Tian Shujiong, who had come calling with a box of gold, finally knocked open the doors of the Li household.

Having demonstrated his formidable wealth, he became the Li household’s guest of honor. The household had specially prepared a lavish banquet in his honor. Tian Shujiong, feeling supremely pleased with himself, settled into his seat at the round table and swept his gaze across the roasted pig trotters, braised pig trotters, char-grilled pig trotters, stewed pig trotters… and then the one single dish among all the preferences he had casually listed — stir-fried shrimp with corn — and his smile involuntarily slipped.

He had listed over a dozen dishes he loved in one breath, and the only thing that ended up on the table was one plate of shrimp and corn?

After Tian Shujiong took his seat, Li Wu sat down in turn. Shen Zhuxi sat to his right, in front of the one and only vegetable dish — which happened to be his shrimp and corn.

“Tian Young Master, please help yourself — don’t stand on ceremony! It’s all your favorites!” Li Wu said with great gusto.

Tian Shujiong forced a smile and questioned his own eyes — where was his salt-water duck, his lion’s head meatball, his large yellow croaker?!

“Why is it all pig trotters?” Shen Zhuxi said, hesitating to speak.

“Madam need not worry,” Li Wu said with perfect composure. “I did ask the guest — this is what the guest likes! Tian Young Master, isn’t that right?”

Li Wu’s chopsticks pointed at the one and only vegetable dish on the table — also the only dish that, after he had specifically requested it, had actually been brought out.

“It… is…”

Being under someone else’s roof, one had no choice but to bow one’s head.

Tian Shujiong forced a smile and nodded: “Yes, it’s what I like…”

“You see!” Li Wu immediately turned to look at Shen Zhuxi. “I asked Tian Young Master long ago — this banquet was indeed prepared according to Tian Young Master’s preferences!”

Tian Shujiong questioned whether his ears were working properly — how could such a shameless person exist in this world?

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhuxi could not help but give Tian Shujiong a second look. She had not expected that there existed in this world someone who adored pig trotters as passionately as Li Wu did.

“In that case, Tian Young Master need not hold back. I notice there’s a cold dish missing from the table — I’ll have the kitchen send out a plate of osmanthus-glazed pig skin jelly.” Shen Zhuxi said.

“No need, truly, please don’t go to the trouble…” Tian Shujiong shuddered at the very word “pig.”

“No trouble at all. Since Tian Young Master enjoys pork so much, there will also be deep-fried crispy skin as a snack in a little while.” Shen Zhuxi said kindly.

Tian Shujiong went pale.

He was about to interrupt Shen Zhuxi, who had already turned to instruct the maidservant, when the voice of Li Wu came from across the table: “Come come come, Tian Young Master — let me drink to you first.”

Tian Shujiong was bewildered into drinking an entire cup.

What was in the cup was not fine wine — it was nothing more than the harshest, most fiery, and cheapest kind of grain spirits. One mouthful, and Tian Shujiong felt it burning all the way down into his lungs.

Grain spirits on top of fury — Tian Shujiong’s eyes looked as if they might shoot flames!

He had arrived with ten thousand taels of gold as a gift, and this was the treatment he received? No decent food was one thing, but even the wine was the cheapest available to receive him!

The smile, oh — the smile was warm enough, but what did a smile cost? Not a single copper coin?

That smile cost nothing yet kept him from venting his anger — this man surnamed Li was truly detestable!

“Excellent wine! Excellent wine! A true man should drink exactly this kind of fierce spirit!” Li Wu let out a satisfied hiss, then suddenly turned to look at Tian Shujiong, whose entire face and neck had turned red: “Tian Young Master, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I would…” — I would agree, great ancestor of yours!

This man was no easy mark. He had been careless. He should have prepared better…

“I just remembered there’s still something urgent I must attend to — perhaps I should—”

Tian Shujiong had not finished speaking when Li Wu cut him off, raising his cup: “Though Li is but a rough military man, his greatest pleasure in life has always been to make friends! Today, meeting Tian Young Master is like meeting a… like…” He turned his head toward Shen Zhuxi.

“Old acquaintance,” Shen Zhuxi murmured softly.

“Like meeting an old acquaintance from the very first moment!” Li Wu said loudly. “We must not part until we are thoroughly drunk — otherwise it would be an insult to me. Tian Young Master, do you look down on me?”

Tian Shujiong felt a surge of contempt. He was about to say a few polite pleasantries to brush the matter aside, but caught sight of the arm that held Li Wu’s raised wine cup — the muscles visibly bulging and knotting beneath the fabric.

“The Prefect is a man of great valor and strength. Tian sincerely admires you,” Tian Shujiong said decisively.

“In that case—” Li Wu raised his wine cup slightly in the air. “Deep feelings, drink in one go. Shallow feelings, sip it slow. How much camaraderie exists between us, Tian Young Master — it’s all up to you—”

Li Wu finished the words with a meaningful look and drained his cup in one go.

Shen Zhuxi was well accustomed to watching Li Wu drink, and knew that this small measure of spirits was nothing more than a throat rinse to him. Tian Shujiong, however, was not so fortunate. One look at his attire made it clear he had never drunk such cheap spirits before.

The pitiful Tian Young Master, forced into it against his will, picked up the cup before him with great reluctance, his brows tightly knitted, his face the picture of someone facing death with dignity, and drained it in one go.

The moment the empty cup left his lips, Tian Shujiong erupted into a fit of heart-rending coughing.

Shen Zhuxi was just about to ask the maidservant beside her to come over and pat his back to help him breathe, when she saw Li Wu bring down a heavy slap onto Tian Shujiong’s slight and slender back.

Li Wu laughed heartily: “Good! Tian Young Master is truly forthright! Speak then — who are you, and what have you come to the Li household to do?”

Tian Shujiong nearly got knocked onto the table by that slap. He propped himself back up with great effort, his face flushed crimson: “I am a merchant from Haozhou — my family deals in spices. I have made this long journey all the way to Xiangzhou to ask Prefect Li to serve as an intermediary and introduce me to someone. Should the matter succeed, I will have another great gift to present.”

“Who is so important that you need to meet them?”

“The finest gentleman in the realm, and current Deputy Chief Minister — Fu Xuanmiao.”

With those words, the dinner table fell into sudden stillness.

Shen Zhuxi kept her eyes on the shrimp and corn before her, affecting nonchalance. The long chopsticks in her hand, however, tightened involuntarily.

“Oh—”

Li Wu’s long chopsticks slammed straight through the stewed pig trotter before him. Using them like a skewer, he stabbed the trotter and lifted it up.

Thick, rich sauce dripped from the char-reddened skin, falling back into the bowl drop by drop, rippling outward in red-tinged circles.

“What do you want with him?” Li Wu said.

“To be honest with you, the one thing I have nothing to show for in this life is anything other than good fortune — I was born into the right family, and have never lacked for money—”

“That much is obvious,” Li Wu said.

It is obvious, Shen Zhuxi agreed inwardly.

Money in abundance. Common sense, rather scarce.

“Today, with wolves and fires on all sides and powerful factions rising on every front, ordinary business has grown difficult for the common people. We merchants may have money in hand, but without someone powerful to back us, we are still nothing but meat on someone else’s cutting board. You see—” Tian Shujiong cleared his throat and said with emphasis: “In my view, of all who stand beneath the heavens, the finest gentleman in the realm makes the best backing of all! Fu Xuanmiao hails from a distinguished scholarly family, a gentleman of illustrious name across the land, upright in character and outstanding in bearing — a man of affairs both civil and military—”

Li Wu cut off his unfinished praise with impatience: “Plain words.”

“I want to latch onto the Fu clan,” Tian Shujiong said. “I ask Prefect Li to make the introduction — and should it succeed, the Tian clan will have another ten thousand taels of gold as a gift.”

“Why me?” Li Wu suddenly asked.

Tian Shujiong replied without losing composure: “Without a capital city, His Majesty and the Fu clan have become elusive and near impossible to find. I don’t know who to turn to — I can’t get an audience with a Military Governor, but a prefect might be worth a try. Fu Xuanmiao recently came through the White Gadfly Plains, so Xiangzhou was the first place I came to.”

This answer was reasonable and without loophole.

“Funding an army is no small sum. Do you truly have that much money?” Li Wu asked.

“Please set your mind at ease on that score, Prefect,” Tian Shujiong said with satisfaction. “Even if the title of the wealthiest in the land does not fall to my family, the Tian clan would certainly occupy one of the top three.”

“In that case,” Shen Zhuxi spoke up, “how is it that one has never heard of the reputation of the Tian clan of Haozhou before?”

When counting the great wealthy families of the realm, the same few names always came up. The three most famous great merchants were none other than the Bai, Sun, and Wang families — the Bai Family’s money houses spanned the entire realm, the Sun Family monopolized overseas trade, the Wang Family had countless enterprises and had once been the most famous imperial merchant family of all.

Could it be that she had simply been too sheltered? Whether inside the palace or out, she had never heard of the Tian clan of Haozhou.

“Amassing wealth quietly without drawing attention is a family principle of our Tian clan — it is perfectly natural that you have not heard of us. But everything I say is true. If it were not true, I could not have produced an entire box of gold to bring as a calling gift.” Tian Shujiong said with composure.

Li Wu poured himself a full cup and drained it in one go.

A moment later, he spoke: “I cannot influence his decisions.”

“So long as Prefect Li introduces me to Fu Xuanmiao, the ten thousand taels of gold are yours. I will find my own way to persuade Fu Xuanmiao.”

“…Is latching onto the Fu clan the intention of your entire Tian clan?” Li Wu asked.

“Naturally — a matter of this magnitude cannot be decided by me alone. It is the will of every member of the Tian clan,” Tian Shujiong said.

“Very well.” Li Wu said. “Come again in three days. I will arrange a meeting — and remember, bring the gold as agreed.”

Shen Zhuxi looked at him in surprise.

Li Wu’s expression did not change, his manner perfectly at ease — as though it were entirely within his power to produce a Fu Xuanmiao three days hence for Tian Shujiong to meet.

Watching his utterly composed demeanor, Shen Zhuxi found herself half-wondering: could it be that Fu Xuanmiao truly would appear in three days?

“As long as I can meet Fu Xuanmiao, everything else can be worked out—” Tian Shujiong said. “To toast the hope that we both achieve what we seek, I have taken the trouble to prepare a fine table of food and wine, and I sincerely request that Prefect Li honor us with your presence tomorrow evening.”

Li Wu agreed without hesitation. Tian Shujiong, satisfied, picked up his chopsticks, let his gaze wander over the table of pig trotters for a moment, then chose a single soybean from within the braised trotter, wore an expression of utter distaste, and placed it into his mouth.

Before long, Tian Shujiong, having found nothing worth eating, excused himself and left.

The moment Tian Shujiong had gone, Shen Zhuxi immediately voiced the question she had been holding inside for so long: “Is Fu Xuanmiao coming to Xiangzhou in three days?”

Li Wu gnawed on his pig trotter, drank his spirits, and spared a moment between the two to answer Shen Zhuxi’s question: “Haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Then how could you agree to introduce Tian Shujiong to Fu Xuanmiao in three days?” Shen Zhuxi asked in astonishment.

“He doesn’t know what the finest gentleman in the realm looks like,” Li Wu said, and with an air of confidence, smoothed his hair. “Look at me — do I resemble the finest gentleman in the realm?”

Shen Zhuxi stared at him in silence.

Setting everything else aside — just his complexion alone would give him away in an instant.

What gentleman of noble birth would have a sun-bronzed complexion from being weathered by wind and sun?

Li Wu clicked his tongue and said: “Besides, I couldn’t pull off that scheming, treacherous air of a fine lord — and when I speak, I don’t have that feeling of murky water seeping up from a drainage ditch like he does. Better to find someone else to impersonate him.”

“Right, you should still…” Shen Zhuxi stopped mid-sentence as the thought suddenly struck her. “Why find someone to impersonate him at all? If what he says is true, this is a good thing. The Great Yan’s military funds are stretched thin — if we could receive support, suppressing the rebellion would be easier.”

“What if it’s false?” Li Wu countered.

“What if it’s false…” Shen Zhuxi had no answer.

If Tian Shujiong’s words were lies, then what was the true purpose behind all the gold he had thrown down?

“Therefore—” Li Wu said with an air of great righteousness, “I, Li Wu, as the last loyal subject of Great Yan, naturally must first help my brother-in-law verify whether this shifty-eyed fellow Tian Shujiong is a man of good or bad intent.”

How rare of Li Wu to think so carefully for the sake of Great Yan. Shen Zhuxi was deeply moved, and at the same time felt a swell of pride at having personally cultivated a loyal subject of Great Yan.

“It was my oversight—” Shen Zhuxi placed a braised pig trotter into his bowl as a reward, moved beyond measure. “It is fortunate that you thought of this for His Majesty’s sake.”

After dinner, Li Wu clasped his hands behind his back and strolled toward the door. Shen Zhuxi said in surprise: “Are you going out again?”

“Diao’er came back to the city and then vanished again — I’m going to see whether he’s eaten. I’ll be back shortly.” Li Wu said.

He ambled out through the rear courtyard, his leisurely pace changing the instant he stepped through the front gate of the Li household.

Li Que arrived at just that moment and nearly collided with him.

“Elder brother, where are you going?” Li Que asked in surprise.

Li Wu said: “A plump duck has come to our door. Come, let’s discuss how to make it give up all its fat.”

After all, the money would go to supporting the Yan army one way or another. Better to have it support the Xiangzhou army.

If it was unwilling to support the Xiangzhou army, then it could go support the King Yama army.

He would rather see the gold fall into a cesspool, or sink to the bottom of a river, than let a single coin of it end up in Fu Xuanmiao’s hands.