Chapter 887: Money Paves the Way

**Chapter 878: Paving the Way with Money**

“Well, Lu San has actually sold off quite a bit of his ancestral property. I personally handled two of those sales, so of course, I know the situation best.”

Butler Feng tilted his head back and drained the last of the wine from his cup. Lu Qiowei quickly refilled his drink. “I remember one time,” Butler Feng continued, “Lu San’s wife even complained to him, saying that their grandson’s standard of living—his food, clothes, housing, and education—was far inferior to that of the chieftain’s children. Lu San replied, ‘Of course, Grand Tutor Xia’s grandson is precious; how can we possibly compare?’”

This “Grand Tutor Xia” naturally referred to Lu Zhensheng’s in-law, Xia Pei, who was the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince of the State of Mou.

“So, what’s the core issue?” Lu Qiowei asked, growing a little impatient. “How could the Lu family be poor?”

“It all stems from this marriage!” Butler Feng jabbed the table with each word to emphasize his point. “Their second son, Lu Qinglin, is smart and promising, so the old Lu family poured all their resources into cultivating him. Joining Qianyuan Valley cost a fortune; entering the Mou Royal Court cost a fortune. You see Lu Qinglin rising gloriously, but in reality, every step he took was paved with money. Only then could his path be wide and straight.”

This was Blade Harbor. Since they weren’t on Bailie’s territory, Butler Feng dared to call the Lu family members by their full names. Besides, he wasn’t planning on going back anyway.

Lu Qiowei played the role of a rustic bumpkin well, taking a swig of wine. “Qianyuan Valley has a great reputation,” he said. “I heard you can’t get in with just money.”

“Just money?” Butler Feng sneered. “Many people have just money; does that mean they can all enter this top-tier sect? The key is finding the right people, and you have to grease the wheels. That whole round of favors is very expensive! I heard Lu San say that Lu Zhensheng sought help from two elders of Qianyuan Valley, and the red envelopes he gave each of them were at least this amount—”

He held up two fingers.

“Two thousand taels?” asked Lu Qiowei.

“Multiply that by ten.”

“Twenty thousand silver taels?!” Lu Qiowei exclaimed. “That’s twenty million coins—that’s far too expensive! Is that considered a massive bribe? And the elders of Qianyuan Valley just have to open their mouths?”

He Lingchuan, who was sitting nearby, pressed his temples. What did twenty thousand silver taels even mean?

He Chunhua had painstakingly managed Red Cliff Road in Blackwater City for over a decade. His administrative skills and governance capabilities far surpassed those of average officials, and he had developed this frontier region into something resembling a provincial capital. Even so, Red Cliff Road’s annual revenue was only around one hundred and fifty thousand taels, and after deducting various expenses, there would still be several tens of thousands of taels remaining.

It was precisely because of this level of profitability that Red Cliff Road became the cash cow valued by the Rongshan Sect, making it qualified to be used as collateral by the State of Yuan.

Yet, thousands of miles away, Lu Zhensheng had bribed two elders of Qianyuan Valley, dropping forty thousand taels of silver in one go!

Did Lu Zhensheng have more money than sense, or were the spots in Qianyuan Valley simply too expensive?

“You think that’s all?” Butler Feng’s voice grew louder, perhaps fueled by the alcohol, as he observed Lu Qiowei’s naive expression. “What about the middlemen before and after? Don’t they need to be compensated? Do you think Lu Zhensheng just found those two elders on his first try?”

“And once he was in Qianyuan Valley, was that the end of it? No more greasing the wheels?”

“Huh? He’s already a disciple of Qianyuan Valley. What else needs to be ‘greased’?”

“Donations, of course! At Qianyuan Valley, they call them ‘contributions to support the valley’s work.’ Don’t those magnificent and opulent halls cost money? Do all those highly respected master teachers and experts impart their skills and knowledge for free?” Butler Feng said slowly. “Without donations, how would there be an opportunity to be officially sent by Qianyuan Valley to tour Beijia or Mou State? Without donations, how would there be an opportunity to intern with generals and high-ranking officials? Those are all arranged by Qianyuan Valley!”

“Just entering Qianyuan Valley costs so much money, and that’s not even mentioning his later entry into officialdom!” He picked up a piece of pig’s head meat. “There are so many talented young men in Mou State, so why was Lu Qinglin singled out by Miss Xia at first glance? Besides being handsome, could his demeanor, his cultivation, and his conversation really have been cultivated in the home of an ordinary minor lord?”

“So this is how a ‘heaven’s favorite’ is made?” Lu Qiowei subconsciously glanced at He Lingchuan. “The young master’s current achievements don’t seem to have cost much money, do they?”

He Lingchuan understood his gaze and couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Yes, his journey hadn’t cost much money. It just cost him dearly in terms of risk to his life. Several times he narrowly escaped death; if his luck had been even slightly worse, he would have been gone.

Lu Qinglin’s “meteoric rise” was, in fact, the normal path upward for children of aristocratic families: safe, efficient, and almost mass-produced.

“Up to that point, it would have been manageable; the Lu family could still afford it,” Butler Feng continued. “After all, they had such a large ancestral territory with abundant produce. But to curry favor with their in-laws, the Lu family’s spending truly became ferocious.”

“Not to mention anything else, the most beautiful garden in Qu City is at the Lu family’s estate, covering twenty qing of land, built just six or seven years ago, simply because Madam Xia once remarked, ‘There’s really nothing fun in Qu City.’” Butler Feng swirled his cup. “Do you know how much it cost to build that garden? I’ve seen the account books myself—a full six hundred sixty-seven thousand three hundred taels!”

“Six hundred sixty thousand...” Lu Qiowei murmured, counting on his fingers, unable to quite grasp the immense sum.

For He Lingchuan, it was much more intuitive: that sum was enough to cover Red Cliff Road’s taxes for over a decade.

“Six hundred sixty thousand taels,” Butler Feng repeated, “only to earn a satisfied smile from Madam Xia.”

“Not to mention, whether it was tribute from the Xia family or Mou State deploying troops, they found all sorts of pretexts to make the Lu family pay. If they didn’t pay, they had to send people. All these small states surrounding Mou State were the same.” Butler Feng shook his head. “Both of these are bottomless pits, do you understand?”

Lu Qiowei nodded. “War certainly costs a lot of money.”

No matter how rich Bailie was, its land area and financial resources were limited. If others came to extract a pound of flesh every few days, it simply couldn’t endure.

“So, outsiders may see Bailie as flourishing and having latched onto the high branch of Mou State,” Butler Feng concluded, “but in reality, their belts are getting tighter and tighter.”

Otherwise, why would Mou State back up the Lu family, who were just minor lords?

“I heard the State of Ya to the east is also quite wicked?”

“Oh, they’re a pack of hungry wolves, constantly carving flesh off Bailie!” Butler Feng couldn’t help but sigh. “Mou State used to frequently discipline Ya State, and several times they marched through Bailie to do so. As a result, Ya State came to resent Bailie and would cause trouble for them for no reason.”

Bailie lay between Mou State and Ya State, so if Mou State wanted to discipline Ya State, it naturally had to pass through Bailie.

“Now, Mou State and Beijia are at odds, and Mou has no time to look east, so Ya State has seized the opportunity to harass Bailie.” Butler Feng asked Lu Qiowei, “Late last year, Ya State also initiated a conflict, which ended with Bailie paying compensation. Ha, do you know how much Bailie paid?”

Lu Qiowei naturally shook his head.

“Three hundred fifty thousand taels!” Butler Feng shook his head. “This was even after Bailie negotiated; Ya State initially demanded four hundred thousand taels. To raise this money, Bailie sold two mines and a piece of land east of Blade Harbor.”

“It’s convenient to demand money like this, isn’t it? They ask, and you give.”

Butler Feng continued to recount many trivial matters about the Lu family, though it was unknown whether he added any embellishments. He Lingchuan had already heard the information he wanted, so he let Lu Qiowei and Butler Feng continue their conversation while he stood up, paid, and left.