What a Remarkable Person, Lan Ziyu

Lan Ziyu hesitated, saying, "Zhuge Jin is Kongming's elder brother, and I have a decent relationship with the Chancellor. If I truly leave him unable to fulfill his mission, it would indeed be inappropriate."

"Ah, yes, yes. For the sake of my second brother," Zhuge Jin immediately chimed in.

Lan Ziyu stroked his beard in thought. "Sir, you are truly setting me a difficult problem. I must consider the Chancellor's feelings, but my pricing is truly not high. I have a proposal for you to consider."

"Please, General, do share it," Zhuge Jin said, full of anticipation.

Lan Ziyu held up two fingers. "For the sake of Zhuge Jin, I offer two methods for you to choose from: a 'one-time price reduction' or 'multiple blind redemptions.'

"A one-time reduction means I lower the price by twenty percent for the first transaction. Multiple blind redemptions mean a flat rate of eighty percent of the original price, but this is limited to officers at the general level; ordinary soldiers will remain at the original price."

"I understand the one-time reduction, but what do you mean by multiple blind redemptions? My learning is shallow, so please, General, enlighten me," Zhuge Jin said, looking bewildered.

Lan Ziyu explained, "Blind redemption is like drawing lots. We cover the captives' heads with black cloth and then hand them over to you at random. For example, if there are three mid-level generals like Zhu Ran, but you have only gathered enough funds for two, or are only willing to redeem two, we will pick two at random to hand over. You might not necessarily end up with Zhu Ran. Does that make sense, Zhuge Jin?"

Zhuge Jin seemed to grasp the idea and pressed further, "If we choose blind redemption, are all generals eighty percent of the