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

Chapter 686 The Scurrying Rats
Li Shishi only realized at this moment that what Pei Yuan gave him was not a condition that he could leverage, but rather the initiative that Ning Fan had to fight for.

If I had left just now, Pei Yuan, facing Ning Fan who had lost the initiative, would probably have quickly severed ties with him.

Given Pei Yuan's style, once he begins preparing to sever ties, how could he possibly give the Ning Kingdom a chance to struggle?
This bastard will inevitably turn against us and become one of the perpetrators.

Li Shishi thought Pei Yuan would do that.

Moreover, Li Shishi also had great faith in Pei Yuan's destructive power.

Li Shishi sighed, stepped forward, and shook Pei Yuan's hand, saying, "Given our friendship, why didn't you just say so earlier, Commander?"

Pei Yuan did not resist Li Shishi's overtures, but simply smiled and said, "The Grand Commandant is currently very powerful, and I, a mere commander, am afraid of burning myself."

Li Shishi was startled upon hearing this, and then glanced at Pei Yuan somewhat guiltily. Fortunately, Pei Yuan was just saying it casually and did not dwell on the matter.

Li Shishi said sincerely, "I will write to Prince Ning shortly and ask him to personally submit a memorial to Shandong to question Prince De. I wonder what outcome you, my virtuous brother, desire?"

Pei Yuan didn't respond to this, saying, "This is a matter for the imperial court, and whatever the outcome, it has nothing to do with me. Moreover, Prince Ning's visit is only to push the case forward. The final result depends on what truth is uncovered and how His Majesty handles it."

Li Shishi was getting anxious and was about to speak again.

Then Pei Yuan said, "Moreover, as I just said, it is far better for His Majesty to invite Prince Ning to handle this matter than for Prince Ning to volunteer himself."

Li Shishi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Pei Yuan was not trying to completely sever ties.

He quickly asked, "Then, my worthy brother, do you have any suggestions?"

Pei Yuan has not yet found a replacement for Li Shishi, so he does not want to immediately sever his relationship with this Grand Commandant.

He thought for a moment and said, "Easy. Since it was Prince Huai who caused this trouble, let's use Prince Huai as a sacrifice."

“I heard that Prince Ning greatly admires Li Mengyang and even asked Li Mengyang to write an inscription for Yangchun Academy. Prince Ning might as well stand up for justice and speak out against Prince Huai for speaking up for Li Mengyang. In this way, he can win the hearts of all the civil officials in the court.”

Li Shishi hesitated for a moment and said, "There is no concrete evidence regarding the matter concerning the Prince of Huai. Even if we temporarily appease the civil officials, we will inevitably be ridiculed and despised by the imperial clan."

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "What's wrong with that? Didn't you say that Zhu Youqi has been making a fuss about posthumously honoring his biological father?"

"Prince Ning need not mention Li Mengyang's matter. He should only submit a memorial to condemn Prince Huai for disregarding ethics and moral principles. Since he inherited the title of Prince Huai, he should be grateful for the favors bestowed upon him and regard the former Prince Huai's heir, Zhu Jianlian, as his father. How can he be called 'Uncle Wang' and even drive away Zhu Jianlian's concubines, doing such a despicable thing?"

"His Majesty has no son, so he must feel the same way upon seeing such a memorial. Even the Empress Dowager, upon seeing that Zhu Jianlian's concubine was driven away by her stepson, how could she not feel indignant?"

“Prince Ning’s memorial to the throne, which vehemently denounced Prince Huai, will not only win the favor of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, but also indirectly express his own attitude, so that His Majesty and the Empress Dowager will have no more worries about Prince Ning’s heir.”

"As for the other princes, most of them either succeeded to the throne as legitimate sons or as sons of concubines according to seniority. They themselves are beneficiaries of this system, so how many of them could have a good impression of Zhu Youqi when they see him acting so recklessly?"

"Therefore, Prince Ning's use of this to criticize Prince Huai will only make the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and the imperial clan think that Prince Ning is disciplined and has the demeanor of an elder. Moreover, by taking action at this moment when Prince Huai is fighting with Li Mengyang, Prince Ning can easily take advantage of Li Mengyang's case and gain a wave of gratitude from civil officials for free."

"It can be said that it has only benefits and no drawbacks."

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi couldn't help but secretly admire him, thinking, "It has to be you."

Pei Yuan continued, "Prince Ning is so principled and understands the bigger picture. Whether it's the matter concerning Prince Huai or the case in Shandong, the Emperor will take the initiative to ask an elder member of the imperial clan like Prince Ning to step forward and resolve it."

This time, Li Shishi didn't hesitate and said directly, "Then let's do as you say, my brother."

After saying that, Li Shishi hurriedly added, "Our Ning Kingdom will not let you go through with this plan for nothing, my brother. I wonder how I can help you?"

Pei Yuan waved his hand, "There's no need for that. It's fine as long as we talk things out. The Grand Commandant is right, our two families can discuss things amicably."

Li Shishi disagreed upon hearing this.

He has completely figured it out.

If Ning Fan loses his usefulness to Pei Yuan, he may be abandoned at any time.

He made a special trip back this time to exchange benefits with Pei Yuan.

This time, Li Shishi was quite savvy and took the initiative to say, "That's not how things are done. Only through give and take can things last. If you, my virtuous brother, don't ask for my help, how can I feel at ease?"

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment after hearing this.

He originally wanted to use the hidden trick he had laid in advance, but Li Shishi's previous cunning made him reluctant to play this crucial move against Li Shishi.

Nevertheless, Pei Yuan still asked, "Do you have any fearless censors under your command? I need to be one of your own."

Li Shishi understood that Pei Yuan was asking him for a high-ranking imperial censor, a position equivalent to a death squad member.

These kinds of censors are usually used as cannon fodder by powerful figures when they're vying for power.

Basically, every big shot has made friends with a certain number of people in private.

Li Shishi felt a pang of heartache. After he moved into the Censorate, quite a few people joined his service, but there were very few who were truly reliable and capable of doing the dirty work.

But since he had already made those statements, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Yes, we do have some. But if we really want to use them, we'll probably have to pay a considerable price."

Pei Yuan hadn't made up his mind yet, and casually said, "It's not necessary now, but when it really comes, I, the commander, won't let your Ning Prefecture suffer any losses."

Pei Yuan currently has a large number of censors under his command, but these are the cornerstone of his political empire, and he simply cannot afford to lose them.

Li Shishi felt much better after hearing Pei Yuan's words.

Only after the Grand Magistrate repeatedly confirmed that the friendship between the two sides remained unbreakable did he breathe a sigh of relief and leave in his sedan chair.

Before leaving, Li Shishi added, "That man came here on his own initiative. We, the Ning Kingdom, only have goodwill towards the commanders."

Pei Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed, and had Xiao Tong wait outside the door.

After a while, Xiao Tong hurriedly came in and whispered to Pei Yuan, "Commander, that person has arrived."

Pei Yuan didn't ask who it was, and said directly, "Take him to my main hall."

After speaking, Pei Yuan slowly strolled back to the East Courtyard Hall.

A short while later, a man wearing a large hat, trying to conceal his identity, entered Pei Yuan's courtroom under the escort of a group of personal guards.

Pei Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this, and gestured for everyone to step back, leaving only Xiao Tong and Lu Yong by his side.

The man looked at Pei Yuan for a long time before saying with deep emotion, "I never expected that we would meet under such circumstances. I wonder if I should call you Commander Pei, or... Zhuge Jiang Gan?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan said magnanimously, "We're all brothers, it's just a title, why bother with such formalities? Isn't that right, Vice Commander Zhao?" The man took off his large hat, revealing a face that looked particularly weathered from years of hardship.

It was none other than Zhao the Madman, Zhao Sui, one of the six great bandit leaders of Bazhou.

Zhao Sui stared at Pei Yuan, and Pei Yuan met his gaze without flinching.

After a long while, Zhao Sui let out a sigh of relief and said somewhat dejectedly, "I originally thought that I would have a lot to say to you when I met you."

"But standing here, at this moment, I feel utterly bored."

Pei Yuan could understand Zhao Sui's feelings.

The Bazhou army is a thing of the past, so what's the point of talking about it anymore?
Even Pei Yuan himself felt that the events involving the Bazhou army were from a long time ago.

Pei Yuan wondered why Zhao Sui had appeared here.

Thinking about it, he felt that it was better to be upfront with this "madman Zhao" than to keep his thoughts to himself, so that they could get along better in the future.

After all, this guy was a naive scholar who, after becoming one of the six great bandit leaders, still wrote a letter to the emperor, asking him to govern the country well.

If we don't make this guy with a screw loose and figure things out, he'll be in trouble later.

Pei Yuan, thinking of the things he had asked someone to send him last time, asked, "Did you receive that human skin saddle?"

Zhao Sui's dejected mood finally began to fluctuate.

Last time, Pei Yuan noticed the saddle Zhu Houzhao was using, and Zhu Houzhao immediately boasted that it was made from the human skin of a bandit leader from Bazhou, and even bestowed the saddle he was riding on that day upon Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan saw the three words "Zhao the Madman" tattooed in cinnabar on the side of the saddle and realized that this human skin came from the unfortunate guy who was mistaken for Zhao the Madman when Lu Yin and the other generals took credit for it.

After obtaining the human skin saddle, Pei Yuan felt sorry for Zhao Sui and also wanted to thoroughly and severely wake up this stinking scholar.

Therefore, Pei Yuan went to great lengths to find the contents of Zhao Sui's letter to Zhu Houzhao in the Imperial Library of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Pei Yuan personally copied Zhao Sui's memorial, which was full of fantasies about the emperor, and sent it to Jiangxi along with the human skin saddle with "Zhao the Madman" tattooed on it in cinnabar, with Li Shishi's help.

Pei Yuan's thought at the time was that even if this critical strike couldn't shatter Zhao Sui's last illusion, just venting his frustration with Zhao Sui's naivety would be enough for him to accomplish this.

Meeting Zhao Sui today has unexpectedly brought Pei Yuan's past actions a positive outcome.

When Zhao Sui heard Pei Yuan mention the human skin saddle, he remained silent for a long while before suppressing his emotions and saying, "Received it."

Pei Yuan, harboring ill intentions, immediately pressed on without revealing his true feelings, "What came to mind when you saw that human skin saddle?"

Zhao Sui remained silent for a while before gritting his teeth and saying, "Zhu Houzhao, you dog, has gone too far in bullying me."

Pei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this lousy scholar was finally awakened by Zhu Houzhao's ruthlessness.

Pei Yuan's tone relaxed considerably, but he still spoke sarcastically to Zhao Sui, "What you should be thinking is that I saved your life."

Perhaps it was anger towards Zhu Houzhao that broke through Zhao Sui's long-suppressed emotions.

He gave Pei Yuan a half-mocking "ha!"

Pei Yuan made no attempt to evade the conflict between the two sides, stating directly, "If Vice Commander Zhao is unwilling to talk about it, then let me do it."

Before Zhao Sui could speak, Pei Yuan said directly, "On the surface, the Bazhou Army was destroyed by me. I was the one who orchestrated the Bazhou Army's battle in Huaibei and planned the Battle of Xiahekou. But in reality, the Bazhou Army's defeat was already destined."

Then, Pei Yuan asked, "Do you remember the map of the territory I drew for you?"

When Pei Yuan was in the Bazhou army camp, he once drew lines on the ground with his sword to give some pointers to the bandit leaders of Bazhou.

“I told you back then that the northern provinces had become devastated in just over a year due to the destruction caused by the Bazhou army.”

"Even if you hadn't met me, and continued to go to Huguang, Sichuan, Southern Zhili, and other places, what would you have accomplished besides making the world even more chaotic?"

"You are like rats trapped on this chessboard of the world, only knowing how to gnaw and scurry around aimlessly. It's just a matter of whether you die sooner or later."

"When you were trapped on the banks of the Yangtze River, only knowing how to bang your heads on the ground, wasn't it this commander's moment of mercy that gave you a way to live?"

Although Zhao Sui was arrogant and intelligent, he had witnessed Zhuge Jianggan's abilities and had no intention of arguing with him.

So he hung his head and responded negatively to Pei Yuan's words, "Yes, yes, you win, whatever you say goes?"

Pei Yuan felt as if he had a breath stuck in his chest, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

However, seeing that Zhao Sui had fallen so low that even his last bit of spirit was about to disappear, he found it difficult to lash out.

For a moment, he inexplicably felt a connection to what his wife had said.

Yes, why would I take away someone's last possession?
Therefore, Pei Yuan no longer wanted to force Zhao Sui to submit to him.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Zhao Sui looked at Pei Yuan and teased, "You even provide meals?"

Pei Yuan didn't mind and said cheerfully, "The Bazhou army is gone, so let's each talk about our own affairs."

He smiled and said to Zhao Sui, "Although I was constantly on the move when I followed you, I ate well and the brothers treated me well."

Zhao Sui looked at Pei Yuan's face and really wanted to ask him how he could have the nerve to say the words "brothers".

Pei Yuan became even more composed and asked Zhao Sui, "By the way, how are Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother doing now?"

Zhao Sui was reluctant to answer, but seeing Pei Yuan's caring gaze, he replied leisurely, "Fine wine, beautiful women, and joyful songs after a drunken night. I didn't get to enjoy these things when I was a bandit in Bazhou, but I'm enjoying them now."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan casually asked Zhao Sui, "Do you think Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Huaibei, and half of Huguang combined are bigger, or is Jiangxi bigger?"

Zhao Sui showed Pei Yuan no respect whatsoever, retorting directly, "Isn't that obvious?"

Pei Yuan sincerely said to the rebel leader, "If we can enable the people to live in peace, even if it is just a small piece of peaceful land, many people can live well. Liu Liu and Liu Qi don't understand this; they only know how to run around recklessly."

"You should work for me from now on."

(End of this chapter)