Chapter Sixty-Six: Loyal Ministers and Righteous Men

This once again left Wang Zhenling shaken by the power of the authorities in this world.

“Drag this villain away and throw him into the Ghost Prison, never to be reborn!”

Registrar Gu Min of the Bureau of Law barked the order with awe-inspiring authority.

At once, ghostly bailiffs stepped forward and hauled the City God straight off to the Ghost Prison.

It was all but the harshest punishment possible, and even those present felt a chill stir in their hearts.

Yet just as everyone stood inwardly alarmed, the City God suddenly struggled and screamed again. It was as though he understood the consequence of being cast into the Ghost Prison, cut off forever from rebirth. He burst once more into vicious curses, shrieking himself hoarse as he reviled Wang Zhenling, Wang Zhenling’s parents, and even the Wang clan of Danling, his words foul beyond bearing.

Then Wang Zhenling strode out in great steps. With a sweep of his longsword, stained with his own blood, he drove the blade into the City God’s brow.

The City God let out a miserable scream. In the blink of an eye, he was engulfed in flames and burned away to nothing.

The sudden turn of events left the entire county yamen dumbstruck.

When they recovered themselves, the county constables did not dare move against Wang Zhenling, who was himself an Assistant Commandant. But the prefectural guards all leveled their weapons at him.

Unhurried, Wang Zhenling sheathed his sword, then bowed deeply to the ground.

“Registrar, this villain remained stubborn to the last and dared to curse my family. Such a thing cannot be endured. In a moment of rage, this lowly subordinate could not restrain himself and killed him. I beg the Registrar to punish me according to the law.”

All eyes turned toward Gu Min, the legal registrar, who at once fell silent in thought.

In such an age, family and state were one body. To be filial at home was to be loyal in court.

To defend the interests of one’s clan was, in such times, an unquestioned virtue.

One needed only look at the gazes cast upon Wang Zhenling by the clerks and officials throughout the county court to understand as much.

Still, he had slain the City God in front of so many officials, and especially before the very officer in charge of the law. To leave the matter wholly unpunished would hardly do.

While Gu Min still hesitated, Wang Zhenling had already removed his official seal-cord and said, “Though I acted in sudden anger, I have in the end broken the law. I am willing to resign my post as Assistant Commandant, so that the majesty of the law of the realm may be made manifest.”

Before Gu Min could answer, the county magistrate at his side wore an expression so complicated it had nearly reached its limit.

As the lord of a county, if he had not known of the open and hidden struggle between Chen Bushi, Wang Zhenling, and the City God, he would have been truly incompetent.

In truth, their conflict had unfolded all along beneath his very eyes.

Naturally he knew that Wang Zhenling had caused him no small amount of trouble. In private, the magistrate’s opinion of him had never been especially favorable.

And now the Four Great Clans of Danling had joined forces to bring down the City God no matter what.

Though the magistrate had outwardly complied with popular will, inwardly he had been deeply displeased—deeply displeased indeed.

A thing one does willingly and a thing one is forced into by others are never the same.

What was more, the immense power of those four clans made him feel as though blades were pressed against his back.

For that reason he had become deeply wary of Wang Zhenling and had already prepared to suppress him.

Yet he had never expected Wang Zhenling to take the initiative at such a moment and resign his post as Assistant Commandant. For a time, his heart was crowded with mixed emotions.

The thoughts in the minds of others, of course, were not nearly so tangled.

Chen Bushi, too, was full of conflicting feelings at that moment. He wanted to say something, but Master Feng behind him gave him a restraining push, and he fell silent.

At such a time, it truly was not fitting for him to step forward.

The magistrate’s suppression of Wang Zhenling now was, in no small measure, a warning directed at him as well.

At this moment, it was less Wang Zhenling the magistrate feared than Chen Bushi.

If Chen Bushi were to intervene now, he might only make matters worse.

Gu Min was visibly moved. As Registrar of Law, he valued above all the authority of legal order.

Yet he had not imagined that Wang Zhenling, an Assistant Commandant, would go so far in upholding the dignity of the law.

Unable to help himself, he praised aloud, “As a man, he protects the interests of his clan. As a subject, he upholds the laws of the court. This is a loyal minister and a righteous man!”

It was exceedingly high praise, but clearly many within the county court thought the same, for they all nodded one after another.

Wang Zhenling was overjoyed. In such an age, reputation mattered more than anything.

When the court selected men for office, it recommended the Filially Upright and Incorruptible on the strength of reputation alone.

At once he made haste to answer with modesty.

The county magistrate burst into hearty laughter, stepped forward, and declared in a loud voice, “A loyal minister and a righteous man! The Registrar speaks truly indeed!

“Since you no longer wish to serve as Assistant Commandant... ha! Quite right. How could so small a post suit one of such loyal and righteous stature?

“Very well. This year, the county’s nomination for Filially Upright and Incorruptible shall be you!”

Wang Zhenling met the magistrate’s eyes and inwardly cursed the old fox.

The magistrate plainly feared Wang Zhenling might change his mind, or that the Registrar of Law might interfere.

So he moved at once to settle the matter beyond reversal.

Still, Wang Zhenling had nothing to complain of. Had the magistrate not traded away even the county’s recommendation quota?

What was the post of Assistant Commandant worth? How could it compare to a nomination as Filially Upright and Incorruptible?

Only one such candidate could be recommended by a county each year. The nominee could enter the Imperial Academy for study and later become a Gentleman of the Court.

That kind of background was the true orthodox path into high officialdom. It was much like the metropolitan graduate degree of the civil examinations in the lifetime Wang Zhenling dimly remembered from his dream of a former life—its prospects vast and glorious.

As for the Hongdu Gate School that Daoist Master Green Vine had promised him last time...

Better to wait and see.

So Wang Zhenling merely cupped his hands and said, “Many thanks, Your Honor.”

Even Gu Min nodded and said, “Good, good. Entering the Imperial Academy is indeed better.”

Thus everyone was satisfied; all rejoiced together. Only the unlucky City God had been wholly forgotten.

Wang Zhenling had long entertained thoughts of leaving office. The only reason he had sought to enter the government in the first place was to secure a spiritual vein for himself, one convenient for cultivation.

Now that his purpose had been achieved, and since in obtaining that spiritual vein he had quarreled bitterly with the City God to the point of irreconcilability, even the county magistrate had begun to fear him.

He was a cultivator. He had no wish to spend every day scheming and contending with others.

Most important of all, there was the hidden pressure from the people of the Heavenly Dao of Completion, the position of his clan, his own position as an official...

And beyond that, there were the rules concerning the Five Emperors’ cyclical governance of the world.

All of it together formed an immense whirlpool—one into which whoever stepped would die.

Wang Zhenling wanted no part of it anymore. That was why he had acted as he did.

What he had not expected was that he would even wring from the magistrate a recommendation as Filially Upright and Incorruptible.

Only, in the end, that whirlpool had still not let him escape.

Whether he ought to grieve or rejoice, Wang Zhenling himself could not say.

Yet after the Registrar of Law had settled the matter of the City God’s guilt, he sneered and said, “And those demon-bandits who stormed the underworld offices of the City God—have their origins been discovered?”

Chen Bushi stepped forward, cupped his hands, and replied with a smile, “They have. They were the same demon-bandits from Mount Wuji.”

Gu Min gave a faint nod. He was notably courteous toward Chen Bushi.

“These demon-bandits grow more and more insolent. Time and again they dare oppose the authorities. The Grand Administrator has already decided that after the autumn harvest, the troops of all the counties will be assembled to encircle and exterminate those demon-bandits in Mount Wuji.”

“Yes!”