Chapter 61: Setting the Rules

Chapter 61: Laying Down the Rules

The Mianzhou County Yamen sat squarely upon the central axis of Mianzhou County.

Upon the Sumeru bases flanking the Ceremonial Gate crouched a pair of stone lions, one male, one female. Embroidered ribbons adorned their necks, bells dangled below, and atop each head sat nine snail-shell curls. Mottled bloodstains marked their sharp claws, bared in a silent, roaring fury.

The base bore four dark-red characters woven from lamp strips: "No Grievance, Do Not Approach."

Passing through the Ceremonial Gate, one entered the main courtyard of the yamen.

The grand hall, fronted by a moon terrace, towered imposingly ahead; the side rooms to the flanks blazed with lamplight, the faint murmur of laughter and conversation drifting out.

"Boss Gu has likely not set foot in Mianzhou for quite a few years, has he?"

The speaker wore an indigo Confucian robe and a square flat-topped cap; his features were regular, his bearing scholarly.

"Magistrate Xu speaks the truth," Gu Yong’s face showed reminiscence. "When I accompanied Young Master Gu Xi on our travels years ago, I once visited Mianzhou. At the time, I even discussed the Confucian classics with the County Magistrate. In the blink of an eye, several years have passed; Mianzhou has changed enormously."

Xu Yue smiled. "Under the County Magistrate’s governance these years, Mianzhou has developed by leaps and bounds; the people live in peace and contentment. If Boss Gu has the interest, you are most welcome to invest and establish a branch here. The people of Mianzhou have long awaited Shu Dao Logistics to lead them to prosperity."

"With such magnanimity from Magistrate Xu, Shu Dao Logistics would be honored. Once this deal is done, I will send men to select a site and break ground."

"Then I must thank Boss Gu on behalf of the people of Mianzhou!"

Xu Yue beamed with joy, lifting the teacup from the low table. He turned his head toward the young man seated in the subordinate position to his left and proposed, "Registrar Yang, why don't you join me in toasting Boss Gu with tea in lieu of wine?"

The young man addressed as Registrar Yang wore an expression of stifled grievance, fists clenched tight upon his knees, unmoving, treating Xu Yue’s words as if they were wind.

A flash of severity crossed the depths of Xu Yue’s eyes. He set down his teacup and sighed. "Registrar Yang, I know you are unwilling. But you know the situation of the Yang clan as well as I do. Keeping that treasure in your family brings calamity, not fortune."

The young scholar gritted his teeth, his voice tragic. "Be it fortune or calamity, my Yang clan will bear it ourselves. The legacy of our ancestors cannot be handed over to others!"

"If the Yang clan could truly bear it, why must you, Yang Shuo, sit here today?!"

Xu Yue’s tone was flat, yet his words were like a keen, sharp blade, scraping the young scholar’s last shred of dignity clean away.

"An innocent man bears no guilt; it is the jade he carries that invites the crime. Yang Shuo, you are a scholar; you should understand this logic. The County Magistrate values your years of diligent service, which is why he sent me to preside over this matter for your clan."

"If you persist in twisting the Magistrate’s sincere protection, then this County Magistrate can simply wash his hands of it right now. What say you?"

Yang Shuo’s face turned deathly pale; the panic in his pupils was laid bare before the other two men.

"Magistrate Xu, please do not be angry. Registrar Yang is merely young and spirited, momentarily unable to accept this. How could he possibly twist the good intentions of the Magistrate and yourself? Am I right, Registrar Yang?"

Gu Yong laughed heartily, smoothing things over.

Yang Shuo bit his lip, his whole body trembling, yet he discovered with sorrow that he did not dare utter a single "no" to the two men beside him.

Xu Yue let out a displeased cold snort, drinking his tea unconcernedly.

"Registrar Yang, in truth, selling that treasure would be a good thing for the Yang clan."

"A good thing?" Yang Shuo’s tone was mocking.

Gu Yong’s expression was sincere. "Of course it is. Pardon my bluntness, but the decline of the Yang clan is an undeniable fact. For the clan’s scions to study and become Confucians costs a vast sum."

"Even the lowest-grade Six Arts Chip costs six hundred thousand baochao. A chip capable of supporting an advancement to Ru Rank Eight runs as high as one or two million."

Yang Shuo’s face flushed red; he opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Gu Yong.

"I know what Registrar Yang wants to say. But even if a scion of the Yang clan inherits the ancestral Zhuangyuan talent and advances on the Confucian Path by his own merit, the official road is treacherous. Without wealth as a sail, I fear one cannot travel a thousand miles to Jiangling and return in a single day, no?"

The light in Yang Shuo’s eyes dimmed; he closed his trembling lips in dejection.

The words the man spoke were the facts of the Great Ming today.

"Our Shu Dao Logistics Group has come with utmost sincerity this time. As long as you sell the Zhuangyuan’s legacy to us, you will receive two million baochao plus two top-grade Six Arts Chips."

Gu Yong’s smile was genuine. "This sincerity should be enough to support the Yang clan for two generations. If a scholarly seed emerges in that time, the Yang clan might yet regain its former glory."

The knotted resentment between Yang Shuo’s brows seemed to disperse slightly; he appeared moved by the price Gu Yong offered.

But just then, a cold, sinister voice drifted in from outside the door.

"And this counts as sincerity? Gu Yong, you brat, can't you do business without being so stingy? Even I find it embarrassing."

A middle-aged man strode in with large steps. His frame was gaunt, making the expensive brocade robe he wore seem loose and empty.

The man plopped down opposite Gu Yong with a golden-horse-knife posture, cast a meaningful glance at the leisurely tea-drinking Xu Yue, then turned to Gu Yong with undisguised contempt.

"That paltry sum you offered adds up to a mere three or four million, and you want to buy a man’s Zhuangyuan legacy? Your heart is too black."

The smile vanished from Gu Yong’s face. He leaned back, eyes lowered in a supercilious glare, his whole body exuding a choking scent of gunpowder.

"Wu Jinfeng, what price can your Tianfu Heavy Industry offer then?"

This tardy helmsman of Tianfu Heavy Industry ignored Gu Yong entirely, smiling at Yang Shuo. "Registrar Yang, no matter what Shu Dao Logistics offers, Tianfu Heavy Industry will add one million."

Undisguised killing intent surfaced on Gu Yong’s face. "Is this a bid, or are you looking for trouble?"

"Think what you like. Either way, this Zhuangyuan legacy leaves with Tianfu Heavy Industry today!"

"What big talk, you old dog Wu. Who do you think you are?"

Wu Jinfeng let out a strange laugh, the sound grotesque like a hyena howling in the night. His body suddenly lunged forward, like a ferocious, brutal hyena about to pounce and kill.

"Want to go soldier for soldier, general for general? Right here, right now? I’ll even let you have one hand!"

This mad dog!

Gu Yong’s face blanched; his body snapped taut.

"Boss Wu, this is the Mianzhou County Yamen, a place to relieve the people’s worries. If you and Boss Gu come to blows here, I fear it would look ill."

Xu Yue, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

"Oh? I wondered who was drinking tea here. So it’s Magistrate Xu. Since you’ve spoken, Magistrate, face must be given."

Wu Jinfeng looked at Gu Yong with a ruthless expression. "Boss Gu, you best not leave here today. Night falls, the roads are dark; I fear someone might rob the rich to aid the poor."

Being threatened to his face was an utter humiliation.

Gu Yong’s face turned unspeakably ugly. He could no longer maintain any Confucian composure and cursed, "I'll fuc—"

"Gentlemen!"

Xu Yue slammed his teacup heavily onto the low table. "You are both prominent figures of Chengdu Prefecture. If you make too ugly a scene, the reputations of your masters will be the ones damaged."

Though in the eyes of Gu and Wu this County Magistrate was merely a petty eighth-rank official, this was Mianzhou territory, and face had to be given.

Xu Yue rose to his full height, sweeping his sleeves back behind him, his gaze sweeping between Gu Yong and Wu Jinfeng.

"Originally, business goes to the highest bidder. But the County Magistrate knows the importance of the Zhuangyuan legacy to you both. To avoid unnecessary conflict, the Magistrate has ordered Registrar Yang to secure the item within the Yang clan manor. You may resolve the ownership yourselves." Xu Yue enunciated each word. "But there are two points both bosses must remember."

"First, regardless of who obtains the Zhuangyuan legacy, the Yang clan must receive eight million baochao. Be it coin or goods, not a single copper less! Otherwise, the County Magistrate cannot answer to his colleagues, high and low, in the Mianzhou Yamen."

"Second, no heavy artillery is to be seen within Mianzhou City tonight, and no ordinary civilians are to be harmed. This is the bottom line!"

Xu Yue turned his back on the two men. "Mianzhou curfew begins at the Xu hour. Gentlemen, each rely on your own abilities!"

Gu Yong and Wu Jinfeng had come to the Mianzhou Yamen today waiting for precisely these words. With the rules laid down, they could get to work.

As for the eight million price Xu Yue set, they had not the slightest objection.

The two men rose and left the Mianzhou Yamen, one after the other.

Moments later, only Yang Shuo and Xu Yue remained in the side room.

The Magistrate, who had borne himself with the profundity of an abyss and the steadfastness of a mountain peak moments ago, now wore a face full of lingering fear. He exchanged a glance with the Registrar, seeing the same expression mirrored in the other’s eyes.

“Many thanks, Lord County Magistrate’s Aide.”

Xu Yue shook his head. “No need to thank me. If thanks are due, offer them to the County Magistrate himself.”

“It was the old gentleman who bore the pressure of both houses to haggle on your behalf. See that you do not disregard his painstaking efforts.”

Yang Shuo clasped his fists and bowed deep. “Once the dust settles, twenty percent of the ceremonial fee—Yang Shuo shall present it with both hands!”

..............

Meanwhile, inside a black carriage parked on the street, Gu Jia, clad in martial attire, issued a cold command:

“Enter at the Hour of the Dog. Talk business!”