Chapter 623: Heartfelt Differences

The silk was also seized from the pirates' lair; Pan Yun took only a small portion, and even that was divided into three grades: superior, medium, and inferior.

This was the bait.

Great Ming silk was renowned worldwide; whenever envoys from Korea, Japan, Annam, Siam, and Java came to pay tribute to the Great Ming, silk was always among the essential goods they took back.

Silk was also one of the most favored commodities among smugglers and pirates.

A single bolt of fine silk could buy a house overseas and was used directly as currency.

The magistrate of Gaozhi appeared very poor; Pan Yun had Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He carry out two baskets of medium-grade silk.

Benshan Yousun and Chōsokabe Shigeru saw it, their eyes instantly brightening, and became two degrees warmer toward Pan Yun.

Qu Zhixing glanced at the silk in the baskets, unable to hide a mocking smile.

The so-called superior, medium, and inferior grades were merely a classification of the silk seized from the pirates' lair; back in the mainland, none of this silk was worth much.

Suzhou silk, Hangzhou silk, Shu brocade—Great Ming had no shortage of beautiful silks, and many were nearly indistinguishable in quality.

Dividing silk into superior, medium, and inferior grades was itself a joke, because truly top-quality silk, when placed together, could not be distinguished at all.

Benshan Yousun ignored the contempt in Qu Zhixing's eyes and warmly invited Pan Yun to visit his home: "I will vacate my main house for our esteemed guests."

Xue Shao couldn't help frowning, thinking the man was overly obsequious.

Chōsokabe Shigeru was equally enthusiastic, offering that his family owned a separate estate by the sea where Pan Yun and her crew could stay.

He bowed respectfully: "If your Reverence finds our servants unsuitable, I can remove them entirely and leave the house entirely to your disposal; if your Reverence wishes to more deeply experience Japanese customs and culture, I can leave the servants in the annex to handle menial tasks."

His words and demeanor were as refreshing as spring breeze, making Pan Yun decide to accept his invitation and visit Benshan's home.

Hu Jing and the others: …

Qu Zhixing, while packing his things, muttered: "You said Chōsokabe Shigeru is more comfortable to be around—why don't you stay with him instead of going to Benshan's?"

Pan Yun: "Do you look down on Benshan Yousun?"

Qu Zhixing grumbled: "He reminds me of the treacherous eunuch Wang Zhen!"

Pan Yun shot him a sharp glance: "You vastly underestimate Wang Zhen. Even if Benshan Yousun and Chōsokabe Shigeru combined stood before Wang Zhen, they wouldn't be fit to carry his shoes. This petty trick only fools us outsiders, these sea bandits."

Qu Zhixing jumped up: "You know that—and you're still going?"

Pan Yun: "Of course I'm going. If I don't go, how do I give them a chance to strike? If they don't strike, how can we strike back? If we don't strike, won't we just keep lingering at the port? There are so many mouths on this ship—every morning you open your eyes, you're spending money. If we eat three more days, the grain will be gone. Are you going to pay for more?"

We have few hands, but we're still holding one hundred and twenty-eight captives in the hold—their food and drink are a major problem too.

Not to mention I still need to use them, so I won't let them starve; even if I don't, I can't let them starve on board—starving men turn cannibalistic, and I have no intention of being killed in return.

So I need them to act soon.

Pan Yun took only Xue Shao, Wang Cong, and A Xin to visit Benshan's home; everyone else remained on the ship.

Two Attendants of the Brocade Guard carried a chest behind Xue Shao and his servants.

At Benshan's home, the two Attendants opened the chest and took out two sets of tea ware, a box of tea, and various miscellaneous items, spreading them across the table.

Then they knelt and brewed tea for them.

Chōsokabe Shigeru whispered something to Benshan Yousun; the two walked amicably together and came to Benshan's home as well.

Seeing Qu Zhixing and his companion arrange the tea ware with effortless grace, their spirits lifted slightly, and their gaze toward Pan Yun grew brighter.

Xi Jin picked up the teapot and asked Benshan's servants in Japanese: "What water do you use for brewing tea?"

He spoke Japanese, though with an accent.

Benshan Yousun was slightly surprised and asked in Chinese: "Does your servant speak Japanese? It sounds like the dialect of Suō Province."

Pan Yun smiled: "There are many rōnin along the coast of Great Ming; this boy learned from one—perhaps that rōnin was from Suō Province."

Chōsokabe Shigeru pondered silently; Benshan Yousun had already smiled and ordered a servant to guide Xi Jin to fetch water for rinsing the teapot.

He said: "I know the tea art of the Celestial Kingdom is exceptional—you prefer mountain spring water—but I have no such water here. I do have snowwater collected last winter; would that suffice?"

It was indeed usable, but she thought well water or river water would do too; nowadays there's little pollution—aren't these two better than snowwater stored for half a year?

But to maintain her persona, Pan Yun nodded with a smile and said cheerfully: "Very well, let's taste the snowwater of Shikoku."

Benshan Yousun happily sent someone to fetch the snowwater.

Xue Shao suppressed a laugh, lowering his eyes in silence.

Both Benshan Yousun and Chōsokabe Shigeru wanted to probe the nature of Pan Yun's goods and their prices.

Pan Yun spun a dazzling tale, rambling on about everything and nothing, offering prices that were very reasonable—all slightly lower than those previously charged by smugglers and pirates.

Had her pricing been erratic, Benshan Yousun and Chōsokabe Shigeru might have grown more excited; but after hearing her full list, they realized her prices were uniformly lowered by about ten to fifteen percent—meaning she knew the original prices and was merely reducing them across the board.

Of course, she didn't lower them for free; Pan Yun demanded they provide free port anchorage and guarantee the safety of her crew whenever they came to Gaozhi…

A long list of conditions.

Benshan Yousun and Chōsokabe Shigeru felt a fifteen percent discount wasn't enough.

So they began haggling, two against one.

Pan Yun seemed unable to withstand their pressure; finally, she shook her head and conceded to twenty percent.

Benshan Yousun was about to agree, but Chōsokabe Shigeru suddenly slashed the price further—to fifty percent.

Pan Yun was displeased; thus, the business was not concluded tonight.

But everyone was still cheerful; Benshan Yousun treated them to roasted lamb, various sashimi, and soup, followed by copious tea and wine, and finally the three parties parted, thoroughly satisfied.

Pan Yun and her group moved into the main courtyard Benshan Yousun had "vacated"; then Benshan Yousun escorted Chōsokabe Shigeru out the gate—but the two turned aside and slipped into a nearby thatched hut for secret talk.

Beneath swaying tree shadows, a dark shadow flashed past; Chōsokabe Shigeru whirled around, frowning: "Something seems to be following us."

"This is my home—they've just arrived and don't even know which way the gate faces. Are you imagining things?" Benshan Yousun urged: "Hurry, Tōichi is waiting."

The two hurried past a tree.

Pan Xiaohei stepped out gracefully from behind the tree, thought for a moment, then climbed up it, leaping swiftly from branch to branch, keeping pace with the two.

A wooden hut stood alone, surrounded not only by no trees, but even few blades of grass.

This was clearly a house built for plotting evil deeds.

Pan Xiaohei watched from the treetop, then leapt down faster than either of them, landing lightly on the ground before whooshing ahead of them to dart sideways into the shadow of the house, then scrambled up onto the roof in two quick bounds. In the darkness, it seemed to sense something and immediately flattened itself down, lying still and silent on the roof without moving. (End of chapter)