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Chang'an roused itself from the depths of dark, heavy slumber. The murmur of voices rose gradually, and pedestrians began to bustle about. Fei Qian, too, led his personal guards slowly along the main thoroughfare. Rubbing his hungover, aching head, he intended to return to the post station, wash up, and rest a little before heading over to pay his respects to his teacher, Cai Yong. Perhaps he would also need to make a trip to the residence of Fei Min of the Fei clan.
From the night before, fragments of Lü Bu's rambling, disjointed words still lingered as vague impressions. Those might well have been the reason why Lü Bu had turned against Dong Zhuo. But, from the looks of it, Lü Bu did not seem to have gained any particular benefit—aside from that "Xiao Cao."
Suddenly, ahead, he spotted a group of soldiers standing at an intersection, even setting up barricades, as if sealing off the entire street. Fei Qian tilted his head, summoned a personal guard, and issued a few low instructions before continuing onward. Not long after, that guard hurried back, caught up from behind, and spoke in a hushed voice beside Fei Qian: "That was the site of the Chancellor's residence..."
Dong Zhuo had mostly resided at Mei Fort, so the Chancellor's residence was likely where Li Ru had conducted his official duties. Li Ru... In this entire affair of Dong Zhuo's assassination, he had taken no action at all? This was simply... The blood vessels at Fei Qian's temples throbbed painfully. Uncomfortably, he reached up and pressed his fingers against his temples to relieve the ache. For the moment, he could not process so many matters and only wished to return to the post station as quickly as possible.
Yet upon arriving at the post station, Fei Qian discovered that he could not enjoy even a moment's respite. The steward of the Fei household had been waiting inside the station the entire time, and the instant he spotted Fei Qian, he immediately attached himself to his side. Fei Qian had no choice but to half-bathe and half-sleep. As soon as the bathing was done, he was forced to rush over to Fei Min's residence.
Fei Min was already waiting outside his gate. Upon seeing Fei Qian, he even personally stepped forward, took hold of Fei Qian's horse's reins, and laughed heartily, exclaiming: "Here comes the thousand-li colt of our Fei clan!"
"..." Fei Qian dismounted. "I pay my respects, Uncle."
Fei Min laughed boisterously, linked his arm through Fei Qian's, and, while instructing the servants to prepare food for Fei Qian's personal guards, led Fei Qian straight toward the rear hall. Not only that, but once Fei Qian was seated, Fei Min also summoned his wife and two sons to come out and pay their respects, and was about to arrange a wine banquet.
Fei Qian hastily waved his hands. "Uncle, your kindness is deeply felt by your nephew. However, I drank through the entire night just yesterday, and today I must still go pay my respects to my teacher. Truly, I can drink no more now. I beg your forgiveness, Uncle. Some tea broth would suffice."
"Very well, very well!" Fei Min then ordered the servants to prepare some sobering broth and tea. He then settled in, beaming, and watched Fei Qian drink the sobering broth without speaking a word.
Fei Qian set down his bowl and said, "Uncle, is there something you wish to instruct your nephew on?"
"Ah, no, nothing," Fei Min said, waving his hand. He paused for a moment, then continued, "...I have yet to thank you, worthy nephew, for your guidance..."
With that, Fei Min actually composed his expression and cupped his hands formally toward Fei Qian, expressing his gratitude. To be honest, had it not been for the trouble Fei Qian had stirred up in Luoyang back then, Fei Min would not have felt it necessary to leave Luoyang himself to avoid drawing attention. He had followed right on the heels of Liu Xie's relocation of the capital, moving his entire household to Chang'an.
At that time, let alone officials of six-hundred-dan rank, even most officials of a thousand dan had not yet made any move. As one of the first batch of officials to arrive, he had naturally reaped considerable tangible benefits. Take, for example, the small courtyard residence where Fei Min now lived—by all standards, it was the sort of dwelling only officials of a thousand dan or above could inhabit. Moreover, a good deal of supplies had been allocated to him. Those who came later were, nearly without exception, in ever more pitiful straits. And in the end, those allocated supplies proved to be priceless beyond measure. Thus, in this expression of thanks, there was a certain degree of sincerity on Fei Min's part.
Fei Qian hurriedly returned the courtesy, refusing to accept the thanks.
Fei Min blinked, then leaned slightly closer toward Fei Qian with a chuckle, lowering his voice: "Worthy nephew... this time... do you intend to remain in the capital?"
"Why would Uncle ask such a thing?" Fei Qian replied.
Remain in Chang'an? I would have to have lost my mind to remain in Chang'an! One must understand that in the coming days, Chang'an would become a colossal whirlpool—once sucked in, not even one's bones would remain!
Fei Min, however, said: "Ah, is my worthy nephew still keeping it secret? Your uncle here has already heard all about it. You brought that auspicious omen precisely to extricate yourself from that posting in the bitterly cold and desolate land of Bingzhou... Only, I wonder, what post does my worthy nephew have his heart set on now?" The most important thing was whether you've properly cultivated your relationship with Minister Wang, wasn't it? Fei Min mused inwardly.
If Fei Qian's relationship with Minister Wang was truly as harmonious as it had appeared in the imperial court, wouldn't staying in the capital simply be a matter of a single word? If it truly came to that, he might very well have to live by watching Fei Qian's expression. Though somewhat unwilling, Fei Min knew his own family's situation well enough. His two sons were not particularly talented. If he could ride the east wind of Fei Qian's success to climb a little higher, that would be quite good. As for the position of Fei clan head—Fei Qian was still young, had no sons of his own yet, and had married into the Huang clan of Jing-Xiang. For the time being, he posed no immediate threat to Fei Min's position. Therefore, at this moment, Fei Min naturally wished to draw even closer to Fei Qian.
But Fei Min's words struck Fei Qian like an unexpected, muffled thunderclap, leaving him bewildered. Since when had he ever spoken of remaining in the capital? And how had such words even reached Fei Min's ears? He had only attended the grand morning court session yesterday, and then spent the entire afternoon and night drinking with Lü Bu. He had gone nowhere else, seen no one apart from Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, and that group. How could a rumor that he intended to stay in Chang'an have spread?
What in the world was going on?
Fei Qian furrowed his brow and shook his head. "The situation in Bingzhou is only just beginning to develop. I absolutely have no reason to remain in the capital! I wonder from whom Uncle heard such words?"
"Now that is strange... My worthy nephew truly never spoke of wishing to remain in the capital?" Fei Min was equally puzzled. "After yesterday's morning court, several people came to my door, and more or less all of them alluded to it somewhat..."
"Who?" Fei Qian pressed.
Fei Min looked at Fei Qian and said, "There was the Supervisor of the Court Receptionists, the Right Supervisor of the Feathered Forest Guards, and... the Right Deputy of the Masters of Writing..."
Fei Qian's eyelid twitched. No wonder his uncle, Fei Min, had assumed he intended to stay in the capital. The Supervisor of the Court Receptionists was subordinate to the Superintendent of the Imperial Household, and Fei Qian still held the nominal post of General of the Household of the Left Bureau under that very office.
The Right Supervisor of the Feathered Forest Guards belonged to the Imperial Guard responsible for protecting the imperial household. Most critically, the Right Deputy of the Masters of Writing answered directly to the Office of the Masters of Writing—and that office was now firmly in the grasp of Minister Wang, who presided over all governance. Could this be the intention of Minister Wang himself? Even Fei Qian, upon hearing this news, instantly had such a thought leap into his mind, to say nothing of Fei Min, who was entirely in the dark.
Had he truly decided to remain in the capital? No, absolutely impossible! Fei Qian spoke with resolute finality: "This matter is utterly out of the question. Your nephew's talents are shallow and meager. How could I shamelessly place myself among the ranks of the court's many worthies? Uncle, please do not bring this matter up again."
Fei Min eyed Fei Qian with a trace of suspicion and said, "Worthy nephew, by these words... is there something amiss with the capital?"
Damn! Fei Qian lowered his head. How in the world was he supposed to explain this?