Chapter 205: Everywhere From Now On

Adviser Wang pondered for a moment, then said, "Master, Wang Youshan has lost his backing in the capital, but if a letter about this matter is sent, someone will surely come to investigate. When that happens..."

Tong Huaizu's expression grew even more bitter. If this affair were exposed to the capital, he could forget about keeping his post. He himself found this prefectural position dull and tedious, but he knew countless others coveted this actual, substantive office.

"Master, tigers and wolves are at our side now. We cannot afford the slightest carelessness. That Zhao Jin may be young, but his killing karma is already extremely heavy. He has won battles outnumbered, wiping out dozens, even over a hundred men cleanly. And he has so many able-bodied men under his command—how could we possibly afford to offend him? If we provoke his wrath, this yamen is nothing but paper—what could it possibly stop?" Adviser Wang's voice grew lower and lower as he spoke.

Prefect Tong Huaizu shuddered again. Just as he was about to speak, the personal attendant who had left earlier returned. The attendant's face was full of ill-favored gloom. Ignoring Adviser Wang's presence, he complained directly, "That Xue Xiaozong is utterly despicable! What we had just agreed upon, he now refuses to honor. He'd actually rather spend silver to withdraw his plaint. Has he lost his mind?"

His complaint went unanswered. Puzzled, he looked up. Adviser Wang sneered from across the room and said, "You went in and out through the back gate this whole time, didn't you?"

The personal attendant nodded. Adviser Wang sneered again and said, "Why don't you go take a look at the front gate? Then you'll understand everything."

Adviser Wang's sarcastic tone angered the attendant. Just as he was about to retort, Tong Huaizu grabbed the teacup from his desk and hurled it at him, cursing, "You wretched fool! If you hadn't taken silver and brought every single matter to me, how would we have ended up with so much trouble!"

The personal attendant dared to argue with Adviser Wang, but he dared not slight his master. He hastily knelt to beg forgiveness. Adviser Wang hurried forward to mediate, but inwardly he sneered. When he had gone out earlier, Zhao Zhentang had pulled him aside for a few words and promised him a benefit of three hundred taels of silver. Everyone working in the yamen understood these things perfectly; a single hint was enough.

"Brother, why give silver to that Adviser Wang instead of just giving it directly to the prefect?" Zhao Jin and the others had already returned to the goods yard. Wang Zhaojing asked, puzzled.

Zhao Jin took off his outer robe and replied, "No matter how much silver we gave the prefect, he would take it for granted and demand even more next time. Today we let him see our strength, so he should know what's good for him and handle the matter obediently. As for giving silver to Adviser Wang, we always need an informant close to the prefect."

Casually hanging his outer robe aside, Zhao Jin said to Chen Sheng, "Dasheng, for those like Grass Den and Mengshan Tiger, the yamen's bounties must be substantial. We'll take one-third; let the yamen divide the rest among themselves."

Telling Chen Sheng this was essentially having him relay the message to Chief Constable Chen Wu. They were all familiar with the routine by now.

Just as they were speaking, a household servant came in from outside to announce, "Master, an accountant from Cloud Mountain Trading requests an audience."

Everyone was taken aback. The one they had threatened was the head manager, Xue Xiaozong—why was an accountant here? Zhao Jin frowned and had the accountant brought in.

The accountant was a thin man, his manner trembling with fear, his voice quavering. He performed a deep bow the moment he entered. After rising, he dared not even lift his head and stammered, "Sirs, my manager says that the outstanding silver will be delivered tomorrow morning. Please rest assured."

At the mention of outstanding silver, everyone paused, then realized it was the sum they had demanded at Cloud Mountain Trading that morning. Ji Xiang sneered and said, "They say people won't shed tears until they see the coffin. Cloud Mountain Trading won't shed tears until they see a corpse."

By this point, everyone understood perfectly. The people at Cloud Mountain Trading must have seen the hundred bandit corpses in front of the yamen gate, and the solemn, forbidding square formation of spearmen. Under such intimidation, how could they dare to remain obstinate? They had rushed over to agree to the morning's demands, terrified that Zhao Jin and his men might use this as a pretext to strike. As for their hasty trip to the yamen to withdraw the plaint, Zhao Jin and the others were unaware of that.

"Why didn't Xue Xiaozong come himself?" Chen Sheng asked in a muffled voice.

"My... my head manager suddenly contracted a wind chill. He is shivering severely all over and is confined to bed recovering. He cannot go out. For this discourtesy, I beg Master Jin's generous forgiveness," the Cloud Mountain Trading accountant said, his voice trembling.

At these words, everyone understood what had happened. Xue Xiaozong had been so terrified he dared not leave his home.

Zhao Jin gave a scornful laugh and asked, "I told Xue Xiaozong at the time that all of Cloud Mountain Temple's properties in the city, open or hidden, must pay fifty percent of their profits from now on. What is the reply to that? Is just mentioning Cloud Mountain Trading enough?"

The accountant's face was full of helpless smiles. He bowed again and said, "Master Jin may not know, but among the various properties in the city, only Cloud Mountain Trading is the head manager's own enterprise. The rest are unrelated to him—some don't even have dealings with each other..."

Seeing Zhao Jin's expression harden, the accountant's speech faltered again. In the end, he could only manage a dry laugh and say, "This humble one will certainly notify them. As for what they do, this humble one truly cannot guarantee anything."

Zhao Jin waved his hand. The accountant acted as if he had been granted a great pardon and hastily took his leave. As for tripping over the threshold on his way out and falling flat on the ground, no one in the room paid the slightest attention.

While the accountant had been present, his trembling fear had seemed like comic relief, and the atmosphere in the room had been somewhat lighter. Once he left, the mood sank back into gloom.

They sat in silence like that, with nothing to say, not even exchanging glances. It was as if everyone was lost in a daze. After a long, oppressive while, Zhao Jin finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "Dalei's father will probably arrive the day after tomorrow. Find a funeral specialist first and get all the necessary arrangements underway."

Liu Yong acknowledged the order. Zhao Jin stood up and said, "Everyone, disperse. Go home, report that you're safe, and get some good rest. But keep a close eye on the distillery."

Everyone rose, their responses somewhat listless. As Chen Sheng was about to leave, Zhao Jin called him back and said in a low voice, "Don't rush to sleep and rest these next few days. I may need you tonight."

Chen Sheng nodded and left without a word. The others had homes to return to, but Liu Yong treated the goods yard and distillery as his own home. Zhao Jin sat quietly in the room for a while. When he went out, he saw Liu Yong urging the household troops to reorganize. The troops had been deployed quite often these days, and inevitably, some slackness had crept into their internal affairs.

Seeing Zhao Jin emerge, Liu Yong hurried over and said, "Leizi has gone to the coffin shop. Everything will be arranged quickly. I'm keeping an eye on things here. Brother, you should go home and rest too!"

Zhao Jin took a couple of steps, then stopped and turned back. "Xiaoyong, are you willing to do these things with me?"

Liu Yong was startled, then quickly answered, "Of course I'm willing."

"But this isn't children's play. It means facing life and death." Zhao Jin's words seemed directed at Liu Yong, yet also at himself.

Liu Yong scratched his head and smiled. Without much hesitation, he replied, "If you hadn't led me to do these things, Brother, I'd still be drifting around the streets with that Copperhead. Never mind eating my fill and dressing warmly—if a fight broke out someday and I took a knife, I wouldn't even have the silver to treat the wound. I'd just die on some street corner or against some wall. How can that compare to now? Sometimes when I think about it, it really feels like a dream. Facing life and death is worth it!"

After saying this, Liu Yong glanced at Zhao Jin, then turned his head toward the warehouse and said, "If there's nothing else here, Brother, I'll go help at the warehouse. So many things need to be entered into the ledger—Erhong can't handle it alone."

Zhao Jin nodded slightly. Liu Yong's words had left him somewhat stunned. Liu Yong, of course, had no idea what he was thinking and simply called over a dozen or so household troops and left.

Ji Xiang's entire family had moved to the goods yard. The Shi family, because they had a blacksmith shop, still lived outside. And thanks to their connection with Zhao Jin, the blacksmith shop's business was quite thriving.

Shi Manqiang had no leisure even when he got home. He always had to help at the blacksmith's forge out front. He himself was willing to go work there; otherwise, his younger brother and sister would pester him endlessly.

"Big Brother, did you really kill a hundred people?" In the past, his younger siblings wouldn't follow him to the smithy, but today was different. His younger brother had followed him directly, asking incessantly. The youngest sister was poking her head in and out from behind the door.

"You little brat! You never show this much enthusiasm for your private tutoring. Get out!" A single shout sent Shi Manqiang's younger brother scurrying out the back door, and the little sister vanished in fright as well.

Ever since the Shi family's circumstances improved, Shi's father had sent Shi Manqiang's younger brothers to a private tutor, hoping they might earn some scholarly rank or the like. Shi Manqiang's second brother was quite diligent, but the third brother simply couldn't absorb his studies and ran wild all day. He also desperately wanted to become a household troop at Xu'an Trading, and had been beaten by his father and elder brother several times for it.

Once his younger siblings were out, Shi Manqiang breathed a sigh of relief. Normally, boasting to them about his battle exploits was a pleasure, but this time was completely different. Firstly, he hadn't participated in that great battle. Secondly, Sun Dalei's death filled him with guilt.

He handed his hammer to an apprentice beside him and went to the storage room in the adjoining space. After rummaging for a while, he asked in a muffled, sullen voice, "Dad, those sets of armor were over there. Why is only scrap left now?"

"You forged them but never wore them, just left them lying here. I figured I'd trade them for some better materials and make a set for you too," Shi Manqiang's father answered from outside.

Six sets of iron armor, made according to Zhao Jin's designs, had already been forged. However, while they were impressive to wear at first, they couldn't be worn daily. Once the novelty wore off, everyone had left their armor at the Shi house. At the blacksmith shop, they could be maintained at any time, and since Zhao Jin often came up with new ideas, the smithy could make improvements directly.

In the ambush battle on the official road, the casualties on Zhao Jin's side had mainly been caused by enemy arrows, and the arrows had targeted the body, which was relatively easy to aim at. Shi Manqiang had thought of that iron armor. If they had been wearing it, they could have defended against those shots.

Hearing his father's words, Shi Manqiang walked out of the storage room, puzzled, and asked, "It's all good steel and fine iron. What better materials do you need to trade for?"