Chapter 292: A Father Pays His Daughter's Debt

After so many years as husband and wife, the Empress sensed that something was unusual.

She tested the waters. "Did Qingqing do something wrong again?"

"You're thinking too much." Hao Yuntu left those words behind, rose, and departed.

No one knew when Lady Pei would be found. He obviously could not sit there waiting for her to arrive. As it happened, Hao Qingqing and the others returned at around the same time, despite Hao Qingqing's reluctance to come back so early once she had left the palace. Before they even entered, Lady Pei ran into the men the emperor had sent to find her. She therefore entered the palace ahead of Hao Qingqing.

When she saw Hao Yuntu, the emperor was seated in a hall dealing with official business.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Lady Pei entered, stopped below, and cupped her hands in salute.

Hao Yuntu set down the document in his hand and looked up. "Qingqing ran off to watch the excitement again?"

Lady Pei answered respectfully, "Yes."

"That girl never grows up." Hao Yuntu asked, "How did things end at Flying Waterfall Terrace?"

Lady Pei replied, "Xuan Zichun, the challenger, was killed by a group Niu Youdao sent over..."

She recounted what had happened at the time, including Hao Qingqing's later visit to Niu Youdao's residence. Hao Yuntu smiled, seemingly a little interested. His interest, however, was not focused on how Niu Youdao had killed anyone. It was elsewhere.

"Qingqing and Huyan Wei went off together?"

Lady Pei knew perfectly well what interested him. There were certain things she did not know whether she should say. As a woman, she herself rather disliked Huyan Wei, but there were also words that were not hers to speak. So she offered a pointed reminder.

"Huyan Wei enjoys frequenting places of wine and women. The princess strongly dislikes that about him. Whenever she sees him, she rarely has anything pleasant to say."

Hao Yuntu fell slightly silent.

"Men can be understood in that respect. Huyan Wei has little to occupy him at present and is still young, so a certain amount of absurd behavior is unavoidable. Once he marries, establishes a household, and understands responsibility, he will naturally restrain himself."

"The circumstances of his family won't allow him to remain indulgent forever either."

"Third Madam, you stay beside Qingqing. There are certain principles you should explain to her more often. You understand what I mean?"

"Yes!" Lady Pei answered.

She had no intention whatsoever of preaching ideas to Hao Qingqing that she herself did not approve of. She would simply do what fell within her own responsibilities. Hao Yuntu's gaze rested on her somewhat deeply before he returned to the earlier subject.

"You said there were many cultivators watching at Flying Waterfall Terrace. How many?"

Lady Pei thought briefly. "Your Majesty, I don't know the exact number, but there were at least several thousand spectators."

"Several thousand..." Hao Yuntu murmured.

Then he asked, "All cultivators?"

Lady Pei replied, "They should all have been cultivators. Ordinary people would have difficulty reaching that place."

Hao Yuntu fell silent. Amid that silence, he waved one hand. Lady Pei bowed with cupped hands, retreated several steps, then turned and left. The hall grew quiet.

Hao Yuntu slowly leaned back in his chair and said, "Bu Xun, do you think the money that girl Qingqing owes should be repaid?"

Standing nearby was a slightly plump old eunuch with white hair. He stepped forward. This was Bu Xun, the man the emperor had addressed.

Smiling, he said, "It was something said in jest. It needn't be taken seriously."

Hao Yuntu said, "That girl Qingqing also promised someone one hundred thousand warhorses today."

Bu Xun gave a soft chuckle. "The princess is innocent and inexperienced in worldly affairs. A promise of one hundred thousand warhorses is even less something that can be taken seriously."

Hao Yuntu turned his head toward him. "Several thousand cultivators gathered at Flying Waterfall Terrace. What do you make of that?"

After accompanying the emperor for so many years, Bu Xun might not have been able to read his every thought, but he knew his master's mind extremely well. He seemed to understand something.

"Those are only the cultivators who went to Flying Waterfall Terrace. No one knows how many more are currently inside the capital itself."

Hao Yuntu said, "Exactly. Those were merely the people who went to Flying Waterfall Terrace. No one knows how many others are still in the capital."

"What are so many cultivators gathering in the capital for?"

Bu Xun said, "They should mostly be people sent by the various factions to seek warhorses."

"Isn't this gathering becoming a little too large?" Hao Yuntu said.

"A minor piece of excitement was enough to draw several thousand cultivators to watch. If something major happened, what then?"

"They're staging challenge matches right outside my own front door!"

"So many people with their own designs are wandering around my household. If something changed, if someone gathered a crowd and caused trouble, I'm afraid even the palace walls and guards might not be enough to stop them."

"It is about time we cleaned things up."

As he spoke, Hao Yuntu rose, walked around the long desk, and stepped outside. He stood beneath the eaves of the hall. Bu Xun followed close behind, watching the emperor's expression. Hao Yuntu stared ahead, his gaze deep.

After a while, he slowly said, "How can the dignified Grand Princess of the State of Qi fail to keep her word?"

"My precious daughter owes someone money, so I'll repay it for her."

"My daughter promised someone something, so I'll fulfill it for her."

"Who told me to be her father...?"

Night had fallen over a deep, secluded residence. Lights glimmered through the courtyards. A Moon Butterfly fluttered beneath the moon while Niu Youdao stood amid the beautiful scene, head raised toward the night sky. Black Peony approached holding several sheets of paper.

"Master Dao, these are the details on the households you're planning to visit tomorrow."

Niu Youdao lowered his gaze from the night sky. He had barely taken the papers from her when Duan Hu hurried over.

"Master Dao, Lady Pei has come to visit."

Niu Youdao looked curious. "What's that scatterbrained princess doing coming over this late?"

Duan Hu said, "The princess didn't come. It's only Lady Pei and Chai Fei."

Niu Youdao paused briefly. "Invite them in!"

Lady Pei and Chai Fei were soon brought inside. The visitors were shown into the reception hall and seated. Once tea had been served, Niu Youdao was still curious.

"May I ask what instructions bring the two of you here?"

Lady Pei smiled. "I wouldn't dare call them instructions. We came to see Brother Niu under orders from His Majesty the Emperor."

"The emperor?" Niu Youdao looked suspicious. "The emperor of the State of Qi has an imperial order for me?"

Lady Pei said, "You're not even a subject of the State of Qi. Why would His Majesty have an imperial decree for you? He sent us to negotiate with Brother Niu."

"Negotiate?" Niu Youdao and Black Peony exchanged a glance.

Both looked baffled.

Niu Youdao asked again, "Negotiate what?"

Lady Pei said, "His Majesty said that the dignified Grand Princess of the State of Qi cannot fail to keep her word. Since she owes someone money, the debt should be repaid. Since she made a promise, the promise should be honored."

"The two million gold coins the Grand Princess owes Brother Niu, and the one hundred thousand warhorses she promised Brother Niu, will all be honored by His Majesty on the Grand Princess's behalf."

"A father pays his daughter's debt!"

"..."

Niu Youdao and Black Peony were both speechless. It felt as though someone had clubbed them over the head. The surprise had come too suddenly and too violently. Two million gold coins.

One hundred thousand warhorses?

Niu Youdao found it difficult to believe.

"His Majesty the emperor of the State of Qi isn't joking, is he?"

Lady Pei answered, "An emperor does not speak in jest!"

Niu Youdao narrowed his eyes. "If His Majesty intends to honor the promises, then what does 'negotiate' mean?"

Lady Pei said, "It's like this. Brother Niu, you're an intelligent man. You should have noticed yourself that the princess often speaks without thinking. His Majesty has headaches over it as well."

"If one day the princess gets carried away and says she'll give the entire State of Qi to someone else, His Majesty obviously can't fulfill that promise too, can he?"

"So for His Majesty to simply hand over two million gold coins and one hundred thousand warhorses to fulfill the princess's promises is completely unrealistic. Brother Niu, surely you agree?"

Niu Youdao smiled. He lifted his tea and slowly took a sip, privately considering the purpose of this visit and what exactly her words meant. For the moment, he could hardly say he did not want such an enormous amount of wealth. Nor could he very well insist that they absolutely had to fulfill everything.

He tested the waters. "Then what does His Majesty propose?"

Lady Pei said, "Giving you one hundred thousand warhorses is impossible. That isn't realistic, and I imagine Brother Niu understands that."

"As for the two million gold coins, His Majesty would actually be willing to pay them. But taking out that much ready cash all at once would place pressure on the State of Qi's treasury."

"His Majesty means to compromise."

Niu Youdao asked, "What sort of compromise?"

Lady Pei took a roll of parchment from her sleeve, unfolded it, and pushed it across to Niu Youdao. Niu Youdao picked it up and looked. He discovered a stack of official permits authorizing warhorses to leave the State of Qi. There were ten permits in all. Each authorized ten thousand horses to cross the border.

Ten thousand horses!

As far as Niu Youdao knew, ten thousand was already the maximum quota allowed on a single warhorse exit permit. Ten documents meant one hundred thousand horses in total. Niu Youdao looked at Lady Pei in astonishment.

Pointing at the permits, he asked, "What does this mean?"

Lady Pei said, "The two million gold coins will not be paid. These permits authorizing one hundred thousand fine horses to leave the State of Qi are sufficient to offset the value of those two million gold coins."

"As for the money needed to purchase the horses themselves, Brother Niu will have to find a way to pay it."

"In this way, both of the princess's absurd promises are fulfilled through a compromise."

"What do you think?"

This was naturally something Niu Youdao could only dream of obtaining. Yet he did not believe such a wonderful deal could simply fall into his lap. He lifted the documents slightly.

"If I agree, these become mine?"

Lady Pei nodded. "As I said, an emperor does not speak in jest. I've already brought the documents with me. What is there for Brother Niu to doubt?"

"However, there are two additional conditions."

Niu Youdao said, "I'm listening."

Lady Pei said, "First, any promise the Grand Princess makes to Brother Niu in the future will not count."

"Second, once Brother Niu accepts these documents, we will make the settlement in writing. Brother Niu must formally acknowledge that he has received what was owed by the Grand Princess and that she no longer owes him anything."

"Brother Niu may not come to the Grand Princess in the future to collect any further debt."

"The first condition I just mentioned will also be written clearly into the settlement."

"Brother Niu, that's all there is to it. This can hardly be called using power to bully you, can it?"

"If you can agree, we'll complete the formal settlement right now."

"If you can't agree, then forget it."

"What do you say?"

Niu Youdao was genuinely confused. He knew nothing about what had happened inside the imperial palace and understood almost nothing about this emperor.

For such a benefit to suddenly drop onto his head while he possessed none of the surrounding information left him unable to make an accurate judgment. He was somewhat stunned. Yet no matter how he thought about it, the offer before him was an obvious advantage. There seemed to be no downside to him at all. In fact, he was benefiting far too much. But where beneath Heaven did such wonderful deals simply appear? Even he himself had never taken Hao Qingqing's promises seriously.

Had the emperor actually taken them seriously?

Niu Youdao hesitated. "Could you allow me two days to consider it?"

Lady Pei shook her head.

"Brother Niu, what I'm about to say carries no other meaning. I'm merely stating a fact."

Niu Youdao said, "Please."

Lady Pei said, "You need to understand your own identity and status, and then understand His Majesty's."

"His Majesty does not have the time or energy to slowly play games with you."

"This opportunity comes only once."

"Either you accept the conditions and complete the settlement clearly, or you issue a written statement right now voluntarily abandoning every promise the Grand Princess has made to you."

"You do not have the standing to bargain with His Majesty."

"At this moment, you have no third choice."

"If I leave this residence tonight without taking back the answer His Majesty wants, no one in this entire residence will live to see tomorrow's sun."

"You need not doubt that!"

[End of Chapter 292]