Yin Gezhi looked at him calmly and offered him a cup of tea. “What’s there to save?”
“Haven’t you heard yet?” Xu Huaizu’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “The entire court is demanding generals to surrender their military authority. My father hasn’t been able to sleep for several nights due to worry!”
“Hmm.” Yin Gezhi nodded. “If they’re asking for it to be surrendered, why not do so?”
Xu Huaizu was taken aback. He took a sip of tea before responding, “Who would willingly give up their military authority? It was earned through life-and-death struggles. Without military power, wouldn’t a general be at everyone’s mercy?”
“You’re wrong,” An Shichong slowly walked in from behind, first paying his respects to Yin Gezhi before frowning at Xu Huaizu. “A general needs military authority on the battlefield to defeat enemies, but what use is it after leaving the battlefield? Surely you don’t expect to use court-funded soldiers as your guards?”
“How can you say that!” Xu Huaizu grew angry. “Haven’t you heard of Guan Canghai from Wei? He was the most compliant in surrendering military authority in the whole world. As soon as he returned from battle, he went straight to the Grand Marshal’s residence to hand over his military seal. Did such a loyal minister and capable general meet a good end?”
An Shichong’s face paled as he hurriedly grabbed Xu Huaizu’s sleeve, casting a worried glance at Yin Gezhi.
Belatedly remembering his master’s identity, Xu Huaizu froze before dropping to his knees with a thud. “This disciple spoke out of turn!”
Yin Gezhi’s gaze was cold. “You think he met a bad end because he surrendered his military authority?”
“Not exactly…” Xu Huaizu swallowed nervously and pouted. “It’s just that if it had been someone like General Yi who commanded substantial forces, the Wei Emperor wouldn’t have rushed to condemn him. A renowned general wouldn’t have had to commit suicide in prison.”
“Even someone like General Yi who commands large forces would be executed for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country!” The voice suddenly grew louder, startling everyone in the room.
Feng Yue stood to the side, silent with a cold look in his eyes.
Yin Gezhi suddenly seemed to lose his temper and stood up. “As a military commander, no matter how capable you are, you’re still just someone who fights for the emperor. If you want to defy him, unless you’re fully prepared to usurp the throne, you’ll become a ghost under imperial power! If you don’t understand this basic principle, what business do you have fighting wars?!”
“But,” Xu Huaizu couldn’t help muttering, “how do you know for certain that Guan Canghai truly betrayed the country?”
“How do I know?” Yin Gezhi’s gaze turned ice-cold as he smiled. “Because I climbed out over the corpses of tens of thousands of soldiers in Mountain Ghost Valley. Because I fought alongside him in the Battle of Pingchang. You ask me how I know?”
“Master, please calm your anger.” An Shichong knelt beside Xu Huaizu and cupped his hands. “Huaizu has always been loose with his words, he didn’t mean to offend.”
Xu Huaizu also deflated. “This disciple was unaware of the circumstances, please forgive me, Master.”
The room fell silent for a long while. Yin Gezhi calmed down, the redness in his eyes gradually fading as he sat back down. Pinching his brow, he said, “After saying all this, it comes down to one point: now that the Crown Prince wants to collect military authority, since the Xu family has never had conflicts with the Crown Prince’s faction, why not go with the flow and submit the military seal to the Grand Marshal?”
Xu Huaizu frowned. “Master, do you truly believe this is the way out?”
“If you trust me, go back and persuade your father. It’s better than stubbornly resisting until the end, only to have to hand everything over anyway. However, timing is crucial. If General Yi is willing to first surrender the military authority of his hundred thousand troops on the northern border, then your father can hand over the authority of his fifty thousand troops. It can’t be too early or too late, too much or too little.”
The fifty thousand garrison troops under General Xu were maintained for preparedness. Though called fifty thousand, given his skill at maintaining troops, the actual numbers were surely more. But surrendering just this amount would be enough—there was no benefit in surrendering more.
Xu Huaizu sighed, deeply conflicted. An Shichong said, “These are troubled times. It would be better to delay your marriage to the Song family.”
“What’s there to delay? I’ve already asked my father to break off the engagement,” Xu Huaizu said. “She and I can’t live together—I don’t like her. Even if it means getting beaten by my father, I won’t go through with this marriage.”
Feng Yue listened and shook his head slightly.
Being actively rejected by the groom’s family would make it difficult for the Song young lady to find another match in the future. She hadn’t listened to his advice earlier, and now she must be crying over losing face both internally and externally.
But none of this had anything to do with him. He had hidden under others’ authority for so long; it was time to do what he wanted to do.
After the two young masters made a commotion for a while, seeing Yin Gezhi’s poor mood, they hurriedly paid their respects and left. Yin Gezhi turned his head to see Feng Yue standing expressionless, wearing the same expression he saw in the mirror every day.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Feng Yue lowered his gaze. “This servant suddenly remembered something serious.”
“What is it?”
“Given the relationship between General Yi and Chief Inspector Yang, now that the General has returned, do you think there can be a resolution to Inspector Yang’s corruption case?”
Yin Gezhi paused.
They had been so busy catching the people the Crown Prince wanted to catch that they had forgotten about the ones who truly needed to be caught. Yang Fengpeng had numerous financial dealings with Yi Guoru. If this matter could be proven, it would give the Crown Prince legitimate grounds to reclaim Yi Guoru’s military authority.
“Do you have any leads?” Yin Gezhi asked.
Feng Yue smiled. “There are no leads now, but soon it will be time to allocate funds to rebuild the northern border army’s banners.”
Where money flows, leads would naturally follow.
Yin Gezhi nodded. “I’ll have people pay attention.”
“How far can your people’s attention reach?” With a delicate laugh, Feng Yue blinked. “Better let this servant handle it.”
Zhu Laicai had been rescued by Yin Gezhi early on and kept in a secret prison. An Shichong knew about this but, trusting his master had kept quiet and had people care for him.
Now remembering this matter, Yin Gezhi went to check on him in prison.
Zhu Laicai had lost considerable weight during his imprisonment. Seeing someone arrive, he immediately burst into tears. “Your Highness, this servant will tell you whatever you want to know! Please let this servant out! Please let me out!”
Yin Gezhi looked down at him with disgust, not getting too close, and asked quietly, “You were the accountant at the Chief Inspector’s residence. You should know about all his financial transactions, right?”
“Yes, yes!” Zhu Laicai nodded, then thought for a moment and became dejected. “But this servant is considered dead to the world. Even if you want me to testify, I can’t.”
“You won’t need to do that,” Yin Gezhi said. “Just roughly tell me about several major incoming and outgoing transactions.”
Looking at him hesitantly, Zhu Laicai asked, “If I just tell you about these things, can I go free?”
“Perhaps.”
“Good, have someone bring paper and a brush. This servant will start writing right now!”
Yin Gezhi waved for Guanzhi to bring writing materials, while his eyes flashed with dark intent.
Feng Yue went to eat breakfast at the mung bean cake shop at the end of Xiangyu Street. The enthusiastic proprietress pulled her up to the second floor, then her expression grew serious. “This servant has arranged all the people you asked for. Fortunately, we haven’t wasted these years placing people in various positions. Now that we need them, they can be put to use.”
Calmly putting the last piece of mung bean cake in her mouth, Feng Yue smiled. “Heaven wants his downfall. With the Crown Prince and Yin Gezhi helping, we can save a lot of effort. As long as we can pull down Yang Fengpeng, we can count this as a complete victory.”
Madam Zheng sighed. “You don’t need to go to such trouble. You could just wait for the Crown Prince and Prince Yin to deal with General Yi. At worst, it would just mean waiting a few more years. You’d still get there eventually.”
“I don’t have that patience,” Feng Yue shook her head. “Can’t wait any longer.”
It had already been more than three years. If they waited a few more years, she feared she wouldn’t be able to catch up to anyone.
Madam Zheng pressed her lips together and finally pulled something from her sleeve to give her. “This shows the distribution of our people. Please look it over carefully. It will help with arrangements.”
Opening and examining it, Feng Yue nodded. “I understand. Thank you for your hard work.”
The Menghui Building was still bustling that evening. Feng Yue crouched in the back courtyard waiting. Before long, Wangyu crawled through the dog hole and smiled at her. “Miss has been waiting long.”
Returning the smile, Feng Yue reached out to hand her something, watching as she carefully tucked it into her sleeve. Then she asked, “Is the Crown Prince good to you?”
With slightly reddened cheeks, Wangyu nodded. “Very good. He hasn’t let me suffer any hardship. He’s a good master, very gentle with people.”