Chapter 23: This Horse Is Named Jade Bow

Not long after Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei departed from Zhuo County, a small fire broke out in the county jail. Where there is a jail fire, escapes inevitably follow.

Zhang Shiping had fled.

With Liu Bei absent, this was naturally the work of Jian Yong.

"Many thanks to Clerk Jian for the grace of my release. This great kindness shall certainly be repaid!"

On a small path bordering Zhuo Commandery and Yuyang Commandery, Zhang Shiping expressed his sincere gratitude to Jian Yong.

"Do not thank me; thank my elder brother, Liu Xuande. It was he who sent men to set the fire and save you. You should know that you were sentenced to death by hanging. My brother believed that stealing two warhorses did not warrant a capital offense, so he ordered me to ensure your survival."

Jian Yong smiled and waved a hand, signaling Zhang Shiping not to be overly formal.

"Liu Xuande... I have heard of the chivalrous name of the man from Zhuo County, but is he not the very military officer who apprehended me?"

Zhang Shiping wanted to argue, but sighed instead. "But... alas, those two horses did indeed wander into my caravan. I cannot dispute that matter, but the other horses were truly for my clan's own use..."

"In these days of rampant banditry, many prominent families in this county have lost horses. My brother encountered you while searching for the missing military mounts. Seeing that you were suspected of horse theft, he brought you back for investigation. This was merely his duty to protect the borders and bring peace to the people."

Jian Yong explained as they walked. "However, once it was verified that your horses were not those stolen from the local gentry, you should have been released. Even if those two warhorses remained a point of contention, the penalty should have at most been corporal punishment."

"I see... Then Military Officer Liu did nothing wrong in that regard; those two horses were indeed an accident. But since the truth was established, why did the County Magistrate still sentence me to death?"

Zhang Shiping thought it over; it was reasonable for him to be investigated when local gentry had suffered mass thefts, especially since he was traveling with such a large herd and dressed like a Hu tribesman.

"Because the prominent families of this county had all suffered horse thefts recently. And now, the Magistrate of this county, Gongsun BoGui, is delivering a tribute of horses to Luoyang. How do you think the local gentry would feel?"

Jian Yong sighed. "If the matter of the gentry's stolen horses were not swept under the rug, the tribute of fine steeds might be viewed as a tribute of stolen goods. Thus, your clan's horses had to be used to settle the accounts of the prominent families to ensure the Magistrate's reputation remained untarnished. Since those horses could not be returned to you, your death sentence became... do you understand now?"

"...So that is how it is! Officials across the land are all the same; my situation is quite typical."

Zhang Shiping said bitterly, "Though I am but a common runner for the clan, I am still of the Yuyang Zhang family. For Gongsun BoGui to bully me so, my clan will not let this rest!"

Jian Yong shook his head and patted Zhang Shiping on the back. "The Gongsun family of Liaoxi is equally illustrious. Since you are not of the direct line of the Yuyang Zhangs, why embroil yourself in a legal battle? We humble travelers should prioritize avoiding disaster to survive. Consider it as if you had merely encountered Xianbei raiders the other day."

"I am a trade runner for my clan; I have never encountered thieves who dared to rob us, not even the Xianbei..."

Zhang Shiping gritted his teeth, likely wanting to say that even the Xianbei dared not loot the assets of the Yuyang Zhang family, but he stopped himself halfway. "Enough, enough! Clerk Jian saved me, and he must have shouldered a great risk. I will keep this in my heart!"

"It was my elder brother who shouldered the risk. He was the one who sent men to set the jail fire, and he took the opportunity to burn your arrest records and the verdict. In any case, I am not the one in charge of the county jail; you escaped due to a fire, and the matter has nothing to do with me."

Jian Yong shook his head, fished out Zhang Shiping's travel permit from his robes, and handed it over. "My brother asked me to tell you that the permit lacks the seal of Zhuo Commandery. It is unlikely you will be able to get the Magistrate here to stamp it in the future. If you need to pass through Zhuo Commandery again, you might as well seek out my brother for help."

"I will remember that. Please convey my thanks to Military Officer Liu."

Zhang Shiping bowed in gratitude.

...

After seeing Zhang Shiping beyond the borders of Zhuo Commandery, Jian Yong went to the Ten-Mile Pavilion to handle the final task Liu Bei had entrusted to him.

He was to lead the knights to transport more than eighty horses to Anping in Ji Province.

Twenty of the horses had been seized by the penal laborers. After the Prefect incorporated them into the commandery troops, they were moved to the barracks, leaving the horses at the Ten-Mile Pavilion.

The other sixty or so came from Zhang Shiping—or more accurately, from the Yuyang Zhang family. Zhang Shiping was merely the steward in charge of managing the horses; he was not their owner.

These horses were originally intended to be delivered to Zhang Chun, the Chancellor of Zhongshan.

The Yuyang Zhang family held significant power, and Zhang Chun was a high-ranking official. Liu Bei did not want to leave any complications behind because of these horses. Furthermore, the Ten-Mile Pavilion could not sustain so many, so he decided to find some work for Qian Zhao.

Qian Zhao’s family was in financial distress, and he needed something to do; it would be improper to simply offer him relief money. After all, giving money directly often hurts a man's pride; the best way to help those in need is to provide them with suitable work.

Qian Zhao was nineteen this year and extremely diligent in his studies. Yue Yin held him in high regard and gave him the courtesy name Zijing, signifying that Qian Zhao was to inherit the classical learning of the Yue school.

Yue Yin was well-versed in both ancient and modern texts. His scholarship focused on practical statesmanship, advocating for adaptability according to circumstances—a difficult path to master. In truth, this approach suited Liu Bei quite well, but Liu Bei was not seeking to study the classics. Among the other disciples, only Qian Zhao excelled, and Yue Yin viewed him as his rightful successor.

In reality, Qian Zhao's family was not poor; they were considered a prominent family in Anping. However, his father had done something similar to Jian Yong years ago—due to oppression by the direct line of the clan, he had left home to establish his own household.

Of course, his father did not change their surname, only his given name, and he had also changed the name of young Qian Zhao at the time.

When Qian Zhao was born, he was named Qian Zhao (with the character for 'brilliance'), a name given by the clan elders. When his father struck out on his own, he did not want to have any entanglements with the main branch, so he changed it to 'Zhao' (meaning to invite or summon).

Without the support of the clan and having had their fields reclaimed by them, Qian Zhao’s family was indeed not very wealthy.

To earn money, his father became a horse merchant, often traveling beyond the frontier to buy horses from the Hu and selling them in Ji Province. To assist his father, Qian Zhao often accompanied him from a young age.

Yue Yin had always worried that this would hinder Qian Zhao’s studies, but in truth, Qian Zhao had not only kept up with his classical studies but had also learned how to raise horses and became familiar with the habits of the Hu people while in their lands.

Horse trading was quite profitable, but such work usually carried high risks. Last year, Qian Zhao’s father encountered bandits on the road, lost all his horses, and was severely wounded, nearly losing his life and ending up disabled.

Fortunately, Qian Zhao had gone to visit Yue Yin midway and was not traveling with his father, otherwise, he likely would have met with disaster as well.

Having lost all their capital and needing to pay for his father's medical care, Qian Zhao was indeed very poor at the moment.

Moreover, he was the most suitable person to manage the horses; whether it was selling or raising them, the task could be entrusted to him.

When Jian Yong found Qian Zhao, he was busy tending to his paralyzed father.

"Zijing, my elder brother said to hand these horses over to you for management. Sell half and keep half; you decide which ones to sell and which to raise. You will receive a share of the profits from the sales... Hey, Zijing?"

Before Jian Yong could finish, Qian Zhao was not listening; he had rushed toward one of the black horses as if possessed.

"Zijing? Brother Qian? Zhao-lang! What is going on?"

Jian Yong was bewildered. He had known Qian Zhao since Yue Yin first became the Magistrate of Zhuo. They were quite familiar with each other, yet he had never seen Qian Zhao act this way.

"This horse... this is my family's horse! This is the one I bought in the Hu lands with my father last year. Look at its forehead—it has a crescent mark! A black horse with a crescent-shaped yellow mark is extremely rare. My father thought we could sell it for a high price, so he specifically bought this one... This is the horse that was stolen when my father met the bandits!"

Qian Zhao stared blankly at the black horse. "This horse was named 'Jade Bow'—I chose the name! Xianhe, where... where did this horse come from?"

Jade Bow was the crescent moon in the night sky, fitting the crescent mark on the black horse's forehead perfectly.