The Golden Age - Chapter 88: Behind the Scenes
Yuwen Chengchao sneered, “It’s not like none of you aren’t aware of the tricks behind the horse farms. Since the day they were established, there have been two sets of records, one real and one fake. The fake one is used to deal with the Imperial Court and the Manor of Defense, etc. In order to actually know how many horses went in and out of the farms, you must get the real one. But even I haven’t seen the real one yet.”
Ning Zhifeng nodded. “You’re right. Ever since the Marquess gave the horse farm to Granduncle Meng to manage, the real record has been in Granduncle Meng’s hands. Every year, the horse farm must donate four hundred horses to the Imperial Court, and another few hundred goes to the black market. Plus so many horses die and others give birth to new ones. Some even manage to run away. No one except the manager will be able to know the real number of horses on the farm at the moment.”
“The Marquess gave Granduncle Meng and many others a lot of tasks in the past few years. The actual number of horses on the farm are only determined by the record he gave to the marquess.” Zhao Yi lowered his voice, “I’m going to say something I shouldn’t say, but even that one might be fake.”
Everyone’s faces became more solemn.
Qin Xiao knew that Yuwen Chengchao wouldn’t give up so easily after he suffered through so much loss last night.
Tusun people riding Xiling horses; there must be something going on behind this. Knowing this, Yuwen Chengchao couldn’t just let the matter go and pretend it never happened. However, he needs evidence.
Right now, there wasn’t much he can do. Even knowing that they were coming after him and after losing a few brothers, yet he doesn’t have any evidence of revenge.
“By the way, Eldest Son, did the captured Tusun rider say anything yet?” Pang Yu suddenly asked.
“The master and I asked him already. He claims that he was just obeying orders.” Yuwen Chengchao replied, “Those people came to Wutuo from Moxi, and then entered Xiling from the Kunlun Pass.”
“So they came from the west.” Pang Yu nodded slightly.
The Moxi Grassland borders the territory of the Wutuo people. They have conflicts every once in a while, but since none of their lands have things really worth getting, they never had a full-out war. The only place that does have plenty of resources and land was the Tang Empire. That was the place they would be willing to fight for even if it cost their lives.
“They are from a small tribe in the Moxi Grassland. Last year, in a small battle, their whole tribe was whipped out.” Yuwen Chengchao continued, “These people were lucky enough to escape and have been wandering around the Moxi Grassland ever since. To avoid being captured, they came to Wutuo. But since they had to steal for a living, they soon became targets for the Wutuo people too.”
“I heard that the Tusun Duerhu tribe has been gaining more and more power. They are violent and tricky. In just a matter of years, they have taken over several other tribes in Moxi. I heard that the tribe leader was the “chosen one” and will unite all Tusun tribes into one.”
“Chosen one my butt,” Zhao Yi laughed, “They’re just a group of barbarians. That year, they had an army of two hundred thousand people, but they didn’t stand a chance. They can’t beat the Tang Empire, that’s why they’re fighting among themselves.”
“We don’t need to care about them,” said Yuwen Chengchao, “These people were stealing in Wutuo territory. Then their leader somehow got a lot of silver, and then they entered the Kunlun Pass in smaller groups. Afterward, they gathered back together at the place they had agreed to before. The captive also said that they were told by someone to come to Xiling, and their leader ordered them to kill me. If they do so, they’d get even more silver. However, other than the leader himself, none of the others knew who they were actually killing.”
“Told by someone?” Ning Zhifeng sneered. “That must be a lot of silver for hiring a group of Tusun riders who were even willing to sacrifice their lives.”
“Apparently, they had been here for more than a month already. Someone also provided them with horses and weapons.” Yuwen Chengchao was still very calm as he continued slowly, “Yesterday, someone informed them the place and time of the killing, and then it was the series of events last night.” He sneered, “But after we went onto the mountains, their leader was soon killed by us. Without a leader yet still wanting to complete the job and get the silver, they also came up the mountain.”
“They didn’t get the silver and they are dead.” Zhao Yi sneered. “Eldest son, did the captive confess who hired them?”
Yuwen Chengchao shook his head. “He was just a little soldier, he didn’t know much.”
“The eldest son is no ordinary person,” said Da Peng, “Moreover, the eldest son treats everyone nicely. There shouldn’t be anyone who would spend that much effort to try and kill the eldest son.”
“Da Peng’s right.” Pang Yu agreed, “In all of Xiling, there is barely anyone who wants to harm the eldest son. Ones who dare to do anything about it are even rarer.”
“I’m only confused about one thing,” said Ning Zhifeng.
“What is it?”
“There are quite a few bandits still left in the three counties of Xiling.” Ning Zhifeng continued, “Although most of them were eliminated, there were still a dozen or so groups left. For the past few years, they should have recovered already. Back during the days, the Imperial Court and we worked together to hunt for these bandits. They should hate us down to the bones.”
“What are you trying to say?” Zhai Yi said impatiently, “Spit it out already. We’re talking about Tusun people, what do bandits have to do with this?”
Pang Yu glanced at Zhao Yi. “Please don’t spread your stupidity around. Listen to the smart ones.”
Zhao Yi rolled his eyes but didn’t keep talking.
“If one wants to kill the eldest son, wouldn’t it be easier to find some bandits?” Ning Zhifeng continued slowly, “Those people already hate the Yuwen Family. Even without a lot of silver, they would still do it. In addition, their riding skills aren’t any worse than the Tusun riders. In fact, they even know the surroundings better.”
“He’s right.” Pang Yu nodded. “It takes a lot of money and effort to hire Tusun people. Finding them in Wutuo, and then getting them to Xiling, and then hiding them. It would be much easier just to hire some bandits.”
Yuwen Chengchao smiled. “There is only one reason.”
“Are you saying, if they hired bandits, it would be easier to find out who hired them?” Da Peng asked.
Yuwen Chengchao nodded. “Xiling bandits are much more sly compared to Tusun people. They know Xiling better, and they consider the consequences more. If they come at a person like me, they would definitely figure out who was hiring them to do it first.”
Everyone else all nodded slightly.
“If the attack fails, the bandits may spill the bean easily.” Yuwen Chengchao continued, “Plus those bandits lie all the time. Even if they do succeed, they might continuously blackmail the one who hired them in the future.” He held his bowl of wine and drank it all. “Unlike them, the Tusun people are much more reliable. They take the silver and get the job done. The riders don’t even know who they’re killing, which proves that their leader is very professional. In other words, the leader doesn’t even care who was hiring them. All he cared about was the silver.”
Zhao Yi clenched his fists. “So the person who is behind all of this was worried that we’d find him out. That’s why he spent so much time and money to use Tusun people.”
“If those horses came from our own horse farm…” Da Peng said half of the sentence but didn’t continue.
Everyone present worriedly looked at each other. However, Yuwen Chengchao was still very calm.
From the beginning of the conversation until now, Qin Xiao didn’t say a word. But he knew exactly what was going on.
Da Peng didn’t finish his sentence because he was worried.
He already knew that Yuwen Chengchao no longer had his position in the Manor of Marquess Yuwen because the Marquess favored Lady Qiong and the Second Son. In addition, Granduncle Meng was most likely Lady Qiong’s brother as well, otherwise, he wouldn’t be called uncle. Even if he guessed it wrong, that they weren’t brothers and sisters, he was sure that they had some relationship with each other.
The competition between the Yuwen brothers was like any other big family. They’re fighting over power and property.
Although Yuwen Chengchao doesn’t have many advantages in this competition, he was the eldest son after all. According to tradition, Yuwen Chengchao had all the rights to inherit the Yuwen Family’s properties. So even though Lady Qiong had the upper hand, she still treated Yuwen Chengchao as an enemy.
What was more important was that ever since Yuwen Chengchao moved out of the main manor, the competition grew worse. The two brothers treated each other as nothing more than enemies.
No matter who eventually inherited the Marquess position, the other person would definitely suffer miserably.
In other words, if something happened and Yuwen Chengchao became the Marquess, then Lady Qiong and the Second Son would live a terrible life.
Granduncle Meng was on Lady Qiong’s side. If the Tusun horses came from the Yuwen Horse Farm, then it was likely Lady Qiong was behind this too.
Qin Xiao knew that all these people, including Yuwen Chengchao, must be suspicious of Lady Qiong and the second son as well. But since there was no evidence, they can’t do anything about it.
The silence in the room was broken when someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Ning Zhifeng closed the door a while ago so that they can keep their conversation private. Technically, there shouldn’t be anyone who dared to disturb, but the knocking didn’t stop. Ning Zhifeng stood up again and went to open the door. The second the door opened, someone pushed Ning Zhifeng away and barged in. He held a silver flagon and looked around the room. After seeing Yuwen Chengchao, he pointed at him and smiled drunkenly. “Eldest son, so you are here. You haven’t been here for quite a while. I thought they were joking when they said you’re actually here. So I came to take a look.”
Translated by: UnderTheMoon