Mo Zi had to admit this second young master was a clever person. When he’d just said things like having acquaintances in Yun Zhou, whether true or false, most likely he had no real intention of investigating—he was only trying to draw out her selfish nature. So he’d said at the end: “You’re right.” Last time, when Second Young Master Cen had been present, if she’d agreed, the silver would have belonged to Wangqiu Tower’s employer. But today, she was alone. Therefore, whatever benefits he promised, as long as she was willing, could go into her own pocket. And his following words further confirmed her speculation.
“I guarantee no one will know you told us. As for the authorities, you needn’t worry we’ll inform on you. Since I can’t take official travel documents across the river, you should understand well what that means. Two hundred taels to buy one sentence from you, and it brings you no harm whatsoever. I don’t see why you need to hesitate over such a simple transaction.” The second young master’s words suddenly became more numerous.
“Who knows? Maybe you’re secret agents for the authorities, pretending you want to cross the river but actually planning to raid people’s lairs.” Espionage was not unfamiliar to Mo Zi. During training exercises, this method of infiltrating the opposition was not uncommon.
Before the second young master could speak, Zhong An laughed heartily. “Young brother, you just said you didn’t know?” They’d caught her tail.
In this era without recording technology, Mo Zi wasn’t afraid. “So what if I know? You can’t send me to the authorities because of this. In court, I’ll deny it to the end. You can all be witnesses together, but you’d still lack physical evidence.”
“I swear on my grandfather that this matter absolutely won’t involve the authorities.” The second young master’s expression turned serious, his sword-like brows drawing together in an utterly earnest furrow.
“I swear on my own life—”
Mo Zi became confused again. Who? Who in her past had made an oath? Why the heartache? Why the grief and indignation? Why did she want to cry?
“I never believe in oaths, because oaths exist to be betrayed.” A classic line from a thousand years later—she said it unconsciously, yet so heavily.
“You!” The rock-hard burly man erupted again. “Do you know who his grandfather is? How can he swear so casually? Moreover, we’re iron-strong men—when we say one, it’s one; when we say two, it’s two. Besides, smuggling some goods only requires a tiny bit of courage, yet you’re all secretive like a woman. Let me tell you what requires real courage. Going into battle to kill enemies—that’s real courage. Death, damn it, is the most exhilarating thing!”
“Shi Lei!” The second young master called the burly man’s name, seemingly without weight.
But Shi Lei immediately quieted.
“Then what must we do for you to feel assured?” The second young master’s gaze locked onto Mo Zi’s every expression.
Mo Zi appeared completely unyielding on the surface, but her heart shook at Shi Lei’s words. What exactly were these three people’s identities? Could they be… military?
“Young brother, I see you’re someone with considerable experience. Whether we’re truly crossing the river or not—I don’t believe you can’t determine that.” The one who spoke pleasantly was the refined Zhong An.
“So what if I can determine it? Compared to my own judgment, I trust another’s more.” They truly wanted to cross the river, but she had to verify. “Collateral.”
“Collateral?” Zhong An wanted her to explain more clearly. But before he could speak, he saw the second young master pull something from his bosom and place it on the table. This object made his eyes widen in shock.
“Keep it safe. I’ll come retrieve it when I return. However, if there’s the slightest damage—” The second young master gave a cold snort. “Believe me, your life wouldn’t be enough to compensate.”
“This—” How could it be casually used as collateral? Zhong An knew their business was very urgent and they had no more time to waste, but—
Shi Lei huffed and growled lowly. Like Zhong An, knowing the object’s value, he also disagreed with pledging it to that person of dubious intentions.
“I’ve already decided. You two need say no more.” However, this person’s words were not easily overturned.
Mo Zi’s eyes shifted left and right, taking in the unusual reactions of both Zhong An and Shi Lei. How was this thing extraordinary? From her angle, it was just a grid-pattern iron piece pressed against the table surface. Not gold, not silver, not jade, and its color was dark red tinged with black, as if rusted, old, and ugly.
“May I pick it up for a closer look?” At first glance it looked like recyclable scrap metal—who knew, a second glance might reveal it as a rare metal. She “shamelessly asked.”
The second young master nodded.
Mo Zi noticed that now his gaze was no longer on her but fixed on that object. His angular handsome face was now extraordinarily resolute, his back which had been leaning against the chair now ramrod straight, his shoulders squared broadly, making her really want to sing him a rousing, spirited military song. What was this about? Clearly the thing was something he’d taken out, yet how did it feel more like he was being inspected by that thing?
Leaning her upper body over, she pinched it between two fingers and the iron piece came into her hand. She examined the front carefully and discovered that it wasn’t actually the character for “field,” but rather four squares where the iron was slightly thicker than the horizontal and vertical grooves in the middle. From afar it looked old; up close it looked even older. Not only black and red with uneven coloring, it also had irregular fine scratches—it must have been knocked about many times. Having examined the front without reaching any conclusion that it was very valuable, unwilling to give up, she flipped it to see the reverse. Oh? The reverse was more interesting than the front—four characters were carved:
“Loyalty, Righteousness, Clarity, Heart?” After reading it aloud, she laughed. “What, is this your family motto or a family heirloom?”
“You know this and still laugh frivolously?” Shi Lei’s opening was a roar.
Mo Zi hadn’t expected her wild guess to hit the mark. “If it’s a family heirloom, don’t be so casual about it. Carving it on jade or gold—wouldn’t that show more respect? Seeing how freely you spend silver, your family shouldn’t be so stingy in treating ancestral mottos…”
A white flash before her eyes—a sword stopped half an inch from Mo Zi’s neck, instantly bringing a wave of cold menace.
“Watch your tongue.”
Shi Lei’s sword.
The second young master’s voice.
Mo Zi didn’t move. Her gaze instantly became like two ice-thin, ice-thin daggers, but upon meeting the other’s eyes, transformed into frightened timidity. “It… it was just a joke. Don’t take it seriously, gentlemen. Can’t I just control my mouth?”
Such a fast sword—much faster than First Young Master Cen’s. Though she’d never seen Xiao Yi use a sword, she might not be able to match this fellow called Shi Lei either. With such terrifying skills, if she offended them, could she escape? Those combat training drills from the military didn’t seem applicable.
How strange. What exactly were these three people’s identities? Coming from the capital, the leading second young master was Madam Wei’s nephew. Nephew—there were degrees of closeness even in that relationship. If not a nephew but another possibility she was speculating, then in any case, he was very likely a figure from the imperial court. But as she’d always wondered before—if they were officials, why would they need to sneak around just to leave the border? They could simply take official travel documents and swagger into Nande. These people had secrets, and this secret—
She could smell an extraordinary dangerous aura.
“At this point, young brother, I advise you to take the two hundred taels of silver. As the saying goes, if you won’t eat the soft, eat the hard; if you won’t drink the toast, drink the penalty wine. No matter how ungrateful you are, though it’s difficult for us, we must still do what must be done.” Zhong An came to play the bad cop.
“…” Mo Zi focused her vision on the incomparably sharp sword tip. Her right index finger trembled slightly as she raised it and pointed.
“I’ll drink the toast.”
Hearing her own voice, it was as expected—humble and compliant.