Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 615 Know yourself and the enemy
Pei Yuan, preoccupied with concerns for the country and its people, awaited Sikong Sui's intervention.

On this day, an uninvited guest suddenly arrived at Puxian Temple, where Pei Yuan was hiding from the rumors.

Pei Yuan looked closely and saw that it was Song Tie, the chief executioner of the Western Depot!

Pei Yuan immediately thought of the bite Jiao Yan'er had given him on the chest with her little white teeth.

He quickly lifted his collar to take a look, but the marks inside had already disappeared.

Song Chunniang didn't notice Pei Yuan's subtle actions. As soon as she came in, she angrily asked, "Commander Han is here. Why didn't you tell me?"

Pei Yuan immediately retorted, scolding, "You haven't gone to Zhihua Temple for roll call for several days, who can you blame for that?"

In fact, Pei Yuan realized his oversight when he saw Song Chunniang.

If we're talking about a staunch ally in winning over Commander Han, then Song Chunniang is undoubtedly the one!
Good buddy, putting everything else aside, when facing Commander Han, he firmly stood by my side, we were in the same trench.

Although the main reason why this delivery girl was able to get a job at the Thousand Household Office was that Thousand Household Commander Han wanted to take the opportunity to teach Pei Yuan a lesson.

After that, Song Chunniang also helped Han Qianhu with some things.

However, Commander Han did not seriously assess Song Chunniang's audacity.

This girl is none other than the notorious lecherous scoundrel Shili Xiang, who has made a name for herself in both capitals. How could she possibly be content to be a lapdog?
What can a simp get in the end if he keeps licking his boots?
Following the equally ambitious Commander Pei, it's hard to say what one will ultimately gain.

Feeling somewhat guilty after being questioned by Pei Yuan, Song Chunniang retorted sharply, "Don't you know I'm newly married? What's wrong with taking a few days off?"

Pei Yuan retorted sarcastically, "Yun Jun is a virgin, are you one too?"

Pei Yuan knew all too well whether he was a good buddy or not.

Song Chunniang disagreed, saying, "We are newlyweds, deeply in love. Even if I neglect my duties for a few days, the imperial court will not interfere."

Pei Yuan chuckled, deliberately belittling the relationship between the two, "If I remember correctly, you've been in contact with that woman ever since you came to the capital, haven't you? Still not tired of her?"

What are you pretending to be so affectionate with, a female lecher with a bounty of 550 taels on her head in both capitals?

Song Chunniang chuckled upon hearing this.

Seeing that no one was in the room, she pulled open her official robe to reveal the red marks left by kissing below her collarbone, and said in a sticky, seductive voice, "Not greasy at all."

Pei Yuan's face immediately turned slightly red.

Just as he was about to get angry, he looked at her a few more times and then tried to reason with her, saying, "Let me have a bite too."

"Heh." Song Chunniang glanced at Pei Yuan with disdain and closed her collar.

Fortunately, Pei Yuan had seen and tasted it before, so he wasn't too obsessed with it.

As they were talking about Zhang Yunjun, Pei Yuan tentatively brought up their previous agreement.

What happened to the promise that I would take over?

To everyone's surprise, Song Chunniang refused this time with unusual decisiveness, "Impossible!"

Pei Yuan, undeterred, continued to persuade, "You two will eventually have a child, so it's better to have one sooner rather than later."

Song Chunniang couldn't stand for long, so she gracefully leaned forward and sat down on the table in front of Pei Yuan, revealing a suicidal smile on her face. "So, where is your child?"

Pei Yuan's facial muscles froze.

Damn it, you're my best buddy who's been through thick and thin with me!
You actually stabbed me in the chest?

Without any hesitation, Pei Yuan scooped up her slender waist and smoothly pulled her from the table into his arms.

Song Chunniang struggled symbolically, teased Pei Yuan for a while, and then said, "Not today."

Pei Yuan immediately lost interest.

He casually kneaded Song Chunniang's soft, supple legs, and suddenly felt a little worried.

Should we try finding another good piece of land?

Pei Yuan had considered finding a doctor to help him recover, but he couldn't afford to take the risk. If even a single word got out, the group he had painstakingly built would collapse.

Song Chunniang asked, "Why don't I see Chen Xinjian? Have you changed your companion?"

Pei Yuan said lazily, "Chen Xinjian went to Dongchang Prefecture to train troops. A few days ago, he took some men and a sum of money with him and left the capital."

Song Chunniang sighed, "The people around you change so quickly. Now they're all people I don't recognize."

As they spoke, they couldn't help but think back to the past.

Back then, Cheng Leixiang, Chen Tou Tie, and Song Chunniang, the three chief officers, escorted the Baihu from Pujie southward together.

They supported each other and struggled desperately to finally break free from the chaotic situation.

But now.

Song Chunniang raised an eyebrow and asked, "When will you replace me too?"

Pei Yuan, unlike Song Chunniang, didn't have such a delicate mind, and answered irrelevantly, "Isn't Cen Meng still here?"

Song Chunniang immediately stared at Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan stopped teasing her and said directly, "Don't worry, there will always be a place for you in my inner quarters."

Song Chunniang scoffed, speechless, "Do you think I care?"

Remembering the purpose of her visit, Song Chunniang finally asked about the real business.

"What's going on between you and Commander Han? Wasn't there an imperial decree?"

Pei Yuan didn't have a good solution either. "So what if there's an imperial edict? Take it to her, announce the edict, and tell her that if she refuses to marry me and sleep with me, I'll kill her whole family? How can anyone do things like that?"

If Zhu Houzhao knew that Pei Yuan was using his imperial decree to do such a disgraceful thing, he would probably have to come and take the decree back himself.

Song Chunniang also felt it was a bit tricky.

Nestled in Pei Yuan's arms, she touched his face and asked with some confusion, "How could she not like you? You're doing just fine."

Pei Yuan didn't have the chance to reveal the dark thoughts in his heart.

Thinking about how he was currently holding a woman and touching her butt, he analyzed it from another angle, "Maybe it's because my character is bad?"

Song Chunniang was speechless upon hearing this.

She couldn't defend Pei Yuan for the time being. She twisted her waist, wanting to leave, but Pei Yuan was still reluctant to let her go.

Song Chunniang then asked, "So what do you plan to do now?"

Pei Yuan sighed, "What else can we do? Just wait for Sikong Sui to fall."

Thinking about her impression of Sikong Sui, Song Chunniang said to Pei Yuan with some uncertainty, "That old man, he doesn't seem like a good person, does he?"

Pei Yuan shared his understanding.

“Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu are both veterans of the Thousand Households Office, and they know more about Commander Han than we do.”

"With their support, I, the commander, will be able to know myself and my enemy, and then I can take the right approach to deal with them, gaining more advantages when dealing with Commander Han."

Song Chunniang was a little confused. "Why don't you go find Tantai Fangtu? Why go all the way to summon Sikong Sui?"

Pei Yuan said helplessly, "Old man Tantai is rather straightforward, I'm afraid he won't think much of me. Sikong Sui had previously expressed his intention to match me with Commander Han, so starting with Sikong Sui might be a safer approach."

"Moreover, when the tax silver was delivered, there were quite a few crises encountered."

"It's hard to say whether Commander Han intended to eliminate dissidents by handing these two over to me. But since the Huai River was divided and its administration separated, haven't these two, along with their subordinate centurions, all been moved to Beijing?"

Upon hearing this, Song Chunniang pursed her lips and said, "It's just a thousand-household office, there's no need for so much trouble. You're probably overthinking it."

Since becoming the chief executioner of the Western Depot, Song Chunniang's horizons have broadened considerably.

Although she understood that the Zhenxie Qianhu Office and the various religious temples managed by it had huge interests behind them, the interests of the Xichang's Chief of Executions were also very large.

In the past few months, Song Chunniang has gained a large sum of money, a beautiful house, and widespread praise. As for other things... well, they're just so-so.

Pei Yuan shook his head and said, "It's not just that. The Thousand Household Office is also connected to Yunyang Prefecture and Huguang Regional Military Commission."

“In the past, whenever there were natural disasters or man-made calamities, refugees from all over the country would flock to the mountains of Jingxiang to seek a living. However, the imperial court was unwilling to lose so many people, so it repeatedly launched crackdowns on the refugees in Jingxiang.”

"After suppressing several rebellions by the refugees in Jingxiang, the imperial court allocated large tracts of land from several surrounding provinces to resettle them. This is the story of the establishment of Yunyang Prefecture. In order to eliminate the threat of rebellion at its root, the imperial court also established the Huguang Regional Military Commission to resettle the able-bodied men among the refugees."

“Now, there are occasional voices from the imperial court wanting to dismantle Yunyang Prefecture and abolish the Huguang Regional Military Commission in order to disintegrate the power of those former Jingxiang shantytown people.”

Pei Yuan said to Song Chunniang, "I learned some things from Yun Weilin before. With the establishment of Yunyang Prefecture, a new Yunyang force was also born, which originated from the people of Jingxiang.

"These new Yunyang people enjoy the abundant resources of the Jingxiang Mountains and control the military power of a regional military command. However, politically, they are still regarded as surrendered captives who have been granted amnesty."

“Since the establishment of Yunyang Prefecture in the eighth year of the Chenghua era, until this year, not a single person from Yunyang Prefecture has passed the imperial examination.”

"This incident shows that the imperial court had no intention of appeasing such an important town that had been ceded three provinces and established with six counties."

"This naturally caused the people of Yunyang to become disloyal."

“Currently, there is a strong call within the court to abolish Yunyang Prefecture and Huguang Regional Military Commission. Those new Yunyang residents who want to incite the disorganized Jingxiang shantytown residents to rebel with them can only do so by reiterating the Han family’s status as the overlord.”

"Han Qianhu is now allied with the powerful forces in Jiangnan and has his own interests. Of course, he is unwilling to take on a burden for nothing because of old matters."

Song Chunniang thought for a moment and said, "I remember when we killed the demon Li Zilong, Tantai Fangtu and Sikong Sui also entered the palace to fight the enemy and were rewarded with flying fish robes."

"Judging from the timeline, Yunyang Prefecture had only just been established at that time. Could the connection between those new Yunyang residents and the Thousand-Household Office be these two old men?"

Pei Yuan gave Song Chunniang a surprised look, "Not bad, buddy."

Song Chunniang looked up and raised an eyebrow at Pei Yuan, "Call me Commander of the Thousand Households of Punishments."

Pei Yuan kissed her neck, but after a few moments, Song Chunniang pushed him away and gently rubbed the spot where she had been kissing, saying with displeasure, "Stop it."

Pei Yuan left with some regret, it was a pity that he missed a good opportunity to sow discord between her and Zhang Yunjun.

Pei Yuan had no choice but to continue the previous topic, "From a time perspective, even if Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu didn't have much to do with those rising new Yunyang people, their fathers must have been deeply involved in them."

Song Chunniang then added, "So, you think these two people represent the new Yunyang people within the Qianhu Office."

Pei Yuan nodded, "That's possible. They followed in their fathers' footsteps and served in the Thousand-Household Office. They are loyal to Commander Han and also have their own backgrounds."

"Han Qianhu could not trust them, so the only option was to exile them to Jiangbei."

Song Chunniang roughly understood why Pei Yuan valued Sikong Sui's support so much.

Exiling the representatives of the new Yunyang people in the Thousand Households Office to Jiangbei would be Han Qianhu's solution to the political contradictions.

Therefore, having this highly aggressive deputy commander take over Han's mission and become another representative of the new Yunyang people is clearly another solution.

However, this solution has a fatal flaw.

Many of the forces that controlled the people of Jingxiang were the evil gangs from the Jianghu who suppressed the White Lotus Sect in Shandong.

These villains of the Jianghu were betrayed by the imperial court, but were protected by Han Chuan, the then commander of the Thousand Households, which allowed them to find the fertile land of Jingxiang Mountain and survive.

As Han Qianhu's grandson, he naturally gained the favor of those scattered shantytown dwellers.

Even if Pei Yuan is chosen by some to become the leader of the new Yunyang people, it will be difficult for him to replace Han Qianhu's position and unite the Jingxiang shantytown people in the mountains.

The simplest way to transfer this goodwill and complete resource integration is to facilitate a marriage between Pei Yuan and Commander Han.

This is why Sikong Sui has been trying to bring Pei Yuan and Han Qianhu together.

Tantai Fangtu's thoughts were simpler; he was still concerned about Pei Yuan's character.

Sikong Sui's view, however, is not so simple.

The new Yunyang people have left the Jingxiang Mountains where they once lived and have gradually lost control over the remaining Jingxiang shantytown residents.

However, after being domesticated for decades, these new Yunyang people risk being absorbed as rich nutrients.

With the imminent crisis of abolishing the Yunyang prefecture, the gradually forming Yunyang power was naturally unwilling to give up.

However, given their current capabilities and political influence, they are unable to prevent the various factions from dividing the spoils.

Just then, Pei Yuan, the deputy commander who was in complete disarray, suddenly came into Sikong Sui's sight.

This guy, who has no bottom line and is extremely aggressive, has a lot to do with Sikong Sui's imagination. He seems to be more suitable than Han Qianhu to deal with this chaotic situation.

In Sikong Suiyan's eyes, Han Qianhu was not only a junior he had watched grow up, but also a key to his success.

The goal was to bridge the divisions within the thousand-household garrison, help the new Yunyang people regain the support of the Jingxiang shantytown residents, and bring them a powerful leader.

The most crucial step is to get Pei Yuan the key.

(End of this chapter)