33. Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.

"Why does my junior sister keep staring at me?"

In the carriage, Ouyang Rong asked calmly, his eyes closed in repose.

Xie Lingjiang hesitated for a moment. "Senior brother's actions... were somewhat beyond my expectations."

She pushed aside the carriage curtain, silently watching the cavalrymen escorting them back to the county office. With their blades, crossbows, and full suits of armor, they moved with rigid discipline—these were, after all, the Black-Armored Iron Cavalry of the Great Zhou.

Xie Lingjiang’s head was still buzzing. It wasn't that she lacked experience, but everything had happened so suddenly. Distant, formidable forces had been thrust before her eyes before she could even react, crushing everything in their path. It was no wonder the wealthy gentry and masters in Yuanming Pavilion earlier had been shaking in their boots, looking utterly pathetic.

From the moment Ouyang Rong pushed open the window to "show his cards," to his polite declaration of a house-raiding, and finally, his flick of the sleeve as he walked out, Xie Lingjiang had followed behind, staring at his calm nape in a daze. It wasn't until she followed him out and boarded the carriage that she began to collect her scattered thoughts.

Ouyang Rong did not open his eyes, as if his mind were on other matters. He remarked casually, "It seems my junior sister still doesn't understand me."

The noblewoman of the Xie clan looked at him with a complex expression. "I understand a little better now... But why didn't you tell me beforehand, senior brother?" Was he trying to catch her looking shocked and foolish?

There was another thought that crossed her mind, but she swallowed it, feeling it sounded too much like a woman coquettishly complaining.

"I forgot."

"?"

Xie Lingjiang seemed piqued, turning her head away, determined not to pay him any more mind for the day. But Ouyang Rong opened his eyes, looking at her with a smile, and confessed, "Actually, I didn't expect it either. I knew they would come, but I didn't think they would make such a grand display. Ah, Liulang is getting better at handling things."

Xie Lingjiang, who was still trying to maintain a cool, averted profile, couldn't help but glance at his helpless expression. The young woman in men’s attire couldn't help but huff and smile. "So it was beyond your expectations too. But you certainly held the room earlier; it was quite a sight... You must take me along next time something like this happens."

Ouyang Rong chuckled. "Fine. Next time, I’ll prepare an impressively domineering line for my junior sister."

Xie Lingjiang glared at him. "What 'domineering'? You’re making up words again, senior brother."

The two bantered for a while. Then, Xie Lingjiang turned to him, asking seriously, "So, you sent Yan Liulang to Jiangzhou not just to supervise the transport of the three thousand shi of disaster relief grain, but also to requisition troops? But... how did you manage that?"

She frowned, puzzled. "And that Captain Qin mentioned 'assisting in an investigation.' What kind of case are you planning to handle?"

The young magistrate smiled but remained silent. In truth, he had simply written a letter and had Liulang deliver it to Jiangzhou.

...

"Greedy for wealth, greedy for beauty, greedy for power—he has to be greedy for something, right? Are you telling me a saint has come to Longcheng County?"

"Even if he is a saint, he should be greedy for his damn saintly reputation! What kind of beggar’s scraps is this so-called 'top scholar' magistrate looking for?"

"Acting like a virtuous maiden, dragging his feet, and then putting on airs when he’s given a bit of face. Flipping the table? Isn't it just because he wants more? Damn him!"

Liu Zilin was in a rage again, his index finger furiously pointing toward the county office to the east. However, he didn't throw anything today, as both his older brothers were in the room.

One was wiping a sword with a white cloth—this was Liu Ziwen, with his plain appearance and mild, sluggish temperament.

The other was watching the sword-wiping, a sickly-looking young man in brocade robes. This young man had triangular eyes which, under normal circumstances, would have made him look sinister, but his eyelids drooped, giving him a perpetually "sorrowful" look, like a sick tiger with no desires.

The sickly youth stared at the famous sword in Liu Ziwen's hand and nodded. "Raiding houses the moment he takes office. How bold."

Liu Zilin spun around. "What were you doing earlier, Second Brother? The day I was framed, you should have settled the score immediately. If you had, none of this would have happened. Now, this Ouyang Lianghan is pushing his luck, treating us like soft persimmons. He has no respect for the Dragon King Liu clan at all!"

The day of the public trial, the most infuriating thing wasn't having his leg broken by that fierce girl; it was being forced, as the third young master of the Liu family, to kowtow to a barbarian slave. Liu Zilin felt as if he were swallowing shattered teeth. He had assumed his brothers had a plan, and his eldest brother had said they should wear the scholar-magistrate down—but now, they had only succeeded in turning him into a hawk, one that was swooping down to peck their eyes out!

He was seething with pent-up frustration. "Damn it, we’ve never suffered such indignity! Big Brother, Second Brother, we are dragons and tigers, not sheep!"

Liu Ziwen continued wiping the sword in silence, his attention focused, cleaning the blade with such meticulous care that it shone brightly, as if he hadn't heard his brothers.

"He seeks neither wealth, nor beauty, nor power, not even fame—only disaster relief and flood control." The second young master, Liu Zi'an, shook his head. "Dealing with such a righteous gentleman is difficult with a hard blade; a soft blade is more convenient."

Liu Zilin paced the room, anxious. "Who cares if he’s using a hard or soft blade? He’s already got the blade to our throats! 'Checking the ledgers' is just an excuse; he can flip the table and raid our houses whenever he likes! We need to go to the prefecture and have someone stop him..."

Liu Zi'an didn't look at his impulsive third brother, turning instead to his eldest. "This is very suspicious. How did he manage to mobilize the Iron Cavalry from the Jiangzhou Garrison? There are only six military garrisons in the entire Jiangnan Circuit. To mobilize more than ten men or horses requires an imperial edict and the bronze tally from the central government. How could a demoted seventh-rank magistrate have such heaven-reaching influence? If he had that, why would he be short on grain and silver for disaster relief?"

Liu Ziwen finally stopped wiping the sword and nodded. "I’ve already sent people to investigate. This is the key to the situation. Breaking this current trap is not difficult; what's difficult is the larger trap waiting for us behind it."

Liu Zi'an suddenly said, "Could it be that family helping him?"

Liu Ziwen shook his head. "I don't know if Ouyang Lianghan is one of theirs, but if they dare to touch military power, even Master Di of the imperial court wouldn't be able to protect them." He lowered his head and resumed wiping the sword. "Just continue to act as if he doesn't exist."

Liu Zi'an thought for a moment and nodded.

Liu Zilin couldn't help but interject, "A larger trap? Who gave him the guts to set it? Do they know who is behind the Liu family? He's courting death! If he delays that sword for our noble patron..."

Liu Zilin immediately fell silent and lowered his head, for his two brothers' gazes had snapped onto him—one filled with a frown, the other cold as ice.

After what might have been a moment or an eternity, the three Liu brothers acted as if nothing had happened and returned to the original topic. Liu Ziwen signaled his second brother.

Liu Zi'an understood. He turned to the only fool in the room and said coldly, "Still unconvinced? Does he think comparing the status of our noble patrons will be of any use in this trap? Does Ouyang Lianghan not know that we, the local gentry, have people in high places? He dared to flip the tables on all thirteen of our families at once—why?"

"He’s courting death!" Liu Zilin gritted his teeth.

"That's right, he is courting death." Liu Zi'an finally smiled, though the smile looked more sinister than his stoic face. "But if he just wanted to die, that would be one thing—he wants to drag several families down with him. Fool. We have vast estates and deep roots; can we afford to die with him?"

"Is he even worthy?"

"But he is capable."

Liu Zi'an rubbed his face, exhausted by the effort of teaching his brother. "Because of the Jimin Granary rice scandal, the officials we were on good terms with in Jiangzhou are either suspended or dismissed. There is no one in the prefecture who can immediately intervene in Longcheng, but Ouyang Lianghan has three hundred iron cavalrymen in his hands right now."

"That is a fire at our doorstep. We have 'distant water' outside of Jiangzhou, but how do we quench the flames right now?"

Liu Zilin felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him. He calmed down immediately, stopped pacing, and sat back at the table with his brothers, leaning in. "Three hundred iron cavalrymen—can't our high walls and private guards stop them?"

"These are elite troops just rotated back from the frontier. Their blades are still stained with the blood of the barbarians."

"Then what do we do?"

Liu Zi'an turned to his eldest brother and stated simply, "We cannot let him check the ledgers."

Liu Ziwen finally finished wiping the sword. He carefully sheathed the exquisite short sword, the scabbard inlaid with jade, agate, pearls, and jewels—an item of extreme luxury. This sword was to be sent as a regular offering to a noble in Luoyang, a task they performed annually.

Liu Ziwen said calmly to his two younger brothers:

"The Liu family is not just a fat sheep with fertile fields and golden jewels. The Liu family is the scabbard—what it wraps inside... is the sword!"