Chapter 874: Calculations

"Your... Your Highness..."

Peng Kai looked at the Prince in terror.

For a covert agent to reveal an expression like this at a moment like the present was, strictly speaking, a dereliction of duty.

Those standing above always hoped their subordinates, especially those who lived and worked in darkness, would possess absolute cold-bloodedness and deny even their own kin.

In the most literal sense, they wanted tools.

You should not possess emotion. Emotion would burden you. Everything about you should be devoted to Great Yan and to His Majesty.

There was a similar saying on the sunlit side of the world:

"If the sovereign wishes his subject dead, the subject has no choice but to die."

Fortunately, the Prince did not appear especially angry.

Some people climbed onto a divine pedestal. Even if they stood there only once, after the pedestal itself was dismantled they still found themselves unable to come back down.

Zheng Fan was different.

When he wanted to climb up, he climbed up. When he wanted to come down, he came down.

After wiping the blood and saliva from his face, Prince Pingxi smiled.

"Old Matriarch, your lungs are impressive. From this far away, you still managed to spit right into this Prince's face."

The old woman did not prepare a second mouthful. Instead, she pursed her lips and stared at Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan looked back at her. A faint smile still hung at the corner of his mouth.

An instructor at an academy became accustomed to sitting at the front and watching the students below complete their assignments. The people below might imagine themselves terribly clever, but from the higher position their little tricks could often be seen clearly.

"This old woman was confused," the matriarch said. "Truly, terribly confused."

While saying this, light flickered through her eyes.

At her age, not everyone possessed a broad view of the world. But wisdom concerning survival was something most had accumulated in abundance.

"You said you are a Prince?" the old woman asked.

Zheng Fan nodded.

"Yes."

"That Prince... Prince Pingxi?"

"Yes."

"A great man. A truly great man."

"Not too bad."

"I've heard that inside Yan, Your Highness stands beneath one man and above ten thousand?"

Zheng Fan shook his head.

"You have that wrong."

"Oh?"

"I stand level with that one."

"..." The old woman.

Zheng Fan turned toward Chen Xianba.

"Bring this Prince a basin of water."

"Yes."

The old woman moved her lips slightly.

"Your Highness."

"Old Matriarch, if you have something to say, say it directly. This Prince only just survived a catastrophe. I'm in a good mood."

The old woman smiled.

She turned her head and looked back inside the hall.

A plaque hung there.

Four characters written personally by the Qian Emperor:

COMMENDABLE LOYALTY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.

It was said that after the earlier defense of Shangjing, the court had bestowed many similar plaques.

But the old bastard of her household had always treated this one as a treasure.

A trace of desolation entered the old woman's eyes.

Then she turned back to Prince Pingxi.

"Before that old bastard died, he wanted to remove him."

The "him" naturally meant Peng Kai.

"And then?" Zheng Fan asked.

"This old woman stopped him. The old bastard said, 'This son-in-law, this adopted son, is either a man of extraordinary loyalty or a man of extraordinary treachery!'"

Chen Xianba returned carrying a basin.

While washing his face, the Prince said:

"Go on."

"I told him, 'Whatever this child may be, loyal or treacherous, his heart is at least warm. Unless driven into absolute desperation, he will preserve this family. At the very least, he will protect his own wife and children.'"

As she spoke, the old woman once again looked toward the Prince.

Zheng Fan had just finished washing.

"The Peng Family Manor can be preserved as well. This Prince will take the entire manor back into Yan territory. You can also settle in the Jin lands. In addition, this Prince can promise you something. In the future, when this Prince leads a great army back and takes this territory, one member of the Peng family may receive a noble title. Don't dream about a Marquisate or Countship, but this Prince can at least arrange a lower title inherited in perpetuity."

This was not empty boasting from Zheng Fan.

For a lower noble title, if he opened his mouth and asked Old Sixth Ji, there was no reason the man would refuse.

"This Prince can write the promise down here and now. I'll stamp it with my princely seal. The Peng family and this Prince can make the agreement in writing."

The old woman was a practical person.

Zheng Fan had already realized that from the moment he walked in.

Talk to her about state and righteousness?

She understood. Naturally she did. After all, she had once helped her husband build enough of a foundation to rise above ordinary men.

But what mattered more to her was this family.

From stirring up her daughter, to everything that happened earlier, to her rebuke of Peng Kai, even to that mouthful of spit in Zheng Fan's face, all of it had been a reminder.

A reminder of exactly how much the Peng family had already paid for this affair.

Before bargaining, shouldn't you first calculate the cost?

Only after the cost rose high enough could you ask for a higher price.

The old woman leaned on her cane and rose.

Her eyes were smiling, yet tears lay within that smile. Her body was still quite sturdy.

Step by step, she walked until she stood directly before the Prince.

"You truly are a Prince?"

Zheng Fan nodded.

The old woman suddenly dropped to her knees.

The movement came so abruptly that everyone around them was taken by surprise.

Chen Xianba and Zheng Man, standing nearest, instinctively worried the old woman might try to assassinate their Prince and prepared to move forward.

But what she shouted next left everyone present stunned.

Everyone except the Prince whose boots she was now clutching.

"Your Highness! The ancestors of my Peng family were exiled to Qian lands after committing an offense! When my husband was still alive, every night he dreamed of his old homeland! He dreamed of Great Yan! All he hoped was that the armies of Great Yan would one day fight their way here! Years ago, when Your Highness invaded Qian, my husband gathered the brave men of the Peng Family Manor and marched toward Shangjing, not to rescue that motherfucking Emperor, but to support the Yan army! Alas, the Yan army withdrew. My husband arrived too late! He never got the chance to join the righteous army of Great Yan. After returning home, he died of despair! Your Highness, Your Highness... you have finally come!"

Prince Pingxi bent down and helped the old woman to her feet.

She did not resist. She rose obediently.

The Prince held her dry, withered hand and patted it gently.

"You have suffered. This Prince, Great Yan, came too late."

For a moment, everyone present looked somewhat dazed.

Peng Kai, still kneeling on the ground, stared with his mouth hanging open.

His wife, clutching their two children, looked almost frozen.

Everyone seemed to feel that the rebukes and curses they had heard at the beginning must only have been a dream. But that dream had felt far too real.

The sudden transformation in the conversation between the Prince and the old woman treated everyone else present as though they were a room full of idiots.

But that was the real meaning of "pointing at a deer and calling it a horse."

It did not mean hiding the deer so nobody could see what it was.

It meant letting everyone look at it openly and still leaving them unable to do a damned thing about the fact that you called it a horse.

Did the old woman hate Peng Kai?

Yes.

Deeply.

Most of what she had said earlier had genuinely come from her heart.

But she had to face reality.

As the old matriarch of this household, she had to consider the survival of the clan.

The moment Peng Kai brought Yan soldiers, and more than that, a Prince of Yan, into the Peng Family Manor, the Peng family had already stepped onto a road with no return.

Either Qian would settle accounts afterward and destroy them, or they could only follow the Yan away.

And if they had to leave with the Yan, then they needed to sell themselves for a good price for the sake of their descendants.

The dead were already dead.

The living had to find a way to live better.

"Old Matriarch, your body still seems quite strong," the Prince said with a smile.

She nodded.

Then she looked at the son-in-law still kneeling on the ground and at her daughter behind him.

"This old woman has to hold on. I can't die yet. My daughter is stubborn and foolish. If I'm still here, at least she can be made to turn a corner. If I'm gone, with that temper of hers, I'm afraid..."

She looked at Peng Kai.

"My son."

Peng Kai hesitated for a moment.

Then he answered:

"Mother..."

"From this day forward, you are my true son. Truer than true blood."

"Yes, Mother."

"Then Old Matriarch should rest and take care of yourself. In a few days, we'll probably have to travel."

"Your Highness is an honored guest. My son, you must receive His Highness properly."

"Yes, Mother."

The Prince turned and walked out of the courtyard.

The Yan armored soldiers followed him.

Even the people who had been seized outside earlier were untied.

At this point, there was no longer much reason to worry about anyone informing the Qian authorities.

Even if word could be sent out, the Qian army would still need to gather enough troops before daring to attack.

Besides, Third Master and the others should arrive soon. Once Third Master arrived, Chen Yang's main force would not be far behind either.

They had entered openly.

Soon, they could leave openly as well.

Outside the hall, the old woman walked to her daughter's side.

Her daughter looked up at her in confusion.

She knew her mother had deliberately endured humiliation. She knew the old woman had only been bending with circumstance.

Yet she was still in pain.

Still grieving.

Smack!

The old woman slapped her daughter across the face.

The two children immediately began crying.

"Grandmother, don't hit Mother! Don't hit Mother! Wuwuwu..."

"Don't hit Mother, Grandmother! Wuwuwu..."

Because Peng Kai had married into the Peng family and even changed his surname, the two children were, in terms of ritual status, effectively the old woman's own grandson and granddaughter rather than outsiders through a married daughter.

"Min'er, when I had people summon you here, you came like a fool. Your father is already gone. Your two elder brothers are already gone. But when you came here today, did you think even once about these two children? They are surnamed Peng!"

"Mother..."

"You're already a wife and mother. Stop throwing yourself into other people's grudges without thinking of your own household. Did you truly plan to drag these two children here today and die together with me? You have a cruel heart and a stupid head!"

"Mother... Daughter..."

"I'm doing this for you, for these two grandchildren of mine, for the children your two elder brothers left behind, for your younger brothers, and for all these people in the clan surnamed Peng. Min'er, you are a mother, and I am a mother too. You have to endure. Endure properly. I'm not asking you to treat him as well as you did before, but stop being foolish. It isn't worth it. Truly, it isn't worth it. This time he saved that Prince. Once he returns, everything will be different. When the Peng family moves into Yan, we'll be like an old tree dug out by the roots and transplanted elsewhere. When that happens, who do you think this whole family will have to rely upon?"

"Mother..."

"See things more clearly. If your mother can see through it, what is there that you cannot? Once we migrate into Yan territory, mention something to him. Have these two children change their surname. Let them take his original surname."

"Mother, I understand."

"He's an orphan. He may not even know what his true surname really was. The surname he once used may not have been his parents' surname either. If you bring it up, he probably won't change theirs. But you still need to ask. In the past, our Peng family relied on your father. From now on, we will have to rely on him."

The old woman suddenly struck her python-headed cane against the floor several times.

Then she cursed:

"In the end, it's all because a bunch of damned men couldn't hold things together outside and let the enemy beat their way straight into our nest!"

...

"Many thanks, Your Highness. With this, this subordinate will be able to mobilize the members of the Peng family more smoothly, migrate them back to the old homeland, and protect Your Highness on the return journey."

With the old matriarch publicly endorsing the decision, relocating the household would unquestionably become easier.

The Peng Family Manor's armed force was not particularly impressive. It was somewhat similar to Yan's fortified-estate militias, but it did possess numbers.

The Yan army could fight.

What it lacked was manpower.

At a time like this, even a useless chess piece could not simply be thrown away. At minimum, it could still occupy one square on the board.

"The Old Matriarch herself knows how to bend with circumstances. But this Prince was thinking about something larger. During my first invasion of Qian, the Wen Clan in Chuzhou entered Yan and received high office and generous wealth. That is why, during this campaign, the officials of Lanyang and Chuzhou offered very little real resistance. Deep down, everyone already knows there is a road of retreat. At worst, follow us back to Yan. Keep being officials. Keep enjoying their wealth and blessings. This time, this Prince broke Shangjing. I'm afraid quite a few Qian people, especially the ones capable of seeing a little farther than ordinary men, have already started thinking: 'Could Great Qian really be destroyed by Great Yan one day?' Once that thought exists, once there is a road to retreat, people can no longer gamble their lives quite so easily. Your Peng family happens to be fortunate. This time, this Prince intends to raise you up as an example. After Shangjing's fall, the power of local militias and armed strongmen throughout Qian will certainly grow further. This Prince will hold up the Peng family for all of them to see. It will also give them another road to choose when the day comes that Great Yan truly invades Qian to destroy the state."

"Your Highness sees far beyond ordinary men. This subordinate admires you!"

"By the way, what was your original surname?"

"Reporting to Your Highness: this subordinate was originally surnamed Zhang. But I was an orphan in Yan lands from childhood, so for the rest of my life, I intend to remain surnamed Peng."

"That's fine too. No sense letting fertile water flow into someone else's field."

"Many thanks, Your Highness!"

"This Prince is tired."

"This subordinate withdraws."

The Prince returned to the quarters specially prepared for him.

He walked inside and dropped directly onto the bed.

Chen Xianba brewed tea.

Zheng Man came forward to light his cigarette.

Liu Dahu was not here.

At last, Zheng Man had the opportunity to light the Prince's cigarette, and he cherished that opportunity greatly.

A'Ming sat in a chair opposite them and laughed.

"Master really did look the part of an invader earlier, when she spat in your face. Heh-heh."

Obviously furious, yet forced to endure it. Forced to maintain a certain dignity. Forced to suppress the impulse to give one order and have everyone present slaughtered.

"Peng Kai is talented," Zheng Fan said.

"Oh? Master has taken a liking to him?"

"I genuinely have. In the future, I intend to expand the Brocade-Clad personal guards into a proper Brocade-Clad Guard organization. Peng Kai can be brought in to help Xue San."

A'Ming looked curious.

"Just because he saved us, Master decided that?"

Zheng Fan shook his head.

"From the moment he led the Peng Family Manor's troops out to rescue us until these past few days while we've stayed here, he had already completed a purge of the manor and taken control. The Secret Intelligence Department should have arranged some subordinates for him too and helped plant them throughout this place. So why do you think his wife was somehow able to release those people right under this Prince's nose and create that entire scene?"

"Master means he did it deliberately?"

"The Peng Family Manor's troops attacked the Qian army ferociously enough. That alone shows how much authority he has here. If everything outside had already been cleaned up this thoroughly, there is no reason his own house should suddenly produce an accident, especially while this Prince was personally staying here. Heh."

"Then Master, what was he calculating by arranging it? For himself? That doesn't make sense. He already earned the enormous contribution of saving you."

"He didn't expect me to tell him first that he could take the entire Peng Family Manor back with us. If he'd known that in advance, he wouldn't have arranged this show at all. Didn't you notice how he kept looking at me while he knelt there? He was terrified he'd added feet to the snake, accidentally caused a disaster, and been exposed and blamed by me. Heh-heh-heh."

"So does this count as womanly softness on his part?"

The Prince stretched.

"Womanly softness is good. If the man I place beside me to run the Brocade-Clad Guard is some truly iron-blooded, cold-hearted bastard, then I won't be able to sleep at night."

[End of Chapter 874]