Chapter 51: Selfish Motives
In her youth, Xie Min had once devoted herself to her studies, but by the age of twenty, she had barely managed to become a Prefectural Graduate. Fortunately, her family came from a martial background, and she had trained in the martial arts since childhood. So, she went north to Yongzhou to join the army. In seven or eight years, she rose from a common soldier to an officer in charge of intelligence, earning military merits and honors. Her skills in interrogation were honed while questioning prisoners of war. At twenty-eight, she left the army due to an injury. It happened to be the time of the Ministry of Personnel's official selections, where low-ranking officials with excellent performance records and veteran clerks could apply, with no distinction between civil and military posts. She went to the capital with a letter of recommendation from her commanding officer, passed the selection, and was successfully appointed. She started at the Jingzhao Prefecture in a cyan robe of the Junior Eighth Rank and, on the strength of her case-solving abilities, was promoted to Judicial Adjutant of the Senior Seventh Rank.
She had been a soldier, and even after becoming a civil official, she retained a soldier's straightforward temperament. She admired Fang Jian's courage and was willing to befriend her. Fang Jian, new to the Jingzhao Prefecture, naturally wanted to form a connection with her as well. And from a more personal perspective, what scholar had not dreamed of throwing down the brush to join the army?
Before long, Xie Min and Fang Jian had become the closest of friends. Xie Min taught Fang Jian all she knew of interrogation, and Fang Jian, in turn, opened her heart to her.
"Shouci, criminals and prisoners of war are different, after all. It's best to leave some leeway in your actions," Fang Jian urged earnestly over drinks.
Xie Min laughed self-deprecatingly. "Linshen, you don't need to persuade me. I come from a humble background. It was a stroke of luck that I obtained this official position, and I don't expect to rise very high. I only hope to do some good for the common people by eliminating evil. That would be enough for me."
"But…"
"Don't try to persuade me, Linshen. It's my nature to despise evil. I cannot stand to see these wicked people ruin the lives of countless commoners for their own selfish desires." Xie Min was quite frank. "I believe that human nature is inherently evil. These wicked people must be made to know pain—pain so deep it's etched into their bones. Only then will they know fear."
"Shouci, do you have some hidden sorrow?" Fang Jian asked, puzzled, seeing her resolute attitude.
"It's not really a hidden sorrow." The words stirred something in Xie Min, a distant memory, and her gaze softened with nostalgia. "I once had a childhood sweetheart…"
Chuzhou was situated amidst the myriad mountains of the south, once a wild land of exile. The mountain paths were treacherous. In an ancient dynasty, a high-ranking official was banished here. Unwilling to let his years go to waste, he built a city among the mountains. The city attracted villagers to settle within its walls, and it slowly grew. The people of Chuzhou were descended from mountain folk and were exceptionally fierce. Even after leaving the mountains for other livelihoods, they remained martial and warlike. In a land that was seven parts mountain, one part water, and two parts field, there were few ways to make a living. Thus, military households were common, providing one of the best sources of recruits for the various border armies. A tradition slowly formed where the sons practiced martial arts and joined the army, while the daughters kept the home. If a son made a name for himself on the battlefield, the entire family would enjoy the benefits. If he fell on the front lines, the daughter would take a matrilocal husband to carry on the family line. It was a folk custom entirely different from other prefectures.
But since Emperor Yongchu had liberalized social customs, young women gained another path: entering officialdom through the imperial examinations. Their status in Chuzhou rose a notch. Furthermore, women could also join the army, which meant men could pursue other paths as well. Gradually, life there began to resemble that of other places, and there was more interaction with other prefectures.
Xie Min came from such a military household. She had studied both literature and martial arts since she was a child, but she repeatedly failed the examinations. By the age of twenty, she had only managed to become a low-ranking Prefectural Graduate. Her childhood sweetheart, however, was quite renowned for her talent. Before reaching the age of her capping ceremony, she had already become the Provincial Top Scholar and was about to travel to the capital for the examinations. Xie Min had wanted to see her off. But that same year, her father, seeing her lack of academic success, wanted her to join the army. The recruitment period for the Yongzhou army was not far off, and she had to prepare. Her sweetheart bid her farewell and went to the capital alone. They thought they were each setting off toward their own futures, but just a few days later, news arrived. Before she had even left Chuzhou, she was attacked by mountain bandits. The merchant caravan she was traveling with was plundered, and she disappeared.
Xie Min couldn't believe it. She searched the mountains like a madwoman, but the hundred thousand great mountains of Chuzhou were vast. She was like a single drop of water falling into a boundless ocean, unable to make even a ripple. A few months later, the authorities announced they had captured a bandit who confessed to robbing the caravan. He said that several of the young women were beautiful, so they had violated them before killing them and throwing their bodies off a cliff. Xie Min refused to believe it and searched for several more months, but she found no trace of her, dead or alive. Her sweetheart's parents accepted their fate and urged her to stop looking. She fell into a deep depression for a long time, and the following year, she went north to join the army.
"They… they couldn't even find her body?" Listening to Xie Min's low voice, Fang Jian couldn't help but feel threads of sadness herself.
"How could it be found?" Xie Min gave a bitter smile. "You've never been in the mountains, have you? The forests are vast and wild. If you didn't grow up in them, even finding your way is difficult. And there are countless cliffs like the one that bandit mentioned. I walked for over half a year, and I still can't say I searched everywhere. Perhaps… perhaps she's really gone."
"How utterly unpredictable life is…" Fang Jian lamented.
"If she were still alive, her achievements today would be no less than yours. She… she was brilliant, not dull like me, only good for manual labor." Xie Min broke the seal on a new jar of wine and drank deeply. "From that moment on, I've loathed all who commit crimes and break the law. Bandits, thieves, thugs… I'll kill every one I see!"
A cold glint suddenly flashed in Xie Min's hazy, drunken eyes, sending a chill through Fang Jian's entire body. In that instant, she finally had a clear sense of what a fierce warrior forged in blood and fire was truly like.
Knowing the reason, Fang Jian no longer tried to persuade her. Xie Min taught her with great dedication. But over time, Xie Min discovered that Fang Jian had her own obsessions. What Fang Jian seemed to despise were those who relied on power and influence to do evil. The capital was full of dissolute young scions who caused trouble all day long, though none of it amounted to a major case. Xie Min, having handled criminal law for years, was most annoyed by these youths. They couldn't be severely punished or interrogated, and their families would soon come to bail them out. These dandies came and went from the prison as if it were their own home, and the entire Jingzhao Prefecture staff treated them as if they didn't exist, as long as the victims were compensated for their losses.
But ever since Fang Jian became the judge, such cases were no longer handled lightly. Fang Jian's sentences were always the maximum allowed by law. If caning was an option, she would not allow a buyout. Not once did she overstep the law, and not once did she go easy on them. The dandies' families used all sorts of connections to plead their cases, but Fang Jian never budged. She was favored by the Emperor, and she adhered strictly to the letter of the law, so the Prefect and Vice Prefect could not say much.
Now, it was Xie Min's turn to advise her that it was better to avoid trouble.
Fang Jian asked, perplexed, "Shouci, you also despise evil. Why don't you approve of my actions?"
"These youths are just stirring up trouble. Brawling in the streets today, overturning a vendor's stall tomorrow, injuring a commoner the day after. None of it is really a big deal. At the end of the day, they haven't committed any heinous crimes…" Xie Min came from the military, where nothing was a big deal besides life and death. It was normal for soldiers to be fierce and combative, so she truly didn't think much of it.
"It's not a big deal, but does that mean it doesn't break the law? Do the common people deserve to suffer?" Fang Jian said. "Should the dignity of the law only be strictly observed by the common people, and not upheld by the powerful and noble?"
"This…" Xie Min could not answer her question.
"Someone once taught me that it's perfectly normal for people to have selfish thoughts and distractions. One doesn't need to seek a righteous mind at every moment, only to walk a righteous path. And the foundation of being an official is to be devoted to one's duty, to act according to the law and one's responsibilities in all matters. I do have selfish motives, but these motives do not violate my righteous path." As she spoke, Fang Jian's gaze was deep and resolute.
Hearing this, Xie Min knew that she, too, had a hidden pain she could not speak of, and she no longer tried to persuade her.
Author's Notes
Adding a setting detail: The military system of the Zhou Dynasty is a recruitment system. The Xie family's status as a "military household" means that they have been in this profession for several generations; it is not the compulsory, hereditary military household system of the Ming Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty places equal importance on both civil and military paths, creating a balance between them. Thus, the two are relatively balanced. A civil official can rise to the first rank, while a military officer can earn martial honors. The most highly regarded achievement is to be a general in the field and a chancellor in the court. There is no mindset of valuing the civil over the military. Military service is not a lifelong commitment; upon completion of a term of service, one can either continue to serve or retire and return home. Additionally, the setting of Emperor Yongchu's reign is somewhat like the Eastern Han following the Western Han; it is essentially the founding of a new era, so the channels for advancement are still quite open, and the conflict between civil and military factions is not very severe. Therefore, joining the army is still considered a good profession.
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