DIHBSG chapter 26

This turmoil on the west side of the city finally came to an end.

Song Jian tucked the account book away and jumped down from the tree, walking toward Huai Yi as he said, “You have to come into the palace with me to see His Majesty. Also, you need to meet Lord Lin Hechang.”

Huai Yi nodded hard. “Mm!”

Six-eared macaques lay sprawled all over the ground. Long Xiao gave a signal, and before long, the Tiancha Division’s hidden guards stationed throughout the rest of the capital converged on the western part of the city.

The group of six-eared macaques had been captured but were still unconvinced, glaring fiercely at Song Jian.

Song Jian turned and asked Chang Ying, “Does our Tiancha Division have the authority to execute first and report later?”

Chang Ying nodded, adding, “For cases like this, you can even just execute without reporting.”

Song Jian walked over with a stern face and ‘chua’ drew his Yanling Saber from his waist.

“Do you know, my saber hasn’t seen blood for a long time.”

In truth, this saber had never seen blood in Song Jian’s hands—except for the time Xiao Yinghuai used it to chop down an assassin.

The Six-Eared Macaque widened his eyes in terror. “I-I-I—I didn’t say anything! I didn’t say anything…”

Song Jian held the saber and stared at him for a long time.

Just as sweat began pouring from the Six-Eared Macaque, Song Jian suddenly grinned, baring his teeth.

“Got you~ I was lying~”

He lightly tapped his toes, turned smoothly, and slowly prepared to sheath the saber again.

Sheathe—

Sheathe—

Again—

Song Jian lowered his head and checked three times before finally getting the saber back into its scabbard.

He clapped his hands. “Return to the palace!”

—

At that time, in the palace—Imperial Study.

Officials from the Waterways Department were reporting on the disaster in Changning. The Emperor’s expression was far from good, and everyone present was trembling with fear.

The twelve embankments of the Ning River had been built with the best water conservancy experts of the world at the time. The project was vast and ingenious. With yearly maintenance, it could have ensured Great Yan’s safety for a hundred years. Yet corrupt river officials grew complacent and greedy, causing two of the twelve embankments to collapse.

The officials of the Waterways Department understood very well—given the temperament of the one in the palace, not dragging all the negligent officials of Changning out and executing them already counted as mercy.

Fortunately. Fortunately. Only two embankments had collapsed.

After court officials went south to Changning for half a month, the river conditions had improved. The two embankments were rebuilt and reinforced, and no major disaster had occurred.

What remained was the reckoning of officials involved in the corruption case.

As they were thinking this, Gong Defu suddenly rushed in from outside.

“Your Majesty! Lord Song—Lord Song has returned!”

Xiao Yinghuai did not lift his eyes from the water report. He asked lightly, “What did he find?”

Gong Defu waved his hands in panic. “No, Your Majesty! Lord Song brought the little servant from the Yi residence back!”

Xiao Yinghuai paused and raised his head.

The next second, Song Jian rushed into the Imperial Study.

“Your Majesty!”

He was panting and drenched in sweat, but his expression was bright, eyes full of joy.

Xiao Yinghuai fixed his gaze on him, then watched as the young man cheerfully pulled an account book out from inside his robes at his chest.

He lifted it high and shook it twice. “Hehe~”

……

The account book that had traveled thousands of miles from Changning to reach the Emperor was finally revealed, and its contents were shocking.

Song Jian did not know which officials were involved. The only thing he knew was that Lord Lin Hechang was innocent, because he was released the very day the ledger was brought back—and Song Jian personally went to the imperial prison to pick him up.

Oh right, there was also Huai Yi.

He brought Huai Yi back to the Tiancha Division, helped him clean up, and had Yan Lili cook him a meal. After eating and drinking his fill, he brought him to pick up Lin Hechang.

At the prison gate, Lin Hechang walked out step by step.

His hands trembled and tears streamed down his face. He was about to sigh when he first let out a burp: “Burp~~~~”

“……”

Right, he had eaten before coming out.

Thinking of this, he turned to the two identical figures beside him and said, “Thank you, Seventeen and Eighteen brothers. I am full.”

Seventeen: “…”

Eighteen: “Thank Lord Song instead.”

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

Lin Hechang turned and saw the young man rushing toward them.

“Lord Lin! Look who I brought!”

Lin Hechang looked closely, disbelief in his eyes. “Huai Yi?”

Huai Yi ran over and dropped to his knees.

“Lord Lin—!”

Seeing his injuries and how thin he was, Lin Hechang immediately thought of the worst possibility—Lord Yi… he…

He also dropped to his knees.

“My brother—!”

The two of them hugged and cried loudly at the prison gate.

Song Jian tried several times to intervene but never found the right moment, so in the end he simply stepped aside.

Ah.

Men crying—it’s not a crime.

After crying, Huai Yi finally spoke, eyes red.

“These days in Changning it rained continuously. They detained my lord and prevented him from sending disaster reports back to the capital… and even locked him in a wood shed.”

“My lord was forced into a dead end by those colluding officials. After escaping, he gave me the ledger and told me to bring it to the capital at all costs.”

“I escaped to the capital, but my lord… he is probably in grave danger…”

Lin Hechang was devastated. He took out a small handkerchief and wiped his tears. After wiping his own, he even wiped Huai Yi’s.

Song Jian saw clearly that it was the very same handkerchief Lin Hechang had used to blow his nose.

In silence, he pulled out a clean handkerchief from his robes and handed it over instead.

After calming down, Huai Yi said, “My lords, you must seek justice for my lord.”

Song Jian asked, “When you left Changning, where was your lord?”

Huai Yi said, “My lord was hiding in a donkey shed.”

Song Jian: “?”

Huai Yi explained, “They knew my lord had a ledger, but did not know where it was, so they wanted to torture him into confessing. My lord had nowhere else to go, so he hid in a farmer’s donkey shed.”

Song Jian stroked his chin. “If that’s the case, your lord is very likely still alive.”

Huai Yi and Lin Hechang’s eyes lit up at the same time.

Song Jian patted them. “Go back to the residence first. I’ll go request an imperial decree.”

He turned and left, calling, “Seventeen! Eighteen!”

The two followed instantly.

After arriving at the Imperial Study, Song Jian reported everything in detail.

Xiao Yinghuai asked, “What do you want to do?”

Song Jian clenched his fist. “We should go rescue Lord Yi!”

Now that the corruption case was fully exposed, Xiao Yinghuai did not object. He raised an eyebrow. “You want to go?”

“Mm!”

Xiao Yinghuai agreed. Not only agreed, but also dispatched several teams to go with him.

Song Jian sent Chang Ying to deliver messages to Lin Hechang and Huai Yi, then set out with the troops.

But just as they reached the city gate, they saw a figure ahead.

Song Jian stopped in place.

The sun was already slanting westward. Golden-red sunlight spread across the wide road.

Ancient road, west wind, and a lean donkey.¹This is a parody of a famous line from the Yuan dynasty poem Autumn Thoughts (《天淨沙·秋思》): “Ancient road, west wind, lean horse” (古道西風瘦馬). Here, the author humorously replaces “lean horse” with “lean donkey,” transforming the original poetic and melancholic image into a comical one.

A thin, refined man rode slowly toward the capital with a carrot hanging in front of the donkey.

Everyone stopped.

Song Jian looked ahead and called tentatively, “Lord Yi!!”

The man on the donkey clearly froze.

The next second, the donkey panicked.

Donkey: “Ah—eh—ah—eh—ah—eh—”

The man on the donkey: “Ahhhhhhhhhh ehhhhhhhhh—”

Adrenaline surged through Song Jian. In a flash, he rushed forward and caught the man as he was thrown off the donkey.

The two spun in midair.

At that moment, Song Jian felt time stop.

Thud—the two of them landed on the ground.

Song Jian looked at the person in his arms. “May I ask your honorable name?”

“No need for formalities. My surname is Yi. My name is Yi Giren.”

Song Jian fell into deep thought for a long moment.

Yi Geren’s loneliness—two people’s fault~²The line “易革仁的寂寞，两个的错~” is a wordplay parody of the famous Chinese lyric “一个人的寂寞，两个人的错” (“One person’s loneliness, two people’s fault”). The name “易革仁 (Yì Gē Rén)” is phonetically close to “一个人 (yí gè rén, one person)”

……

Song Jian’s mission ended right at the city gate, taking only one hour in total.

Yi Geren was first sent to the Censorate to give his statement. After that, he returned with Lin Hechang and Huai Yi to Lin residence.

The Tiancha Division soon received another mission.

Seizing the Cheng family.

The Minister of Works, Cheng Yujin, had colluded with local officials in corruption, embezzling millions of taels of silver from the river repair funds, causing the Ning River embankments to collapse and flooding both banks. He was stripped of his position, his assets confiscated into the treasury, and his entire clan exiled three thousand li. No return to the capital without imperial decree.

Song Jian held the imperial decree and arrived at the Cheng residence with the Tiancha Division.

Another black mass of people.

But this time, the mission was completely different from before.

He handed the decree to Chang Ying to read.

Chang Ying: “￥#%！……*&￥……No return to the capital without imperial decree! Respect this decree!”

Song Jian: “Good! Seize them!”

He took back the decree and showed it to Cheng Yujin. “Look, personally issued by His Majesty. We didn’t touch it.”

Cheng Yujin looked ashen.

The confiscation was just about to begin when, all of a sudden, a Semi-Truck came charging out from around the corner. “Who dares seize our house! Who dares seize our house…”

Before he finished speaking, Long Xiao from Song Jian’s side stepped forward.

With a swish, the Yanling Saber was drawn from its scabbard, its tip resting against his throat.

Long Xiao said coldly, “Tiancha Division is handling a case. Who dares obstruct us?”

The Semi-Truck collapsed to the ground in fear, wetting himself instantly.

Song Jian looked at him and couldn’t help but comfort him, “It’s okay. Going to the frontier to farm helps you lose weight. Losing weight makes you handsome.”

The Semi-Truck immediately cried even louder.

Song Jian: “…”

Ha.

Seems like I made him cry.

The Cheng residence took half a day to confiscate. Cheng Yujin had far more wealth than they expected. Song Jian escorted him while watching boxes of gold and jewels being carried out.

He said, “Lord Cheng, going to Liangcheng to farm still gives you a chance to return.”

Cheng Yujin said nothing.

Song Jian patted him. “Fifty is still an age where you can keep striving.”

Cheng Yujin also cried.

Song Jian: “…”

I made the small one cry, now the old one is crying too.

In the following days, the corruption case was fully concluded. Officials were promoted, demoted, exiled, executed… and yes, some also went back to work.

Yes—even after meritorious service, they still had to work.

Work, work, endless work.

Last night the Tiancha Division dining hall had a gathering, so Song Jian slept late. Today he was on duty in the Imperial Study, standing beside the Emperor, nodding off.

He secretly pinched himself, only to discover that the drowsiness and the pain seemed to exist on completely different layers.

How can a person be this sleepy?

It wasn’t until—bang! Song Jian bumped straight into a table that he jolted awake.

He stared at the man beside him.

Xiao Yinghuai’s brush had been knocked flying, and he looked over too.

Song Jian: “(。· _ · 。)”

Silence.

“…slurp.” He wiped his drool.

Xiao Yinghuai: “You rested for three days, how are you still this sleepy?”

Song Jian didn’t dare answer.

Xiao Yinghuai glanced at the sun outside. “Come out and walk with me.”

Song Jian immediately stood straight. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Not long after leaving the study, they reached the imperial garden. Song Jian followed closely behind.

He was much more awake now. After a while, he remembered something and asked, “Your Majesty, I heard Eunuch Defu say you transferred Yi Geren to the capital.”

Xiao Yinghuai said calmly, “Mm. Why?”

Song Jian grinned. “Nothing, just happy.”

Xiao Yinghuai glanced at him. “The one promoted is Yi Geren, not you. What are you happy about?”

Song Jian walked with his hands behind his back and thought for a long time before saying loudly, “It should be happy! I think that when evil is punished and good people end well, that’s something worth being happy about!”

Then he leaned closer. “Your Majesty, you are a very good person.”

Xiao Yinghuai paused mid-step, then continued walking.

After a long time, he threw back a sentence: “So this is your entire basis for distinguishing right and wrong.”

Song Jian wasn’t sure whether it was a statement or a question and happily followed.

“Your Majesty, I heard Seventeen and Eighteen were sent to protect Lord Lin. Your Majesty, did you already know Lord Lin was innocent?”

“So you never intended to torture Lord Lin from the beginning, so that’s why you sent me, right?”

“Your Majesty?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty wait for me!”

The person behind him stuck closely like a little tail.

Xiao Yinghuai curled his lips slightly, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

“Your Majesty?”

“Your Majesty!”

Xiao Yinghuai walked on.

“Noisy.”

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• 1
  This is a parody of a famous line from the Yuan dynasty poem Autumn Thoughts (《天淨沙·秋思》): “Ancient road, west wind, lean horse” (古道西風瘦馬). Here, the author humorously replaces “lean horse” with “lean donkey,” transforming the original poetic and melancholic image into a comical one.
• 2
  The line “易革仁的寂寞，两个的错~” is a wordplay parody of the famous Chinese lyric “一个人的寂寞，两个人的错” (“One person’s loneliness, two people’s fault”). The name “易革仁 (Yì Gē Rén)” is phonetically close to “一个人 (yí gè rén, one person)”