Brother, Brother, But I'm a Profligate! - Chapter 5

The bright moon hung high in the sky. Gray-white plaster peeled off the walls to reveal the underlying rammed earth, and shattered roof tiles hung precariously from the eaves. This area was filled with dilapidated houses that had long been out of repair and left uninhabited. Lone graves without tombstones were scattered about, accompanied by the occasional barking of dogs and the cooing of turtledoves.

Master Jiang had told his young servant to wait at the fork in the road while he went alone to Ming Si’s courtyard. He had visited Ming Si’s residence once before when a superior official came to inspect government performance, and he had been assigned to offer condolences to Ming Si.

As he walked, he suddenly felt several gazes fixed upon him. He instinctively turned his head, a slight chill rising up his back, but there was no one there.

Master Jiang hesitated, then turned back and quickened his pace. Reaching the small house, he pushed the door open with a loud clang. It was as if the louder the noise he made, the more courage he possessed.

In just a few days, a musty smell had already begun to rise within the room. Looking into the pitch-black space, he realized he had not brought a fire starter and was forced to grit his teeth and step inside.

A silver flash flickered in the darkness. Master Jiang froze. In the next moment, that light swept across his face. He reached out to touch the wetness on his cheek and let out a sound like an old duck being strangled by the neck.

“Help! Someone, help!”

Master Jiang turned and stumbled outward. A long sword struck his shoulder from behind, paralyzing half of his body and forcing him to his knees with a heavy thud.

“What thief comes here in the middle of the night?”

Qiu Yuan pressed the sword against him, questioning him in a cold voice. Along with his words, a flicker of light appeared nearby, and a warm candle glow began to shine.

Master Jiang wept in pain, prostrating himself on the ground to beg for mercy. “Mercy, heroes! Mercy! I did not mean to intrude! I am not a thief!”

Fu Jing sat beside the candle. The dim light illuminated half of his body, casting a heavy, oppressive shadow to his side. He merely looked down, gazing at the man on the floor.

Qiu Yuan tightened his grip on the sword. “You still dare to make excuses! If you are not a thief, why did you come here so stealthily at this hour?”

Master Jiang did not know which vengeful spirit he had provoked. He wailed with a mournful face. “Someone asked me to come and fetch something! If you do not mind, those five taels of silver are meant to show my respect to you two heroes.”

Fu Jing rose from his chair. The hem of his light yellow, silk-patterned robe swayed slightly as he stopped in front of Master Jiang. Fu Jing asked him warmly, “What is your name?”

Master Jiang did not dare look up. “Jiang, Jiang Wencai.”

Jiang Wencai was a clerk in the judicial office of the Chuzhou magistrate. Fu Jing smiled. “And where is Ming Si?”

Fu Jing had investigated Ming Si and knew he was as slippery as a fish in a river. Ming Si flattered his colleagues, ingratiated himself with Jiang Wencai, and handled matters with a smooth, patient maturity. He subtly manipulated the weaknesses of others, acting in a way that did not resemble a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth at all. To call him a silver-tongued opportunist would not be an exaggeration.

However, this side was only shown to others. In front of Fu Jing and his men, Ming Si frequently changed his demeanor, acting willfully and capriciously.

Fu Jing thought the boy likely hated them so much that he had become fearless, or perhaps Ming Si realized that because Fu Jing needed to take him back, he had the leverage to stand on equal ground and negotiate.

Upon hearing that these men knew Ming Si, Jiang Wencai knelt and confessed the whole story. He was both terrified and annoyed, believing Ming Si had intentionally sabotaged him by leading him straight into this trap.

Qiu Yuan stood to the side, looking straight ahead.

After learning that Ming Si had fled, Fu Jing ordered the main group to stay in Liaocheng while he took a few elite guards to pursue him. They were not certain where Ming Si had gone, but as the saying goes, the monk can run but the temple cannot hide. Ming Si would surely return to Chuzhou. Since he had left without his belongings, he would likely stop by his house, so they had traveled ahead to wait for him.

They waited for a day without seeing him. Just as they were considering sending men back along the road to search, someone had stumbled right into them that night.

After Fu Jing finished listening to Jiang Wencai’s account, he told Qiu Yuan to retrieve the five taels of silver from under the bed and place them in front of the clerk.

Fu Jing said, “Since he gave you this silver, you should keep it.”

Jiang Wencai’s hands shook, and he did not dare take it. A sharp ache throbbed in his arm with every movement, and he could not find the strength to lift it. Qiu Yuan reset his dislocated arm and hauled him up from the ground.

Fu Jing looked at him. “I must trouble you to accompany us to the magistrate’s office.”

Elsewhere, Ming Si had already used a wire to pick the shackles on his wrists. He toyed with the iron restraints, repeatedly unlocking, locking, and unlocking them again with the wire. He then tested the wire on the lock of the iron cell door. After twisting it back and forth, he opened it in a short amount of time.

Ming Si considered whether he should follow through with Master Jiang’s plan to have himself officially exonerated, or if he should simply escape on his own. He pondered for a moment, then locked the door again, deciding to wait for Jiang Wencai’s return to see what the clerk had planned.

Once he had settled on his next steps, drowsiness took over. Just as Ming Si began to doze off, a commotion erupted outside, and the sound of footsteps approached.

Ming Si blinked his dry eyes as he woke. Crouching in the corner, he peered out. The light from the lanterns flickered, allowing him only a blurry view of the swaying robes of the approaching people.

He watched secretly. As they drew closer, he recognized the faces. Fu Jing was surrounded by a crowd, walking slowly toward him.

The man’s expression was calm. When their eyes met, Ming Si felt a cold shiver run through his chest. He forgot to react for a moment, only adjusting his expression when the man reached the front of the cell.

Ming Si gave a start and smiled at the man. “Eldest Young Master!”

The surrounding bailiffs respectfully produced a key to open the cell door. Just as they were about to unchain Ming Si, they saw that his hands were already free.

Fu Jing looked at the youth he had not seen for four or five days. The little flesh Ming Si once had on his cheeks was gone, leaving him pitifully thin. His eyes, however, were large and dark, resembling those of a young kitten. He looked frail and skeletal. Yet his spirit seemed fine. Fu Jing caught the lingering sleepiness on Ming Si’s face. “You certainly slept well.”

Qiu Yuan, listening from the side after days of frantic searching, wanted to ask the same thing in his heart. How could you sleep at a time like this?

Ming Si heard the sarcasm in his voice but said nothing.

The surrounding bailiffs had likely been given strict orders; they stood silently with cautious expressions. Ming Si glanced at the reactions of everyone around him, finally witnessing the extent of Fu Jing’s influence.

Ming Si used the ground to push himself up, acting as if he had not heard the mockery. His face was filled with gratitude and excitement. “Eldest Young Master, you have finally arrived! Are you here to take me away?”

Fu Jing spoke calmly. “I feared someone might be unwilling to leave.”

Ming Si barely reached Fu Jing’s shoulder. Hampered by his height, he had to tilt his head back to look at him. Ming Si looked left and right, acting surprised. “Who?”

He spoke sincerely. “That night, I was overwhelmed with emotion and felt stifled. I took a horse out for a ride and lost my way. I hope the Eldest Young Master will forgive me.”

Fu Jing smiled. “And then you wandered all the way into a cell at the Chuzhou magistrate’s office?”

Ming Si’s eyes darted. “I could not find you, so I naturally returned to a place I was familiar with. Has the Eldest Young Master not found me here as well?”

“In the end, we share a certain spiritual connection. I did not know where to find the Eldest Young Master, so I returned to Chuzhou, and when you could not find me, you came to Chuzhou.”

Ming Si realized that the man was angry. He spoke evasively, without a trace of guilt in his heart.

A tense silence fell between them. It was the first time Fu Jing had looked at Ming Si with such a blank, expressionless face. The bystanders looked down at their feet; none of them dared to make a sound.

Ming Si remained unbothered, but Fu Jing suddenly took a step forward. Just as Ming Si was about to retreat, Fu Jing grabbed his wrist and lifted the right hand that Ming Si had been clenching tightly.

Ming Si looked at his movements. “What are you doing?”

Fu Jing effortlessly forced open the clenched hand. Ming Si’s palm, which was already a mess of blood and flesh, now bore several fresh crescent-shaped nail marks he had dug into himself. Fu Jing expressionlessly pulled the wire from Ming Si’s palm. He bent the wire twice, snapping it. “You are too presumptuous.”

Ming Si had wondered what he was going to do. Seeing this, he merely raised an eyebrow indifferently. “Heh.”

At that moment, a bailiff arrived with a wooden tray to break the deadlock. The bailiff kept his head low, holding the tray at eye level, and brought over the clothes Ming Si had changed out of when entering the jail.

Ming Si glanced at the people around him who all had their heads bowed. Ignoring the gaze Fu Jing had fixed on him, he turned sideways and, without much attempt at concealment, stripped off his prisoner’s tunic.

There were several bruises on his smooth, bare back. His shoulder blades looked like the wings of a butterfly as they moved. His shoulders and waist were narrow, and the lines of his neck were unexpectedly fluid, without any slouch. Everyone present was male, and Ming Si had no inhibitions, feeling no issue with his actions.

His mind was on what he would do after leaving. He tied his belt and turned his head, only to find that Fu Jing, who had been staring at him moments ago, had already averted his gaze. The others around them were hunching their shoulders with their heads even lower.

Ming Si reached for the string of aloeswood beads on the tray, asking naturally, “Where are we going next?”

He had only eaten one meal in two days and was intensely hungry. Ming Si reached for the beads, but his hand met empty air. He froze, seeing that Fu Jing had taken the bracelet.

The beads were quite old, with a glossy, oily shine. The scent of the aloeswood was light; if one smelled closely, it was a mixture of fruity and medicinal notes.

“What are you doing? My mother gave that to me.” Ming Si held out his hand, his smile faltering. He expected Fu Jing to hand it back after looking at it, but Fu Jing showed no intention of returning the bracelet.

Fu Jing said, “I will keep this for you for the time being. I will return it to you once we reach Shengjing.”

Ming Si’s expression changed. He reached out to snatch it back, but Fu Jing had already tucked the beads into his sleeve.

Ming Si was exasperated, grabbing Fu Jing’s sleeve. “Give it back!”

“If you want a bracelet, go buy one yourself!”

Ming Si gritted his teeth and tried to reach into Fu Jing’s sleeve. Just as his hand entered, Fu Jing caught his wrist. The man slowly moved Ming Si’s hand away from his body. The youth was no match for his strength, and his face flushed with anger.

Fu Jing smiled. “After certain things are done, you must have the ability to bear the consequences.”

Ming Si’s face was stiff. “I will not run away again. Give the bracelet back to me now.”

He forced a stiff smile to soften his stance. “Eldest Young Master, I will not run. Give it back to me.”

Fu Jing’s gaze was calm, and it was clear he would not be moved. “I said I would return it when we reach Shengjing.”

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