The fort grew quiet once again.
What Sarhan took with him was not only the glazed wolf sculpture, but also half a bottle of unfinished strong liquor.
Qian Fugui leaned against the long table, taking a good while to recover. That gulp of liquor burned fiercely from his throat all the way to the bottom of his stomach. Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, he hunched over and shuffled up to Xu Qinghuan. Holding the teapot with both hands, he respectfully refilled the tea bowl.
My Lord. Qian Fugui set down the teapot, his lips trembling slightly. There is something this lowly one wishes to say, though I do not know if I should.
Xu Qinghuan picked up the tea bowl and gently blew away the floating foam.
Speak.
Qian Fugui swallowed hard, his eyes darting quickly toward the door—Li Sheng stood by the door panel with his arms crossed, his face expressionless.
Sarhan is indeed a bold man, and he has been smuggling in the border market for more than just a day or two. But the amount you are asking for, My Lord, is simply too large. Thousands of cattle and sheep, hundreds of stones of grain and forage—this is not something he can scrape together just by casually trading in the market.
Just last month, the Helian Royal Court issued a strict decree: to prepare for the winter famine, civilians are strictly forbidden from moving large herds of cattle and sheep beyond the pass! Violators will have three generations of their family executed! This ban was personally sealed by the Right Luli King, and everyone in the Royal Court is keeping a close watch.
Qian Fugui counted on his fingers.
Although the pastures under Sarhan's control have quite a few cattle and sheep, if he tries to gather such a massive number all at once to send south, it will cause too much of a stir. The tribal checkpoints along the way, the patrol envoys of the Royal Court—if anything goes wrong at any step, it is an offense punishable by beheading!
Qian Fugui rubbed his hands together, a bitter look on his plump face.
My Lord, I am afraid Sarhan will not be able to swallow this thousand-head quota.
Furthermore, My Lord, your identity is truly too inappropriate for this. If someone were to submit a memorial to impeach you, it would be a disastrous matter!
After hearing this, Xu Qinghuan took a sip from his tea bowl.
However, this Qian Fugui truly had terrible taste in tea.
Does Superintendent Qian believe that a merchant's life is more important, or a piece of paper decree from the Royal Court?
Qian Fugui froze.
Xu Qinghuan set down the tea bowl, lightly tracing a circle along the rim with his finger.
The Right Luli King's ban does not restrict cattle and sheep.
Qian Fugui blinked, failing to catch on.
It restricts people.
The Right Luli King used the winter famine as an excuse to issue the ban. On the surface, it is to save grain for preparation, but in reality, he has choked off the exit routes for merchants of various tribes. Once the route is cut, those small and medium-sized tribes who rely on border market trade to survive will have no choice but to turn around and beg the Right Luli King for mercy to let them pass.
What is this called? Xu Qinghuan looked at him.
Having mingled in the border market for over a decade, Qian Fugui's mind turned a couple of times before he blurted out, Cutting off people's livelihoods!
Exactly. Cutting off their livelihoods, and forcing them to choose a side.
Sarhan's uncle has held the keys to the inner treasury for over a decade, and he supports a large group of tribal chieftains who depend on him for their meals. If the Right Luli King wants to touch the inner treasury, he must first pull these people out one by one. The ban is the hammer used to pull the nails.
Rumor has it that two deputy stewards were impeached last month. You should know about this.
This month, cattle and sheep are forbidden from passing the gates. Superintendent Qian, what do you guess will happen next month?
In... inspect the inner treasury's ledgers?
So you should now understand what kind of situation Sarhan is in.
Xu Qinghuan leaned back in his chair, relaxing his back.
His uncle is already on the edge of a cliff. The Khan's birthday ceremony is their last lifeline. For this lifeline, let alone a thousand sheep, even if it were the warhorses of the Royal Court, Sarhan would wade through blood to deliver them.
A chill ran down Qian Fugui's spine.
This is also why, Xu Qinghuan's gaze darkened slightly, I must use him and no one else.
Qian Fugui continued to ask, My Lord's meaning is...
If it were any other merchant, they might turn around and sell the information to He Minghu the moment the deal was done. But Sarhan cannot. Once this transaction is exposed, moving cattle and sheep out of the pass in violation of the ban will cost his entire family their heads.
He needs to keep this secret more than anyone else.
Qian Fugui understood. Sarhan's situation left him with no choice but to be chosen by Xu Qinghuan.
Xu Qinghuan added:
As for the matter of being impeached and losing my head... you need not concern yourself with this. Just focus on saving your own skin.
This lowly one... understands. Qian Fugui bowed. Whatever My Lord commands, this lowly one will simply obey.
Xu Qinghuan said no more.
Tomorrow, when his steward comes to check the accounts, you just go through the normal tallying process. The numbers, categories, and delivery points must absolutely not be recorded in the official ledgers.
Yes.
Also.
Xu Qinghuan walked to the door, paused his steps, and turned half his face.
Those three shopkeepers who were kicked out today will not be pleased. If they come to you fishing for information...
Qian Fugui immediately straightened his back. This lowly one saw nothing and knows nothing!
Xu Qinghuan didn't look at him again. He lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold. Li Sheng's figure immediately followed, and the two walked one after the other into the wind and sand of the dusk.
Qian Fugui stood inside the door, gazing at that retreating back, and let out a long breath of stale air.
He felt for the teapot, poured a bowl of cold tea, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.
Sweet!
...
The twilight was heavy, and yellow sand filled the sky.
Inside the felt tent at the Helian merchants' encampment, Sarhan had dismissed all his attendants early on.
The tent flap fell, cutting off the neighing of livestock and the hawking of peddlers outside. Only Sarhan and Agula remained inside the tent.
Large beef tallow candles were lit and placed on iron stands in the corners, brightly illuminating the rugged felt tent.
Sarhan cleansed his hands, scrubbing them repeatedly in a copper basin three times, even picking clean the dirt beneath his fingernails.
Then he opened the bottom compartment of his travel bag, took out a small handful of dried pine and cypress branches, and tossed them into the fire brazier.
Blue smoke curled upward, carrying the bitter fragrance of the pine and cypress leaves.
Agula knelt to the side, not daring to breathe too loudly. He had followed Sarhan for eight years, and this was the first time he had seen his master treat a piece of merchandise with the reverence of a sacrifice to the heavens.
With both hands, Sarhan picked up the red sandalwood box. His movements were incredibly slow and steady as he placed it on the table.
He opened it.
The moment the candlelight fell upon it, all the light in the tent seemed to be sucked into this glazed wolf sculpture.
Completely transparent and flawlessly pure, the warm yellow of the candlelight pierced through the wolf's body, refracting rings of colorful light patches onto the red sandalwood table. Those light patches swayed with the flames, wandering and spreading across the tent walls, casting dim, colorful shadows on the rough felt cloth.
The wolf's head was raised, its fangs slightly exposed.
The texture of every single bristle was clearly discernible.
Sarhan crouched down, bringing his line of sight level with the wolf sculpture.
He remained silent for a long time.
Agula.
Here!
In all these years you have traveled north and south with me, what is the best thing you have ever seen?
Agula thought for a moment. Three years ago, the luminous pearl the size of a pigeon's egg that the tribute envoy from the Western Regions brought into the Royal Court?
Mhm.
That luminous pearl, placed in front of this thing, is nothing but firefly shit.
Agula shuddered, knocking his head against the felt carpet.
Congratulations, Master! Having obtained this divine artifact, the Khan will surely be overjoyed at the birthday ceremony! The Old Uncle's crisis will be easily resolved, and our foundation in the border market is saved!
Sarhan did not reply.
The candlelight filtered through the glaze, casting a patch of flowing iridescence onto the rough back of his hand.
A long while passed.
Sarhan withdrew his hand and slowly stood up.
"This Great Qian..."
He let out a long, heavy breath.
"It is truly unfathomable."
Sarhan turned around, gazing past the tent flaps at the horizon dyed red by the dusk. The silhouette of Zhenbei City faintly loomed in the distance, its earthen-yellow walls standing silent in the twilight.
"To think they could create such a marvel, a thing that rivals the very craftsmanship of heaven and earth."
