236: Fifth Incarnation: Heavenly Physician (Twenty-Eight)

Almost at the same time, Xu Yuan also began consciously making contact with some low-level clerks.

This was mainly achieved through Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi's identity as a peddler was an excellent cover; he often needed to deal with local clerks and yamen gatekeepers, delivering small items like needles and thread while picking up news from the streets.

Xu Yuan taught him a set of talking points and prepared some soothing remedies for common "yamen ailments," such as lower back pain from sitting too long or bloodshot eyes and headaches from mental strain over documents.

"Accidentally" giving away these remedies, then "casually" complaining about how hard the times were and how difficult it was to do their jobs, often opened the floodgates for these clerks.

Being of humble status and exploited by their superiors, they knew the filth within the System intimately and were full of grievances.

From their mouths, Xu Yuan learned more about the dark secrets of tax collection, the tricks in legal litigation, the inflated prices of government procurement, and even the sordid habits and factional infighting of mid-level officials.

This information, cross-referenced and supplemented with intelligence obtained from military households and the impoverished, gave Xu Yuan a more intuitive understanding of the Decay at the grassroots level of the entire Great Xuan Dynasty.

His information network was like a plant growing two new roots of greater strategic value: one anchoring into the fringes of the surviving military System, and the other probing into the tips of the rotting administrative System.

However, just as this network was quietly expanding, a malicious breeze blew from another direction.

That day, Xiao Qi hurried back, his face somewhat tense: "Young Brother Su, in the East Market, a new 'Young Master Wang' has arrived, and he's also distributing medicine! It's said that his family has practiced medicine for generations, and he cannot bear to see the suffering of the common people, so he is offering free consultations. He uses top-quality medicinal herbs, and they take effect very quickly! Many people have flocked to him. And... the people following him, I recognized them as servants from Clerk Zhou's household."

"Young Master Wang?"

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

Distributing top-quality medicinal herbs for free?

This level of expenditure was not something an ordinary physician or philanthropist would undertake.

Combining this with Xiao Qi's later information—the "servants from Clerk Zhou's household"—he immediately realized that this was very likely another Disciple participating in the "Minor Derivation Dharma Assembly," who had chosen a path completely different from his own "grassroots infiltration": relying on low-level officials within the establishment to quickly accumulate influence through "doing good deeds" and "gaining a reputation."

"Did he say anything else? Or do anything else?" Xu Yuan asked.

"He didn't really say anything special, just treated patients and gave out medicine. However..." Xiao Qi recalled, "I have a brother who makes a living nearby who said he heard that 'Young Master Wang' chatting with Clerk Zhou, vaguely mentioning that 'the infestation of rats and ants must also be guarded against,' and also saying something about 'ignorant people are easily misled'..."

"Rat and ant infestation... ignorant people..."

Xu Yuan chewed on these two phrases, a cold smile forming in his heart.

It seemed that the slight movements in his "Rat Alley" had already attracted the attention of this fellow Disciple who had chosen the "upper-class route," and were even being viewed as a potential competition or threat.

The other party might not have fully figured out his background yet, but they had already begun to use their government connections to probe and suppress him—that remark about "ignorant people are easily misled" was almost a direct warning to his face.

"Young Brother Su, what should we do? That 'Young Master Wang' has good medicine, and with Clerk Zhou backing him, many people have..."

Xiao Qi was somewhat worried.

Xu Yuan walked to the window, watching a few women in the alley washing their clothes with boiling water according to the method he had taught them, and said slowly: "Good medicine? Free? There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. What he gives is 'medicine,' but what we must give is the 'method.' He seeks 'fame,' but what we want is 'hearts.'"

He turned around, his eyes calm and waveless: "Brother Xiao Qi, have your brothers quietly spread some words. Say this: Beware of pies falling from the sky, as you might choke on them; unsolicited great favors are likely to require something even greater to repay. Also, remind everyone not to forget the lesson from the moldy rice incident—when it really comes down to a matter of life and death, who is more reliable: that high-and-mighty 'Young Master' and 'Clerk,' or the neighbors next door who can dig pits to bury rice and boil water to brew medicine with you?"

"In addition," Xu Yuan paused, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, "investigate that Clerk Zhou. He manages the security and miscellaneous taxes in the East Market area; his hands certainly cannot be clean. Find those merchants who have been exploited by him and dare to speak up, and ask them carefully. Also, the 'top-quality medicinal herbs' that 'Young Master Wang' is using—their source is likely not ordinary either. We don't need to come forward for these matters; just let the rumors spread themselves."

Xiao Qi's eyes lit up, and he understood Xu Yuan's meaning.

This was to use their own methods against them.

The other party used "good medicine" and "official authority" to attract people, so they would puncture this superficial beauty, expose the underlying interest connections and potential costs, and simultaneously reinforce the legitimacy and reliability of their own "mutual assistance and self-rescue."

Without using force, without direct confrontation, they would only quietly add or remove weights on the scale of human hearts.

"I understand, Young Brother Su!"

Xiao Qi's spirits lifted, and he hurried off to make arrangements.

Xu Yuan sat back down under the oil lamp and opened his intelligence ledger.

Beside the scattered records about "Young Master Wang" and Clerk Zhou, he added a note: "They use profit to lure and power to coerce; I use reason to enlighten and affection to bind. The hearts of the people are like a scale; which is heavier and which is lighter will be seen in time. However, one must guard against them jumping over the wall like a cornered dog, using official power to act sordidly."

He knew well that this was just the first small collision. Other Disciples participating in the Dharma Assembly would certainly have their own means, and their goals might not be the same.

But regardless, the path he had chosen—to "gather sand into a tower from the dust"—was destined not to be smooth.

The words Xiao Qi spread, at first, were like stones thrown into a deep pool, causing only a few ripples.

The impoverished in the East Market still flocked to the "Young Master Wang" who had good medicine and was free. After all, tangible, top-quality medicinal herbs that could immediately alleviate pain looked far more tempting than the wild herb decoctions from "Rat Alley" that one had to identify and brew themselves.

Clerk Zhou was quite pleased with himself. Occasionally, when passing through the East Market in his small sedan chair, seeing the long lines at "Young Master Wang's" free clinic and the awe-filled gazes cast upon him by the crowd, he would twist his sparse beard and feel that this "investment" was very worthwhile.

This "Young Master Wang," who was mysterious in origin and generous with his spending, helped him win a false reputation for "loving the people," while the certain "conveniences" that "Young Master Wang" needed were merely a matter of raising a hand for him; both sides got what they needed.

However, small ripples would eventually spread.

First, the colloquial saying "beware of pies falling from the sky, you might choke on them" spread quietly among the women and children waiting in line for medicine.

Then, the story of how the government wanted to burn the alley during the moldy rice incident and how everyone saved themselves was passed by word of mouth by people visiting from "Rat Alley." The details were vivid, especially the question, "When it really comes to life and death, do you rely on the 'Young Master' and the 'Clerk,' or do you rely on your neighbors?" which triggered silent contemplation in countless dim shacks.

The real turning point occurred on a seemingly ordinary afternoon.

The peddler Xiao Qi "happened" to be resting in front of a struggling general store in the East Market, chatting with the sighing shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper complained about the new "City Appearance Rectification Donation" and "Fire Prevention Safety Fee" established by Clerk Zhou, which made it difficult for his small business to continue.

Just as he was speaking, a person who looked like a steward from Clerk Zhou's mansion swaggered in. He didn't buy anything, just dropped a line: "Before the end of the month, ten taels of 'tea money' must be delivered to the mansion," and then walked away.

The shopkeeper dared not speak out against his anger. Only after the person left did he curse in a low voice with red-rimmed eyes, even mentioning the ancestral, valuable jade pixiu he was forced to give at the end of last year to beg Clerk Zhou to let go of a batch of "contraband" goods that were actually just ordinary mountain products.

The speaker was "unintentional," but the listener was "intentional."