Chapter 201 - A Sudden Taste of Power

"People always like to imagine others as the sort of person they already have in their heads.” A breeze stirred through the pavilion. Yuan Hao looked sideways at the koi swimming in the pond, his voice slow and mild. “Just as before I met you, Third Young Master, I thought you would be a little more... ostentatious.”

With that, Yuan Hao turned and gave Xu Yuan a deep cupped-fist bow. “I moved troops into the town without the Third Young Master’s permission. Please punish me.”

Xu Yuan glanced at him, then slowly sat down on the stone stool before him and shook his head. “When a commander is in the field, there are orders he need not obey. Commander Yuan made the right decision according to the situation. Besides, you and I are of the same mind. What is there to punish?”

Yuan Hao dropped the formality and sat down casually across from him, a hint of surprise in his eyes. “The same mind?”

Xu Yuan looked at Yuan Hao and stated his position on the whole matter plainly. “I do not believe the higher-ups of the Myriad Manifestations Sect have any intention of repenting.”

Yuan Hao’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “The Third Young Master is right. Only killing can stop killing. Only when these people have been killed until they are afraid can the problem be solved.”

“Kill to stop killing?” Xu Yuan rubbed a finger along the rim of his wine cup. He lifted it, took a light sip, and instinctively glanced at the wine pot warming in front of him. This wine was actually the coarsest kind of yellow wine. Bitter and harsh the moment it touched the tongue.

Yuan Hao noticed his gaze and explained softly, “A small habit of mine. Back when I had fallen on hard times, this was all I drank. Now I find I am not used to fine wine instead.”

Xu Yuan understood. He drained the yellow wine in his cup, then changed the subject. “In that case, Commander Yuan, were those corpse mounds you built back then also because you wanted to kill in order to stop killing?”

Yuan Hao also raised his cup and drained it in one gulp. He looked at Xu Yuan, his voice very quiet. “No. That was another small habit of mine.”

Xu Yuan sighed, then smiled. “It seems some rumors really are true.”

Yuan Hao grinned. “But you, Third Young Master, do not match the rumors at all.”

“Perhaps.” Xu Yuan shook his head and did not linger on the topic. He returned to the matter at hand. “Commander Yuan, the residential district here in Calm Bay may be large, but hiding the food, drink, and latrines for 3,500 men should not be easy. Roughly how long will it take for the troops to assemble and reorganize?”

“Three days at the fastest, five at the slowest.” Yuan Hao’s smile faded as well. As he spoke, he glanced toward the courtyard gate. “But the Third Young Master need not worry about this. Bai Zhao has already made the arrangements. Every courtyard hiding our soldiers was stocked in advance with more than a month’s worth of dried rations and water.”

“So careful. The man does count as a talent.”

“He is indeed very capable,” Yuan Hao said, very much in agreement.

Xu Yuan paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, “You investigated him beforehand, didn’t you?”

Yuan Hao looked slightly surprised, but still nodded. “I did. After all, if he betrayed us, the elites we brought into the town would be very easy to bury here.”

“And?” Xu Yuan asked.

“Is the Third Young Master planning to promote him?” Yuan Hao asked.

“It would be too much of a pity for a capable man to die here,” Xu Yuan replied.

Yuan Hao considered his words briefly, then said in a low voice, “Although we had intelligence from the Blackscale Guards, I still came here ahead of time and observed him from the shadows for most of a ten-day period. Bai Zhao had two secret meetings. One with the sect, and one with the magistrate’s office. Nothing abnormal. He is simply a little too hungry for power.”

After a pause, he added with a low chuckle, “And his daughter was specifically brought here these last two days.”

Xu Yuan listened quietly to the end, his expression calm.

Seeing this, Yuan Hao asked, “It seems the Third Young Master already knew?”

“He overplayed his hand, so I noticed.”

“You still intend to use him, Young Master?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Xu Yuan asked the question back. The image of Bai Zhao coaxing his daughter surfaced in his mind, and he smiled. “None of that matters. The Calm Bay Gang only looks prosperous on the surface. Any true great figure here could ruin him beyond recovery with a turn of the hand.

After decades of treading on eggshells, it would be fake if he did not want to climb higher. Besides, if he did not want power, that would make me suspect him instead. Bai Zhao has been here for nearly 30 years. Commander Yuan, do you think it is realistic to expect a man who has been independent outside the main house for decades to remain loyal?”

Yuan Hao did not answer. Xu Yuan could say such things as casually as he pleased, but he certainly could not casually respond to them.

Xu Yuan realized this as well. He filled a cup with yellow wine, raised it with a smile, and said, “Bai Zhao’s Calm Bay Gang reached its limit here ten years ago. If it grew any larger, both the government office and the Myriad Manifestations Sect would move to cut it down. Wanting to climb higher is a good thing. Wagering with his own family is a kind of courage as well. With his cultivation level, he is doomed not to dare betray us. When you withdraw, Commander Yuan, take him along.”

Their cups clinked.

They drank them dry.

After a moment of quiet, Xu Yuan asked, “All right. Tell me the plan.”

Yuan Hao’s callus-covered fingers tapped lightly on the stone table. He did not answer at once. Instead, he asked first, “Third Young Master, what are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts?” Xu Yuan looked faintly surprised. It seemed that although Yuan Hao enjoyed killing people, his political instincts were actually rather sharp.

After a brief pause, Xu Yuan asked in return, “What orders did my father give you?”

Yuan Hao looked straight at Xu Yuan and said one sentence. “The Chancellor said that this matter is to be handled entirely by the Third Young Master.”

Xu Yuan froze for a moment. Almost by instinct, he glanced sideways in the direction of the Myriad Manifestations Sect’s mountain gate. When he looked back, he asked with some uncertainty, “What does that mean?”

Yuan Hao said softly, “It means exactly what it sounds like.

“The Myriad Manifestations Sect’s mountain gate is located beside Seaport Falls, right next to the town. If the Third Young Master merely wishes to force their hand, I will form ranks outside the town and make a show of attacking. If the Third Young Master wishes to teach the Myriad Manifestations Sect a lesson, I can break the town. And if the Third Young Master wishes to wipe out the sect...”

At this point, Yuan Hao smiled. A clean, bright smile. “I can make sure not a chicken or dog of the Myriad Manifestations Sect remains alive. That is what the Chancellor meant.”

Xu Yuan’s brain crashed for an instant. What was going on? Hadn’t the message before made it sound like he was only supposed to come here and negotiate?

He was familiar with that sort of thing. In his previous life, he had spent no small amount of time negotiating with other companies at the old man’s firm.

Now they held the moral high ground and had military force to apply pressure. As long as the other side had even half a brain, there was no way he could fail to get a deal out of them.

But from what Yuan Hao was saying now... had he somehow become a front-line army commander? Were they not afraid he would screw the whole thing up? Was this father of his throwing him straight into the deep end?

Xu Yuan drew in a deep breath. He did not speak at once. Instead, he poured himself another cup of yellow wine and drained it in one gulp.

The pavilion was very quiet. Yuan Hao waited silently for Xu Yuan’s command, while Xu Yuan drank cup after cup of the cheap yellow wine in front of him.

When the whole warmed pot was empty, Xu Yuan let out a long breath and laughed softly. “Commander Yuan, you seem very much to hope that I choose the latter.”

Yuan Hao smiled faintly and did not bother hiding it. “Naturally. Chances to slaughter an entire sect do not come often.”

Xu Yuan slowly rose to his feet. After slightly adjusting his state of mind, he spoke in a very light voice. “If it becomes necessary, I will let you do just that.”

Yuan Hao licked his lips and grinned. Then he rose, cupped his fist, and bowed. “Yuan Hao awaits your command, Young Master.”