He Yue glanced left and right to make sure there was no other living creature in the room before letting out a soft sigh.
"It was just talk, that's all. Everyone knows His Majesty is easily swayed. When Father spoke with passionate eloquence, he believed Father; when others wept and pleaded with tears streaming down their faces, he sympathized with them instead. Have you forgotten how the New Policies reform failed?"
He Lingchuan shrugged.
He hadn't forgotten—because he had no impression of it whatsoever!
He could hardly be blamed for that; his predecessor simply hadn't cared in the slightest about state affairs.
"Many were disappointed by that failure, and I imagine the Grand Marshal was among them." He Yue sighed again.
He Lingchuan raised a finger to his lips and gave a gentle "Shh."
This younger brother was clever, but far too idealistic. Changing the subject, He Lingchuan asked, "Hey, why do you think that old man Li didn't die earlier or later, but had to drop dead right before we arrived in Dunyu? Isn't there something fishy about that—almost like heaven itself is helping us?"
"He was seventy after all, a candle guttering in the wind." Even if that candle had seemed rather thick and sturdy before. "Even if he was killed by evil sorcery, without evidence, no one can catch the culprit."
"The old man did so many wicked deeds that plenty of people must have cursed him. The day his protective talisman failed, he was a goner." He Yue did not care much about how Li Zhao had died, but he cared greatly about the aftermath. "With Li Zhao dead, the Li clan is divided, and the Four Great Clans are fractured. That only benefits us."
He Lingchuan suddenly asked him, "Could they suspect us? After all, the current situation favors us the most."
"Suspect us of what?" He Yue was taken aback, then caught his meaning and let out a laugh. "How could they! We have no grudge against the Four Great Clans, Father is an imperial official of the royal court, and we haven't even laid eyes on Li Zhao before. How could we secretly harm him?"
His voice grew louder and louder as if mounting an argument, and He Lingchuan shushed him several times to no avail.
"What is going on?"
The courtyard gate suddenly creaked open, and He Chunhua walked inside. "Yue'er, what has you so worked up?"
He Yue stood to greet him. "Father, my brother and I were discussing how the Li clan might speculate over Li Zhao's death."
"The innocent have no need to explain themselves." He Chunhua's gaze swept over the two brothers, softening into warmth. "There is no need to pay any heed to the idle gossip outside."
"How is your wound?" He noticed the bandages on He Lingchuan's arm. "Your medicine ape said you bled at least two jin for the saber planting."
He also took notice of the furnace set in the corner of the room, walking over to examine the Saber Mountain. "Is it enough to just thrust the blade in like this?"
"Master Li said it will mend on its own in a few days, just like a living thing."
"Good. I will assign more men here so no petty scoundrels disrupt the saber-planting process," He Chunhua said with a smile. "I've already discussed it with the Marquis of Songyang. Since Master Craftsman Li is already here, he might as well stay in Xiazhou a while longer. He can lend prestige to the new branch Songyang Mansion opened in Dunyu, and I'll give them an auspicious start by placing our first batch of orders with this branch."
"Orders?" He Yue caught the key point immediately. "Do we have to pay for them?"
"Of course... charged to the public treasury." He Chunhua coughed lightly. "Seeing as we have just arrived in Xiazhou, Songyang Mansion agreed to let us put it on tab. We can settle it in installments within a year, interest-free."
The He brothers exchanged a glance. Offering help in one's hour of need—this was no small favor. The Marquis of Songyang truly had a keen eye for investment.
"Songyang Mansion belongs to a Daoist order and lacks sufficient manpower in Dunyu, so they typically do not forge mundane weapons. I ordered a batch of arms from them for our military officers. Zeng Feixiong has wanted a bin-iron long spear for a long time."
The weapons used by commanders differed from those of ordinary soldiers; they were at least of the magic artifact rank. Figures like Zhong Shengguang, Dong Haoming, Nian Zanli, and even Sun Fuping all wielded treasures worthy of being recorded in history. Even the Soaring Dragon spear gifted to He Lingchuan by Wu Shaoyi had once been the prized weapon of Liao Mozhao, the famous general of the Xuan Kingdom; even the tremendous strength of the Crocodile God had failed to snap it.
Ordinary mundane weapons could never manage such feats.
Zeng Feixiong had only been promoted last year, and his sidearm had snapped during his valiant battle against Lu Yao. He had been longing to find a suitable weapon ever since, preferably a top-quality magic artifact this time around.
He Yue's eyes lit up. "Father, have one forged for me as well!" As the son of a provincial governor, he was certainly entitled to a little privilege.
In the northern lands, the office of Governor-General was equivalent to a provincial governor, the head of an entire province.
He Chunhua chuckled, seeing no reason to refuse. "Yue'er is a gentleman, and the sword is the gentleman among weapons. I shall ask the Master Craftsman to forge a fine sword for you." He then looked toward He Lingchuan. "Lingchuan, what about you? You seem to have a saber, a spear, and a bow already, don't you?"
The rebel chieftain Hong Xiangqian's Ghost Eye Bow was in his son's possession as well.
He Lingchuan parted his lips, changing his words right as they reached his tongue: "Oh, I haven't made up my mind yet. Let me talk it over with Master Li first."
He Chunhua nodded.
Watching his father's loving expression, He Lingchuan felt a subtle pang in his heart. When it came to old man Li's death, had he thought too ill of his old man? After all, without evidence, any speculation was just clutching at shadows.
He Yue expressed his worry: "Father acted swiftly and resolutely today, which certainly demonstrated your capability, but I fear the Four Great Clans will not yield easily."
He Lingchuan chuckled. "Then let them lay down their terms, and we'll see it through."
He Chunhua nodded. "Do not forget the plan we drew up in Ru County... If we fix our gaze solely on Dunyu and bicker with these few local gentry clans, it would be far too petty. We came to Xiazhou to settle the final score with Nian Zanli. Back then, he directed Nian Songyu to trick us into entering the Panlong Desert to toil for his treasonous clan, nearly making traitors out of us. In the end, right and wrong must be settled on the battlefield."
The northern frontline was the true crux of the Chief Administrator of Xiazhou's responsibilities.
"Yue'er, come to the prefectural office tomorrow. I need you to help balance the account books and take a census of the population so we can recruit troops and purchase grain later." This was his second son's specialty, and He Chunhua naturally would not let it go to waste. "Chuan'er, that Sun Hongye under your command has some talent as well. Lend him to me for a while."
Although he had recruited nineteen men in Shihuan City and assessed them extensively along the way, once he set foot in Xiazhou, he still felt stretched thin.
Alas, in a small place like Qiansong Commandery, competent administrators were far too few; he could hardly bring along many.
"Take him, take him," He Lingchuan agreed readily. "By the way, if he's going there to do the bookkeeping, I don't have to go, right?"
He Chunhua looked at him with a faint half-smile. "Could you even balance them?"
He Lingchuan gave a cough.
He Yue said, "With so many absurdities in Dunyu, the local yamun can only be described as corrupt to the core."
"Why else would I need your help?" He Chunhua said calmly. "Just after today's hearing, I went to inspect the treasury records from past years, and they actually tried to fool me with rotten accounts."
A cold sneer surfaced at the corner of his mouth. "Next, it's time to set these matters straight." Then, turning to his elder son, he added, "By the way, starting this month, your monthly stipend is reduced to one hundred and fifty taels. All right, all right, calm down—shut your mouth and listen to me!"
He Lingchuan opened his mouth to protest, but under his father's glare, he shut it dejectedly.
"We've just arrived in Xiazhou. Our expenses are greater than before, while our revenue is smaller. The little money we brought from Blackwater City must cover many arrangements. This afternoon, I took a moment to roughly check the prefectural treasury—it was full of junk, with barely a few strings of copper coins left." He Chunhua patted his shoulder, speaking with heartfelt earnestness. "So, aside from opening new sources of revenue, we must find ways to cut expenses. The monkey and rock wolf's upkeep are both billed to your mother's account, so you must spend your hundred and fifty taels prudently. Once we get through these immediate difficulties, I will gradually raise it for you later."
His father was truly indulgent with his older brother; even when reducing his stipend to a hundred and fifty taels, he still wore an apologetic look. Standing to the side, He Yue could not help feeling a twinge of envy. His own monthly stipend was only fifty taels, though he never managed to spend it all anyway.
Swamped with countless affairs, He Chunhua rose and left in a hurry after finishing his piece.
On his first night in Dunyu, he would undoubtedly be burning the midnight oil.
Seeing that his elder brother's face was still pale, He Yue also had the tact to take his leave.
He Lingchuan poured himself a large cup of tea. Sipping it slowly, he thought to himself that thankfully he still had one hundred thousand taels in silver banknotes stashed away in his pocket.
This was the money he had pocketed in secret by selling Sun Fuping's purple-gold pestle to Songyang Mansion.
However, his cultivation of the Ziwu Formula was about to enter its next stage, and the Yin-Yang Powder he took needed to be upgraded as well; more expensive medicinal ingredients would have to be incorporated to achieve better potency.
A monthly stipend of one hundred and fifty taels wouldn't even buy half a dose of ingredients.
His old man was right: cutting expenses was fine, but opening new revenue streams was essential. Now that he had reached Xiazhou, he had to figure out a way to make money, lest he eat through his savings until nothing was left.
***
It was a fine, cloudless day in Panlong City, and He Lingchuan had just returned from a patrol across the wasteland.
Recently, Liu Tong's squad had rotated to guard duty on the wasteland. Unlike the Chipa Plateau, which had abundant water, this area had a typical tundra climate where one could gaze for dozens of li from a high ridge.
The wasteland produced fewer newly spawned monsters than the Chipa Plateau, and even fewer that caused trouble, making it an easy assignment for most squads. However, Liu Tong was very experienced. Seeing that it had snowed a few days earlier, he led his teammates to Yan Mountain, thirty li west of Panlong City.
The mountain lived up to its name—it emitted smoke, which was sometimes pungent. Upon arriving, He Lingchuan realized it was a volcano, and an active one at that, for thick plumes of steam frequently erupted from ground fissures without warning, hot enough to scald an arm to the bone if one were careless.
It had not erupted in quite some time. Thanks to the geothermal heat, while the upper mountain was blanketed in white snow, the foot of the mountain surprisingly held patches of green.
Beneath the pines and spruces, the uneven ground formed icy pits and puddles as the snow melted, which in turn nourished moss and lichen.
Liu Tong led the group into a cave.
The cavern lay at the foot of the mountain and ran deep. The air inside was laden with moisture, and walking across the cave floor felt soft underfoot because the moss had woven itself almost into a carpet.
It was also pleasantly warm in here, shielded from the biting cold outside.
To He Lingchuan's surprise, guards were posted outside the cave. After Liu Tong identified himself, they let them pass, adding an instruction: "Only five per person."
"There are only six left in my squad."
The guard fell silent for a moment before saying, "Take one more per person."
What treasure inside this cave could be counted by the piece? Liu Tong soon revealed the answer:
It was actually snails.
Without much effort, he found a snail and held it up for everyone to see. "These candy snails have vividly colored shells, and hardly any two in the world have the same pattern. They are one of the specialties of this wasteland. Strictly speaking, they are unique to Panlong City; they don't appear anywhere else."
Chapter 219