Huo Huai slowly drew his saber from its scabbard and rested it on Mister Zhou’s shoulder. “These official documents and authorization tokens — you obtained them after killing someone, didn’t you?”

Mister Zhou’s expression visibly changed. A moment ago he had reeked of alcohol and worn a smug face, but now he looked so frightened he might wet himself at any moment.

“How many places have you deceived with this method?”

Hearing Huo Huai’s question, Mister Zhou quickly shook his head. “No, no — I truly am here on a supervisory mission sent by our lord. Why would General Huo suspect such a thing?”

Huo Huai sighed. “It seems you have no intention of telling the truth. Very well — I’ll let my blade do the asking.”

He raised the saber. “This is your last chance.”

“Wait!”

Mister Zhou took two steps back, avoiding the blade. “Actually… why must General Huo be so exacting? Think of General Chen from Li County — doesn’t General Huo see that as a way out?”

Huo Huai lowered his saber. “So my guess was right after all.”

Mister Zhou carefully edged back and sat down beside Huo Huai. “General Huo, General Chen walked away with a million taels of silver. He picked his moment, left, took the silver, changed his name, and lived as a wealthy man. Isn’t that better than serving under the Lord of Destiny not knowing whether you’ll live or die from one day to the next?”

Huo Huai asked, “You want to buy my grain?”

Mister Zhou said, “We only want grain — we have no desire to keep fighting. After the Conqueror’s defeat, he abandoned us, and we no longer wish to die for him. You have grain, we have money. We take the grain and go; you take the silver and go. Why wouldn’t everyone be better off?”

Huo Huai narrowed his eyes. “Whether General Chen truly departed or whether you people did away with him — that I cannot know. Right now you’re making claims with nothing to back them up…”

Before he could finish, Mister Zhou sighed. “I did tell a lie just now — that was because I hadn’t expected you to see through my identity. In truth, General Chen has already left, taking his troops with him, and he did not return toward Daxing.”

Huo Huai said, “I still cannot trust you.”

Mister Zhou said, “Very well — I’ll stay here with you, never leaving your side. Once you have the silver and are ready to go, I’ll travel with you, and you can release me however far along the road you choose.”

Huo Huai asked, “Aren’t you afraid to die? If we kill you halfway along the road, no one can save you.”

Mister Zhou said, “But I can save those ten thousand and more brothers of mine.”

Huo Huai was momentarily stunned.

Mister Zhou continued, “The last time this was negotiated — with General Chen — I was the one who handled it then as well. He asked me this same question.”

Huo Huai’s expression shifted repeatedly. He truly was tempted.

Who would want to keep fighting if they could walk away with a million taels of silver?

And this war wasn’t even being fought for himself — it was being fought so that someone else could achieve fame and glory.

Given his rank and position, even if the Lord of Destiny truly ascended the throne someday, could he, Huo Huai, be enfeoffed as a marquis?

Seeing his expression, Mister Zhou knew he had been moved, so he continued to persuade. “Even if you follow the Lord of Destiny and help conquer the realm, at best you’d be promoted to a fourth-rank general. In ten lifetimes — in a hundred lifetimes — you would never accumulate a million taels.”

Huo Huai instinctively asked, “How would you deliver the silver to me?”

Mister Zhou hastily replied, “Simple — I’ll have men bring the silver here first. You verify it in person, and once you’re satisfied, load it onto wagons and take it wherever you like. We won’t ask a single question. After you’ve gone, our men will enter the city to collect the grain. Neither side interferes with the other.”

After a long silence, Huo Huai said, “I need to discuss this with my own men. You cannot leave — wait here for my answer.”

Mister Zhou rose and clasped his fists. “You bear responsibility for your brothers; I bear responsibility for mine. I respect your character, General Huo. You can trust my word. I’ll wait right here and go nowhere.”

Huo Huai gave a nod, turned and walked out, and instructed his men to keep close watch on the doors — Mister Zhou was not to slip away.

He gathered his subordinates to deliberate on the matter, for this was something that could not possibly be kept secret, nor could he pocket the million taels alone.

He had over three thousand men. If each received two hundred taels, he would still be left with three or four hundred thousand taels himself.

The company commanders and squad leaders would receive a larger share, but even so, he would end up keeping two or three hundred thousand taels — enough to take his men and his silver and settle somewhere safe as a local strongman. It seemed rather an appealing prospect.

If each soldier received only a hundred taels, he would keep even more. These men earned only two or three taels a month in military pay, and that wasn’t always delivered in full. Most came from poor families — give them a hundred taels and let them go home, and they would be overjoyed. Two hundred taels would be enough to send them home and live in comfort for years.

And so Huo Huai did not mention that the rebel remnants were offering as much as a million taels. He told his men the figure was five hundred thousand — and said it would be divided equally among everyone, with no extra share kept for himself.

At that, everyone was moved. After reaching an agreement, Huo Huai returned to the main hall to see Mister Zhou. The two quickly settled the details and agreed that the rebel army’s men would deliver the silver in three days’ time.

And so they waited anxiously for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, Mister Zhou arrived exactly as promised, leading a force of several hundred men and a number of large carts, bringing the silver into the county town.

Mister Zhou ordered his men to withdraw, and remained alone to wait while Huo Huai inspected the silver.

Per their agreement, the stated sum was five hundred thousand taels of white silver, with several additional chests of gold, jewels, and valuables set aside separately for Huo Huai.

It took a considerable amount of time just to count the silver. Once everything was confirmed, there was a moment when Huo Huai felt a flash of temptation — to simply deal with Mister Zhou then and there.

But he didn’t dare. Provoking the rebel remnants into a fight to the finish would cost far more than he stood to gain.

So he ordered his troops to pack their belongings. Those who wished to return home were to take their share of silver and go; those who preferred to follow him would travel to a more distant place. More than half chose to go home — the long years of war had wearied them all.

Huo Huai led Mister Zhou and the remaining silver out of the city. Looking into the distance, he could see a force beyond the city walls, flying rebel army banners, waiting there.

Afraid something might go wrong, Huo Huai ordered his men to press on at a faster pace.

Mister Zhou seemed entirely untroubled. He sat in the carriage with leisure enough to pull out a pipe and light it.

True to their word, that rebel army force made no move to stop them. They waited until Huo Huai’s men had left the city before entering to collect the grain.

They traveled on through a full day and most of a night before Huo Huai finally dared call a halt to rest.

“You are a man of your word,” Huo Huai said, looking at Mister Zhou. “And you have considerable nerve.”

Mister Zhou smiled. “I told you — it’s for my brothers.”

Huo Huai pointed ahead. “About ten or more li further on, past the forest, is the Mao River. Once we cross it, I’ll let you go.”

Mister Zhou nodded, then asked, “Have you thought about other paths? Perhaps going to serve someone else?”

Huo Huai shook his head. “I have no desire to keep fighting. As you said — take the silver, find a place to live well. When the realm is at peace again, I’ll go home.”

Mister Zhou gave a murmur of acknowledgment. “I’m going to sleep. Wake me when it’s light.”

He was genuinely that at ease — he lay down on the carriage and fell asleep. Huo Huai found himself rather in awe of the man.

By dawn, everyone pressed on again. The forest was vast, but beyond it was an open expanse, and after walking a stretch further they could see the Mao River.

They had all relaxed by now. Someone even started singing.

When they emerged from the forest, the color drained from Huo Huai’s face. Waiting outside was a Prince Ning’s army in orderly ranks, line after line as far as the eye could see.

The blazing crimson battle banners rippled through the formation, gleaming like the reflection of the rising sun.

Mister Zhou smiled slightly. “You’d best not think about making a move. If you do, none of you will leave here alive.”

Huo Huai erupted in fury. “And here I took you for a decent man!”

Mister Zhou smiled. “General Chen took me for a decent man too.”

Huo Huai instinctively reached for his saber. Mister Zhou shook his head. “Don’t act rashly. Acting rashly will cost the lives of all your men.”

Huo Huai stood frozen, at a total loss for what to do.

What choice did he have?

Before long, the troops were disarmed by the Prince Ning’s army, and the remaining silver found its way back into Prince Ning’s army’s hands.

Tang Pidi looked at Mister Zhou and smiled. “Truly remarkable.”

Zhou Mu clasped his fists. “I thank the General for the praise. I have no talent for charging through ten thousand troops — I simply have a few more tricks up my sleeve…”

He had feigned drunkenness and said those things to Huo Huai deliberately, purely to lead Huo Huai’s thoughts in that direction.

Letting Huo Huai figure out on his own that he was with the rebel army was far more effective than Zhou Mu bluntly making up a story himself.

Because people tend to believe conclusions they’ve reasoned out themselves — they assume that whatever you tell them directly must be a lie.

Throughout it all, Zhou Mu had never once stated that he was with the rebel army. And yet precisely because of that, Huo Huai had believed it without a shadow of doubt.

Tang Pidi smiled and asked, “Without spending a single soldier, you’ve already taken three cities. What reward do you want?”

Zhou Mu grinned. “That fellow gave me a chest of gold — can I keep it for myself?”

Tang Pidi laughed heartily. “Whatever he gave you, I’ll double it. And furthermore… from this day forward, you hold the rank of a fifth-rank general.”

Zhou Mu bowed deeply.

A fifth-rank general wasn’t high — it was considerably lower than the military rank he had held in the rebel army. But he understood: this fifth-rank general’s commission was his foothold in the Prince Ning’s army, his proof of worth, his proof of belonging. From this moment on, he was no longer an outsider.

To serve as a fifth-rank general under Prince Ning was far more solid than being a third-rank general under the rebels.

Tang Pidi said, “I’ll give you another promise today: take one more city, and you’ll be a junior fourth-rank general. I’ll write to our lord informing him of your deeds — and our lord will certainly reward you as well.”

Zhou Mu was elated — more elated than he had ever been.

He bowed again deeply. “I am deeply grateful for the General’s guidance!”

—

Several weeks later. Qingliú County.

The Lord of Destiny’s forces garrisoned there were not many — one battalion of roughly twelve hundred men, commanded by their fifth-rank General Xue Shan.

It was midday. Xue Shan had barely taken a few bites of his meal when someone came rushing in from outside.

“General, something’s happened! There’s a force at the gate claiming to have come to deliver grain for us. Our men must have been too officious — they asked to inspect their documents and authorization tokens, and our men got slapped in the face several times. It’s still a commotion out there right now.”

Xue Shan was immediately vexed. “Grain delivery and they’re still being stopped?!”

He asked one more question: “Do they have authorization tokens and documents?”

His subordinate answered, “They do…”

Xue Shan couldn’t be bothered with his meal. He brought his men and hurried to the city gates.

When he arrived, he saw a force outside the city of roughly a thousand men, escorting a sizable number of grain wagons.

The man at the head of the column sat mounted on horseback with an expression of haughty disdain.

“Might I ask how to address you?” Xue Shan asked carefully.

The man on horseback replied, “I am an advisor in our lord’s service. My surname is Zhou. I was entrusted with personally escorting this grain delivery to you — and this is how you receive us?!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry — I’m so sorry, Mister Zhou!”

Xue Shan quickly made a welcoming gesture. “Please enter the city at once. My men were foolish and did not know better — please, Mister Zhou, do not hold it against them.”

With that, he kicked aside the man who had offended Mister Zhou.

—