Chapter 680: Distributing the Rewards

The courtyard where Pan Yun lived was as bustling as a morning vegetable market.

The heroes excitedly gathered around a few crates, picking through the refined iron.

Pan Yun walked over from Zhang Weiliang's room and immediately saw Hu Jing swinging a greatsword, hacking wildly at the refined iron with a clang-clang.

The onlookers gasped in admiration as a shallow scratch appeared on the refined iron stone, but Hu Jing's blade had a chunk chipped out of it.

A hero said, "Hero Gu, your blade has too many impurities and a poor ratio of metals—the edge is dull."

Hu Jing ran his thumb along the edge, his eyes bright: "Melt it down and forge a new one. Add this piece of refined iron, and we can make a heavy blade."

"A heavy blade? Wouldn't that be like slicing watermelons when fighting Japanese pirates—one cut, one kill?"

Imagining the scene, everyone burst into cheerful laughter.

Pan Yun stepped forward: "How goes the selection?"

The crowd cupped their fists in greeting to her: "Daoist Priest Sanzhu!"

"Daoist Priest Sanzhu!"

The crowd parted to make a path.

Pan Yun walked to the crate, glanced inside, casually picked up a piece of refined iron, weighed it in her hand, then nodded: "Indeed, not bad."

"Is Daoist Priest Sanzhu forging a sword too?"

Pan Yun smiled and shook her head: "I already have a fine sword, no need to forge another. You all divide it up."

At her words, everyone excitedly stepped forward to divide the spoils.

Shanming Xiuqi led men carrying five crates of silver and one of gold, swaggering over: "Young Lady Pan, the silver and gold you requested have arrived."

When the crates were opened, the heroes' eyes lit up and they looked toward Pan Yun.

Pan Yun swept her gaze around, called Qu Zhixing over: "We shall distribute rewards according to merit. Everyone knows how many enemies they killed, and Hero Qu has the accounts to match. Let Hero Qu divide the money, and everyone can check the accounts. As for supervisors…"

Her gaze swept around, then she pointed: "Let Wang Cong, Zhang Weiyi, and Gao Zhiming supervise."

No one objected.

Wang Cong was Pan Yun's martial nephew, representing her; Zhang Weiyi represented the Daoist Priests; Gao Zhiming represented their band of jianghu people—every angle covered.

Oh, even the imperial court's people had been considered.

Everyone glanced sidelong at Qu Zhixing—on the surface called Hero Qu, but underneath he was my lord Qu's Embroidered Uniform Guard. Wasn't he perfectly suited to represent the imperial court?

Officials truly had many wiles. None of them had thought to count heads, yet he had recorded every head each person reaped.

Although they hadn't been counting, as long as they thought carefully, they could recall, and comparing with their companions beside them, the numbers were roughly the same.

But when tallied up, the heads they had killed came to over thirty more than Qu Zhixing's count.

Qu Zhixing: …

When several people cooperated to kill one man, each of them counted it as their own head, so when added up like this, the head count ran over.

In the end, Qu Zhixing pulled out his little notebook and forcefully distributed according to his own records.

Everyone crowded over to look, and raised no further objections—clearly, they all fully endorsed Qu Zhixing's tally.

Miao Hehe and Tao Yanbai had few kills, especially Tao Yanbai—his martial skill wasn't high, and he had been protected the whole time—but the two of them each received one hundred and twenty taels of silver and ten taels of gold.

That counted as a lot; many heroes only got eighty taels of silver and ten taels of gold.

But no one objected.

During this period, whether anyone fell ill or was injured, it was always those two who stepped in to treat them.

Even Zhang Weiliang, injured as badly as he was, had been pulled back from the brink—everyone fully recognized the two's contributions.

Once divided this way, everyone saw clearly: every person got ten taels of gold—even Xijin got ten taels of gold—the difference lay in the silver.

The least got sixty taels; the most…

Everyone looked at the pile of silver ingots Qu Zhixing had set aside into a small mountain, knowing it was for Pan Yun, but no one objected.

If not for Pan Yun calling down heavenly thunder three days ago in that battle, they wouldn't have won so easily.

Pan Yun reached out and took her ten taels of gold—really just a small ingot, divided very evenly, each piece exactly ten taels.

Xue Shao had already figured it out when giving his opinion: ten taels of gold was the baseline.

"The remaining silver will be split in two portions—one divided equally among everyone, the other converted to coin and distributed to the slaves."

Pan Yun turned her head to Yi Jianren, who was beaming beside her: "I'll leave the task of converting the money to you."

Yi Jianren was briefly stunned, then immediately agreed.

He had also been rewarded according to merit just like everyone else; his share was the smallest—sixty taels of silver and ten taels of gold.

But he was very content.

It meant they regarded him as one of their companions.

The silver set aside was partly tossed into a crate, and partly divided up on the spot.

The heroes each got twenty taels, and cheerfully pocketed the money.

The slaves, who had been called over to carry the silver out, were also very pleased—they rarely got a chance to share in any money.

Inside and outside the courtyard, all was jubilant. Shanming Xiuqi, who had come to deliver the money, had been squeezed all the way to the courtyard gate. It took him great effort to squeeze back to Pan Yun's side, and he asked loudly: "Young Lady Pan, my father invites you to attend a banquet this evening."

Pan Yun smiled and agreed: "I will bring everyone and arrive on time."

Shanming Xiuqi: "But my father only invited you alone."

The festive atmosphere fell silent; everyone quietly looked over, saying nothing.

Shanming Xiuqi shifted uneasily under everyone's gaze: "Wh-what is it?"

Pan Yun merely smiled without speaking.

"We've startled Lord Shanming? Our fault," Xue Shao said mildly. "We in the Central Plains have an allusion called the Hongmen Banquet, so upon hearing that the Shanming family lord only invited Daoist Priest Pan to a banquet, we became a touch sensitive."

Shanming Xiuqi asked blankly: "What is a Hongmen Banquet?"

Xue Shao: "Lord Shanming may not know, but the Shanming family lord certainly does. Perhaps you should go back and ask the family lord—tonight's banquet surely isn't a Hongmen Banquet aimed at our Daoist Priest Pan, is it?"

Shanming Xiuqi went back to ask his father.

His father: "..."

Yamana Mochitoyo's face flushed bright red as he shouted: "Nonsense! What Hongmen Banquet? This is a victory feast, a gratitude feast!"

His chest heaved unevenly, his gaze dark and sharp, as he paced back and forth in a panic: "Where is Ietoku? Quickly invite Ietoku here."

Otagaki Ietoku strolled over slowly. After hearing everything, though inwardly helpless, he consoled him: "Since Young Master Xue has raised it, that means they won't suspect the family head. The family head isn't really setting a Hongmen Banquet for Young Lady Pan — just invite them all to the banquet tonight, and once the wine feast is over, the rumors will collapse on their own."

Yamana Mochitoyo: "... Invite everyone to the banquet?"

Otagaki Ietoku nodded: "This is the only solution right now, just inviting a few more people to dinner. I'll have the servants prepare right away."

Yamana Mochitoyo fell silent.

Otagaki Ietoku pretended not to notice, his face still smiling gently, and softly urged: "Family head, should I have them prepare more wine?"

Yamana Mochitoyo sighed and asked: "Ietoku, what do you say we should arrange for Young Lady Pan?"

Otagaki Ietoku smiled and said: "Young Lady Pan is not Japanese, and she won't be staying here long. The family head should simply ask Young Lady Pan directly. She has rendered great merit this time, and her own vengeance is nearly complete. If you wish to thank her, why not ask her what she wants? Whatever we can satisfy, we should do our best to satisfy it."

Yamana Mochitoyo fell into thought.

(End of chapter)