The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 37

Once Zhao Li had tidied herself up, she headed straight to the front hall to find Lu Zhao.

“Commander Zhao.”

“Commander Zhao is here! Today’s pancakes were especially good.”

People came and went through the duty room in the front hall, and every one of them greeted Zhao Li when they saw her.

It was all goodwill she had farmed by giving them generous portions in the canteen.

By the time she reached the entrance, Lu Zhao was already waiting with several men behind him.

“Commander Zhao.”

That was Lu Jianxing. Even after becoming familiar with her, he never failed to observe proper etiquette. He was so mature and steady that he was almost dull.

The two younger men beside him also saluted, though neither was as solemn.

Zheng Lian, whose cheeks were lean and eyes keen, lowered his head and closed his eyes again as soon as he finished greeting her. He resumed his visualization exercise, practicing how to open the Mind’s Eye.

The other young man had a fair complexion and a sickly air. He smiled, then coughed twice.

“Li Qing, are you still not feeling better?” Zhao Li asked with concern.

The young man named Li Qing gave her a shy smile, coughing twice more as he answered, “Thank you for asking, Commander Zhao. I’m much better!”

Zhao Li thought he did not look better at all.

“Let’s go. I’ll treat you all to mutton soup.”

With a gold bracelet tucked in her purse, Zhao Li was feeling rather flush.

Li Qing brightened at the mention of mutton. Zheng Lian opened his eyes as well. Only Lu Jianxing bashfully declined a couple of times.

“For mutton soup, it has to be Wang’s! Walk faster. The broth is freshest in the morning, and we’re going to make Commander Zhao pay dearly.”

Lu Zhao was glad to see Zhao Li fitting in with the group. He cut in to liven the mood, then led them outside.

After leaving the Jingning Guard compound, they walked along the street.

As they went, Lu Zhao said to Zhao Li, “The capital is lively, but plenty of unsavory characters hide beneath all that prosperity. Don’t worry, though. Once you join the Jingning Guard, other people fear you. No one expects you to swallow an insult. We don’t oppress decent men and women, but we don’t run from trouble either.”

Zhao Li stared, unsure why he had suddenly said that.

Without looking at her, Lu Zhao continued, “Lord Shen ordered the Zhao family estate south of Mount Jin sealed.”

Zhao Li immediately grinned. “Really?”

Lu Zhao chuckled. “Really.”

Shen Yan had acted on the principle that if Zhao Li could not have it, no one else would either. He had simply sent men to seal the estate.

Zhao Li reveled heartily in the Zhao family’s misfortune before asking, “Lord Lu, what about that Daoist?”

“We’re still investigating. On the surface, it was merely the Zhao estate’s steward who listened to a wandering Daoist and planted a ring of willows beside the canal for the sake of feng shui.”

Lu Zhao added, “That steward killed himself the same night.”

“Are you sure it was suicide?” Zhao Li arched a brow.

“It was. We examined the matter carefully.” Lu Zhao nodded.

“All right…”

As they talked, they reached their destination.

It was far from a prosperous neighborhood.

Dirty puddles filled the hollows of a long-neglected flagstone road. A small shop displayed a banner bearing the two characters *Wang’s* inside a red circle.

Three tables and several benches stood outside.

The food was obviously good. Every seat was occupied despite the early hour.

A large pot at the entrance bubbled with milky-white broth. Beside it, someone greased an iron griddle and slapped a flatbread onto the surface with a hiss, sending up a curl of blue smoke.

Wave after wave of fragrance burrowed into Zhao Li’s nose. She peered over and was about to suggest they wait for a table when the ever-reliable Lu Jianxing turned to her.

“Would Commander Zhao prefer to sit inside or outside?”

Zhao Li thought, *Don’t we sit wherever a table opens up?*

She casually answered, “The air is better outside.”

Then she watched Lu Jianxing stride straight over. Like a walking plague god, he sent everyone waiting outside scattering in a rush.

Lu Jianxing seemed entirely accustomed to this. Without so much as twitching an eyebrow, he stopped beside a square table.

The diners there immediately abandoned what little remained of their meal, lowered their heads, and hurried away.

“Old Wang, come clear this table,” Lu Jianxing called to the grimacing proprietor.

A savage scar crossed half the proprietor’s face.

“Old Lu, can’t you come without your uniform next time? You’re driving away my customers first thing in the morning!”

He complained as he went back inside, fetched a rag, and tossed it onto the table, then gathered up the bowls himself.

“We happened to be passing by on patrol.” Completely unconcerned, Lu Jianxing picked up the rag and wiped away the spilled broth.

Zhao Li realized she had still underestimated the Jingning Guard’s power to intimidate people.

As she reached the table, the proprietor came over again. “Lord Lu, the usual?”

“Yes, the usual. Five portions and five fried flatbreads.”

After answering, Lu Zhao turned and introduced Zhao Li. “This is Commander Zhao.”

He offered no further details, but from Zhao Li’s age and appearance, combined with the rumors circulating through the capital, the proprietor could make a fair guess.

He showed none of it on his face and merely smiled.

“Commander Zhao, please sit. I’ll go slice the meat.”

Lu Zhao waved a broad hand. “Go on. See to your work.”

Then he beckoned Zhao Li to sit. “Old Wang used to be one of our brothers in the Jingning Guard. Later, he decided that working for the Guard wasn’t as interesting as cooking mutton, so he resigned and opened this place.”

Only then did Zhao Li understand why everyone else feared them like ghosts while this proprietor spoke so casually.

She sat at the table and looked around, then suddenly remembered that the gold bracelet in her purse could not be spent as money.

Spotting a shop in the distance with a pawnshop banner, she stood.

“Lord Lu, sit down without me. I’m going to the pawnshop.”

“A pawnshop?” Lu Zhao looked puzzled. “Do you have something to pawn?”

Zhao Li could hardly admit that she needed to pawn her bracelet in order to pay for breakfast, so she did not answer. Refusing an escort, she went to the pawnshop alone.

She wore the Flying Fish Robe of the Jingning Guard. Lu Zhao doubted anyone blind enough to provoke her existed, so he let her go.

As Zhao Li entered the pawnshop, she brushed past a young woman with reddened eyes.

Pawnshops were like hospitals. They saw endless joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, and every kind of human misery.

Zhao Li paid the woman little attention and walked straight inside.

The young woman, however, stopped and stared blankly after her.

The moment Zhao Li crossed the pawnshop threshold, even the light seemed to dim.

A tall counter loomed before her like a wall.

Pawnshops in the old days often had their counters deliberately built high. Customers had to rise onto their toes and lift the item they wished to pawn above their heads with both hands.

Then the appraisers behind the counter would chant a scathing, belittling description of the item. Before the bargaining even began, the customer had already been placed at a psychological disadvantage.

Zhao Li knew none of these twists and turns. Muttering complaints about the height of the counter, she took the gold bracelet from her purse and tried standing on tiptoe.

She immediately grew angry.

At her present height, even stretching her arm while balanced on her toes only barely brought her hand level with the edge of the counter.

A hand like a withered branch emerged through the small window and took the bracelet from her.

The old appraiser had been drinking tea. After testing the gold, he weighed the bracelet on a small steelyard. The balance rod rose high, but he casually drew out his voice in the traditional appraisal chant.

“Short in weight, impure in gold—a battered old bracelet of worthless brass and scrap—”

By the rules of the trade, every object had to be disparaged. Gold and silver became worthless brass and scrap, while a fur coat became a moth-eaten, rat-chewed, balding old rag full of holes.

Once he finished chanting, the appraiser asked, “Permanent pawn or redeemable?”

Irritated by what she had heard, Zhao Li snapped, “I’m not pawning it!”

Judging from her voice, the old appraiser knew she was young. He craned his neck and looked down, only to see the fuzzy crown of her head.

Though Zhao Li wore the Jingning Guard’s Flying Fish Robe, she had no official hat. Her hair was merely tied with a black ribbon.

The old appraiser decided she could not come from any wealthy family.

With a smack, he threw the bracelet out.

It clinked and bounced across the flagstone floor, spinning all the way into a corner before coming to rest.

Zhao Li’s face darkened.

“If you’re not pawning it, then please leave,” the old appraiser said in a mocking tone as he lifted his teacup.

Then Zhao Li spoke from the other side of the counter.

“I’m not pawning the bracelet. I’ll pawn something else.”

Something was passed up to the counter.

The old appraiser sneered and reached out impatiently.

His hand closed around a black-gold badge.

The front read:

*Hundred-Household Commander, Northern Pacification Office, Jingning Guard.*

The old appraiser’s hand trembled. His mouth moved faster than his mind.

“Greetings, my lord! Mercy, my lord!”