IBGSW Chapter 85
Such Is Fate
Having said this, Zhao Fusheng held her teacup and observed the reactions around her.
Magistrate Pang, Yu Weide and the other gentry had been trying to test her strength all along.
As Yu Weide said, ghost fog had appeared in the county, and rumor had it that once ghost fog arose, a red moon would rise and great disaster would follow.
Even the court no longer dared to manage Wan’an County. Yet Zhao Fusheng was telling people not to move away and was even trying to draw more in, so naturally she had to show her extraordinary qualities. If she had strength, she had to display it, not hide it.
She had handled the Beggars’ Alley and Goutou Village cases decently, which had built her a certain reputation.
But in terms of personal strength, Deputy Commander Zheng of neighboring Baozhi County, with his far-famed name, still had the advantage over her.
In this situation, if Zhao Fusheng wanted to poach people, she had to show her strength.
Magistrate Pang and the others had guessed that Zhao Fusheng had a trump card, but none of them had imagined that she had quietly come to control a Baleful-tier ghost!
“Wh-what did you say?”
Yu Weide stuttered in his excitement.
“Did I mishear...”
Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly. “The malignant ghost I control is also Baleful-tier. As for cases handled, I’ve only done two, but as long as there are ghost cases, I’ll keep handling them.”
“...” The Fan brothers were thunderstruck and had lost the ability to speak.
Zhao Fusheng’s eyes swept over the faces in the hall, stunned and alarmed, and, sensing that her display of strength had overawed them, she laughed a couple of times and spoke again. “As for this Deputy Commander Zheng you mentioned, he’s handled one more case, but what’s his mental state now?”
People who controlled malignant ghosts suffered the ghost’s backlash. She had escaped the ghost’s influence because of the Investiture of the Gods.
Deputy Commander Zheng was only an ordinary ghost-controller, and his mental state surely wasn’t as stable as hers.
Zhao Fusheng, wanting to poach people from a neighboring county, felt no qualms at all about running Deputy Commander Zheng down1. “I’ve looked at the bureau’s past case files, and I know the lists of personnel changes well.” She tugged the corner of her mouth. “How many Commanding Officers and order envoys die each year in the Bureaus of each place, I needn’t say. Deputy Commander Zheng may be good, but in that state, how many more ghost cases can he handle?”
“...”
The room was silent. Everyone, still absorbed in her words, dared not speak.
“To put it bluntly, if Baozhi County has another ghost calamity, Deputy Commander Zheng may well have to ask the court for rescue.”
If the court sent someone, Deputy Commander Zheng’s time was up. If the court didn’t send anyone, even if he wanted to handle the ghost calamity, he’d probably lack the means.
“If it goes badly, he might fail to handle the calamity and get himself killed in the bargain.”
Even without a ghost calamity, Deputy Commander Zheng himself stood at the edge of his ghost’s revival. “Once he loses control, Baozhi County will probably be blanketed by a ghost calamity. What happened to our Wan’an County’s bureau before is a cautionary tale for Baozhi County.”
Zhao Fusheng glanced offhandedly at the old gentleman. “In that case, if your old friend still insists on living in Baozhi County, he’s probably the sort of old longevity god who hangs himself—tired of living too long.2”
Having shown a portion of her strength, she didn’t indulge this gang of gentry.
She’d always appeared mild-tempered, but if these people thought she was easy to deal with, they’d miscalculated.
“Yu Weide, write to your old friend right away. If he’s willing to come to Wan’an County, I’ll specially allow him to mark off a plot of land in the county to build a house. If even a formal invitation can’t bring him, then even if he wants to come later, I won’t permit it.”
Her tone was firm. “There’s only one chance. I’ll have Fan Wujiu keep an eye on this!”
“Y-yes...”
Yu Weide answered, trembling.
Fan Wujiu was still in shock, and only when Fan Bisi jabbed his brother with an elbow did he react and scramble up to agree.
Fan Bisi was alarmed and astonished, and had to press his lips tight to keep a calm face.
Seeing his brother speak up, he also hurriedly stood. “Actually, you’ve handled more than two ghost cases, my lord.”
He was clever enough to know when he should speak and take a side, and picked his moment perfectly. “Don’t you remember? That day your parents’ corpses had revived into malignant ghosts too, and you suppressed them.”
“Right, right.”
Zhang Chuanshi, who had held back a long time, finally found his chance. “Two malignant ghosts about to revive, and our lord suppressed them both at once. That counts as eliminating a ghost calamity too, no less than an ordinary ghost case. So strictly speaking, our lord has handled three ghost cases.”
The bureau hadn’t announced this ghost case publicly, because the Zhao couple’s burial site was in Baozhi County and the Fan brothers naturally couldn’t say.
Now that Zhao Fusheng wanted to revive Wan’an County and had shown her strength, and had her backing, Fan Bisi’s nerve rose, and only now did he reveal the revival of the Zhao couple’s corpses.
Hearing this, Magistrate Pang and the gentry were all astonished.
The same chief commanding officer of a bureau, the same control of a Baleful-tier ghost, and the same three ghost cases handled.
The difference was that Deputy Commander Zheng was now at the edge of death, no different from a ghost, a showy ornament that looked good and was no use3.
Zhao Fusheng, though also having handled three ghost cases, had done each more skillfully than the last, and with a reserved, steady temperament and controlled emotions, showed no sign of being affected by her malignant ghost at all.
If she could keep that up for two or three more months, Wan’an County, abandoned by the court, might still have a chance of coming back from the dead.
At first everyone had only wanted to probe her to settle their doubts, but the answer they got far exceeded their expectations.
Magistrate Pang was overjoyed. Zhao Fusheng was still speaking, and he held back and didn’t show it, but the smile on his face was impossible to hide.
He had thought himself trapped in Wan’an County in his twilight years, certain to die, but out of nowhere, after one Zhao Qiming’s death, Wan’an County had welcomed another, Zhao Fusheng, able to hold down the situation.
Seeing everyone’s expressions, Zhao Fusheng smiled. “In short, anyone who wants to come into Wan’an County now and is willing to pay money and taxes, I’ll allow to mark off a plot free of charge to build a mansion and settle their family.”
She paused, then reminded them, “There’s only one chance. If missed, it may be that when they want to come in later, there won’t be a place for them.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The others hurriedly agreed.
Having learned the details of the Goutou Village case and heard Zhao Fusheng volunteer that she held a Baleful-tier ghost, everyone was eager to leave the bureau and discuss privately. After a few more pleasantries, Magistrate Pang rose first and said goodbye on the grounds that “it’s late and I don’t wish to delay your rest.”
After they left, the bureau suddenly emptied, and the main hall became much quieter.
Zhao Fusheng sat where she was.
After a long while, Fan Bisi ventured, “Is the ghost you control really Baleful-tier now, my lord?”
“It is indeed Baleful-tier.”
Zhao Fusheng picked up her teacup. Zhang Chuanshi hurried forward to pour hot tea for her.
But he was so excited that blood dripped from the wound on his face. Fan Wujiu disgustedly shoved him aside and poured the tea for Zhao Fusheng himself.
Fan Bisi’s face muscles twitched, and he asked again, “Is it, is it the ghost from before...?”
“Right,” Zhao Fusheng nodded.
Fan Bisi stared blankly. “Baleful-tier already. No wonder, no wonder Brother Qiming lost control so fast...”
He quickly realized he’d lost his composure and in a moment had his emotions back in order.
His mind was full of questions.
He wanted to ask when the malignant ghost Zhao Fusheng controlled had advanced in rank, and also why, controlling a ghost and using its power, she hadn’t been struck by backlash, and why her temperament showed no influence from the ghost at all.
But the questions came to his lips, and he knew clearly he couldn’t get answers.
In the end his lips moved, and he swallowed his doubts back down.
Zhao Fusheng didn’t take his hesitation to heart. In fact, at this point, as she handled more ghost cases and grew stronger, the Fan brothers had ceased to be a threat to her.
She no longer gave Fan Bisi’s small schemes any thought, and her attention turned to strengthening herself.
In an environment like the Great Han’s, raising her strength was the most important thing for handling ghost cases and keeping herself alive.
“Tonight, all the silver and money Magistrate Pang and the others brought goes into the treasury,” she instructed. “Repair the yamen, and fix the road in front of the door. All the ownerless shops on this street go to the bureau and will be rented out afterward, highest bidder wins.”
She unceremoniously claimed this street’s land for herself, and Fan Bisi nodded and noted her words.
After discussing business, Zhao Fusheng brought up what she’d said earlier to Zhang Chuanshi. “Find time to go to Baozhi County with Old Zhang and bring back the door planks that were buried separately from my parents that day.”
“...”
Fan Bisi was stunned for a moment.
Fan Wujiu, hearing this, couldn’t hold back. “Fusheng, that’s not good, is it?”
In his haste he forgot to say “my lord.” Fan Bisi quickly realized this and shot his useless brother an exasperated glare, then hurriedly spoke. “My lord.” He stressed the “my lord,” and Fan Wujiu, realizing his mistake, looked embarrassed.
Fortunately Zhao Fusheng didn’t care about such small matters and didn’t hold on to Fan Wujiu’s slip.
Fan Bisi breathed out, gaining a new understanding of Zhao Fusheng’s character.
He steadied himself and said, “My lord, tonight you had Yu Weide write to draw people in, and earlier we buried the ghost corpses in Baozhi County, and now we want to dig the malevolent objects back out...”
All these acts were tantamount to provoking Deputy Commander Zheng of Baozhi County, bullying the honest man at every turn...
Even if Deputy Commander Zheng had a good temper, being provoked again and again would probably be hard to stand.
What was more, ghost-controllers had no good tempers.
As Zhao Fusheng had said herself, Deputy Commander Zheng controlled a Baleful-tier malignant ghost and had already handled three ghost cases, and was probably at the edge of his ghost’s revival, clinging to a bare existence. The fear of death plus the ghost’s influence made him surely very hard to deal with.
“Why bother provoking him, my lord...”
Fan Bisi analyzed calmly. “As you said, he controls a Baleful-tier malignant ghost.”
Generally speaking, the higher and fiercer the ghost a commanding officer controlled, the deeper the influence, and the sooner death came.
What Zhao Fusheng had said to Magistrate Pang and the others, that Deputy Commander Zheng might be at the edge of revival, wasn’t sensationalism but fact, which was why nobody had contradicted her.
Fan Bisi proposed, “Why not wait until he dies and then secretly dig the door planks back out?”
Zhang Chuanshi, beside him, also nodded. “That sounds the safest.”
The old man feared death and was timid as a mouse.
He had now been tricked by Zhao Fusheng and tied to Wan’an County’s bureau, while at the same time fearing Deputy Commander Zheng, who controlled a ghost.
It would be best not to offend either side, and live out his days.
“No!”
Facing the two men’s suggestion, Zhao Fusheng flatly refused. “Don’t delay. The longer we drag it out, the more things can go wrong.”
She fixed Zhang Chuanshi with a look. “Paperman Zhang’s whereabouts are unknown, and he’s collected quite a few great malevolent objects. I can’t let this pair of door planks fall into his hands.”
The mention of “Paperman Zhang” told them she’d made up her mind and wouldn’t change it, so they all fell silent.
Zhang Chuanshi, like a frost-bitten eggplant, wore a tearful face.
“As for offending Deputy Commander Zheng...”
Zhao Fusheng smiled and looked at Fan Bisi.
Fan Bisi’s eyelid twitched, and a bad feeling arose in him, and then he heard her say, “The world is just like this. None of the choices I make are about slapping anyone in the face. It’s simply how the world is, and I’m just trying to live.”
“...”
The more Fan Bisi listened, the more familiar it sounded. He dared not make a sound and instinctively turned to his brother.
He saw Fan Wujiu, head lowered sideways, winking at him frantically.
“Human lives are like grass and straw. Nobody wants to die, and there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Zhao Fusheng said with a smile, “Besides, Deputy Commander Zheng is battle-hardened, with plenty of experience dealing with malignant ghosts and countless troubles in his life. Why would he quarrel with a newcomer like me?” She set her teacup down carelessly. “An old commanding officer like him should know that if it weren’t me causing him trouble it would be some other trouble. What’s wrong with my adding a bit more trouble? Maybe he was fated for this calamity, and now it’s time for him to meet it!”
“...”
Fan Bisi was speechless.
After Fan Wujiu winked at him, he finally remembered: these were the words the brothers had said to her that day, after Zhao Fusheng came back from the dead and spoke with them.
The original words were roughly these, advising her to accept her fate and not dwell on revenge.
Now she’d turned them around and applied them to him, and even meant to use them to tell others to swallow their losses.
She wasn’t one to forget a grudge, nor someone to take a loss.
Having been told that, what standing did Fan Bisi have to argue further? He gritted his teeth and nodded.
Of the group, Fan Bisi had the most flexible mind and the most tricks. Once he was beaten, the other two naturally didn’t dare say more, and agreed.
After that, the men discussed when to set off for Baozhi County and whom to send.
Zhao Fusheng paid them no attention and returned to her room to rest.
With the ghost case just finished and 986 points of merit now in hand, Zhao Fusheng slept especially soundly that night and woke with the sun already high.
The Office’s menial workers had long since prepared hot water for washing and breakfast for her. She didn’t see the Fan brothers, and when she asked around, learned they had gone out early that morning, saying they had important business today.
She guessed the two were preparing to dig the door planks back up. Having entrusted the matter to them, she wanted to see what ability Fan Bisi would show.
While she was lost in thought, the menial worker asked, “My lord, are you going out?”
After the bureau reopened, Zhao Fusheng had spent most of her time reading case files in the yamen.
Now that she suddenly asked about Fan Bisi, the worker thought she was going out and needed Fan Bisi’s help preparing.
Zhao Fusheng shook her head. “No...”
As she spoke, her heart stirred.
The Goutou Village case, in a way, touched on Beggars’ Alley.
That place was very uncanny.
It was the former Liu Clan's Ancestral Hall, now with three malignant ghosts sleeping within, and Paperman Zhang might be lurking near Beggars’ Alley, waiting for his chance.
Liu Yizhen, the nominal order envoy of the bureau, was there too, and now that she had free time, going out for a walk was fine.
Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Go to Beggars’ Alley. Get the carriage ready and take me there.”
