Chapter 124: First Day in Tokyo
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Shen’s father did not need to report to the Ministry of Personnel. His appointment had been arranged by Bao Zheng, and he was not required to present himself to the imperial court. Shen Shi was different. His appointment had been granted by the emperor and was recorded by the Ministry of Personnel, so upon reaching the capital, he had to report in person.
They went to attend a poetry gathering, while Shen Shi went to register his arrival. Everyone went about their own business.
At the same time, Zhao Zhen also knew that Shen Shi had entered the capital. Zhao Zhen still had people in the City Guard Office.
“What did you think of the horses Bao Zheng brought?” Zhao Zhen asked.
Zhao Zongyong’s case was something Zhao Zhen did not believe. He was the young prince of the Prince of Runan’s household. Given the unspoken rules of the Great Song concerning horses and the Imperial Clan Court, what kind of horses had the Prince of Runan’s household not seen before?
Steal horses? And from some horse ranch in Jinhua?
Where was Jinhua?
Oh, beside Yuhang.
Ha. Yuhang produced fine horses too?
Zhao Zhen naturally did not believe it.
Disbelief was one thing, but since his ministers intended to investigate the case, as the chairman of the Great Song, he still had to give his project managers the proper amount of face. Besides, a minor place like Jinhua could not possibly produce any good horses.
“Your Majesty, they are indeed fine horses. Their eyes are like suspended bells, steeped in violet; their pupils resemble scattered beans; white threads run through the eyes, and they can travel five hundred li; their pupils bear five colors, promising long lives…”
“All right, all right. There is no need to say so much. Just tell me whether those horses are thousand-li horses,” Zhao Zhen said indifferently.
In his view, unless they were thousand-li horses, Zhao Zongyong would not have given them so much as a second glance, let alone tried to seize them.
“This… Your Majesty, I have not yet felt their bones, so I cannot say whether they are truly thousand-li horses. But every one of them is unquestionably a fine steed capable of traveling more than five hundred li in a day.”
Since ancient times, there had been a technique for determining whether a horse was a thousand-li horse. Evaluating horses was not particularly abstruse. One looked, and one felt. It was much like the way physicians diagnosed illness in those days: half inherited knowledge, half personal experience, with no other shortcut to rely upon.
Although the Shen family’s retainers guarded the horses carefully, and he had not personally touched or ridden them, his experience told him that this entire lot was unquestionably of the highest quality.
“Hiss—how do they compare with my imperial horses?”
The City Guard Office’s assessment made Zhao Zhen’s heart sink. If they truly were fine horses, then… then even he could not say how matters would turn out.
Zhao Zhen did not understand the saying that noble people did not steal because things were not worth stealing—once something was valuable enough, nobility became nothing more than an empty phrase. But he did understand the people of his own household. If something was good enough, they were not saints who would never take it.
“Your Majesty, they are superior to the imperial horses,” the officer from the City Guard Office replied after a moment’s thought.
It was not that he was unwilling to spare Emperor Zhao Zhen’s dignity. It was simply the truth. Even assuming Zhao Zhen possessed thousand-li horses of his own…
Could a thousand-li horse confined to the depths of the imperial palace still be called a thousand-li horse?
It would have been easy enough to deceive Zhao Zhen for the moment, but Zhao Zhen would eventually see Jinhua’s horses. Once he did, their vitality, their glossy and gleaming coats… anyone whose eyes were not blind could see that the imperial horses were utterly incomparable.
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“This… what are we to do?” Zhao Zhen could not help saying.
The City Guard Office fell silent, determined not to involve itself in the matter. On one side were the ministers; on the other was the Prince of Runan’s household. A minor office like theirs could afford to offend neither.
After all, the City Guard Office had only been established temporarily because of the Western Xia invasion. It did not even have a direct superior. They did not know whom they were supposed to answer to.
Were they military men, or clerks?
While Zhao Zhen worried that his own kinsmen might indeed have done something best left unspoken, Shen Shi rode into the capital with several retainers and went to report to the Ministry of Personnel.
The Shen family lived in the outskirts. In this era there were no buses, and the journey was not a short one unless one rode a horse.
Shen Shi had wanted to finish things quickly. Unfortunately, his haste brought him trouble.
When he arrived at the Ministry of Personnel, he was told to wait.
He waited for a full hour.
The only advantage was that he was wearing a civil official’s robe, which meant he could sit while waiting. The military officials had not even been given seats.
After waiting a while longer, Shen Shi could not help rising to his feet and asking, “My lord, may I ask how much longer we must wait?”
“How much longer? I couldn’t say. That depends on when the officials have time,” the man replied without even looking up. “Look around. Aren’t all these people waiting too?”
I have a few choice words I would very much like to say.
The same thing happened everywhere in the world: whenever official business was involved, everything moved at a glacial pace.
In truth, when an outside official came to the capital to report his arrival, it should have been nothing more than a few words.
“I am so-and-so, I hold such-and-such office, and I am serving in such-and-such place. I received my documents on what date, traveled for how many days, and am staying where in the capital.”
“Oh, understood.”
Write it down, and the matter was finished.
How difficult could that be? How much work could it possibly involve?
Yet the Ministry could genuinely take several days to complete the process. Even in later generations, things were not much different.
A sudden burst of laughter came from outside.
Shen Shi turned his head and saw Cao Jinhua dressed in men’s clothing.
She walked in laughing. “I knew you would be here. You certainly took your time. I arrived two days ago.”
She had claimed she would act as Shen Shi’s spy and investigate Zhao Zongyong, but she had not expected that traveling by water would bring them to the capital ahead of Shen Shi.
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No one knew about this little secret mission, and keeping it bottled up had been making her terribly restless. For the past two days, she had been keeping watch on both the Ministry of Personnel and the Shen residence.
The moment she learned that Shen Shi had entered the capital, she ran faster than anyone else. When she saw him sitting on the cold bench, she could not hold back her laughter.
After two days of waiting, seeing the foolish-looking Shen Shi made her indescribably happy.
Cao Jinhua was not taking pleasure in his misfortune. It was more that… how should she put it? This side of Shen Shi made him seem more human.
The Shen Shi who handled affairs and slew enemies was not unattractive; he stirred her heart just as much. But that kind of attraction was difficult to approach, the awe inspired by a towering mountain.
Today, she had seen the human side of Shen Shi—and, more importantly, a side she could use as an opening. Naturally, she was delighted.
“Come on! I’ll take you to see their official in charge.”
The man she had set her heart on had been treated like an idiot and cold-shouldered. How could Cao Jinhua possibly stand by without doing anything?
“Who are you? Do you think the Ministry of Personnel is a place you can simply barge into?”
Cao Jinhua led her people inward, infuriating the ministry officials on the spot.
What kind of place was the Ministry of Personnel? It was where officials were administered. Whether one was a senior regional official or a celebrated local scholar, everyone who came here had to follow their rules.
That was the source of their pride—and they truly had reason to be proud.
They governed officials wielding great authority over the provinces and even served as honored guests before the emperor. If they could control such people, how could they not be proud?
“Out of my way!”
If they were proud, Cao Jinhua was even prouder. She ignored them entirely and continued forcing her way inside with her attendants.
Who was she?
Cao Jinhua.
Her elder sister was the empress, and her maternal uncle was the richest man in the Great Song. As for how much courage that gave her…
She had dared to travel south to Jinhua with only a maid at her side, escort supplies, climb aboard a prince’s official vessel in the middle of the night, and even volunteer to become a spy.
Calling her merely bold would be an understatement.
At the very least, she had earned the right to say: “My family has connections. I do as I please.”
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