Luring Them with Profit

Yin Yunze had no idea what this man was thinking. Had he come to believe he was special after joining Sun Qin?

"Zhao Cheng! Shut your mouth!" Before Yin Yunze could react to the man's words, Sun Qin flew into a rage. "What right do you have to speak before Lord Yi Yun?!"

After berating him, Sun Qin hurriedly dropped to her knees and kowtowed. "Lord Yi Yun, I failed to keep him in line. Please punish me!"

At a time like this, the most important thing was to make her attitude clear.

Sun Qin could certainly have explained that Zhao Cheng had only recently joined her and had yet to get used to things.

But the problem was that explaining yourself after doing something wrong was just shirking responsibility. And what a leader hated most was someone shirking responsibility.

Once the leader's anger had cooled, there would naturally be plenty of time to explain things at leisure. There was no need to stir up unpleasantness while he was still angry.

Seeing Sun Qin's reaction, the other men were quick to respond as well, dropping to their knees one after another.

Only Zhao Cheng, the one who had spoken, remained standing there in a daze, making him stand out all the more.

Yin Yunze was naturally familiar with these men under Sun Qin. They were all cousins of her late husband, that dead bastard.

For that matter, back when Sun Qin had been raising Zhao Wan alone, these so-called brothers had bullied the widow and her fatherless child too.

It was only after Sun Qin had gained exclusive rights to trade with Yin Yunze and risen to a position even above the village chief that these so-called brothers had come shamelessly crawling back to claim kinship.

Although Sun Qin held those trading rights, she was only one person and couldn't possibly do everything herself.

Leaving other matters aside, she naturally needed others just to carry out Yin Yunze's orders more effectively.

And in this ancient rural society, Sun Qin really couldn't avoid employing these cousins who were related to her husband by blood.

After all, if she wouldn't even employ her own relatives, what would other people think of her?

Besides, Zhao Wan still had to address these men surnamed Zhao as uncles whenever she saw them. If Sun Qin truly refused to employ these cousins, Zhao Wan would probably have to endure her uncles' dirty looks wherever she went.

Even Empress Wu Zetian, strong-willed and ruthless as she was, had been forced by the circumstances of her time to pinch her nose and acknowledge the descendants of the brothers who had bullied her and her mother. She had even considered passing the throne to those nephews at one point.

In ancient rural society, people stood by family, not principle.

Standing by principle instead of family might look fair, but in truth, not only would it do you no good, your blood relatives would also point fingers at your back.

Fortunately, although they had bullied Sun Qin and her daughter, once these men surnamed Zhao had shamelessly come to attach themselves to her, they had proved reasonably obedient. Most of the time, they could be counted on to faithfully perform their duties as lackeys, so it was a win-win.

Yin Yunze naturally couldn't be bothered with this sort of messy bullshit. Sun Qin had already forgiven these brothers, so why should Yin Yunze play the dog catching mice and meddle in someone else's business?

Sun Qin could employ whoever she liked, so long as she didn't hold up Yin Yunze's affairs.

But clearly, this time, Sun Qin had made a mistake in her choice of subordinates.

Zhao Cheng was Sun Qin's man, after all, so it wouldn't do for Yin Yunze to punish him too harshly or too lightly.

After some thought, Yin Yunze let Sun Qin handle it herself. "Sun Qin, keep your own people in line. If this happens again, do not say you were not warned!"

"Thank you, Lord Yi Yun!"

Sun Qin felt relieved when she heard that, but her expression darkened. She rose from the ground, turned and walked over to Zhao Cheng, who was still standing there in a daze, then raised her hand and slapped him hard.

The blow was so forceful that the sharp crack of flesh striking flesh carried a long way.

Not only did a clear handprint appear on Zhao Cheng's face, but Sun Qin's right hand also trembled with pain after she drew it back.

After delivering the slap, Sun Qin showed him no mercy with her words either.

"Get out! Don't let me see you again!"

Clutching his face, Zhao Cheng replied in disbelief, "Sun Qin, you actually dared to hit me! You..."

"Why aren't you gone yet?!"

"Zhao Cheng, do you really have a death wish?!"

Before Zhao Cheng could finish throwing his tantrum, however, the men surnamed Zhao all got to their feet and unleashed a torrent of curses at him.

Unlike Zhao Cheng, who might have been genuinely stupid or merely thought himself clever, these men knew exactly what mattered more.

Sun Qin was the one Yin Yunze entrusted with every task. Surely that made her different from the other villagers in his eyes!

To make herself more credible, Sun Qin had kept nothing back, telling others about Yin Yunze's promise that Zhao Wan would never lack food or clothing.

So what did it have to do with Sun Qin and Zhao Wan if the other villagers had no water or rice?

An emperor did not send his soldiers to war hungry. If they followed the fox immortal, how could they fail to get by?!

Under these circumstances, as Sun Qin's followers, they obviously had to support her in the hope that she might let a little something slip through her fingers to them in the future!

Hadn't Sun Qin specifically called them over this time because the matter was difficult and she needed people to keep things under control?

This was precisely the time for them, her husband's cousins, to show how important they were!

And what had Zhao Cheng done? Instead of lending a hand, he had dragged them down!

If he spoke up for the villagers, at most they would remember his kindness.

But how much were the villagers capable of? How could the men not know? Even if they remembered his kindness, how much would that be worth?!

By comparison, Sun Qin only had to open her mouth to get several thousand jin of grain!

If Sun Qin truly lost the fox immortal's favor and trust, that would be something to regret when it was far too late.

For that reason, the anger of these men surnamed Zhao was no less than Zhao Cheng's.

After all, cutting off someone's livelihood was akin to killing their parents. That grudge was far greater than the anger over a slap.

The man surnamed Zhao who had called Zhao Cheng over even looked at him as though he wanted to kill him.

Zhao Cheng had ruined things, and he would probably be dragged down with him.

As the youngest among them, Zhao Cheng saw that these older brothers had abandoned their usual brotherly harmony and looked ready to beat him to death. Naturally, he understood that he had incurred everyone's wrath.

He immediately fell silent, not daring to breathe loudly. Clutching his face and hunching his shoulders, he slunk away.

Seeing that even Zhao Cheng, one of Sun Qin's own people, had been slapped across the face for saying the wrong thing, the village women, who knew they had caused a great deal of trouble, dared not say another word. They quietly slipped away one by one.

Neither Sun Qin nor Yin Yunze paid them any attention.

Giving Yin Yunze an assist had already been their greatest contribution.

Once the outsiders had all left, Sun Qin glanced over the men surnamed Zhao, gritted her teeth and deliberately asked, "Lord Yi Yun, does your promise to let me take five thousand jin of grain on credit still hold?"

Sun Qin felt somewhat uneasy as she asked.

Ordinarily, Sun Qin would have trusted Yin Yunze's character. But after what had just happened with Zhao Cheng, she was a little uncertain.

Still, Yin Yunze hadn't said anything earlier, so he probably wasn't dissatisfied with how she had handled it, was he?

Hearing Sun Qin's question, Yin Yunze had to admit that she was clever in her own way.

In a sense, the five thousand jin of credit and the gracious gift of grain were two different things.

What did tomorrow being the last time he gave out grain have to do with Yin Yunze's promise to let Sun Qin take five thousand jin on credit?

Sun Qin had, one might say, exploited a bug.

But Yin Yunze was willing to let her exploit this one.

Compared with the privilege of being able to request extra grain, exploiting this bug would have less impact.

The eyes of the men surnamed Zhao lit up when they heard Sun Qin bring it up.

In the past, Yin Yunze had handed out grain without restrictions. As long as someone had gold, the five thousand jin of grain on credit would only have helped those who were short of money.

But after the order restricting grain and cutting off the water, the value of those five thousand jin of grain naturally rose with the tide.

They might even be their chance of survival in the future.

Yin Yunze had only promised that Zhao Wan would never lack food or clothing. That might not be enough for the large group of families belonging to the men surnamed Zhao.

But five thousand jin of grain was enough to feed several dozen people for a year.

Whether they would actually need it or not, only with grain in hand could they feel at ease.

Once they understood this, the men surnamed Zhao all looked anxiously at Yin Yunze.

"It still holds." Yin Yunze would still need Sun Qin's help with the things he had to do later, so naturally he wouldn't make things difficult for her.

However, Yin Yunze did add a restriction. "But once you have taken all five thousand jin of grain on credit, the allowance will not be reset, even if you hand over enough gold."

If certain privileges were too generous, they instead lost the value they should have had.

"I understand. Thank you, Lord Yi Yun!"

Although a restriction had been added, Sun Qin was perfectly content as long as her grain credit remained.

Turning to the men surnamed Zhao, Sun Qin said calmly, "Uncles, you must make sure the villagers understand Lord Yi Yun's order to restrict grain and cut off the water, all the reasons behind it, and the names of the people who caused trouble at the Fox Immortal Temple."

Like Yin Yunze, now that she had subordinates she could send on errands, Sun Qin naturally intended to have others handle these tasks that could easily offend people.

Hearing Sun Qin's order, the men surnamed Zhao showed a trace of hesitation, but they still nodded and left the Fox Immortal Temple together.

As things grew worse by the day, those five thousand jin of grain were a carrot dangling before them, leaving them no choice but to do their utmost.

After all, although five thousand jin of grain was theoretically enough to feed several dozen people for a year, when it came time to divide it, wouldn't who got more and who got less still depend on who had put in more effort?

Once the men surnamed Zhao had all left, Yin Yunze looked at Sun Qin, who was still waiting at the Fox Immortal Temple, then at the rain drizzling outside his window in the real world. "Sun Qin," he said softly, "go and bring Wan'er here too. Continue helping me perform the Rainfall Technique!"

"Yes!" Sun Qin nodded without the slightest surprise, then rose and left as well.