Journey to the West: Starting from the Imperial Horse Stable

The next morning, Wang Chen arrived at the Imperial Horse Stable on time.

As soon as he entered the government office, he sensed that the atmosphere was unusual.

At this time of day, the offices would not be noisy, but people would be moving around and talking, preparing to start their day's work.

But today, the entire Imperial Stables was unusually quiet. The occasional officials walking along the corridor all had their heads down, their steps hurried, their faces expressionless, but their eyes were shifty, revealing a tension and unease that they were trying hard to hide.

The hay shed was mostly empty. Apart from Wang Chen, only two other old constables who were usually inconspicuous were there, quietly tidying up tools, rarely even exchanging glances with each other.

As usual, Wang Chen walked to his usual spot and began tidying up the items beside him. He spoke casually, his voice unusually clear in the excessive silence: "Why are there so few people today? Haven't Steward Liu and Li Changsheng arrived yet?"

Upon hearing this, the two old constables paused for a moment. One of them raised his eyelids, quickly glanced at Wang Chen, then lowered his head again, and mumbled, "Coming? I'm afraid he can't come."

"What's wrong?" Wang Chen asked, a perfectly timed look of confusion on his face. "What happened?"

Another older constable sighed, looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, and then lowered his voice: "Are you really unaware or just pretending? What happened last night was no small matter."

"Last night? Wasn't it Lord Bi Ma Wen who hosted the banquet?" Wang Chen's question seemed quite natural.

"A banquet? That's the problem," the old constable said, his voice lower but his pace quickening.

"The banquet hadn't even ended when that stable boy suddenly went berserk for some reason. He overturned the table, brandished a huge iron rod, and fought his way out of the Imperial Stables. I heard he even knocked it out of the South Heavenly Gate."

Wang Chen gasped, his eyes widening slightly. "Is that so? Then...then the esteemed guests who were at the banquet last night..."

"They're all done for!" The first old constable to speak chimed in, his face showing lingering fear.

"That monkey... the moment the弼马温 (Bima Wen, the stable boy) was thrown out, the officials from the Inspectorate and the Heavenly Execution Platform arrived, arresting every single one of the officials and their entourage. They said they were going to thoroughly investigate the details of last night's banquet and find out the reason why the monkey rebelled against Heaven!"

Wang Chen's face was filled with shock as he murmured, "How...how could this be? It was just a drink..."

"Want to have a drink?" The old constable shook his head. "Young Wang, you're still too young. This kind of thing, if you don't weigh it, it's nothing; if you do, it's a ton! That's a dignified stable boy, openly rebelling and going down to the mortal realm during a banquet in Heaven. Heaven hasn't had such a heinous case in years. Where will the Jade Emperor's face and the Heavenly Court's dignity be? How can we explain ourselves if we don't get to the bottom of this? Who was there last night? Who offered a toast? What did they say? What might have provoked that monkey...? All of this needs to be thoroughly investigated. Once you're in that kind of place, it'll be hard to get out unscathed."

His meaning was clear: most of those who were arrested would not be released.

Just then, a servant who had just come in from outside overheard their conversation and interjected, "Wang Chen, I think I heard someone say yesterday that Steward Liu was originally going to take you with him, wasn't he? How come you're alright?"

Wang Chen gave a wry smile and waved his hand: "Don't mention it. Yesterday, there was an urgent matter at the vehicle management office, and they insisted that I go to submit the expense report and verify the funds that night. I told the person in charge, but he said that official business was more important, so he didn't let me go. I never expected that this would happen."

He simply explained the situation, and the two old constables and the servants around him looked at him differently. According to this account, it should have been Wang Chen who was arrested yesterday, but unexpectedly, that brat Li Changsheng went to great lengths to get him arrested instead.

The servant said, "Yesterday, I overheard Li Changsheng bragging to someone that he used a little trick to leak your errand to the foreman, just so he wouldn't let you go and could monopolize the spotlight. Who would have thought that his wicked scheme would backfire so well, pulling you out of the fire? You've turned misfortune into a blessing in disguise!"

Upon hearing this, several celestial officials and servants who had been eavesdropping all turned to look, their eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions. There was relief, sympathy for Li Changsheng, and mostly a sense of awe that "this kid is really lucky."

"Wang Chen, your luck is truly unbelievable."

"Indeed, we narrowly escaped disaster."

"Back then, I must have been resentful towards Li Changsheng, right? Looking at it now, I should thank him."

Wang Chen quickly put on a humble and somewhat embarrassed expression, waving his hands repeatedly: "Please don't say that, everyone. How could I have imagined that such a big thing would happen later? I just felt that I had to do the job assigned by the supervisor well. Who would have thought, alas, now I can only hope that Supervisor Liu and Li Changsheng are safe and sound and return soon."

He spoke with sincerity, his face bearing just the right amount of worry.

An old official standing nearby, upon hearing this, couldn't help but curl his lip and mutter, "Coming back? That's unlikely."

The voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet environment, everyone could hear it clearly. Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions grew even more somber, and they lowered their heads to their work, saying nothing more. A sense of unease, a fear of being implicated, permeated the air.

Just then, footsteps, accompanied by some noise, came from the door of the hay shed.

"Wang Chen! Who is Wang Chen?" A celestial official dressed as a carriage driver stood at the door, his face not looking good, with two attendants behind him.

Almost simultaneously, several people approached from another direction. Leading them was an elderly man with gray hair and a gaunt face, the owner of the nameless shop in Xuanzhu Market last night. Behind him were two burly men with expressionless faces and heavy auras, clearly not easy to deal with.

The two groups bumped into each other at the entrance of the hay shed and were both stunned for a moment.

The official from the Imperial Carriage Office frowned: "Who are you, and what brings you to the Imperial Horse Stables?"

The old loan shark raised his eyelids slightly, ignored him, and scanned the room directly, landing on Wang Chen. He said indifferently, "I'm looking for Wang Chen to collect a debt."

The official from the Imperial Carriage Office frowned: "What a coincidence, I was also looking for Wang Chen. Liu Changyun, the head of the Imperial Horse Stables' fodder room, was detained last night. Our office is worried that the fodder funds allocated yesterday may have been lost, so we came to inquire!"

He turned to Wang Chen, his tone stern, "Wang Chen, did you collect 20,000 spirit stones from our department yesterday? Where are you now?"

All eyes in the room immediately focused on Wang Chen.

Wang Chen calmly stepped forward, first bowing to the celestial official in charge of the carriage, then nodding to the old loan shark, his face showing a mixture of helplessness and composure.

"You two have come at the right time. I did receive the funds yesterday and brought them back. As for the debt this old gentleman mentioned..."

He looked at the old loan shark and said, "I was just doing things on your behalf yesterday; the money has already been handed over to Manager Liu."

The official in charge of the carriages asked urgently, "Where's the money? Who has it now?"

The old loan shark coldly retorted, "Boy, words are meaningless. You say you paid, but Liu Changyun is in the Heavenly Prison now. Who am I supposed to ask? And where are those 72,000 spirit stones?"