Of course, Lu Bing's household possessed far more than a thousand taels of gold. However, withdrawing all available gold from the treasury at once was indeed a grand gesture.
Lu Bing asked his daughter, "Did Li Yiren simply give it to you when you said you needed it?"
Lu Ying replied, "I told her my father needed it." So she had used a chicken feather as an arrow of command, falsely relaying an "imperial decree."
"You—" Faced with such a decisive daughter, Lu Bing had no temper left. He sighed, "Spend a fortune, and it will return. Yu Dayou is a rare military genius—his life is worth far more than a thousand taels of gold. I'll use this gold to try and save him."
Wang Daxia had never seen so much gold before; it felt like a dream. Unable to resist, he walked up to one of the chests, crouched down, and his old habit of biting everything resurfaced. As if bewitched, he picked up a horseshoe-shaped gold bar and gently bit it. The hard-yet-slightly-soft texture and the taste of gold filling his mouth confirmed it was pure gold!
Lu Ying tapped Wang Daxia's head with her sword hilt. "This is all for Yan Shifan. You've left tooth marks and saliva on it."
Only then did Wang Daxia snap back to reality. What defined a wealthy family? Spending a fortune in one go—that was a wealthy family! The Wang family was nothing but country bumpkins.
Wang Daxia swapped the gold bar with his tooth marks with one from below. "So we're just giving away a thousand taels of gold like this?"
If I had a thousand taels of gold, why wait for the three-year agreement? Why struggle? I'd have married Wei Caiwei long ago.
In Sweetwater Lane, Wei Caiwei, who had just arrived home, sneezed three times in a row.
Lu Ying retorted, "Should we give it to you instead?"
Wang Daxia barely managed to stay clear-headed and quickly waved his hands. "I don't dare take it. Looking at this gold, I both love it and fear it. With my current abilities, I'd surely have the luck to acquire it but not the luck to spend it. It's like a three-year-old child pushing a cart of jewels down the street—I couldn't protect it."
Just like Chen the Agent from Machang Hutong, who grew up with Li Jiubao, the belle of Machang Hutong, and they adored each other. But what use was it? A humble housing agent couldn't protect a beauty like Li Jiubao, and it ended in tragedy.
Lu Ying said, "Father, we must act quickly. My master is in critical danger; we need to save him immediately."
At that moment, Imperial Physician Song rushed in to check Lu Bing's pulse. "My lord, you've just recovered from paralysis, and now you're overexerting yourself. You must take care of your health."
Lu Bing replied, "I've been mindful of my health and have recently delegated tasks to the younger generation. But some matters require my personal attention—they can't handle them. I trouble you, Physician, to administer some acupuncture. I'll rest after finishing this business."
Physician Song had no choice. As he applied the needles, he said, "I beg you, Lord Lu, not to treat me as a miracle worker. We're all flesh and blood. It's hard to replenish a depleted body, and now you're draining yourself further. I'm very concerned."
Lu Bing said, "After this matter, I'll step back and take it easy."
Physician Song didn't believe him: "I've heard that more than ten times already."
Once the acupuncture was done, he handed over some medicinal pills. "Take one if you feel unwell."
Lu Bing took the medicine, placed a slice of century-old ginseng under his tongue, draped himself in a crane-feather cloak, and boarded a large carriage drawn by four white steeds. With the gifts in tow, he headed to the Yan residence in the western city.
Wang Daxia and Lu Ying rode on horseback, escorting the carriage behind—which carried the thousand taels of gold. They had to be extra cautious.
Wang Daxia asked, "Boss, why do you call Yu Dayou your master?""Because General Yu once instructed me in martial arts. A teacher for a day is a father for life." Lu Ying said with considerable pride, "My master studied swordsmanship under Li Liangqin and even trained at Shaolin Temple. When he fought against the Japanese Pirates, Shaolin sent highly skilled monks to kill the pirates, becoming the monk soldiers under my master's command. My master also created his own staff and sword techniques—he's no ordinary martial artist."
Wang Daxia suddenly understood, "No wonder I could never defeat you. A master indeed produces a skilled disciple."
Lu Ying glared at him, "What I've been teaching you all during morning drills at the training ground were all learned from my master. I haven't held anything back—you're learning the same things I did. It's just that you refuse to practice properly, always looking for shortcuts. While natural talent in martial arts is important, diligent practice is absolutely essential. Have you been slacking off these past few days in Baoding Prefecture, not practicing at all in the mornings?"
Mention of Baoding Prefecture brought a mysterious smile to Wang Daxia's face, his eyes softening: You might not believe it, but in Baoding Prefecture, Wei Caiwei and I have pledged ourselves to each other privately—we've even written our Marriage Certificate!
Seeing his foolish grin, Lu Ying immediately confirmed her suspicion, "Tomorrow after roll call, you'll practice half an hour longer than everyone else."
Wang Daxia let out a miserable groan upon hearing this.
When he learned his in-laws had arrived, Yan Shifan warmly welcomed them and even sent for his son Yan Shaoting to return from the Imperial College to accompany his father-in-law. Lu Bing quickly stopped him, "I didn't come today to see the young couple. I have some private matters to discuss with Donglou."
Yan Shifan was a rotund, plump man who still wore light clothing despite it being autumn; Lu Bing, meanwhile, had donned a crane-feather cloak and wore a large black hat to block the wind and protect his head.
Yan Shifan, that old fox, knew perfectly well who Lu Bing had come for, but he deliberately played ignorant and invited Lu Bing to his study, saying, "Donghu just recovered from a fall from his horse, his arms and legs barely healed. Don't strain yourself. Someone, prepare a warm sedan chair for our in-law to carry him to the study for our conversation."
Knowing his own physical weakness, Lu Bing didn't force himself and took the sedan chair. Lu Ying and Wang Daxia ordered people to carry the "gifts" and follow.
Yan Shifan still remembered Wang Daxia and asked him, "How has your father been lately?"
This was practically slapping Wang Daxia in the face. Yan Shifan made no attempt to hide his pettiness—having failed to torment Wang Daxia, he'd gone after his father instead. With just a lift of his finger, he could crush him like an ant.
Wang Daxia was no longer the simpleton he once was, having developed a thick skin that could endure any insult. "Thanks to you, my father is doing quite well. Without official duties to burden him, he's free. Now he plays both father and mother, spending every day with my two-year-old brother. He's completely lost any desire for fame and fortune."
This was irony—how could a man who'd been an official for half his lifetime be content staying home raising children?
Yan Shifan felt secretly pleased and asked further, "Your father did quite well all those years at the Northern City Military Command. Pity he had poor judgment in marrying an unvirtuous wife who actually lent out usurious loans, causing your father to bear responsibility for negligence and lose his position. What are your thoughts on this?"
Wang Daxia put on a carefree expression and laughed, "When the old man lost his horse, who could have known it would turn out to be a blessing? My stepmother and I never got along—the whole Northern City knows that. This gave me a perfect reason to have Father divorce her, preventing future disasters. I sincerely thank whoever secretly reported my father to the Ministry of Personnel—truly my great benefactor. Now my stepmother is divorced, my father has no official post and doesn't dare scold me anymore. We're living peaceful days, except—"Wang Daxia's joy turned to worry. "It's just that our family was swindled out of a large sum of silver, leading to a decline in our fortunes. We can no longer maintain our previous lavish lifestyle, so we've dismissed most of our servants. Life has become much tighter, and we can no longer spend money recklessly like before."
Wang Daxia glanced at Lu Ying and lowered his voice as he spoke to Yan Shifan. "Now even when I'm on official business buying toilet paper, I try to get Commander Lu to sign for reimbursement. It's hard to go from luxury to frugality—poverty is difficult to bear."
Yan Shifan felt even more pleased upon hearing this. Seeing Wang Daxia miserable made him happy.
Wang Daxia, observing Yan Shifan's expression, knew that his earlier show of weakness had helped him escape danger. If Yan Shifan were to retaliate again, he wouldn't be able to withstand it. With his backer Lu Bing ill, it was better not to cause trouble.
When they reached the study, Lu Ying helped Lu Bing down from the sedan chair. After entering, she closed the doors and windows to prevent her father from catching a chill, fussing over him with great care. Yan Shifan envied Lu Bing. "Donghu is blessed with filial children."
Lu Bing modestly replied, "The same to you."
Lu Bing then gave a signal for everyone to withdraw. "Donglou, I know you're busy, so I'll get straight to the point. I came here today regarding Yu Dayou's matter. This is something he entrusted me to deliver to you."
Yan Shifan straightened his round face sternly. "Donghu, Yu Dayou delayed military operations. For the Battle of Cengang, the Great Ming expended vast resources. The success of the campaign against the Japanese Pirates hinged on this, yet he let them escape. Years of the Great Ming's efforts went up in smoke—he doesn't deserve to live!"
Without defending Yu Dayou in the slightest, Lu Bing directly opened a chest, revealing golden ingots stacked in a pagoda shape.
By Yan Shifan's estimate, there were about twenty ingots. Each weighed ten taels, making two hundred taels of gold in total.
Yan Shifan calmly sipped his tea. "Donghu, it's not that I don't want to give you face, but Yu Dayou is Xu Jie's man. Lately, Xu Jie and I have had political disagreements and frequent friction. Since Yu Dayou looked down on me and went to join Xu Jie's faction, why don't you seek help from Senior Grand Academician Xu instead of coming to me? You've come to the wrong person."
Lu Bing remained silent and opened a second chest—again, glittering with two hundred taels of gold.
Yan Shifan paused his teacup. "So Yu Dayou only realizes now that he backed the wrong person? Trying to clasp Buddha's feet in a crisis is too late."
Still silent, Lu Bing opened a third chest. Three chests of gold shone like three small suns, warming the study as if with the glow of sunset.
Yan Shifan narrowed his single eye. "Donghu, what kind of person do you take me for? Someone like Yu Dayou, who shifts allegiances like the wind—I am a man of principle."
Lu Bing finally spoke. "Confiscation of property, dismissal from office, revocation of nobility, or exile to the frontier as a military slave—all are acceptable. Donglou only needs to ensure he keeps his life. Just let him live."
With that, he opened a fourth chest.
Yan Shifan blinked his single eye. Indeed, he was a man of principle—but his principles had clear price tags. For instance, newly appointed Jinshi graduates needed to queue at the Ministry of Personnel waiting for vacancies to be assigned official posts. But if one paid Yan Shifan three hundred taels of silver, they could immediately fill a seventh-rank prefectural judge position; for an internal promotion of one rank, twelve thousand three hundred taels of silver would secure it, and so on.
Yan Shifan loved money—essentially, all his principles had a price. That was his principle.
And the gold Yu Dayou sent was enough to buy a first-rank official position!
At that moment, Lu Bing opened a fifth chest.
A full one thousand taels!Yan Shifan stirred the emerald-green tea with his bowl lid. "It... could be arranged."
One life for a thousand taels of gold—this deal was far too profitable. Moreover, stripping Yu Dayou of his official position and noble title, then exiling him to become a military slave, was already a severe blow to Xu Jie's reputation, allowing the Yan family to exact their revenge.
Yan Shifan entered the palace to plead for Yu Dayou. In the end, Yu Dayou was released from the Ministry of War's death row and escorted to Datong for border garrison duty.
Before departing, Yu Dayou presented his recently completed martial arts manual, "The Sword Scripture," to his disciple Lu Ying. "I can no longer teach you in person. This contains my insights from years of training, along with original sword and staff techniques I developed. Take it and practice. With your extraordinary talent, you will surely achieve great things in the future."
Yu Dayou left the capital in the autumn wind, heading for Datong. Before his departure, he composed a poem, "Mountain Journey in Autumn," to express his resolve:
"Streams swell, giant fish emerge;
Mountains deep, fine birds sing.
If a man fears not hardship's surge,
How can he for all people bring?"
After brushing the ink onto paper, Yu Dayou drank a cup of wine and departed.
Lu Ying clutched the handwritten copies of "The Sword Scripture" and "Mountain Journey in Autumn," watching her master disappear into the distance. She sighed, "Since childhood, I loved reading chivalric tales of roaming the world with a sword, dreaming of becoming a righteous knight who eliminates tyranny. Growing up, I realized true chivalry lies in figures like my master—those who serve the nation and its people. I won't hoard this 'Sword Scripture' as some secret martial manual. I'll have it carved and printed for distribution. Each of you should practice from it, hoping we may all become genuine heroes like my master, benefiting the country and its citizens."
"Commander Lu speaks wisely. This subordinate will diligently practice henceforth," Wang Daxia replied, pulling receipts from his pocket and handing Yu Dayou's calligraphy brush to Lu Ying. "These are the expenses for today's farewell wine, paper, and brushes. Please sign here, Commander, so this subordinate can seek reimbursement from the accounts office."
Author's Note:
Emotionless reimbursement machine Lu Ying: Yu Dayou and Wang Daxia—both have "Da" in their names, yet how vast the difference between them!
It's the weekend! Sending 100 red envelopes to wish everyone a joyful weekend—happy reading and relaxing!
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