My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 710

Yang Chen watched Xun Chen's face slowly turn pale. Xun Chen's pride was completely shattered as he gave a bitter smile.

“If so, then I have been thinking too much. Yes, I am just a failure. Why would His Highness fancy me? Why would a failure like me specifically be headhunted?” Xun Chen laughed bitterly. He remembered Xu Shao's evaluation of himself as one of the Five Heroes of the Xun Family whose talent would flourish if he was not arrogant. Xun Chen never cared and regarded his own arrogance as his biggest help. After all, he was a noble. How can nobles compare to lowly commoners?

In addition, Xun Chen helped Yuan Shao take over Jizhou. Yuan Shao then lived up to expectations and became the Conqueror of Hebei. This made Xun Chen even more arrogant. He looked down on great scholars that came from humble families such as Tian Feng and Ju Shou. Because of this, Xun Chen even felt disdainful to participate in their strategems. In his opinion, only people of noble lineage should study. Why should the poor be on equal footing with them?

Because of this, Xun Chen never cooperated with Tian Feng and Ju Shou. He even oppressed them. The only benefit is that Xun Chen's arrogance also stopped him from takingYuan Tan or Yuan Shang's side. Otherwise, it would have brought him a fatal disaster.

Yang Chen knew that if he continued to speak, Xun Chen would not even return to Yangzhou.

“I am just a commodity. Haha.” Xun Chen laughed and then said to Yang Chen. “Your Excellency. Please go back and tell His Highness that I cannot go to Yangzhou.” Xun Chen's heart was already dead. He walked to the edge of the warship and planned to jump over. When he does, he would not have a chance of surviving at all.

“Master Yang?” The deputy was anxious. They came looking for Yuan Shao's talents. If the talent does not return, they would not be able to explain themselves to Liu Mang. If Xun Chen were to die, he had to die at Yangzhou. If Xun Chen were to die at the ocean, it would be their fault. Since they would not be able to escape responsibily if this were to happen, they wanted Yang Chen to quickly send people to stop Xun Chen.

“Haha. Let him go!” Rather than stop Xun Chen, Yang Chen seemed eager to let Xun Chen kill himself.

“Thank you Your Excellency.” Xun Chen nodded at Yang Chen with thanks. Since he could not live with dignity, at least he could die with dignity. Just as Xun Chen was ready to end his own life, Yang Chen suddenly spoke again.

“No wonder Xun Chen's talent is not much use. Go and die. After that, I will be sure to erect a grave here saying that the coward Xun Chen could not compare himself to Tian Feng and Ju Shou and then killed himself out of shame.” Yang Chen spoke as though it was nothing special but it sounded like the most malicious words in Xun Chen's ears.

“Yang Chen! You!” Xun Chen glared at Yang Chen. If Yang Chen were to do this after Xun Chen dies here, then Xun Chen's name would go down in history as a joke.

“Yang Chen! Can't I be allowed to die in peace?” Xun Chen glared. Humiliating a living person was one thing but was Yang Chen unwilling to even spare a dead person?

"You can! Master Xun Chen can do as he pleases!" Yang Chen waved his hand and then addressed his men. "Men, give Master Xun Chen some space for him to commit suicide. The water is deep. Once you jump in, it would be difficult to save you without officers that know how to swim." Yang Chen politely said. "If this is not pleasant for you, we also have silk cloth for you to hang yourself with. You will surely die from this. It may hurt a little but I am sure you don't mind. Or perhaps you would prefer to die by the sword?" Yang Chen's words made Xun Chen feel more humiliated.

What do the ancient people care about? Warriors wanted military merits while scholars were more complicated. Some wanted to be famous, some wanted to make the world a better place, some wanted their talents to be used by a monarch. However, the common point is that they all wanted their names to go down history as someone great rather than infamy.

Xun Chen was not afraid of death. He was afraid of having a bad reputation after death.

"Yang Chen! What do you want?" Xun Chen could not help but ask. He did not expect himself to be in the palms of the young man in front of him.

Yang Chen smiled when he heard this. If it comes to scheming against others, Yang Chen would not be able to win against Xun Chen. However, if it comes to extortion, Xun Chen would have to call him ancestor. After all, Yang Chen's father Yang Hong was also skilled at this. He could smile and make you unable to live or die.

"If you really want to die without any problems, you have to return the money to us first." Yang Chen replied.

"What money?" Xun Chen asked subconciously.

"Of course it is the money for Yangzhou's equipment."

"Just a few hundred swords?" Xun Chen smiled bitterly. Xun Chen did not know if he was that worthless or Yang Chen was being miserly. "Master Yang Chen. I will write you a letter. Go to Xudou to find my brother Xun You. He will give you the money." ℟ἈꞐỖ𝐁Ёs̩

"Really?" Yang Chen asked with a smile.

"Of course." Xun Chen nodded. Although he did not have the face to go back to the Xun Family, he was still one of the Xun Family's members. They would be willing to pay for just a few hundred swords.

"Alright. Write it down! Men, bring pen and ink for Master Xun Chen so that we can send him off earlier!" Yang Chen ordered. Xun Chen felt disdainful looking at Yang Chen's profiteering expression. However, he was happy to be able to break free.

"Okay. Master Xun Chen can go and die now." Yang Chen said casually after receiving the IOU from Xun Chen. This made Xun Chen's heart burn with anger but he did not bother since he was about to die anyway. He walked back towards the deck and took a deep breath. People had a lot of thoughts right before death. Just as he steeled himself and said his goodbyes to the world, he was stopped by Yang Chen again.

"Wait! Master Xun Chen cannot die yet."

"Huh?"

"Master Xun Chen. This IOU is wrong." Yang Chen said and pointed at the document in his hand.

"What's wrong with it?" Xun Chen asked as he supressed his anger.

"You did not sign it. Without any signature, who knows if it is real?" Yang Chen looked at Xun Chen as though Xun Chen wanted to default on his debt.

Xun Chen supressed his anger and stepped back. He then got someone to bring his seal over so that he could stamp on the letter.

"Okay. Master Xun Chen can go and die now." Xun Chen felt like strangling Yang Chen to death after hearing this but he refrained. Just as he managed to steel himself again, he was once again stopped by Yang Chen. This time, the excuse was that there was no date on the letter. Who knows if the others would accuse Yang Chen of forging it.

So once again, Xun Chen stepped back to correct the letter. Then he once again steeled himself to commit suicide.

"Wait! Master Xun Chen cannot die yet!" Yang Chen once again stopped Xun Chen.

Xun Chen felt like crying. Why is it so hard to die? He was about to ignore Yang Chen and jump off the ship anyway when Yang Chen's loud voice rang out. "Master Xun Chen. Do not blame me for not reminding you. If you do not come back, I will really erect a monument here. My Lord may even send a letter to Xudou requesting to give you a posthumous Marquis title. What should I write on your grave then? Debt defaulting Marquis?" Yang Chen provoked.

"You are the Marquis! Your entire family are Marquises!" Xun Chen cannot take it anymore and shouted. Yang Chen was holding on to his weakness and he cannot do anything about it.

"That is better." Yang Chen said as he handed the IOU letter back to Xun Chen.

"What's wrong now? The seal, the date, everything is there! What do you want?"

"Master Xun Chen. All of it is there but the amount of money is wrong." Yang Chen explained.

"Amount of money is wrong?" Xun Chen was skeptical. He wrote there that he owed the King of Shu three thousand gold.

"It is not three thousand gold." Yang Chen shook his head.

"Then how much is it? I will just write it down!" Xun Chen looked at Yang Chen with contempt. Yang Chen was profiteering too much. Xun Chen does not want to associate himself with such a villain.

"This is the number." Yang Chen said and raised six fingers.

"Six thousand gold. Fine. Greedy!" Although Xun Chen felt that six thousand gold was too much, he still modified the IOU. After writing everything down and stamping it with the seal, he gave it to Yang Chen.

"Can I die now?" Xun Chen asked Yang Chen. He made up his mind that he would not care even if Yang Chen does something weird again.

"Not yet!" Yang Chen immediately shook his head.

"Why?" Xun Chen was really angry. He glared at Yang Chen. "Can't I even die? I don't believe that you can stop me!"

"Haha. I cannot stop you but you haven't even paid back the money you owe. People like you are really untrustworthy. It's ridiculous that the Xun Family has such a person!" Yang Chen did not give Xun Chen any face at all.

"You are not allowed to insult the Xun Family!" Xun Chen may not have the face to go back to the Xun Family but he still could not allow outsiders to humiliate them.

"Then you have to pay back that money!"

"I have promised you six thousand gold. What else do you want?" Xun Chen shouted.

"Six thousand gold! Haha! Master Xun Chen. Do you think we are beggars?" Yang Chen sneered.

"Then how much do you want?" Xun Chen finally knew that Yang Chen was really a profiteer. He only wants money.

"I just want a small amount. Sixty thousand gold!" Yang Chen said as he stretched out six fingers.

"Hahaha! Are all the people under His Highness the King of Shu so arrogant? You want sixty thousand gold for a few hundred swords? Why don't you just go and rob?" Xun Chen finally could not help but shout. How can the Xun Family afford sixty thousand gold? Even if they could, they would not spend it all just for Xun Chen.

"Rob? Haha. Looks like people who are about to die don't even care about their face anymore!" Yang Chen sneered. "Let me tell you. It is not a hundred swords but a thousand. A thousand swords that are made from Yangzhou. Each sword are at least sixty gold! I gave this price in consideration of your status! I also am not scamming you. If you can bring me this amount, you can do whatever you like!"

"Huh?" Xun Chen's emotions swayed when he saw Yang Chen's expression. But he still sneered and asked. "I want to see what kind of sword is priced sixty gold each! Is it such a treasure? Your Excellency. Do you want me to give you the time to find two treasure sword?" Xun Chen wanted to expose Yang Chen's lies. He did not believe that Yang Chen could produce two proper top quality swords.

"No need! You want to see the swords right? Men, take out your swords!" Yang Chen ordered the guards.

"Understood!" The guards all took out their swords.

"Why? Do you want to silence me?" Xun Chen was not afraid. Getting killed here would just save himself the trouble of killing himself.

"Silence you? Haha. You think too highly of yourself. Didn't you say you want to see our swords? Go ahead. I am letting you see them! Men, lend Xun Chen your swords!" Yang Chen ordered.

"Understood!" The guards all quickly dropped their swords.

"All of these are…?" Xun Chen looked back at Yang Chen skeptically.

"Do as you wish." Yang Chen waved his hand.

Xun Chen picked up the sword from the ground and inspected it. It was indeed a good sword but no matter how good it is, it cannot be worth sixty gold.

The sword may not cost sixty gold but that is only for the forging cost of it. As the sword were forged using molten iron, it was stronger than the swords forged by the other blacksmiths. As it takes a long time for the blacksmith to grind the blade and other processes, it normally costs between ten to a hundred gold for good swords. Liu Mang made the craftsmen skip the casting process entirely which increased work efficiency.

As for the iron, the iron processed using the ancient method was brittle. Though it was still good enough to make weapons that can kill, when compared to weapons made out of properly processed iron, it was much worse.

"Bring me my sword!" Xun Chen could not see the greatness of the sword and decided to compare it with his own.

The guards turned to Yang Chen. No one dared to bring Xun Chen his sword without Yang Chen's approval. They only moved after Yang Chen nodded.

Xun Chen's sword was a sword made from meteorite iron. His family had spent a hundred gold to hire an old blacksmith to forge it. Of course, this sword was more symbolic than practical in the hands of Xun Chen.

Xun Chen used this sword to slash at Yangzhou's swords. He did it several times in a row, making the guard feel heartbroken. To soldiers, their sword was their second life.

Soon, Xun Chen's sword broke and a piece of the blade flew off, cutting Xun Chen's face. However, Xun Chen was not angry.

His sword which was worth a hundred gold actually lost when normally it was the other way around.

"Impossible!" Xun Chen could not believe it. He took another sword and repeated the test only to meet the same result. After he tested out enough swords to make the Yangzhou soldiers distressed enough to want to kill him, he finally figured out that these swords were all precious swords tempered a thousand times.

His own sword was worth a hundred gold. If a sword can break his sword, then that sword must be worth more. Sixty gold was indeed a small amount.

"What do you think, Master Xun Chen? Did I lie to you? Pay me back the money. If you can, whether you live or die will have nothing to do with our Yangzhou Army." Yang Chen said to Xun Chen.

"One thousand swords so that is sixty thousand gold? Hahaha." Xun Chen laughed bitterly. He had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, he really cannot afford to die. Even if he were to sell himself, he would not be able to raise sixty thousand gold. In other words, his life was really in Yangzhou's hands. On the other hand, he realized that he was bought for sixty thousand gold. That high value made him happy. At the very least, his little brother and nephew did not have this price on their heads.

"Milord. This is really buying bones with a thousand gold." Yang Chen said as he looked at Xun Chen. Yang Chen's own expression was complicated. On one hand, he felt contempt for Xun Chen who is so arrogant yet want to die at every turn. However, he also felt envious that Xun Chen was bought for sixty thousand gold. When will Yang Chen be worth that much?

"A thousand gold to buy bones?" Xun Chen also muttered to himself after hearing Yang Chen's words. He had heard this proverb when he was a child.

This proverb was when King Zhao of Yan became monarch and eliminated civil strife. He wanted to recruit talented people but nobody came to him. Guo Kui then advised King Yan by telling him a story. There was a monarch who wanted to buy a good horse with a thousand gold but was unable to even after three years. An unknown person then volunteered to buy the horse and the king agreed. The man took three months. He returned with the bones of a horse he bought for five hundred gold and presented it to the king. The king was very unhappy to see the horse bones bought at a high price. The man who bought the horse then said that he did it to let everyone in the world know that the king was serious about buying good horses. That the king was willing to pay a high price to buy good horses and will not deceive others. Sure enough, in less than a year, many places sent good horses over trying to sell them.

After telling that story, Guo Kui said to King Zhao of Yan that if he wants talents, he had to show that he was serious like the king in the story. Guo Kui told King Zhao of Yan to start with him and once people see that Guo Kui could be used, people with more talents will come over. King Zhao of Yan thought that this was reasonable to he worshipped Guo Kui as a teacher and even gave a generous salary. King Zhao of Yan then had a Golden Terrace build as a place to recruit talents and after twenty years, Yan finally became strong and defeated Qi, regaining the occupied lands.

Xun Chen once envied this story. If someone could treat him like that good horse, then he would definitely strive his best and not let that person down. Yet now that this has come true, Xun Chen did not dare to accept it.

"Xun Chen… Xun Chen…" Xun Chen suddenly knelt down. Naturally, he was not kneeling to Yang Chen but towards the South. Towards Yangzhou.

"How can this Xun Chen be so appreciated by His Highness? I do not deserve it!" Xun Chen suddenly cried out loudly. Xun Chen was a proud person. His talent made him even more proud. However, Yuan Shao's defeat left him in a mess. He began to doubt his own talent. Yang Chen's words only made him feel even worse. But now he found out how much the King of Shu was paying for his service. Though it would be an inferior one, sixty thousand gold was already enough to raise an army of one hundred thousand men. This amount was given just for one person.

How could Xun Chen not feel moved when given such good treatment? If you treat someone like a national hero, he would definitely pay it back like a national hero. Xun Chen was no longer angry at being treated like a commodity. He even felt guilty that the King of Shu treated a loser like him so well. How was he supposed to return the favor?

"Master Xun Chen. To be honest, I am envious of you. Sixty thousand gold! Hahaha! When will I be worth so much?" Yang Chen said bitterly as he helped Xun Chen up.

"But I also admire your talent. You have helped Yuan Shao capture Jizhou. That deed alone is worth the money." Yang Chen comforted Xun Chen. Xun Chen helped Yuan Shao take Jizhou without bloodshed. He even annexed the troops left behind by Han Fu, the former governor of Jizhou. He was the reason Yuan Shao could grow his army and compete with Gongsun Zan.

"Master Xun Chen. You have talent but you lack a Lord who knows how to make use of your talent. There are often good horses but no good horse trainers!" Yang Chen's words managed to placate Xun Chen.

Yes, he was one of the Five Heroes of the Xun Family. If it weren't for him, Yuan Shao would not have been able to take Jizhou. Without Jizhou, Yuan Shao would not have been able to conquer Hebei.

"Master Xun Chen. Are you really willing to be inferior to others?" Yang Chen provoked. "Xun Yu and Xun You of the Five Heroes are Cao Cao's trusted confidants. They hold high positions. Once Cao Cao captures Hebei, they would become even more famous. Are you willing to be less well known compared to your little brother and nephew?"

"I… I refuse!" How could Xun Chen want the world to only recognize his younger brother and nephew but not the older brother? Xun Chen thought this but he still lacked confidence. After all, he was already defeated. "But do I have the chance? Do I have the ability and the opportunity?"

"Don't worry, Master Xun Chen. As long as you have the ability, you will have a place in this world sooner or later!" Yang Chen comforted Xun Chen. "Have you heard of the recruitment order?"

"The recruitment order?" Xun Chen asked doubtfully. When Liu Mang issued the order to recruit talents, he had only just captured Lujiang which was just one region. Everywhere else was deserted. At that time, Yuan Shao was already ruling Hebei and Xun Chen was in a high position. Naturally, he looked down on a small timer like Liu Mang. Liu Mang's small territory then grew until it became big and powerful. Nobody, not even Liu Mang himself, expected his territory to develop so quickly.

Yang Chen explained what the recruitment order is to Xun Chen. It meant that anybody with talent, regardless of their family background, can go to Yangzhou. They would only look at a person's talent and assign them accordingly. If someone can be a Prefect, then he will become one. Whatever the position is, Liu Mang would not be stingy.

"How can this be?" Xun Chen was unconvinced. Normally, all the good positions would be taken by the nobles. If you have a poor family background, you can only receive a high position if you are really outstanding.

And Liu Mang actually said that anyone with talent can get positions. Isn't this just provoking the nobles?

"The nobles? Hahaha." Yang Chen's lips curled with disdain. Liu Mang was least afraid of the nobles. He killed all the nobles when he was in Wancheng and later killed all the rebellious nobles in Jiangdong. The total number of nobles killed by Liu Mang have already reached at least ten thousand.

"Master Xun Chen. As long as you have talent, our Lord will definitely use you. He will even put you in an important position!" Yang Chen spoke praises for Liu Mang. He even talked about the matter with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu and also the offer Liu Mang gave them.

Yang Chen's words made Xun Chen restless. He wanted to get to Yangzhou as soon as possible. He wanted to see the King of Shu.

Yang Chen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xun Chen's current appearance. He was now assured that Xun Chen can no longer escape.