Chapter 226 - Dividing the Spoils

An hour later.

Soft clouds drifted lazily across the sky. Atop the main tower of Myriad’s eastern wall, all was unusually quiet.

An expensive red-thornwood table stood beside the open-air battlements. On one side sat the Sect Master, his fingers trembling faintly. On the other sat a handsome young man, perfectly at ease.

After signing his name with specially prepared paper, brush, and ink, the Sect Master rose at once. He looked at the young man basking in the sunlight.

“Is this satisfactory, Young Master?”

Hearing this, Xu Yuan slowly drew his gaze away from the scenery beyond the town walls. He picked up that fine piece of toilet paper, glanced over it, and smiled. “Perfectly satisfactory. I only hope your esteemed sect honors the agreement in full.”

The Sect Master’s face darkened. He gave a slight nod, then asked, “Now that the contract has been signed, when might the Chancellor's Manor withdraw its troops?”

Xu Yuan shook his head and merely looked at him without answering.

The Sect Master fell silent as well. With a sigh, he cupped his hands. “Then this old man shall take his leave.”

“Safe travels. I won’t see you off.” Seated atop the main tower, Xu Yuan calmly watched the old man shrink into a black speck and gradually disappear from view. Then he casually tossed the piece of toilet paper onto the table before him.

As the sheet fluttered down, cascading sunlight washed over the scattered patches of blood staining the tower.

The war was over.

It had lasted less than two hours, and the elites of the Myriad Manifestations Sect had never truly entered the fight, but the war was over all the same.

A sect was not a country. Once its mountain gate was taken, there was no simply moving elsewhere and rebuilding from the ashes.

The Myriad Manifestations Sect did not dare gamble otherwise. Polite people might call the Sect Master’s visit keeping an appointment. Bluntly put, he had come to sign a surrender treaty beneath the town walls.

The contract had rested on the table for only a moment when a slender jade hand picked it up.

Wrapped in a luxurious fur-lined cloak, Lou Ji examined the agreement while watching the Sect Master’s retreating figure.

“So it’s over?” she asked softly.

Xu Yuan had long since grown accustomed to her appearing and vanishing like a ghost. He smiled faintly. “I suppose it is. Either way, I’m not withdrawing the army until they’ve handed over everything they owe us.”

Lou Ji continued reading through the detailed clauses as she sat down opposite him. A hint of surprise entered her voice. “35 million taels of ready silver, paid in one lump sum?”

Xu Yuan leaned back in his chair and replied helplessly, “At first, I thought the Myriad Manifestations Sect could scrape together 20 million at most. It seems I really underestimated the wealth accumulated by these thousand-year sects.”

He paused, then sighed. “Still, killing the hen for its eggs certainly brings in money fast, especially when the hen belongs to someone else.”

Lou Ji sighed. “My Blackscale Guard works itself half to death for an entire year and still can’t earn that much.”

Xu Yuan laughed. “The Blackscale Guard was never meant to generate wealth. Besides, don’t you also have the Sword Whisper Pavilion and the Listening Wind Tower?”

The greatest assassin organization and intelligence brokerage under Heaven.

“Those two places only make a little pocket change.” Lou Ji gave him an aggrieved look. As she spoke, she began counting on her fingers like some put-upon little wife. “Changtian, greasing palms costs money. Pulling people out of trouble costs money. Planting hidden agents costs money. Bribing officials costs money. Then there are all the cultivation resources for the people under me...”

“...It burns through that much silver?” Xu Yuan interrupted, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Lou Ji nodded, sounding genuinely annoyed. “But Hua Hong won’t give me any money, and that little bastard Xu Changge refuses to budge no matter what I say. They expect the horse to run, but won’t even give it grass.”

Xu Yuan was somewhat surprised.

By all logic, an organization like the Blackscale Guard ought to be one of the Chancellor's Manor’s most important core institutions. There was no reason his father would refuse to fund it.

Across from him, Lou Ji’s beautiful eyes curved into crescents. She leaned her soft body forward and rested that sinful weight directly on the table, then whispered, “Changtian, how about your big sister makes a little deal with you?”

Xu Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. His expression turned solemn as he leaned forward as well. “I’m listening.”

Lou Ji lowered herself even further. A smile flickered in her eyes, and she spoke slowly. “Why don’t we... change the 90 million to this number?”

With that, she traced an eight on the red-thornwood table with one slender finger.

Xu Yuan fell silent. He straightened in his seat and gave a light cough. “Do I look like that kind of person?”

Before he could finish, her fragrance arrived first.

Lou Ji suddenly appeared at his side and perched sideways on the armrest, gently shaking him by the shoulder. “Changtian, your big sister has always doted on you most since you were little. I even damaged my own foundation because of that constitution of yours. Just help your sister this once...”

“Stop.” Xu Yuan hesitated slightly, then rubbed his brow. “It’ll be difficult to hide.”

Lou Ji smiled without concern. She affectionately wrapped an arm around Xu Yuan’s head, her voice soft but pointed. “Xu Yinhe dared send me here, so he must have known I’d do this. Your father’s bottom line should be somewhere around 70 million. Help your big sister out, just this once?”

With the vision in his left eye blocked and his cheek squashed out of shape, Xu Yuan remained utterly unmoved. He even rolled his eyes. “Then why don’t I just report 70 million in the first place?”

Lou Ji blinked, then said with a beaming smile, “That... actually sounds perfectly workable~ But... It might be a little difficult to explain things to Zong Qingsheng and Hua Hong~”

Then she pointed beneath the town walls.

Yuan Hao stood below, sighing repeatedly as he nervously rubbed his hands together. Every so often, he glanced up toward the battlements.

Zong Qingsheng was the commander of the Blackscale Army, and Yuan Hao’s direct superior.

At her words, Xu Yuan froze. He instinctively tried to look up into Lou Ji’s eyes, but both his view and his movements were firmly obstructed. He coughed lightly. “Father’s bottom line is 70 million?”

Lou Ji sat sideways on the armrest with one leg crossed over the other. Her voice was light and sly as a fox’s. “Your big sister never said any such thing~”

Xu Yuan fell silent and glanced in the direction of the Imperial Capital.

His father was not merely observing how he handled outside forces. He was also teaching him to familiarize himself with the Chancellor's Manor’s senior figures.

This was his first time balancing the interests of his subordinates.

His first time winning their loyalty.

Had Lou Ji not deliberately hinted at it, Xu Yuan truly would not have considered that angle. Of course, even if he failed to understand it now, he would have figured it out soon enough, once the other senior figures began sending their own people to seek him out.

Still, telling him that 70 million was the bottom line practically amounted to slipping him the answer sheet before the examination.

Xu Yuan pondered briefly, then tapped the table. “Then we’ll report only 70 million.”

“Changtian...” Lou Ji prepared to smother Xu Yuan to death with her chest.

“Wait.” Xu Yuan stopped her.

Lou Ji paused, and Xu Yuan drew a deep breath before saying softly, “I can give you 15 million taels.”

Lou Ji visibly froze for a moment. She had only been joking earlier. She had never expected to receive a sum over ten million. After all, the Blackscale Guard was not the only faction within the Chancellor's Manor watching this windfall.

If the Third Young Master gave her too much, she might refuse it instead. Favoring one person simply because of personal affection was a grave taboo.

At that thought, Lou Ji slowly straightened her body.

Xu Yuan turned to look at her. His expression was as calm as ever.

That only piqued Lou Ji’s interest. Her beautiful eyes curved into crescents as she lifted his chin with one slender finger and breathed a fragrant whisper against him. “Changtian, you’re being awfully generous. Is there something you need your big sister to do for you?”