Chapter 11: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

Before acting, one must carefully choose their teammates, especially when undertaking major endeavors.

Fan Zhongyan failed entirely in his Qingli Reforms precisely because he did not choose his teammates well.

He ended his days in melancholy back in his hometown, repeatedly chanting the verse: "Be the first to worry about the troubles of the world, and the last to enjoy its pleasures."

Though there are plaques carved with these very words hanging on Yueyang Tower, Teng Zijing met a rather grim fate. First, Supervising Imperial Censor Liang Jian impeached him for wasting sixteen thousand strings of public cash, leading to his demotion as the prefect of Fengxiang, and later to Guo Prefecture.

Imperial Censor-in-Chief Wang Gongchen submitted a memorial arguing that Teng Zijing's punishment of merely stripping one rank for "misappropriating public funds" was far too lenient. In the spring of the fourth year of the Qingli era, he was demoted to Baling County in Yuezhou.

After guarding Yuezhou in exile for three years, he died of illness in Suzhou during the seventh year of the Qingli era...

From the trajectory of Teng Zijing's fate, Tie Xinyuan learned a profound lesson: talent is the most unreliable thing in the world. When you are useful, you are considered a talent; when you are not, you are nothing more than a piece of firewood.

Even a person of great integrity makes for poor firewood, because they possess countless knots that axes simply cannot cleave easily.

Those who mingle among the literati, spending their days composing poetry and appreciating moonlight, live a relaxed and pleasant life. Today, exchanging one's family horse for another's concubine, and tomorrow, hiding someone's gold ornaments in one's robe to steal them away—these are all refined and romantic pursuits.

They at least avoid the fate of those single-mindedly devoted to the country, who get hounded like dogs from place to place and cannot even return to their hometowns before drawing their last breath.

How could Yang Huaiyu's clumsy rhetoric possibly sway Tie Xinyuan, a man whose heart was set entirely on living a joyful life? To him, his life in this world was a second chance; he would live it with as much happiness as possible!

Had it not been for the desire to repay the emperor for protecting his mother and himself, he would never have unreservedly handed over all his and Qiaoer's various inventions to the emperor without condition.

Had it not been for the desire to repay his mother for raising him, he would never have entered the Three Locusts Hall to strive for the reputation of this precarious and venerable family, and would have long since become, alongside Qiaoer, one of the Great Song's most notorious master thieves.

"Do you really intend to muddle through life like this?" Yang Huaiyu sighed upon seeing that he could not move Tie Xinyuan.

"Who is muddling through? When I was at the Three Locusts Hall, I was an exemplary student both in character and scholarship. After being dragged into the Imperial Academy, I stood out as one of its finest scholars, and even the Libationer praised me, saying my grasp of mathematics has already entered the inner chambers.

What qualification does a fellow like you, who can't even calculate grain rations, have to accuse me of muddling through?"

Seeing that Tie Xinyuan's mind was made up, Yang Huaiyu patted the non-existent dust from the hem of his robe and said, "Let's go to my estate. Mei'er made your favorite sweet and sour fish."

Tie Xinyuan said resentfully, "She isn't planning to poison me to death before she's satisfied, is she?"

Yang Huaiyu laughed. "It's a gesture of goodwill nonetheless, so just bear with it. It's rare for her to cook herself; I haven't even eaten the meals she prepares very often."

Tie Xinyuan also shook out his robe, stood up, and said with a helpless sigh, "You are her pillow-companion after all; how could she bear to do away with you? Haven't you noticed that every time we eat, she always insists I taste the food first? Only after I've eaten do she let your little tigers and the maidservants eat. She's essentially using me as a human guinea pig."

Yang Huaiyu frowned and said, "Eat or don't eat, I'll just ask you one thing: are you going or not?"

"I'm going!"

Yang Huaiyu turned and walked away. Tie Xinyuan let out a mournful sigh and followed him out of the threshing ground.

Outside the threshing ground, a woman crouched by the pond washing handkerchiefs. Her wide linen skirt was tightly bound against her figure, failing entirely to conceal her plump buttocks.

Tie Xinyuan glanced around and, sure enough, spotted Qiaoer lazily watching him and Yang Huaiyu from atop a stack of hay.

Seeing Tie Xinyuan staring at the woman's rear, Yang Huaiyu gave him an annoyed slap on the shoulder and chided, "Do not gaze upon impropriety; you are an imperial scholar after all."

Tie Xinyuan bitter-smiled to himself. One pair was burning with illicit passion, while the other had tasted the forbidden fruit and craved more. Everyone understood the grand principles, but restraining one's desires was not something ordinary people could achieve—let alone someone as deeply emotional and stubborn as Qiaoer. Outsiders were powerless against such matters; only when one tasted bitter hardship would they suddenly wake up to reality.

"Well, you're fourteen years old now. If you like women, older brother will take you to the Mandarin Duck Pavilion. The girls there are exquisite, one in a thousand..."

Tie Xinyuan cast a disdainful glance at Yang Huaiyu. "The Mandarin Duck Pavilion was burned to the ground by a madman three years ago. How long has it been since you last visited a pleasure quarter?"

Yang Huaiyu paused, dumbfounded. "Burned down?"

Tie Xinyuan nodded. "Burned down. Now they've rebuilt a new structure there—it's a restaurant, very large, and the roast goose inside is genuinely delicious. I'll take you there to try it some day."

Yang Huaiyu shook his head with a sigh of regret. "What a pity."

Upon reaching the entrance of the estate, the horses Yang Huaiyu had brought were nowhere in sight. Yang family guards pointed toward the distant, dust-covered main road and shook their heads helplessly.

This was no longer surprising, nor was it the first time. Linger, Fuer, and Huier—who were as full of raw energy as young calves—now simply loved to ride horses, especially military warhorses. The draft horses around the estate could no longer spark any desire in them to ride.

Yang Huaiyu squinted at the three figures galloping wildly down the official road and slowly remarked, "In terms of riding skill, these three fellows are far superior to average cavalrymen in the army. In terms of martial prowess, I couldn't take them down within three or five moves.

They were born to be soldiers. Have you ever considered sending them into the military? Within three to five years, I could still manage to secure a commission as a Trustworthy Officer for them."

For Yang Huaiyu to mention three or five moves was already speaking quite highly of those fellows.

The present Yang Huaiyu was vastly different from the Yang Huaiyu who had been beaten to the point of vomiting blood by the Iron Lion seven years ago.

The last time he returned, he had engaged in a fierce battle with the Iron Lion, who was already holding the imperial insignia. Relying on the heavy lance in his hand, he had forced the Iron Lion right off his warhorse, relying solely on his peerless divine strength to barely fight Yang Huaiyu to a standstill.

Later, he heard the Iron Lion remark that if Yang Huaiyu had not been as shameless as he was in the martial arts examination arena, he might not have been able to win.

"Send them off to the borderlands to throw their lives away for no good reason? There's no need to even think about that," Tie Xinyuan refused flatly.

Yang Huaiyu watched Linger and the others, who were gradually galloping closer, and said, "This isn't something for you to decide alone. Do you really think that because you and Qiaoer raised them, you can call all the shots for them?

They are human beings, not pigs. They won't lack opinions of their own just because of a few meals. If they truly want to leave, I'd like to see how you plan to stop them."

Tie Xinyuan smiled. "You can ask them and find out."

Yang Huaiyu gave Tie Xinyuan a cryptic smile, took the reins from Linger's hand, patted the horse's rump, and vaulted lightly onto the saddle. He began to move forward slowly, merely giving Linger's shoulder a light pat as he passed.

Tie Xinyuan's manner of mounting was not as unpolished as Yang Huaiyu's. He methodically stepped into the stirrup, settled himself firmly into the saddle, and only then urged his warhorse forward to follow.

The Yang residence was situated right on East Corner Tower Avenue. It lacked both the mounted archway of aristocratic legend and any dismounting archway. At the entrance stood only dense rows of thick, hemp-stone hitching posts, atop which sat various stone monkeys, signifying the wish for immediate promotion and nobility.

The buildings were ancient yet showed no signs of decay. Only the two emerald-green cypresses at the entrance had gnarled branches, exuding an air of antiquity.

"The Old Matriarch has gone to the estate to escape the summer heat. It's quite hot this year, so she left rather early. You won't need to go pay your respects."

Hearing Yang Huaiyu say this, Tie Xinyuan let out a sigh of relief. Every time he went to pay respects to the Old Matriarch, her failing eyesight always prompted her to reach out and stroke his face. Tie Xinyuan could never quite get used to being touched by a pair of hands covered entirely in age spots.

"My mother doesn't manage affairs much anymore either. The person who calls the shots in the household nowadays is Mei'er, so you needn't put on such a scholarly, refined facade."

Tie Xinyuan gave a thumbs-up. "I know Su Mei is a heroine among women. To be invited back by your family's Old Matriarch to manage the household just a few years after coming from a poor little estate—that is a skill ordinary people simply don't have."

Yang Huaiyu said proudly with a smile, "There are many affairs in a large family, but Mei'er handles them exceptionally well. This time, four thousand strings of silver were drawn from the household coffers to secure the position of Treasury Soap Official for my second younger brother. Even my mother praised her profusely, completely abandoning any thought of reclaiming management of the household."

Tie Xinyuan nodded. "The money your wife and Qiaoer made in partnership selling music boxes is indeed substantial. A single music box carved from flawed jade sold for six hundred strings of cash; ordinary people could never utter such a price."

Yang Huaiyu suddenly stopped in his tracks, looked at Tie Xinyuan with suspicion, and asked, "My wife makes a good deal of money, and the profits from the shop are enough to sustain such a large household.

I'd very much like to know where all the money you and Qiaoer have made over the past few years has gone?

Though Mei'er is somewhat fond of money, she certainly would not—nor could she possibly—embezzle your funds. Judging by your and Qiaoer's food and clothing expenses, you don't look like wealthy men. Where has all your money gone?"

"I told him we should purchase commercial properties, buy land, build houses, and then sell them, but Qiaoer wouldn't agree. He buried everything underground and refused to listen to reason.

You haven't seen his disgusting habit of digging the silver out of the dirt every six months to apply medicine to it. If you saw it, you'd feel an irrepressible urge to beat him up."

Yang Huaiyu burst into hearty laughter and dropped the inquiry. He led Tie Xinyuan through the courtyards and halls of the sprawling Yang estate's front grounds straight into the back garden.

"My little sister is secretly spying on you."

Once they were seated in the floral hall, Yang Huaiyu whispered to Tie Xinyuan.

"That's nothing. They spy on me every time I come. In fact, even if they stood right in front of me to look, I wouldn't have any objections. How is it that your family has so many younger sisters?

There are practically more of them here than there are at Qiao Village."

"The dependents of the subordinate generals who died under my father's command all rely on my family for survival. The boys go off to the military when they grow up, while the girls are married off with a dowry when they come of age.

Every year sees a sister married away, and every year new sisters arrive. It's a tragic affair; better not speak of it."

Unable to bear listening to such matters, Tie Xinyuan steered the conversation away. "Where has Su Mei gone? Why are Big Tiger, Little Tiger, and Tiger Girl nowhere in sight either?"

Hearing this, Yang Huaiyu grew perplexed as well. He hurried into the inner residence, only to emerge hastily a short while later. "Let's go quickly! The children were taken away by the Old Matriarch, and Su Mei has gone to the Sun Family Main Tavern! The Su family may be in deep trouble this time."