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By the banks of the Fen River, two young Yellow Turban soldiers were lying prone on the riverbank, watching an older man ahead of them who was fishing with a sharpened stick.
"Can he actually catch anything with that?" the one lying further back muttered under his breath.
The other one impatiently gave him a light kick, also whispering very quietly, "Shut up! If you disturb Old Zhang, he'll beat you up!"
Of course, there were no proper fishhooks, and they couldn't swim. Seeing others catching fish from the water had made them envious. So, they figured out a way: cut a branch, whittle it down a bit, tear a thread from their clothes, tie on a segment of an earthworm, and thus the most primitive fishing rod was born…
Suddenly, they saw Old Zhang, lying by the riverbank, give a lift and a flick of his hand. A fish nearly the size of a palm was flung onto the bank, flopping wildly on the ground.
The two youngsters immediately pounced on it. Not caring about the prickly fins, they pressed down on the fish firmly with all four hands, their faces splitting with grins so wide they couldn't close their mouths. Saliva was already trickling from the corners of their gaping mouths as they mumbled incoherently, "Fish! A fish…"
Old Zhang hurried over and gave each boy a not-too-light, not-too-heavy smack on the back of the head. "Your mother's! Quit yer yappin'! Careful you don't attract others!" He then glanced around furtively, pulled the two youngsters, and dragged them into a nearby thicket of bushes and weeds.
The air by the river was moist, and the grass was quite lush. The three of them hunched over and burrowed into the thicket. Amidst the rustling of the grass blades, their figures soon became hard to make out, with only faint sounds drifting out—
"Old Zhang, why not fish a couple more… This one isn't enough to eat…"
"What do you know? Stuff only counts when it's in your belly! Catch another one, huh? What if someone comes halfway through? Let me teach you two brats a little lesson. This is called… well, this is called 'hogging it all for yourself,' got it?"
"Hogging? Hogging of what? Is that good to eat?"
××××××××××××××
Inside his own tent, Hu Cai paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. The words Yang Feng had spoken earlier were like thousands of tiny kittens, scratching and clawing at his heart. It even ruined his mood for one of his favorite daily tasks: polishing his treasured jade collection.
Later, Yang Feng had flatly refused to say anything more about that rebellious prince, just spouting all sorts of nonsense…
But after Hu Cai returned, the more he thought about it, the more he felt this matter held some interest.
Yes, a prince—wouldn't he know to leave a fallback plan for his descendants?
He was a royal prince!
Just like himself, hadn't he hoarded all that wealth precisely to hide it away for his descendants? Wouldn't that prince have thought the same?
Therefore, that rebellious prince must have hidden money—no, he must have hidden treasures!
They must all be valuable treasures!
Hu Cai clenched his fists in excitement.
Officials all have money!
The bigger the official, the richer they are!
This was Hu Cai's deeply ingrained belief.
Suddenly, a young Yellow Turban soldier ran into the tent from outside. Lowering his voice cautiously, he reported, "Commander, they seem to be gathering some adzes and spades over there…"
Hu Cai's eyes widened. "Adzes and spades?" he murmured. He waved his hand to dismiss the soldier, but then his eyes began to dart around incessantly.
"Damn it! That bastard wants to hog it all for himself!"
The thought made Hu Cai practically unable to stand still or sit peacefully. He immediately took a few of his men and went to Yang Feng's tent. The guard outside had barely announced him when Hu Cai pushed aside the tent flap and strode in. At a glance, he saw Yang Feng hiding an iron adze under a mat…
"Hmph! Commander Yang, that's enough. No use hiding it, I've already seen it!" Without waiting for Yang Feng's invitation, Hu Cai went over and sat down on one side.
Yang Feng chuckled dryly a couple of times and also sat down. "Well… Commander Hu, what brings you here again…"
"If I hadn't come, how would I know Commander Yang is busy getting rich?"
"Ah?! This…" Yang Feng forced out a few more dry laughs. "Nothing of the sort! It's not like that at all!"
Hu Cai shot him a disdainful glance and said coldly, "So, Commander Yang isn't planning to treat me as a brother anymore? Won't say, huh? Fine then…" Having said that, he stood up and made to leave.
Yang Feng quickly grabbed hold of him. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "This matter is also something I just heard. It might not be reliable, so I really have no certainty. If I told you, brother, and it turns out to be nothing in the end, that wouldn't be good either…"
"The hardest thing in this world is making money and getting rich! Of all the ways to make money and get rich under heaven, there's not a single one that comes with a hundred percent guarantee. Brother Yang, you can speak boldly and confidently. I, your brother, will absolutely not have a single word of complaint!" Hu Cai declared, thumping his chest.
Yang Feng then leaned closer to Hu Cai and whispered a few sentences…
"What? Is this true?!" Hu Cai was both shocked and delighted.
Yang Feng sighed. "I don't know if it's true or false either. However, I heard that someone named Fei or something has now taken some men and started working the land over there. I don't know if it's for the same reason…"
"Ah?! Then what are we waiting for? Let's break camp immediately!" Hu Cai said impatiently. "If it weren't true, why would anyone go to that originally deserted place?"
Yang Feng said hesitantly, "Well, that does seem to make some sense. But… but we are currently attacking Xiangling together with Commander Han. Being too far away isn't really a good thing. My original idea was to send some men later to scare off that fellow named Fei, drive him away, and then slowly…"
"How many men does that Fei or whatever have?"
"About a thousand or so," Yang Feng said. "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics…"
"Only a little over a thousand men, hmph!" Hu Cai snorted contemptuously. Then his eyes darted around a couple of times. "…How about this, Brother Yang? You stay here with Commander Han and the others, moving down along the Fen River in coordination. I'll take some men first and go drive off that Fei or whatever! If that guy digs it up first, won't there be nothing left for us?"
Yang Feng stared at Hu Cai wide-eyed. "Commander Hu, you're not thinking of hogging it all for yourself, are you?"
Hu Cai chuckled. "How could that be?! I, Old Hu, have never been that kind of person! I swear in the name of the Grand Master that after driving off that what's-his-name, I absolutely will not dig. I will definitely wait for you to come before we act! I promise! Alright, it's settled then!"
Having said that, Hu Cai didn't wait for Yang Feng to say anything more. He quickly bid farewell and left.
××××××××××××
The next day, before dawn had even broken, a Yellow Turban soldier ran to report to Yang Feng: "Reporting, Commander! Commander Hu led his own troops, broke camp, and left early this morning, heading southwest!"
"Understood!" Yang Feng nodded, dismissing the soldier. He was silent for a moment, then a slight smile appeared on his face. It was done. Now he could head directly south to Linfen and then transform himself…
"Pass the order! Break camp and head south!"