Chapter 104: Appearing Beautiful

Su Mei looked beautiful as she worked the abacus, though her brows were furrowed deep with worry. After finally finishing the calculations for the stack of papers before her, she swept the beads aside with a clatter and collapsed heavily into her chair. "We don't have enough money," she said to Tie Xinyuan, her voice heavy with despair.

Tie Xinyuan, who had been reviewing records across from her, looked up. "How big is the deficit?"

"Six hundred guan. At least six hundred guan."

"How could we have spent so much? I was counting on making a fortune," Tie Xinyuan frowned.

"How could we possibly make money? This is a bottomless pit. Not only did Dalang’s savings disappear into it, but after I poured in all of my own, we’re still short by nearly six hundred guan."

Tie Xinyuan took the ledger Su Mei had prepared, glanced at it, and chuckled. "With so much profitable information here, why did you list it all under expenses?"

"Hmm?" Su Mei couldn't sit still. She leaned behind him to examine the ledger closely. It was filled with nothing but black ink listing expenditures; there wasn't a single entry for revenue.

"Look at this. People in Dongjing have always loved gambling and betting. No one dares to gamble on the civil service examinations, but the top candidate for the military examinations is different. Every year, countless gambling houses set up odds on famous candidates. I’ve heard the gold and silver flowing through them totals no less than a hundred thousand guan."

Su Mei said indignantly, "I know these things better than you do! Even if we bet on Dalang to win, how much could we possibly make?"

Tie Xinyuan helplessly set down the paper in his hand and patted the thick stack of intelligence regarding the military candidates. "These are treasures! In the past, people just bet blindly based on the odds set by the houses. But now it’s different. With this information, buyers will be able to place their bets on the candidates they favor with much greater accuracy."

"But we don't have enough money. We can't bet on everyone."

Su Mei remained furious, and her anger was justified. Tie Xinyuan had used sweet talk to convince her and Dalang to hand over all their wealth, supposedly to identify the strongest candidates and devise strategies to defeat them. Yet, after following his instructions, they found that in just three days, their funds were nearly exhausted.

Tie Xinyuan rubbed his temples wearily. "Who said anything about betting? If we keep placing bets and keep winning, do you think the gambling house owners are fools? Even if Dalang isn't afraid of them, if someone claims he’s colluding with the houses, do you think he’d still have a chance to become the top candidate?"

Su Mei finally quieted down, her wide eyes fixed on him, waiting for his explanation. If this guy didn't make sense, she was ready to pounce on him.

"Think about it. Since the people of Dongjing love to gamble and have the means to do so, why don't we print this information into pamphlets and sell them? By the time every gambler in Dongjing has a copy, we’ll make a fortune just from the sales. Who has the energy to worry about who wins or loses? To be honest, their wins and losses are none of our business. Our goal is to sell the pamphlets. As long as we cover the city, we win."

Su Mei began to feel a bit of trepidation toward Tie Xinyuan. After a long hesitation, she murmured, "If you don't become a millionaire, there is no justice in this world. But once we do this, those gambling houses will get suspicious. They’ll play dirty and turn the favorites into massive money-losers."

Tie Xinyuan smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "As expected of a talented daughter of the Su family; you truly have the ability to infer the rest from a single instance. In truth, we are only selling these pamphlets to muddy the waters. Only when the water is murky can we find an opportunity to fish in it, helping Yang Dalang become the top candidate smoothly. If no one else is acting maliciously and only we are, wouldn't that just tell the world that Dalang cheated?"

Su Mei lowered her head and whispered, "That seems rather despicable."

Tie Xinyuan squinted at her. "If you find it despicable, why were you so excited at the beginning?"

"I thought we were just playing..."

"Haha, this is a game, isn't it? We are just playing. We’re simply turning the game of the powerful into our own. Over these years, look at the top candidates—who among them had real ability? In the last ten years, there have been five examinations. Twice the winner was surnamed Shi, twice surnamed Cao, and only once was it Ge Huaimin, the son of the great Song general Ge Ba. And he was the only one who, despite not knowing how to lead an army, at least fulfilled a soldier's duty and died on the battlefield."

Su Mei looked around and whispered, "Are you saying the descendants of Shi Shouxin and Cao Bin can't be trusted? Their families are military aristocracy; you shouldn't speak of them like that."

Tie Xinyuan laughed. "Don't worry. Ever since the Founding Emperor 'released military power over a cup of wine,' those families have lost their fighting spirit. As for the military top candidates, it's just a facade they maintain to preserve their reputations as military clans. The Emperor’s strategy of 'raising pigs' has succeeded; he used wealth and status to turn the children of tigers into fat swine. The country is stable, but it has lost the capital for external expansion. That is the true reason behind the failures of the Emperor’s northern expeditions. How about it? Is that reason enough for you to help Dalang become the top candidate? You and I both know he truly wants to inherit his father's ambitions and guard the borders for the Song. With him at the frontier, we can at least sleep soundly."

Su Mei smiled. "Since you've convinced me with your grand principles, I'll go find someone to print these pamphlets and have the idle men we hired sell them to the people of Dongjing."

Tie Xinyuan stopped her. "Tomorrow is the first day of the selection. Most of the candidates have already arrived. The idlers are no longer needed; dismiss most of them, keeping only the sharp ones to gather information. As for the pamphlets, sell them to the printing houses at a high price. Sell them to every shop in the city. Don't show your face; use a stranger or a hired intermediary just like we did with the idlers. Believe me, those blood-sucking middlemen will ensure these pamphlets sell for a fortune."

Su Mei beamed. It was the first time she had handled a major task as an adult, and if she succeeded, it would be a point of pride for a long time.

As she reached the door, she hesitated and turned back, looking at Tie Xinyuan with a troubled expression.

Tie Xinyuan sighed. "The most important quality for a general is an unyielding will. Keep this secret in your heart and never tell Dalang. Let him believe his success was earned through his own efforts. This is crucial."

Seeing her still wanting to speak, he pondered for a moment and continued:

"A long time ago, a general gave his son his own 'lucky' arrow, telling him that as long as he carried it into battle, he would be safe and victorious, but he forbade him from ever using it. The son carried it into battle and, indeed, survived countless perils through his own efforts. But in the final, fiercest battle, just as he was about to win, he pulled the arrow from his quiver to honor it, only to find it was a broken shaft. In that moment of shock, an enemy arrow pierced his throat. When his father came to collect his body, he found his son clutching that broken arrow. The heartbroken general lamented that his son had forgotten where true courage came from, placing his hope in a lifeless object. How foolish that was."

Su Mei asked, "Do you mean we shouldn't tell Dalang that he only became the top candidate because we cheated?"

Tie Xinyuan frowned. "Our role isn't to help him cheat, but to prevent others from cheating against him, to ensure he fights in a relatively fair environment. We are giving him an unbreakable iron arrow and a fire of hope that will never go out. This is the limit of what we can do as friends. After all, he is the one who will face the battlefield, not us."

Watching the young girl skip out of the room, the smile faded from Tie Xinyuan’s face. He turned to look at Xiao Qiao, who was practicing her blowpipe skills in the workshop, and let out a bitter laugh. "Who is this story really fooling?"

He shook the papers in his hand and sighed. "Not to mention anyone else, even this warrior from the Xinghua Army would give Yang Dalang a run for his money. The Cao family has brought in warriors like this to pave the way for Cao Fang; heaven knows what other masters the other families have hidden."

Shuizhu watched Tie Xinyuan muttering to himself, not daring to speak. He had been punished severely by his teacher earlier today; his left hand was swollen like a small bun. He had wanted to beg Brother Yuan to let him skip school, as Sister Su Mei taught him well, but seeing Brother Yuan’s grim expression, he wiped away his tears, shouldered his book bag, and headed to the schoolhouse with gritted teeth.

Passing through the courtyard, he saw Yang Huaiyu, who had just returned from a remote Taoist temple outside the city, sitting under the eaves in deep meditation. He didn't know what the man was thinking, only that Yang Huaiyu looked like a statue of a clay buddha. Shuizhu didn't dare ask for mercy, and the small child walked toward his studies with a heavy, sorrowful heart.