The magistrate of Neixiang County hadn't been able to sleep well these past few days. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see were the corpses hanging from the city gate tower, especially the one that had been chopped in half right through the middle. He hadn't been able to eat any meat these past few days - just looking at it made him nauseous. The weather was hot and the bodies were starting to rot, with flies buzzing around them in swarms atop the city gate tower. The Neixiang magistrate went to take another look, covering his nose. He said to the county captain, "Maybe we should take them down."
Before the captain could respond, the gatekeeper hurriedly spoke up to stop him: "We can't do that! We mustn't, sir! Miss Ye from Ye Family Fortress said the bodies must be left up for ten days before taking them down. She gave special instructions about it before she left!"
The Neixiang magistrate didn't have much interaction with Ye Suijin. As she was a woman, he always felt it inappropriate to deal with her directly. The Ye family likely felt similarly, which was why it was always Ye Suijin's uncles and older male relatives who came out to socialize and entertain officials whenever needed.
Thus, the Neixiang magistrate's impression of Ye Suijin remained limited to: beautiful, only daughter of the old Fortress Lord, martial arts skills formidable.
As for what kind of temperament she had, he had never gotten a good understanding.
To this day, they still weren't used to addressing her as "Fortress Lord Ye."
Looking back, the three years since she had taken over Ye Family Fortress had been relatively peaceful and orderly, with no major incidents occurring.
But the Neixiang magistrate had always felt this was due to the support and oversight of Ye's many elders, rather than any credit to Ye Suijin herself.
Yet now, all of a sudden, this Ye woman's presence felt stronger than ever.
He looked at the gatekeeper and could see the reverence in the man's eyes. After all, he and the county captain hadn't been there that day, but the gatekeepers had been forced to witness, and even take part in, the horrific dismemberment firsthand.
Word was the butcher hadn't opened his shop for days, claiming he was having new knives made and wouldn't reopen until they were ready. What nonsense. As if he only had one knife in his butcher shop!
No, like the magistrate, the butcher must be having nightmares and unable to sleep well.
It wasn't just the gatekeeper. When the magistrate had suggested taking down the bodies, the other city guards around them had tensed up noticeably as well.
The Neixiang magistrate steeled himself and looked again, then said, "Never mind, let them remain up the full ten days as a deterrent to the restless wanderers. That should give them a shock."
The county captain fawned as expected: "A brilliant decision, sir."
The magistrate said nothing.
Back in the county office, once the attendant had brought tea, the magistrate asked the captain, "Any feelings these past couple days?"
The captain hesitated briefly.
"Go ahead and speak plainly," the magistrate said.
The captain then told the truth: "Both in and outside the city, things have quieted down a lot."
The killings weren't for nothing, nor the dismemberment in vain. Ye Family Fortress' sudden show of force had an undeniable deterrent effect.
The magistrate nodded, then shook his head with a sigh.
The county advisor was also sitting with them and exchanged a look with the county captain. They both understood somewhat in their hearts.
In the past, although Ye Family Fortress was a local power, ultimately they were the officials and Ye Family was the people - each had its proper place. But with Ye Family's actions now, subtly, the positions of the two sides seemed to have shifted.
Ever since the Xuanhua Army's defeat and the fall of the capital to other forces, the officials of Tangzhou, Suizhou, Fuzhou, Yingzhou, and Dengzhou actually had nothing left supporting them from behind.
After disorder arose in many places, officials had hung up their hats and returned home.
The Dengzhou officials were able to remain so stable precisely because they had Ye Family Fortress backing them.
Now, without even fully rising up in revolt, just a flick of the tail from Ye Family Fortress was enough to make them feel the tremors up above.
The Neixiang magistrate snapped out of his thoughts and asked, "Did they go to Rang County?"
"Yes," the advisor replied.
The Neixiang magistrate pondered silently for a while, then decided: "It's a bit late to set out today. Tomorrow, you and I will go to Rang County and see what the situation is there."
Most critically, there was also that invitation. Had Ye Family Fortress only invited him alone? Or were there others as well? Who knew?
Before tomorrow even arrived, that very afternoon as the sun was starting to set, the magistrate of Rang County suddenly came in person.
The Neixiang magistrate immediately knew something must have happened in Rang County too. He asked directly: "Was it Ye Family Fortress's people?"
The Rang magistrate said, "Water first!"
The man was nearly heatstroked.
The Neixiang magistrate personally poured him a cup of chilled tea. The Rang magistrate, heedless of scholarly manners, guzzled it straight down. Arm outstretched, he demanded: "Not enough, not enough! Another cup!"
He downed three full cups before that burst of energy finally subsided.
The Neixiang magistrate fanned him to help him cool down: "Feeling better? Can you talk now?"
The Rang magistrate flipped up his official hat and pulled out a handkerchief, mopping sweat while sighing: "Ah, I originally meant to come tell you what Ye Family Fortress's people did, but when I got here..."
When he lifted his head, lo and behold, there were also corpses hanging from the city tower here in Neixiang County. And even more grotesque, these were already rotting!
Between the heat and the ghastliness, the Rang magistrate nearly vomited at the city gates. The two county magistrates sat wordless across from each other.
The Neixiang magistrate sighed, "What is she trying to do?"
The unspoken answer lingered in his heart, but he didn't want to say it aloud.
The Rang magistrate also sighed: "That woman - do you know, when her group arrived, she didn't come see me first. She took all those people of hers and holed up in some desolate, uninhabited area, just sending people out to scout around quietly and covertly, making me wait for days..."
Until something happened, then the whole crowd came galloping in on fine horses, blades in hand, murderous aura billowing to the heavens.
What happened next was no different than here in Neixiang County, no need to elaborate.
"It was no accident, she planned it," the Neixiang magistrate said with a sigh.
The last glimmer of hope was also dashed.
He asked, "Did you meet with Ye Family Fortress's people? Did the Ye woman say anything else? I happened to be out and missed her."
"Three years," the Rang magistrate held up three fingers when speaking of Ye Suijin. "Hard to believe, considering we saw her as a child, and it's been three years since she took over Ye Family Fortress. Brother YuanTao, I had no idea she was such a ruthless and decisive person."
"She said to send formal invitations later asking me to visit Ye Family Fortress for a gathering."
"I didn't dare come until after she had gone to Nanyang County. Brother YuanTao, I came because I wanted to ask if she had also invited you?"
Upon hearing Ye Suijin had gone to Nanyang County, the Neixiang magistrate gave a wry laugh: "Of course I received an invitation. I was thinking to go to Rang County tomorrow to ask about the situation there, but you've come today."
"Ye Family Fortress's people went to Nanyang... I see."
It was easy to foresee the events in Neixiang and Rang counties would replay themselves in Nanyang County.
In touring these three counties, Ye Family Fortress meant to kill and establish prestige through terror.
The Neixiang magistrate wanted to confirm one more thing: "In your view, who is in charge by Ye Family's young miss's side?"
The Rang magistrate's eyes widened: "Didn't you hear what I just said? It's that woman herself!"
"It's truly her? Not Ye Si manipulating things behind the scenes?"
"If you saw it yourself, you'd understand. It's her. Trust me, no one else. " The Rang magistrate affirmed, "We're both familiar with Ye Si. I don't believe he could restrain her fierceness. It's a pity you didn't see for yourself."
The Neixiang magistrate had no wish to see for himself! Just the few corpses hanging from the city tower were already stressing him greatly.
What stressed him even more was how, these last few days, the wine shops and teahouses in the city were all abuzz with talk of Fortress Lord Ye's daughter personally hacking people apart amidst spraying blood. In just a few short days her name already grated on his ears.
Accompanying that was the stiffening of necks, solemnity of faces, and reverence in people's eyes when hearing the appellation "Fortress Lord Ye's Daughter."
"Brother YuanTao, I'm rather confused right now. She's calling us to gather at Ye Family Fortress, do you think she might..." the Rang magistrate made a chopping motion with his hand.
"She won't." The Neixiang magistrate was quite certain of this. "Whatever she wants, the counties need someone to watch over the commoners. Without us, many matters would fall into chaos. After coexisting peacefully with us all these years, Ye Family Fortress must understand this principle. I don't believe she has replacements for us on hand right now either."
"But in the end, we're officials!" When it came down to it, the Rang magistrate revealed his true feelings - having been essentially an emperor on his own territory these past years, he was still reluctant to bow his head.
Yet the Neixiang magistrate retorted with a question: "Officials? Officials of which dynasty?"
This left the Rang magistrate at a loss for words.
The Neixiang magistrate said, "When I said 'she won't,' it was on the premise that we can sit down with her and talk things through peacefully. If you're dead set on opposing her, then I take back what I said earlier."
The magistrate of Rang County still would not give up and tentatively asked, “What if you, I, and Ma Jinhui of Nanyang County join forces with the people of our three counties...”
The magistrate of Neixiang County wanted to roll his eyes.
“The people of our three counties banding together? Have you ever calculated how many of them are tenants of the Ye Family Fort?” he said. “Furthermore, what have you and I done that would make the common people grateful enough to willingly bare their necks for our steel blades?”
The Rang County magistrate was rendered speechless once again.
After all, he still had an accurate understanding of himself. The reason why things were still relatively stable in his jurisdiction was entirely because of the existence of the Ye Family Fort.
He couldn't help but feel deflated and confused. “But we are officials...”
In the eyes of the common people, the county magistrates were already akin to gods.
Yet they did not know that the county magistrates themselves also felt lost and confused.
They had not even seen the face of the new emperor, the new dynasty name had barely been established, and the Central Plains had already changed hands again with another new emperor.
Above them should have been a military governor to support them, but he was gone too. The military governor had died, his wife had fled, taking some troops with her while some she could not bring along, resulting in a mutiny there. The prefects governing Dengzhou and Tangzhou prefectures had died amidst the chaos, their subordinates had either died or fled, and the prefectural offices were left empty.
Vertically down below, there were only the county magistrates.
On the surface, days continued to pass in a seemingly stable, endlessly repeating manner, but in fact, their hands already secretly harbored a feeling of weakness and powerlessness.
Compared to the realm and state of the world, that feeling of insignificance was too strong.
The Neixiang County magistrate patted him on the shoulder, “Ziwen, since you've come to ask my opinion, I will tell you plainly.”
“Before you came, I hadn't made up my mind. But after you arrived, I suddenly understood.”
“All that you and I seek is four words - Peace in Our Jurisdiction. Since this is so, we should just let whoever can bring peace to Dengzhou have their way.”
“With no one over us these past few years, we've grown accustomed to our freedom. To be honest, we're somewhat unaware of our own limitations.”
“But we are, after all, only county magistrates.” The Neixiang County magistrate held up a finger and pointed upward. “Above our heads should not be empty. There should originally be someone there.”
The Rang County magistrate agonized for a long time before finally giving up.
But he was still worried, “What about Ma Jinhui? Will he also let things take their own course?”
Ma Jinhui was the magistrate of Nanyang County, the last of the three Dengzhou county magistrates.
“As you know, Ma Jinhui has always been colluding with that Fangcheng bunch.” The Rang County magistrate said, “I heard recently that he wants to become in-laws with them.”
“To take bandits as in-laws, he has no regard for propriety at all.”
“I feel that he is rather ambitious.” The Rang County magistrate also held up a finger and pointed upward. “I reckon he also intends to become the person above us.”
