Futile Devices Scans

“The ‘Xiling Fox’—does that refer to the Assistant Chancellor Xiling sent to Longsha?”

It was an early winter morning, cold and biting. The sky was gloomy, and clouds and mist lay thick over the mountain road. The damp was so heavy it was like dust and lint, painting the mountain’s lush greenery, mottled red leaves, and yellowing grass with a layer of pale frost and dew.

Carriages and horses left clear hoofprints and wheel ruts on the muddy road as the party moved quietly and swiftly through the wilderness.

Although the carriage blocked the wind, there was no charcoal fire inside. The damp chill stabbed like needles into the bones, awakening a faint, drawn-out ache.

The man in blue robes wrapped his half-new, half-worn gray satin cloak more tightly around himself, both hands tucked inside his sleeves. His cheeks were pale from the cold, and when he spoke, clouds of white breath came out with his words. Fortunately, he was handsome by birth, so dressed like this, he did not look overly shabby. When he spoke at length, there was instead a kind of composed bearing about him. “Correct. On this trip to Bihan City, aside from the king, Yu Gong Lie, there are two people whose attitudes you must pay particular attention to. He is one of them.”

“Before this man was sent as envoy to Longsha, he was a Secretariat Drafter at the side of the Xiling emperor. I hear he came from a meritorious noble family and grew up serving as the emperor’s little attendant. He relied on personal ties to muddle his way into becoming a close minister of the Son of Heaven. I originally thought he was an inconsequential embroidered straw bag, but who would have expected that this fox had some real skill? After arriving in Longsha, not only did he quickly establish himself, he soon gathered great power into his own hands. The entire court, from top to bottom, has been managed by him until they are completely obedient. Now, to say he is Longsha’s true regent would not be excessive.”

The middle-aged man sitting across from him was dressed like a scholar. Half believing and half doubting, he asked, “Has Yu Gong Lie lost his mind? Why didn’t he suppress him as early as possible, before he had gained any momentum? Instead, he let a mere foreign chancellor control the court?”

“That king of ours is soft and indecisive. Even if you lent him eight more guts, he still wouldn’t dare offend Xiling.” The blue-robed man gave a contemptuous cold laugh from his throat and said unhurriedly, “But Yu Gong Lie was right to yield power. In the three years Wei Fu has held authority, Longsha has not only boarded Xiling’s great ship, it has also opened up trade routes with the northern nations. Lancang and Zhoujin, border cities that used to be so poor they were practically shedding dregs, have turned themselves around in just three short years. Now they can be considered prosperous, wealthy mid-sized cities.”

“Yu Gong Lie, that man—clearly he is useless at everything, yet his fortune is strangely good… No, that isn’t right. Heh…”

Jealous hatred, like a bank of dark clouds, twisted his handsome features, revealing a cold, sinister viciousness that made one shiver. The middle-aged scholar involuntarily shrank back a little and tried to turn the topic away from Yu Gong Lie. “According to that, Wei Fu took a mouthful of soup from Xiling’s pot and shared it with Longsha. He can be considered talented in governance. How did he end up with the nickname ‘fox’ instead?”

The blue-robed man turned his pale eyes and glanced lightly at him. “I hear Wei Fu has extraordinary grace and beauty, is smooth and skillful in all directions, and seized sole authority at a young age. Naturally, some people find his mind too calculating. At first, this name was probably meant to mock him for being slippery and bewitching the masses, but later, it somehow became a kind of… honorific?”

“Ah?”

“Back then, in order to ally with Qiyun against Yanyuan, the late king sought to marry the Qiyun imperial princess to the crown prince and gave the two cities of Pingdu and Liangang to Qiyun as betrothal gifts. Those were Longsha’s two most flourishing ports. Their annual commercial taxes could equal half of Longsha’s grain tax.” The blue-robed man said leisurely, “And the result? Such enormous chunks of fat, yet Wei Fu actually had the ability to dig them back out of Qiyun’s mouth. His methods truly are impressive. Forget respectfully calling him a fox spirit; in my view, it wouldn’t be excessive even if Yu Gong Lie built him a shrine while he was still alive and offered him worship.”

“Has Qiyun lost its mind too? They were lying down and collecting money, with every benefit and no harm. How could they possibly return two ports to Longsha for nothing?” the middle-aged scholar asked in confusion. “Even if they were willing to negotiate, Qiyun must have demanded an outrageous price from Longsha… Could it be that Yu Gong Lie paid money to redeem them in order to avoid being cursed by history?”

The blue-robed man said, “Putting aside whether Qiyun would agree or not, Longsha has finally saved up a bit of foundation over these years. He would never dare squander it like that. Besides, based on what I know, if there hadn’t been someone pushing this matter with all their strength behind the scenes, then with Yu Gong Lie alone, he absolutely would not have had the boldness or methods to recover the two ports.”

The middle-aged scholar asked curiously, “What do you mean by that?”

“Pingdu and Liangang are indeed very important, but they merely took advantage of being early. Longsha is not lacking in good harbors. When the late king was still alive, after deciding to cede the land, he immediately sent people to build new ports such as Wushan and Qiancheng, diluting the profits of the two old ports. If managed over the long term, the new ports would one day replace the two old ones. Qiyun’s advantage would not last too long. That is why Qiyun was willing to negotiate with Longsha.”

“But waiting for the old ports to lose their value would require at least ten or twenty years. And when Longsha originally handed the two ports over to Qiyun, they set an agreement that they would be returned after one hundred years. Even if Qiyun let those two places go barren and simply occupied the land until the full hundred years were up, that alone would have been enough to disgust people.” The blue-robed man said, “According to the information I obtained from Longsha, last year Wei Fu personally presided over the peace talks and renegotiated the treaty with Qiyun. Longsha recovered the two ports, guaranteed priority passage for Qiyun merchant ships, and allowed Qiyun merchants to continue doing business within their original districts. This year, Qiyun’s resident envoys, officials, and soldiers stationed at the two ports have all withdrawn and returned home.”

He looked at the clouds of white mist he breathed out. “So long as one isn’t a fool, one can see that the so-called ‘priority passage for merchant ships’ is nothing more than a tiny profit. The key is what bargaining chip Longsha actually offered to make Qiyun willingly present two mountains of gold with both hands.”

The middle-aged scholar could not help asking, “Since you were able to find out something so secret, why haven’t you asked out the inside story?”

The blue-robed man seemed to find this question very naive and gave a low laugh. “It is precisely because I could not ask it out that you must pay attention to the other person.”

“Who?”

“Prince Xiaohui, Yu Gong Zhao Ye.”

“A member of the royal clan? I’ve never heard of him.” The middle-aged scholar asked curiously, “What is his relationship with Yu Gong Lie?”

“He is Emperor Zheng’an’s youngest son. His birth mother was Noble Consort Xie Zhuang Xiang. He is the late king’s youngest brother, which makes him Yu Gong Lie’s little uncle. His seniority is high, though in reality they are the same age.” Seeing the middle-aged scholar’s blank expression, he said, “It is normal that you haven’t heard of him. He has always been a low-key person who does not seek attention. After being enfeoffed as prince, he did not enter court, but went to the Moon God Temple to become a divine official.”

“Oh, oh. So he became a monk, right… What about him is worth paying attention to?”

The blue-robed man was amused by his crude and simple understanding. “Fine. In the eyes of the world, that is indeed how it appears.”

“After Longsha recovered Pingdu and Liangang, Wei Fu established two new offices in court. One was the Harbor Administration Court. Its chief official is called Minister, and beneath it are the five great Harbor Administration Offices of Pingdu, Liangang, Wushan, Qiancheng, and Penglai. As the name suggests, its duty is to govern the affairs of the five port cities.”

“The other is the Purple Empyrean Court. Its duty is to ‘manage the temple’s apostles and all monks under heaven, govern the affairs of the various religions, and pacify heterodox disturbances.’ Its chief official is called Court Envoy, equivalent in status to a minister, with a rank of secondary first grade.”

Thinking he understood, the middle-aged scholar cut in first. “To put it plainly, it oversees the affairs of the various religions. Purple Empyrean Court sounds impressive, but in truth, compared to it, the Harbor Administration Court has greater power and more profits. If managed well, it becomes the court’s money pouch.”

The blue-robed man neither confirmed nor denied it, only saying, “Yu Gong Lie appointed the former Vice Minister of Revenue, Rong Cheng Yin, as Minister of the Harbor Administration Court, and appointed Yu Gong Zhao Ye as Envoy of the Purple Empyrean Court. Don’t you think the appearance of the Purple Empyrean Court here is very strange?”

The middle-aged scholar said, “Rong Cheng Yin is his trusted subordinate, so he must have him firmly hold this crucial position. As for Yu Gong Zhao Ye… because he is a member of the royal clan, in order to win him over, he built him a grand temple?”

His ability to understand was even worse than that of an ox listening to music, the blue-robed man thought expressionlessly. Even so, he patiently explained, “The matter of recovering Pingdu and Liangang was presided over entirely by Wei Fu. Establishing the Harbor Administration Court was the natural completion of that achievement. On the surface, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had not the slightest thing to do with this matter. Why would Wei Fu deliberately elevate him, specifically build him a Purple Empyrean Court, and even receive no objection from the king?”

When the words had reached this point, they were no different from an outright hint. The middle-aged scholar was not a fool after all, and only belatedly tasted the meaning behind them. “You mean Yu Gong Zhao Ye secretly contributed to this matter… and it has something to do with the deal between Longsha and Qiyun?”

The blue-robed man breathed out a soft breath of white air in relief and nodded.

“The Purple Empyrean Court commands all religious followers under heaven and pacifies heterodox disturbances. Which yamen that possesses the authority to ‘pacify’ is easy to deal with?” he said lightly. “Longsha’s greatest enemy is Yanyuan. Who this ‘heterodoxy’ refers to should not require me to elaborate further.”

As cause and effect linked together, it seemed as if a faintly visible cold gleam was flashing somewhere in the unseen. The middle-aged scholar felt as though he had grasped that drifting inspiration, yet at the same time was vaguely intimidated by the hidden danger. His heart could not help pounding wildly.

Although nearly ten years had passed, when one mentioned the great war between Longsha and Yanyuan, when one mentioned the Ten Aspects Sect, who could forget Bihua, which had shocked the world in a single battle?

“But…” So nervous that he swallowed, he lowered his voice haltingly. “But wasn’t Bihua already… How could they dare…”

The blue-robed man lowered his eyelids halfway in boredom and choked him off carelessly. “Of the three great characters ‘Purple Empyrean Court,’ which one has anything to do with Bihua? Is there evidence?”

“Then Yu Gong Zhao Ye really is the leader of…” For a moment, the middle-aged scholar could not find a suitable substitute, so he vaguely slid over the words. “…that?”

The blue-robed man gave an almost inaudible “Mm.” “This royal uncle has hidden himself far too deeply… I suspect Wei Fu is the front they pushed onto the stage, while the one who truly made the deal with Qiyun was Yu Gong Zhao Ye. My people could not uncover the real inside story of the peace talks because this matter was never something the outer court could know.”

The middle-aged scholar pressed a hand over his pounding heart and asked fearfully, “Then why would Wei Fu cooperate with them? Isn’t he afraid Bihua will revive from the ashes?!”

“Only those planning to harm Longsha would fear assassins. What does he have to fear?” The blue-robed man held a trace of a cold smile. “Qiyun would only lie on Longsha’s body and suck its blood. Xiling and Longsha’s relationship is called mutual benefit. Yu Gong Lie cannot wait to curry favor with Xiling. Even if he raised assassins, he would not use them against this father of his.”

“Although the Assistant Chancellor’s term of office is only three years, business between the two nations will continue for the long term. Recovering the two ports is also beneficial to Xiling. Wei Fu adds another accomplishment to his record and goes along with the current to sell Longsha a favor. Yu Gong Lie takes this opportunity to give Yu Gong Zhao Ye a legitimate identity for entering the court. Both sides gain real benefits. Everyone is happy.”

“Wei Fu stands in the light, while Yu Gong Zhao Ye stays in the dark. These two are Yu Gong Lie’s greatest reliance. Wei Fu’s term has expired, and this is precisely the time when one less matter is better than one more. Just be careful not to offend Xiling. The key lies with Yu Gong Zhao Ye—”

“A dignified prince, yet he is willing to abandon glory, wealth, and honor and risk his life for Longsha for so many years. This kind of loyal minister is not easy to deal with.”

For some reason, looking at his bluish-white, exhausted face, the middle-aged scholar felt a trace of fear flash through his heart. “Do you have a plan?”

The blue-robed man took a letter tube sealed with wax from his sleeve. The middle-aged scholar reached out to take it, and when he touched the man’s icy fingers, the cold made him hiss and shudder.

“I remember Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s birthday is at the end of the tenth month. By the time you reach Bihan City, you should arrive just in time.”

“Deliver this ‘congratulatory gift’ to him for me.”

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