Chapter 658: Unconvinced

"Shopkeeper Geng certainly has no shortage of nerve. Setting a trap like this for Zhao was bold enough, but to stay on in Qingjiangpu afterward instead of fleeing — that's truly something," Zhao Jin said leisurely.

Ever since learning of the attempt on Zhao Jin's life, Shi Manqiang had been seething with fury. Hearing Zhao Jin's words, he didn't catch the sarcasm and merely growled through clenched teeth, "Big Brother gives this wretch too much credit. How is he bold? He's plainly a fool."

Wang Zhaojing coughed once. Over on the other side, Yu Zhiyuan had produced a folding fan and was using it to cover half his face, making his expression unreadable. Liu Yong looked toward Zhao Jin, awaiting the order on how to proceed.

No one expected that at this moment, the dejected Geng Mancang would lift his head from the floor. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke: "If Master Jin had died, the situation would certainly have descended into chaos. Having done this deed, I could have been the first to make contact with all sides. Not only could I have set myself up independently, I could also have swallowed the largest share of this great market. I thought it through very clearly."

Shi Manqiang was stunned. The room fell very quiet. No one had expected Geng Mancang to answer like that under these circumstances. Shi Manqiang wanted to curse him out, but after a deep breath he held it in and turned to Zhao Jin instead. "Big Brother, this wretch really is bold!"

Zhao Jin shook his head with a faint smile. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "Common folk aside — a man of Shopkeeper Geng's status and position must surely know Zhao's methods. Were you not afraid?"

"Afraid? Why wouldn't I be afraid? But if this thing succeeded, my family fortune could multiply several times over. I could even build something far greater. For that, it was worth a gamble." Geng Mancang spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

After saying this, a change finally crept into Geng Mancang's dejected expression. He looked deeply unwilling as he muttered sullenly, "There were several miscalculations this time. I didn't expect the great market's rules to be so strict — in the end I could only set fire to my own place. I didn't expect Master Jin's men to move so fast — my people in the great market hadn't even sent word back before Master Jin's men arrived first. I didn't expect those rabble from the cult to be so impatient, rushing to act before everything was fully in place. If the plan had been properly laid..."

"If the plan had been properly laid, could you have harmed my Big Brother?" Liu Yong raised his voice slightly, demanding.

Geng Mancang froze, then let out a long sigh. Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing exchanged a glance, then both looked toward Liu Yong. Yu Zhiyuan, for his part, had closed his folding fan and seemed to be hesitating about something, glancing over repeatedly. A brief silence fell over the room, but then Geng Mancang spoke again, his tone trembling slightly: "Master Jin, the Geng family now has one Administration Commissioner, one Vice Minister, and connections reaching all the way to the Imperial Stables Directorate. Within the clan there are currently three provincial graduates. Three-quarters of Taiping Prefecture amounts to my Geng family's estates. Our clansmen and disciples serving as officials in various places are not few. If I die, all these people will become Master Jin's enemies. Master Jin is a man of grand vision and great strategy — perhaps you would not care about this. Yet it would still be trouble, to some degree. If you grant me a path to live, then all of this will henceforth be a source of strength for Master Jin."

Zhao Jin smiled again. Geng Mancang stopped speaking, paused, then asked once more: "Master Jin, is this enough to buy my life?"

An Administration Commissioner, a Vice Minister, three provincial graduates, disciples and old associates — combined with Geng Mancang's staggering personal fortune, the Geng family's power was truly not insignificant. If anything were really done to Geng Mancang, trouble would certainly come.

Zhao Jin shook his head. Back then, the backers behind Cloud Mountain Temple had been no less formidable. The Feng family of Yangzhou could even command government troops, and he had not let them off either. What Geng Mancang was listing now counted for nothing.

Yet this answer from Zhao Jin seemed to be within Geng Mancang's expectations. He shook his head as well, paused, and then continued: "Master Jin, my properties are many. If Master Jin wishes to seize them by force, it will surely take some effort. I am willing to cooperate fully and hand over my family wealth with both hands. I do not ask to keep my life — I only ask that Master Jin spare my family."

"When you did this, did you not think of your family?" Zhao Jin countered. This time Geng Mancang's face paled. He merely let out a long sigh and said nothing more.

Yu Zhiyuan had been hesitating the whole time. He tapped his palm with the folding fan, then rose and began walking toward Zhao Jin. He had taken only two steps when he heard Zhao Jin ask: "You've said so much, useful and useless alike, but you haven't mentioned that I am no government office — on what grounds would I kill you? Are you not afraid of the law pursuing the matter? Threatening me with that might have been of some use."

Hearing these words from Zhao Jin, Yu Zhiyuan paused, then a smile appeared on his face. He turned around and went back to his seat of his own accord. His every movement fell under the eyes of Liu Yong and Wang Zhaojing. The two exchanged a look; Wang Zhaojing's face was as still as dark water.

"Threaten Master Jin with the law? Does Master Jin even have the law and the imperial court in his eyes? What a joke." Geng Mancang answered with a cold laugh.

Everyone in the room understood why Geng Mancang was acting this way. He already knew he could not escape a death sentence, so he no longer much cared. In fact, from the moment he had been brought here, Geng Mancang had worn the resigned look of a man utterly indifferent to his fate. In his speech he used neither "this humble one" nor "this lowly one," and he had not even begged for mercy — he simply laid out terms and negotiated.

"By now everyone knows what you've done. If you dare move against me, the consequence is the extermination of your entire family. I don't mean just your household here in Qingjiangpu — I'll wipe out the ones in Taiping Prefecture as well, all of them. Don't think that being in Jiangnan means heaven is high and the earth is far away." Zhao Jin's tone was not particularly harsh, yet Geng Mancang's face turned pale.

But a moment later, Geng Mancang's expression shifted again. His face flushed bright red as he recklessly raised his head to look at Zhao Jin. This expression was not anger, but startled joy. Seeing this, Wang Zhaojing turned and said quietly to Liu Yong beside him, "A truly clever man."

"The Sun Family Trading Company now operates mainly here in Qingjiangpu. Yutou Town is increasingly neglected, and quite a few people have been going there to exploit the gap. I need someone who knows the trade to keep an eye on things there. I imagine you would be willing to go. Of your various properties here in Qingjiangpu, I will take seventy percent. You will go to Yutou Town. Your family and the like — none of them are permitted to go with you. You may return four times a year. I imagine you are willing to accept all of this?" Zhao Jin asked leisurely.

"I am willing! I am willing!" Geng Mancang choked on his own breath and could not stop coughing, yet still, in his agitation, he flipped himself over and kowtowed. This time his humility and deference reached the extreme. Blood soon appeared on his forehead, but still he did not stop kowtowing.

"There will be people following you at your side. From now on, you cannot afford a single mistake. The consequence of a mistake is death," Zhao Jin added.

"I understand." Geng Mancang was already somewhat incoherent.

With sorrow and joy intermingling, his emotions swinging wildly, such a reaction was hardly strange. After all, just moments ago he had believed himself doomed beyond doubt. He had never imagined there would be a path to survival. The composure of a gambler who accepts his loss had now transformed into this wild elation.

Zhao Jin cleared his throat. Geng Mancang immediately caught on — he actually wiped his face twice with his hands and then straightened his kneeling posture properly. Zhao Jin glanced at Yu Zhiyuan, seated at the lower end, and then spoke to Geng Mancang: "You are a clever man. It's quite possible that from the moment you were seized, you had already calculated this outcome of getting away. That doesn't matter. But since I am taking you in, you have set foot on a road of no return. You cannot turn back. Leaving the boat means death. It's best if you understand this clearly. If you don't, then think it through until you do."

At Zhao Jin's words, both Wang Zhaojing and Liu Yong glanced toward Yu Zhiyuan. Shi Manqiang sat there staring at Geng Mancang. After a while, he too looked toward Yu Zhiyuan. Yu Zhiyuan sat there smiling and nodding, betraying nothing unusual whatsoever. Only Niu Jinbao stood with his hands behind his back and his head lowered, as if he had heard nothing at all.

"I am fond of gambling. I dare to place my bets and can afford to lose. I know what it means to accept a loss. And this hand may not necessarily lose." Whether he was speaking fine words for the occasion or truly meant it in his heart, Geng Mancang said it with great conviction.

These words were, in fact, very similar to what Yu Zhiyuan had said. Most merchants have the temperament of gamblers — that much was true.

After word spread that Zhao Jin had been attacked and the Qingjiang Great Market set on fire, all of Qingjiangpu, high and low, was watching how events would unfold. But everything moved far too quickly, leaving people dazzled and unable to keep up. When the men of Zhao's Battalion arrived at the Geng residence, everyone could more or less guess who was behind the affair. While marveling at Geng Mancang's audacity, they also began calculating what they might be able to scoop up once the Geng family fell. No one expected that the very next day, Geng Mancang would appear before everyone perfectly unharmed, and even announce that he would be going into business together with the Cloud Mountain Firm and the Sun Family Trading Company. The Geng family's properties had, in the blink of an eye, become enterprises of Zhao's Battalion.

This handling of the matter was, in fact, within everyone's expectations. Offend Master Jin and still expect to keep your family fortune? Then Geng Mancang announced that he would spend a few days preparing before heading to Yutou Town to open a shop, and that from now on his Qingjiangpu affairs would be left to family members to manage. This too was within everyone's expectations. This so-called "going to Yutou Town" was probably just a figure of speech — perhaps a euphemism for going to the Western Paradise. Master Jin was indeed merciful. Geng Mancang had committed such an evil deed, yet only one life was to pay for it. The family fortune was swallowed, but the family members were not to be pursued further.

What did puzzle people somewhat, however, was this: the Geng family was a great and long-established clan in Wuhu. Geng Mancang had met with such a fate — why did the Geng family not step forward? And with Geng Mancang about to set out on his journey any moment, how could the Geng family act as if nothing had happened? Could it be they still did not know the truth?

The defenses of the Qingjiang Great Market were already far tighter than before. Now every shop had someone on night duty. After closing each day, there were people conducting regular inspections and patrols. The merchants had also followed the city's model, pooling able-bodied men to form a water society. At the first sign of fire, the water society's men would rush over at once to extinguish it. Originally, everyone had assumed that Zhao Jin's establishment of a guard force was a pretext to collect taxes and scrape the earth. Now, however, everyone was hoping the guards would come, to bring some peace to the Qingjiang Great Market — at the very least, having more eyes watching put people at ease.

Aside from the Geng family situation, which struck people as somewhat baffling, another thing no one could understand was this: the people connected to Zhao's Battalion did not step in. Instead, it was the constables and runners from the prefectural and county yamens who took action, carrying out mass arrests throughout Qingjiangpu of heretical rebels who followed evil cults. Once slapped with such a charge and thrown into the yamen, you could forget about coming out. Some felt this was actually for the best. Falling into the hands of Zhao's Battalion was a dead end, but in the yamen there might still be room to maneuver — with silver and favors, there was always a path to survival.

Everyone should have their second monthly ticket by now — cast it for Great Ming Wufu! Thank you, everyone.