Chapter 790: Lawlessness

“What a crime! Dozens of horses rushed past in an instant, not even checking if there were people on the street!”
“I wonder whose son this official’s is! Our lord’s own sons always behave politely and show kindness to the elderly and poor when they go out!”
“I took a look—Old Man Wang is the most seriously injured. Yet his family can barely make ends meet. He needs treatment for his wounds, but where does he get the money?”
“Enough, enough! The authorities are here. There must be some explanation for this. Our lord is a kind-hearted man, but he’ll surely have to pay hundreds of taels to settle this matter… This is because of our current lord. If it were one of those corrupt officials before, who would care about your life or death! Our lord handles cases fairly and treats people kindly, but his only flaw is that he’s too soft-hearted—kind people get taken advantage of!”
Zhang Yue walked among the crowd, listening to the discussions. He saw the messenger from earlier arriving with a group of officers. After standing there for a moment, he quietly left the crowd. Although there were many injustices in the world, he couldn’t deal with them all at once. Turning a blind eye wasn’t his style—he needed to find out more before taking action. So, he left Zhang Bu, who was quick-witted, along with three others to return to the inn first.
However, after crossing the street filled with restaurants and inns, he found that his inn was blocked by a crowd, with many horses behind them. To his shock, there were spots of blood on those horses. Realizing it might be the same group that had trampled pedestrians on the street earlier, he immediately frowned.
“We’ll pay double what the original guests paid! In any case, we’re staying here!”
“Did you hear my master’s words? Those who understand should vacate the room quickly—don’t dawdle!”
“My master is the direct nephew of Lord Lu from the capital. Do you know who Lord Lu is? Let me tell you—Lord Lu is none other than the famous head of the Eastern Depot!”

Hearing the noisy sounds ahead and someone mention the title “Supervisor of the Eastern Depot,” Zhang Yue felt even more enraged. He signaled Niu Gan behind him to clear the way, and he squeezed in from the left side. He saw that the person at the front was a young man in splendid clothes, about seventeen or eighteen years old, surrounded by a dozen or so attendants. There was another carriage nearby, with several chests on the ground. He realized that this young man in fine clothes was most likely Lu Feng’s nephew. Noticing that the shopkeeper and a few employees at the door were sweating profusely, he glanced inside. He saw that everyone from the Marquis of Qian’s household was standing in the main hall, arms crossed, looking at these people outside with scornful expressions.

Although Lu Feng wasn’t very smart, he at least knew when to act wisely. How could he have such a foolish nephew! What was the point of sending his nephew to the capital at this time? Did he not think things were chaotic enough already?

At that moment, Zhang Yue was furious. Just then, the young man in fine clothes, fanning himself impatiently, suddenly closed his fan with a snap and said angrily, “Come on! Drive those people out of here for me! They refuse to drink toasting wine, so they’ll have to drink punishment wine! They have no shame!”

At his command, the group of servants behind him immediately prepared to charge forward. But suddenly, he felt a tight grip around his neck and was lifted into the air. By the time he regained his senses, he found himself facing a strange face. Startled, he was about to curse loudly when a burly man grabbed him by the face and slapped him hard, silencing him instantly. Meanwhile, the servants behind him went wild, some shouting and cursing, creating a chaotic scene.

“Are you Lu Feng’s nephew?”

That young man in fine clothes was indeed Lu Feng’s nephew, Lu Yi. Having grown up unruly in his hometown due to his uncle’s rising status, he was taken aback when Zhang Yue called out his uncle’s name directly. Annoyed, he shouted, “Are you also allowed to call my uncle’s name?”

Glancing coldly at this young man with an inflated ego, Zhang Yue grew even angrier. “Out of respect for your acquaintance with your uncle, I’ll give you this slap first! Don’t think that just because your uncle is the Supervisor of the Eastern Depot, you can act lawlessly and trample on ordinary people. You’re showing off in public—get lost!”
“You…”

Lu Yi wanted to say more, but seeing the burly man beside him raise his hand as if to strike again, he had no choice but to shut up. Soon after, he felt his collar loosen, and he fell to the ground, his buttocks burning with pain. Unable to swallow his anger, he was about to call for help to restore his dignity when the burly man who had grabbed him suddenly appeared beside him, picked up a large stone from the ground, raised it high, and smashed it down with a thud. Seeing this, he dared not think of anything else and could only curse inwardly. It wasn’t until he was carried around the corner by several servants that he started cursing out loud.

At that moment, a young servant stepped forward and whispered, “Young master, that kid seems so young. How could he know Lord Lu? He must be lying to deceive you! In my opinion, we should send some people from the local Jinyiwei to teach them a lesson. If anything goes wrong, the Jinyiwei will take responsibility; it has nothing to do with us! Even Lord Lu wouldn’t blame you, his own nephew, for someone unrelated. What’s the big deal? He’s just the supervisor of the Eastern Depot!”

Lu Yi, already unable to bear it, nodded immediately upon hearing this and added, “Don’t forget to tell them to give that kid a good lesson! He dared to hit me—I’ll beat him half to death so he won’t dare act arrogantly in front of me again!”

The servant naturally agreed, took the ID badge from Lu Yi, and rushed off. A middle-aged servant, however, grew uneasy. After trying to persuade Lu Yi a few times, he was slapped hard by him and dared not speak further. The group searched for another inn along the street. This time, no one dared to disobey. The innkeeper hurriedly cleared all the rooms and welcomed them in respectfully, treating them well with fine food and drink.

Zhang Yue drove away Lu Yi’s men. Without even glancing at the relieved innkeeper and staff, he turned and entered the inn. Seeing Mu Bin’s entourage bowing to him, he nodded slightly and walked upstairs. When he reached the last step, he saw Mu Bin coming out of the room directly across from him, smiling at him.

“No wonder that censor submitted a petition against those eunuchs earlier. They really have great authority and a fierce aura, daring to act so arrogantly even when away from home! But from Yuan Jie’s tone, it seems he has some relationship with his uncle?”

Zhang Yue knew that every court official was aware of his frequent collaborations with Lu Feng, so he saw no need to hide it and admitted outright, “Eunuch Zhang from the Imperial Surveillance Bureau took good care of me back then. Later, I worked with his disciple Lu Feng on several tasks, so we naturally became quite familiar. Now, at such a critical moment, this guy actually led his servants to trample pedestrians in the streets, injuring several people. And now he’s causing a fuss just because of staying at an inn—really thinking he’s someone important!”

Mu Bin didn’t say much. He stepped aside to let Zhang Yue into the room and personally closed the door before sighing, “This is my first time in the capital. I never expected eunuchs to have gained such power. After all, the iron plaque established by Emperor Taizu still stands there—how can they act so arrogantly? I originally thought the censor who submitted the petition was exaggerating, but now it seems we must be cautious… If these eunuchs stay close to the emperor every day, what if there’s another eunuch faction like in the Han and Tang dynasties…”

Previously dismissive, Mu Bin now treated this matter seriously, which made Zhang Yue think deeply. He had heard from his father, Zhang Zhuo, about the Mu family’s capabilities. Though they might not be able to detect every move in the capital, they surely had connections with the powerful eunuchs—so why make such claims? Thinking about Yu Qian’s unexpected petition and Mu Bin’s previous hints, an idea suddenly struck him.

Although things happened suddenly, it seemed everyone was taking this opportunity to serve their own interests!

“The emperor is wise; he certainly won’t repeat the mistakes of the Han and Tang dynasties.”

The more Zhang Yue realized Mu Bin had other plans, the more he needed to speak vaguely. So when the innkeeper’s fearful voice came from outside the guest room, asking whether dinner should be delivered or eaten in the main hall, he immediately ordered it to be brought to his room, using the excuse to leave. Once he left, Mu Bin lost his appetite. He had been looking forward to his trip to the capital, and now that he had connected all the pieces, how could he miss such a golden opportunity?

If the civil officials could completely suppress the eunuchs this time, the emperor surely wouldn’t allow them to dominate. Then, with the right approach, even those noblemen who currently enjoyed honors might get a share of power in the court. He might become the future Duke of Qian, but his fourth uncle, Mu Xin, remained in Nanjing. If Mu Xin could get a chance to rise, with one in the court and the other in Yunnan, why couldn’t the Mu family thrive for generations?

After a hasty dinner, Mu Bin immediately called in Su Yong, the son of Su Ming, and gave him detailed instructions, ordering him to head to the capital first to make preparations. That night, he wrote letters one by one in the guest room. Though he wanted to send all the letters to their destinations right away, he knew that the Mu family’s communication channels were not as reliable as the imperial postal system. There were hardly any people in Nanyang Prefecture, so he would have to go to Weihui Prefecture before he could send the letters. Once all the letters were written, he organized them and locked them in a small lacquered, carved box he carried with him.

While Mu Bin was figuring out how to use this situation, Zhang Yue was also analyzing its pros and cons. However, without definite news from the capital, he couldn’t be as optimistic as Mu Xin. He certainly understood that Mu Xin wanted to bring the nobles back to the forefront through this matter, but the goal wasn’t to give them as much influence as during the Yongle era—it was likely to make the Mu family’s voice louder in the court. But could this wave really suppress the eunuch faction, which had been gaining power since the Yongle era?

The eunuchs weren’t monolithic; there were plenty of opportunities for power struggles among them. But Yu Qian’s memorial hit too many people, including Zhang Qian, Zheng Wang, and Wang Jinghong, which would likely stir up resentment among those eunuchs. The eunuchs who were in power now were either those who had served the crown prince for decades, those who had served Zhu Zhanji since childhood, or those who had ingratiated themselves with Concubine Sun… In short, none of them lacked cunning or determination!

Moreover, it seemed strange that his nephew Lu Feng was heading to the capital at this time!

As he was writing and pondering, a loud commotion suddenly arose outside, followed by the sound of things being smashed. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately got up, opened the door, and saw that the ground floor was in chaos. A dozen soldiers in blue military uniforms were wielding swords, shouting and causing destruction, while the shopkeeper and employees cowered against the walls in fear. The Mu family’s guards and servants living in the upper rooms had all come out. Seeing the chaos below, they were stunned at first, but soon some of them rushed downstairs.

“It’s an order from the Jinyiwei! Who dares to stop us?”

The shopkeeper and his assistants, who were already crouched with their heads bowed, became even more terrified upon hearing the words “Jin Yi Wei,” their legs trembling like sieves. Ma Baihu, who had spoken, thought his words would surely cause panic among the guests in the inn. Yet to his surprise, the men who were coming down the stairs still remained orderly. After stopping, they looked at him with mocking expressions, and the two young men who appeared at the top of the stairs made his pupils shrink in shock.

It is said that the Jin Yi Wei are full of cunning people. With his embroidered sword on his back, he could tell just by looking at these two men that he had misheard his master’s orders and had probably run into trouble. Still, he held onto a sliver of hope that these guests were just ordinary officials’ sons, not some high-ranking nobles. He bowed politely and said, “I apologize for disturbing you, gentlemen. Someone reported that there are bandits from the Yellow River hiding here, so the Jin Yi Wei had to come and investigate…”

“When did the Jin Yi Wei become servants of the Nanyang Prefecture government? Besides, Nanyang is far from the Yellow River—where are these Yellow River bandits?” Zhang Yue was furious to be disturbed while sitting quietly in his room by such insignificant people. “Even if they’re searching for bandits, they just burst in shouting and breaking things. Is this how the Jin Yi Wei operates? Bring our official seals—let these men from the Jin Yi Wei see if there really are any bandits here!”

Upon hearing the word “official seals,” Ma Baihu was already shocked. When those two men came over and gave him strange looks before stamping two seals on a piece of paper, his legs turned to water.

After receiving the imperial order, Zhang Yue had resigned from his position as the Left Governor of Guangdong. He now carried the official seal of the Military Advisor to Jiaozhi, commonly known as the purple flower seal. Mu Bin, though the eldest son of Duke Mu Sheng of Qian, had not inherited the title, but he did hold the position of Military Advisor to the General Governor of Yunnan, so he also used an official seal. With the names “Zhang” and “Mu” on that paper, even if someone still didn’t understand what was going on, the well-informed Jin Yi Wei would know right away that something was amiss.

In that moment, large drops of sweat rolled down Ma Baihu’s forehead involuntarily.