Meandering River, Ardent Flame
Page 26
Chapter 9: Paying the Debt
Prefect Li would have never admitted to being envious of his governmental peers, but the fact that they did not have to deal with the heavy burdens of his office peeved him greatly. Since rising from magistrate to prefect over all of Bianjing and its surrounding regions, Li had discovered it to be a poisoned gift. One justice might have been able to overpower one hundred evils, but ten thousand, or more, in the form of Jurchens, were now knocking at his gates. Li conjectured that this was the reason for his extended tenure. Prefects were typically rotated every three years. Li had been in his position for nearly seven, with no mention of his leaving.
And Lian, his old friend, had wanted to form an alliance with the traitorous Jurchen, some seven years back. The Empire had formed an alliance, true, two years ago, but the Jurchen had broken it almost immediately. At the time, his fellow officials had applauded his foresightedness, in knowing that the Jurchen were not to be trusted. Some had even voiced the notion that it was this brilliance that had moved the Empire to allow his extended prefecture. Li knew better. He had learned to distrust seven years ago.
His son's calligraphy still sat among his scrolls and books. Xiaowen was the only one who gave him truth. He had nearly thrown it away, angered at the time by his son's perceptiveness; by Lang's audacity in criticizing him through his son. But the strokes, though written by a hand of naive youthfulness, were honest. That was what Li favoured in his son. Honesty. Unbidden, his mind returned to the fateful day that he had learned mistrust.