Chapter 478: Two Old Foxes

Over the past two years, the Sword Saint had come to understand one truth more and more clearly:

He only knew how to use a sword.

In every other respect, he had far too many weaknesses.

So he could not understand what Zheng Fan and Sun Youdao truly meant by shouting those few lines back and forth across the distance.

The literal meaning, of course, was easy enough.

When famous people became the subject of stories, the things that spread most widely were often their peculiar habits. And the more down-to-earth the habit, the easier it was to circulate, because the very people spreading the story were ordinary folk.

The saying that **Count Pingye had a taste for married women** had long since ceased to be any secret.

To people at the highest levels, his abduction of the Great Chu Princess was naturally a magnificent feat that exalted Great Yan’s prestige while humiliating another state.

But in the smaller taverns and teahouses, it had simply become another seasoning sprinkled into the gossip of peddlers, porters, and common folk.

What?

You still want to argue with me that all those stories about Count Pingye liking married women are malicious slander and baseless nonsense?

Then look.

Go on, look.

Why, of all days, did Count Pingye insist on waiting until the Princess’s wedding day before stealing the bride?

Of course, as Count Zheng’s neighbor, the Sword Saint knew what kind of man Zheng Fan really was.

Count Zheng had plenty of faults and certainly enjoyed life’s pleasures, but he had never allowed himself to sink into them. There was always a certain instinctive restraint in the way he sampled things and stopped.

So the Sword Saint’s instinct told him there had to be another meaning hidden inside that simple exchange.

What meaning?

He had no idea.

The Savage King, on the other hand, understood perfectly.

He had long since noticed that Count Pingye was the sort of man who never left empty-handed.

Put more crudely, even if he killed nothing more than a woodcutter, he would still crouch beside the corpse and pat it down. The chances of finding anything valuable might be almost nonexistent, but the procedure itself could never be skipped. The ritual had to be completed.

Earlier, when Count Zheng said that after the Sun Clan was exterminated he would gather up its women, what he really meant was:

*Your whole clan is about to be wiped out for treason. I have come here now. If you are willing to serve me as obediently as one of those enslaved women sent to the Imperial Music Bureau, then perhaps there is still something for us to discuss.*

And when Sun Youdao replied that he was searching for a set of head ornaments belonging to his old concubine to give Count Pingye, he obviously did not mean he intended to hand over his fifty-year-old concubine.

Even if he dared offer her, Count Zheng would never accept.

What Sun Youdao meant was that the old concubine represented himself.

He was already seventy and had retired from office, like a beauty faded with age. If Count Pingye did not despise this old body and still believed there was some use left in him, then he was willing to lower himself and serve.

The Savage King narrowed his eyes.

Two old foxes.

They could smell the fox-stink on each other from across the courtyard.

Count Zheng gave a soft chuckle and started forward, only to stop again.

The Sword Saint sighed, stepped ahead, and entered the hall first.

Only then did Count Zheng follow.

There was nothing wrong with being cautious.

He was no longer barefoot with nothing to lose. He had fought too hard to reach his present position. Naturally, he ought to cherish his good fortune.

Count Zheng had no desire for some Yan poet, years from now, to sigh:

*If only the Flying General of Snow Sea were still here...*

The sun was already sinking. No lamps had been lit inside the hall, so the room was dim.

Sun Youdao had not taken the seat of honor. He sat below it instead.

He had indeed grown old, but his body remained sturdy. Even sitting quietly, he carried a calm, weighty presence.

He had, after all, once been Chancellor of Great Cheng.

Count Zheng likewise ignored the seat of honor and sat opposite him.

The Savage King stood behind Count Zheng.

The Sword Saint sat off to one side.

“I have wanted to meet Count Pingye for a very long time,” Sun Youdao said. “There was simply never an opportunity. Who would have imagined that when we finally did meet, it would be under circumstances like these?

“This old man failed to teach his son properly. I have embarrassed myself before the Count.”

“Grand Tutor Sun is being far too polite. This Count has admired you for a long time as well. Since I finally had the chance to visit Yingdu, I naturally wanted to find an opportunity to call upon you.

“But you have already retired to enjoy your old age and refuse outside guests. With no other choice, this Count could only deliberately send some soldiers to offend your esteemed son’s household.

“I originally thought I might create a little misunderstanding, then use it as an excuse to visit Grand Tutor Sun and apologize in person. And look, here we are.

“Unfortunately... fate enjoys playing tricks.

“One careless collision, and we broke open something far larger than expected.”

The Sword Saint reached for a piece of preserved fruit from the table and ate while listening.

A direct conversation between two old foxes like these was almost like watching a high-level exchange of sword techniques.

Every sentence.

Every expression.

All of it contained metaphors, hidden gates, and subtle changes, each one enough to leave a man thinking long afterward.

Sun Youdao raised his wine cup toward Count Zheng.

“This old man will first empty one cup in apology.”

He drained it in a single swallow.

The Sun Clan had been holding a birthday meal earlier, so every low table still carried wine and dishes. The food had gone cold, but the wine remained.

Count Zheng watched Sun Youdao finish his cup.

He himself did not move.

Sun Youdao set down the cup and made an inviting gesture toward him.

Count Zheng shook his head.

“When I was young, my stomach was weak and I was always getting diarrhea. Later I learned my lesson.

“I stopped eating and drinking things outside my own home.”

“Hahahaha!”

Sun Youdao laughed heartily.

“Count Pingye truly is an interesting man. Frank and direct.”

When his laughter faded, his gaze shifted toward the Sword Saint sitting beside Zheng Fan.

He recognized Yu Huaping.

“A famous sword at your side and twenty thousand tiger-warriors in your hand. Such heroic grandeur makes even this old man yearn for it.”

“We can talk about the weather a little longer,” Zheng Fan replied. “Then the sunset. Then the stars. We can even discuss the romantic pleasures in Yingdu’s Red Tents.

“It’s fine.

“This Count has plenty of time.”

*I have time.*

*You do not.*

It was not truly an attempt to rush Sun Youdao.

It was a reminder of who controlled the conversation.

Sun Youdao nodded.

“There are certain things I simply did not know how to begin saying. It was not that this old man deliberately wished to waste time with empty pleasantries.”

“A friend of this Count once told me that in this world, so long as both sides bargain with genuine sincerity, there is no deal that cannot be made.”

“Sixth Highness?”

“Exactly.”

“Then this old man will speak frankly.

“My household is unfortunate to have produced such a rebellious son. I had already stopped asking for wealth or rank. I wanted only for the family to continue safely from one generation to the next.

“This old man dares ask the Count:

“Can the Sun Clan survive this disaster?”

This was Sun Youdao stating his price.

Business meant exchanging what each side possessed for what the other needed.

You needed something.

I possessed something.

I needed something.

You possessed something.

If one side could be matched, then even if the other could not connect perfectly, another way could always be found to close the gap.

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Yes.”

Sun Youdao immediately released a long breath without attempting to hide his relief.

“What does the Count wish Sun to do?”

Sun Youdao did not foolishly imitate his son and ask what sort of treatment the Sun Clan would receive if it survived.

Would the men be castrated and sent into the palace?

Would the women be consigned to the Imperial Music Bureau?

There was no need to ask.

The Sun Clan’s lineage was not especially numerous, but because of Sun Youdao it remained one of Yingdu’s foremost households. Though he had retired, his influence within the city remained enormous.

Otherwise, how could his crippled eldest son alone have linked so many different factions together and plotted rebellion?

The Sun Clan was not especially wealthy, so money was not something worth offering. Even if they produced silver, Count Pingye might not care.

Whatever Count Pingye wanted, whatever Sun Youdao could genuinely give him, required one premise:

The Sun Clan had to preserve its position and influence within Yingdu.

Otherwise, was Count Pingye supposed to go collect his debt from slaves in the Imperial Music Bureau?

The family had to survive first.

Only then could Count Pingye demand payment.

Sun Youdao understood that very clearly.

Under these circumstances, this was an unusually favorable transaction for him.

Because he would receive the goods first.

Count Zheng shook his head slightly.

“To tell the Grand Tutor the truth, this Count does not actually know what I want to buy.

“Coming to the Sun Residence today is a little like wandering through a Lantern Festival market.

“I’m only walking around.

“Only looking.

“When I left home, I had no particular item in mind.

“But if I happen to see something I truly like... then naturally I may be tempted to put it in my pocket.”

Sun Youdao nodded.

“Then allow this old man to sort through what I possess and see whether there is anything Count Pingye might find worth coveting.”

Zheng Fan merely smiled.

*I have agreed that the Sun Clan can survive.*

*But first you need to offer a price high enough.*

The Sword Saint suddenly felt that something so grave and lofty, after passing through the hands of this old man and this younger one, had somehow become no different from his wife going to the market to bargain over cloth.

There was an old joke among common folk that a farmer imagined the Emperor must eat twenty fried flatbreads every morning and live in unimaginable luxury.

Naturally, an Emperor did not eat twenty fried flatbreads for breakfast.

But when imperial sons fought over succession, stripped of all ceremony and grand language, was it truly so different from several children in an ordinary household fighting over the ancestral home?

The Sword Saint closed his eyes.

He stopped eating the preserved fruit.

These affairs really were unbearably dull.

The Savage King stood nearby, expression calm and body unmoving, while his mind worked furiously.

What price would Sun Youdao offer?

The Savage King loved reading people and was exceptionally skilled in political calculation. Naturally, he began placing himself in Sun Youdao’s position and working through the problem for him.

This was no longer Great Cheng.

Sun Youdao had already retired and withdrawn behind the scenes.

Even if the current rebellion were erased completely and the Sun Clan somehow escaped all implication, the family still did not seem to possess much that could genuinely attract Count Pingye.

First, Count Zheng’s position was already high.

Second, the Sun Clan was no longer the Sun Clan at its peak.

If all Sun Youdao offered was some vague promise like:

*When you rebel someday, our Sun Clan will cooperate from within.*

Then unless Count Zheng’s brain had flooded with water, the Savage King could not imagine him accepting.

Besides, Sun Youdao could not possibly be stupid enough to offer something so empty as his price.

That would not be bargaining.

That would be insulting the buyer.

And the consequence of insulting this particular buyer would be Count Pingye sweeping his sleeves and leaving while the Sun Clan waited for collective punishment.

Zheng Fan himself was waiting as well.

He did not know exactly what he wanted.

He was simply accustomed to trying his luck.

A lottery ticket cost nothing, and he had time to spare.

Why not scratch it?

Sun Youdao did not think for long.

He looked at Count Zheng and spoke.

The instant those words left his mouth, Zheng Fan’s gaze sharpened.

The Savage King’s lips parted slightly as well.

Both men had exactly the same thought:

*As expected of the man who once stood behind Situ Lei.*

Even the Sword Saint sitting nearby could feel that Sun Youdao’s offer had struck something important.

More precisely, it had struck directly at the Great Yan Count Pingye seated beside him.

Sun Youdao said:

“The court transports grain and military pay to Snow Sea Pass twice every year. Once around midyear and once near year’s end.

“The next shipment will begin soon.

“This old man guarantees the Count that beginning with this shipment, the grain and military pay sent to Snow Sea Pass... will be twice what it was before.”

Twice.

The transportation of military grain and pay had always been an enormous problem.

There were two primary sources of loss.

The first came from the chain of hands through which the supplies passed.

The second came from the cost of transportation itself.

The first type began the moment grain was collected from farmers.

It entered the county granary.

Then the prefectural granary.

After that it might be moved again to a larger central storage point for counting and consolidation.

Then it would either go to the capital or toward its final destination.

Once it reached that destination, it might again enter a central depot before being distributed downward.

And that was already the simplified version.

At every stage, someone reached in.

One person shaved off a layer.

Another shaved off another.

Layer after layer disappeared.

Then the local commander took a layer.

The officers beneath him took another.

By the time the grain finally reached the soldiers on the front line, keeping the pit in the fruit intact was already considered a respectable outcome.

Plucking feathers from a goose as it passed was hardly something unique to this world. Even in the age Zheng Fan had once known, completely preventing it had been impossible.

Then there was transportation itself.

Moving enormous quantities of grain required people.

More grain meant more laborers and more draft animals.

Those laborers and animals also had to eat during the journey.

So to reduce waste and maximize efficiency, the military supplies for garrisons throughout former Cheng territory were generally centralized through Yingdu.

Yingdu served as the region’s central hub.

Naturally, the quota assigned to each army was still determined by the imperial court.

“Twice?” Zheng Fan repeated.

He was tempted.

The twenty thousand elite cavalry Zheng Fan maintained at Snow Sea Pass were not supported solely by court grain and pay.

He also relied on the wealth accumulated through repeated plunder and on the commercial network now beginning to operate.

But if the official grain and pay doubled, then with that additional portion... supporting another ten thousand cavalry should be possible.

Naturally, the extra supplies would not magically transform into ten thousand men from thin air.

Silver and grain did not conjure soldiers.

But it was like a man who ate several extra mouthfuls of rice and therefore possessed a little more strength. After finishing his employer’s work, he still had enough energy left to go home and repair his own courtyard.

This was Sun Youdao’s caliber.

In such a short time, he had found a method of “buying lives” that struck Count Zheng directly where it mattered.

The former Chancellor of Great Cheng truly had not earned his reputation for nothing.

But Count Zheng did not respond immediately.

They were bargaining.

If you showed too quickly that you wanted something, you had already revealed your hand.

Besides, the lives of Sun Youdao’s entire clan were sitting in his palm.

Why should he be the one in a hurry?

Sun Youdao continued:

“My son serves as Transport Commissioner of Yingdu...”

An official title and the actual duties attached to it were not always the same thing.

Some offices sounded impressive but were essentially honorary.

Sun Youdao himself was an example.

His title of Grand Tutor of Cheng State was little more than an honor allowing him to enjoy retirement treatment at that rank.

Count Zheng’s title of Grand General of Cheng State was similar.

Cheng State no longer existed.

Whose army was he supposed to command?

Transport Commissioner, however, was a real post.

Its rank was not especially high, but the volume of affairs passing through its hands was enormous.

Eastern Cheng territory had always faced threats from both the Savages and Chu, and the main force of the Jingnan Army remained stationed in eastern Jin.

As a result, military supplies transported from the State of Yan, Quhe City, and Litian City into Yingdu were actually received by the Transport Commissioner.

Their redistribution afterward likewise passed through that office.

Military supplies had always been the lifeblood of an army.

Sun Youdao had once served as Chancellor of Great Cheng.

From the days at Zhennan Pass onward, Situ Lei fought at the front while Sun Youdao organized and transported military supplies in the rear.

Their partnership resembled that of the Duke of Pei and Xiao He.

After Situ Lei died, whether it was the First Prince or the Marquis of Jingnan commanding the Eastern Expedition Army, the military supply system had continued operating through Great Cheng’s original bureaucracy.

Back then, Sun Youdao had overseen the entire rear and removed every logistical concern for the Marquis of Jingnan.

Even Tian Wujing had once praised him.

So this field was not merely something Sun Youdao understood.

More accurately... the entire logistical apparatus around Yingdu was Sun Youdao’s own sphere.

The people above and below had almost certainly been appointed or promoted by him.

Otherwise, before retiring he could never have pushed his second son Sun Liang into the position of Transport Commissioner.

“Count, there are many garrisons throughout Cheng territory, and the quantities of grain and military pay received and distributed are enormous.

“But this old man is confident I can do what I promised.

“First, increase the inflow.

“When reporting requirements to the Great Yan court, the brush can move a little more generously.

“When receiving military supplies sent from Litian City and Quhe City, we can make the accounts for certain items and certain losses look a little uglier.

“Second, reduce the outflow.

“If the Count wants to eat his fill, if Snow Sea Pass wants to eat until it is stuffed, then the allocations sent to other garrisons will need to be tightened.

“Not enough to make them panic from hunger.

“Only enough to leave them sitting there simmering in resentment.

“This old man is confident he can judge that degree precisely.

“And third... clean up the base.

“Under the old practice, a city as large as Yingdu has enormous numbers of common people and officials who all require food and resources.

“Common people are simple enough. So long as they do not starve, nothing happens.

“Officials are different.

“If they eat badly and live badly, they begin creating trouble.

“So the same thing happens everywhere beneath Heaven.

“Military supplies arrive in Yingdu from every direction, then leave Yingdu again.

“During that transfer, a portion naturally gets distributed locally.

“That slice of meat... can be cut thinner too.”

Yingdu was essentially a miniature court of its own.

And at present, Great Yan did not even issue full military pay and grain to every garrison.

Naturally, the salaries of Yingdu’s officials and the far greater number of clerks beneath them were not paid in full either.

But a living man could hardly allow himself to be killed by a full bladder.

Whether a man wore a red, purple, black, or blue official robe, once he entered a yamen there were certain abilities he might lack.

The ability to scrape together money and benefits for himself was not one of them.

That was basic survival.

Hearing Sun Youdao’s third point, Count Zheng smiled.

Military supply officials tightening the necks of local garrisons was nothing unusual.

And so long as no war was being fought, every garrison could usually find some way to make up the missing portion.

But Yingdu itself was different.

“Does the Sun Clan still have the ability to cut into Yingdu like that?”

Sun Youdao nodded.

There was no trace of dejection in him now.

If anything, he seemed vigorous again.

“This rebellion has implicated an unknown number of people.

“Once the reckoning begins, there will be even more officials guilty of dereliction.

“Execute one batch.

“Demote another.

“An enormous number of official hats will fall empty.

“During that period of replacement, place more of our own people into those vacancies and seize the broad structure.

“Once that is done... making this third cut will become far easier.”

Standing nearby, the Savage King unconsciously licked his lips.

Hah.

This old man before him... truly deserved to have been his opponent years ago.

What shocked Gou Moli was not the method itself.

Suppressing enemies and promoting one’s own people was something anyone knew how to do. Some simply did it so crudely that everyone could see the ugliness, while others did it and somehow still left observers praising their impartiality.

What astonished him was the old man’s mind.

Only moments ago, the entire Sun Clan had stood beneath the shadow of treason and could have been overturned at any instant.

And now...

Sun Youdao had already begun treating the Yingdu rebellion as an opportunity to exploit.

It looked like nothing more than a simple shift in viewpoint.

But buried inside that shift was genuine breadth of vision.

“Count,” Sun Youdao continued, “beginning last year, the military supplies sent here by the Ministry of Revenue that were destined for Snow Sea Pass have all been marked.”

Marked meant someone above was watching that specific allocation.

If you wanted to skim from the military supplies passing through your hands, take your cut from somewhere else.

Do not touch this one.

If you dared touch it anyway... fine.

Then people above would come have a conversation with you.

In the world Zheng Fan once knew, it would have been called **earmarked funds for designated use**.

Naturally, Sun Youdao knew perfectly well who currently had the greatest influence inside Great Yan’s Ministry of Revenue.

He also knew what relationship that man had with the Count sitting before him.

There was no need to say it aloud.

At present, Sun Youdao had not yet earned that privilege.

“Count, with someone in the court looking after you from above and people below in the region working for you, Snow Sea Pass will never lack grain.”

Zheng Fan gave a faint nod.

So this was what you called... being fed from both breasts at once?

“Count, this old man will not waste words saying I am willing to become your hound or anything of that sort. There is little meaning in it.

“This old man has only one wish.

“I do not ask for my sons and grandsons to possess enormous wealth or rank.

“I ask only that the household be allowed to pass down peacefully.

“What this old man can do for the Count should extend beyond what I have said today.

“As for everything else...

“I ask the Count to watch and see.

“Consider it this old man’s sincerity.

“Sun Ying will be confined.

“He will be locked inside a secret chamber in the family residence and will never again be allowed to take a single step outside for the remainder of his life.

“As for my sons and grandsons...

“I will not pound my chest and make grand promises for them.

“Most of them are disappointments.

“They would find it difficult to accomplish anything useful for the Count anyway.

“This old man can guarantee only himself.

“For every additional day I remain alive, I will remember that the Count spared our lives.

“At the beginning, the Count said you had deliberately created an offense so that you could come to this old man’s door and apologize, giving us an excuse to meet and speak.

“Then allow this old man to return those exact words.

“Let us simply say the Sun Clan deliberately created this trouble too... so we could find an excuse to board Count Pingye’s ship.

“We do not ask for a berth inside the cabin.

“Half a spot on the deck... enough room to spread out a straw mat... will be sufficient.”

Count Zheng stood.

He stretched his body several times.

During a battle, his body was never fussy.

But in ordinary life, he was the sort of man who lay down whenever he could and leaned against something whenever possible. Kneeling there opposite Sun Youdao for so long had genuinely left him uncomfortable.

Count Zheng said nothing.

He simply walked toward the hall entrance.

The Sword Saint rose as well.

He honestly could not tell whether the negotiation had succeeded or failed.

Did Count Zheng need to go back and think about it?

But could one really “think about” a treason case?

For all he knew, every member of the Sun Clan might be thrown into the death cells before the night was over.

Sun Youdao, however, remained seated.

He did not ask what Count Zheng had decided.

He merely poured himself another cup of wine and muttered:

“This seventieth birthday of mine... has certainly been interesting.”

The Sword Saint looked toward the Savage King.

Gou Moli merely smiled and gestured for the Sword Saint to go first.

What a joke.

There was no possibility that the Savage King would explain anything to the Sword Saint right now, much less with Sun Youdao sitting within earshot.

That old man was another fox.

Simply standing here in silence, Gou Moli was confident Sun Youdao could not recognize him.

But if he spoke too much... who knew whether the old man might start guessing his identity?

Since the Sword Saint could not understand, he simply stopped trying.

He rose and left the hall with Gou Moli, following behind Zheng Fan.

In the courtyard outside, Sun Liang remained kneeling exactly where he had been.

His posture had not changed at all.

Sun Ying supported himself with both hands and lay on the ground.

Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and looked toward Count Zheng as he emerged.

Count Zheng’s expression was calm.

Sun Ying could not determine whether his father had struck a deal or ruined everything.

Sun Liang also lifted his head at that moment and hurriedly glanced once at Count Zheng before lowering it again.

His face was covered in tears and mucus.

Do not laugh.

One moment a family was happily celebrating an old father’s seventieth birthday.

The next, the entire clan faced extermination.

Any normal human being would break.

Count Zheng walked to Sun Ying.

Then stopped.

Sun Ying raised his head and met Count Zheng’s gaze.

Count Zheng spoke two words.

“Lower your head.”

Sun Ying opened his mouth.

Then slowly lowered his head.

“Kneel.”

Sun Ying said:

“Ying is crippled and cannot kneel. I ask the Count to—”

“Then prostrate yourself completely.”

Sun Ying turned his head and looked at his younger brother kneeling nearby.

He closed his eyes.

Then slowly pressed both hands, both feet, and his chin to the ground.

“This one pays respects to Count Pingye.”

A faint curve appeared at the corner of Zheng Fan’s mouth.

Then he said:

“Sun Ying of the Sun Clan secretly met this Count in advance and exposed the rebel faction.

“He then coordinated from within with this Count, allowing us to sweep up the rebels in one net and cleanse Yingdu of its treasonous miasma in a single stroke.

“This Count will submit a memorial to His Majesty... and request a reward for your meritorious service!”

————

[End of Chapter 478]