Chapter 323: Hating Iron for Not Becoming Steel

Niu Youdao said, "So you sold me out?"

Linghu Qiu cried injustice. "How can you call that selling you out? I didn't know what you and Bu Xun discussed. I was afraid even bluffing or brushing him off might contradict the facts. You knew what happened, so you knew how to handle him without making a mistake. I couldn't refuse him, so all I could do was bring him to you. Forget it. Are brothers like us really going to get angry with each other over something like this?"

He swept a broad hand through the air, signaling that the matter was over and neither of them should pursue the other's fault.

"Right. Wei Chu didn't look very happy when he left. He didn't seem to believe what you just told him. Was what you said true, or were you only brushing him off?"

"True." Niu Youdao looked up at the sky, still apparently irritated.

Linghu Qiu followed his gaze upward, saw nothing, and asked, "Why do I feel like you were brushing him off? Would a matter like reconciliation really require Bu Xun and that princess consort to come see you one after another?"

His doubts were the same as Wei Chu's. Niu Youdao sighed inwardly. As expected, no one believed it.

Outwardly, he said, "Some random person comes running over and asks me a question, and I'm supposed to tell him whatever he wants to know? Are you stupid, or am I? Second Brother, you know people everywhere. Look into this Wei Chu for me."

So he really had been brushing Wei Chu off!

Linghu Qiu sighed. "I'll investigate Wei Chu. But Little Brother, what exactly did you and Bu Xun discuss that has to be so secretive? Let me warn you: whatever you do, don't get dragged into the struggle over the position of heir apparent. Behind that struggle lies far more than secular imperial power. It also involves the interests of a great many cultivators. That's trouble we cannot afford to provoke. You don't even need to look far. You know what happened to Shangqing Sect. Prince Ning lost the struggle for supreme power, and you've seen what became of the sect afterward."

Niu Youdao looked back at him and said earnestly, "Second Brother, I'm not telling you for your own good. You'll naturally learn in time."

Fine. If Niu Youdao refused to say, Linghu Qiu could not force it. He knew the man's temperament and stopped asking.

Instead he changed the subject. "Hongxiu said you've been asking about Hongniang. How did you know I went to see her?"

Niu Youdao froze. "You went to see Hongniang?"

Linghu Qiu stared at him in surprise. "You didn't know?"

"You never told me. How would I know? Why did you go see her?"

Linghu Qiu chuckled self-mockingly. "It wasn't that I went to see her. She came to see me and lured me over to Fufang Garden. Only after I arrived did I learn she was acting as a go-between for Wei Chu. I got trapped by her too. But I can understand her situation. Once someone from Prince Jin's residence came looking for her, she had little choice."

Niu Youdao asked, "So you know Hongniang?"

"You could call us old acquaintances. Why are you interested in her?"

"I've been paying some attention to the situation in the Qi capital. This woman seems rather interesting, so I've become curious about her. I don't have much information on her. Since Second Brother knows her, why not tell me what she's like?"

Linghu Qiu shook his head. "There are things you can know about a person's face without knowing their heart. I don't know much either. Only the surface. We've never associated very deeply."

"Then tell me what you do know."

"Hongniang's real name is Guan Fangyi. How should I put it? When she was young, her relations with men were rather... disorderly. But she was exceptionally beautiful then, a rare, stunning beauty. She had no sect background, no one to discipline or restrain her, and with looks like hers she naturally faced every kind of temptation. It was easy for her to stray onto a crooked road."

"A beautiful woman like that would naturally find being praised and flattered in the bustling world far more pleasant than hiding in some remote mountain wilderness. With no strict rules or precepts constraining her, she lingered among the splendors of the red dust and eventually settled here in the Qi capital."

"When she was young and beautiful, there were many men around her. She lived quite grandly. Men fought and grew jealous over her, and several times people even died because of it. I've heard she tried more than once to marry back then, but her reputation was too rotten. The men around her were willing to play with her, but marry her? How could they?"

"I also heard that in her early years she met several men she truly liked. She nearly lived and died for them. In the end, people from those sects almost beat her to death, and she still failed to marry any of them. But think about it: how could disciples of famous sects or cultivators with real status marry a woman like her? Yet she refused to settle for ordinary independent cultivators. So the years simply dragged on."

"Later, as she aged, beauty faded and affection cooled. That was unavoidable. The men around her gradually drifted away. But this woman at least has some brains. She wasn't like those pretty faces with empty heads who eventually met miserable ends. She used the web of connections she'd built in her youth while she still could, and gradually established the influence that made her the 'Hongniang' of the Qi capital today. Her sort of success isn't something other people can easily imitate..."

Linghu Qiu rambled on, recounting what he knew about Guan Fangyi.

When he finished, he saw Niu Youdao looking genuinely interested and could not resist asking, "Little Brother, what exactly do you mean by being interested in her? Don't tell me your tastes are really that heavy?"

He had some reason for suspicion. Whether Black Peony or the twins Hongxiu and Hongfu, all of them were much older than Niu Youdao. Perhaps he truly did favor mature women. Besides, the man had admitted as much before.

Niu Youdao asked, "What's her cultivation?"

"I'm not entirely sure. By all reason she should at least be in the Golden Core Realm. In her younger years she never lacked cultivation resources. Who knows how many men placed treasures into her hands? I've heard there was even someone who offered a million gold coins merely to win a smile from her."

Niu Youdao asked, "Could everything known about her merely be surface appearance? Could there actually be another power behind her?"

"Impossible! If there is one, then it could only be the court of the State of Qi."

"Oh?" Niu Youdao asked. "Why?"

"It's obvious. When she was young, she was too chaotic. She stirred up trouble at the slightest excuse, and there was always a disorderly crowd of people around her. Whatever she did, someone was watching. What power would develop someone like that as an agent unless it wanted to invite trouble for itself? And look at what she does now. She's lived in the Qi capital for years, right in the heart of the state. It would be strange if the court of the State of Qi hadn't placed her under surveillance. What outside power would develop someone like her? From beginning to end, this woman has always drawn far too much attention to herself. She's not suited for work that can't see the light of day."

Niu Youdao smiled and lifted the sword in his hand.

"I've been in the Qi capital all this time and still haven't properly looked around. Second Brother, let's go. You can take me to meet this Hongniang while we're at it."

"Why provoke her? Wei Chu just went back to Prince Jin's residence, and who knows what he'll say? You should be thinking about how to handle that first."

"If Prince Jin's residence wants to touch me, it'll first have to weigh Bu Xun's side. At least here in the Qi capital, Prince Jin won't dare move against me."

Niu Youdao did not take that concern seriously. What he had told Wei Chu had been the truth. Once Prince Jin's residence verified it, they would naturally understand.

"What about the warhorses? You finally got rid of all the previous trouble. Are you not going to work on the warhorses anymore?"

"That can't be rushed. If I stay trapped here, where am I supposed to find an opportunity? I need to go out and move around if I want opportunities to appear."

As for the warhorses, Niu Youdao was no longer anxious in the least. He already held a trump card. Ten thousand warhorses could leave Qi at any time. What he needed to worry about now was what happened after those warhorses crossed the border. For the moment, however, he could not tell Linghu Qiu about that...

Inside the imperial palace, Bu Xun walked lightly into a hall and approached Hao Yuntu, who was bent over his desk reviewing documents. Bu Xun waved the other eunuchs serving inside the hall away, then stood silently nearby with his hands folded.

Without raising his head, Hao Yuntu said, "If you have something to report, speak."

Bu Xun bent slightly. "Prince Jin sent his subordinate Wei Chu to have Hongniang of Fufang Garden invite Linghu Qiu over. Afterward, Wei Chu and Linghu Qiu quietly went to Niu Youdao's residence together."

Hao Yuntu's hand froze over the document. Slowly, he raised his head.

"What are you trying to say?"

Bu Xun hesitated. Normally he should not speak ill of one imperial prince in front of the emperor. It could easily make Hao Yuntu suspect him of favoring one son over another, of taking sides. For a confidant at the emperor's side, that was a grave taboo. But Bu Xun feared someone might ruin the matter. If that happened, then hadn't he and Princess Consort Yu made their trip for nothing? So in the end he spoke plainly.

"This old servant and Princess Consort Yu went to see Niu Youdao. Prince Jin is now sending people to investigate the matter and find out what we discussed with him."

Hao Yuntu's cheeks bulged slightly.

Bang!

He suddenly slapped the desk and rose to his feet.

"Useless thing!"

He strode out from behind the long desk and paced back and forth through the hall, plainly furious. Bu Xun lowered his head, occasionally glancing up at him. He could understand the emperor's mood. Most matters were manageable. The things involving one's own children were often what truly provoked anger.

Hao Yuntu abruptly stopped in front of him and said sternly, "If he wants to know something, why doesn't he dare come ask openly? If it were something I could tell him, would I hide it from him? Why act in secret? Is the eldest imperial son of the State of Qi so lacking in breadth of mind?"

Bu Xun hurriedly tried to soften matters on Hao Qi's behalf. "Perhaps His Highness thought such a small matter wasn't worth disturbing Your Majesty over. It may have been filial consideration."

"Spare me that nonsense. You know perfectly well what's happening. Filial consideration? I see a selfish heart!" Hao Yuntu flung out one sleeve angrily. "Do not let him ruin this affair. Take my exact words to him immediately!"

He thrust one hand toward the heavens, voice swelling with force.

"Only a heart with the sun's forthright, masculine breadth can drive back the darkness! If one has only the moon's soft, yielding heart, then all it can do is breed demons and specters in the dark! An eagle should soar in the heavens—how can it crawl upon the ground?"

The anger in his voice was frightening. It was the furious exasperation of a father hating iron for failing to become steel.

This was his eldest son!

"Yes!" Bu Xun bent and accepted the order.

At Prince Jin's residence, Hao Qi listened to Wei Chu's detailed report with a taut expression. Hands clasped behind his back, he paced slowly in thought.

"Reconciliation? Bu Xun alone wouldn't be enough to discuss reconciliation with him? Princess Consort Yu had to visit him in turn too? And you believed that nonsense?"

Wei Chu said, "I raised the same doubt, but he insisted that was the truth. I didn't dare act rashly against him."

Hao Qi stopped. "Did you deliver my warning?"

"I did. He said he would never dare oppose Your Highness, but he still refused to change his answer."

"There has to be something strange here. He is definitely hiding something from me!" Hao Qi said bitterly.

Just then, a eunuch hurried over.

"Your Highness, someone from the palace has arrived with an imperial message."

Hao Qi's expression immediately turned solemn. Not daring to delay, he quickly went out to receive it. In the courtyard, he met three eunuchs bearing the emperor's message. Hao Qi ordered the proper ceremony arranged, but the leading eunuch quickly raised a hand to stop him.

"Your Highness, it is an oral decree."

Hao Qi hurriedly cupped his hands.

"This son respectfully listens!"

The eunuch said, "His Majesty wishes to ask Your Highness one question first."

"This son will conceal nothing."

The eunuch asked formally, "His Majesty asks whether Your Highness sent someone to investigate Chief Steward Bu and Princess Consort Yu going out to meet someone yesterday."

The expressions of both Hao Qi and Wei Chu changed sharply. Hao Qi's Adam's apple moved.

In the end he clasped his hands and answered with difficulty, "I did."

"Good. Now these are His Majesty's exact words. Your Highness, listen carefully."

Hao Qi bowed respectfully.

"Yes."

The eunuch spoke in a grave, solemn voice.

"Only a heart with the sun's forthright, masculine breadth can drive back the darkness! If one has only the moon's soft, yielding heart, then all it can do is breed demons and specters in the dark! An eagle should soar in the heavens—how can it crawl upon the ground?"

[End of Chapter 323]