Chapter 7: Paying Respects to the Prefect of Liangzhou

Meng Changqing took a bath and felt a great sense of relief wash over her.

Thinking back, it had been a month since she last bathed.

She changed into clean undergarments and rummaged through her trunks to find a gray cotton-padded jacket she could pull on.

Bafang knocked on the door, carrying hot water. "Young Master, do you need more water?"

"I'm finished. Send the extra hot water to the Madam and the others."

"Very well, Young Master. Should I have someone bring up your meal?"

Meng Changqing opened the door. "I need to go to the Prefect's office to deliver my calling card." She straightened her gray cotton jacket. "Tell Brother Dai to hitch the carriage. I'll go out first and eat when I return."

"Oh, Young Master, why do you need to go in person to deliver a calling card? Can't I just run the errand for you?"

Meng Changqing took off the cloth she had wrapped around her hair to absorb the moisture. "That is my direct superior. As a subordinate, if I send a servant to deliver my calling card for my first visit, what does that imply?

It would be like telling him to clear his schedule and wait for me to visit. Is that reasonable?"

"I suppose that isn't reasonable." Bafang carried the bucket away as he spoke. "Wait here, Young Master. I'll go tell Brother Dai as soon as I finish delivering the water."

For her first meeting with her superior, Meng Changqing followed official protocol and prepared a gift for the leader she had yet to meet.

As she passed through the backyard, Madam Wen, who had just finished bathing, saw what she was holding and felt a pang of heartache.

"Madam," Liang Jiujiu said, supporting her. "Do you have something you wish to tell Changqing?"

Madam Wen shook her head. "What she is holding is a sword. It is the only thing her father left her. They... father and child never even met."

The General never knew that his last child was a daughter.

Even though she was a daughter, she had to shoulder the responsibilities of a son. She wondered if the General, in the afterlife, would blame her.

Thinking of this, Madam Wen’s expression shifted slightly.

Then again, he had no right to blame her.

It was his own pack of wolf-like relatives who forced them onto this path.

On the street packed with yellow earth, the courier drove the carriage while Bafang held the box containing the sword for Meng Changqing. "Young Master, we're going to see a superior for the first time, and we're giving him a sword. Is there some special meaning behind that?"

Meng Changqing was checking the calligraphy on her calling card. "Why are you the one following me? Where is Brother Dai?"

"The Madam and the concubine are still at the relay station, so Brother Dai naturally has to stay behind to look after them. I am your personal attendant; if I don't follow you, who will?" Bafang squatted down in front of Meng Changqing. "Young Master, tell me about it."

"There's no hidden meaning. I've never even met the man, how would I know what he likes? But based on the fact that he is a military man by trade, I suspect he likely prefers weapons over the Four Treasures of the Study.

The only decent weapon I have on me is this sword."

Meng Changqing closed the calling card and had Bafang open the box to take out the sword. "Don't let the scabbard fool you; the blade itself is extremely sharp."

She seemed intent on showing Bafang just how sharp it was.

She drew the sword, looking for something to cut.

Just then, the carriage jolted. The light filtering into the cabin shifted, catching the blade and reflecting a cold glint.

Bafang hurriedly pressed down on his Young Master's hand. "You'd better put it away." The cabin was too small; he didn't want to be accidentally injured.

As Bafang put the sword back in the box, he suddenly remembered, "Young Master, why do I recall there being four swords in your trunk?"

"There are four, but this is the only one that is mine," Meng Changqing said. "I can't give away my late brother's belongings."

"My Lord, we have arrived at the Prefect's office."

Meng Changqing stepped on the stool to get off the carriage and fished out a piece of broken silver to hand to the courier. "Thank you for your trouble."

The courier's eyes lit up as he took it. "Oh, thank you, My Lord! Thank you, My Lord!"

The main gate of the Prefect's office was wide open, with four yamen runners guarding both the inside and outside.

Seeing Meng Changqing approach, they stopped her as a matter of routine. "Who goes there?"

Bafang: "My Lord is the newly appointed Magistrate of Beishan County. We have just arrived in Liangzhou today and have come specifically to pay our respects to the Prefect."

"Beishan County?" The two runners who stopped Meng Changqing exchanged glances.

Meng Changqing caught the silent exchange between them.

"The Prefect is not in the office at the moment," the runner said.

Meng Changqing had anticipated this result. She hadn't expected to meet the man himself on her first visit.

She handed over her calling card. "This is my calling card. Please, trouble yourselves to pass it on."

A runner behind them who could read stepped forward. He opened the card, saw the character "Meng," and his expression changed instantly. "You are Magistrate Meng?"

"My surname is indeed Meng."

The runners suddenly became enthusiastic. "Magistrate Meng, please come in."

Two of them pushed open the side door and led Meng Changqing toward the inner office. "Our Prefect has gone out of the city to inspect the barracks and is not currently in the office. However, when he left, he gave instructions that if you were to visit, we must treat you with the utmost hospitality."

Meng Changqing kept track of the path they took and asked, "When will the Prefect return?"

By now, the runners had led Meng Changqing to a guest room. "The Prefect will return before dinner. Please wait here."

Fine, she would wait.

Meng Changqing calculated the time; from now until dinner, she would have to wait at least four hours.

Had she known this would happen, she would have eaten before coming.

She had expected this to be a simple matter of dropping off a calling card; she hadn't expected to be led into the inner office to wait.

This was Liangzhou, after all—a different breed of officialdom than the capital.

The wait lasted over two hours.

She had chewed up and swallowed the tea leaves in her bowl, and the Prefect still hadn't returned.

With no one returning and no snacks being served, Meng Changqing's stomach growled loudly.

It was so loud that Bafang couldn't help but advise her, "Young Master, why don't we head back and come again after we've eaten?"

"It's not a matter of us coming and going as we please." Meng Changqing plucked two leaves from a bonsai plant. "This is what they call a 'show of force' to humble a newcomer."

"But if we stay this hungry, won't you get sick?" Bafang asked. "Should I go out and find where the kitchen is to get you something to eat?"

"No, you cannot wander around."

Meng Changqing stood up and went to the door to observe. Sure enough, not only was there no one outside the room she was in, but the entire inner office was deserted.

By now, Meng Changqing was already speculating: whose faction did this Prefect, whom she had yet to meet, belong to?

A military man with a high rank—he couldn't be someone the Meng clan could reach, but one couldn't rule out that he might have been bought off by those scraps of influence.

It was also unlikely he was a member of the Xiao family. Since the Emperor had sent her to Liangzhou, it meant the Xiao family's reach did not extend here.

The sky grew darker, and no one came to light the lamps. It seemed they were determined to make things difficult for her.

Childish!

Just as Meng Changqing thought this, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

She sat up straight and signaled for Bafang to stand at attention.

Through the dim light, Meng Changqing saw a burly man walk in.

The man wore a sword at his waist and stood right in the center of the room as he entered. He must be the Prefect of Liangzhou.

Meng Changqing stood up. "Subordinate Meng Changqing has come to pay respects to the Prefect."

"Changqing." The burly man walked up to Meng Changqing, moved by emotion, and patted her head. "Why are you calling yourself Changqing?"