Chapter Forty-One: It Is Only Polite to Return a Favor

After Crown Prince Li Jiancheng stormed out, Li Xiuning found herself even more conflicted. If she were to leave the Chen residence immediately, it would seem as though she had a guilty conscience; yet, if she stayed, she would only give others more grounds to gossip. Thus, Li Xiuning was caught in a dilemma—neither leaving nor staying felt right.

Chen Ying, noticing Li Xiuning’s gloomy mood, quietly turned away. Shortly after, he returned with a cup of tea and offered it to her.

“Your Highness, have some tea.”

“I don’t want any!” she snapped.

Without a word, Chen Ying walked into the courtyard and, with a crash, smashed the porcelain cup. He then calmly returned, this time carrying a bowl and chopsticks, and presented them to Princess Pingyang. “Your Highness, you haven’t eaten for quite some time. Please, have some food.”

“I’m not eating!” Li Xiuning shouted furiously. “I said I’m not eating, and I won’t!”

Again, Chen Ying took the bowl and chopsticks out to the courtyard, and soon another shattering sound echoed as the dishes were broken. Li Xiuning’s delicate brows arched in surprise; she left the hall and went into the courtyard, where she found Chen Ying gathering fragments of broken porcelain and tossing them to the ground.

He spoke as if to himself, “Negative feelings are like balloons; if you keep holding them in, one day they’re bound to burst.”

Li Xiuning muttered, “How strange…”

Chen Ying replied, “There are more disappointments in life than satisfactions. When anger gnaws at you, it’s better to vent it—like now, by smashing these dishes.”

He recalled a line from a later era: if she’s naive to the ways of the world, show her its splendor; if she’s grown weary, take her for a ride on the carousel. Chen Ying knew that even a carousel, let alone a warhorse, would do little to move Li Xiuning now. Still, there were practical ways to help her release her pent-up anger.

He handed her a small hammer. “If you’re feeling upset, shatter these dishes. You’ll feel better after.”

Li Xiuning took the hammer almost without thinking, then noticed that all the bowls and plates were already cracked.

“What’s this?”

“Oh, rejects from the kiln. I bought a whole cartload for twenty coins—if it’s not enough, there’s more!”

Clang, clang, clang—the sound of porcelain shattering filled the air as Li Xiuning swung the hammer down again and again. Gradually, imperceptibly, her mood began to shift.

...

When Su Hu returned to the Wanian County office, he shut himself in his study. Evening came, and still he had not emerged nor called for a meal.

Huangfu Jingyuan approached the study with caution and knocked softly at the door.

“Jingyuan? Come in.”

Huangfu Jingyuan entered, stealing a glance around the room. To his surprise, Su Hu was neither furious nor smashing the furnishings. Instead, he was calmly practicing his calligraphy, brush dancing smoothly across the paper. A stack of written rice paper lay beside him—he had been at it for hours.

“Your calligraphy grows ever more masterful, my lord,” Huangfu Jingyuan stammered, “I can hardly hope to match it…”

“You and that tongue of yours,” Su Hu replied, half amused. “Do you take me for a man easily rattled?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Huangfu Jingyuan answered anxiously.

“How long have you served me?”

“Since the fourth year of Daye—ten years now!”

“Ten years is no short span.” Su Hu smiled. “Surely you don’t think my abilities so meager? If that were the case, I’d have long since been devoured with nothing left of me but dust in a forgotten grave.”

Huangfu Jingyuan listened closely.

“Of all official posts, none are harder than magistrate of Chang’an and Wanian,” Su Hu mused. “Here, at the foot of the imperial throne, anyone you cross is either rich or noble—far too many to offend.”

“How true, my lord.”

“Yet I have stood as Wanian’s magistrate since the twelfth year of Daye, serving three emperors, and I remain unmoved.” Su Hu’s gaze was steady. “What keeps me here? Three things: understanding the bigger picture, serving the greater good, and knowing when to advance and retreat. Easier said than done. But enough of this—how did the matter I entrusted to you go?”

Huangfu Jingyuan looked ashamed and hesitated. “It’s just… just…”

“Don’t stammer. Speak freely. We’re not strangers here.”

“My lady was furious. She clung tightly to the treasury and said that some mere upstart, so long as the Dou family steps in, would be driven off as far as possible.”

“Hmph, women’s shortsightedness!” Su Hu said coldly. “Do you think the money sent to Chen Ying means I fear him?”

“My lord, I urge caution. Since Princess Pingyang has openly shielded Chen Ying, making an enemy of him would be unwise.”

“To bring about a man’s ruin, first let him grow arrogant,” Su Hu replied. “Chen Ying demanded one thousand strings of cash? Give him three thousand. Draw it from the county treasury and then balance the accounts with my household funds. Let’s see how long he can keep his head.”

Huangfu Jingyuan was startled. “You mean to use Lord-in-law Chai to deal with Chen Ying?”

“Not use—there’s nothing we need do,” Su Hu smiled. “Just wait and watch the show. Chai Shao isn’t like that useless Li Xiaoguang; stirring up trouble only backfires with a man like him…”

“But how would Chai Shao know about Chen Ying and Princess Pingyang?”

“You still don’t understand the great clans,” Su Hu sighed. “Their reach is vast. In Chang’an, nothing escapes their notice, not even the tiniest alley. Unless Chai Shao pretends ignorance, the news will reach him sooner or later. And unlike the empty-titled Li Xiaoguang, Chai Shao is a Grand Herald with real power.”

After Crown Prince Li Jiancheng left, Princess Pingyang also took her leave. Chen Ying did not say a word more to her, but just before the city gates closed, a dozen or more carts laden with large chests arrived at the gates of the Chen residence. The drivers said nothing, simply parked the carts at the entrance and slipped away quietly.

When Chen Ying heard, he came to the gate and had all the carts brought inside. Having given a thousand strings of cash to Marquis Li Xiaoguang, his own coffers were now utterly empty. In fact, without the next salary payment, the entire household would struggle to make it through the coming month. Yet, seeing the furious face of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, Chen Ying worried that the new post he had just acquired as Captain of the Right Guard might soon be out of his grasp.

Chen Ying personally opened one of the large, red-lacquered chests. It was brimming with copper coins—each chest weighing over three hundred jin. Yet for all their weight, there was not as much money as one might think. The empire was at war, and the old Daye five-zhu coins had not yet been fully replaced. Each string of cash weighed fourteen jin, so a full chest held just over twenty strings.

Chen Ying did a quick count: three chests to a cart, seventeen carts in all, for a total of fifty-one large chests.

Chen Huairen, Zhao Yuanqiao, Liang Zan, Li Chiqi, and the other servants worked themselves to exhaustion carrying the fifteen thousand jin of copper into the treasury. As Chen Ying expected, the chests contained little but coins—more than three thousand strings in all.

The treasury was nearly full, and the entire household was as jubilant as if it were a festival. But not so Chen Ying; his brow only furrowed deeper.

Liang Zan, panting, asked, “Who sent this money?”

“Su Hu. Who else?”

“So County Magistrate Su caved in the end!”

“Not necessarily,” Chen Ying said, his eyes flashing with cold intent. “If Su Hu yielded so easily, he wouldn’t be Su Hu. Sending thirty-four chests of money isn’t an admission of fault—it’s meant to lull me into complacency. As the saying goes, before Heaven destroys a man, it first drives him mad.”

“Surely not?” Liang Zan’s mind struggled to keep up.

“If Su Hu truly wanted to settle things peaceably, he’d have at least sent a sincere letter if not come in person. To make such a public show of delivering the money only puts me in the fire. Outwardly, it looks like he’s yielding, but in reality, he’s putting me on the spot.”

Liang Zan thought it over and realized it made sense. He’d seen enough of such tricks on the streets—Su Hu’s move was indeed to shove Chen Ying into the eye of the storm.

Chen Ying saw through it and could not help but feel the depth of Su Hu’s malice.

Now, with no family background and no powerful connections, he had not only offended a founding marquis of the Tang dynasty but also forced the magistrate of Wanian County to “spend money to avert disaster.” Just the charge of “insubordination” was enough—should news of this spread, Chen Ying would be ruined in an instant, becoming the target of all Chang’an, if not the entire realm.

Liang Zan bowed. “Master, what should we do now?”

Chen Ying replied, “One good turn deserves another…”