Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 55 The Taoist Nun and the Female Hero

In the inner city of Beijing, in Dashiyongfang, Xijiangmixiang, there is a restaurant called "Jinyaozhai" near the office of the Jinyiwei Personal Guard Commander-in-Chief.

On the second floor of the restaurant, Zhang Shirui, the eldest daughter of Tianshi Zhang Xianyong, was leaning against the window. In front of her was a pot of tea and a few dishes, but she didn't pick up her chopsticks and just drank the tea. It wasn't until Ding Baiying came back after inquiring about the news that they started eating.

"Miss Ding, have you found your senior brother?" Zhang Shirui asked softly.

"No." Ding Baiying shook her head, with no expression on her face.

"Where's the notice at the city gate?" Zhang Shirui didn't ask. That was just her nature, calm and composed like a lotus, never embarrassing anyone.

The East Factory incident affected the entire court, and they had heard about it when they were still in Tianjin. But the news that drifted by on the southeast wind was scattered and mostly worthless.

Less than an hour after the Jesuit delegation arrived in Beijing, Zhang Shirui and Ding Baiying also entered Beijing from Yongding Gate and saw the notice at the city gate.

Ding Baiying had originally been sitting across from Zhang Shirui, but after some thought, he decided to move to the seat next to her. He leaned close to her ear and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear clearly, "Early this month, Censor Zuo Guangdou submitted a memorial impeaching Cui Wensheng, the governor of the East Depot."

The Dongchang "embezzlement and extortion case" was declared closed, which made Zuo Guangdou and Fu Li's reputation soar to a new peak, to the point where almost everyone in the capital knew about them.

A warm, moist scent, with a hint of tea, lingered around Zhang Shirui's ears, making her feel a little itchy. But just as Zhang Shirui moved her ears away, Ding Baiying's voice came back: "The emperor first ordered the Jinyiwei to arrest someone, but then a minister named Fu Li stopped the imperial edict."

Realizing she had "nowhere to escape," the young nun could only sigh softly and let the equally young female warrior's ears clench her fists. "Few people know what happened after that. In the end, the emperor accepted the advice of the cabinet, the Ministry of Rites, and Cui Wensheng, and opened a new factory."

"The new factory is called the West Factory, and it's incredibly efficient. They began arresting and interrogating people in the middle of this month, and the notice of case closure was posted the night before yesterday. And, most importantly, the case ended there, with no one implicated. In other words, the situation calmed down before the city erupted. This is very different from the West Factory that could still children crying at night a century ago."

"You mean the suggestion to open the West Factory was made by Cui Wensheng, the governor of the East Factory himself?" Zhang Shirui caught this information.

"Yes." Ding Baiying thought for a moment. "I can redeem myself from my crime and earn my living."

"Yeah." Zhang Shirui nodded and rubbed her ears.

After listening to the information he had gathered, Ding Baiying did not return to his previous seat, but sat side by side with Zhang Shirui to enjoy a late lunch.

The two were actually very hungry, and these side dishes were just appetizers, so Zhang Shirui ordered two more main dishes.

While the dishes were being served, Ding Baiying winked at Zhang Shirui, gave her a shy smile, and asked, "Girl, I have safely sent you to Beijing, so how about the balance?"

"No problem." Zhang Shirui opened her purse, revealing several small silver bills wrapped in silk thread. She pulled out a ten-liang silver note and handed it to Ding Baiying.

Ding Baiying is the second-generation heir of the Qi family's swordsmanship, possessing exceptional martial arts skills. However, after completing her apprenticeship, she chose to roam the martial arts world on her own. With no fixed duties, Ding Baiying simply took on escorting jobs wherever she went.

The reason why she made this choice was that when she was about to leave her master's school, a middle-aged man named Xu came to Qi's martial arts school.

The man was wearing a faded pale blue scholar's robe, a traveling cap made for him by his mother, and carrying a simple luggage. He knocked on the door of Wuzhai.

He had nothing special to do, just to ask for a drink of water. Seeing that it was getting late, the master let him stay overnight. The master loved wine and friendship. The man and the master drank together and talked happily.

The man said he had been walking across the Daming Mountains for ten years, starting in the 36th year of the Wanli reign. His master asked him why. He replied, "Everyone has their own aspirations. I simply yearn for the vastness of the universe and the splendor of its mountains and rivers. If my writings, written in words, and written in the sun and moon, can be passed down to future generations, then my journey on earth will have been worthwhile." After so many years, Ding Baiying could no longer remember the man's name, only that he called himself Xiake.

About a month ago, Ding Baiying took over a job as a escort for Zhang Tianshi in Nanjing. The agreement was for one tael of silver a day, and another ten taels after delivering the escort to his destination.

Originally, this was a job worth about thirty taels, and she took this opportunity to return to Beijing to look for her senior brother who had inherited the title of centurion after completing his apprenticeship. However, Zhang Shirui stayed in Tianjin, a place only a stone's throw away from Beijing, for twelve days.

"Then I'll take my leave." After dinner, Ding Baiying stood up and was about to leave, but Zhang Shirui grabbed the corner of her clothes.

"Miss Ding, here is one hundred taels of silver. Please wait until your father arrives in Beijing before leaving." Zhang Shirui took out a silver note of one hundred taels from the secret pocket of her sleeve. It was also denominated in Xuanchang.

"Hiss! You make me want to snatch you away." Ding Baiying swallowed and teased.

"Follow me, you can save on food and accommodation expenses in Beijing." Zhang Shirui took Ding Baiying's hand and stuffed the silver into her palm.

Ding Baiying accepted the money. "Then I'll reluctantly stay with you in Beijing for a few more days."

After paying the bill, Zhang Shirui picked up her sword and luggage. "Let's go."

"Where to go? Just stay nearby." Ding Baiying suggested.

"No need to stay overnight. The Zhang family has an ancestral house in Beijing." Zhang Shirui thought for a moment and said, "My father said the house is in Nanxunfang, but I've never been there. I have to look for it."

"Nanxunfang?" Nanxunfang is the gathering place for Beijing's dignitaries, it's hard not to know about it.

"Have you been there?" Zhang Shirui said in surprise: "That's great, let's go there quickly, it probably needs to be cleaned." She thought it was just a small house.

"I once took over a cargo escort mission to Beijing." When Ding Baiying went to Beijing last year, Emperor Wanli ordered Yang Hao, the governor of Liaodong, to launch the Battle of Sarhu.

Lu Wenzhao was sent to Liaodong as a member of the Imperial Guard to conduct espionage activities. It was not until three months after she left Beijing that she learned of the disastrous defeat at Sarhu in Chengdu.

Ding Baiying has always wanted to return to Beijing, but unless she really went to rob, she simply couldn't afford the hundreds of taels of silver to make the trip at her own expense in such a short period of time.

After half an hour, the two of them, who had been walking, stopping, looking and buying things, finally arrived at Nanxunfang.

A sedan chair carried by four people passed by the middle of the road beside them and headed straight for Zhang's house.

"Did we find the wrong one?" Zhang Shirui asked in confusion.

There are several Zhang Mansions in Nanxunfang, and the house of Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian is one of them, but there is only one Zhang Mansion that has not been lived in all year round and is not for sale.

The doubts were immediately dispelled because the sedan chair did not stop at the gate of Zhang's Mansion, but at the gate of Liu's Mansion opposite Zhang's Mansion.

The sedan stopped, the bearer opened the curtain, and Liu Yirong, the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy, walked out.

(End of this chapter)