Chapter 4
A Transaction of Gold
Sheng Jian’s description that day was not at all exaggerated, Sister As You Wish’s stirring demeanor was really beyond Shen Wuhai’s expectations.
This woman hadn’t done herself up in any particular way today.
Not a trace of cosmetics could be seen on her tender, fair-skinned face, making her look even more pure and fresh and otherworldly.
It left a very favorable first impression on Shen Wuhai.
Whether beautiful or ugly, most women liked to pretty themselves up with make-up. Only Heaven knows what feeling a woman using too much make-up would give someone.
This woman clearly understood a man’s mind.
Because she knew how to carry and display herself for each occasion and what kind of demeanor to show to each person.
Men admire that kind of woman.
Wear on heavy make-up when you ought to put on heavy make-up, be simple and plain when you need to be simple and plain; do something when it’s time to do it, and be generous when the time calls for it. In her bones she was flirty and lewd, but on the surface she was dignified like a well-bred maiden from a distinguished family.
Shen Wuhai suddenly felt a cordial feeling toward this woman.
He felt that the number of people he’d killed over the past two years didn’t amount to anything, but if he could not fall to this woman today, that would be a miracle worth taking pride in.
There was one thing he was convinced he was not wrong about.
He was convinced that the number of people who had died by this woman’s hands was definitely no less than had died by his Killer Star hands.
So he couldn’t help but think that besides competing on liquor tolerance today, there was also another competition.
He hoped he was still perfectly alive and well come tomorrow…
※ ※ ※
Sister As You Wish laughed!
She hadn’t been mistaken.
No matter how many people the Killer Star had killed, no matter how ruthless his heart was or how vicious his hands, as long as he was a man he would be no different than any other man when he was before her, Sister As You Wish.
※ ※ ※
The happiest of course was Sheng Jian.
Now, Dagger Within a Smile’s final trace of worry had vanished completely.
He secretly admired this woman’s remarkable skill.
This woman had only agreed to split with him 15% of the reward, and though he was unhappy about it at the time, now he was beginning to think it was quite fair.
Without this woman it was very clear that he would not be able to get a single leaf of gold foil. The 1,500 taels of gold he was sure to get now was all a gift from this woman.
※ ※ ※
This woman, Sister As You Wish, truly did have her own remarkable skill.
Just thinking what had facilitated the three of them to get together today was enough to make a person blush. Yet surprisingly. this woman from the outset had turned the vibes of the banquet with just a few words.
Laughing, she said, “I won’t lie to you, Great Xia Shen, your servant really has come to Changsha this time for that 10,000 taels of gold. Your servant speaks frankly and hopes Great Xia Shen will not take offense…”
Talk like that, any other woman wouldn’t even be able to say it, yet she could say it so naturally, so that someone hearing it didn’t even feel her motives were impure.
Also laughing, Shen Wuhai said, “It’s no big deal, I’ve said already to Brother Sheng that 10,000 taels of gold is not a small amount. If we traded places, how could I not be tempted as well?”
Sheng Jian sighed, “What I admire most is out dear Brother Shen’s broad-mindedness. No matter what it is, he really takes others into consideration.”
Sister As You Wish took over with a smile, “Your servant has another impudent remark to make: given Mr. Shen’s actions over the past two years, it’s really no sin to want to acquire Sword King Palace’s large reward.”
She laughed again. “However, now having met Mr. Shen in person, your servant’s view is different.”
Shen Wuhai smiled. “Because I don’t seem like a person who goes around killing people, right?”
Sister As You Wish said, “You could say that, but that’s not what your servant means to say.”
Shen Wuhai said, “Then what does Big Sister mean to say?”
Sister As You Wish said, “If Mr. Shen were to deny that it was he who killed those people, then your servant believes him. But your servant knows that Mr. Shen will certainly not deny it. So your servant suspects that the people indeed truly were killed by Mr. Shen, but there must be more to it than this. If your servant will be permitted to speak a bit more affirmatively, the people who died by Mr. Shen’s hand probably died for a reason.
“Your servant wouldn’t’ go so far as to say that Mr. Shen does not seem like a person who goes around killing people, but at least you don’t seem like someone who randomly kills people!”
Sheng Jian wordlessly, soundlessly drained his cup of wine.
He really wished that he became a mute after this. A person who opens his mouth had best keep it closed for good unless he could talk like this woman could, or else you’d just make yourself feel ashamed.
Shen Wuhai raised his wine cup in both hands. “I really wish others felt the same way, but so far I fear you’re the only one who does, Big Sister. This cup is offered respectfully for you, Big Sister, as a small token of my gratitude!”
Any other woman would have been ready to follow up with another question: “So then, why did you kill all those people?”
If this woman had asked that then she wouldn’t be fit to be called Sister As You Wish.
Because if Shen Wuhai were willing to give his reason for killing those people, then he would have said it on his own in the course of this conversation.
If he didn’t say, that means he didn’t want to say.
An intelligent woman would never ask a question that someone didn’t want to answer, or they wouldn’t be an intelligent woman.
This principle sounds simple, but unfortunately out of a ten woman, nearly nine would not be willing to give it some serious thought.
The vibe of the banquet was getting more and more friendly.
The three of them had drank quite a bit, Sheng Jian felt it was more or less time for him to tactfully excuse himself.
He waited for a good opportunity, then feigned surprise, “Ah ah, look how muddleheaded I am, yesterday I made an appointment with a good friend to meet him at noon today. I almost forgot…”
Sister As You Wish said, “Then shouldn’t you best be going?”
Sheng Jian said, “Yes, I better be getting on. You all go keep drinking, once I’ve met with my friend, I’ll come back and accompany you…”
Shen Wuhai said, “What’s so important about this appointment with your friend?”
Sheng Jian said, “It’s nothing important, it’s just that I already made arrangements, it would be impolite not to go. Did you have something else for me, dear brother?”
Shen Wuhai nodded. “Yes, I have a little something I thought to trouble you with, Brother Sheng.”
Sheng Jian hurriedly said, “If you have something, dear brother, then that’s another matter. My friend if just an acquaintance, it’s okay if I don’t go. What is it you need, dear brother?”
Shen Wuhai said, “I’ve never been good with figures, so I wanted to ask Brother Sheng to take brush and paper and do the calculations for me.”
Sheng Jian couldn’t help being struck dumb on the spot!
He assumed, given your intelligence, kid, you ought to have seen that my excuse was all so you two could have time alone, but you, kid, want to grab me now to do figures for you, isn’t that just spoiling the fun?
Though that’s what he was thinking, when he opened his mouth he had to agree. “Alright, I’ll go get brush and paper.”
A short while later, brush and paper acquired, Sister As You Wish had cleared the table.
She didn’t ask why Shen Wuhai wanted to reckon accounts now, not did she ask why he what kind of account he was reckoning, she just smiled and followed. As if no matter what Shen Wuhai suggested, she was interested.
One might well ask, what man doesn’t like a woman like that?
Everything was in order, it was just a matter of Waiting for Shen Wuhai to open his mouth.
Shen Wuhai pondered a while, then slowly looked up, his gaze moving to Sheng Jian, who was holding a brush, ready to write. “I want to buy a hundred acres of land in the capital. At the current price, Brother Sheng, how much silver do you think would be needed to purchase it?”
Sheng Jian was dumbstruck when he heard that!
Even Sister As You Wish looked puzzled.
And why not? The Killer Star didn’t want to buy anything, so why did he suddenly think of land now?
Shen Wuhai smiled. “Hard to calculate, isn’t it?”
Sheng Jian promptly composed himself and answered, “Oh… It’s… not that… I think around one or two thousand taels should be enough to buy it.”
Shen Wuhai nodded. “Then let’s say 2,000 taels.”
Sheng Jian couldn’t help blinking, and asked, “Dear brother, what do you intend to do with such a large amount of land?”
Shen Wuhai was smiling, looking at him. “What do you think?”
Sheng Jian said hesitantly, “Build a mansion?”
Shen Wuhai nodded. “Right! After I buy the land, I plan to spare no expense in hiring the nation’s most famous builders and craftsman to use the best quality materials to build a modern-day Golden Valley Gardens.1 Inside this mansion, in addition to multi-storied buildings, terraces, gazebos, and pavilions, it will also have a sumptuous wooded garden, rock gardens, flowing springs, rare flowers and exotic plants. It will have it all.”
Now Sheng Jian understood perfectly. Turns out this kid had suddenly become interested in thinking of starting a family.
He thought, what a ridiculous and yet also pitiable kid, after just a few cups of wine with this woman. He’d forgotten all about the precarious state he was instead indulging in fantasies about such a beautiful dream! It’s said that lust doesn’t blind, one blinds oneself. This famous dictum was really not a bit wrong.
Shen Wuhai lifted his chin and said, “Brother Sheng, please calculate it for me again. About how much silver would it cost to build such a mansion?”
Sheng Jian wrote figures on the paper for a bit, then looked up and said, “For construction, I’m a complete layman. If you really want to ask, dear brother, I can only give you a rough estimate.”
Shen Wuhai said, “A rough estimate is fine.”
Sheng Jian said, “Based on my calculations, the cost of construction might not be less than the cost of the land, maybe even a bit more.”
Shen Wuhai said, “Write down 2,000 taels more, you think that would be enough?”
Sheng Jian said, “I think that will definitely not be enough.”
Shen Wuhai said, “Then write down 2,000 taels more.”
Sheng Jian, as told, wrote another 2,000 taels underneath the first 2,000.
Shen Wuhai waited till he’d finished writing, then coughed lightly. “Also, I plan to host a group of hangers-on year-round to keep me company when I have free time, drinking, play weiqi.”
Sheng Jian said, “That expense is limited.”
Shen Wuhai said, “Not necessarily.”
Sheng Jian said, “Why?”
Shen Wuhai said, “It’s not an easy thing to become one of the hangers-on in my mansion.”
Sheng Jian said, “What kind of hangers-on does my dear brother have in mind?”
Shen Wuhai said, “Generally speaking, a retainer has to have some ink in his belly,2 or a particular skill to gain the master’s favor an be considered qualified. But the kind of retainer I want, aside from what I’ve just mentioned, has to possess breadth of mind that surpasses other men, because when I’m in low spirits I might take it out on them. They have to be able to take it.”
Sheng Jian said, “Money can make a ghost turn a millstone, as long as you have silver, dear brother, that kind of person is not hard to find.”
He paused. “What else?”
Shen Wuhai said, “Besides this, I also want a loyal, devoted steward, a personal secretary proficient in writing, two master chefs, a team of capable, agile guards, a throng of hardworking servants, four pageboys, four stableboys, and a bevy of comely concubines who can sing and dance, and who are good at understanding what a person wants!”
Sheng Jian carefully listened quietly, nodding all the while, as if a person living in this world ought to have such extravagance.
Until the final thing, when Shen Wuhai said he wanted a bevy of concubines. Dagger Within a Smile couldn’t help but widen his eyes at that, looking like he couldn’t believe it.
Had the kid misspoken?
Or had he misheard?
Everyone knew that what women hated most, besides fear of getting old, was men taking concubines.
This kid had just courted this woman’s favor, why did he thoughtlessly say something like that?
Shen Wuhai continued as if it were nothing, “Anyone who follows me, no matter high or low status, will have an excellent life with me. As for my own pleasure, that of course goes without saying. Now, Brother Sheng please roughly calculate it again and see, how much it will cost to maintain all that for one year?”
Sheng Jian composed himself and calculated again, then looked up and said, “To support so many people will cost a pretty sum, you might not believe it, dear brother, when I tell you. I fear it will cost even more than building the mansion…”
Shen Wuhai cut him off, “Is 3,000 taels of silver for one year enough?”
Sheng Jian said, “More or less.”
Sheng Jian said, “Ten years then is 30,000 taels, right?”
Sheng Jian said, “Yes.”
Shen Wuhai said, “A livelihood like that, if a person could live like that for ten years he ought not have any complaints, right?”
Sheng Jian said, “Ten years? Heh! If I could live like that for just three years, you could ask me to be the majestic thearch and I’d refuse!”3
Shen Wuhai laughed. “Add up all these expenses, including the cost of purchasing the land and building the mansion, and the total comes to 34,000 taels of silver, correct?”
Sheng Jian said, “Correct.”
Shen Wuhai said, “What’s the current exchange rate between gold and silver? A tael of gold can be exchanged for how many taels of silver?”
Sheng Jian said, “It depends on the quality of the silver. Treasury-weighed silver is roughly 25 taels or so.”
Shen Wuhai said, “Let’s take the treasury scale then. How much gold would be 34,000 taels of silver?”
Sheng Jian calculated it and answered, “All of it converted to gold would be 1,360 taels exactly!”
Shen Wuhai nodded but said nothing. After a time, he sighed. “You see, a person needs only 1,360 taels of gold to enjoy ten years of a life that you wouldn’t even trade the south-facing king4 for. I really don’t understand why no one can be satisfied, but insists on having all of the Sword King Palace’s reward money for themselves! What’s left over you couldn’t even spend, I don’t understand what use it has?”
Sheng Jian’s heart pounded and his expression took on a somewhat awkward look.
He really expected that the kid had been enchanted by Sister As You Wish’s beauty and only then had come up with this silly carefree dream of land, mansions, establishing a family, yet he never imagined that the kid had been stone sober and calm the whole time, never forgetting for a second, not even before a woman’s beauty, the crisis he was in laying low like this.
This Dagger Within a Smile was fidgety now and couldn’t help but inwardly marvel: was this kid really not aroused at all by this woman Sister As You Wish’s beauty?
He didn’t believe it!
Not even Sheng himself had ever seen a man not be aroused by this woman Sister As You Wish’s beauty, including himself.
This woman was the final masterstroke, the final killing blow of this whole game. If not even a woman like Sister As You Wish could bewitch this kid, then that was rather too frightening. And so a new thought emerged from the depths of his mind: of the thirty-six stratagems, the best one was to flee.
He would take a risk on luck only once. If the situation was unfavorable, he felt it was best to slip away as soon as possible.
Thinking this, he couldn’t help but turn around and pretend to be checking whether everyone’s wine cup was full or not, taking the opportunity to furtively glance at that woman. Sister As You Wish was still smiling.
That smile had never left the woman’s face. In fact, it seemed to be getting more and more charming.
Sheng Jian relaxed.
Though he wasn’t as calm as she was, he was skilled at reading the room.
Now he saw that this woman was not the least bit flustered, so he calmed down.
He’d known this woman a long time, knew her ins and outs, and what he knew better than anyone, was that no matter how difficult the fiend or evil devil was to handle, this woman had her own way of dealing with them, and she had never missed once.
Since this woman had been fully confident from beginning to end, what did he have to worry about?
Shen Wuhai coughed softly and slowly continued, “I have something to say. I wonder if you two will believe me when I say it?”
Sheng Jian hurriedly said, “Of course we’ll believe you!”
Shen Wuhai said, “If you two can for the time being forget about the Sword King Palace’s reward and meanwhile do something for me, I guarantee that pretty soon there will be 3,000 taels of gold for each of you in your future!”
※ ※ ※
Following that came a moment of dead silence.
The smile for the first time disappeared from Sister As You Wish’s face.
Sheng Jian seemed to have been frozen in place, sitting there stunned, not moving, eyes and mouth wide open, as if he wasn’t sure if he were dreaming or not.
And why not?
3,000 taels of gold, no , no, it was two sets of 3,000 taels. That was more than double the Sword King Palace’s reward. Was this kid dreaming or joking?
But the two of them could see that the Killer Star was serious, that he was clearly not dreaming nor joking!
If the Killer Star wasn’t dreaming nor joking, then where was the kid going to get 6,000 taels of gold?
Though the Killer Star had killed many people over the past two years, there was never any mention of the Killer Star plundering anyone.
At the same time, most importantly, given this kid’s ability, what was there he couldn’t do himself, that he needed someone else’s help to accomplish?
Shen Wuhai seemed to see through their thinking and smiled faintly. “I know you two can’t believe it, but I have no way to make you believe it right now, because now is not the right time to reveal the true situation. Right now all I can do is repeat that, if you two will believe me, you will for sure receive 3,000 taels of gold, 3,000 taels a piece, and not a bit less!”
Sheng Jian moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue and was about to open his mouth to speak when Shen Wuhai cut him off by raising his wine cup in both hands. “Come, now let’s drink!”
Sheng Jian could only hold back what he had been going to say. “Yes, let’s drink.”
Saying that, he reached out to pick up his own wine cup in both hands. Sister As You Wish glanced sidelong at him and said, smiling, “There’s nothing for you to do here, now that you’re free, why don’t you go see that friend of yours?”
Notes
- 金谷園. Golden Valley Gardens was the palatial country villa of Shi Chong 石崇 of the Jin dynasty.
- i.e. literary talent
- Majestic thearch translates 皇帝 huangdi, usually translated “emperor. I translate it majestic thearch because that’s what it is. That’s literally what it means. Some scholars translate 皇 as resplendent and so resplendent thearch. But this is China, not Rome, nor anywhere else in Europe. Let Chinese institutions stand on there own as much as possible, I say, especially when the translation doesn’t stack up to the scope and loftiness of the original. Emperor means military commander, how can you use such a low title to translate 皇帝? When Ying Zheng and his State of Qin conquered all of China and became the first majestic thearch, he took the titles of the ancient sovereigns, the Three Majesties, whose identities differ, but one explanation is it’s Fuxi, Shennong, and Nuwa, or Fuxi, Shennong and the Yellow Thearch, or the Heavenly Majesty, Earthly Majesty, and Human Majesty, etc.; that’s the 皇 in 皇帝. The 帝 refers to the Five Thearchs, also variously identified, but for example: Yellow Thearch, Zhuanxu, Di Ku, Yao, and Shun. Ying Zheng took these two sets of legendary rulers and combined the titles into one, 皇帝, implying that he was higher, loftier than all these ancient godkings. Thus 秦始皇帝 Qin Shihuangdi, the title Ying Zheng gave himself, means the “Inaugural Majestic Thearch of Qin”. Quite a bit more impressive than a mere military commander, wouldn’t you say?
- i.e. the majestic thearch
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