TWWDS - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
At the turn from spring into early summer, green shade spread across the fields of Gaofang Prefecture. Merchants streamed in and out of the city without end. Though the court had levied an additional tax, Jiangnan looked even more prosperous than before.
Inside the county magistrate's office, Han Sihe was trying on her new official robes. Because her assessment results had been outstanding, she had at last been promoted from Deputy Magistrate and acting head of the city to the office of Magistrate.
The newly minted Magistrate Han looked back on how she had rushed to use up the budget before the new chief official took office, and gained a profound appreciation for the unpredictability of fate.
All the subordinate officials came to offer congratulations, and she distributed reward money to everyone on staff, from those serving inside the magistrate's office to those running errands outside. Several wealthy city families she knew well also sent congratulatory gifts. At that moment, someone came to report that Miancheng Hall on Qingbo Street had sent a gift as well.
Han Sihe had worked in Gaofang Prefecture for many years. While others had no idea what Miancheng Hall was, she had taken the trouble to find out.
Miancheng Hall was the name of the main hall at Zizhuo Gang headquarters. When members of such gangs dealt with outsiders, they did not always name their affiliation, sometimes citing a famous building within the gang instead.
Magistrate Han said, "Please wait a moment while I write a reply."
She accepted the gift from her subordinate. The card attached to it bore a seal reading 'Chao'.
At the sight of this, Han Sihe nodded slightly.
Recalling their first meeting, Han Sihe grew more certain that her judgment had been right. The girl called Chao Qingxiu had indeed been born into a distinguished martial arts family. She had hidden her identity because of certain circumstances and, after many twists and turns, ended up in Gaofang Prefecture. Han Sihe now understood part of the reason for her arrival. As circumstances stood, Chao Qingxiu had plainly come to rebuild the Zizhuo Gang.
Han Sihe had been appointed to office early in her career and, in terms of seniority alone, was no novice. She had begun in a minor post and had always had a sharp eye. She had suspected something at the time. So, after paying Chao Qingxiu the customary reward for solving a case, she proactively recommended a house on Qingbo Street, giving Chao a plausible reason to go straight to the intended destination and live there.
From then on, Han Sihe also kept track of what was happening around Qingbo Street. She heard scraps of news now and then: Miss Chao would occasionally go out to do something or other, but most of the time she stayed at home.
The longer Chao Qingxiu stayed quiet, the more uneasy Han Sihe became. Only when former members of the Zizhuo Gang suddenly came calling and, in a single coordinated campaign, avenged the late Gang Leader did Han Sihe finally feel at ease.
A moment's thought made Han Sihe understand why Chao Qingxiu had been so low-profile. Twelve years earlier, the Zizhuo Gang's former Gang Leader had died suddenly, yet the killer had never been found. Even with Chao Qingxiu's exceptional gifts, untangling the old case could not be done in a single day. By staying in Mingsi Hall, she had been searching through every clue and trace for the real culprit.
She had not renovated the rooms extensively, of course, because she wanted to preserve the scene. Nor had she hired many additional servants, naturally fearing that word would get out.
Fortunately, effort finally brought rewards. Chao Qingxiu found the killer from twelve years ago, successfully avenged the late Gang Leader, and in doing so assumed the position of the gang's new leader.
Having a gang based in the city was not necessarily a bad thing. Even major martial factions whose businesses leaned toward gray and black operations would not normally attack people near their headquarters. Instead, they would behave with exceptional kindness and benevolence around their own gates, thereby gathering popular support.
Han Sihe had deliberately made herself friendly with Chao Qingxiu that day, reasoning that even if Chao Qingxiu might disregard the old ties between them in the future, she would not suddenly turn on her with ruthless force.
As the city's chief official, Han Sihe had reason to maintain good relations with the local gangs, so she also made sure to learn the full background of the Tian Changtian affair. Years earlier, he had tried to murder Gang Leader Shangguan but failed. He had taken his trusted followers with him to seek a living elsewhere and founded a gang called Tian Gang. Now, with Tian Changtian's plot having failed and him dead, all his confidants were held in custody. With no experts left to hold Tian Gang together, some of its assets were taken by members seeking other livelihoods; some were distributed among local residents; and the rest, together with the local houses, fields, and shops, passed into the hands of the Zizhuo Gang.
With that unexpected windfall, Chao Qingxiu was able to bring the gang's essential buildings back into usable shape.
The Zizhuo Gang's headquarters now bore little resemblance to its state only a few months earlier.
The hired craftsmen followed the new Gang Leader's instructions, repairing Yingjie Hall first, then Miancheng Hall, and finally necessary buildings within the compound, such as Yanhuan Pavilion. Places such as Qiuxiao Zhenyong Tower and Mingxia Terrace were not urgently needed, so for the moment only their exteriors had been tidied. Shifang Wharf by Zhichou Bay, where boats could be moored, had alone received a simple tidying at Xiao Xiangyu's request.
They also contacted old friends. Some were willing to return to headquarters. Others had grown tired of life in the martial world and no longer wished to involve themselves in its troubles. Some, such as Ruan Shifeng, already had responsibilities elsewhere. In the end, fewer than one hundred gathered at headquarters.
Two thirds of them were Yan Kaixian's subordinates.
Chao Qingxiu found this unsurprising.
With her present reputation and prestige, the gang's ability to gather a hundred members showed how deep the former Gang Leader's lingering legacy was and how dearly she had been loved.
Yet Chao Qingxiu had also attracted some followers through her own personal charisma. Having learned that Doctor Chao had become Gang Leader Chao, the sisters Li Yao and Li Yi likewise stepped into the martial world in her wake without hesitation.
After the repairs were finished, Chao Qingxiu also moved officially, carrying a small bundle into Yanhuan Pavilion.
Perhaps everyone who became a Gang Leader had the same taste. Chao herself actually preferred Mingsi Hall, where the surroundings were quiet and secluded and the street was close at hand, making it especially convenient for placing discreet takeout orders. Judging by Yan Kaixian and the others, however, they were unlikely to trust the quality of takeout in Gaofang Prefecture again for some time...
Yanhuan Pavilion was a small building standing somewhat apart behind Miancheng Hall. The first floor held a modest hall, the second a modest study, and the third a modest sleeping chamber for the Gang Leader.
Many tall bamboos and flowering trees flanked the building. Even though it had not yet been carefully tended, its refined surroundings were obvious.
Chao Qingxiu tried meditating and training there, and found the results quite good.
After becoming a Gang Leader, Chao Qingxiu felt the pressure even more keenly. She cultivated day and night, and she had already mastered the small circulation cycle along the Lesser Yang meridian from the Yuxuan Taiyin Scripture.
However, when Chao Qingxiu went on to cultivate the Greater Yang and Yangming meridians, each time vital energy reached the halfway point in her meridians, she sensed her inner breath slipping out of her control.
Having read a few martial arts novels before transmigrating and having studied inner strength and the meridians afterward with the system's help, Chao Qingxiu guessed that her cultivation was not yet deep enough. For the time being, she therefore still relied on the Qingxin Formula to gather in the inner breath that wandered through her body.
Her understanding of martial arts was far deeper now than when she had first come to Great Xia. She knew that ordinary martial artists followed a gradual process when training inner strength. Most began with simple breathing exercises and worked their way deeper step by step. At least a year or two had to pass before they were taught more advanced techniques. As for those who began by cultivating profound manuals, either they possessed an exceptional constitution, being born as geniuses with all eight extraordinary meridians open, or they had encountered some extraordinary fortune.
Chao Qingxiu reflected on her experiences since transmigrating and concluded that she had experienced a few remarkable encounters, but nothing that amounted to great fortune. It was safer to slow her progress.
However, since she had calmed her mind and stopped deliberately rushing her cultivation, her inner breath had grown faster rather than slower, and she used it with greater ease each day.
Chao Qingxiu now had some understanding of the martial arts obsessives she had encountered in literary works.
When one could actually feel oneself improving, it was indeed easy to become addicted.
Even so, Chao Qingxiu could not fill her entire schedule with martial practice. As the leader of a gang, even if her subordinates were very diligent, she had to attend personally to gang business every day.
Each morning, Chao Qingxiu first sat in meditation for two hours, then went to breakfast. She could have her meals brought to Yanhuan Pavilion, but most of the time she went to a side room beside Miancheng Hall and ate with Yan Kaixian and the others while discussing business. Once breakfast was over, Yan Kaixian would brief her on various gang matters, doing her best to help Chao Qingxiu become versed in the martial world as quickly as possible.
Yan Kaixian herself was willing to tell the Gang Leader everything she knew, but the newly rebuilt Zizhuo Gang left Chao Qingxiu little time for leisure. After talking for an hour, Yan Kaixian had to go out and arrange gang business, leaving behind account books, documents, and other materials for Chao Qingxiu to examine on her own.
While studying the ledgers, Chao Qingxiu privately thanked her nine years of compulsory education. At least, it made her look like an educated person when it came to arithmetic.
Still, schooling was not without its drawbacks. By calculating the gang's income and expenses, Chao Qingxiu could tell that its business was only mediocre. Great Xia's taxation was already cumbersome, and the reigning emperor often sent people to Jiangnan to procure exotic flowers and plants, unusual rocks, and rare birds. Merchant taxes were heavy as well, and in recent years temporary levies called 'voluntary contributions' had often been added. The Zizhuo Gang's finances remained precarious, and new sources of income were urgently needed.
Fortunately, Great Xia valued commerce. There were many more ways to earn money than under the previous dynasty, and many gangs chose to go into business. After all, in a world capable of producing martial arts masters, trade was generally flourishing. People from the martial world traveled from place to place, selling medicinal herbs, jewelry, cloth, grain, and so on. Besides buying and reselling goods for themselves, they also provided bodyguard services. Some gangs of sufficient scale also acquired real property such as farmland and houses.
There was also one kind of business Chao Qingxiu had not previously considered: seeing patients.
On reflection, it made sense. Experts in internal martial arts had some understanding of meridian theory, and the treatment of illness was a professional specialty. Suwen Manor stood out above all in this field, while Hongye Temple, Beicang Residence, Qingzheng Palace, and other great martial factions all had skilled physicians.
At present, the Zizhuo Gang's real estate consisted chiefly of property Tian Changtian had accumulated over many years. Though Tian Changtian himself could not return to the gang, he had still made a substantial contribution to Chao Qingxiu becoming its leader. The houses and land he provided were worth roughly three thousand taels of silver in total. That was no inconsiderable sum, but the returns were very limited. The land rent was paid chiefly in grain. In a good harvest year, it yielded grain worth approximately one hundred taels of silver, or one hundred strings of cash, while the buildings brought in about two hundred taels a year in rent.
Every year, three hundred taels came in without Chao Qingxiu having to devote a thought to it, a pleasing prospect. However, Chao Qingxiu no longer had only herself to support; she had an entire gang to keep.
The people of the martial world were fond of good wine and meat. Merely providing one ordinary member with food, clothing, and travel cost three or four strings of cash a month. As for the experts, not to mention a hero of the martial world of Yan Kaixian's caliber, even Chao Qingxiu's trusted confidants rode fine horses and carried long sabers whenever they went out. One look was enough to see how much that cost. Such people, too, often could not be won over with money alone. If their superior's martial arts were weak, or if the gang appeared to lack potential, they would find it difficult to stay for long.
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