Chapter 50: "Can Doing Good Deeds for the People Be Considered Robbery..."
Upon receiving Wen Yu's promise, Zhao Youcai and his men were overjoyed, their faces beaming with delight. They hurriedly said, "We will definitely put all our effort into carrying out this task!"
Wen Yu signaled Xiao Li to untie the ropes binding them. With a flick of his knife, Xiao Li severed all the ropes without so much as scratching their skin.
Zhao Youcai and the others were still shaken, becoming even more cautious. Two underlings removed the rags stuffed in their mouths and made clumsy bows to Wen Yu and Xiao Li.
Wen Yu asked, "Is Azure Cloud Stronghold currently guarded by government troops?"
Zhao Youcai replied, "That remote place—it was only because our former leader built the stronghold in the mountains to guard against government troops. Now that the authorities have taken it, everything that could be carried off has been looted, and what couldn't be taken was burned to the ground. Why would they station troops there?"
Wen Yu then said, "Good. If you manage to recruit soldiers, take them to Azure Cloud Stronghold first. By noon two days from now at the latest, I will come to the mountains to inspect your recruitment results."
Zhao Youcai repeatedly agreed.
She added, "By the way, state your names so I can record them later."
Zhao Youcai quickly said, "This humble one's surname is Zhao, named Youcai—the 'cai' meaning wealth and riches."
The fat and thin underlings beside him were eager to speak in front of these important figures, but as soon as they started with "I," Zhao Youcai interrupted them: "The fat one is called Zhao Dazhu, the thin one Zhao Deng'er."
Xiao Li glanced up slightly: "Are you all surnamed Zhao?"
Zhao Youcai explained, "Sir, you may not know, but in our Zhao Village, everyone is surnamed Zhao."
Wen Yu returned the money they had earlier given to Xiao Li: "Alright, we still need to find more people to carry out tasks for the lord, so we won't linger here any longer."
Zhao Youcai received the silver pieces with both hands. Hearing that Wen Yu and the others were still looking for more people to assign tasks to, he hurriedly said, "This humble one will immediately search for brothers who escaped from the stronghold today. Some brothers have gone to other mountains—I will also ask them to relay messages to the leaders of those strongholds. We will definitely help you two sirs gather forces from all the major strongholds!"
Wen Yu merely curved her lips slightly and said, "Then we'll await your good news."
After sending the men away, Xiao Li and Wen Yu resumed their journey. After they had traveled some distance, he asked, "Are you planning to stay in Xinzhou for two days?"
Wen Yu nodded and said, "Relying solely on those three petty thieves probably won't be enough to muddy the waters. I need to make more preparations."
Xiao Li then asked, "Do you already have a plan?"
Wen Yu said, "You'll know when the time comes."
Xiao Li slightly furrowed his brows and said, "We can't stay too long. Pei Song was assassinated—we don't know how severe his injuries are. If we don't take advantage of the fact that his Hawk Hounds aren't pursuing us closely now to head to Pingzhou soon, I'm afraid that once he recovers, we'll be surrounded again."
However, Wen Yu said, "With the Prefect of Xinzhou as our target, the more chaotic we make the situation in the south, the safer we'll be."
Xiao Li voiced his confusion: "The Prefect of Xinzhou having Wei Qishan's support is still just speculation. What if the Prefect of Xinzhou is acting on his own without any backup? Will there be enough time to muddy the waters before Pei Song sends troops to Xinzhou?"Wen Yu adjusted her bamboo hat and asked, "Even if the Prefect of Xinzhou is foolish enough to oppose Pei Song when most territories south of the Wei River have already been subdued by him, if you were Wei Qishan, having finally entangled with Pei Song, would you let him easily pacify the southern situation?"
Xiao Li gained a clearer understanding of the overall situation in Great Liang from Wen Yu's words. After a moment of silence, he replied, "No."
Wen Yu looked at him and said, "Therefore, even if Wei Qishan hadn't approached the Prefect of Xinzhou before he declared himself king, he would certainly cooperate with him now. And since Pei Song always acts ruthlessly, the Prefect of Xinzhou will avoid areas near Pei Song's garrison and instead first annex Pingzhou. My true purpose in doing all this is simply to preserve Pingzhou."
Xiao Li was puzzled: "With Southern Chen's support, the Prefect of Xinzhou won't be able to capture Pingzhou quickly. I'll escort you to Pingzhou first. Once you're completely safe, I can send people to continue causing trouble."
Wen Yu looked at Xiao Li for a long while without speaking.
Xiao Li realized something and asked, "Is it that Southern Chen won't readily send troops?"
Wen Yu turned to gaze at the distant forest sea and said, "It's that I cannot easily let Southern Chen send troops."
This confused Xiao Li even more.
Wen Yu explained, "Throughout history, political marriages have always been exchanges of interests."
The wind made her squint slightly: "I am the link between Great Liang and Southern Chen. When Great Liang was strong, Southern Chen needed to rely on Great Liang, and the situation favored me. But now that Great Liang has collapsed to this extent, and the Wen imperial family has been slaughtered leaving only me and my niece, after the marriage, I must use all the bargaining chips I have to negotiate with Southern Chen and make them send troops."
"Pingzhou lies on the border between Great Liang and Southern Chen. The reason it remains stable is that Southern Chen knows the Prefect of Pingzhou was my father's man. If I marry into Southern Chen, Pingzhou could become theirs too, so they don't want to waste troops capturing it. Other forces eyeing Pingzhou also fear Southern Chen's backing."
She said coldly, "This balance cannot be broken. If Pingzhou faces crisis and Southern Chen's army comes under the pretext of assistance, they won't withdraw. Then Pingzhou would no longer belong to Great Liang, nor would it remain my bargaining chip in negotiations with them."
Xiao Li was stunned. He had thought Wen Yu might be safe once she reached Southern Chen, but now it appeared that was equally dangerous territory.
For the first time, he asked her: "After you lead Southern Chen's army back to Great Liang, eliminate Pei Song, and repel Wei Qishan, what are your plans?"
Wen Yu only smiled: "It's still too early to think about that."
She walked forward, and Xiao Li watched her retreating figure in prolonged silence.
He suddenly understood what she meant when she tried to send him away earlier - that she had only this path to take.
She shared a blood feud with Pei Song, and in today's world, only Wei Qishan and Southern Chen could oppose him.
Wei Qishan held military power. The benefits a royal noblewoman could bring him were insignificant. If Wen Yu sought refuge with Wei Qishan, she would likely be kept as a decorative beauty while he used her royal status to legitimize his campaign against Pei Song.
But this would also give Southern Chen justification to send troops - the grievance of a stolen bride.
Therefore, Wei Qishan would never put himself in a position to be besieged by both Pei Song and Southern Chen.Marrying into Southern Chen became the only viable path for Wen Yu, and also the one with the greatest benefits.
Likely because the Prefect of Xinzhou had just proclaimed himself king and everything in Xinzhou was still in a state of reconstruction, when Wen Yu and Xiao Li passed through a county town, they noticed that although her portrait was still posted at the city gate, the soldiers were no longer conducting strict inspections.
Disguised as a man, she easily slipped into the city.
Xiao Li wanted to find an inn to rest, but Wen Yu suggested following the refugees to their lodgings.
Xiao Li worried she couldn't endure the hardship and said, "The inspections in the city aren't strict. There's no need for you to suffer in your accommodations."
Wen Yu gently tugged his sleeve, signaling him to follow the refugees without drawing attention, and said, "I want to gather some information. Just trust me on this."
Xiao Li looked at the slender fingers, still delicate despite being stained dark, gripping his sleeve, and felt a pang in his chest. Eventually, he followed Wen Yu.
That night, they rested with the refugees in a dilapidated temple. The more clever refugees quickly gathered plenty of information from the local beggars—such as whether the local government provided porridge, which merchants also distributed charitable porridge, and which merchants were so greedy they would pluck feathers from a passing goose, making it absolutely pointless to beg at their doors.
In just one evening, listening to the refugees' murmurs and discussions, Wen Yu gained a rough understanding of the major merchants in the city.
The next day, when Wen Yu and Xiao Li went to the porridge distribution point mentioned by the beggars, they overheard the locals discussing the good and bad deeds of these merchants while waiting in line.
After receiving their porridge, Wen Yu and Xiao Li found a quiet corner to slowly drink it. She asked, "Did you pick up on anything?"
Xiao Li didn't understand Wen Yu's intentions but knew that everything she did had its own logic. After a moment's thought, he said, "Squire Jia, who had never been known for small acts of kindness before, set up a shed to distribute porridge after the refugees entered the city. The local authorities praised him as a benevolent merchant. On the other hand, Squire Liu, who had always been known for his kindness, shut his doors tightly. When beggars came to his door, they were told his household was struggling too. Yet, I heard that the grain in their warehouses had moldered to the point even pigs wouldn't eat it, and it was all thrown into the fields to rot and serve as fertilizer next year."
Wen Yu offered no comment. After taking a sip of porridge, she said, "I heard these wealthy families have farm estates. Let's go take a look at the estates later."
Xiao Li paused with his porridge bowl halfway to his lips and asked, "What exactly are you planning to do?"
Wen Yu raised an eyebrow. To better resemble a young man, she had deliberately darkened and thickened her eyebrows, making the gesture appear exceptionally spirited. "Have you heard that money can make the devil turn the millstone? To quickly stir up this situation, I'll need some silver on hand."
Xiao Li's eyelid twitched slightly. "You want to rob..."
Wen Yu looked at him, and Xiao Li instinctively fell silent.
Her gaze was frank and unflinching. "Punishing unscrupulous merchants and ridding the people of harm—can that be called robbery?"
Xiao Li: "..."
It was as if he were seeing Wen Yu for the first time. As she went to return the bowls, he watched her retreating figure for a moment, then broke into a silent laugh.
That afternoon, Wen Yu and Xiao Li headed to several farm estates owned by the Jia and Liu families. Wen Yu, under the pretense of asking tenants for water, inquired about their land taxes.
The answers she received, however, were starkly different from what they had heard at the porridge shed.The tenant farmers bitterly complained about the Jia family, saying they were treated like beasts of burden. Whether it was a bumper year or a famine, regardless of the national tax rate, ninety percent of the harvest had to be handed over. Many tenant farmers worked the fields for a year only to starve their own families to death.
When the Jia family’s servants accompanied their masters to the estates, they would demand additional tributes. It was common for them to forcibly take any woman or daughter-in-law who caught their eye.
In contrast, the Liu family was a very benevolent landlord. They never allowed their subordinates to oppress the tenant farmers and were understanding and reasonable. If any family faced difficulties, the Lius would offer assistance.
Thus, even though many estates had changed hands, the local tenant farmers still spoke of Squire Liu as a great benefactor.
Xiao Li asked, "I heard that Squire Liu would rather throw moldy grain from his own granary into the fields than distribute it as porridge to the needy. Is this true?"
The tenant farmer he asked immediately spat in disgust, "It wasn’t Squire Liu who threw the moldy grain! The authorities forced merchants to contribute military funds. Squire Liu’s family had no money left and had to mortgage their land to the government. The Jia family then acquired the land from the authorities and used their own moldy grain to fertilize the fields! The Jias are the unscrupulous merchants colluding with the government! The reason Squire Liu’s family didn’t provide porridge to the refugees this year is that they can no longer make ends meet themselves!"
By the end of his account, the tenant farmer was wiping away tears uncontrollably. "In this world, good people never get their due rewards!"
After Wen Yu and Xiao Li bid farewell to that household, they inquired with several other families and received similar responses.
On their way back, Xiao Li frowned slightly and said, "I never imagined the truth would be like this."
Wen Yu, however, remarked, "So, often, what you see and hear may not be the truth but what others want you to see and hear. The Jia family’s tactics aren’t particularly clever, but by using porridge distribution to refugees to build their reputation, it’s enough. Even if some who know the truth speak out, no one will care."
Xiao Li glanced at her. "Why?"
Bamboo groves lined the path on both sides. As a bamboo leaf drifted onto Wen Yu’s shoulder, she plucked it off. "Those who praise the Jia family do so to continue receiving porridge. When their own survival is at stake, why would they care whether the Jias are genuinely benevolent or merely pretending? What does the injustice suffered by the Liu family matter to them? Later refugees, unaware of the truth, will only believe even more firmly that the Jia family are great benefactors."
Xiao Li said, "The refugees won’t stay here long. Once they’ve moved on, it’s the local people who remain. Without the benevolent Liu family as merchants, their lives under the unscrupulously wealthy Jia family will only become harder."
Wen Yu was somewhat surprised that Xiao Li had grasped this implication so quickly.
But she shook her head and said, "Most people don’t think that far ahead; they muddle through life in a daze. Morning mushrooms know not the waxing and waning of the moon, and summer cicadas know not the passing of spring and autumn. Moreover, if Squire Jia intends to use this opportunity, with the refugees’ help, to climb to a higher position, what can anyone do to him later, even if they all know he’s not a good man?"
Xiao Li detected a deeper meaning in her words.
The Jia family, by leveraging the refugees and offering trivial favors like porridge, had won their support.
Hadn’t Pei Song’s rebellion begun in much the same way?His obsidian eyes met Wen Yu's: "Old Ge the storyteller says even in ancient Qin times people shouted 'Are kings and nobles born to their thrones?' Nowadays it's even more so. An emperor without virtue can be driven from power, let alone merchants."
Hearing his attempt to comfort her, Wen Yu was momentarily stunned before letting out a soft chuckle. "You're right. The Grand Tutor once taught my brother that the common people are like water - gentle and calm in broad, open plains, but when encountering cliffs and chasms, they become fierce and terrifying. Therefore, a ruler should conceal their sharpness and govern with generosity, rather than oppress them into revealing their ferocity."
She lifted her gaze to the undulating mountain range in the distance. "Let's go to Azure Cloud Stronghold. It's time to continue with our plan."
Author's Note: Originally wanted to combine two chapters into one, but couldn't find a good stopping point. Posting Chapter 1 first~
Don't stay up late waiting for Chapter 2 tonight. Sending red envelopes to all dear readers in the comments section!
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