140: The Bounty
By the small specific accumulating reading at the dusk of the third week of the fourth moon of the twenty-second year of Da-ye, a peddler came up the path with the small accumulating *Sui-court's accumulating regional ledger* news.
He sat at the small banked fire of the *senior sub-officer's accumulating bench* at the master's clear ground. He drank a small cup of warmed water. He laid a small folded piece of paper at the bench.
He said in the small low voice: *Heizi-zhang. By the small specific accumulating reading at the past two weeks at my accumulating peddler-route through the small accumulating southern fold's accumulating tavern and at the small accumulating southern garrison's accumulating outer market — Pang Yu has, at the past three weeks, laid in the small accumulating *formal Sui-court ledger's accumulating bounty* at the regional Sui posts.*
He paused.
"By the small specific accumulating reading at the past two weeks — the bounty is, at the small accumulating *real* shape, at the small accumulating *senior-Yang-Tong-loyalist's accumulating campaign-supplement* shape. Pang Yu has — by the small specific reading I am giving — taken the *real defeat* of Lu Mengtai's *four hundred* at the past first wave at the small accumulating *political cost* shape. He has, by the small specific reading at the past three weeks — laid in the bounty at the small specific accumulating *naming the master* at the small accumulating *Yang-Tong-court's accumulating regional ledger* shape."
He laid the piece of paper at the bench.
"By the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — this is the small accumulating *peddler's copy* of the bounty's accumulating regional posting. By the small specific reading at the past two weeks at the small accumulating southern fold's tavern — the bounty has, at the past two weeks, been read at the small accumulating *Sui-court's accumulating regional posting* at perhaps eight regional Sui-loyalist posts of the southern Henan."
Heizi took the piece of paper.
He read it.
He read it twice.
The bounty was — by the small specific accumulating reading at the small accumulating careful Sui-court's accumulating *small specific official ink* — at perhaps a hundred and twenty characters in the small accumulating *Yang-Tong-court's accumulating ledger-style*. It said:
*By the small specific accumulating reading at the past three weeks at the southern command's accumulating campaign-eye — the small accumulating *upper-hills* sub-base of the small accumulating *bear-back's accumulating northern face* is, at the small specific accumulating *real* shape, at the small accumulating *political-and-military shape* of an accumulating *Wagang-recognized upper-hills sub-base of one-hundred-and-twelve under the senior-and-advisory shape of the accumulating Wén Déxiū, the formerly-Sui-magistrate-of-Hanzhou-prefecture and accumulating Sui-court-classicist of the past forty years' Sui-court reading*.*
*By the small specific reading at the past Sui-court's accumulating ledger of the past four years' accumulating Yang-Yichen's accumulating real-recognition* — the accumulating *Wén Déxiū* has, at the past four years, been at the small accumulating *recognized rebels-in-hiding* ledger at the small accumulating *advisory-shape's accumulating small specific responsibility* of an accumulating *upper-hills sub-base's accumulating real political reading*.*
*By the small accumulating reading at the past three weeks at the southern command's accumulating campaign-eye — the southern command, at the small accumulating *senior-Yang-Tong-loyalist's accumulating campaign-decision*, lays the small accumulating *formal regional bounty* of small accumulating *one-thousand strings of cash* at the small specific accumulating *living capture* of the accumulating *Wén Déxiū* and the small accumulating *five-hundred strings of cash* at the small specific accumulating *body* of the accumulating *Wén Déxiū*.*
*By the small accumulating reading I am giving — the small accumulating *upper-hills sub-base's senior-and-advisory* will be, at the small accumulating *living capture or body*, taken at the southern command's accumulating *real political recognition*. The accumulating regional Sui-loyalist posts will, at the small specific accumulating *real* moments, lay the small accumulating *real reading* of the bounty.*
*— Pang Yu, acting senior sub-officer, the southern command, the Sui-court at Luoyang, by the accumulating Yang-Tong-court's accumulating ledger.*
Heizi read it twice more.
He folded it.
He filed it.
He went to the cot's-side at the dusk.
He laid the bounty at the cot's-side bench.
He said in the small low voice: *master. The Sui-court has, at the past three weeks, laid the *formal regional bounty* on the master's accumulating real name at one-thousand strings of cash at the *living capture* and five hundred at the *body*. The peddler has the regional copy.*
Lao Wen at the cot looked up from the *Royal Regulations*.
He laid the book at the cot.
He took the bounty's accumulating peddler-copy.
He read it.
He read it twice.
He laid it down.
He looked at Heizi.
He said in the small low voice: *yes, lad.*
He paused.
"By the small specific accumulating reading at this dusk — Pang Yu has, by the small specific reading at the past three weeks, laid the small accumulating *political shape* of his accumulating *first wave's accumulating defeat* at the small accumulating *real recognized bounty*. By the small specific accumulating reading I am giving — Pang Yu's accumulating arithmetic is, by the small specific reading I am giving, that the *one-thousand strings of cash* will, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past four years, perhaps prompt at the small accumulating *Sui-loyalist regional villager's accumulating real-living-cost* the small accumulating *one* informer or the small accumulating *one* small specific accumulating *real-attempt-at-the-master's-hut* by an accumulating bandit-or-Sui-loyalist at the small accumulating *real living-capture* shape."
He paused.
"By the small specific reading I am giving — the small accumulating *real informer-or-attempt* at the small accumulating *one-thousand strings* shape will, at the small specific accumulating *real* moments, lay in. The cold-spring brigade and the *nineteen-and-master* at the master's hut are, at this dusk, at the small accumulating *real political shape* of an accumulating *recognized-bounty-target's accumulating real protection-arrangement*."
He paused once more.
"By the small specific reading I am giving — the lad will, in the next moons, lay the small accumulating *real watching* against the bounty-prompted accumulating informer-or-attempt. The bounty is, by the small specific accumulating reading I am giving, the small accumulating *real political news* the master had, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past four years, expected at the small accumulating *some unfound moment* of the past."
He looked at Heizi.
"By the small specific reading I am giving — the bounty is, at the small accumulating *real* shape, the small accumulating *Sui-court's accumulating *real* recognition* of the small accumulating *upper-hills sub-base of accumulating one-hundred-and-twelve under the senior-and-advisory of the master*. By the small specific reading I am giving — that is, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past forty years' Sui-court reading, the small accumulating *real* shape of an accumulating *late-Sui-political shape* the master has been, by the small specific reading at the past forty years, at the small accumulating *real-not-this-not-this* shape of."
He paused once more.
"By the small specific reading I am giving — the master has, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past forty years' accumulating reading, become at this dusk the small accumulating *real* shape of an accumulating *recognized rebel-political-target* of an accumulating *failing Sui-court at Luoyang*. By the small specific reading I am giving — that is, by the small specific accumulating reading at the past four years' political philosophy, the small accumulating *real* answer to the country's accumulating failure of Da-ye."
Heizi nodded.
He filed it.
He could not — at the small wooden stool — say more.
He laid one hand briefly at the cot's-side bench at the small accumulating *bounty's accumulating peddler-copy*.
That night Heizi at his watch sat at the small banked fire.
He listened.
The shape of the silence on this watch was — by the small specific reading at this evening — the shape of a small specific *senior sub-officer-and-apprentice* whose accumulating master at the cot had, by the small accumulating *Sui-court's accumulating formal regional bounty of one-thousand strings of cash at the living capture*, become at this dusk the small accumulating *recognized rebel-political-target* of the small accumulating *failing Sui-court at Luoyang*.
The lad's accumulating *real watching* — by the small specific reading at this evening — laid in.
He filed.
He sat his watch through.