A man wrapped entirely in hemp cloth was helped down from an ox cart and carried to a low couch in a small tavern. Using scissors, they unwrapped the hemp cloth from his face, revealing a horrific visage—crisscrossed entirely with knife wounds. The observant also discovered he was missing two little fingers on one hand and half a foot. He was basically a cripple now.
Although hideous, everyone in the tavern looked at him as if seeing a peerless beauty. Everyone wanted to get closer to this fellow to hear clearly where exactly the gold mine was.
“I only want to survive. The gold has nothing to do with me anymore. Having become this ghostly appearance, I only beg everyone to spare me a bowl of rice so I won’t freeze or starve to death.”
Feng Zhiyong took out a silver ingot weighing a full five liang and tossed it onto the low couch. The cripple bent down to express his thanks. In an instant, the low couch was covered with silver coins flying over. The cripple hurriedly waved his hands: “Enough, enough! I’m a cripple—having a room for shelter and some money for food is good enough. If everyone rewards me too much, it’s not a good thing for me but the King of Hell urging my death.”
Feng Zhiyong nodded and said, “Not bad. You still know when to stop. With this performance of yours, I won’t ask you why only you survived. For someone as clever as you to escape with your life isn’t strange at all. Since you have enough money, then speak. We’re all waiting. If you dare lie, I’ll make your death unspeakably miserable.”
The cripple nodded and said, “Naturally, Young Master. During this time, I’ll live in the city and plan to buy a small house to settle down. If you discover I deceived everyone, come take this life of mine anytime. Looking like this, I can’t run far.”
Feng Zhiyong nodded again and said, “If the matter is true, when we return we’ll have more rewards for you—consider it a form of gratitude. Speak then, speak in detail.”
The cripple was about to open his mouth when he heard thumping footsteps on the stairs. Liu Jinbao, fully armored, walked in first, took out a silver ingot and placed it on the low couch, folded his arms without a word, preparing to hear what the cripple would actually say.
“Your Yun Family has taken all the advantages of Lingnan. Now you want to get your hands on the gold mine too?” A goateed old man sitting by the door looked up and spoke gloomily to Liu Jinbao.
“Developing Lingnan was originally my Marquis’s idea. It’s reasonable for the Yun Family to take more. Is your Zhang Family dissatisfied? If you have the ability, think up a way to get rich yourself. Don’t follow behind my Marquis picking up scraps.” Liu Jinbao gave no face at all, naming names as he began his tirade.
“Liu Jinbao, you’re just a head guard of the Yun Family. After I successfully court the Princess, we’ll see how I deal with you, this slave.”
Liu Jinbao looked at the young man behind Feng Zhiyong and said with a chuckle, “You’ve got it wrong. I’m the young master’s servant, not the Princess’s servant. Even if you have dog’s luck and marry the Princess, you can’t control me. Your courting the Princess isn’t something for me, a servant, to meddle in. My Marquis will arrive in Lingnan any day now. If you have guts, go tell my Marquis about wanting to marry the Princess. When the time comes, you won’t need to look for me—the Marquis will definitely come looking for you. Better wash your neck and wait for death.”
Feng Zhiyong’s expression changed dramatically as he repeatedly asked, “Yun Ye is coming to Lingnan?”
Liu Jinbao chuckled and ignored him, but kept urging the cripple: “You’ve taken what you should take. Hurry up and say where the gold mine is! My carts and horses are all ready.”
The cripple gave a shrill laugh and pointed at everyone saying, “I suggest those who didn’t bring brains or courage exit first. It’s not that I won’t let you know—letting you know will only make you throw away your lives for nothing. Better not see the gold but lose your life first.”
No one left, not a single person. There were too many clever people in this world who always felt others were fools, that others fell into miserable situations due to stupidity. If it were themselves, it definitely wouldn’t happen.
“Our party of fourteen prepared to go into the deep mountains to search for a fine medicine to serve to nobles in Chang’an City…”
“Have you seen fist-sized man-faced spiders? Bitten once, my brother immediately turned black all over, swelled up, and died. Have you seen foot-long red centipedes? That thing bit my foot—I was wearing leather boots! If my elder brother hadn’t chopped off half my foot with one slash, I’d have died long ago. Walking upstream along the river, the tree branches were covered densely with leeches. Smelling human flesh, every one stretched out its body waiting to suck your blood…”
“Before even reaching the place, count how many of our fourteen people remained? That’s right, just eight left. The other six all died. Finally, we saw heaven collapse and earth sink there…”
In a room full of people, even breathing sounds were clearly audible. They hadn’t expected the place with the gold mine to be so treacherous. In the jungle depths, anything could happen, so some of the timid began backing out.
“Hahahaha!” Liu Jinbao laughed loudly. “All you cowards get the hell out! Fortune favors the bold—our ancestors said this long ago. If you all withdraw, the Yun Family will go find the gold ourselves. Just don’t be envious then.”
Knowing the location, there was no need to stay longer. Liu Jinbao turned and left the tavern. The cripple lay gasping on the low couch. Having said so much, he seemed extremely exhausted.
Feng Zhiyong’s expression was uncertain. The youth behind him jumped out saying, “Sixth Brother, what are we waiting for? Our Feng Family has been a family of officials for generations—would we fear a small forest? We just need to bring more men and horses. We’ll definitely be fine. It’s just some poisonous insects and wild beasts—what’s the big deal? Father has even killed a few jiaolong. If we encounter misfortune, little brother can just test his sword.”
The one who jumped out to speak was his eighteenth brother, Feng Zhihui. They shared the same mother, so were especially close. Ever since seeing Li Anlan, he had been thunderstruck, wholeheartedly wanting to win the Princess’s heart. He had thrown his father’s teachings and Third Brother Zhidai’s instructions to the back of his mind. In Lingnan, if not for the Princess’s sensitive status and the large number of guards under her command, Feng Zhihui would have long since made his move to snatch her back. With the Feng Family’s status, snatching one or two women really wasn’t anything.
“Zhihui, haven’t you caused enough trouble? Yun Ye will arrive in Lingnan any day now. If in anger he becomes hostile with the Feng Family, you’ll have made a great enemy for the family for nothing. Father is cautious and wary of Yun Ye—we must be even more careful. This person, for the Princess’s sake, racked his brains to devise an extinction plan to let all the noble families and powerful clans get rich in Lingnan, turning a perfectly good Lingnan into its current chaotic situation with dragons and fish mixed together. How can he be taken lightly? You be careful. Father said we can do anything, but must bear the consequences ourselves. I fear Yun Ye won’t let you off.” Feng Zhiyong whispered in Zhihui’s ear.
What young people lacked least was courage. He hadn’t met Yun Ye and only heard he was a youth about his own age. How could he submit? He was extremely dissatisfied with his brother’s attitude. Not helping him marry the Princess was one thing, but actually encouraging other brothers to pursue the Princess together, even recruiting some petty kings to strengthen their momentum, making himself a laughingstock among the brothers. Now stopping him from searching for the gold mine—who knew what he was thinking? Could it be Sixth Brother also had designs on the Princess?
Thinking of this, he called out, “Xiao Hou, come out!” A youth with darting eyes drilled out from the crowd. Without speaking, he stood beside Feng Zhihui awaiting orders.
“Gather our brothers. Sixth Brother won’t go find the gold, but we’ll go ourselves. When we strike it rich, everyone gets a share!”
Xiao Hou grinned and drilled back out through the crowd. Feng Zhiyong couldn’t stop him in time. Feng Zhihui said to his brother, “Sixth Brother, you just sit tight in Yongzhou City. Little brother will take the men and horses to find the gold. Once we find the gold mine, even if Yun Ye comes, it’s no big deal. By then, my Feng Family’s prestige will drown this little marquis in Lingnan. This isn’t Chang’an City where he can freely display his abilities.” Having finished speaking, he also left, acting as if he hadn’t heard Feng Zhiyong’s dissuasion.
The other great families were all watching. Everyone liked gold, but one needed life to enjoy it. Without life, everything was empty.
Yun Ye and Liu Fulu sat next door. They heard the commotion there clearly. In two days, Liu Fulu had recovered his former official bearing. Fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, he said quietly to Yun Ye, “Your Lordship, your stratagem doesn’t seem to have driven these people mad. If I were in charge, I also wouldn’t allow our family’s elite to be sent into the forest to take risks. To put it another way, Liu Jinbao is also preparing to go. This subordinate doesn’t know if this is your arrangement or comes from his own heart?”
“Today’s arrangements stop here. Knowing there’s gold is good enough. Human desire is limitless—take it slowly, they’ll go to the jungle. At least they already know there are treasures in the jungle. Now they must all be looking at the distant mountain forests, weighing their will and determination. When desire drowns reason, they’ll go. Didn’t they also fear the ocean before? Now don’t they dare take sampans to sea to plunder other small countries? The Great Tang needs this martial spirit to continue—fearless of the ocean, fearless of the grasslands, fearless of jungles and deserts. When the Great Tang people’s footprints appear in the world’s harshest environments, only then can the Great Tang be considered truly powerful.”
“Liu Jinbao’s behavior was at my instigation. I just wanted to see whether Her Highness the Princess would stop him, whether she’s been dazzled by gold, whether besides wealth she can no longer accommodate anything else.” Yun Ye took a sip of tea. These days he couldn’t do without this thing. Who would have thought that after eating fish in a cave, what a marquis missed most was a pot of hot tea?
“Your Lordship, please forgive this subordinate’s boldness. This subordinate always feels your purpose isn’t to cultivate the martial spirit of Great Tang’s people. Are there some other purposes? Such as getting a few people killed?” When Liu Fulu first met Yun Ye, this Marquis couldn’t be considered a good person. Could a few years of self-cultivation change a person’s petty-mindedness? He didn’t think so.
“Old Liu, the starting point of any purpose in the world must be correct and noble. I’m a nobleman, so naturally I must uphold this principle. Under grand objectives, a few small sacrifices are necessary and essential. Otherwise, how do we warn future generations of the jungle’s harshness? I can only control who ultimately makes the sacrifice. Among these annoying people, picking a few who are displeasing to the eye is human nature—even the gods won’t blame me.”
“What Your Lordship says is pearls of wisdom. This subordinate admires it. If someone had told this subordinate these words back then, I would have already risen through the ranks long ago. How would I have ended up with my whole family nearly starving to death over two hundred strings of cash?”