Chapter 480 — Remediation

Everyone looked closely.

The young eunuch muttered, "I once received a kindness from Lord Wu. I was afraid Lord Wu would be dragged into this by you, so I spoke up."

By then no one cared about such things anymore. They seized the young eunuch and said, "What plan do you have?"

The young eunuch smiled. "Your Banner Guard storehouse has spares, and the Inner Treasury has spares too! It just so happens I have a fellow townsman serving in the Inner Treasury. But you must remember to return the things to me afterward."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Others could not enter the Inner Treasury, but these eunuchs could swagger in under borrowed authority and fetch things from it.

The Chief Banner Officer searched himself all over and came up with only a few taels of broken silver.

Seeing this, the others also brought out the silver they carried, pooled it into a pile, and stuffed it into the young eunuch's arms, saying respectfully, "We've put you to trouble, Eunuch. I'll go with you now to move the things."

The young eunuch accepted the silver without the slightest courtesy, beaming, and led them to the Inner Treasury.

When the Inner Treasury's chief steward saw the waist tablet, he rose at once with a smile and offered to accompany the young eunuch in selecting the goods.

The young eunuch carried himself with great authority and waved the steward off. "Go attend to your business. The gentlemen of the Banner Guard will keep me company."

The steward bobbed and scraped, and indeed stayed outside the storehouse, looking for all the world as though they might take whatever they pleased.

The men of the Banner Guard exchanged glances, dared not delay a moment, took the items, and headed straight for the Banner Guard, finally plugging the hole.

Afterward, they discussed it among themselves in private: "Lord Wu usually keeps so quiet—when did he climb so high as to know such a formidable personage?"

So much so that many in the Banner Guard grew warmer toward Wu Liang than before.

But that is all a later matter.

When Song Yan received the news, he could not help sneering inwardly.

He had long since drafted more than a dozen contingency plans. With Wang Yuan wielding the Emperor's authority as his tiger skin, unless the Empress rolled up her sleeves and took the field herself, this trap was doomed to fail.

Even so, when the imperial procession was halfway along, another incident occurred.

On the already cleared street, a century-old tree with lush branches and leaves collapsed to the ground for no reason, blocking the road to the Western Garden completely and nearly crushing the Jinwu Guards standing guard nearby.

The Jinwu Guards were badly startled. They ran over to look—more than half the trunk had been sawn through.

Everyone began cursing.

Yet their hands dared not idle. Several men strained to drag the tree aside first.

But the tree was too thick and too sturdy; it would not budge at all. Some quick-witted fellow ran off at a gallop to find the patrols on the road, but after a long while found none. The imperial carriage would soon pass this way. Several Jinwu Guards stood there blankly, shoulders braced and hands pushing against the immovable tree, as though by doing so their guilt might be lessened when blame was apportioned later.

One of them—a youth who had spent most of his family's savings on bribes and had served in the Jinwu Guards less than a month—could not hold back and began to sob.

An older man, furious and ashamed, cursed their "ill luck."

The youth wept even harder.

Just then several men burst out from the nearby woods, saying, "We're from the Five Wards Military Command. Do you need help?"

The Jinwu Guards were overjoyed. "We serve under Lord Song of the Jinwu Guards—we're all one family. Please, brothers, lend a hand and move this tree aside."

The leader of the Five Wards men was a young fellow just past twenty, exceedingly sharp in appearance. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "This is a century-old tree. If some censor with nothing better to do embellishes the tale for the Emperor—that men have damaged his property—I fear the Emperor will not be pleased. I say we all put our strength together and stand it upright again as it was, propped in place for now. It can fall again in a couple of days, and no harm done."

"Brother, you're a capable man indeed!" the Jinwu Guards praised. "Might we ask your name, brother? We'd like to buy you a drink!"

"Not at all, not at all!" the Five Wards man laughed. "My surname is Jiang, given name Yi. I serve as commander of the Southern City. I brought a few brothers out today to see the excitement, and never expected to run into something like this."

As they spoke, several more men came running over.

Many hands make light work.

Soon the great century-old tree was propped up in place with several wooden stakes.

Jiang Yi clapped his hands. "There. So long as no one disturbs it, it won't come down for a while." Then he added, "We'll be off now, lest we collide with the imperial carriage later—that's no joking matter. You be careful too."

The Jinwu Guards were on duty and dared not leave their posts. They thanked Jiang Yi one and all, and stood tall and straight before the imperial procession passed.

The Jinwu Guards on duty by the tree trembled in their legs, dreading some mishap.

Fortunately, the imperial carriage passed safely and smoothly.

But paper cannot wrap fire forever—especially with so many witnesses. The Banner Guard's loss of the banners and the red silk curved-handle parasol, and the great tree falling while the Jinwu Guards were on duty, soon reached Wang Ge's ears. When Wang Ge heard that it was a young eunuch who had gone to the Inner Treasury to borrow the items, his gaze fell upon Wang Yuan.

Within a couple of days, the Emperor asked Wang Yuan, "I never imagined you and Yantang were on such good terms?"

Wang Yuan was baffled.

The Emperor smiled. "I hear you helped him out of the Banner Guard affair?"

Wang Yuan cursed Wang Ge roundly in his heart, yet his manner was utterly deferential as he bent slightly at the waist and said, "That matter truly was not this old slave's doing—this old slave really cannot claim the credit." Then he added, "This old slave heard of it too, but what I heard differs from what Your Majesty heard—they say Lord Song sent word to the fourth master of the Song family, and it was the fourth master who helped borrow the things from the Inner Treasury. No wonder people say rumor can kill a man. This old slave has been wronged to death over this. Last time, that narcissus on the curio shelf in Your Majesty's study still hadn't bloomed by the Spring Festival, and someone in the palace said I had watered it too much." As he spoke, he dabbed at his tears pitifully with his sleeve. "This old slave truly can't win—wrong whether I act or don't act!"

The Emperor laughed heartily and waved Wang Yuan away, but then turned and summoned the Western Depot's director: "Go and investigate who it was that borrowed the banners and the red silk curved-handle parasol from the Inner Treasury for the Banner Guard."

If some lackey of an abbey slave can walk into the Inner Treasury and haul things away without any paperwork at all, then this empire of Mine belongs to those abbey slaves!

The Emperor flew into a rage and asked one of Wang Ge's apprentices who stood nearby, "What is Wang Yuan doing?"

The apprentice had no way to lie. "Eunuch Wang has been sitting in the covered corridor the whole time, sunning himself!"

The Emperor gave a cold snort.

At least the old dog knows his place.

And at that very moment, a dagger gleaming with cold light rested against the neck of the Inner Treasury commissioner.

Before the writing desk, the expressionless Director of the Western Depot asked him grimly, "So it truly was His Excellency Song who came to borrow these things?"