"At first, it was like a breath of fresh spring air." Remembering that audience, He Chunhua smiled as well. "His Majesty asked me what this was all about. I repeated what you told me, changing only the Mount Rong Sect's reason for the loan to say it was all thanks to your vigorous lobbying. The sovereign was overjoyed, declared that Heaven is blessing Great Yuan, and ordered me to press you to sign and finalize it quickly."
Once He Lingchuan signed off on the agreement, the Yuan Kingdom would receive the initial installment of 3.7 million taels.
Over three million taels... He Lingchuan sighed inwardly. In the decadent, opulent Lingxu City, that amount would probably buy only a few True Immortal swordheads, yet here it was the Yuan Kingdom's life-saving straw.
One drowned in excess while another withered in drought; the world was truly absurd.
"And what did you say, Father?"
"Naturally, I agreed at once," He Chunhua replied with a smile. "His Majesty was in high spirits; better not to spoil his mood."
He Lingchuan caught his meaning immediately.
He Chunhua would certainly make good use of this opportunity. The loan could not be approved too early, or he would lose his leverage to pressure the monarch of Yuan; nor could the money arrive too late, as waging war required real, tangible funds.
He Chunhua then let out an "Ah" and added, "His Majesty also asked why, if there was such wonderful news, I didn't come to the palace to report it first instead of having you go to the Director of Reception as a foreign envoy!"
This father of his was always trying to keep him in line. He Lingchuan wasn't buying it. "Official business comes first, and official matters must naturally be handled through official channels. Otherwise, the officials and subjects in the Yuan capital who keep a close watch on you would gossip in private, claiming that the He Manor mixes private interests with public duties, placing the private ahead of the public."
The boy's tongue was growing sharper by the day.
"That clause giving the special envoy approval over the disbursement of all funds—quite impressive!" It had the Yuan court grinding their teeth in frustration. "Was that truly instructed by Sect Leader Xue of Mount Rong?"
He Lingchuan didn't even blink. "Of course."
Of course not.
Sect Leader Xue had only told him to act at his own discretion. He Lingchuan had asked for this authority himself.
In the society where He Lingchuan came from, however, creditors meddling in debtors' businesses, controlling their cash flow, and even dictating how they managed their operations were standard procedure.
If I lend you money, I need to monitor how it's used. If you squander it all again, what will you pay me back with?
The dilapidated Yuan Kingdom was a bottomless pit. If He Lingchuan didn't keep a watchful eye for Mount Rong, let alone several million taels, even tens of millions wouldn't be enough to fill the void.
From that perspective, the Mount Rong Sect also needed him to serve as a strict gatekeeper and protect its interests.
He Chunhua continued, "Only yesterday did we mention the war in the south, and today news has already arrived. I caught wind that the southern campaign to suppress the rebels isn't going well—out of three battles, they lost two. The government troops are suffering from low morale now; a force of two thousand was even scattered by five hundred rebels."
"Your opportunity has arrived, Father." It was a matter of timing and fortune. He Lingchuan had to admit that He Chunhua's luck in recent years had been astonishingly good—whatever he wanted seemed to fall right into his lap.
"These battle reports will probably reach His Majesty tonight," He Chunhua said, stroking his chin. "Chuan'er, you must stall for at least another seven or eight days. There is still considerable opposition at court to my taking military command of the three prefectures."
"With so much pressure, can you bear it?"
"What choice do I have? I am acting in the Yuan Kingdom's best interests," He Chunhua sighed. "If we advance rashly, the southern campaign is a clear warning of what would happen."
He Lingchuan smiled. "How long we can stall depends on the progress of the audit. Seven or eight days? I can't promise that."
He Chunhua's expression darkened slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Father, I have another identity as Mount Rong's special envoy. I negotiated this loan, so I bear the responsibility," He Lingchuan said unhurriedly. "If the Yuan Kingdom truly patches up all the holes in the pledged assets, I will have no reason to keep holding them up."
"Preposterous!" He Chunhua glared at him. "You are my son, a member of the He family, and a subject of the Yuan Kingdom before you are a disciple of Mount Rong! Do not confuse this order!"
He Lingchuan feigned surprise. "Didn't you say just this morning, Father, that bilateral relations require good faith?"
"What bilateral relations? I'm talking about you!" He Chunhua snapped in annoyance. "At a time of crisis, don't you understand that father and son must be of one mind?"
"Father and son of one mind?" He Lingchuan shifted the topic and asked abruptly, "When I fell into the river, everyone assumed I was dead. Why did you insist that I was still alive, Father?"
He Chunhua froze for a moment. "It was conviction! Besides, you are a lucky star; whenever you faced danger in the past, you always turned misfortune into fortune. What is wrong with holding some hope in my heart?"
Yet He Lingchuan knew he had a divine imprint mark in his mind. In other words, whether he lived or died was likely crystal clear to the god.
He Chunhua's tone softened. "It brings me great comfort to see Chuan'er beginning to grasp the virtue of good faith and loyalty! But the matter you are handling is simply too important, and I am giving my all for state and family. You must heed my words and not act on your own whim!"
Several thoughts flashed through He Lingchuan's mind, but he replied outwardly, "Father has taken great pains to explain; your son naturally understands."
Just then, a servant knocked on the door to announce that dinner was served and Madam Ying was urging them to come eat.
"Let us go." The conversation broke off.
Dinner passed pleasantly and harmoniously, with no further mention of the topic.
After dinner, He Lingchuan returned to his courtyard, drew his wooden saber, and practiced for two hours.
Even though it was only a wooden saber, saber qi swept across the courtyard, draining the color from the surrounding flowers and trees and making them tremble.
By the time he finished his routine and headed inside, crape myrtle blossoms littered the ground.
The mirror remarked, "Your saber practice carried far too much killing intent this time."
The last time He Lingchuan had failed to rein in his leaking murderous aura while practicing his saber was just before the Mount Xu Plan was set in motion in Lingxu City. Back then, he had been under immense pressure. Could it be the same now?
"I thought you would lay all your cards on the table with your father today."
"It's not time yet." He Lingchuan cast a ward and wiped his sweat with a cloth. "If he truly has a connection to Nailuotian, it is likely one of his deepest secrets. If I reveal it prematurely, I'm afraid it might provoke an overreaction from him. If he summons Nailuotian for a divine descent on the spot..."
That would be troublesome, considering he still had a divine imprint mark inside his sea of consciousness.
"Am I supposed to kill him right away?"
His purpose in coming back wasn't simply to confront his old man; the crucial objective was finding a way to remove Nailuotian's mark, or rather, to eliminate the threat Nailuotian posed to him.
"Shi Nan also mentioned that even though I bear the divine imprint mark, Nailuotian's first descent still requires a ritual conducted by a summoner. If it bypasses that procedure, it must expend an astounding amount of energy. In other words, whether I kill my old man or not, Nailuotian can still descend upon me—it's merely a question of cost." He Lingchuan's eyes glinted. "Looked at from the other side, however, unless it is a dire emergency, it won't directly carry out a body seizure on me. That's where the importance of the summoner—well, likely my old man—comes in."
"I have to make sure he doesn't hold any ritual anytime soon, so that Nailuotian cannot easily achieve a divine descent."
His identity as Mount Rong's special envoy and Mount Rong's loan to the Yuan Kingdom were all bargaining chips to use against He Chunhua. Otherwise, why would he have traveled thousands of li all the way to Mount Rong?
Chapter 779