Chapter 160: Wolf's Den (Part 2)

"Open the door!"

Wang Lun walked up to the iron gate, took a key from his bosom, and handed it to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper also untied a key from his waist, and fitting the two keys together, he inserted them into the lock on the gate. With a sharp click, the lock sprang open.

"Valley Master!"

The gatekeeper suddenly straightened up, snapping his heels together sharply, his right hand raised forcefully above his head with his palm resting against his temple, his expression deadly serious. "Salute!"

Wang You was startled by the gatekeeper's sudden action, having no idea what this strange gesture meant.

"At ease! You've had a hard time!"

"It's no hardship at all! It is our greatest honor to serve and keep watch for the Valley Master!"

"Has anything happened during this period?"

"Reporting to the Valley Master, ever since your last departure, nothing has occurred. Everything is as usual!"

"Very good! Send someone to notify Wang Qun and tell him I have arrived and will be staying here for two days."

"Understood, Valley Master!"

Watching the iron gate behind him being locked once again, Wang You suddenly felt dust falling upon his head. He jerked his head up just in time to see a massive boulder slowly descending from above. Terrified, he scrambled out of the way, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Wang You could hardly believe his eyes. When the giant rock hit the ground with a booming thud, kicking up a cloud of dust, he realized it was actually a massive slab of iron, weighing at least tens of thousands of catties. It was even larger than the dragon-locking stone on the city gate of Zhending, yet it could descend completely silently. How could he not be terrified?

"This is the Wolf's Den, a true paradise away from the world. Fewer than five people know its exact location. Shall I show you around?"

It was only then that Wang You realized he was standing halfway up a mountainside, looking out at a gigantic valley. The valley was surrounded by mountains, with sheer cliffs soaring into the clouds, completely unscalable by human hands. The valley was an irregular semi-circle; viewed from high above, it looked like a clearing enclosed by several large mountains, about four or five li wide at its widest point and less than a hundred meters at its narrowest. The valley stretched for roughly a dozen li, with a winding stream running right through it, eventually plunging off a cliff to form a waterfall.

Standing within the valley, one could feel that the temperature here was higher than outside. The stream showed no signs of freezing, though the slow-moving water had shrunk considerably, exposing a broad expanse of riverbed.

Dusk was approaching. In the valley, aside from the howling of the wind sweeping through the mountain caves, only the gentle, murmuring sound of flowing water remained. Gazing around, Wang You noticed that at the foot of the mountain where he stood and on the distant slopes, there were many houses with peculiar architecture, from which faint points of light could be vaguely seen. Yet, in the open space of the valley itself, not a single building was visible. Could this really be the Wolf's Den?

It was somewhat different from what he had imagined, though for the moment, Wang You could not quite put his finger on what the difference was.

The three of them walked down the mountain along stone steps. The lush trees on both sides of the steps blotted out the sky, and patches of green alongside early spring flowers were already in full bloom. Multicolored wildflowers and golden winter plums vied for beauty, contrasting sharply with the desolate scenery outside the mountains. The temperature here seemed rather elevated, without the slightest trace of chill.

Overlooking all the lesser mountains, Wang You suddenly felt a surge of heroic ambition. Having followed Zhen Qian for eight years as his book boy, he had learned to read and write, mastering six or seven tenths of what Zhen Qian knew. This was no exaggeration; through constant exposure, Wang You's erudition was not inferior to that of ordinary scholars. However, status determined everything, and he was destined to remain merely a book boy.

"What do you think of this place?"

Zhen Qian's voice broke into Wang You's thoughts, bringing him back to reality. "Is this property belonging to the Zhen estate?"

"What do you think?"

Wang You did not know. Following the political purges under Empress Wu's tyrannical officials, prominent clans maintained a deep wariness toward the imperial court. To avoid the peril of having their households confiscated and their clans exterminated, families splitting up and expanding their branches had become an inevitable course of action.

"First Young Master's thinking is just like that of many great clans. To avert disaster and continue the ancestral lineage, this was a helpless yet necessary measure, wasn't it?"

"You aren't wrong to think so!" Zhen Qian did not seem to mind. Leading Wang You down the slope and rounding a bend, he caught sight of clusters of small cottages on the hillside. Pointing to the rows of dwellings beside them, he said, "From ancient times to the present, countless prominent clans have been submerged in the river of history. The fundamental reason is that they believed their own families could endure as long as the dynasty. But can any dynasty endure forever? The Qin perished with the Second Emperor; the Western Han lasted over two hundred years, and the Eastern Han endured for a similar span, followed by the contention of the Three Kingdoms, the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties. Then came the Sui dynasty, where Emperor Wen unified the Central Plains, only for Emperor Yang to abuse the populace and indulge in grandiose ambitions, causing the Sui to perish in just two generations. It has been thus through every dynasty. Can the Tang dynasty escape the fate of dynastic collapse?"

Hearing such treasonous and heretical words from Zhen Qian, Wang You froze entirely. A bitter taste lingered in his mouth, his facial muscles tightened, and he forced a smile that looked far uglier than weeping.

"You've followed me for eight years now, and you've read quite a few books. Do you know why I like reading *Records of the Grand Historian*?"

Wang You found himself utterly unable to keep pace with Zhen Qian's leaping train of thought. Once upon a time, Zhen Qian had merely been a clever and bright child, filial to his parents, well-versed in propriety, taking ancient sages as his role model, striving diligently to study the classics—a rising star of the new generation in the Zhen family. But ever since he fell from a horse and lost his memory, his behavior had turned bizarre. He frequently uttered things others found incomprehensible, his mind seeming to turn to mush. He even needed people to help him dress, his etiquette and manners became eccentric, and he would often stand alone in the courtyard in a daze. Less than half a year later, he had moved out of the Zhen estate to live in seclusion in Xiantai Village, Luquan County.

What on earth had happened behind the scenes? Even Wang You, who had constantly stayed by his side, could not explain it clearly. Yet now, upon hearing about this Wolf's Den, all of this was no longer a mystery.

There must be secrets here unknown to ordinary people. Wang You concluded that none of this was accidental, and the mystery was slowly being unraveled by his own hands.

"These houses...?"

"Were you going to say they look peculiar and rather strange?" The three of them walked slowly down the stone steps. Passing the dwellings on the hillside, someone standing by a doorway called out to greet Zhen Qian, "First Young Master is back!"

Zhen Qian waved at the woman by the door. "Mother Qian, are you living well?"

"Thanks to the First Young Master's blessing, life is comfortable. My family has enough food and warm clothing, and my child has gone to school to learn to read and write—how could I have any cause for dissatisfaction? I wonder if there has been any news regarding the letter the First Young Master sent through someone to my clansmen back home?"

"I've already sent people to make contact. They must be vetted before they can enter the valley; at the earliest, there won't be any news until after the New Year!"

"Then I thank the First Young Master in advance..." With that, she paid her respects with a matron's bow and added, "My daughter is getting married after the New Year. The First Young Master must come by our home to sit for a while and drink a cup of wedding wine!"

"Alright... I will certainly come if I have time!"

Although he knew he almost certainly wouldn't be able to attend the matron's daughter's wedding, he had no wish to dampen her high spirits, so he smiled broadly and bade her farewell.

Along the way, quite a few people ran out to greet Zhen Qian. Wang You didn't even have a chance to interject a word. Yet, he noticed that many of the slaves Zhen Qian had bought from the slave markets were completely devoid of their original despondency and decadence; they looked quite spirited, and some even wanted to drag Zhen Qian into their homes to sit for a while, though Zhen Qian politely declined them one by one.

"First Young Master, all these people originally ended up here. What if the authorities investigate?"

The slaves Zhen Qian had purchased were all registered with the government, and the phenomenon of runaway slaves occurred from time to time. When a runaway slave was caught, the light punishment meant being sold off all over again, and a beating was unavoidable; even if beaten to death, it was no great matter.

"If the commoners don't file a complaint, officials won't investigate. Better to avoid trouble than to invite it. Nowadays, runaway slaves are hardly uncommon, and the authorities don't bother verifying headcounts. Back when Yuwen Rong re-surveyed households and fields, he added eighty thousand households and increased tax revenues by ten percent, yet he was immediately ostracized and squeezed out by ministers in the court. Would you say that was merely an accidental occurrence?"

Wang You scratched his head. "First Young Master often says that harsh government is fiercer than a tiger. The reason runaway households appear lies entirely in harsh governance. Although the court levies taxes at a rate of one-tenth or one-thirtieth, once it reaches the local level, it turns into one-third or one-half. When the common people cannot bear the burden, they have no choice but to flee!"

"And what else?"

"The court establishes righteous granaries, and localities establish community granaries. Originally, these were meant for disaster relief and mutual aid, but in reality, they are used as a means to amass wealth and are diverted as military rations, increasing the burden on the common people. Then there is corvée labor. Even during the busy farming season, the authorities demand that households pay money to redeem themselves from labor service. With all sorts of miscellaneous apportionments levied everywhere, the common people are left with barely one percent of their harvested grain. Coupled with the joint-guarantee system, if one household flees, the others must bear its burden. That is why refugees fleeing from villages and communities have become so widespread!"

"Precisely so. Corrupt governance runs rampant, yet instead of striving to govern with vigor, they content themselves with pleasure-seeking. A drastic upheaval is right before our eyes!"