Chapter 2651: The Capital (Part 7)

Biaoju [Escort Agency] was known as Biaohang during the late Ming Dynasty. Legend holds that the term Biaoju was first popularized by the Australians in Qiongzhou Prefecture. As for why Biao (standard/mark) came to be written as Biao (dart/weapon), no one knows the true origin. Ask anyone in the escort trade and you will receive a different answer: some claim that protecting and delivering goods is the Biao (target), thus the goods cart is called a Biao cart, and losing the cargo is called losing the Biao; others insist the Kun people, being less educated, confused the two similar sounds without distinguishing their meanings, so over time the characters became interchangeable; still others say that southerners race dragon boats each spring and award brocade flags to the victors, called Jinbiao (Golden Standard/Championship), and defending the title the following year is called Baobiao (Defending the Standard)—meaning to guard the prize—hence the term Baobiao (Bodyguard). Opinions vary widely and none agree; the original reason is lost to history.

Qiwei Escort Agency's outer counter in Beijing operated under the name "Heliansheng." Having been established only recently, it remained a small escort agency, wholly owned and authorized by Qiwei internally. Outwardly, of course, the owner was recorded as a local of the capital.

The reason for not using the Qiwei Escort Agency signboard was simple: the name Qiwei, originating from enemy-occupied Guangdong, carried too much sensitivity. To avoid potential danger, the Beijing outer counter had to sever all visible ties with Qiwei and eliminate any trace of Australian influence.

Heliansheng Escort Agency's management structure differed markedly from Qiwei's modernized reformed system. Instead, it employed the most traditional hierarchy: Chief Escort, Escort Masters, and Porters—simple and clear. This distinction was deliberate, designed to wash away any Australian color from Heliansheng's operations. The total staff numbered just over fifty. Among them, only three Escort Masters with formal establishment status had transferred from Guangzhou; the rest were locally recruited escort households and martial artists.

Heliansheng's primary function was to undertake freight transport, ensuring that Qiwei's escort masters and large carts arriving in Beijing would not return empty or travel without cargo. At the same time, it conducted various related businesses of its own. Qiwei's most vital purpose, however, was to provide limited support for expatriate personnel stationed across the region and for Delong Bank.

Qiwei Escort Agency's core businesses included convoy escorts, cart transportation, inns, and warehouses. All these enterprises shared a common requirement: they depended on stable conditions and unobstructed official roads. While the escort trade was founded on martial prestige, it could only establish a true foothold through official prestige—whether that "prestige" came from the Regional Commanders of the Great Ming or the Commanders of the Australian Song.

When escort agencies ran convoys, success hinged on making friends. Friends could cooperate, and cooperation could yield mutual benefit. Escort masters and robbers were not enemies but partners of a sort. In troubled times, with Roving Bandits scurrying across the land and the ruler of every territory constantly changing, there could be no stable robbers—and without stable robbers, there were no stable friends. Without friends, one could not protect the escort silver.

These days, the Great Ming's situation grew increasingly tense. Bandit troubles erupted one after another throughout the realm. Roving Bandits and brigands often gathered by the tens of thousands, blocking roads and severing trade routes. The escort industry was a product of commodity circulation; escorts traveled with merchants. Where trade routes went, escort routes followed. If the trade routes were cut, the escort routes vanished. If Qiwei's escort routes were broken, Heliansheng's business would inevitably suffer.

The compounding of these unfavorable factors had brought Heliansheng's medium and long-distance escort operations to a near standstill, and business grew more depressed by the month. Especially over the past two years, the escort routes had contracted so severely that they could reach only as far as Tianjin and Tongzhou. Even the counties under Shuntian Prefecture's jurisdiction—anywhere slightly remote—had become inaccessible.

Business contraction forced them to downsize and reduce personnel. Relying on Delong Bank and its affiliated enterprises, they took on side work: cash transport, sitting watch in shops, and guarding courtyards.

Late autumn, noon. Inside Beijing's walls stood a Siheyuan of three courtyards with side annexes. This compound served both as Heliansheng's storehouse and as the residence of Chief Escort Li Rufeng.

In the bedroom, Li Rufeng sat upright in a grand chair. Before him on the square table lay a pistol. Beside it, a piece of velvet cloth had been spread out, its surface scattered with the disassembled parts of another revolver.

This type of revolver, weighing two jin and firing nitrated paper integrated cartridges, was called "Hard in the Waist" or "Fast Horse Iron" by Qiwei's escort masters—an allusion suggesting that a man cannot be soft below the navel; only when hard can he hold his waist up.

Li Rufeng wiped the mechanism with careful attention, cleaning each part thoroughly before applying a layer of gun oil. Then, with practiced deftness, he reassembled and combined the whole weapon. His movements were gentle, as though he were tending to his most intimate lover.

The maintained revolver gleamed with the distinctive somber sheen of bluing, revealing an industrial beauty. Li Rufeng nodded with satisfaction. His gun was immaculate—as pristine as if it had just left the factory, without a trace of carbon deposits or rust. In truth, since this weapon had been issued to him, it had never once been fired.

This was not because Li Rufeng lacked skill with firearms. He had always been an accurate shot, capable of firing with either hand. Escort masters viewed shooting as a martial art, just as they viewed archery on horseback. Within Qiwei Escort Agency alone, differing regional postings had given rise to several schools: the Australian Divine Machine Method, the Lingao Flying Smoke and Flowing Fire Art, and the Sun Family Twenty-Four Style Continuous Gun Method. Though a unified shooting manual existed internally, the cryptic terms, common names, and schools that these escort masters created for themselves—along with their deliberately cultivated air of mystery—had already merged into Qiwei's bloodline. This lore had become part of Qiwei Escort Agency's Jianghu culture and would one day provide rich material for legendary novels.

But since arriving in Beijing, Li Rufeng had not conducted any shooting training. One could not fire guns on Beijing's ground. Moreover, the pistol itself was dangerous trouble; it would expose his connection to the Australians.

Two Australian fast guns were sometimes more coveted than gold and silver. Perhaps no one would rob money, but someone would certainly rob guns. This rendered the famous Six-Sound Continuous Gun into nothing more than a deaf man's ear in Shuntian Prefecture—a mere decoration.

Li Rufeng smeared grease on both pistols, wrapped them in oil paper, opened a secret compartment in the room, and placed them inside. This signaled that he would not be using these weapons in the near term.

Contrary to his name—Rufeng implied a Confucian, scholarly style—Li Rufeng possessed not a trace of scholarly refinement. His thick beard spread out in wild tangles, his strong muscles knotted beneath his skin, and his entire bearing was as thick and heavy as a rectangular wall. At twenty-seven, he could easily pass for thirty-seven, perfectly fitting his persona as a crude martial artist.

A rapid knocking broke the silence, followed by a voice beyond the door: "Master, Old Father Wu from Master Leng's household has arrived. He is drinking tea in the guest hall and says there is an urgent matter—he wishes to see you immediately."

Li Rufeng's brow furrowed. Heliansheng maintained open business dealings with Leng Ningyun, but the two sides avoided intimate association to escape prying eyes and ears. Wu Kaidi served as Leng Ningyun's personal steward, commonly called "Stand-in Manager Leng" or "Leng Ningyun's Shadow," and rarely left his master's side. His personal arrival could only mean something significant had occurred. A trace of ominous premonition stirred in Li Rufeng's chest.

Li Rufeng strode quickly into the main living room. The moment he crossed the threshold, he saw Wu Kaidi standing there, his face pale as paper. The steward's eyes were dull, and cold sweat had soaked through his robe. His lips trembled as he struggled to steady his mind. After a long moment, he managed to control his emotions enough to speak: "Escort Head Li, men from Wanping County and Shuntian Prefecture came just now. They found corpses of Master Leng's followers on the road outside the capital. From the clothing and personal effects, they identified the dead as clerks from Delong, and they want me to go identify them. Manager Leng went out yesterday and has not returned. I fear something terrible has happened, so I came to ask the Chief Escort to accompany me. Master Leng, I fear—I fear he is gone." His voice could not help but tremble.

Hearing this, Li Rufeng's right eyelid twitched violently several times. He stood silent for a moment, then called out to the fellows beyond the door: "Prepare the horses. I have business and will be going out with Old Father Wu." He swept a cloak over his shoulders and strode toward the door, speaking to Wu Kaidi as he moved: "Old Wu, tell me everything as we walk."

Wu Kaidi started, then hurried to follow.

Li Rufeng reached the floral-pendant gate and paused suddenly, looking up in thought. After a moment, he said to the attendant: "Go summon Sanniangzi to come with me."

The winter morning in Beijing was sheathed in frost, the cold cutting to the bone. Yet colder than that sharp frost was the chill in Li Rufeng's heart.

By the official road in the capital's suburbs, four corpses lay side by side next to an overturned carriage. Without need for much identification, Wu and Li recognized them immediately as Leng Ningyun's guards and personal page boys. Dozens of bailiffs and archers stood guard around the bodies. The coroner had already examined the dead and was filling out the corpse inspection form.

Wu Kaidi stepped aside and spoke in a low voice to the leading inspector: "Your Honor has labored hard on my master's behalf. I fear there will be further trouble for you in the days ahead. Here is a small token of appreciation, just to weigh down Your Honor's hand. I hope you will not refuse." He extended a red silk packet.

The inspector felt its weight and knew it contained a stack of Australian silver dollars. Joy flickered in his heart. Raising his eyebrows and composing his expression into solemnity, he replied: "Valued Housekeeper, please be at ease. Master Leng is a kindhearted man; the fortunate are blessed by heaven. We brothers were patrolling here and discovered this matter—how could we wash our hands of it? If there is any use for us in the future, whether through water or fire, we shall not refuse with half a word." He tucked the red silk packet into his robe.

Wu Kaidi nodded. "We wish to examine the scene here. I hope Your Honor can make that convenient."

The inspector glanced at Li Rufeng and gave a curt nod. "The County Magistrate and the Judge will arrive shortly. For a case of this magnitude, the County Magistrate must handle it personally, and Shuntian Prefecture will also make inquiries. Once the Judge arrives, we will be unable to intervene. The Valued Housekeeper must be quick." He waved his hand, and the archers dispersed, clearing an open space.

Wu Kaidi turned and nodded to Li Rufeng.

Face cold and hard, Li Rufeng first examined the corpses, then paced around the perimeter searching for clues, occasionally squatting to study the ground more closely.

Behind him, a woman wrapped in hood and cloak followed his every step. After a moment, Li Rufeng asked in a low voice: "What does Sanniangzi think?"

The woman stood seven chi tall and moved with an agile bearing. At Li Rufeng's question, she paused. A gust of autumn wind swept past, lifting her cloak to reveal a pair of Willow Leaf Double Sabers at her waist—their guards rimmed with tsuba and their handles wrapped in sharkskin.

She spoke softly: "The attackers used horse arrows. The wounds are clean and smooth—good steel, sharp heads. The arrow wounds struck chest and face. The bandits' archery was precise; these must be men who train relentlessly for accuracy. After shooting, they retrieved the arrowheads. The hoof prints beside the corpses and the wheel ruts are lingering and messy—there should have been three horses. Ordinary travelers rushing along their way would never linger like this. Most likely, these were the bandits' mounts. Short knives and bows are not difficult to obtain, but a single good horse costs over a hundred taels of fine silk silver. One must possess considerable means to afford such. These are no ordinary highwaymen."

(End of Chapter)