“You are an easy man to find, Censor Henshen.” Liren loomed over the pale man. The Censor was slim, and dressed in a floor length dark blue silk robe. The hems were white, with green circles and stars, decorating them. His bun, Tian noticed, was hidden inside the most useless hat imaginable- it only covered his bun, and appeared to be made out of some manner of black mesh.
The bureaucrat didn’t know how to respond to Hong. Tian sympathized. She could be very strange sometimes.
“Would you say that you are good at your job, Censor Henshen?” Tian asked, smiling. People seemed more at ease when you smiled. Though for some reason, Censor Henshen looked even more tense.
“I would not, Immortal.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“My supervisor examines my performance and he determines if I am good at my job. His evaluation is, naturally, also supervised by the Ministry of Personnel, and they, too, decide if I am good at my job. I really have no say in the matter.”
Tian nodded. “That’s fair.”
Liren rolled her eyes. “The Magistrate and Prefect for Leaping Arrowena Town on the Pebble River both fled their posts on the day when the Liu Clan Village was exterminated. Why?”
“A village was exterminated?!” Censor Henshan’s voice shot up, and he already had a pretty high pitched voice.
“Yes. And not for the first time recently. In addition, quite a large number of children have been kidnapped and killed. You can understand why we immediately came to find you. Who knows what’s going on better than the Censor?” Tian kept his voice as even as he could. Liren could be scary. It helped to have a calm person around for people to talk to.
“A village was exterminated?!”
“Hush, Little Treasure. The Immortals are investigating. Though… Ping. Quickly. Report to my Lord Husband.”
“At once, Madame!” A soldier cupped his hands, bowed, and ran off.
Part of the reason for Censor Hashan’s massive discomfort was that the two investigating Immortals were accompanied by the Heir to the County, The Countess, several maids and an even score of elite guards. Nominally, the Censor was untouchable. Practically, the Emperor was far away, and the Count was right here.
The story, depressing as it was, quickly emerged. The censor was unaware of any villages being destroyed. He was aware of several local prefects and magistrates fleeing their posts. He had filed several reports on the subject, and was in the process of drafting another. He did not know where the Magistrate or the Prefect were. All the other fleeing officials had made their way towards the capital, but none had reached it yet.
“And the children?” Liren asked.
“Repsectfully, Immortal, if it’s not related to the census or the registry of households or taxation, or military levies or corvee labor or some other official state function, why would we pay attention to the number of children in a household? It is quite normal for children to die. In some regions, they don’t even get names until they are a hundred days old.” Censor Hanshen spread his hands helplessly. “It’s not like each birth or death is registered with the Kingdom. Just the tax paying household.”
“Burning kids in iron cages to make ink to write petitions impeaching the Emperor doesn’t rate Imperial attention?” Liren’s voice was pointed. Downright threatening, in Tian’s opinion.
“Wait. Petitions impeaching the Emperor?” The censor went from alarmed but controlling it, to alarmed and highly focused immediately. “Are you absolutely certain about that?”
“Yes.” Tian showed the recovered evidence from the bandit camp.
The Censor’s eyes flickered back and forth. He looked around his office for a moment. Tian followed his eyes. It was quite luxurious. Rich, polished woods, lacquered tables and trays, a tasteful carved jade screen of a fisherman on a rushing river rested on top of a full bookshelf, some vases that practically screamed antique- very nice indeed, if a little small. Not bad for someone who looked roughly as old as Brother Wang, or maybe a little older.
“In the course of a long life, one must expect to abandon one’s luggage several times.” Censor Hanshen quickly stepped over to a safe and pulled out a heavy canvas sack. He had to pick it up with a grunt. Tian could hear muffled clinking from inside of it. Comparatively, the waxed parcel holding papers looked much lighter. Tian was rather surprised to see the censor depositing it in an iron bowl, lighting a corner of the package, and carefully ensuring the whole thing burned.
Once these matters were taken care of, Censor Hanshen turned back to the utterly confused Tian and Hong. He pulled out a golden fish-shaped token. On one side were the words “Imperial Censorate.” On the other were stamped “Immortal Beseeching Token.”
The letters were filled with a brilliant, sparkling inlay. Tian could feel the faint whiff of pure qi coming off them. At a guess, someone powdered a spirit crystal and used it to make the token.
“By the Laws of the Broad Sky Kingdom, in conformance with the command of the Golden Palace and bearing the imprimatur of the Immortal Sect Ancient Crane Monastery, I, Censor Sixth Grade Lower Division Hanshen Mu beseech the Immortals to assist in defending the Kingdom against an immediate and fundamental threat. I ask that you convey this Official to the Capital with all reasonable haste, and allow him to present the evidence you have recovered of the heretical impeachment.”
The Censor hesitated, then pressed on. “And the attack on Bluestone City, if it might be relevant. But the impeachment is the important thing. Please.” The Censor bowed and held the fish token out in front of him with both hands.
Tian’s face twitched. He was trying to figure things out at speed, but his mind remained stubbornly blank.
“Sister Liren?”
“Never heard of it before. It’s not in your history books?”
“They seem to make a point of avoiding mentioning immortals. Which, now that I think about it, is almost certainly a programme overseen by the Censorate.”
The Censor didn’t move, remaining bowed at ninety degrees, fish token extended.
Tian leaned close to Hong. “This sounds like a massive pain and more mortal crap than I want to deal with. Do we want to just slip away? Maybe pass it off to someone at the local temple?”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Liren shook her head. “No. Because I want to get to the bottom of this. You said it doesn’t have to be our problem, but I want to make it our problem. Kids burned to death in cages, Brother Zihao! Burned to death in damned iron cages! And then a city-scale attack, pillar families, vanishing imperial officials? This is something very big. And I want to get to the bottom of it, and kill everyone responsible.”
Tian controlled the urge to rub his forehead. The Censor was still bowed. He didn’t look like he was straining to hold the position either. Skinny guy, but he must be stronger than he looked.
“West Town is… not exactly on the way to the Capital, but not too much of a detour, right?” Tian tried to remember the map of the kingdom he had sneaked a look at. It was surprisingly hard to get a hold of. Maps were tightly controlled military information. Roads had direction and distance markers. What else did travelers need to know?
“A few days out of the way if we move fast. A week at our normal speed. Not bad.”
“Longer with a couple of mortals.”
“Still not bad. Brother, this matters. This is worth doing, and seeing through to the end.”
“I know it matters. Of course it matters. I just don’t want to be back in the damn desert, especially when I’m in the Kingdom!” Tian hissed. He hadn’t realized what was bothering him until he said it, but this was the truth.
Liren slowly shut her eyes. When she opened them, she met her brother’s gaze firmly. “The desert is always with you, Brother Zihao. It’s with me too. Do you really want it to be with everyone else? What does your doctor’s heart say?”
“It says I’m damned tired!” Tian snapped. He closed his eyes for a moment, and rubbed his forehead. The silence stretched. Censor Hanshen didn’t move an inch.
Tian started fiddling with his rosaries. In the end, it came down to what Brother Fu would do. Brother Fu… had compassion. Tian had compassion too. Was this a pain he could bear?
“I want you to know I’m going to endlessly nag you about this. We will be two thousand and three, and I will wake you up in the middle of the night, banging on your cell door to remind you this was all your idea.” Tian spoke loudly enough for the mortals to hear.
“Fair. Fair and broadminded. My good brother can always be relied on!” Hong lit up. Tian could practically feel the smile through her veil.
I’m proud of you, Grandson. You are making the right choice.
“Then why didn’t you say so while I was thinking it over?”
Because this should be your choice. You might not know what I mean by “merits” or the significance of a kid that can see them, but you can decide your own moral path. I can teach you and show you the way. But you are the one who decides where and how you walk.
Liren reached out and picked the token from the Censor’s hands. “Pack up. We leave this afternoon.”
“So late in the day?” Censor Hanshen looked faintly stunned. Tian wondered if the man had really expected his fish token to work. “There is a great deal of paperwork involved in my leaving my post like this. Wouldn’t it make more sense to set out tomorrow?”
“You said ‘All reasonable haste’ Censor,” Tian’s smile was saintly. “And we are very reasonable people. Just the most reasonable people you ever met.”
They did visit the local Temple, taking the opportunity to offload what they had looted, stock up on supplies, and get their weapons looked over. There had been some corrosive damage, but it wasn’t ruined. Tian was given an ointment to soak the rope dart in.
“Two hours a day, every day, for a week. Rinse with clean water afterward, and towel dry before letting it air dry the rest of the way. It’ll be as good as it ever was.” The crafter shrugged. “Candidly, though, it’s past time you got a better one. This is competently made, no disrespect to the crafter, but retractable barbs and a decent durability are…” The crafter seemed to grope for a polite way to say what he wanted to say.
“Thank you, I am very happy with it. I will certainly consider replacing it in the future, should the opportunity arise.” Tian bowed and swiftly walked away. How could he possibly get rid of his rope dart? It had been through so much with him, and Crafter Li was barely able to pick up a hammer these days, let alone braid rope. It would be damned hard to get her to make a new one.
Writing the letters took most of the afternoon. Tian was as good as his word, making sure to praise the “Care, diligence, and compassion” shown by Martial Uncle Fan, as well as underlining his martial skill. He really had been immensely reasonable. The one-armed, one legged brother running the Mission Office gave Tian a look when he presented Elder Feng’s seal to get the mail sent, but sent it just the same.
“You know you have more than enough merits to pay for this mission, don’t you? Even if you didn’t put up any spirit crystals to go with it. We haven’t calculated the merits for the most recent battle, but that’s going to be a sizable sum as well.”
Tian blinked. He hadn’t checked his merits since going to the Windblown manor. He glanced at his ring and nearly passed out. The little enchantment was showing four figures worth of merits. All the jobs he was doing for Elder Feng must have been paid work. She really had been looking after him.
The Ancient Crane Monastery had a lot of problems, but making sure their people got paid wasn’t one of them. Tian silently thanked the Elders… while making sure he found something to spend his merits on. He didn’t need much of anything, but then, he didn’t know what was available. The Scripture Pavilion at the Depot had been a revelation. Presumably there were more treasures out there his merits could buy.
He hesitated for a moment, then resolutely decided to save them. Frugality was a virtue, after all, and there would be many more shopping opportunities back at West Town. They might even see about swinging through Mountain Gate City. Surely Brother Fu could get them in, and there would be the best of the best stuff available there.
Before leaving Bluestone City, he visited the shrine again. Liren walked next to him, keeping to Tian’s slow pace. The interior was gorgeously painted, reds, blues yellows and blacks carefully layered into repeating patterns framing pictures of demons and gods. Each painting was vivid, their eyes expressive, each carrying weapons or tools symbolizing… Tian didn’t know what. Presumably there was a reason the six armed demon was carrying both an ax and a fan.
Minister Jun was memorialized with a statue. In one hand, he carried a heavy scroll bearing the seal of the kingdom. In the other, he rested a large goosefeather fan against his chest. The statue was painted as well, vivid blue robes lined with black brocade and an embroidered panel of a qilin on his chest. He had blocky shoes, Tian noticed. They looked almost like little boats, with the tips curving upward.
There was a large scene painted on silk hung behind the statue. Scholars and generals meeting in a graceful courtyard, a go game set under a bowing willow tree, tea being carried on trays by students and servants. The air was one of calm wisdom, all organizing itself around Minister Jun. The painting had several enormous stamps on it, Tian noticed. Successive emperors had left their mark, showing that it had passed through generations of the Imperial family before coming to Bluestone City.
The Conferment, Tian noticed, was in a stone chest next to the statue. A vellum scroll recognizing the merits of Minister Jun and granting his family a hereditary title, as the Countess explained. Tian nodded and smiled, trying to see the glowing merit that had Little Treasure blinking and rubbing his eyes. He didn’t manage it.
“Hey Brother, let me see that pendant. The one the Academy Master gave you.” Liren stuck out her hand. Tian shrugged and handed it over.
“Yeah, crossed sword and saber, and it’s the old style of saber too. Well, relatively old. You know what I mean.”
“I don’t. I absolutely don’t.” Tian denied it.
“How old is Elder Rui? Or Elder Feng?”
“Point. So?”
“So look at the archway in the painting. See the big stone medallion painted there? Crossed sword and saber. And you can see orange trees through the archway.”
Tian followed her finger. Behind one of the tea carrying scholars and partially covered by the willow was an archway. And if you really focused, you could just about see a tree through it. But you had to squint with ferocious intensity to make out that, yes, there was a carved stone disk above the arch with what could well be a couple of ugly sticks on it. Or just possibly, maybe, if you looked at it for long enough, a crossed sword and saber.
“Sis’ Liren, just how good are your eyes?”
“Decent?”
“Madame, do you know where this picture was painted?”
“Scholars and Generals Confer in the Garden of the Guardian of the Northwest, Ushering in the New Kingdom.” The Countess recited. Then she smiled faintly, and added, “Quite the legendary scene. My father’s family is descended from General Hougian, the one with the blue plumes on his helmet in the picture. The old house was turned into a shrine right after his death, and it’s not close. More than a week away, in fact, up the Agate.”