The washroom in the Jingzhou government office was exceptionally clean.
It reminded one of the Sima Family Inn.
Ji Zi, the young servant, had eaten too much for breakfast and had to visit the office washroom three times.
He walked out with weak, unsteady steps.
He silently berated himself, vowing never to eat so much again.
At breakfast, everything had tasted so good that he couldn't get enough, but sadly his stomach was only so big and couldn't hold it all.
He somewhat admired his master, who had eaten just the right amount despite how delicious everything was.
Indeed, he was just a servant boy, and his master was the master.
At that moment, Inspector He was looking at Commander Jiang before him.
Their eyes met, with a hint of awkwardness, but not much.
Inspector He felt like he had met his match.
This Commander Jiang could lie so effortlessly, even claiming to be a medicine seller and speaking knowledgeably about medicinal herbs.
However, considering that he had once worked as a temp in the Medicine Preparation Department, it wasn't so strange. It was said his medical skills were quite good too.
He could be considered a jack of all trades.
Observing his attitude towards his wife and daughter, it truly seemed as the rumors said - he loved them as dearly as his own life.
His nephew He Chen had written him a letter a few years ago during his travels, mentioning this man.
At the time, He Chen had described him in the letter as a rare talent, feeling that public opinion was to be feared and expressing sympathy for him.
When Inspector He read the letter then, he felt that He Chen was still too young, admiring the man just because of his good looks, believing him to be a good person and sympathizing with him.
In the blink of an eye, several years had passed.
He Chen had become the current Third-ranked Scholar.
And the Mr. Jiang he sympathized with had become the Commander of Jingzhou, with authority above his own.
Perhaps the world was fair most of the time.
If one was truly talented, even time couldn't bury them. Those grains of sand and dust only polished them to shine more brilliantly.
The government office's layout and furnishings had the simple style of an inn everywhere.
Not luxurious, but very practical and convenient.
At noon, there were simple meals for those still working, and places to rest.
No need for tiring travel back and forth, and people could leave work earlier.
Everyone had work to do, very busy, but not chaotic.
From the details, one could see that Commander Jiang held the dominant position in Jingzhou.
Thinking now of those memorials impeaching him, Inspector He suddenly understood why they seemed so incompetent.
Perhaps those memorials impeaching Commander Jiang were submitted with his own tacit approval.
If a former rebel who had been granted amnesty and made an official had great political achievements, with the common people singing and dancing in prosperity, all credited to him, it would make people even more uneasy.
But entering Jingzhou, there was truly a sense of a golden age. The level of prosperity and bustle was no less than the capital. People came and went, greeting each other with smiles. Children played, young ones studied. Even disabled blind people could marry and dare to hope their descendants could go to school.
This was a city full of hope.
And the man before him was the one who had planted that hope.
Inspector He had come to find faults. He had looked around carefully outside and gone through a large pile of files in the office.
It was different from the greedy luxury he had imagined.
In the office, the governance was clear, responsibilities were clear, and expenses were very clear. Every expenditure was recorded, every income was noted, even where bribes were collected from and what they were for was all clearly written down.
What the expenditures were used to build, item by item.
There were no flowery words, it looked very much in the style of rebels.
In people's impressions, rebels were always illiterate.
But Inspector He discovered in conversation that Commander Jiang was actually a scholar, a true scholar by background, and he was very eloquent.
Yet he handled affairs very directly.
On the road, he had already researched this man.
Inspector He's view was different from others. He did not agree with the content of those memorials. He did not think Commander Jiang was a greedy person who amassed wealth.
When they met at the inn this morning, although Commander Jiang's family had outstanding appearances, their attire was ordinary, not luxurious. His wife and daughter also wore no precious jewelry. Their manners showed this was their daily habit, not deliberate disguise.
Observing Commander Jiang's past experiences,
Inspector He always believed he was a truly wicked person, with no sense of loyalty or filial piety.
This was also why Inspector He came to Jingzhou in person.
Stepping into Jingzhou, he saw another side.
At the city gate, he saw the hooligan Old Wu the Third. He spoke arrogantly, acted crudely, was flexible in his ways. In the capital, he would be a typical street rascal, even committing crimes, constantly making small mistakes, until one day he finally committed a big one and either fled or spent his life in prison.
But here, Old Wu the Third proudly said he worked for the government office, he had a salary, he didn't need tips. He straightened the shoulders that used to be habitually hunched, looked at people directly, not avoiding their gazes.
At the inn, he saw the pretty young girl who half-squatted to register his identity. Ji Zi inquired and learned that she was called a "receptionist" at the inn, also greeting guests like a waiter.
Ji Zi found out that girl's surname was Lai, she had been trafficked to Shangqiu Convent. After Commander Jiang destroyed Shangqiu Convent, she went to the home for the elderly and young, and now she worked here.
She had some beauty, no parents or relatives, and was literate. Elsewhere, she would have been sold to a brothel. Because she was literate, she might have even become a minor courtesan, as scholars and officials liked literate women. Or she might have been sold as a maid to a big family, later becoming some master's concubine, wasting away in harem struggles, either living dramatically or dying.
But in Jingzhou, Miss Lai was actually an independent person. She could work, could set up her own household, could choose who to marry. She half-squatted to register people's identities - her body was lowered, but her soul stood tall.
As guests came and went, she would smile and greet them, equally and without fawning.
Not to mention the disabled blind people actually had work to do.
It was said that massage was very hard work, and the commission wasn't actually very high, but he was very satisfied. He worked hard to improve his skills, thinking that when his skills were more outstanding, he could open his own massage shop on a street corner. He felt his massage skills weren't outstanding enough yet, so he didn't dare risk renting a shop, but he already had friends who had done so.
The blind man said his friend was also blind.
Elsewhere, if born blind, in a big family they might be kept alive, but day after day of difference would rarely allow them to grow up. They would develop psychological problems, leading to other illnesses and early death. Those blinded later in life would also have psychological issues and find it hard to overcome.
Among common people, those born blind couldn't grow up at all, couldn't be kept alive. Usually it was those blinded later by accident, and even then it was extremely miserable. They couldn't even beg for food, and if they got any it would be stolen by others.
To have a place where blind people could marry and have children, hope for their children to go to school - if this place wasn't a golden age, what was?
After looking around, Inspector He still felt that Commander Jiang was a truly wicked person.
He harbored great hatred towards Old Lady Jiang who raised him and his elder brother.
He killed without blinking an eye, indifferent to human life.
He had ways of amassing wealth and should be very rich.
Those three-piece toiletry sets were items fought over even in the capital.
If everyone in the world gave him one coin, he would be as rich as a country.
But for such a Commander Jiang, Inspector He surprisingly couldn't bring himself to dislike him.
Commander Jiang had extremely strong execution ability.
In just a few years, from Ming County where he had stayed to the current prefectural capital of Jingzhou, huge changes had taken place.
Commander Jiang had always been striving to become stronger, from the illiterate refugee Jiang Changtian to the current Commander Jiang wielding real power in Jingzhou. He had always been climbing upwards.
Moreover, observing his actions, from the earliest when Old Lady Jiang said he was unfilial and disrespectful to his elders, to later when Shangqiu Convent falsely claimed his daughter had an unlucky fate, he never tried to prove himself. He would never open himself up for others to see what he was really like. He sent those masters from Shangqiu Convent straight to hell, letting them discuss fate in hell and see for themselves what fate was like.
Inspector He felt this Commander Jiang was thoroughly unconnected to being a good person.
But indeed, true to being a member of the He family, he was always very tolerant of good-looking people.
"A few years ago, my nephew met Mr. Jiang and was immediately struck by his extraordinary qualities. He specially wrote me a letter praising you, saying you were a rare talent in this world."
Jiang Changtian bowed in thanks: "I was poor then, without enough to eat. Young Master He's kindness in my time of need, gifting money and books, I will never forget."
Inspector He waved his hand: "Young people are sentimental, acting on impulse. No need to take it to heart."
He didn't find Commander Jiang's appearance familiar or strange.
That year when Meng Shaoxia and He Chen were still youths, seeing Mr. Jiang's true face would have shocked them greatly. To find such a person in the rural countryside was a huge contrast, leaving a deep impression, which is why they tried hard to think who he resembled.
Now, Commander Jiang himself has become an official, holding a high position and conducting himself with ease and freedom.
When you see him, you won't think he resembles anyone else; he is simply himself.
Commander Jiang of Jingzhou!
