The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 65

Shen Yan was a man of his word. The very next day, he summoned craftsmen and ordered them to begin expanding the courtyard according to Zhao Li’s sketch.

Zhao Li obediently spent two days eating and drinking in the courtyard before finally reporting for duty like a responsible employee.

The White Lotus Sect case had caused an uproar in the capital. Then Emperor Longqing ordered the Jingning Guard to establish the special Night Watch Bureau, while grand councillors such as Huang Li and Lin Zhu closed their doors to visitors.

For a time, everyone in Shengjing was on edge.

Within the Pacification Office, the emperor’s decree had created a new and independent bureau directly under Shen Yan, Commander-in-Chief of the Jingning Guard.

With his tacit approval, it received anything it asked for. Resources poured toward it without restraint.

Directly beneath Shen Yan stood Zhao Li, newly promoted to Thousand-Household Commander with a monthly salary increased to fifteen taels of silver.

Below her was Deputy Thousand-Household Commander Lu Zhao.

Under Lu Zhao was Lu Jianxing, who had finally filled the long-vacant post of Hundred-Household Commander and looked considerably more invigorated for it.

Zheng Lian and Li Qing remained commandants for the time being, but anyone with eyes knew they had brilliant prospects.

There were also numerous vacancies for guard enforcers.

The emperor himself had authorized this department to patrol on Heaven’s behalf. Everyone knew its future would be limitless.

Within the Pacification Office, countless eyes turned toward those openings. The new bureau became the center of attention overnight.

Many people tried to use connections and pull strings.

Zhao Li stayed home and showed her face to no one. Nobody dared disturb her, so they turned their attention to Lu Zhao instead, showering him with invitations to banquets.

But Lu Zhao was far too slippery for that. He declined them all.

Thus, when Zhao Li arrived bright and refreshed for morning roll call, she drew everyone’s attention.

“Congratulations, Thousand-Household Commander Zhao!”

“Thousand-Household Commander Zhao looks especially energetic today.”

…

Zhao Li had just been promoted and was pleased herself. Smiling, she answered each greeting before making her way to the newly established Night Watch Bureau office.

“Thousand-Household Commander Zhao!”

The moment she entered, the triumphant Lu Jianxing came forward to welcome her.

His years of service and accomplishments should have earned him a promotion long ago. But advancement and fortune depended on more than seniority. A man also needed backing and connections.

He, Zheng Lian, and Li Qing had once been three unlucky wretches. They all knew exactly why their fortunes had finally turned, so their enthusiasm toward Zhao Li was especially sincere.

Everyone rose when she entered.

“Thousand-Household Commander Zhao!” Lu Zhao clasped his hands with a hearty laugh.

Privately, he could not help marveling. A Thousand-Household Commander not yet twenty years old was unheard of anywhere in Great Jing. Who knew how high Zhao Li might climb in the future?

Yet he felt no jealousy or resentment. He knew perfectly well that Zhao Li had earned her position with real ability and by risking her life through one danger after another.

Zhao Li greeted him with a grin. “Lord Lu, just call me A-Li as usual.”

Lu Zhao chuckled. “Come along. You have a new office.”

Intrigued, Zhao Li followed him into the rear courtyard and found herself facing a garden full of flowers.

They bloomed with abandon in the spring air.

At first sight of the garden, Zhao Li’s eyes lit up.

As she went farther in, she happened to see Shen Yan.

Looking more closely, she realized his office was right beside hers.

“Come on. We were just about to draw lots,” Shen Yan told her.

He paused until she caught up, then continued forward.

Unless an assignment or patrol district was specifically designated, Jingning Guard duties were allocated by drawing lots every month.

When Zhao Li and Lu Zhao reached the front hall, several perfectly ordered rows of Jingning Guard officers in fish-patterned uniforms were already waiting.

All were mid-ranking officers of Hundred-Household Commander or above.

More than a hundred people stood in formation without making a sound.

Once Zhao Li and Lu Zhao joined the ranks, Shen Yan swept aside the hem of his robe and seated himself in the armchair at the head of the hall.

A guard enforcer from the Registry Office immediately carried forward a large bamboo lot container.

Names were called, and the officers stepped forward one after another to draw.

The White Lotus register implicated so many people that its contents had to remain secret. Assignments were therefore selected through the lot container to prevent leaks.

Until a bamboo tube was opened, even the officer carrying out the mission would not know what it involved.

Whether one drew an easy, profitable task depended entirely on luck.

The hall remained silent except for the calling of names.

Zhao Li quietly opened her Mind’s Eye and studied each person who went forward.

The Night Watch Bureau had only just been founded and was desperately short of people. Finding one or two assistants with the right aptitude would be ideal.

Unfortunately, she reached the end without spotting even one promising candidate.

She did, however, see gray mist clinging to a pair of unlucky souls. Heaven knew what they had run into.

“Night Watch Bureau.”

Zhao Li was still watching those two men and thinking she should remind them to burn a couple of incense sticks for Bian’an when she heard her bureau called.

Every gaze in the hall turned toward her.

She hurried forward and fished a bamboo tube from the container.

The hollow tube held a strip of silk bearing the assignment.

After registering its number, Zhao Li stepped back down.

Once all the lots had been drawn, everyone dispersed.

Zhao Li carried her tube back to the Night Watch Bureau office. Surrounded by Lu Jianxing and the others, she twisted it open like a mystery box.

The silk inside read:

*Han Yun, concubine-born daughter of Chief Censor Han Qi, colluded with White Lotus heretics to murder her legitimate elder sister. Earth File Eight Hundred Sixty-Seven.*

At the word *censor*, Lu Zhao, Lu Jianxing, and the others all closed their eyes.

“A-Li, your luck…”

Censors were among the people the Jingning Guard least wanted to encounter.

They were obstinate and unyielding, their connections complicated—and more importantly, they were poor.

With their sleeves clean and empty, they had no money to smooth matters over.

One offended people and earned nothing for the trouble. It was the worst of both worlds.

Zhao Li did not yet understand all these twists and turns. She felt a little awkward. Apparently, the bad luck from her former life had followed her here without diminishing in the slightest.

They sighed, but no one dared neglect an assignment.

Especially not the first case handled by the Night Watch Bureau.

Lu Zhao and the rest rolled up their sleeves, eager to prove themselves.

Zheng Lian and Li Qing, the two errand runners, quickly went to the archives and retrieved Earth File Eight Hundred Sixty-Seven.

After reading it, everyone sucked air through their teeth.

…

The Han Residence, Shengjing.

Han Yin, the legitimate eldest daughter of Chief Censor Han Qi, sat before her dressing table while a maid combed her hair.

She was at the freshest age of youth, yet her cheeks were hollow and her face haggard.

The maid used scented powder to conceal the dark shadows beneath her eyes.

“Young Mistress, why don’t you visit the Great Buddha Temple outside the city? They say the incense there burns day and night and that its blessings are remarkably effective.”

The suggestion tempted Han Yin. After some hesitation, she said, “I will go after today.”

Today was her birthday. It was also the day she would become formally betrothed to her cousin.

On such an important occasion, she had no room to dwell on anything else.

No sooner had she spoken than Han Yin again felt the malicious gaze that had been haunting her recently.

Startled, she looked around, but there was no one else in the room.

As panic rose, something furry rubbed against her leg.

Han Yin looked down. It was the dog she had rescued not long ago from an itinerant performer.

The animal never barked, as if mute, but was remarkably intelligent. It often ran to her bedside at night and stood guard over her.

The maid disliked it intensely. No matter how many times they washed it, it still stank. Its coat was dull, and it was not even cute.

She always thought its face and eyes looked like those of a person.