Chapter 181: Spy

Inside the county yamen, numerous merchants sat gathered in one hall, Jiang Mingyu smiling atop the high dais, his gaze like clear river water, suffused with wisdom and calm. This was a bidding auction, and every man carried a heart yearning for wealth.

Jiang Mingyu scanned the room as if he could pierce the deepest thoughts of each merchant. He spoke slowly: "All of you have come for the new bidding system. I have two business opportunities up for tender: glassware and iron ore. I solemnly pledge that this transaction will be fair and impartial, with no exploitation of any of you."

His words drifted like a gentle breeze, brushing against the hearts of every merchant. Jiang Mingyu continued: "First, we tender the agency rights for glassware. The starting bid is five thousand taels of silver. Gentlemen, place your bids."

At that moment, the yamen erupted in chaos, merchants raising their hands eagerly, as if betting their entire hopes in a life-or-death gamble.

A stout merchant, belly bulging, raised his hand and shouted: "Three thousand five hundred taels!" His voice brimmed with passion, as if the glassware agency had granted him new life.

Next, a bearded merchant followed with a loud bid: "Four thousand taels!" His eyes gleamed with greed, as if the gates of wealth had already swung open before him.

Immediately, bids rose in a surging tide:

"Four thousand three hundred taels!"

"I bid five thousand three hundred taels!"

"Five thousand three hundred taels? I bid ten thousand!" Each man drowned in the mist of wealth, vying fiercely for the glassware agency.

In this frenzy, the price for the glassware agency soared to twenty-one thousand taels of silver—a figure that left everyone stunned.

Jiang Mingyu stood atop the dais, his smile unwavering, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He knew well how greed swayed men's hearts; when profit lay before them, impulse overruled reason. Within, he mused: Human nature is thus—driven by self-interest, forgetting all else. He, Jiang Mingyu, was the observer who saw it all, master of this commercial auction.

Each merchant was a master of concealment; who among them did not lay gold and silver upon the table, hoping to curry favor with Jiang Mingyu and secure an advantage? Yet as prices climbed, those lacking sufficient capital gradually withdrew from the fierce bidding.

Just as Jiang Mingyu was about to strike the hammer, a fat man named Pan Li suddenly shouted: "Thirty thousand taels!" The bearded merchant who had bid seventeen thousand taels sneered: "Brother Pan, your move is brilliant. I yield. I won't compete with you for the iron ore tender."

With the hammer's strike, the glassware agency was awarded to Pan Li. The iron ore agency went to the bearded merchant Zhao Lu.

The merchants signed formal documents and prepared to leave. But as they turned to disperse, a merchant named Zhu Ge Yu suddenly called out: "Wait! Stop!"

He pointed a finger at a young man in his thirties, thick-browed and large-eyed, clad in an expensive cotton robe. The youth startled, reluctantly halting. "What does the sir require?"

Zhu Ge Yu's gaze turned to Jiang Mingyu. "Don't you recognize me?"

The young man replied casually: "Sir holds high rank. I am but a merchant—how could I possibly know you?"

On Zhu Ge Yu's face, two scars like rivers stretched from his right eyelid to his left cheek. His eyes, sharp as daggers, pierced the young man who claimed to be a merchant.

Zhu Ge Yu had once been the most renowned scholar in the prefectural city, fluent in poetry, prose, and song, with a razor-sharp business mind. His family was the largest commercial power in the city, entangled with countless factions.

Though his family was gone and he had sunk into despair for a time, it had not dulled his edge or wisdom. He still sensed and perceived everything around him. One glance told him this youth was wrong. He did not care for the bidding outcome but scanned the inspector's yamen—its layout, its personnel. His eyes betrayed malice and cunning, starkly contrasting his usual expression. He kept touching something in his sleeve, as if checking his safety.

Zhu Ge Yu's mind stirred. He deliberately struck up conversation with the youth, probing his origins. As expected, the youth did not recognize him—the once-celebrated Zhu Ge Master. Worse, the youth did not even know his surname, addressing him only as "sir." This exposed his true identity.

Zhu Ge Yu gave the youth no chance. He exposed him as a spy infiltrating the city. His voice was icy, his gaze electric, sending a chill through the young man.

The air froze. The youth, confronted with his exposed identity, turned ashen, like a sheet of paper just pulled from water.

His eyes filled with terror and disbelief. "W-what spy? I don't understand. Though this prefecture belongs to Lord Jiang, you cannot act so unjustly!" His voice was hoarse and weak, as if throttled.

He tried to turn and flee, but Zhang Jiani pounced like a leopard, seizing him with iron fingers that held him fast.

In their struggle, a bronze waist token slipped from his robe and clattered loudly to the floor. It landed at Jiang Mingyu's feet. He bent, picked it up, glanced at it—and his face drained of color.

He looked at the young man, lips moving, but no sound came out. His hands trembled uncontrollably, like ice floes on a frozen lake.

Jiang Mingyu slowly picked up the token, his fingers tracing its surface. Carved into the bronze were the words: "Assistant Military Commander, Luoxie Garrison." The characters were deeply etched, as if the young man's identity had been branded into his very life.

"An assistant commander is no minor post. Had Zhu Ge Yu not been alert, you'd have vanished long ago." Jiang Mingyu's voice was calm and hard as cold steel, piercing the young man's heart. His gaze, sharp as a sword, locked onto the youth.

Zhang Jiani gripped her short sword's hilt, the blade pointed at the youth's throat. Her eyes held cold, lethal intent, sending a chill through the room.

The youth, terrified, turned even paler, veins visible beneath his skin. His lips quivered, then blurted: "Ordered to scout the prefecture's situation, troop deployments! Wanted to enter the inspector's yamen for more intelligence—never expected to be caught..."

Hearing this, Jiang Mingyu nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, detail Luoxie's situation."

But the youth shook his head firmly. "I cannot betray my lord. Please, my lord, spare me!"

Jiang Mingyu showed no anger. He signaled to a guard beside him. "Take him to the dungeon. Treat him well. Bring him to me once he speaks."

As the guards dragged him away, his voice echoed through the yamen: "Jiang Mingyu, you'll never make me talk—it's a dream!"

Jiang Mingyu's smile faded. He turned to Liu Yi. "See? Wang Hao has always opposed me. He sent this man to spy, hoping to strike back. Had Zhu Ge Yu not recognized him, Fei Hou would have learned our prefecture's weakness—we'd have been at his mercy."

Liu Yi stood silent, his eyes gleaming with resolve. "Jiang Lang, what do you mean?"

Jiang Mingyu pointed toward Luoxie and gave a firm command: "Once he speaks, I'll leave him no escape. We march immediately to crush Wang Hao—cut off Fei Hou's right arm. We have only thirty thousand troops left. Jiani, you and Tukesiluo must recruit another twenty thousand. Our target is Luoxie. Our current force is far too weak."

Zhang Jiani turned and left at once. Jiang Mingyu watched her retreating figure, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve—like a tiger, still and patient, awaiting its prey.