Chapter 62: A New Official Sets Three Fires
Yang Yuzhi frowned and said, "You’re new here, you may not know, but this Gu Zhan is a real troublemaker. He’s killed his superiors more than once, and when it comes to arrogance and unruliness, he’s not one bit inferior to you. If you want to use him, you’d best think it over carefully—this fellow doesn’t follow the rules!"
Wan Yan smiled and said, "If he were someone who followed the rules, I wouldn’t even want him. I took a liking to him at first sight precisely because of that unruly arrogance. In these times, isn’t it only the obedient ones who get taken in by the noble families?"
Yang Yuzhi asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
Wan Yan replied, "Just wait and see."
"You’d better not make a mess of things. This kid is slippery—not easy to control!" Yang Yuzhi reminded.
"Slippery? After all these years, as if I haven’t met enough slippery types. In the end, which one hasn’t ended up obedient in my hands?"
Having said that, Wan Yan stood up and said, "Alright then, that’s settled—Gu Zhan, I’ll use him!"
...
The new Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand Households for Linjiang City had officially taken office.
To ordinary citizens, this didn’t affect their lives—it was just something to chat about over meals. But for the Linjiang County government office, it was a storm of greater or lesser consequence.
Especially within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there was a palpable sense of impending crisis, like a storm brewing on the horizon. After all, there has always been the tradition that a new official starts their tenure with a bang.
The facts soon proved it—
This new official’s arrival indeed brought forth three waves of fire.
The newly appointed Thousand Households, Wan Yan, on his very first day, directly dismissed many veteran Embroidered Uniform Guards from the Hundred Households Office and brought in a whole new batch of people.
This was the first fire,
And over the following days, the second fire struck several of the Hundred Households Offices.
After assuming charge of the Hundred Households Office, Wan Yan immediately set up a new department: the Inspection Team, dedicated to fighting corruption and investigating the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
This fire caught like wildfire—
In the Hundred Households Offices of East City, West City, and North City, a host of people were disgraced or even landed in prison, but the South City Hundred Households Office remained oddly calm; the Inspection Team didn’t even step into their jurisdiction.
For a while, everyone’s hearts were in turmoil—
The other three city offices were a mess, while South City appeared calm on the surface, but was actually rife with undercurrents.
In fact, relatively speaking, South City was even more anxious than the other three—
After all, it’s the unknown that’s most frightening.
With the other three already cleansed and the new Thousand Households’ "fires" burning bright, only South City had been left untouched, which made the people at the South City Hundred Households Office grow more uneasy with each passing day.
During this period—
Embroidered Uniform Guards from all over practically wore out the threshold to Gu Zhan’s casework room.
But Gu Zhan was at a loss as well—he’d gone to the Hundred Households Office but was refused entry on grounds of "official business"—all visitors were turned away.
Never mind seeing the new Thousand Households himself,
he couldn’t even get into the inner courtyard of the office.
After almost ten days’ wait,
at last someone from the Hundred Households Office arrived—but it wasn’t the Inspection Team as expected; it was the Thousand Households’ Personal Guards, bearing an invitation, inviting Gu Zhan to the Hundred Households Office for a banquet that very night.
As soon as the news spread,
Gu Zhan’s trusted followers all came looking for him.
These days, the South City Hundred Households Office’s fortunes looked brighter than ever. With the old team Gu Chuan had left in place, plus new Embroidered Uniform Guards joining, there were many experts—a dozen or more of the Upper Three Grades, and two or three who were First Grade Martial Artists.
Inside the main hall,
Gu Zhan’s trusted followers all sat upright and tense.
"Sir, I’m afraid this banquet won’t be so simple. Could it be aimed directly at our Hundred Households Office?" one follower said.
The others all nodded in agreement.
You couldn’t blame them for being so suspicious—
The pressure these days had been overwhelming; every day brought news of someone from another Hundred Households Office being arrested or thrown in jail, while only South City remained motionless.
Of course, it’s not because the people of South City enjoyed suffering,
the reason was that the new Inspection Team was practically a group universally loathed by all. The whole Embroidered Uniform Guard was on edge, regardless of department.
By rights,
for a new official establishing authority, they usually pick the prominent ones to strike first.
The South City Embroidered Uniform Guard should’ve been the first to bear the brunt.
Compared to the other three Hundred Households Offices, South City’s was by far the strongest: Gu Chuan had previously recruited far more experts than the others combined.
Purely judging high-level strength, all of Gu Chuan’s Upper Three Grades guest retainers now followed Gu Zhan. Although their official rank wasn’t high, as Gu Zhan’s personal guards, they were all proper Embroidered Uniform Guards.
So, to establish authority,
striking South City would have been the best move—yet the new Thousand Households ignored them, leading people to suspect he was plotting something big behind the scenes.
Gu Zhan naturally understood his men’s worries. He smiled slightly and said, "How many times have I told you: if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up. What’re you all afraid of?"
His followers could only exchange helpless glances.
They didn’t know if Gu Zhan was truly fearless or just a bit thick-skinned. They’d run themselves ragged these past few days gathering information, but Gu Zhan had been nonchalant throughout, as relaxed as could be.
"Alright," Gu Zhan took a sip of tea and said, "it’s just a banquet—will that Wan Thousand Households lay hundreds of executioners in wait, hoping for me to step into a trap so he can smash his cup and give the signal?"
Seeing that Gu Zhan was still in the mood to joke, everyone could only smile wryly. But his attitude put them a little more at ease, and they began to discuss further.
"Stop overthinking," Gu Zhan said. "I already asked around—tonight’s banquet isn’t just for me. All the Hundred Households have been invited. After all, since Wan Thousand Households arrived, he hasn’t shown his face even once—today’s just so everyone can meet over a meal."
His men were suddenly filled with doubt—
If this were true, did it mean the whole Inspection Team affair had already ended? If not, why would the Thousand Households hold a ’closing’ event like this?
"Sir, just to be safe, allow some of us to accompany you," suggested a middle-aged man with a cupped-fist salute.
Gu Zhan nodded. The man was a First Grade Martial Artist, formerly Gu Chuan’s personal guard captain. After Gu Chuan left, Chen Yidao stayed on as Gu Zhan’s personal guard.
Then Gu Zhan named two more Upper Three Grades experts to come along.
...
As night fell, the Hundred Households Office blazed with light.
People bustled to and fro, preparing the banquet.
Each Hundred Households arrived one after another, bringing their personal guards—everyone knew each other, even Gu Zhan, the new addition, had interacted with them in recent days.
After greeting one another at the entrance, they all entered together.
Just as they reached the door—
suddenly a group appeared within: at the head stood a smiling, spring-breeze-like middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Thousand Households; as soon as they saw him, everyone realized this was the new Thousand Households, Wan Yan.
Amidst their surprise,
Wan Yan approached with a beaming smile and immense warmth. He grabbed Gu Zhan’s hand and said, "Brother Gu, I’m Wan Yan. I must apologize—forgive me, when you came to see me earlier I was swamped with work. Tonight, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll punish myself with three cups!"