Chapter Ninety: Chang'an's New Elite

The next morning dawned under a leaden sky and a bitter wind. As Wei Zheng arrived in Chang'an as Li Mi's envoy, and Wang Xiongdan as Du Fuwei's, they instantly drew the court's full attention. From the earliest hour, visitors came in an endless stream. None were truly important men, only minor officials of the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks, along with clerks and petty functionaries.

There were office scribes from the six departments of Wannian County, as well as officials from Jing Prefecture. In ancient times, unlike later ages, ties of native place carried great weight. Even a doctor of the Imperial Academy had a cartload of valuables carried over to pay a call. As for Chen Ying's little affair, hardly anyone cared about it. Though the matter caused little stir at court, Chen Ying had become something of a celebrity in Chang'an. His name was now a constant subject of gossip over tea and meals.

Chen Ying, unaccustomed to so much calling and returning of visits, took Liang Zan with him to a wine shop, only to hear a few men speaking about him.

"Lord Chen really is blessed by fortune. From a mere servant to a fourth-rank earl in the blink of an eye, and at sixteen too, with no family backing at all. There's no one else like him in Chang'an!"

"What makes you think Lord Chen earned his title by luck?"

"Isn't that so?"

"Then you don't know the story. Of course not. Lord Chen won it one blade stroke at a time!"

"That can't be true, can it? I've seen Lord Chen from afar before. He looks impeccable, tall and graceful, a true dragon among men. But to say he kills people? With those thin arms and legs? He doesn't look like the type."

"Never judge a book by its cover. Lord Chen not only kills, he kills without so much as blinking!"

The drinkers around them all wore incredulous expressions. The man in the blue robe puffed himself up and said, "Do you know Zong Luohou?"

They all shook their heads.

Zong Luohou was a great general of Western Qin. One might even say that without him, there would have been no Xue Ju, the Overlord of Western Qin. He was the sort who killed without blinking, too. Yet when he met Lord Chen, it took only one stroke. One stroke, and Zong Luohou's head was gone. When Pang Qidi rose in rebellion at Shizhou, Lord Chen personally cut down more than ten thousand rebels. It could be said that Lord Chen's title had been dyed red with blood.

Chen Ying's face remained calm and unreadable, neither pleased nor displeased. Liang Zan, as his attendant, was delighted by it all. Chen Ying lowered his voice. "Liang Zan, pay the bill. We're leaving."

He pushed aside the curtain and a blast of cold wind struck him, making him shiver.

Just as Chen Ying was turning to go, a man suddenly rushed out of the alley and nearly knocked him off balance. Liang Zan was about to scold the fellow for not watching where he was going, but the man who had been running quickly turned back.

Liang Zan thought the man had come to apologize to Chen Ying, but instead a group of more than a dozen ruffians, each carrying a cudgel and looking unmistakably like no good at all, swarmed around the man in the blue robe.

"Damn your mother, so you've got the nerve to run? Why aren't you running now?" the leader barked. "You, Zhang Yanyu, when are you going to pay back what you owe Lord Yu? If you still can't pay, then we'll pawn off your wife and sell her for cash. Your wife is a pretty one, though there isn't much flesh on her. Still, I've already found a buyer for you. As long as you nod and agree, we'll call it even."

The voice sounded strangely familiar, and Chen Ying stopped at once to watch.

The dozen or so ruffians punched and kicked the young man in blue. Zhang Yanyu rolled on the ground as he was beaten, begging for mercy again and again.

Chen Ying had been in this world for some time and had gained a rough understanding of how it differed from later ages. A person's name often revealed his background. Ordinary commoners had plain, commonplace names like Gouzi, Third Son, Fourth Son, Fifth Son, and the like. But Zhang Yanyu's name sounded like that of someone born to a literate family, at the very least to a line of educated ancestors. In this age, anyone who could read and write would usually not come from a miserable background.

Before long, when Chen Ying saw the scar running across the face of the ringleader, he finally remembered who this Lord Yu was.

It was none other than Yu Zhengyang, who had once boasted of being a great figure in the Central Plains at Xu's Inn.

At that moment, Yu Zhengyang seized Zhang Yanyu by the collar as though he were lifting a chick. "Come home with me, and today we'll take your wife away."

"No, no..." Zhang Yanyu cried.

Yu Zhengyang slapped him hard across the face and shouted, "You have two roads. Either pay up, or hand over someone to settle the debt."

"Lord Yu, please, give me a few more days..."

"Save your damn breath. Do you really think Lord Yu runs a charity? If you have no money, then pay with your flesh!"

At that, Chen Ying felt somewhat displeased. In his life, he hated three things above all else: first, sexual violence against women; second, forcing decent women into prostitution; and third, those self-styled gallants, who were nothing more than gangsters. Chen Ying knew very well that these so-called wanderers and knights were merely the underworld in another guise. Still, while murder demanded a life and debts had to be repaid, that was the natural order of things. Yet he could not bear to stand by and watch such a thing happen before his very eyes without lifting a finger.

At present, Chen Ying had no capable men at his disposal. If this Zhang Yanyu truly possessed some talent, then it would not be a bad idea to form a bond with him now and take him into his service. An added flower atop brocade was never as valuable as charcoal sent in a snowstorm.

Thinking this, Chen Ying suddenly turned and said, "Hold on."

"Who the..." Yu Zhengyang was about to unleash a stream of curses, but when he saw Chen Ying's face clearly, his expression changed at once. He hurriedly swallowed back his words and said, "So it's Lord Chen. Whatever Lord Chen orders, I, Yu Zhengyang, will see it done at once!"

Though Yu Zhengyang was a local power in Chang'an, he was still a gangster who could not show his face in daylight and feared officials by instinct. Chen Ying did not oversee criminal cases, but Yu Zhengyang knew full well that in Chang'an, any powerful noble could crush him without effort. Chen Ying's official rank might not be high, but he was a newly ennobled founding earl. The reason Yu Zhengyang was still alive and well was that he understood when to be hard and when to bend.

Chen Ying asked, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, this brute borrowed money from me and couldn't pay it back, so he hid himself away. Lord Yu was only giving him a little lesson." Yu Zhengyang asked cautiously, "Does Lord Chen know this man?"

"I don't know him. How much does he owe you? I'll pay it for him." Chen Ying gave a noncommittal nod. He had no intention of using his power to bully anyone. "My household needs a servant. This boy looks agreeable enough, so I thought I'd buy him for my own use."

Yu Zhengyang was indeed a man with a hard shell and no shame. He took the debt contract from his sleeve, spread it out for Chen Ying to see, and then tore it to shreds on the spot. "How would I dare let Lord Chen repay the debt? The matter between me and Zhang Yanyu is settled. Should I ever go back on my word, may thunder strike me dead."

"You think I care about five strings of cash?" Chen Ying's expression darkened as he said bluntly, "Three or five strings are nothing to me. We are not that close. Liang Zan, pay him."

"How could it be five strings? I only borrowed fifteen hundred cash!" Zhang Yanyu hurriedly protested. "Half a month ago, I only borrowed fifteen hundred cash from him!"

Chen Ying understood the usurious practices of later underground moneylenders. They called it nine in, thirteen out. If one borrowed one hundred thousand, only ninety thousand would be received, but when repayment came due, one would owe one hundred and thirty thousand. It was a vicious system of exploitation. Unless one was a gambler with his eyes red from desperation, no ordinary person would ever take such a loan.

Liang Zan produced a silver ingot worth no more than five taels and handed it to Yu Zhengyang. "What are you standing there for? Get lost!"

Yu Zhengyang looked awkward, but he did not dare flare up. He clasped his hands to Chen Ying, turned, and led the others away.