Chapter 2: The Zhuan’s Monopoly
The early summer sun blazed down as if scorching the earth.
The young man walked through the mud.
His face was tanned red like maple leaves, and his sharp features resembled those of a bird of prey.
He was a large man, about seven shaku nine sun tall (around 186 centimeters), clad in crimson-dyed Rong attire.
He was in a town called Mengshen.
A flood had struck earlier, and the great river that ran across the continent from east to west had overflowed, leaving ruined houses everywhere and turning the ground into a sea of mud.
The faces of the townspeople were gloomy.
That was partly due to the flood’s devastation, but not entirely.
Mengshen was, at least in name, a town under the Yu Dynasty.
However, in reality, it was governed by a ruler called Duke Zhuan.
Eighteen years ago, the Yu Dynasty had faced collapse due to the misdeeds of Jiang Zhuan—posthumously known as King Xu.
The western state of Qin had allied with the barbarian Zhuan tribes further west and attacked the Yu capital, Qiyou.
The ruler of Qin, Ying Qi, was also King Xu’s father-in-law.
However, angered that his own grandson, the Crown Prince Meng Fa, had been unjustly deposed, he joined forces with Zhuan and attacked Qiyou.
Ying Qi only needed to drive out King Xu and install Meng Fa as the new King of Yu.
However, he failed to see through the greed of Duke Zhuan, from whom he had borrowed troops.
After capturing Qiyou, Duke Zhuan turned his spears against Ying Qi and Meng Fa.
He then drove out Qin’s forces and seized Qiyou entirely for himself.
Yet one prince managed to escape this disaster.
His name was Jiang Han.
Jiang Han fled east and established a new capital for the Yu Dynasty in a place called Guo.
Even though Qiyou had fallen, feudal lords still remained throughout the land.
They were states originally enfeoffed by the founder of the Yu Dynasty.
Jiang Han planned to borrow their strength, defeat Zhuan, and restore the Yu Dynasty.
However, before Guo could fully establish itself, Zhuan advanced eastward.
They threatened Guo and brought it under their control.
Although Jiang Han was spared, he was turned into a puppet of Duke Zhuan.
This occurred three years after Jiang Han’s ascension.
Even so, if Duke Zhuan had governed well, the people might have accepted it.
However, his rule could hardly be called good.
It was not outright tyranny, as he did not impose excessive taxes or issue cruel decrees.
Instead, he did nothing at all.
He collected taxes but paid no attention to governance.
Dust gathered in the court halls, while Duke Zhuan and his ministers shut themselves in the inner palace and spent their time in idle pleasure.
In times of peace, that might still have been tolerable.
But even when disasters like this flood occurred, he showed no concern.
Worse still, taxes were collected as usual.
—Under such conditions, the people likely did not even have enough food to feed themselves, let alone pay taxes.
The young man thought so as he looked around.
At that moment, a loud crash echoed from afar, followed by screams.
When he went toward the sound, he saw that a fairly large residence had collapsed.
The muddy ground had weakened its foundation, and its pillars could no longer bear the weight.
“Is anyone still inside?”
The young man asked someone nearby.
A boy, who seemed to be an apprentice of the household, nodded.
“I see,” the young man said, then approached the collapsed building without hesitation.
He called out to the onlookers gathering around.
“Hey, men, lend a hand.
There are still people trapped inside.”
However, those around him looked troubled.
“That’s impossible.
They’re probably all dead from the impact.”
“Yeah, and even if we saved them, what good would it do?
We’re struggling just to survive ourselves.
We don’t have the luxury to help strangers.”
With awkward expressions, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Only the apprentice boy remained.
He looked about ten years old and gazed at the young man anxiously.
“Hey, kid.
Help me.
The ones inside are your master and coworkers, aren’t they?”
The boy flinched at being addressed.
The young man spoke bluntly.
“Or will you leave like the others?
If so, that’s fine too.”
“Huh?”
The boy let out a surprised voice.
“They’re not wrong.
When people lose their leeway, they lose their sense of righteousness.
Only after securing their own survival can they think of helping others.”
The young man turned his back and lifted a fallen beam.
Struggling, he managed to raise it slightly and wedged a long pole between it and the ground to hold it in place.
“B-but I’m just a kid.
I don’t have the strength to lift beams like you.”
“But you’re smaller than me.
You can crawl into spaces I can’t enter.”
After saying that, he stepped out briefly and looked around.
It was a fairly large residence, and beside it stood a storage shed.
He retrieved a rope from inside and returned to the collapsed house, stopping in front of the boy.
“So, what will you do?”
His voice revealed no emotion.
The boy was still trembling, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.
But as if making up his mind, he looked at the young man and nodded.
“I’ll go.”
Together, the young man and the boy entered the collapsed house, lifting obstructing beams and sometimes crawling through narrow gaps.
Before entering, the young man had done something peculiar.
He placed one end of the rope at the entrance and secured it with a stone so it would not move.
“By the way, kid.
How many people are inside?”
“Um, just the master.”
“I see.
It looks like a fairly wealthy household.
Were there no other residents?”
The boy fell silent at that question.
Sensing that there was something difficult to say, the young man did not press further.
They continued deeper in silence.
Soon, they heard something moving.
Then a voice came from ahead.
“…Is someone there?”
It was a faint voice.
Hearing it, the boy behind him reacted.
“Master, it’s me.
Jin.”
“Oh, Jin.
You came to help me?
I appreciate the thought, but you must flee at once.
I will not survive.”
Though the voice could be heard, the figure was not yet visible.
Going further in, they found a thin old man with white hair and beard.
He was pinned beneath a fallen pillar and unable to move.
Miraculously, the pillar had not completely crushed him, but it was only a matter of time.
The young man walked up to him.
“You shouldn’t say such things, old sir.
After coming all this way like a centipede, would it not waste this boy’s courage if we accomplished nothing?”
Saying that, he placed his hands on the pillar resting on the old man.
Straining, his face turning red, he managed to lift it slightly.
“Hey, Jin.
Hurry and pull him out.”
“Y-yes!”
The boy grabbed the old man’s hand and pulled.
The old man also gathered his strength and crawled out from beneath the pillar.
“Now then, old sir.
Jin said you were the only one inside.
Is that correct?”
The old man nodded.
“In that case,” the young man said, supporting him as they followed the rope back outside.
By the time they emerged, most of the sun had set behind the western mountains.
Under a crimson sky stood three men, covered in mud.
“I never thought I would live to see daylight again.
Thank you.”
The old man bowed deeply.
“If you wish to thank someone, thank Jin.”
However, when the young man looked over, Jin had already fallen asleep, relieved now that the tension had lifted.
The young man gently patted his head and picked him up.
“May we borrow the shed for the night?”
“Of course.
It is a poor place for one who saved my life, but please use it.”
The old man also made his way toward the shed.
Then he asked the young man,
“By the way, I have yet to ask your name.”
The young man replied indifferently,
“I am a traveler.
My name is Lu Wucheng.”