Chapter Fifty-Nine: It's You!

  It's hard to be an official in the Tang Dynasty, and the aristocratic families are still the main providers of court officials at this time.

  At this time, the so-called imperial examination, most of its quotas were held in the hands of aristocratic families. Many famous poets and talented scholars, over fifty years old, still couldn't get a single official position. Even if they entered officialdom, without the backing of an aristocratic family, it was impossible to become an official above the seventh rank.

  It's not easy for a commoner to stand out, but Yang Mingsheng has risen from a small official in the Ministry of Justice to the third-in-command in just a few years!

  Who is the Judicial Department's Deputy Minister? One more promotion and he would be the Deputy Minister of Justice, with only two positions above him - the Minister and the Deputy Minister. That would make him a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Yang Ming Sheng was not from a noble or aristocratic family, nor had he married into a powerful family. How could he have risen to this position so easily?

  Yang Fan had heavy doubts in his heart, but based on these alone, he still couldn't confirm whether Yang Langzhong was the person he was looking for. Yang Langzhong was a secretary of the Ministry of Justice back then and was a civil official. At the scene where the bloody case occurred, there was also a civil official present, apart from the Dragon Martial Army's soldiers, only one civil official.

  He clearly remembered the look of that official, he wanted to take a look at Yang Langzhong's appearance first, in order to decide on his next move.

  However, not many people have seen Yang Langzhong in person. Most people in the alley know Yang Langzhong's home, but few have seen him. Even the shopkeeper of Wu Houpu and the head of the alley haven't met Yang Langzhong himself. Given their status, even if they had business to discuss, they would only be qualified to exchange a few words with the manager of the Yang Langzhong household.

  The Yang family's power and prestige are too high for these ordinary people to see. Even the gatekeepers, like Yang Fan and Ma Qiao, who open the gate every day on court days, only get to see the chariot with four horses coming out of the Yang mansion.

  The next day, Yang Fan got up very early. This month was not his turn to open the gate of the workshop, and he didn't need to get up so early.

  Yang Fan casually found an excuse and first chatted with the gatekeeper of the open workshop for a few sentences, taking the initiative to help him buy breakfast. He rushed to Jiang Xuan's stall and bought two bowls of noodle soup. As he walked back, just as he was approaching the main gate of the Yang residence, the vermilion-painted gate opened on time.

  Yang Fan's gate was opened every day to welcome the officials' carriages on their way to court, and the Yang residence was just inside the first turn of the alley. The gate faced the crossroads within the alley, so Yang Langzhong knew exactly what time he would leave the alley every day. And Yang Langzhong's departure time had always been punctual, never early nor late.

  The door is open!

  The gate hinge of Yang's mansion must be well-oiled at all times, and when opening the door, it is quiet and soundless.

  When the vermilion gate opened, sunlight flashed across its surface, casting a faint crimson glow. Yang Fan couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.

  Several servants from the Yang family came out, lifted up the high threshold and moved it aside. A carriage with four horses slowly drove out of the courtyard. The carriage was surrounded by several proud and arrogant slaves as it headed towards the gate, while the servants behind put the threshold back in place.

  Yang Fan suddenly picked up the large wooden bowl and walked over.

  "Ouch!"

  Yang Fan shouted, as if he had just seen the Yang family's carriage and wanted to dodge, but in his haste, he tripped on the uneven ground and fell forward, spilling a bowl of noodles all over a proud slave's head and face.

  "Damn it! You little beast, this is outrageous!"

  That slave was furious and stretched out his hand to grab Yang Fan, but somehow his paw landed right in the greasy big bowl.

  "What? You're such an unreasonable person! I accidentally tripped and was about to apologize, but you started hitting me. Can people from powerful families really be so unreasonable?"

  Yang Fan stretched his neck and shouted.

  That rascal clawed at the air, his head and face covered in oil soup. Already filled with regret, he then heard him inform on others first, so angry that his whole body trembled, he went forward and grabbed his collar, wanting to punch him with his fists.

  Yang Fan immediately shouted loudly: "Come on, people! Fellow villagers come and see! The Yang Langzhong family is bullying people!"

  A group of bored onlookers gathered around, making a "hullabaloo", and Yang Fan immediately gained the enthusiastic support of the women: "This is outrageous! How can this be allowed to happen? Even those with power and influence cannot bully people like this..."

  "Stop!"

  That Hao Nu punched out, Yang Fan's hands covered his head, using his forearm to block the punch. That Hao Nu's second punch was about to come down when a stern shout suddenly came from inside the sedan chair.

  The bamboo curtain slowly rolled up, revealing a solemn face.

  Yang Mingsheng, in his forties, with a slender neck and a hooked nose like an eagle's beak, had a pair of sharp eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. He slightly turned his head, gazing out the window, his haughty gaze reminiscent of a vulture scanning for prey from above, inspiring fear in those who beheld him. Especially the two deep creases on either side of his nose made his face appear extremely cold and stern.

  "What's the matter?" Yang Langzhong asked coldly.

  "Alang (old master), this lazy rascal, splashed a whole bowl of soup water on me for no reason..."

  That slave hastily explained the situation to Yang Mingsheng, and before Yang Fan could speak, many people around them chimed in to help: "He was just careless, not intentionally trying to avoid your carriage. He's already apologized, what more do you want? Killing someone for a minor offense is excessive."

  Yang Mingsheng's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he withdrew his sharp gaze, saying lightly: "Let him go, you go back and change your clothes, wash up, today you don't need to accompany me to court! Go!"

  The bamboo curtain slowly fell down, covering his straight and upright body.

  Common people are like ants under his feet. If an ant climbs onto his foot, he will just flick it off. Who would get angry with an ant?

  The car drove away with a rumble, and the crowd that had gathered to watch also dispersed. The little ant that Yang Langzhong had overlooked remained still, staring in the direction he had gone, motionless.

  Those sunken eyes, that hooked nose like an eagle's beak, those sharp and cold eyes, that meticulous hair, especially the two deep nasolabial folds, were deeply attracted to his eyes like a magnet.

  A faint bloody shadow gradually emerged in Yang Fan's eyes, the scene before him suddenly blurred and then cleared. He seemed to see a lush green mountain valley, a village burning with great fire, bodies incomplete and broken, cries of despair and desperation, he seemed to see his sister running like a deer in the mountains, watching her head fly up...

  Various scenes revolved in his mind like a lantern, with the background always being Yang Mingsheng's infinitely enlarged cool and majestic image: sunken eyes, eagle nose, two deep frown lines.

  "Kill! Kill them all! Not a single one is allowed to escape!"

  That fierce and gloomy voice kept echoing in Yang Fan's ears, getting louder and louder!

  The blood, the fire, and the corpses were all drowned out by the increasingly loud voice, until only that sunken-eyed, eagle-nosed face remained, infinitely enlarged, covering the entire valley, undulating in the bloody flames, with deep, chasm-like wrinkles below, as the mouth opened and closed, bellowing: "Kill! Kill them all! Not a single one is allowed to escape!"

  Yang Mingsong, it was him.

  He is Yang Mingsheng!

  Yang Fan could never forget the appearance of Yang Mingsheng, at that time he was still young, he crouched in the grass, with a bunch of wild grass on his body, only exposing a pair of terrified eyes, what he saw was just this person, and this person's appearance had been deeply carved into his mind since then, countless times making him wake up from nightmares.

  Many years have passed and he rarely has nightmares anymore, but this image he hasn't forgotten, never has.

  Heaven is pitiful! That concave-eyed eagle-nosed cruel official was finally found by him!

  Who says there is no fate in the vastness of things? Is this not fate itself?

  "Big sister! Father and mother..."

  A faint glimmer of tears appeared in Yang Fan's eyes, he lifted his face, blinked a few times, and blinked away the tears.

  Then he lowered his head and walked back, a hint of a heart-stopping smile spreading quietly across his lips.