Rebuttal

Song Zhao had never expected that, as Yin Yunze revealed his strength step by step, he would no longer even be qualified to meet him.

Once he recognized that reality, however, Song Zhao accepted it quite readily.

After all, Song Zhao was only the chief of a small mountain village. He had no need to stand on principle.

"In that case, I'll tell you! Lady Sun, the first reason I came was to repay the tael of gold I owed Lord Fox Immortal. Besides that, I also brought..."

Song Zhao's purpose in coming was simple: wealth stirred the heart.

Making several times his investment in gold on a two-day round trip was far better than toiling away in the fields.

"Give it to me."

Once Sun Qin understood what Song Zhao meant, she held out her hand.

After all, the bundle Song Zhao had been deliberately trying to conceal only stood out all the more.

Song Zhao, however, did not want to hand it over to Sun Qin just like that. He still wanted to use it to negotiate. "I'd like to give this gold personally to..."

"Lord Yi Yun said that from now on, I'm to handle all these exchanges with you!" With the fox mask on, Sun Qin felt much bolder. "If you don't want to deal with me, then go back!"

"That's just your side of the..."

Song Zhao was about to object when he saw the nine-tailed white fox behind Sun Qin lower its head slightly, its gaze falling on him.

His face twitched, but Song Zhao handed Sun Qin the cloth bag containing the gold. "There are eleven taels of gold in all. Don't lose them! One tael is what we owed for the thousand jin of rice last time. With the remaining ten, we'd like to ask Lord Fox Immortal for another batch of rice!"

"Don't worry. I wouldn't dare play tricks in front of Lord Yi Yun."

After hearing Song Zhao, Sun Qin opened the cloth bag and examined it carefully, just to be safe.

Looking at the dozen or so gleaming pieces of gold, Sun Qin clicked her tongue inwardly. The old village chief had really put everything on the line.

Still, it made sense. Once those ten taels of gold were exchanged for rice and taken on a few trips to the county town, they could bring back fifty taels of gold.

If she had not already latched onto Yin Yunze's coattails, hadn't Sun Qin herself considered getting a share of it?

"Wait here."

After counting the pieces and checking that the weight was right, Sun Qin left those words and walked into the dilapidated temple with Zhao Wan and the gold.

She pushed the fox mask back onto the top of her head. Since Yin Yunze had already told her the ground was too dirty and would stain her clothes, Sun Qin did not kneel this time. She prayed standing up. "Lord Yi Yun, Sun Qin asks you to..."

"What is it?"

At Sun Qin's call, Yin Yunze, who had been watching for some time, appeared at once and asked a question to which he already knew the answer.

Yin Yunze had naturally watched everything that had happened earlier from beginning to end. He was not so carefree as to think Sun Qin could handle the task well on her first try.

For one thing, wasn't the illusory nine-tailed white fox his doing?

The fox mask was an ordinary one Yin Yunze had bought online for a few yuan. Nor did he have the ability to cast illusions on other objects and give them to others to use.

Yin Yunze had simply figured that since Song Zhao had not come yesterday, he was certain to come repay the debt today, the last day of the agreed period. So Yin Yunze had come early and waited for quite a while.

But waiting from early morning until the afternoon had left Yin Yunze somewhat irritated. What little goodwill he had toward Song Zhao had dwindled considerably.

Yin Yunze had previously considered bringing Song Zhao into the fold as a way to keep Sun Qin in check, but now he had abandoned the idea entirely.

All Yin Yunze wanted now was to help Sun Qin get a firm grip on the situation, so he would not have to waste time watching over matters like this in the future!

Without concerning herself with whether Yin Yunze was asking a question to which he already knew the answer, Sun Qin told him about Song Zhao.

Looking at the eleven taels of gold in the bundle, Yin Yunze naturally did not stand on ceremony.

After taking the gold, Yin Yunze gave Sun Qin some further instructions.

Once she had heard Yin Yunze's instructions, Sun Qin walked out of the dilapidated temple and returned to Song Zhao.

Seeing Sun Qin come out empty-handed with the mask back on, Song Zhao hurriedly asked:

"Lady Sun, what did Lord Fox Immortal say? Did he agree? Can we go in and carry the grain out?"

"Lord Yi Yun agreed." Sun Qin did not keep him in suspense. "You don't need to go in. I can deliver the grain right in front of you."

As she spoke, Sun Qin pressed her palms together and began praying to Yin Yunze.

Yin Yunze, who had already arrived at the warehouse, counted out the rice and sent it all over at once.

In an instant, dozens of bags of rice appeared rather abruptly on the open ground between Sun Qin and Song Zhao.

"Oh, it really appeared!"

"So much rice!"

"So it was true!"

Even though some of them had seen food conjured out of thin air before, the crowd still cheered at the miracle-like sight, as though watching a show.

It was hard to get these ancient farmers to behave properly unless they were forced to.

When Song Zhao saw the rice in packaging identical to that of the last batch, he was initially overjoyed.

But after he instinctively counted the bags, his expression suddenly turned cold.

Looking at Sun Qin, who was still wearing the mask, Song Zhao said sharply, "Widow Sun, what's going on? Why are there only five thousand jin of rice?"

At the previous rate of one thousand jin of rice per tael of gold, there should have been ten thousand jin here, not a mere five thousand!

With half the amount missing for no apparent reason, it was no wonder Song Zhao was upset.

"What's wrong with five thousand jin?" Armed with Yin Yunze's instructions, Sun Qin spoke unhurriedly. "Village Chief Song, what did you come here for?"

Yet in contrast to Sun Qin's composure, the illusory nine-tailed white fox behind her bared its teeth slightly, looking somewhat displeased.

"I... I came to ask for grain!"

The nine-tailed white fox's reaction did an excellent job of calming Song Zhao down, and he gave his answer.

Hearing this, Sun Qin pointed at the pile of rice before them and said softly, "Well, isn't the grain right here? You've already received the grain you asked for, so what are you dissatisfied with?"

"But..." That might be true, but with half the amount missing for no apparent reason, Song Zhao was still unwilling to accept it. "But last time, one tael of gold could clearly be exchanged for a thousand jin..."

"Village Chief Song, you seem to have mistaken one thing."

Looking at Song Zhao, Sun Qin said in a somewhat cold tone, "What do you take this place for? Is this a rice shop? Even if you went to a rice shop, prices would change three times a day! Let alone here—this is Lord Yi Yun's fox immortal temple. Is it a place for you to haggle?"

"Lord Yi Yun took pity on us and bestowed grain so that we could survive this year of disaster. Are you planning to use Lord Yi Yun's kindness as a tool for profit? That gold was offered to Lord Yi Yun freely, with nothing expected in return! And this grain was bestowed upon you out of Lord Yi Yun's pity!"

"From beginning to end, there was never any such agreement as one tael of gold for a thousand jin of rice! Do not measure Lord Yi Yun's compassion by your own selfishness! Never mind that Lord Yi Yun has already graciously bestowed five thousand jin upon you-even if he gave you not a single grain of rice, you would have no right to complain here!"

Quietly watching it all, Yin Yunze saw Sun Qin once again surpass herself with an unscripted speech and wanted to give her a big thumbs-up.

Wasn't dealing with situations like this exactly why he had taken Sun Qin as a subordinate?

If Yin Yunze had been the one to respond in these circumstances, whatever reason he gave would have damaged his image.

But having Sun Qin step forward solved that problem nicely.

What did the things Sun Qin did have to do with him, Lord Fox Immortal?

And only when the words came from an outsider like Sun Qin could Song Zhao and the others truly understand that thunder and rain alike were gifts of the sovereign!