Chapter 278: You Are Truly Mad (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 278 You’re Actually Crazy (Please Vote for the Monthly Ticket)

Where are the people from Asutai?

Liu Hong also wanted to know.

For so long, he had pressed the prefect’s office, sent soldiers to search the entire city, and even ordered his men to secretly investigate.

But what was the result?

Still no trace of him alive, no trace of him dead.

Asutai had vanished from the world like a phantom, leaving no trace at all.

Even the guard commander he had sent, Zhi Feng, had disappeared without a trace.

This made him increasingly suspect that Zhi Feng had hidden Asutai himself or sold him off for personal gain.

Yet these thoughts, Liu Hong clearly could not voice.

He stared at the frail old man before him and said in a low voice, “Did they pressure your lord there?”

The frail old man scoffed: “What do you think?”

“This matter was an accident. Who could have predicted that a hunt for the autumn wind would lead to catching the prince of the Black Bear Tribe?”

“But the accident has already happened.”

“Even if my lord and the other bandit alliances did not wish to see such a result, we must accept it.”

He stared at Liu Hong with a cold, venomous gaze and continued: “You are the only ally of my lord in Dali.”

“Moreover, you have traded with the barbarians, which is why my lord entrusted this matter to you.”

“You promised and received benefits, yet we still have not seen Asutai. Why is that?”

When Liu Hong heard this, he fell silent for a moment.

After a pause, he sighed and said, “Everything had gone smoothly. My men had already secured the prince.”

“But an accident occurred in the process. He was kidnapped.”

He paused, then looked at the frail old man with a serious expression: “Du Cang, I have promised this matter, so I will certainly take responsibility.”

“Give me some time…”

Before he could finish, the frail old man Du Cang raised his hand to interrupt: “No more time.”

“My lord only gave me ten days.”

“I will only give you ten days.”

“If you cannot give me an answer before I leave, I will have to bid you farewell.”

Liu Hong furrowed his brow and asked irritably, “Does your lord really intend to do this so harshly?”

“Hmph, it is not that my lord wishes to be cruel to you. Rather, the messenger from the left army has already arrived on the Tea and Horse Road.”

“If we cannot bring Asutai back this time, the entire Tea and Horse Road will be slaughtered by those barbarians.”

“Messenger? Who is it?”

“The disciple of Wen Ke La, Yuan Jingxuan.”

As Du Cang spoke, he let out a cold laugh and, with a playful tone, said to Liu Hong:

“You must be quite familiar with him, back in the great battle of those years…”

Liu Hong’s face paled, and he slammed his hand on the table, “Stop!”

Du Cang stopped speaking, but his expression remained as cold as before, staring straight at him.

The two locked eyes for a long moment.

Liu Hong took a deep breath, leaned back into his chair, and spoke with a hint of weariness:

“Let me go and wait for news.”

“I promise you, within ten days, Asutai will be delivered.”

Du Cang smiled upon hearing this and gave him a deep, lingering look: “As expected.”

“I, Du, believe that Lord Liu most values his promises. I will wait for you in the city for ten days.”

Liu Hong looked at him and asked, “What about Liu Five?”

“You need not worry. I will handle it myself.”

“Are you confident?”

“Hmph, a skilled gunman of the martial rank Middle Third, how could there be difficulty?”

As Du Cang walked toward the door, he continued: “Instead of worrying about others, you’d better find Asutai. That would be better for both you and my lord.”

Just before reaching the door, he paused, turned his head, and gave Liu Hong a strange smile.

“Du has one more message to deliver—your old friend is now not far from Shu Zhou.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Du Cang vanished into the study.

Liu Hong sat silently, watching him leave, and remained motionless for a long time before rising and moving to the window.

He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, and a cold, stern expression slowly crept onto his face.

“Landlord Ran…”

…

[Chance+12.]

[Comment: The formidable general Du Cang of the Perverted Peacock Flag Bandits and the imperial governor Liu Hong confront each other, with the latter bowing in submission.]

[No one has arrived, no sound has been heard, no scene has unfolded. The opportunity was bestowed by fate but not seized—a man of lazy disposition.]

On the other side, Chen Yi noticed the strange light curtain and raised an eyebrow.

Confrontation? Bowing?

Du Cang, the general sent by Landlord Ran, seemed to have treated Liu Hong differently this time.

If Landlord Ran himself had come, forcing Liu Hong to bow would be understandable.

But only one general arrived, and given their unequal status, how could he make Liu Hong bow?

This made Chen Yi think deeply.

“Does Liu Hong hold leverage over Landlord Ran?”

“Yes.”

“If not for caution, given Liu Hong’s current status and hidden cards, he would not fear Landlord Ran.”

“What about those iron trade deals?”

Chen Yi shook his head silently. The iron trades were handled by the Ji Zhou trading company, with Liu Hong operating behind the scenes. The horse bandits under Landlord Ran were unaware of this.

Besides that, what he could think of was the deals that Lü Jiānán had mentioned earlier. Or perhaps— "Arsu Tuo?" Chen Yì suddenly saw the name flash in his mind, his expression slightly shifting as he quickly pondered this possibility. Earlier, he had learned that Liu Hong had bargained with Lü Jiānán to rescue Arsu Tuo, in order to return him to the barbarian tribe. This was Liu Hong making a favorable deal with the barbarians. As for Lan Du, the bandit leader, the reason for rescuing Arsu Tuo seemed equally simple. "Afraid of being blamed by the barbarian tribe?" "That makes sense." "It seems the barbarians have already taken action… good." Upon thinking this, Chen Yì smiled faintly, his mood lifting somewhat. He looked at Luo Lang, lying motionless on the ruined temple ground, and chuckled, "You're lucky. Otherwise, I'd have left a needle in your body, delaying my great undertaking." Though he said this, Chen Yì would never gamble with Luo Lang's life. After all, Luo Lang had done many things for him these days, though he had also suffered some hardships. After a brief rest, Chen Yì took out a silver needle to repair the disrupted meridians and scattered spiritual energy within Luo Lang's body. It took nearly an hour before he finally brought Luo Lang's injuries under control. "Fortunately, the treatment came in time, leaving no lasting effects." Chen Yì stowed the needle, and with a flick of his wrist, a blade of spiritual wind sliced across Luo Lang's face. *Thwack.* The blade struck the ground. The once peaceful Luo Lang suddenly sprang to his feet, looking at Chen Yì with a sheepish smile, "Thanks, boss, for saving my life." Chen Yì glanced at him, then turned to leave, "Don't be late, it's getting late. Walk and talk." "Understood." "You've been avoiding fights lately, lest your fragile meridians get torn again." "Doesn't that mean I have a boss like you?" "Heh, death awaits." "…Then I'll be careful." They chattered a bit more. Chen Yì escorted Luo Lang back to Shu Zhou Fu, asking about the matter on the surface, "What gains did we make today?" Luo Lang grimaced, "Boss, you don't know how cunning those major clans are." "They demanded grain at exorbitant prices, some refused entry, others cursed and shouted like I'd dig up their ancestors' graves." Chen Yì understood all too well; though the major clans of Shu Zhou weren't as powerful as the Xiao Family or the Liu Family of Jingzhou, they were far from shortsighted. Yet, with half the grain supplies in the city still held by these merchants, Chen Yì needed to find a way to make them yield, or his plans would be hindered. Luo Lang rambled on, eventually saying, "Though I've made some gains too." "Two families sold grain to me at fifteen liang per shou." Chen Yì hummed, "Which two families?" "One is the Wan family in the east, the other the Sun family in the north." "Wan… the Wan Medicine Hall?" "Do you know them?" Before Chen Yì could answer, Luo Lang smiled, "I wonder what happened to the Wan family lately; they must be short on funds." "Besides the grain they sold us, they've also pawned off many family assets. I heard they even sold two halls of their medicine shop." Chen Yì muttered, "How troublesome. After some thought, he said, "Perhaps they've realized something." He knew little about the Wan family, but the previous incidents led him to suspect their connection with the Xiao family. Especially the act of taking over his role as the one who killed Liu Jing, which came from the Wan family. On its own, this gave him reason to suspect the Wan family might have received orders from Xiao Laotai. Otherwise, he couldn't fathom why the Wan family would voluntarily take on such a "cold case." Furthermore, Miss Wan Ruo Ruo had visited Xiao Wanyue several times, more frequent than other clan daughters. Thus, Chen Yì deduced that the Wan family was one of Xiao's covert operatives. Perhaps their liquidation of assets this time was related to the Xiao family. "To gather funds for grain?" "If so, the Wan family is quite loyal to the old patriarch." Chen Yì thought this, then inquired about the northern Sun family. To his surprise, it was a family he'd heard of—the Sun family's younger daughter was the wife of the military commissioner of Shu Zhou, Pan Zhi Xin. Long ago, this Sun family had visited Xiao Wanyue, hoping she'd help their son, Pan Yu Tang, become Chen Yì's disciple. But since Chen Yì hadn't agreed, the matter was abandoned. "Any unusual happenings with the Sun family?" Luo Lang thought, "Unusual… probably not." "Though their grain supply is vast; when I bought grain at thirteen liang per shou, they were already eager to sell." "Vast?" "Yes, as much as ten thousand shou." Chen Yì laughed, shaking his head, "Truly, once one attains the Way, even dogs and chickens ascend to the heavens." When Luo Lang didn't understand, he explained the relationship between the Sun and Pan families. With Pan Zhi Xin's position as military commissioner overseeing grain supplies, the Sun family's grain was somewhat underhanded. Knowing that the military commissioner was responsible for grain logistics across Shu Zhou's three cities and the Meng Shui Pass, even a hint of their supplies could grant countless people wealth and honor.

Liu Lang listened, his face scornful as he said, "So it's a bunch of vermin, that's why they can muster so much grain."

He paused, then looked at Chen Yi, "Boss, we've got over fifty thousand sheng of grain now. What's your plan?"

"Let's keep it for now."

"Not yet the time to deploy it."

Chen Yi gazed toward the distant city of Shu Zhou, a sly smile playing on his lips.

"This time, we must make them haul stones to pelt their own feet."

Liu Lang felt a chill upon seeing his expression.

He muttered softly, "Poor devil, who's been marked by the boss. Oh, the misfortune."

Chen Yi, unaware of his thoughts, gave further orders after returning to the mansion: "Once you've spent the silver from Wang Ji, hold the grain with Xue Duanyun and others."

"If any movement occurs, I'll send word."

"Understood."

...

In the blink of an eye, four days had passed.

Within Shu Zhou City, the populace was in a frenzy of resentment.

The grain, once reduced to nine liang per sheng, had risen again to twelve liang.

Yet even so, the grain stores in the city and countryside were surrounded by crowds of people lining up.

Each day, two hundred thousand sheng of grain was sold.

Thankfully, within half a month of the price hikes, even the poorest families could manage to endure for a while.

No tragedy of selling children or wives had occurred.

"Where exactly is that brat younger brother of the Mongol chieftain, anyway?"

"The officials and deputies have searched every household three times over, yet still no trace."

"And those lousy bandits from the southern provinces—when they come, they come, when they don't, they don't. Give us a definite sign!"

"This grain price rising further, whether we attack or not is secondary. We fear we won't have enough to eat."

"Who says not?"

Not to mention the common folk, even some minor landowning noble families couldn't sustain such consumption.

Know that when grain prices rose, so did the prices of all other goods—medicines, meat, and the like.

The more prosperous the population, the greater the daily expenditure in silver.

Take the Xiao family, for example.

Even without lacking in grain, each household required tens of liang of silver daily for purchases.

Who could afford it?

Chen Yi observed all this, he knew the scheme needed to be set in motion earlier.

Otherwise, his guilt would only grow.

So that night, after donning a disguise, he ventured alone to Chunyu Lou.

Cui Qingwu and Lou Yuxue had been waiting anxiously. Upon his arrival, their expressions were clearly displeased.

"Well, Liu Wu, after things are settled, you just become the fall guy?"

"Do you think I'm just a lackey of the White Tiger Guard?"

Chen Yi bowed politely, "Gentlemen, forgive me. I've come in secret merely because I trust your abilities."

Cui Qingwu huffed, "I think you're just taking advantage."

Lou Yuxue was about to agree, but recalling their past dealings, she knew he must have urgent business. She said instead, "According to the plan, the Luan and Fen have now partnered with those grain merchants, and their recent sales include a share for them."

"And the prices have reached twelve liang as planned. What next?"

"Next, it's time for you, Cui, to make your move."

Chen Yi nodded naturally, "I've heard the bandits from the southern provinces and the Mongols are approaching the city."

Cui Qingwu and Lou Yuxue were taken aback, "What?!"

Chen Yi smiled, "A ruse."

They exchanged glances, frowning, "What ruse? Real or fake?"

Chen Yi shook his head, "You'll find out soon enough."

Lou Yuxue cautioned, "I know you're skilled in schemes, but the bandits and Mongols are a big matter. Don't act recklessly."

Upon this, Chen Yi thought a moment, then let slip a few words, ending with, "In any case, wait until those grain merchants come to you."

"At that time, you just sell the grain at a high price."

Cui Qingwu grasped the gist of his plan, gazed deeply into his eyes, and said, "If the Duke hadn't invited me to join the White Tiger Guard, we'd never have followed you this far."

Lou Yuxue nodded sagely, "You dare to impersonate bandits from the southern provinces and Mongol raiders attacking merchants—you..."

She looked at Chen Yi, "Don't you fear being caught by the court?"

Chen Yi feigned mystery, smiling, "Real or fake, who can tell? None of them will let those merchants suffer a loss."

After all, the name of the Ji Zhou merchants was known in Shu Zhou, and they'd be wary of them.

"Enough chatter."

"This time, there's another matter I need your help with..."

(End of Chapter)