Midnight, at the hour of Zi.
Lu Zhan, leading a large contingent of men, arrived at Yushun Ward.
Guided by several young eunuchs sent ahead by Yu Changle, Lu Zhan and his busy subordinates who had been working through the night reached the station of the Yushun Ward Inspection Office.
Mounted on his blood-hoofed Black Steed Wu Zhui, Lu Zhan stared at the familiar gate before him, remaining silent for a long moment.
It was obvious that Emperor Yin Yuan was not a decent man.
This fellow’s conscience was utterly corrupt to the extreme.
“A truly foolish ruler!” Lu Zhan’s mouth twitched as he pressed his hand hard against his forehead.
The newly established Shou Gong Jian’s Yushun Ward Inspection Office was stationed in a location with great terrain advantages.
It was situated on the northeast side of Yushun Ward.
To the north, beyond a wide avenue shaded by willows and a dam, flowed a canal several miles wide, presenting a most picturesque view.
To the east of the base station, just two streets away, lay Yushun Ward’s Second Wharf, offering extremely convenient transport.
Not far from the wharf was a bustling marketplace, with abundant provisions for food, clothing, housing, travel, and even entertainment.
This station itself was a grand residence with six main courtyards front to back and wings on both sides.
Behind the house was an enormous rear garden, covering over one hundred and fifty acres in total.
Lu Zhan and his roughly three hundred men, along with more than three hundred blood-hoofed Wu Zhui horses, could live here comfortably.
The north gate of the rear garden opened directly onto the willow-shaded avenue by the canal, making access for the cavalry very convenient.
In short, this station was truly a feng shui treasure spot.
Only six short hours had passed since Lu Zhan’s appointment at noon.
To have been able to secure such a grand mansion in Yushun Ward to serve as his base, and to have the original owners directly relocated, showed that Emperor Yin Yuan had invested considerable resources and that Yu Changle had really put in the effort.
Of course, none of the above truly mattered.
What mattered most was that this huge compound faced south and sat facing north.
Across the street directly opposite its southern front gate, nestled among a cluster of pines and junipers, was the north gate of the Bai Family’s “Lantian Garden.”
That familiar north gate looked very much like the one Lu Zhan had just crossed recently at midnight.
Yes indeed.
Lu Zhan and the Bai family had become face-to-face neighbors.
In his heart, Lu Zhan had a thousand unkind words bursting to be spoken, but he didn’t know how to voice them.
Wasn’t he supposed to be cautious and circumspect?
Wasn’t he supposed to proceed carefully?
Opening his mouth, he took a deep breath of the northwest wind, tinged with a fishy smell, and murmured, “His Majesty’s great grace—The Inspector truly shows us meticulous care. This estate— I like it.”
“The mansion General Luo gave me can just be set aside for now.”
“I favor this place, so this is where I’ll live. It’s bound to be interesting.”
Lu Zhan leapt down from his horse, tossed the reins to a supervising eunuch standing nearby, and looked up at the large gate of his new residence.
The vermilion-lacquered door was less grand than those of the Duke of Lai’s mansion or the Marquis of Tian’en’s estate, but it was still imposing.
Thick wooden panels studded with polished brass nails glistened faintly in the torchlight.
The efficiency of the Shou Gong Jian was extremely high.
The original door plaque of the previous residents had been taken down.
A brand-new purple sandalwood plaque with gilded big characters was already hung above the door, inscribed with the six characters: “Yushun Ward Inspection Office.”
Below the plaque, on either side of the gate, stood two huge official signs, each about two zhang tall and six chi wide.
The signs had pitch-black backgrounds, carved with two massive scarlet palace mantises baring their fangs and claws, looking extremely fierce and imposing.
Under the lights, a line of over a dozen supervising eunuchs clad in heavy armor over white robes stood in formation, adding an inexplicable grim aura to the compound.
Lu Zhan nodded silently, glanced once more at the north gate of the Bai family’s rear yard, and gave a gentle wave of his hand.
The vermilion door silently swung open.
Lu Zhan held his head high and stride firm, leading his contingent into the Inspection Office compound.
Then the door slammed shut heavily behind them.
Time ticked by slowly.
Lu Zhan’s subordinates were all elite troops transferred from the Feathered Forest Army.
After settling in, they quickly allocated rooms, assigned sentries both visible and covert, stationed archers on the towers, and set up a rotating watch schedule.
Lu Zhan wasn’t idle either.
He busied himself with a few young eunuchs in the backyard.
Before, he had been to the Marquis of Tian’en’s estate and, before Madame Hu received news, had nearly packed up his own little courtyard.
On the east side of the rear garden, he dug a large pit and planted a few clumps of Emerald Snakes.
The emerald snakes slithered quietly from inside his sleeve.
Under the amazed clicks of the young eunuchs, the snakes nimbly darted into the bamboo thicket, disappearing among the dense leaves.
The east side of the garden already had a pond, sparing Lu Zhan the trouble.
He simply tossed in the alligator turtles he had brought along.
The burrows for his hare-monkeys were arranged on the west side of the garden.
Under these burrows, Lu Zhan dug holes to bury coral-like lumps of metal that had grown from the soil.
The hare-monkeys were curious and lively.
Suddenly moving from a tiny backyard at the Marquis of Tian’en’s estate to such a large garden excited them.
They called out “ha ha” repeatedly, dashing wildly across the garden and occasionally spraying urine in the corners.
The great parrot’s cage was hung beneath the eaves of a study hall on the south side of the rear garden.
The parrot was a little nervous yet curious in its new surroundings.
It constantly muttered curses in a low voice, its fiery feathers standing on end, fiercely scanning the surroundings.
Da Huang dog followed Lu Zhan closely, gently wagging his tail.
He was the most steady and dependable.
Yet, passing by hidden rockeries and old trees, even he secretly marked his new territory with a sprinkle of urine, just like the hare-monkeys.
With everything prepared, Lu Zhan gave a heavy clap of his hands.
Patting Da Huang’s head, he looked over the tranquil rear garden at night and said, “Alright, we’ll be living here for some time. Not sure exactly how long.”
“Though there have been some twists and dangers, overall, our living standard is steadily rising. That’s a good thing.”
“To celebrate moving into our new home, I think... setting off fireworks wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Glancing up at the sky.
The moon was dark, the wind high, heavy clouds covering the heavens, and the entire Haojing City was steeped in darkness.
To some insiders, this was the perfect night for murder, arson, and breaking and entering.
Lu Zhan cursed inwardly.
Now that his old and new homes were neighbors, he couldn’t care about caution anymore...
Or rather, why not just rattle the grass to scare the snake?
“Everyone, follow me. You’ve all worked hard today.”
“Let’s think of a way to get some late-night snacks to reward ourselves.”
“No need to pinch pennies. When we left Jiuqu Court, His Majesty generously gifted us some palace brocade and tribute silks. That should cover our expenses for a while. Fine wine, fine meat, fat chickens and fat geese; bring it all!”
Lu Zhan, feeling inexplicably happy, gave orders to several young eunuchs around him.
It was the dead of night, and feeding over three hundred men with sumptuous food was no easy task.
But they were the Shou Gong Jian.
If anyone else couldn’t do it, they certainly could.
Two young eunuchs led a team with high spirits to the marketplace near the Second Wharf, barged into the largest tavern by jumping over the wall, opened the doors, entered directly, and roused the cooks and waiters.
Soon they were rushing about in a frenzy.
Lu Zhan sat in the main hall, summoned the head eunuch in charge and the centurions of three hundred-man squads, lit the lamps and candles, and chatted idly, strengthening bonds while deepening his understanding of these four subordinates.
Time flew by swiftly.
The dispatched men returned, bringing a bounty of wine and meat.
At this late hour, there was no time for delicacy or finesse.
There was no reason to prepare anything elaborate.
Yet, following Lu Zhan’s orders, fat chickens, geese, ducks, and pork legs were all stewed thoroughly.
Old wine was poured like flowing water.
Over three hundred men laughed and chatted, setting up banquet tables in the rooms, indulging fully in eating and drinking.
Back at Jiuqu Court, as the Feathered Forest was the emperor’s personal guard, rules were strict and rigid.
Even smelling wine was impossible.
Following Lu Zhan, they could eat and drink heartily after a day of hard work.
The once reluctant supervising eunuchs gradually shed their resistance, feeling faintly that serving under Lu Zhan might be quite an enjoyable and free way of life.
The three centurions began.
Junior officers from among the supervisers took turns to offer toasts to Lu Zhan.
Lu Zhan refused none, drinking bowl after bowl of old wine.
Before long, he downed three to five jin’s worth.
His eyes remained clear, astonishing his men, who repeatedly praised, “Our lord has a mighty capacity for drink.”
As they ate and drank, a strong wind rose outside.
From high above came vague phantom sounds like things were "blowing to bits."
Suddenly, an archer on watch in the tower shouted loudly, “Fire! Fire! The garden on the south side is burning… Eh, eh, how did the fire flare up all at once? Why is it spreading so fast?”
“Hey, hey, so many naked people are running out?”
“How magnificent!”
The Feathered Forest’s elite were at least at the Peiyuan Realm, with powerful breath and loud voices.
Seeing the new neighbor’s house on fire, the lookout archer couldn’t help but yell at full volume, alerting everyone far and wide.
Lu Zhan leapt up abruptly, shouting, “What? What? How did it suddenly catch fire like this?”
“In the dead of winter, the air dry and flammable, if this fire spreads to the neighbors, it will be a disaster!”
He roared, “Beat the copper gong! Sound the alarm whistles! Summon the patrol guards and neighborhood fire brigades at once! Send word to the heads of the households on either side; have them send men to help fight the fire!”
“Quick, quick, quick! We belong to the Shou Gong Jian—our duty is loyal service to the emperor and protection of the people!”
“Our neighbor’s house is burning! We must help put out the fire!”
“Quick, quick, quick!”
Lu Zhan shouted wildly and led a group of slightly drunk subordinates rushing out in a loud clatter.
Bang!
Lu Zhan kicked through the north gate of Lantian Garden, then charged shoulder-first against the doorframe, collapsing half of the courtyard wall.
The supervising eunuchs copied their commander’s example—with shouts and battle cries of ‘fire!’—they smashed the north wall of Lantian Garden to pieces in no time.
Gongs clang incessantly; sharp whistles pierced from all directions.
Just last night, a big fire had burned in Siji Ward, enraging the officials.
Various wards and markets across Haojing City had already quietly prepared emergency alerts.
Especially here in Yushun Ward, where many noble families lived, the covert vigilance was most severe.
As the fire broke out in Lantian Garden, troops, constables, fire brigades, and fully armed guards from all around came running in.
Lu Zhan charged into Lantian Garden first.
Right in front of him, several naked handsome men were running and shouting wildly.
Lu Zhan slapped them sharply.
The crisp sound of palm striking flesh echoed as he knocked the men down and bellowed, “Idiots! Idiots! Running around naked in the dead of winter at night—you must be demons or madmen! Tie them up!”
A group of eunuchs pounced, quickly binding the men up like bundles of rice dumplings.
In the distance came Bai Lang’s angry roar, “Fire! Fire!”
“Where are the guards? Watch all sides! No outsiders are to infiltrate!”
(End of Chapter)