Ying Laixian looked over the general contents of the letter, his peripheral vision catching Tan Congye once again staring fixedly at him. He shifted the letter, placing it in a different direction right in front of Tan Congye. “Take a look.”
Tan Congye hesitated for a moment before slowly taking the letter, while Ying Laixian unwrapped the next one and read it with deep focus.
The carriage remained quiet for a while. Tan Congye held the letter in his hand, his expression grave. “Xu An? Is he your man?”
Ying Laixian continued reading the letter in his hands. “Not quite.”
The letter in Tan Congye’s hand merely stated that Xu An had already reminded Zhong Xiwu in accordance with Ying Laixian’s instructions; naturally, the specific details did not appear on the page.
Yet Tan Congye was able to piece together the general situation from just those few lines. “You arranged for Xu An to remind Zhong Xiwu to position himself correctly. Sometimes the one who sits on that throne does not have to be the crown prince. As long as one reaches the peak, the methods used do not matter.”
“Go on.”
“You have already begun to withdraw yourself from Zhong Xiwu’s affairs, and your next move is to play the jianghu like a game of chess.”
“That’s right.” Ying Laixian handed over another letter from his hands. “This one requires your help.”
Asking someone for a favor naturally required sincerity. Ying Laixian did not lower his head because of the previous estrangement between them; he seemed certain that Tan Congye would not refuse.
“Jade Plate of Kunshan.” Tan Congye picked out the crucial point in the letter. “Yan Zhou? The one from the Huayu Pavilion? Now he’s missing again. He’s just a nobody, why go to such lengths for him?”
Ying Laixian glanced sideways at him. “Do you really not know why I care so much?”
Tan Congye tossed the letter in his hand aside. “Is it related to the Changye Palace? There are simply too many fools out there, making enough of a stir to overturn the entire jianghu. If Yan Zhou truly possessed reliable information, he would already be sipping tea in Yishui City right now.”
“That is why I chose to cooperate with you.” Ying Laixian casually poured a cup of tea, and just as he was about to hand it to Tan Congye, he abruptly changed direction and brought it to his own lips.
“Hm?”
“Hm?”
The two stared at each other in bewilderment until Ying Laixian suddenly smiled. “This is Biluochun. You probably don’t care for it.”
Tan Congye indeed rarely drank tea; when he did, he preferred something rich and mellow. A light, fragrant tea like Biluochun was certainly not to his taste.
Yet the time they had spent together was brief, and Ying Laixian had only stayed in Yishui City for three days. How had he already figured out his preferences? Was it premeditated, or driven by some other reason?
“I am saving Yan Zhou not to extract clues about the Changye Palace from him.”
“I know,” Tan Congye said. “If you were that foolish, you would have no value left whatsoever and would have already become a ghost beneath my blade.”
Ying Laixian watched Tan Congye with leisurely composure. “Then why don’t you guess why I want to save him?”
Tan Congye replied, “Trying to guess your intentions is a dangerous business.”
Refusing to keep him in suspense, Ying Laixian smiled, a glint of amusement in his deep, dark-green eyes. “If you won’t guess, I can simply tell you.” He finished his tea in a leisurely manner. “Yan Zhou spent his entire life in the Huayu Pavilion under the protection of his elder brother, making it difficult for others to target him. But the moment he stepped outside the gates of the Huayu Pavilion, he became a walking, breathing target. People will want his life.”
“That is all common sense.”
Tan Congye could have figured out that much on his own. What he failed to understand was why Ying Laixian would bother saving someone of zero value.
Ying Laixian said, “I was afraid you would consider my reasons equally worthless.”
Tan Congye prompted, “Let’s hear it.”
“I simply want to save him and see how many innocent lives I can preserve.”
“Oh? Since when do you have such a kind heart?”
A fleeting, self-deprecating smile crossed Ying Laixian’s face. “I am the most cold-hearted of all, whereas City Lord Tan is the benevolent one. Isn’t that why I’ve come to ask for your help?”
Tan Congye crossed his long legs. With the spacious carriage offering plenty of room, he drew his legs back, looking somewhat aggrieved. “Asking a favor requires offering something in return. Surely the peerless Liu Yu gentleman doesn’t lack even this basic understanding?”
“Naturally.” Ying Laixian feigned a search through his pockets before looking up at Tan Congye empty-handed. “I am currently penniless, and I doubt there is anything here that would catch City Lord Tan’s eye.”
Tan Congye happily played along with him. “Is that so? Then it seems I cannot take on this commission.”
“Cannot take it?” Ying Laixian asked. “What if, I give you a secret inside scoop?”
Tan Congye raised his eyes with growing interest. “That depends on what kind of scoop it is. If you hollow yourself out in the process and I’m still not satisfied, that won’t do.”
Ying Laixian adopted a strictly professional business attitude. “You know that the Changye Palace had a young master who reportedly died in the fire that wiped out his family.”
Tan Congye waited for him to continue.
“In reality, that person is still alive, and I know where he is.”
“How do you know he’s still alive?” Tan Congye refused to take the bait so easily.
“I simply know.” Ying Laixian offered no further details. “Is City Lord Tan satisfied with this bargaining chip?”
Satisfied or not, Tan Congye was not particularly surprised. His obsession with the Changye Palace was not tied to any single individual, nor would he pin his hopes on Ying Laixian’s unsubstantiated claims. Yet the man’s air of absolute certainty made it difficult not to be moved.
“Let’s hear it.”
Ying Laixian read Tan Congye’s emotions clearly. “It’s simple. Yan Zhou has been abducted, and Ji Tingzhong is unlikely to be able to handle it alone.”
With Yishui City stepping forward, at least half the people in the jianghu could be frightened off, as Tan Congye’s reputation carried considerable weight.
Tan Congye naturally understood the implication: it would merely draw a few small fry to Yishui City, which ultimately posed no major problem.
“Just that?”
“Just that. That is the favor I am asking of you.”
Meaning it would not be tied into their broader cooperation.
“Tell me the rest of it as well.”
After a moment of thought, Ying Laixian said, “There is indeed one more matter.”
To make Ying Laixian hesitate before speaking, Tan Congye guessed it could not be a minor issue.
Ying Laixian stated, “I need money.”
Tan Congye: “…”
Ying Laixian said earnestly, “Most of my funds have been spent on Jiang Yunmiao. The previous shops were initially managed entirely by Zhong Xiwu, but my future expenditures are likely to be massive, and I’m afraid I won’t have enough.”
“The Liu Yu gentleman is truly a master accountant. You previously used Zhong Xiwu’s money to raise troops for Jiang Yunmiao, and now you’ve set your sights on me. If you use my money to support other pretty boys, I won’t be able to swallow this insult.”
“I wouldn’t dare. I consider this a loan from you, and once the shops start turning a profit, I will allocate funds to repay you.”
Ying Laixian owned a fair number of properties, but maintaining an army of fifty thousand soldiers was no small expense. His annual income could only barely sustain Jiang Yunmiao, and his future plans would undoubtedly require vast sums of capital. Yishui City sat right at the border of the two nations, acting as a veritable vault established in the wilderness. With Tan Congye’s assistance, he would shed a great deal of trouble.
“Very well.” Tan Congye agreed promptly.
Ying Laixian was somewhat surprised.
“That includes interest. I cannot let Yishui City’s silver go down the drain.”
So he had been waiting here for him.
Ying Laixian conceded, “Naturally. Name your terms.”
Tan Congye slammed his sword down onto the table with a sharp slap and leaned forward. “What do you think I want?”
“Well, my time spent with you has been far too short, and I cannot claim to understand City Lord Tan well. Asking me to guess feels rather unfair.”
Tan Congye replied, “Liu Yu gentleman, let us speak plainly. You claim you do not understand me, yet behind my back you have likely figured me out completely.”
Ying Laixian smiled faintly. He knew Tan Congye possessed limited patience; the man had rarely bothered reasoning with anyone in the past, preferring action over words. Treating him with such ironic civility could be considered a special form of treatment.
“I understand only the surface. Are you still harboring resentment because I once sent assassins after you?”
Tan Congye had never forgotten that incident. He simply held grudges; even if the two of them were barely standing as allies now, he would not easily swallow such deep insult.
“Assassinations require proper etiquette. You deliberately leaked the information so I would track you down and help you clear out some trash. If I couldn’t see through such crude methods, I suppose the current you would be crying as you begged others for money.”
Ying Laixian could not fathom why Tan Congye was harboring such intense anger today, could it simply be because he had gone to see Jiang Yunmiao?
“If you have questions, ask them. If you wish to vent your anger, find someone else; there are plenty of people willing to keep you company.”
Tan Congye let out a cold snort. “The Liu Yu gentleman mentioned earlier that he had seen me in Yishui City before. When was that? Did we cross paths in the past?”
Tan Congye had to admit that although he didn’t believe a single word of Ying Laixian’s nonsense, the man possessed a unique charm that compelled him to expose the falsehoods.
Ying Laixian replied calmly, “I said before, I have forgotten when it was. It has been too long.”
“Long enough that I hadn’t yet entered Wei Heng’s sect?”
Seeing Ying Laixian furrow his brows, Tan Congye watched as he seemed to search his memory in earnest, or perhaps struggled to describe it. After a long pause, Ying Laixian finally spoke. “I suppose so.”
“Crossing paths with City Lord Tan is a remarkably difficult feat.” Ying Laixian let out a slight sigh of exasperation as he dug deep into his memories. “You were fiercely arrogant, and sightings of you in Yishui City were exceedingly rare.”
Tan Congye offered no comment.
Ying Laixian glanced at Tan Congye, his voice dropping to a measured, muffled cadence. “Yet I was fortunate. The day I arrived in Yishui City, I was fortunate enough to see you.”
Tan Congye frowned.
Ying Laixian said, “I begged you to save me back then, but you refused.”
Tan Congye froze instantly.
“Ten years ago, you were nine years old and had already entered Wei Heng’s sect. Furthermore, I remember quite clearly that no one ever asked me to save anyone. If you are going to weave a story, at least make it plausible.”
Ying Laixian smiled. “Then there is another version. Would you care to hear it?”
He had invested one hundred percent sincerity, yet the other side repeatedly brushed him off with fabricated tales. Anyone would lose their temper, yet Tan Congye remained strangely curious about this alternative version.
“Let’s hear it.”
“At that time, you had not yet arrived in Yishui City, but you saved my life when passing through Wuzhou. After that.” Ying Laixian paused. “We will leave out what happened afterward. Which of these two stories do you believe?”
“Absolute nonsense.” Tan Congye believed neither. “If the Liu Yu gentleman has the leisure to weave stories and mock me, you would do better to consider how you plan to extricate yourself now that so many people have arrived outside.”