Chapter 54: Choices (6)

Not long after Li Kuo and Shen Liniang finished chatting, the household manager came to report that Lord Yang Xuan had invited him to his residence for a conversation.
Li Kuo was clearly unprepared for Yang Xuan’s sudden invitation. If Yang Xuan’s previous invitation to a banquet was merely routine courtesy, what was the purpose of this one?
After pondering for a moment, the young man decided to go anyway—likely at his father Yang Zhao’s urging. With a wry smile, he sighed inwardly. Yang Zhao was so cautious that he didn’t even have the courage to invite his son to discuss important matters, resorting instead to using his son as a proxy. Working with such a person left the young man feeling helpless. But at this point, the Yang family was the only one who could form an alliance with him, so he seemed to have no better choice.
Yang Xuan’s residence was also in Qinren Fang, not far from his newly purchased home. Guided by Yang’s servants, the young man passed through the gate, walked along the corridors, and circled around the artificial hills, arriving soon at a small room in the back of Yang’s residence. This room was Yang Xuan’s study. Li Kuo thanked the servant and stepped inside.
The room wasn’t large, but it was tastefully furnished. At that moment, Yang Xuan was practicing calligraphy. Upon seeing Li Kuo enter, he quickly put down his pen and paper and stepped forward, saying, “General Li, it’s been a while!”
Li Kuo returned the greeting with a polite bow. He didn’t particularly like Yang Xuan. He always felt that Yang Xuan, like his father, had a somewhat opportunistic demeanor. It wasn’t that Li Kuo considered himself noble—just that he believed that when everything was tied to interests, it lacked sincerity. Moreover, Yang Xuan loved to play political games, while Li Kuo only had a superficial understanding of them.
The result was that those who played such games ended up mess things up and couldn’t resolve them.
If the young man had to name someone in the Yang family he had a favorable impression of, it would probably be Lady Yang Huahua of Guo State. Although she was shrewd too, she was kind-hearted and gentle. Compared to her cousins, she could be considered a good person.
But since he was now cooperating with the Yang family, he had to force himself to change—this was the rule, regardless of right or wrong.
“I’m curious, Lord Yang, what brings you to summon me?”
Li Kuo nodded at Yang Xuan and smiled slightly.
“Can’t we chat with General Li if there’s nothing to discuss? Can’t we have tea together if there’s nothing to talk about?”
Yang Xuan narrowed his eyes, waiting for Li Kuo’s reply.
Seeing the young man frozen in place, Yang Xuan burst into laughter. “General Li, I was just joking with you. To be honest, I invited you here because there’s an important matter to discuss.”
“Oh?”

Li Kuo narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his voice.
“Slap!”
“Slap!”
Yang Xuan tapped twice, and immediately, servants from Yang’s household pushed in two men tied tightly. Without waiting for Yang Xuan’s orders, the servants kicked the men hard in the knees, causing them to fall forward in pain and kneel before him.
Both of them were wearing only plain clothes, with several bloodstained whip marks on their backs. Their messy hair covered their shoulders and backs, looking extremely dirty. A lump of coarse burlap was stuffed in each of their mouths, and they were groaning loudly, but it was impossible to understand what they were saying.
Li Kuo never judged people by appearance, but even he felt disconcerted upon seeing them.
Yang Xuan smiled at Li Kuo and said, “Lord Li, do you still remember these two?”
After looking closely, Li Kuo realized they were none other than Huangfu Chendong and Helan Rongxia, the merchants who had dined at Yi Xian Ju.
Why were they in Yang Xuan’s household, and why did they look in such a miserable state?
Seeming to sense the young man’s confusion, Yang Xuan waved his hand and explained, “General Li must be wondering why they are in my household. To be honest, after that banquet, I sent people to keep an eye on them and investigate their true identities. Within three days, the servants reported that these two were the managers of Huiyuan Goods Store.” (Note 1)
“Oh?”
Li Kuo was astonished. How could he not have heard of Huiyuan Goods Store? As one of the few stores recognized by the Tang Dynasty court, its branches were spread across all the provinces of the dynasty. Whether crossing the continuous Yanshan Mountains to trade goods with the Khitans and Xis in the north, or crossing the vast deserts to reach the Western Regions for huge profits, merchants inevitably needed places to rest along the way.
If one was an official, they could stay in the imperial post stations and enjoy top-notch services. But for those hardworking merchants who only cared about selling their goods at a good price as quickly as possible, they obviously couldn’t enjoy the benefits provided to officials. For them, they either had to sleep in the wild or stay in goods stores.
Most reputable merchant caravans would choose to stay in goods stores. Firstly, bandits often lurked in the areas they passed through, making it unsafe to camp in the wild. Secondly, after a long journey, both the merchants and their horses were exhausted, and staying in a goods store allowed them to rest properly, which was beneficial for the rest of the trip.
Li Kuo certainly understood this well. He had once been ordered to escort military supplies to Hexi and had had some contact with the merchants of Jiyuan Caravan. These merchants, speaking in various dialects, spent half a year on each long journey, and the hardships of the trip were imaginable.

Thus, warehouses naturally emerged and became the most relied-upon links for merchants on their long journeys. Unlike inns, warehouses only accepted caravans, not individual travelers. Some well-known warehouses even only dealt with renowned merchant groups, such as the Jiyuan Caravan led by Guan Dage. Huiyuan Warehouse clearly fell into this category.

But since they were the owners of the warehouse, why did Yang Xuan tie them up and subject them to private punishment? Why go to such lengths against these two merchants? Had the Yang family’s influence in the capital reached the point where they could arbitrarily kidnap ordinary people?

With a cold snort, Yang Xuan sneered disdainfully, “They are indeed merchants, but they’ve developed a rebellious streak. Does General Li know that Huiyuan Warehouse has been hoarding ironware lately, intending to sell it at high prices to the Arabs?”

“What?”

Li Kuo exclaimed in shock. The Tang dynasty strictly prohibited the trade of ironware. While warehouses could store and sell goods on behalf of others, they were absolutely forbidden from hoarding ironware. For such an important material, if it fell into the hands of an enemy country, the consequences would be disastrous.

After some thought, Li Kuo frowned. Leaving He Lan Rongxia aside, Huangfu Chendong had left a deep impression on him. Whether in words or behavior, he seemed more like a young man determined to serve his country—how could he possibly deliberately hoard ironware to sell it to the Arabs?

“Lord Yang, could you remove the cloth from their mouths?”

“Mm.”

Yang Xuan nodded, and servants from the Yang family stepped forward to pull the cloth from their mouths.

“Pah!”

Huangfu Chendong spat out a thick glob of phlegm right at Yang Xuan’s feet. Though bound, he showed no sign of submission.

“You wretched official! Spouting lies to frame people!”

Yang Xuan was initially shocked, then snapped, “Dare you, insolent scoundrel, show disrespect to an imperial official? Bring him here—I’ll slap him!”

Two burly men stepped forward and took turns slapping Huangfu Chendong. In the quiet room, the sound of slaps was extremely harsh. By the time Yang Xuan ordered them to stop, blood was streaming from Huangfu Chendong’s lips.

“Wretched official… wretched official…”

Huangfu Chendong stared at Yang Xuan, sneering coldly, seemingly unafraid of his violence.

“Keep hitting him! Drag him outside and beat him with a rod! Such scoundrels deserve to die!”

Furious, Yang Xuan ordered them to drag Huangfu Chendong outside and execute him.

“Wait!”

Li Kuo quickly stepped in to stop him. “In my opinion, there’s likely more to this matter. If Lord Yang kills them like this, it will unjustly harm innocent people. Besides, even if they are guilty, they should be handed over to the Jingzhao Prefecture for trial—not subjected to arbitrary private punishment.”

Although Yang Xuan was annoyed by Li Kuo’s interference, upon careful thought, he agreed that it made sense. He waved his hand and glared at Huangfu Chendong, saying, “I’ll allow you to speak—let’s see what nonsense comes out of your mouth!”
“Thank you, General Li!”
Huangfu Chendong licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave Li Kuo a slight nod in thanks.
“That scoundrel official sent people to follow us after that banquet. My brother Helan and I noticed it, but we decided not to cause trouble and didn’t report it to the authorities. Who would have thought that bastard would go so far as to have us kidnapped… That day, my brother Helan and I were out handling some business. When we reached an alley, more than a dozen servants suddenly attacked us and knocked us unconscious. When I woke up, I was in that official’s house.”
“Is that true, Lord Yang?”
Li Kuo turned around and asked loudly.
“General Li, don’t listen to their nonsense. I already have sufficient evidence—they’ve been hoarding ironware with malicious intentions!”
Yang Xuan waved his hand and explained loudly.
“I’m asking if it’s true or not.”
Li Kuo’s tone turned cold as he repeated his question.
“General Li, I was certain when I gave the order…”
Yang Xuan seemed not to hear what the young man said and continued to defend himself.
“I’m asking one last time—true or not?”
“Hey, yes, yes! It was me who gave the order, okay?”
Yang Xuan spread his hands and snorted. In his view, what was wrong with ordering people to arrest a few suspects on the street? This General Li really overstepped his bounds.
Li Kuo shook his head. He couldn’t believe that the law meant nothing to the Yang family. It was astonishing that they had become so powerful as to do whatever they wanted!
“Huangfu Chendong, describe what happened again.”
Sighing, the young man stared at Huangfu Chendong, who appeared resolute, and spoke slowly.
Note 1: Here, a “goods store” refers to a shop in the Tang Dynasty that provided lodging, storage, and sales services for merchants, similar to a “brokerage” in later times.