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It was easy to say that, once you saw a village, that you had seen them all. And why wouldn’t you? All communities needed food and drink to survive. The specifics of what was grown and where they sourced water changed things a bit, but the fact the village revolved around generating produce to feed themselves, pay taxes, and then trade made them all have broadly the same things. Like fields that they harvested. Houses that housed generational families. Rivers or wells that were never too far from any dwellings.

Roads.

Jun could go on.

It was the tendency of those above to dismiss those below, and the many similarities that made up the rural peasantry made it easy to bundle them all together. Yet, could not the same be said of every single Noble House? Of every Emperor?

Even of every Cultivator?

Surely even the Heavens shared aesthetics and ideas in kind.

Auspicious Fields had a number of small creeks that dried up during the summer but that swelled during the spring. Thankfully, underground bodies of water fed its sparsely forested areas and made just about every single family have a well of their own. Villages so removed from the Empire’s widely engineered waterworks would have to find solutions like these, Jun supposed, but that in practice actually made them different enough from other more “normal” villages that even a Noble like him would have to take note.

Even if only because they didn’t grow rice.

They couldn’t flood their fields when the time to do so was right, because water couldn’t be diverged here for a long time, so they didn’t bother growing rice. They could, of course, but then they’d be fighting pests and praying for rain. No, Auspicious Fields was one of the rare villages that paid their taxes in millet, instead.

And perhaps that was why the Spirit Beast had been attracted to it to begin with.

Bamboo trees grew tall in ample numbers around and even within the village. Not much brush grew at ground level as the tall bamboo trees occluded the ground enough that it was hard for bushes to spring forth, but some bushes still dotted the land here and there. The road, which Jun expected to turn into dirt at any second, was surprisingly still paved even as it went through the village, and stretched even beyond.

Before even getting there Jun had already begun seeing cleared fields starting to grow buds with semi-isolated houses here and there. But the collection of brick homes of the actual village hugged the main road, seemingly hidden inside a bamboo groove,

They arrived at mid-day the second day after they left Jun’s mansion, their early departure allowing them to make great time, with a delegation of surprised but happy villagers waiting for them.

They weren’t starving, there were no steely determined eyes, they didn’t even have weapons in their hands. Well, no, they had hoes and spades, but they had them at their sides as if they were what they were: agricultural tools and not improvised weapons.

But they were happy to see him.

Hmm.

“Young Master,” a wizened old woman who must have been….pretty enough in her youth welcomed him. She was dressed in light robes though it had been a surprisingly couple of hot days. She had beads around her neck as a long dress with wide sleeves covered her form. She had no walking stick, but Jun suspected it wouldn’t be too long before she had one, though she did walk slow and had what he could only presume were her grandchildren on standby to help her, “Truly, our town is named rightly to not only have gained your attention but also your welcome presence. I take our missive reached you then?”

Jun had been taken to the closest thing this village had to a traditionally Confucian residence: a square building with a private courtyard in its middle. Nowhere near as big as Jun’s, of course, but unlike his own this one had multiple generations of living in it. If nothing else, this is where a Village Chief would live.

Yet he had been taken to this old woman.

“This Young Master received it,” Jun confirmed, “That said, when you say ‘we’, do you mean your household?”

“Or do you mean you?”

“Oh, Young Master,” the old woman laughed, “Such sharp eyes the Yan have. This Fen Tao is indeed the Chief of these Auspicious Fields. Please, be welcome to our subservient village.”

Jun hummed his acquiescence as he went through the greeting paces. Female Village Chiefs were not the norm, of course, but they were hardly rare. Age, in many places, mattered far more than gender. Village Chiefs, in these parts of the Yan lands, were often hereditary, so the only real requirement that this Fen had was that she be a Tao.

Still, she didn’t bother writing her name on her message. A deliberate occlusion to get him to take the message more seriously…or an honest mistake from a rural rube?

Not that it mattered at this point, Jun supposed.

“Ah, to find that a Yan son lived so close to us was certainly Heaven-sent providence,” Miss. Fen half laughed and half cackled as women folk from her family brought tea over to them, “Yet how would that have helped if the Yan family weren’t so virtuous? Coming here on such a short notice must have been tiring, so please allow this Village Chief to show you some hospitality.”

“Indeed,” Jun took the cup offered to him and took a sip. Hmm, needed more honey, “This Young Master is, of course, merely fulfilling the responsibilities of our ancestors, yet he most nonetheless ask: How did you hear about me?”

Most likely, the gossip from the villages near his mansion had reached this village years ago. Gossip traveled for many leagues before being overtaken by more interesting things. At this point in his second life, he had been living in his remote residence for a couple of years so the bigger surprise would have been if the village hadn’t heard anything about him.

But why, why, send the letter this time around?

“How would we not hear that the honored Yan resided near us?” the old woman rhetorically asked, “The traders, hah, they might be worms, but even they know how important this news is.”

Jun internally sighed; evidently the old woman thought he was fishing for compliments.

Then again…what other reason would a Noble have to come to the middle of nowhere in person if not because they were quirky, to begin with? Was she thinking that it was better to err on the side of caution?

“Is this Young Master to assume that you didn’t have problems the years prior?” Jun leaned forward, “How many people has this Spirit Beast killed that you sent me a letter?”

“Ah, Young Master, this old woman-surely-,” Miss. Fen started to sweat, ‘We meant no disrespect!”

Jun blinked as he realized that he was intimidating the woman.

“Young Master,” Jianjun chose that moment to step into the courtyard, dutifully marching forth as his armor shook with authority with every step until he stopped just a foot from them, bowing in a martial salute, “Forgive this Guard Captain’s interruption, but he has talked with the villagers and I have a report to deliver.”

“Go on,” Jun leaned back and took another sip of tea. Fen did too, but she was evidently calming herself. Why was it so easy to make it a misstep like this? Shit.

“Nobody has been harmed, though they are very vague about their experiences with the Spirit Beast,” Jianjun said, “They are allowing the affected farmers leave to farm in other nearby farms till the Beast is dealt with, however, and I barely saw any idlers around.”

“W-well of course not,” Miss. Fen coughed, “We are a proper community here, after all! Letting people be quietly ruined when we still have room for them? Unthinkable!”

“It is, indeed, a pretty well-led community,” Jianjun shot the old woman a small smile that he obviously thought was respectful.

But that had Miss. Fen going upright as she tried to fan herself before realizing she didn’t have a fan with her.

“Ah, but where are my manners?” Jianjun bowed to the old woman, “This Guard Captain greets the Village Chief.”

“And this Fen Tao greets the charming Guard Captain,” the old woman preened as she gestured off to the side and one of her granddaughters put a fan in her hands.

“Thank you ma’am,” Jianjun sincerely said before he straightened and bowed to Jun.

Jun waved him down when he started to leave.

“Sit with us, Guard Captain,” Jun told him, “That is, if that would be amenable to the Matriarch of the house?”

Coming from him it wasn’t really a request but it was a way for Jun to give her face. And given that he had apparently been “politely” setting fire under her feet, he hoped that this would be taken as evidence that he wasn’t angry with them.

“Not at all!” the grandma now hid her mouth behind her fan, “This Village Chief would love servicing such a distinguished gentleman.”

Jianjun gave Jun a questioning look, but Jun waved it away.

“Now, Guard Captain Jianjun here is of the opinion that a Noble son must respond to the troubles that the normal folk cannot,” Jun waved at his Guard Captain who only looked more confused, “And I, driven by his chivalry, answered the call for a Spirit Beast the second I got it.”

“So gallant,” Miss. Fen fanned herself, though her eyes kept looking at the Guard Captain.

“Yet I cannot help but wonder how you knew I had such a righteous man in my retinue,” Jun, at long last, found a way to get around sounding accusatory.

Fen stopped looking at Jianjun for a few minutes as her lips thinned before she nodded to herself, “Truth be told, lord, I did not know such an exalted man worked for you.”

“Then?” Jun said.

“It…has been informed to us that you recently have taken up concubines,” Miss. Fen admitted, “Being a new family man, we thought it prudent to lay our worries with you before troubling your exalted father.”

Fu and Xia? That’s it? Jun got quasi-married, and now people thought he was, what, responsible now?

That’s it?

“Forgive us for giving insult with our presumptuousness,” the old woman bowed.

Sigh.

Jun gestured at Jianjun to say something.

“T-there is no need for forgiveness,” the Guard Captain spoke up, “As there is no transgression! Trusting that our mighty Jun Yan would not be anything but a magnamious Noble son? Unthinkable!”

“Worry not miss Fen Tao of these Auspicious Fields,” Jianjun stared her in the eye and a slow flush started to spread through her cheeks, “This daddy is here now, and we’ll take care of everything.”

“I…see,” Miss. Fen hid her mouth behind her fan, “Well, Guard Captain Jianjun, if you say so, I’ll have no choice but to believe.”

She held Jianjun’s stare for a while, just short of it becoming improper until Jun coughed.

“Forgive me, Young Master!” the old woman was quick to apologize.

“The Spirit Beast, what can you tell me about it,” Jun acted as if what had just happened hadn’t and, to the woman’s credit, she took the way out without a second thought.

“It holds, so the young men of the village say, the visage of a mighty and terrible Boar,” The old woman seriously told him.

“But it has yet to kill anyone?” Jun asked.

“Doubtlessly, there is a mountain of corpses behind it. But as for the young men of the villages around here? None have yet perished against it,” Miss. Fen replied.

“How impressive of them,” Jun hummed. It wasn’t like Spirit Beasts had to be mankillers to be a problem, but conflicts in the wild had an easy tendency to be deadly. Given the famed intelligence that Spirit Beasts had, if a whole village trying to fight it off hadn’t resulted in a single casualty, well, it could only be deliberate.

“The boys will surely gain face when I tell everyone the Young Master said that,” the old woman happily replied, “Point in fact, I never expected the Young Master to be this, hmm, this-”

“Heroic?” Jianjun broke with protocol and interrupted her with his suggestion.

“That is right, Guard Captain!” the Village Chief, however, came close to giggling instead of being insulted by it, “My, you’re not only a warrior but also a scholar.”

“Thank you?” Jianjun slightly frowned and Jun was starting to think that he might have sparked off something he didn’t intend when the Village Chief addressed him once more.

“Let me be Candid, Young Master: I only thought to let you know of our village trouble,” she said, “The fact that you came here in person? Me and mine will sing your praises to anyone that cares to hear.”

Oh.

Oh, no.

“Quite,” Jun downed the rest of his cup, realizing with a little bit of worry that unintended consequences might be hounding him once more.

But surely, by being this far from, well, anywhere, it couldn’t be that bad, right? As much as the Yan family tried to keep well informed about everything that goes on in their territory, so much never reaches their ears that they might as well be deaf! Some villages in the middle of the sticks talking Jun up? If that even reaches their ears, it must surely be interpreted as an attempt at kissing ass, right?

He didn’t tell his men why he was doing this, as he more or less relied on their ignorance to avoid making waves. Certainly, when they sent word back to Jun’s family it would look better than he intended, but hey, Jun had always been a temperamental quirky bastard. This wasn’t enough to establish ambition of any kind!

Right, right, this would be ok.

After all, the only person that could gainsay them was, well….Jianjun.

The Guard Captain who, through no fault of his own, had been forced to toot Jun’s horn. He was privy to the conversation that Jun had with the Village Chief.

He could spark the wrong attention on him.

“Say, Miss Fen Tao,” Jun put his cup back on the table and made to get up. Jianjun and the Village Chief followed after him, “This Young Masters believes the afternoon to be a fortuitous time, so he shall take care of the Spirit Beast now.”

“Does the Lord not wish to rest a bit first?” Fen offered, “Surely our village could provide entertainment for you and the men.”

Jun noticed that she was looking at Jun’s Guard Captain as she said it.

Sorry Jianjun, Jun thought to himself before he prepared to stab his so far loyal Guard Captain in the back.

“It would be rather rude of this Young Master to not at least indulge for a day,” Jun began by musing out loud, “Alas, I could not rest easily while a terrible monster is swallowing up your means.”

“The Spirit Boar has been here for a while, Young Master,” Fen dutifully replied, “A day more won’t be ruinous.”

Jun hummed in a way that showed he disagreed, when he snapped his fingers, “I know.”

“Guard Captain,” he seriously told Jianjun.

“Yes, Young Master?” Jianjun stood straighter.

“Enjoy the Village Chief’s hospitality while this Noble son takes care of the Spirit Beast,” Jun ordered him.

Both Jianjun and the Village Chief blinked.

“Come again, Lord?”

“Enjoy the fullness of what the village has to offer so that I can receive and give face after the fact,” Jun told him, “Act on my stead and receive whatever they give you in full, so that I can say that I did and that Auspicious Fields treated me well.”

“Y-Young Master, I could never be so bold as to rest when you are going to fight a vicious Boar!” Jianjun complained but the Village Chief, quite pointedly, didn’t.

“I have the rest of the retinue with me,” Jun gestured at the men outside.

“They aren’t worth any-” Jianjun began to say before remembering that he was speaking in the house of strangers,” -of the dishonor that would fall on their shoulders if I am not there to take the blame should a single hair on your head be harmed!”

“And I would be distraught if I insulted my host by not giving them the opportunity to impress,” Jun replied, “Though, if it helps-Miss Fen Tao?”

“Yes, Young Master?” she replied, only her continued silence having betrayed her eagerness.

“Treat my Guard Captain as his station calls for,” he padded Jianjun on the shoulder, “But don’t hold anything back.”

“This Guard Captain is confused as to how that helps,” Jianjun frowned.

“Being assigned to me, he’s been away with from all the soft and dignified female company he had back in his hometown,” Jun told the Village Chief, “I know well the loneliness men such as him have to go through to serve and, as a family Patriarch, it is a burden on my mind.”

“Please do whatever you can to remind him that Yan service does not mean denying himself,” Jun ended.

“What-” Jianjuun was about to ask.

“-Oh, don’t worry, Young Master,” Fen cut him off as she came to stand beside him. The fan was again hiding her mouth and she was looking him up and down, “This Fen Tao will personally take it upon herself to show him that, why, there is a life outside of service!”

“Y-young Master?” Jianjun desperately tried to keep his composure as the old woman lightly pressed herself against his side.

“See that you do,” Jun told her, “Do me proud, Jianjun.”

“Young Mast-AH!” Jianjun tried to call back but Jun simply walked out as one of the old woman’s hands seemed to lower into his behind.

Jun was sorry, he really was. But this was a world of ruthless amorality. As much as he liked Jianjun, Jun had to think of himself first and so, because he couldn’t have Jianjun reporting inconvenient things back to the Yan compound…he had to make sure that he would not report anything at all.

Even if that meant sacrificing him to the old woman.

“Alright men, let’s move out,” Jun told his men outside of the Village Chief’s house.

“Right away sir,” the men immediately dusted themselves as one of the men went to get the horses, “But, hmm, what of the Guard Captain?”

“He’ll be enjoying the Village Chief’s hospitality on my behalf while we get the Spirit Beast,” Jun told them.

All his men paused to share a look.

“...it’s just the head of mud village in the middle of nowhere,” one of the men said, seemingly to themselves, “It can’t be that good.”

“Yeah, what’s the Village Chief going to do, play Chess with him?” another laughed, but he sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.

“Miss Tao didn’t seem to have any Board games in her home,” Jun, who felt a little bad about what he did to his Guard Captain, piped up as he opened the door of his carriage, “The Village Chief seems rather rural all things considered.”

His men went quiet once more and Jun started to feel a little bit better about himself when the whispers started again.

“He’s gonna spend time with a married woman?” one of them said with disbelief.

“What a bastard!” another one swore under their breath.

“She’s actually a widow?” Jun tried again.

“...that motherfucker.” but that didn’t seem to help at all.

Jun thought about smoothing things over but, by how hard his Guards were gripping the hilts of their sheathed swords and the hafts of their spears, he decided….

No.

He didn’t want Jianjun to deal with attempts on his life, after all.