she spoke, the stallkeep watched Xie Qianbing's expression, fearing whichever words she misspoke would arouse her anger. Luckily, the expression on Xie Qianbing's face remained good-natured, and only then did the stallkeep, scared out of her wits, finish speaking.

Only after a good while passed did Xie Qianbing say, "Ah, you'd best go back; don't tell anyone else about today's events."

The stallkeep walked away, trembling and shaking, but once Xie Qianbing returned to where she had just been, the first thing Liang Jiwen said on seeing her was, "Don't tell anyone else what happened today, especially her majesty."

Actually, those in the Palace who wanted to leave had to go through a great number of strict procedures, but Liang Jiwen hadn't informed anyone when she'd left the Palace today, nor had so gone through any examinations or approvals. She'd taken the token that Song Juguang had given her, and slipped out like a fox exploiting the tiger's reputation.

Xie Qianbing nodded in agreement, just like the stalkeep of just before. Actually, even if Liang Jiwen hadn't said it, she wouldn't have been meddlesome and gone and sought out Jiang Changbai to tell her. At the moment, what she was thinking to herself was only what the stallkeep had just said.

She knew that that stallkeep hadn't finished speaking; the discussion about excessive yin and declining yang couldn't merely be about hauntings.^[2] But the stallkeep hadn't dared to say the rest, and she hadn't needed to ask, either. That suddenly appearing "Qian Weishen", she supposed, was a man-made deity, and her highness had to be informed of this matter as quickly as possible.

But, before she entered the Palace, there was another matter.

Xie Qianbing placed all the wooden birds she'd just bought into Liang Jiwen's hands. Such a big bag weighed Liang Jiwen's entire body down, suddenly askew. "This many?" she asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes," Xian Qianbing said, initially meaning to speak truthfully, but the next moment, she felt that this matter wasn't suitable for Liang Jiwen to know about, so she could only lie, and say, "since I saw you liked them, I bought them all."

Yet Liang Jiwen didn't read further into it, her expression full of joy. Those of Shejin were simplistic, and she'd almost never seen such elaborate items. As a result, when she'd seen them just then, she hadn't been able to walk away, and so had fallen into an argument.

It wasn't just Xie Qianbing—even Song Juguang, sitting in a teahouse, had heard of the name "Qianyou Association". She'd received information saying that this teahouse had had many people gathering here today, a high vigilance, and the spy hadn't even known what they were discussing.

So, Song Juguang could only come out herself, holding her breath, and furtively slip into the teahouse.

This was a group of scholars.

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Translator's notes:

[1]: 乾卫神, literally "Guardian God Qian".

[2]: Ghosts are formed of yin energy, but besides that, at an oversimplified level, yin and yang are also stand ins for female and male respectively; the phrase 阴盛阳衰 (yin sheng yang shuai) also means "women outshining men" or there being more women than men.