Chapter 212: Resolute Severance

Being in a foreign land, on top of Zhang Gui's current borrowed identity as a Western Ocean Merchant.

Though he knew full well the awkward-smiling youth had ill intentions, he couldn't keep pressing him, so he let him go.

"As an ocean-going merchant, let me give you a warning, young man of the grasslands. Though 'a mighty dragon does not oppress a local snake.'

But everything has two sides. Having no 'roots' also means having no 'scruples.'"

"Western Ocean Young Master, were you a traveling merchant selling goods before, or a mercenary selling your life?

This is the Great Wolf Capital, not a Horse Thief Den in the No-Master Wasteland.

Even if I had some little scheme to mess with you, it was just to make a few coins to spend.

How did it get to the point of killing and butchering?

You're not crazy, are you?"

Seeming to have seen the hidden coldness in Zhang Gui's eyes, the awkward-smiling youth said with great surprise.

His words sounded soft, but by the last half-sentence they showed extreme toughness, clearly not an ordinary 'tough nut' either.

Zhang Gui always felt he was so self-effacing and yielding, and most people around him praised his virtue in the same way.

That was true enough, to be fair.

But the problem was, after he rose to power, in the few places he frequented most, he held lofty identities.

In the True Dragon Kingdom he was the Founding Emperor, in Zhihai Town he was the Opening General, and in his hometown of Pingyang Town he had become one of the pillars of his clan.

As long as he acted 'like a person' who knew right from wrong, and didn't willfully confuse black and white, he was considered virtuous and good.

Not to mention that Zhang Gui also had a fair bit of self-reflection.

But in the Great Wolf Capital, the territory of Chang Sheng Tie Mu, he was just a traveling merchant from afar.

No matter how rich he was, in the traditional Dongsheng sense, he was the lowest of the 'scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant' hierarchy—a petty merchant who 'cares only for profit and has little loyalty.'

Even a street ruffian wouldn't necessarily feel 'inferior to him and fear him three parts.'

Not having figured out this truth for a moment, Zhang Gui couldn't help glaring at the awkward-smiling youth again.

As a result, the youth kept awkwardly smiling and said:

"Western Ocean Young Master, I already said this is the Great Wolf Capital, not a Horse Thief Den in the No-Master Wasteland.

What are you looking at me for? You don't dare to 'beat me to death,' do you?"

"So when you said that sentence earlier, it wasn't to reassure me, but to warn me."

Zhang Gui finally came to his senses, and though his anger flared even more, he was helpless.

Just then, a horsewhip lashed heavily across the awkward-smiling youth's back.

"Zheng Changgong Baoyin, what are you doing now?"

The one wielding the whip was a young man who looked about twenty years old.

In the sweltering heat, he wore a cool linen outfit, not much different from the passersby around him.

Only the White Deer Tail tied on top of his head with Deer Sinew revealed his identity as a Noble Scion of Yuanshan.

"Chang Gong Tiemuer, are you blind? I'm drumming up business.

This ocean-going merchant from Xihe Continent came to the Great Wolf Capital for the first time and doesn't understand anything.

In the dead of night, he was sighing gloomily outside the Ship Administration Bureau.

I happen to be short on cash, so I asked him. What, not allowed?

Our Chang Sheng Tian personally instructed,

'To merchants who bring ironware, salt, and other goods we don't have on the grasslands to sell,

or merchants who come from afar with gold and silver to buy our fur goods, Dried Milk Cakes, and other specialties,

you should treat them like foals, offer them Baked Flatbread and Buttered Tea, take care of them, make things convenient for them, and don't scare them.'

Have you forgotten all that?"

"You bastard! When Chang Sheng Tian said those words, even the great grasslands hadn't been unified yet. What times are these now!"

Hearing this, Chang Gong Tiemuer angrily swung the horsewhip in his hand and, looking for trouble, lashed it at the awkward-smiling youth again.

But the awkward-smiling youth grabbed the whip's tip.

"Don't you mind when Chang Sheng Tian said those words. The point is, his words are the truth on all the lands of our Yuan Mountain Empire!

Just tell me, is what I said right or not?"

Zhang Gui, listening from the side, though still angry at the awkward-smiling youth, couldn't help secretly praising him,

"No wonder this kid, though not old, has become the local gang leader on the streets. Besides his Way of Entry skills, his mind works fast too.

In a social environment like Yuanshan, Chang Sheng Tie Mu's words are the law of laws.

Don't mind when he said them in the past, or whether they still fit the objective circumstances now.

The point is, to oppose them is 'politically incorrect,' and that means asking for death!

But these two grandsons making a scene in the street—one wildly swinging a whip, the other cleverly using rhetoric—their relationship feels unusual.

Zheng Changgong Baoyin, Chang Gong Tiemuer—both five-character names share two characters. Could they be relatives?

Or, even more cliché, sworn brothers from the main and side branches of the same clan."

Just as he was thinking about other people's gossip, unexpectedly the entanglement suddenly involved him.

Though Chang Gong Tiemuer had a hot temper, he wasn't brain-dead after all.

He didn't dare to drag the topic onto the supreme and great Chang Sheng Tian.

But he also didn't want to admit defeat and slink away in disgrace.

He yanked hard at the whip in his hand a few times but couldn't pull it back, so he angrily threw the whip aside.

Pointing a finger at Zhang Gui,

"Xi Zhou man, what are you doing in our Great Wolf Capital?"

"Is what Zheng Changgong Baoyin said just now true?"

"Me?" Zhang Gui was slightly stunned at the words, then said with a forced smile:

"I heard that in the East there is a great emperor, as divine as a god, who promised:

'Treat merchants who bring gold, silver, and specialty goods not found on the grasslands like young horses—give them convenience.'

So they all came to his empire's capital to do business.

If you do not permit it, then, young noble Chang Gong Tiemuer, I will immediately leave 'your' land.

Or if you wish to take the wealth I brought as compensation for setting foot on 'your' land, I will humbly offer it up."

Hearing this, Chang Gong Tiemuer suddenly realized he might have provoked the wrong person.

This young overseas merchant in his frivolous foreign clothes was not like the other petty foreign traders who came to Yuanshan to seek bargains and opportunities, knowing how to flatter the powerful and trample the weak.

And now, because of this mistake, he had landed himself in trouble.

The best response was 'Thirty-Six Stratagems, Walk Away as the Best Policy.'

So he abruptly covered his face, turned around without a word, and fled.

The awkwardly smiling youth watched Chang Gong Tiemuer's disappearing back, then turned to Zhang Gui and said:

"It seems I was wrong. You really are a silver-tongued merchant."

"But your temper is too fierce, your methods too ruthless—you're bound to offend people."

"If I really had a fierce temper and ruthless methods, I would have knelt directly before that Chang Gong Tiemuer just now, banged my head until it bled,

then abandoned the ship and goods I brought and left the Great Wolf Capital."

Zhang Gui smiled and said softly:

"If I did that, your brother's head would surely be hanging on the lighthouse of this dock tomorrow."

"Although the teachings of Chang Sheng Tian are like truth in the Yuan Mountain Empire, the Criminal Officials of the Great Wolf Capital aren't brainless stupid rabbits.

How could they possibly impose such a heavy punishment?"

Zheng Changgong Baoyin retorted dismissively,

"Chang Gong Tiemuer is a White Deer Ten-Man Leader of the 'Keshig Imperial Guard.'"

(End of chapter)