Chapter 538: 492 Reconciling Accounts

A banquet? Is this for a funeral?

That's right, Father is dead, so a banquet is indeed in order.

But shouldn't the banquet be held on the mountain? Shouldn't the Spirit Hall be set up first for people to pay their respects before talking about a banquet?

Could it be that he wants to hold one at the foot of the mountain first?

That isn't entirely unreasonable. After all, the environment of Wangliang Mountain is unique, and transportation between the various manors is difficult, so there wouldn't be many people at the banquet anyway. By custom, things should be kept simple, but the Young Master doesn't want simplicity, and holding it while people are still at the foot of the mountain is a plausible explanation.

Xing Cang said: "Yes, if we are to hold a banquet, even if we invite both old and new acquaintances and use the best fine wine and delicacies, twenty thousand taels might not even be..."

The Young Master said again: "How is one enough? I want to hold several, for several days... let's say over ten days." After he finished, he didn't elaborate on his plan, turning instead to say: "That is why I need money. Open sources and throttle expenses. Speaking of throttling, I discovered that the money here is all being spent on useless things. For example, those ordinary sword slaves—a few dozen taels or a dozen taels each doesn't seem like much, but it adds up, and the total is not small. Count how many little slaves are piled up just in the courtyard? Waiting until now to start hoarding goods and people—how can this be? Not to mention the waste of money, wouldn't this be an embarrassment at the Deep Shadow Society?"

Xing Cang did not expect him to bring up this question. The matter of ordinary sword slaves was indeed a minor one, so minor that his own decisions were rather crude, only setting a general direction, and he hadn't thought it through when it was brought up now. He said: "This is the old servant's incompetence. The matter of washing materials should have been handled back on the mountain. The old Master passed away suddenly, and we lost our composure. With other manors eyeing us covetously, we could only struggle to protect our assets, and the affairs of the Deep Shadow Society had to be pushed back..."

The Young Master gave an "oh" and said: "If those stewards hadn't been cleared out, wouldn't there have been more people to do the work, and thus it could have been managed?"

Xing Cang gave a dry laugh. The Young Master did not wait for his explanation and said: "This won't do. You are wrong at every step. The first mistake was missing the timing to acquire ordinary sword slaves gradually, and then you spent a large sum of money to buy stock in a rush at an inappropriate time. It clearly told others that you were desperate and were making a last-minute effort. This tells people that a sucker has arrived to be slaughtered. Even if they add thirty percent to the price, how much wasted money is that?"

Xing Cang thought to himself: With your style, you'd probably want a chamber pot made of pure gold; do you really care about this small change?

But the logic he spoke was not wrong. Xing Cang lowered his head and said: "Yes. This old servant did not consider it thoroughly. We should cancel the acquisition of ordinary sword slaves from outside and only take goods at price from familiar merchants."

The Young Master shook his head and said: "What goods are you still taking? In my opinion, stop immediately! You must know that sword slaves are valued for quality, not quantity. Since we are preparing for the Deep Shadow Society, we should know that what is truly precious are the rare sword slaves; one hundred ordinary sword slaves cannot compare to one rare one. Yet I found that we only have three rare ones in hand, while we have collected a large number of useless, ordinary sword slaves. Buying them back to feed and house them, consuming grain every day—isn't that even more wasteful?"

Xing Cang thought that he really hadn't been idle all afternoon. He went out with Xing Wu, had the woman beside him check the accounts, and even sent people to investigate the background of the sword slaves. He was truly coming on aggressively, leaving no blind spots. Fortunately, the sword slaves were not a critical matter, so he would just go along with him. He explained slightly: "Young Master, ordinary sword slaves are not for sale; they are for washing materials. Then we handle them to dealers, and we can recover some capital..."

The Young Master said: "Except for those who look good, how much is a slave without Inspiration worth? Buying them for ten taels and selling them for one—is that called recovering capital? And how slow and inefficient is it to use sword slaves to wash materials? Washing one material takes most of the day, causing wailing and howling, with resentment soaring to the heavens. Buying slaves in and selling them out takes several days, and you have to provide food and drink, manage their bodily functions, and be careful not to let an epidemic break out and kill them all in a batch. If they die, you have to dispose of them—how much trouble is that? How foolish is it to bring such trouble into the house?"

The more Xing Cang heard, the angrier he became. He really wanted to ask: "You only know how to pick faults, you tell me what to do then?"

But he could not say that, at least not when it was time to say it.

So he lowered his head and said: "Please, Young Master, give your orders."

The Young Master said: "We don't want these sword slaves anymore. Use all the money to acquire rare ones. If you can't buy them, pay more. Buy as many as you can. One more is better than none."

Xing Cang said: "Yes. Then at the assembly, we will only buy goods and not sell them. Seven rare sword slaves should barely be enough."

The Young Master said: "We can also sell materials. If we don't use sword slaves to wash them, there might be other ways. We can use technology..."

Xing Cang's expression suddenly changed, and he blurted out: "Young Master, you must not!"

The Young Master frowned and said: "Why?"

Xing Cang suddenly lunged forward a few steps and knelt down at his feet with a thud, saying: "Young Master, you must not lead yourself astray! Everyone on our Wangliang Mountain has always used sword slaves to wash materials. Every generation, every manor! Everyone does it; this is an iron-clad rule. You can choose not to sell materials, but you cannot change this rule. Once you change it, you will become the enemy of everyone! Changfa Manor will be attacked by all and will cease to exist!"

The Young Master looked at him, thoughtful. Xing Cang saw that he had listened, relaxed halfway, and continued: "Young Master, it doesn't matter what happens with the Deep Shadow Society. It is held every three years. Apart from more people coming and better items this time, there is nothing special about it. It doesn't matter if we don't stand out. If we save up for a few years, perhaps the next one will be even better. As long as you don't poke a hole in the sky, everything is easy to talk about."

"Your top priority now is to go up the mountain as soon as possible. First, to hold the funeral for the old Master, and second, to prepare for the Sacrifice after the Deep Shadow Society. That is the foundation of our manor."

The Young Master said: "The Sacrifice, huh..."

Xing Cang said calmly: "The sacrifice to Lord Wangliang. Our Changfa Manor has only just managed to secure a position on the Third Tier with great difficulty, gaining a seat before Lord Wangliang. If we slack off even a little, we might be demoted again, and the hard work of three generations over twenty years will be washed away. We are not like Changgun or Changyi Manor with their iron-clad rankings; we must not be negligent. In those years, when Changfa Manor had no ranking, how miserable we were. Anyone could bully us."

The Young Master said: "In those years? When was that? I remember participating in the Sacrifice when I was a child. You still remember things from twenty years ago?"

Xing Cang was momentarily speechless and said: "Back then... this old servant is old and cannot remember clearly. Please, Young Master... please, Master, go up the mountain soon so that everyone can be at ease."

The Young Master waved his hand and said: "I know. Those sword slaves are useless, so I will naturally dismiss them. Once I finish the big banquet and the matters at the foot of the mountain are mostly dealt with, I will go up the mountain. You must go up with me; you cannot keep managing this place. I will leave people behind, and you should also leave your trusted aides, Xing Wu or Twelve, or perhaps leave both. Manage this shop together and continue to acquire rare sword slaves. You said the Deep Shadow Society doesn't matter, but we cannot be careless. We must not let the first major event after I return to the mountain be an embarrassment."

Xing Cang was fine hearing about Xing Wu, but his heart skipped a beat when he heard him mention Xing Twelve. He thought: What, one Xing Wu isn't enough, he wants Twelve too? Is his appetite that big? But hearing "go up the mountain," his whole body relaxed. He stood up and said: "Yes. This old servant will certainly arrange it properly."

After Xing Cang left, the Young Master leaned back. The lamp in the room seemed to brighten a few degrees, illuminating the small room in a brilliant glow, as if it were not the same world as outside the window. He said slowly: "What do you think?"

At this moment, a person walked out from behind the screen. He was handsome, dressed in a green straight-collared robe, and dressed as a page boy. It was none other than Jiangba... Jiang Shenyi.

Although Jiang Shenyi had come out, he did not rush to speak. It was Bai Zhi, who had been standing by, who said first: "I checked the accounts. There is indeed not much money in the accounts. But every entry has a source and a destination; there is no problem with the accounts."

Jiang Shenyi raised an eyebrow and said: "Oh, is the old guy's foundation truly clean, or is his method brilliant?"

Bai Zhi shed her previous coquettish demeanor, naturally exuding a capable air. She lifted her chin slightly and said: "Since I checked and found no problems, then it can be said he has no problems. It's not to say there is no one in the world who can deceive me, but there aren't many."

Jiang Shenyi did not pursue it, but instead gave her a thumbs up and said: "Impressive."

Bai Zhi smiled and said: "If I have to say there is something, it is that he did indeed buy many sword slaves. Buying them in wasn't cheap, and the price they were sold for was very low. The loss on the transactions was significant. I almost suspect he did it on purpose."

Jiang Shenyi said: "When I went to the sword slave side earlier, I heard a theory. They say the old guy actually harbors benevolence, buying and selling people at the foot of the mountain, actually wanting some slaves to be able to escape the fate of being sword slaves sooner and become normal... slaves. Do you think this is possible?"

Bai Zhi pondered and said: "It is not impossible. Even if a person is heinous, they might show kindness in small ways. Who knows where a heartstring might be plucked, making them willing to lend a hand. However, we have never speculated about enemies with kindness. Once we have identified the enemy, we must not take the initiative to find extenuating circumstances for them. Firstly, for fear that a soft heart will lead us into a trap, and secondly, to avoid bringing trouble upon ourselves."

The "we" she spoke of was her workplace—the Jing'an Division. The style of the Jing'an Division was different from that of the Land Inspection Division.

Jiang Shenyi said: "That's right. Not to mention this bit of kindness that you couldn't even see with a lantern, even if he raised ten orphans, was the savior of a hundred people, and gave money to a thousand beggars, as long as he is in that position, he is an enemy and must be removed."

At this moment, the Young Master suddenly said: "It is indeed possible that he is clean on this point. This person's scheme is not about money, and he would not embezzle, because that would just be moving money from his left hand to his right."

Jiang Shenyi's heart stirred, and he said: "How so?"

The Young Master paused and said: "In a while, when he comes, we shall see."

Just as they were speaking, someone knocked lightly outside.

The golden light in the room dimmed, the feeling of an independent world was immediately destroyed, and the door opened silently.

Someone walked in. It was a white-haired person, none other than Tang Zhao, who had been impersonating Xing Qi. When Tang Zhao entered the room, the lamp light naturally brightened, and the world under that light returned.

This transition happened so naturally that not a single person had moved a finger.

After Tang Zhao entered, he wanted to say something, but suddenly paused. He bowed to the Young Master on the seat and said: "Your Highness!"