Chapter 46: Eyes of the Flying Servant
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“Vision?”
Zhuque froze.
“Young Master, do you mean eyesight?”
“Since I was a child, I followed my master into the mountains to practice martial arts. Archery, throwing stones, iron darts, and other concealed weapons—all of them required training the eyes!”
Chai Xiao smiled.
“Then it seems your eyesight is quite good!”
“The bird that just flew overhead, the one calling ‘coo, coo’—did you see it?”
Zhuque nodded, astonished by the Young Master’s meticulous observation.
No wonder he had asked about her eyesight. His own must be excellent.
“I saw it. It should have been a pigeon—and a pied pigeon at that!”
“Pied pigeons are rather rare in these parts. It must have come from the Western Regions, which is why it is also known as a ‘Western Regions Flying Slave.’”
Chai Xiao countered, “The Western Regions are so far from us. Now that one has appeared here in Great Xu, don’t you find that strange?”
Zhuque’s body trembled.
“The Young Master is right!”
“When I saw it, I did find it somewhat surprising, but I didn’t think much of it!”
Chai Xiao suddenly fired off two questions.
“Can this Western Regions Flying Slave be used for what people call ‘sending letters by carrier pigeon’?”
“When you served as an Imperial Guard in the capital, how did you send messages?”
Zhuque frowned slightly.
“Young Master, to be honest, when I was training in the mountains as a child, I also raised these Western Regions Flying Slaves.”
“They can indeed be used to carry messages, but it is very difficult.”
“First, they care only about returning to their nests. They must regard both destinations as ‘home.’ That works well enough between two fixed locations, but once either location moves, the method fails.”
“Second, fierce winds, thunderstorms, and other harsh weather, as well as birds of prey such as eagles and falcons, may prevent them from ever returning.”
“Our Imperial Guards rarely use carrier pigeons. We rely on swift horses.”
“However, I have heard that the Taba Army, which specializes in gathering intelligence, does use them—but even there, only very rarely.”
Chai Xiao fixed his gaze on the eyes of this brave and beautiful woman.
“You find it difficult and rare, yet while we have been standing in this garden, I have already heard that pied pigeon coo three times as it flew back and forth.”
Zhuque turned pale and hurriedly clasped her hands.
“Your Majesty! My defenses were inadequate, and my vigilance insufficient! I beg Your Majesty to punish me. I willingly accept the penalty!”
But Chai Xiao merely laughed and waved his hand.
“I once heard that pigeons—yes, Western Regions Flying Slaves—can nourish the body and replenish the vital energy.”
“I ran quite a few laps this morning, so I could use the nourishment.”
“If we shoot it down, would pigeon meat braised in soy sauce taste good? And would its bones make a fine soup?”
Zhuque’s heart had already been churning like fifteen buckets drawing water from a well, rising and falling in utter confusion. Now it felt as though ten thousand wild horses were galloping through it.
Everyone said that the Ninth Prince could eat, and loved to eat. If he dared claim second place beneath heaven, no one would dare claim first.
Truly peerless beneath the heavens!
She had thought that becoming the ruler of Great Xu would completely change him.
But now it seemed that this one trait had not changed in the slightest.
She had assumed he had detected a flaw in the Imperial Guards’ defenses, allowing someone to transmit secret intelligence by carrier pigeon—and that he intended to “slay the pigeons and purge the evil.”
She had never imagined that he was simply greedy, craving braised pigeon and pigeon-bone soup!
At last, she could breathe again.
That was what she thought, and yet her mouth answered readily enough.
“Zhuque receives Your Majesty’s command!”
“If this pied pigeon appears again, whether it is spying on military affairs or not, I will shoot it down and have the kitchens braise the meat and stew the bones!”
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Chai Xiao extended his fist.
“Then it is settled!”
“However, judging from its movements and flight path, it should not be the same bird.”
“Rare things are precious.”
“So one braised pigeon could fetch a high price. If there are others, find a way to capture them alive!”
Zhuque straightened solemnly.
“Yes!”
Chai Xiao lowered his voice.
“Since you have successfully raised this rare creature, I will entrust you with a task. Find a way to establish our own carrier-pigeon communication network!”
A carrier-pigeon communication network?
Zhuque realized that her recent conclusion—that this Ninth Prince was still nothing more than a gluttonous fool—had been utterly mistaken.
He actually intended to capture these Western Regions Flying Slaves alive and use them to establish his own carrier-pigeon network.
With it, he could build an intelligence system that was both swift and accurate.
The Art of War said: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
It also said: Thus the enlightened ruler and worthy general are able to act and triumph over others, achieving success beyond the common multitude because they possess foreknowledge.
Victory depended not only on grasping the circumstances of both enemy and ally, but even more on knowing them in advance.
This Ninth Prince, who was no longer a fool, intended to know others first—and then defeat them!
In that instant, this heroic woman, who did not even know how to write the word “fear,” felt a dread she had never experienced before.
Until today, she had never believed there was anything about the Ninth Prince worthy of fear.
In a single day, everything had changed.
His eating habits had changed. His knowledge had changed. His thoughts and ambitions had changed.
He had become faintly terrifying.
Could it be that everything he had done in the capital had been an act, and that upon arriving in Great Xu, he had begun to reveal his true brilliance?
If so, then the carrier-pigeon network he had mentioned was not merely intended to know others first and defeat them.
He intended to know the world first—and control it!
With a solemn expression, Zhuque clasped both hands.
“Zhuque receives your command! I will not fail the trust you have placed in me!”
Chai Xiao shaded his eyes with one hand and glanced at the sun. Then he waved to the Eleven Golden Hairpins.
“It is nearly time.”
“There is no time to explain every money-making scheme to you in painstaking detail.”
“Here is what we will do. Zhuque and Jianyu have each taken a large leaf. The eleven of you will do the same. From now on, each of you will take one leaf.”
“In other words, each leaf is both a token of authority and a money-making method.”
“Each of you will take charge of one enterprise. You will figure things out as you work, and none of you will lack money.”
“Of course, there will be both division of labor and cooperation.”
“These money-making methods can be divided into five major ventures.”
“The first major venture is ‘Admission by Ticket,’ divided into the Honored, Noble, and Glorious halls.”
“Zhuque has taken one large leaf. Jian Shuang and Jian Xue, each take a small leaf and join her to complete it.”
“The second major venture is ‘Food and Drink,’ with three ways to make money: discounts with tickets, simple meals served at the table, and delivery to the customer.”
“Jianyu has taken one large leaf. Jian Ji and Jian Xian, each take a small leaf and join her to complete it.”
“There are still three major ventures remaining.”
“For the third, Jianfeng will take the lead, with Jianyun and Jianwu joining her.”
“For the fourth, Jianlei will take the lead, with Jianni and Jianhong joining her.”
“For the fifth, only Jiandian remains. I will keep that one a surprise for now.”
“I will briefly explain the rest. Once you understand, begin working.”
“There are two requirements.”
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“Each major venture must keep separate accounts for assignments received, work performed, expenses, and profits.”
“Within each venture, cooperate closely. There is no distinction between yours and mine.”
“Agreed?”
The Eleven Golden Hairpins hurriedly answered in unison.
“Agreed!”
Together, the twelve women held a ten-percent share. They could claim one-tenth of the twenty thousand taels earned by the first two major ventures—that is, two thousand taels.
As for the remaining ventures, they were all icing on the cake. Every additional tael would be a tael gained.
Consort Yun had been silently watching from the side, an almost imperceptible smile spreading across her lips.
That brat’s method of assigning one leaf to each person, along with dividing labor while encouraging cooperation, was truly brilliant!
Zhuque and the Twelve Golden Hairpins, one leaf apiece.
In effect, he had assigned every duty to a specific person.
More importantly, once they were divided into groups, they would inevitably compete with one another.
If you earned ten thousand, then I had to earn eleven thousand.
Whoever earned less would be too ashamed to show her face.
Setting two peaches before three warriors and letting them fight over them was a vile scheme—the vilest of all!
But giving each person a leaf, dividing responsibilities while maintaining unity, was a splendid idea—the finest of all!
Chai Xiao smiled and watched as the Golden Hairpins each took a small leaf. Only three large leaves remained on the stone table.
He then picked up one of the large leaves and began twirling it.
“Jianfeng, heed my command!”
Jianfeng wore a close-fitting military uniform. Her eyes were keen, and a silver ribbon bound her hair at the forehead, fluttering lightly in the breeze. She clasped her hands before her.
“I await the Young Master’s instructions!”
Chai Xiao was brief and direct.
“You are the chief of the Twelve Golden Hairpins. Nothing is beyond your ability.”
“This third money-making method is very simple.”
“Four words: lottery betting!”
Lottery?
Did he mean colored banknotes?
But the banknotes of this era—also called flying money—were all yellow paper with black writing. Where would the colors come from?
And what was betting?
Could it mean blindly guessing at various things, with money awarded to whoever guessed correctly?
Chai Xiao saw the bewilderment in Jianfeng’s eyes and those of the other women. He took out a banknote and covered it with a yellow-green leaf.
“That’s right!”
“A lottery is a colored banknote!”
“Betting means that once you place a wager, if you guess correctly, your winnings will double, triple, or even quadruple!”
The women could not help exchanging bewildered looks.
Had the Young Master gone mad with his desire to make money?
If a correct guess could earn that much, would he not lose everything?
Had he not just taught them the difficult yet easy-to-understand “double-sum problem” on the spot?
How had he suddenly forgotten even the most basic arithmetic?
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