Chapter 49: Brother Yun Sweeps the Study on White Horseback

Before Zhang Yu began to speak, he had already obtained Li Fu's permission. Knowing that their affairs did not need to be kept from Yun'er, a two-year-old child, he provided a very detailed account.

In fact, every year in the past when Old Man Li traveled to Liangzhou, besides his deep-rooted ties to Li Fu's lineage and having watched Li Fu grow up as a child, which prompted him to specifically visit Liangzhou to check on Li Fu, his main purpose was to bring provisions, gold, and silver to trade with the foreign tribes here. Furthermore, Li Fu's appointment in Liangzhou was partly orchestrated by the Li clan itself, designed precisely to provide a convenient cover for the clan's activities.

However, the Li clan had truly declined severely. The fortune of the entire lineage was at a low ebb, and naturally, they lacked even a single decent talent. They could only linger at the bottom of society, engaging in petty trade to accumulate some wealth.

In this era, merchants were held in extremely low esteem, so they naturally could not offer any real help to the clan.

It was not that the Li clan members did not want to secure a better official post in Liangzhou for Li Fu. Despite successive efforts to maneuver for even a slightly larger and more prosperous county where he could serve as a magistrate, they failed repeatedly, ultimately securing only the humblest position of a county chief.

In previous years, Old Man Li's transactions had always proceeded smoothly, which was why Xinniang mentioned that he usually made a swift return journey.

Only when heavy snow blocked the roads would he be delayed by a few days, but he was bound to return no later than the Chinese New Year. This year, however, Old Man Li showed no intention of returning even after the New Year had passed.

Initially, this was not because of Yun'er, but rather because his business was not going smoothly.

In his youth, Zhang Yu was a native of Liangzhou. Because of his bold and valiant disposition, he frequently moved between Liangzhou and the various Qiang tribes, making many disreputable friends. Later, after stirring up trouble, he fled. Ultimately, owing to his martial prowess, he was taken in by the Li clan as a retainer. Because he could speak the Qiang language, he subsequently served as Old Man Li's interpreter among the Qiang tribes, assisting him in trading with them to purchase horses and animal pelts.

Under Zhang Yu's mediation, Old Man Li and his associates had traded exclusively with a Qiang tribe called the White Dog for all these years.

Yet this very year, when Zhang Yu visited the White Dog tribe as usual, the hosts still entertained him with fine food and wine, but whenever the conversation turned to trade matters, they began to stammer and evade.

At the time, Old Man Li was unaware of the reason, so he remained in Long County to investigate. Eventually, he managed to figure out that they intended to raise prices, and even sent Zhang Yu to negotiate with them, hoping to keep the price hike within a reasonable range.

However, the White Dog tribe only hesitated for a brief moment before adopting a rigid and aggressive stance of refusal, once again shutting down any discussion of trade.

It was only later, when Yun'er unraveled the matter involving Ma Yi, that Old Man Li finally understood the whole story. Ma Yi's trading volume was simply too large for a single Baima Di tribe to handle on its own, so the Baima Di had allied with other Di tribes—and quite likely, Qiang tribes as well.

Faced with such a massive volume of trade, the White Dog Qiang tribe had probably caught wind of the news and wanted to hoard their goods to drive up the price. Old Man Li's proposed price increase fell short of their expectations; now that demand clearly exceeded supply, they were in a position to exploit their advantage and demand exorbitant sums.

"So that's how it was! But what does that have to do with the Baima Di remaining quiet this time?"

Zhang Yu slapped his thigh, displaying a flash of the bold heroism from his youth. "It has everything to do with it! When I went to scout out the Baima Di this time, guess who else I found, Yun'er?"

Seeing Zhang Yu's expression, which seemed as though he were coaxing a child, Yun'er smiled deliberately. "No need to guess, it must be people from the Qiang tribe."

Zhang Yu's eyes widened in astonishment.

He had very little contact with Yun'er. Previously, it was people like Jiang Guang who accompanied Yun'er to the rural township at the foot of the ridge, while Zhang Yu had been left by Old Man Li's side to handle administrative affairs.

Later, he was directly dispatched to investigate the Baima Di, so he had only crossed paths with Yun'er once or twice. Although his colleagues mentioned that this boy was a Qilin child—a prodigy—you didn't just blindly praise the master's child without reason.

Yet after this exchange today, Zhang Yu realized he truly was a prodigy. He had initially thought Li Fu was joking when he let such a toddler listen in on this serious matter and even claimed he wanted to ask for the child's opinion.

Seeing the shock on Zhang Yu's face, Yun'er smiled and said, "Old Man Li still underestimated the situation. I reckon it's not just a matter of the Baima Di allying with the Qiang tribe for trade. Rather, the Qiang tribe caught wind that the Baima Di were involved in a massive business deal, and now they intend to seize the goods without paying a single coin."

"How does that go? Although the Qiang and Di tribes ultimately belong to the same stock, strictly speaking, the Di are a minor branch of the Qiang. Brother tribes usually have a relationship that is neither too good nor too bad. But that's in normal times; in abnormal times, it's a matter of fearing that your brother suffers hardship, while simultaneously fearing that your brother becomes richer than you."

"Furthermore, the Qiang tribe is also afraid that the Baima Di will acquire too much grain, allowing them to recruit a large number of people into their tribe next year when the grass grows and the warblers fly. By then, who knows? The Baima Di might rise to prominence, and the Qiang might end up reduced to a mere branch of them."

"Oh my, that's brilliant!" Hearing Yun'er rattle this off with such fluency, Zhang Yu was immensely astonished.

He had also gone to investigate the Baima Di, only to find that the members of the Baima tribe appeared very anxious yet made no major moves. Soon after, he discovered that Qiang scouts were prowling about in their rear.

It was highly likely that several Qiang tribes had formed an alliance, simply waiting for the Baima Di to finish their transaction so they could ambush them on their return journey, plunder the grain, and slaughter them.

Even with all this, Zhang Yu had still been unable to piece the puzzle together at the time, so he had secretly made a trip to the White Dog Qiang tribe on his own to find his sworn brother.

Years ago, the crime he committed was killing a man on behalf of this very sworn brother, which was why he had been wanted and forced to run around in exile—that was a bond forged in blood. If Zhang Yu hadn't gone, it would have been one thing, seeing as he was leaking top-secret information belonging to his own tribe. But once he arrived, his brother did not hide anything from him and laid out the White Dog Qiang tribe's intentions.

It was only through his brother's account that Zhang Yu had managed to gain a rough understanding of the situation.

Never had he imagined that things which took him half a day to puzzle out would be stated with such absolute clarity by a two-year-old child.

No wonder people called him a Qilin prodigy while he himself was merely a ruffian.

A valiant man of martial arts who roamed the countryside like him, never staying home and never tilling the fields—at best, he was called a knight-errant, someone of whom people might say, "There will come a time to ride the wind and break the waves." At worst, he was a local ruffian, later transformed into a fugitive wanted for murder.

The past could no longer be pursued.

Suppressing his patronizing and child-coaxing demeanor, Zhang Yu said earnestly, "Yun'er is entirely right, which is why I was delayed for a while. As soon as I figured things out, I hurried back, but I am uncertain how we should handle this next."

"I can see that the Baima Di people cannot hold out much longer at the staging ground. Between feeding the men and foraging for the horses, the provisions they brought are running short. With the Qiang eyeing them like tigers eyeing their prey, their nerves have reached a breaking point."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu added, "Oh, by the way, on my way back I captured a few Qiang and Baima Di scouts. They are currently locked up in the county yamen's prison."

Unable to wait any longer for the people to return, the Baima Di were bound to send men to investigate and search for Ma Yi.

The allied Qiang tribes also needed to ascertain the progress of the Baima Di's transaction. Because the Baima Di had remained completely stationary for days, the Qiang were growing anxious as well. Harboring the mentality of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, they too had dispatched men to keep watch on the Baima Di.

And then, all of them had been knocked unconscious and captured by Zhang Yu and his men.

"You even captured people?"

"Of course! Would Yun'er like to take a look? Actually, foreigners have two eyes and one nose just like us; it's just that you probably won't understand a word they say." Zhang Yu wore a smug expression, akin to someone presenting a treasured artifact.

Their native dialects varied greatly and were hardly mutually intelligible even among themselves, numbering around a dozen or so.

Zhang Yu could speak roughly seven or eight of them, while the rest he could only comprehend vaguely without being able to speak them fluently. However, the seven or eight he was familiar with rolled off his tongue no differently than a native speaker—smooth as silk.

A sudden, amusing thought struck Yun'er, and he smiled. "There's no need to look. But Father, let's figure out a way not to let them stay deadlocked like this. Let's make them fight each other."

These people were accustomed to acting independently, each harboring deceitful schemes of their own.

If they eventually discovered that the Baima Di's transaction had fallen through, the allied Qiang tribes might realize there was no loot to be plundered and abandon the attack altogether. Or worse, if they happened to exchange information and compare notes, they might even suspect that the Liang people had played them for fools.

Should they join forces by then, it would spell trouble.

Therefore, they had to be provoked into fighting—even without a massive stash of provisions as bait, a fight had to be incited.

"What method? What method? Is there anything I need to do?" An adventurer and ruffian like Zhang Yu loved nothing more than thrilling excitement.

"There is," Yun'er said with a chuckle. "You will disguise yourself as both a Qiang and a Di, while Father will write two fake letters."

This was known as Cao Cao forging a letter to sow discord between Han Sui in ancient times, and now it was Yun'er's turn to sow discord among the foreign tribes through written words.

...

Inside the county yamen prison.

Ma Yi was still alive, currently locked up in one of the cells with a swollen and bruised face. He had just received a beating, accompanied by a warning not to babble nonsense, or else his head would be cleanly lopped off.

Ma Yi had no courage to speak of; he was merely a swindler who made a living relying on his tongue and his wits, so he naturally nodded frantically, praying only that they would strike his face a little more lightly.

In the cell right next to him was none other than the Baima Di scout captured by Zhang Yu.

Ma Yi had previously been a guest of the Baima Di, and that Baima Di scout recognized him. Unfortunately, Ma Yi had been beaten to a pulp and lay there in a semi-conscious, motionless stupor.

The scout was beside himself with anxiety, thinking to himself that no wonder they couldn't wait for their people to return—Master Ma had been captured. He had to hurry back and inform the tribal chieftain that this whole affair was a trap.

Just as the scout was consumed with anxiety, he heard the faint clanking of chains from afar.

He hurriedly lay back down and resumed feigning unconsciousness.

Peeking through the slit of his eyelids, he saw a middle-aged scholar dressed in the attire of Liang, accompanied by a masked individual, walking into the cell block. They were extremely cautious; in particular, the masked person specifically checked whether he was still unconscious.

Once they confirmed he was out cold, the masked person lowered his voice and began to speak.

Even though the voice was suppressed, the scout instantly recognized it: this was the authentic native dialect of the White Dog Qiang tribe!

Damn it! The Qiang people were in league with the Liang people!

Furthermore, the Qiang person was bargaining with the Liang person, stating that the horses for this batch of the Baima Di could be sold somewhat more cheaply, provided the price was still higher than last year's.

The Liang person said something the scout could not understand. A moment later, he saw the Liang person hand a letter to the Qiang person! Following that, they pointed at the scout, and the Qiang person declared he would be killed, to which the Liang person agreed.

The scout felt as though his heart had stopped beating.

Damn it! Damn it all!

Soon, the prison door was unlocked, and the scout desperately suppressed the urge to resist. Fortunately, the Liang people simply hauled him to his feet.

They were probably dragging him outside to be executed.

A golden opportunity!

Then the scout noticed that the Qiang person had also followed them out, presumably to witness his death and ensure it was done.

So, after walking some distance outside, the scout launched a fierce counterattack. The Qiang person indeed panicked, casting aside the risk of exposure to eliminate him on the spot.

In the end, however, the scout proved more skilled; during the scuffle, the letter hidden inside the Qiang person's robe fell out, and the scout snatched it up and bolted.

The reason he was a scout was precisely because he could run exceptionally fast!

As soon as the scout fled, Li Fu immediately acted on Yun'er's instructions and issued a county-wide warrant for the arrest of foreigners—though, of course, it was all just for show.