This upstart landowner’s tone of voice sounded like a mixed bag of flavors to Manager Da Hu and his companions’ ears, as they were currently worried about money.
There are always some people in this world who are born into wealth and fortune, while others are born thrown into the mud—it’s all fate, and not the slightest bit can be chosen by anyone.
Manager Da Hu shook his head, his mind active and already rapidly analyzing the situation.
Now they truly had no other options. If they couldn’t come up with a solution through Sitong Trading House, wouldn’t that treasure be handed over to others right before their eyes?
Just as this woman said, Sitong Trading House had silver and connections. As long as Boss Qiu wanted, what kind of people couldn’t she hire?
This woman was quite bold—she even dared to rob Tatars. If they told her they were just going to transport stones, would this woman relent?
Manager Da Hu could no longer find any other path to take. If they didn’t go through Sitong Trading House’s connections, they could only watch the treasure sit in the stone quarry, waiting for some future day when it would be discovered and taken by the Emperor.
They could have originally lived a lifetime without worrying about food and clothing, but who could have imagined it would all be ruined by this shortage of ready silver!
Qin Yining observed Manager Da Hu’s expression and, seeing he seemed to be wavering, pretended not to know and raised her voice suspiciously: “Brother Li, it couldn’t be that you’re deceiving me, could it? You never actually planned to rob the Tatar tribute, did you?”
“No…” Manager Da Hu hurriedly shook his head, but there was some hesitation in his voice.
Qin Yining angrily stood up and said: “Could it be that you really are deceiving me? I thought you were a good man and trusted you so much, yet you treat me like this!”
Seeing this, Manager Da Hu hurriedly explained: “Boss Qiu, you, you listen to me. That I didn’t tell you the truth at first was truly for Sitong Trading House’s own good!”
Liu Ban and the others, hearing Manager Da Hu say this, were all somewhat confused and anxiously looked at Manager Da Hu’s expression.
But Manager Da Hu gave them a look that said to remain calm for now.
Qin Yining’s attitude was firm: “For our Sitong Trading House? Tell me, how exactly were you thinking of our Sitong Trading House?”
Having made his decision, Manager Da Hu no longer hesitated and sighed: “Since Boss Qiu wants to know, I won’t hide it anymore. Actually, we few are all people of the Azure Sky Alliance.”
Qin Yining raised an eyebrow. She had long expected Manager Da Hu would use the Azure Sky Alliance to make his case. Even though she had anticipated this, seeing his earnest and weighty attitude still made Qin Yining find it somewhat amusing.
“What? You are…” Qin Yining feigned shock.
“Yes.” Manager Da Hu’s mind raced as he sighed deeply, putting on an air of profound mystery: “Boss Qiu must have heard of the Azure Sky Alliance. Back when the Great Yan Dynasty was rising, who in the martial world didn’t give the Azure Sky Alliance some face? Do you know who the current Alliance Leader of the Azure Sky Alliance is?”
Qin Yining put on the appearance of being completely overwhelmed.
Manager Da Hu said: “I’m not afraid to tell you—the Alliance Leader of the Azure Sky Alliance is none other than the principal wife of Prince Zhongshun. You surely can’t be unaware of Prince Zhongshun’s great name, can you?”
Using her own banner to intimidate her—Manager Da Hu was quite pitiful indeed.
Qin Yining put on an appearance of forced composure: “Is what you’re saying really true? You’re truly people of the Azure Sky Alliance?”
Seeing her finally show weakness, Manager Da Hu’s heart settled greatly. He put his hands behind his back and raised his chin: “Naturally it’s true.” Then he continued with a weighty tone: “I didn’t tell you earlier, firstly because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to associate with martial world people, and secondly because I thought you might fear being implicated in some uncontrollable affairs by martial world people, which is why I remained silent all this time.”
His artificially profound tone combined with his characteristic hoarse voice, in this overcast and drizzly weather, gave Qin Yining a somewhat sinister feeling.
Qin Yining naturally wasn’t afraid of him. After pondering briefly, she said: “I have indeed long heard the great name of the Azure Sky Alliance. I also deeply know that Prince Zhongshun is a towering hero, and Princess Zhongshun is even more of a heroine among women.”
Zi Yuan and Han Xiao, following behind Qin Yining, both kept their heads down, gaining yet more recognition of their mistress’s self-praising abilities.
Qin Yining continued without blushing or skipping a heartbeat: “Especially Princess Zhongshun—I hear she is the legitimate daughter of Great Yan’s wise Duke Pan An. Under her leadership, the Azure Sky Alliance has done many good deeds, including disaster relief many times. The Azure Sky Alliance is truly the most righteous organization in our current dynasty, and even His Majesty acknowledges their existence.”
“Yes, yes, exactly.”
Manager Da Hu nodded repeatedly: “So this time we’re also following the Alliance Leader’s instructions to accomplish a great deed.”
“Oh? What great deed?” Qin Yining appeared extremely interested, as if she wasn’t the same person who had been shocked and fearful upon first hearing the Azure Sky Alliance’s name.
Manager Da Hu thought to himself that this woman, upon catching the scent of profit, was like a bee seeing honey—she might truly be someone who wanted money more than life.
Thinking of this, Manager Da Hu quickly polished a set of explanations in his mind and made up his mind: “Our superiors have arranged for us to quietly transport a batch of items without alerting the authorities.”
“What items?”
“Treasure!”
“Treasure?” Qin Yining’s eyes lit up: “What treasure requires them to instruct you to transport it?”
Manager Da Hu lowered his voice and pointed south: “Back when the old foolish emperor of Great Yan abdicated, he hid away all the valuable things, the tax silver collected at that time, plus some of his personal wealth. Even His Current Majesty has been searching for this treasure for many years, and now there are finally some clues.”
Qin Yining showed both surprise and fear: “Really? Your Alliance Leader instructed you to secretly transport treasure?”
“Exactly, that’s right!” Manager Da Hu clapped his hands.
“But hasn’t His Majesty been searching for this treasure all along?”
“Our Alliance Leader has vast supernatural powers and learned the news first.” Manager Da Hu’s voice became desolate: “You also know how much merit Prince Zhongshun has accumulated over these years fighting north and south for the dynasty—the common people extremely revere him.”
“Yes.” Qin Yining nodded and sighed: “It’s just that their family’s fate hasn’t been very good. I hear their household was nearly wiped out.”
“Exactly!” Upon hearing this, Manager Da Hu quickly followed up: “The Prince’s achievements were too great, threatening certain people above. That business of wiping out families and ending bloodlines has many underlying reasons. Now that the realm has just stabilized, there are still many common people who can’t get enough to eat or stay warm from all those years of continuous warfare, but His Majesty pays no heed to this and is now single-mindedly focused on building his own imperial mausoleum.
“We know where that batch of treasure is, but His Majesty doesn’t. If he found out, he would certainly stuff all that wealth that the Great Yan foolish emperor scraped from the people into his imperial mausoleum, completely ignoring whether the people have enough to eat. So our Alliance Leader instructed us to transport the treasure away. We can keep a portion for our own expenses, but the rest is to be given to the people of the realm for food!”
“So that’s how it is!” Qin Yining looked shocked: “You know the treasure’s location but don’t tell the Emperor—aren’t you afraid I’ll report you behind your backs?”
Manager Da Hu thought to himself that even if she had half a mind to do so, she wouldn’t be walking out of this room today.
But on the surface he looked righteously indignant: “Earlier when we said we were going to rob the Tatar tribute, Boss Qiu was filled with righteous indignation and gave us three thousand taels of silver. I knew then that although Boss Qiu is a woman, her heart is comparable to any man’s—you have justice in your heart. Moreover, we’re doing this for the common people. Keeping it from the Emperor doesn’t count as treason, so I certainly dare tell you about it.”
Qin Yining nodded repeatedly, involuntarily impressed by Manager Da Hu’s silver tongue. This man had spent quite a few years being tempered under Madam Liao’s hand, and this ability to turn black into white and improvise on the spot—wasn’t his talent being wasted?
“Good, since you’re so straightforward, I won’t beat around the bush either.” Qin Yining said: “Those heroes from Black Wind Stronghold—are they also related to you?”
Manager Da Hu nodded with an air of profound mystery.
Qin Yining shook her head, as if being clever: “So you had previously arranged with the Black Wind Stronghold people to transport the treasure, but who would have thought Black Wind Stronghold would suddenly be eliminated?”
“Exactly.”
Manager Da Hu secretly laughed: This woman was quite good at thinking—she even found the reasons herself, saving them from having to make up nonsense.
Qin Yining nodded: “Good, since I know about this matter, I must certainly get involved. For transporting treasure, I can provide silver as an investment. Your Alliance Leader is such a person of profound righteousness—when she gets the treasure and you keep the ‘expenses’ portion, she surely won’t shortchange you. When the time comes, just keep a bit more to share with me so I don’t lose money.”
Manager Da Hu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Ban and the others were already showing their joy.
“Good.” Manager Da Hu said: “I knew that Boss Qiu, having built such a large business, must be a reasonable person. It seems this is indeed the case.”
Qin Yining smiled and said: “I have another favor to ask.”
“Whatever Boss Qiu wishes to say, please speak freely.”
Qin Yining then lowered her voice: “Is your Azure Sky Alliance still accepting new members?”
Manager Da Hu raised an eyebrow: “Boss Qiu means?”
“I won’t hide it from you—I have long admired your Alliance Leader. If I could be accepted into the Azure Sky Alliance, firstly the alliance would gain another source of assistance, and secondly I could speak with the Alliance Leader. This would be mutually beneficial for all of us!”
Manager Da Hu immediately understood that this woman wanted to be able to speak with the Princess.
Manager Da Hu pretended to ponder while already sneering inwardly. He was now a rebel against the Azure Sky Alliance, but the person before him didn’t know this. Why not agree for now and coax her into helping? When they transported out the treasure, he’d give her some of the “expenses” portion and promise her some benefits. Then the rest would all belong to him and his brothers. Once they transported away the treasure, even if this woman wanted to find them, where would she look?
Thinking of this, Manager Da Hu smiled: “So that’s it! Since Boss Qiu has this intention, nothing could be better. Brothers who join the Azure Sky Alliance all do so to return a clear sky to this world. Since you’ve spoken up, how could we refuse you? From today on, you’re also one of our alliance members.”
Qin Yining nodded excitedly and cupped her hands: “Thank you, Brother Li.”
Manager Da Hu waved his hands repeatedly: “No need for courtesy. Actually, I should apologize to Boss Qiu. Earlier I didn’t tell you the truth—I’m actually not called Li Da Zhuang.”
“Oh?”
“My surname is Qiao, given name Shang Fei, and I’m a Hall Master of the Azure Sky Alliance. Earlier I was concealing my identity—please forgive me, Boss Qiu.”