HNYWEF -Chapter 34 The Emperor’s Art of Manipulation

The sixteenth day of the first month, Zhenguan Year One.

The New Year was basically over.

The streets grew lively again. Shops had reopened for business. Food stalls sent steaming heat into the air, cloth merchants hung up new fabrics and patterns, and vendors carrying hawthorn skewers wandered back and forth with straw targets over their shoulders.

The Zhou family’s blacksmith shop was open too.

Zhou Xiong stood before the long workbench, hammer in hand, forging a hoe.

Zhou Yi squatted by the doorway, scratching lines into the ground with a twig. After drawing for a while, he would look up at the people on the street before lowering his head to continue.

Footsteps came from the mouth of the alley.

More than one person.

Zhou Yi looked up toward the sound.

Cheng Yaojin walked in front, taking large strides with a grin on his face. Behind him followed two half-grown boys—one taller, one shorter. Both were sturdy and broad-faced, looking like they’d been carved from the same mold as Cheng Yaojin himself.

Zhou Yi stood up.

“Uncle Cheng!”

Cheng Yaojin walked over and rubbed his head.

“Little bear cub, what’ve you been up to these past few days?”

“Nothing much. Just helping my dad tend the forge.”

Cheng Yaojin nodded and glanced into the shop.

Zhou Xiong stood at the workbench, his hammer never stopping.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

Cheng Yaojin didn’t mind.

He turned and beckoned to the two boys behind him.

“Come here.”

The boys walked over and stood beside him.

The taller one looked eleven or twelve. The shorter one looked eight or nine. Both wore brand-new clothes, neat and clean, but there was a trace of stiffness on their faces—whether from shyness or from unease around the blacksmith inside, it was hard to tell.

Cheng Yaojin pointed at the taller one.

“This is Cheng Chumo, my eldest son.”

Then he pointed at the shorter one.

“This is Cheng Chuliang, the second.”

He patted both boys on the shoulders.

“Call him Uncle Zhou.”

Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang spoke together:

“Uncle Zhou.”

Zhou Xiong’s hammer paused.

Just once.

Then it continued striking.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

Cheng Yaojin waited for a moment. Seeing Zhou Xiong remain silent, he didn’t mind.

He stepped closer to the workbench.

“Bear Blindman, I didn’t bring them here for anything special.”

Zhou Xiong didn’t look up.

Cheng Yaojin continued:

“They’re young. Young people ought to spend more time around each other. Your Zhou Yi’s about the same age as them. If something happens in the future, they can look out for one another.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi stood at the doorway, looking at the two boys.

Cheng Chumo was looking at him too.

So was Cheng Chuliang.

The three of them simply stared at one another.

No one spoke.

Cheng Yaojin looked back at Zhou Xiong again.

At last, Zhou Xiong raised his head.

He looked at Cheng Yaojin.

For two breaths.

Then he nodded.

Just once.

Very lightly.

Cheng Yaojin smiled.

He turned and waved at the three children.

“Alright, go play by yourselves. Don’t wander too far.”

Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang answered and headed toward Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi turned back to glance at his father.

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

Zhou Yi followed the two boys and ran into the alley.

Their footsteps gradually faded away.

The smithy fell quiet again.

Only the sound of hammering remained.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

Cheng Yaojin stood beside the workbench, watching Zhou Xiong.

For quite a while.

Then he turned and walked outside.

When he reached the doorway, he stopped.

Without turning back, he said:

“I’m leaving.”

Then he pushed the door open and went out.

Zhou Xiong’s hand never stopped moving.

But he raised his head and glanced toward the entrance.

The door curtain was still swaying.

He set the hammer down.

So this was that man’s idea, wasn’t it?

Cheng Yaojin had already acted the part very well.

If he’d brought up Pei-shi too, I might actually have believed him.

He picked up the hammer again.

There was no helping it.

That man was the emperor.

Let him do as he pleased.

From now on, more and more children would come to my house.

Including those two.

He lowered his head and continued hammering.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.