Chương 94: The Art of Manipulation
"Ahhh, a soft and warm bed, how I missed you!" Wang Mei says with a cute smile on her face as she hugs a pillow after throwing herself onto the bed.
"You act as if we've been sleeping in the wild for years..." Chen Wei, who is looking around the room and inspecting it carefully, replies.
"A few days are already a torment for delicate ladies!" Wang Mei looks at Yu Lian and Feng Hua for confirmation, but they ignore her words.
"Did you find anything?" Feng Hua, like him, looks around the room, searching for anything unusual.
"No, but that doesn't mean much since I don't have any investigation Gu, and he could have used a Gu for disguise..." Chen Wei sits in a relatively luxurious armchair beside a table with delicious-looking fruits.
"Gu? Isn't that very unlikely? According to all the mortals you interrogated along the way, the old man only has two rank 1 light path Gu." Wang Mei, who is rolling on the large double bed, asks with a curious look.
"Better safe than sorry," Chen Wei says, picking up a green apple from the table and beginning to eat it, "and it's best to be prepared for any risk, no matter how unlikely..."
"You wouldn't have to be so alert and worried if you hadn't announced to everyone that you're a demonic Gu Master..." Yu Lian says with a furrowed brow of consternation as she watches Chen Wei casually eating the apple.
"...why did you make that whole act anyway? I don't see how it doesn't just put us in more trouble," she continues with a helpless tone while Chen Wei seems to ignore her.
Feng Hua, who has finished her search without finding anything, nods in agreement, "I also don't understand. All you did was act like a demonic Gu Master and provoke the hatred of the entire village for no apparent reason."
"Right, if you hadn't told us beforehand what you were going to do, I don't know how I would have reacted to 'Put their heads on spikes and bring me the beautiful women!' "Wang Mei tries to provoke Chen Wei by mimicking his voice sarcastically"Maybe you wouldn't even be sleeping in this bed tonight because of the last part, hehe,"
She actually still remembers a bit of the indignation she felt about the second part of Chen Wei's plan when she first heard it, but after hearing the fate those poor women would have, she stopped worrying that her husband was becoming an out of control lust-driven madman.
"You all should talk less..." Chen Wei says simply without looking at them, "...we don't know how many ears these walls may have."
Feng Hua looks at him questioningly, "Do you believe any mortal would be crazy enough to spy on us?"
She, like everyone here, has a complete understanding of the status difference between mortals and Gu Masters, as vast as the sky and the earth, making them not even dare to breathe loudly in the presence of Gu Masters.
In fact, it could be said that a Gu Master could enter a mortal's house, fuck his wife and daughters in his bed all night while he watches, and still force the mortal to helplessly thank for the honor of offering his wife and daughter as cheap prostitutes.
And this is not a macabre or exaggerated comparison by Feng Hua, as it is publicly known among Gu Masters that a considerable part of the children of mortal women are bastards of low-level Gu Masters, with sayings even suggesting that maids of Gu Masters will never bear a child by their rightful husbands.
"The world is full of madmen," Chen Wei says with a sigh, "especially now that he might have a brother with his head on a spike or a girlfriend to be brought to me."
"Which makes me question again, why?" Yu Lian, who approached the table to grab an orange, asks, "acting like a lone Gu Master would be much less complicated, and we wouldn't attract much attention."
Wang Mei, who was listening with a thoughtful expression, suddenly brightens up as a realization dawns in her eyes.
"Oh, that's the problem! If we acted as lone Gu Masters, we would stay low!" Wang Mei says lying lazily on the bed while looking at Chen Wei "You want us to cause a commotion, right?"
"Hmm, you're right... want a treat as a reward?" Chen Wei, seeing this, cuts a small piece of his apple and gives it to Wang Mei, who accepts it while blushing a little.
"So, if we had entered and acted discreetly, news of our arrival wouldn't reach the Huo Clan..." Chen Wei gets up from his armchair and starts explaining while walking around the room.
"...because the village leader would keep our contact a secret, and no mortal would dare reveal our arrival due to fear of our retaliation," Chen Wei eats the apple piece by piece without haste while speaking.
"Couldn't we have just used a mortal to pass the message with threats or promises of benefits?" Feng Hua asks immediately.
"I don't trust a man to completely fulfill his word for those two reasons," Chen Wei looks at Feng Hua, who seems to shrink under his gaze.
"But do you know what I always trust? Hatred," Chen Wei keeps his eyes on Feng Hua as he speaks, "and many mortals in this village have plenty of it to spread the news of our arrival, even if it risks their lives!"
This is a basic concept Chen Wei learned in life from the political lessons given by his grandfather, who always stressed the importance of using strong emotions to manipulate someone's actions.
In fact, this kind of manipulation method tends to be much more effective than bribes, as humans tend to be cowards. Even with the promise of benefits, most would give up halfway.
But when guided and fueled by emotions like hatred or love, they can easily ignore their fears and logic to take actions that no one with a calm mind would.
"Hmm, I understand... but why do you want to antagonize the Huo Clan?" Yu Lian, who had been listening silently, asks, "Wouldn't it be better to try and gain benefits from them under the promise of becoming an external elder?"
"I couldn't join the Huo Clan as its leader is a peak stage Rank 3. The clan wouldn't invite a Rank 4 Gu Master to join their ranks out of fear that I might stage a coup and seize power," Chen Wei explains simply to Yu Lian, who is quite ignorant of the politics of this world.
"And even if I did join, the oath imposed on me would be so restrictive that the benefits wouldn't be worth it, I assure you."
Of course, this conclusion comes after he had thought about this possibility extensively, considering his experience as an elder of the He An Clan and his knowledge of how the clans of the Southern Border operate.
But even if there were great benefits in doing so, he probably still wouldn't because it would likely force him to remain stationed in the Huo Clan for a while, which, for him, wanting to reach the "Three Kings' inheritance" as quickly as possible, is a significant problem.
"You could still gain many benefits before being forced to take the oath, right? Why not—" Yu Lian, wanting to continue her questioning, is interrupted by Feng Hua.
"You plan to use your status as a Rank 4 Gu Master to scheme and gain benefits to not attack the Huo Clan, right?" Feng Hua asks, with some understanding of Chen Wei's recent actions.
"Not exactly. You see, a clan would still have its dignity to maintain, so they wouldn't openly give benefits to me, a demonic Gu Master," Chen Wei responds, while Wang Mei listens to his words, having only one thought in her head.
"Do you want to make a deal with them in the shadows?" Wang Mei's face lights up as she realizes Chen Wei's intentions.
"Congratulations, you're right... want one more treat?" Chen Wei approaches Wang Mei with a small piece of apple and feeds it to her, making her blush as she accepts it again.
"Let's look at the Huo Clan, with its leader about to break through to Rank 4," Chen Wei sits on the bed next to Wang Mei. "...if none of their elders had any intention of scheming against this leader, the Huo Clan would be the most cohesive clan ever to exist in this world."
And so it is for any place with humans, from the lowest mortal village to the high and proud Heavenly Court. Conflicts are inevitable when humans come together to form a group, with the only difference being the scale and destructive capacity of these conflicts.
But Chen Wei has a pragmatic view of these conflicts, which most people see only as a detriment. He understands that these constant conflicts and struggles have allowed humanity to reach where it is and continue advancing in their cultivation without ever stagnating, as many organizations might over time.
"Hmm, so what you plan to do is negotiate in the shadows with these elders to betray the clan for benefits?" Feng Hua asks with doubt and distrust on her face.
She knows how clan systems work and doesn't believe a stable clan like the Huo Clan would be at the level where elders would negotiate with demonic Gu Masters.
"I know they would never start negotiations with me, but taking advantage of the situation is a certainty---" But before he could finish, Yu Lian, who has doubt on her face, quickly asks,
"But as Feng Hua said, these elders should not betray the clan unless you have a way to completely change their minds." Feng Hua nods her head at Yu Lian's words, and Wang Mei looks at him with a lot of doubt in her eyes.
"I'm not planning to use their willingness to betray or anything like that. I plan to use their greatest loyalty!" Chen Wei says simply, receiving confused looks from Wang Mei and Yu Lian.
"Loyalty? How could someone loyal betray the clan--" Yu Lian starts to speak again but is interrupted by Feng Hua, who has a look of understanding in her eyes.
"Deep down, we are all loyal to ourselves above all! You plan to use their loyalty to themselves to have them scheme against their own clan for benefits, right?" Feng Hua, sitting in an armchair across from him, speaks with some confidence while elegantly crossing her legs.
Feng Hua reached this conclusion, surprisingly to herself, by remembering one of the passages from the Legends of Ren Zu, which she used to consider a children's tale. But after seeing the importance Chen Wei and the toad gave to this story, she read and reread the Legends of Ren Zu repeatedly, and now this effort bore fruit at this moment.
"Well, in a way, it will be to maintain their current benefits rather than gain new ones..." Chen Wei glances at Feng Hua's long legs before averting his eyes when he feels Wang Mei poking his side with an irritated but cute look.
"...in the end, the first Rank 4 Gu Master in their history would be great for the clan but terrible for the elders!" Chen Wei speaks confidently from the political knowledge taught to him by his grandfather.
And one of these is how selfish and ambitious the hearts of those who have reached the level of an elder in a clan are, with most clinging to power with everything they have, even to the detriment of the clan's overall well-being.
And so it is for most ambitious people who prefer to be the head of a snake rather than the tail of a dragon, which is especially true for the few elders of a medium to small-sized clan like the Huo Clan.
But there is a significant threat to their power and leadership, and that would be the leader of the Huo Clan reaching Rank 4, which would inevitably lead to a significant reduction in their power and benefits, which would end up being centralized in the hands of the clan leader.
"Are you sure there will be someone willing to take this risk?" Feng Hua asks her last doubt regarding Chen Wei's plan.
"Of course, there will be. I'm sure because anyone with ambition is willing to take risks to maintain their power." Chen Wei's confidence in declaring this comes from his own ambition that drives him forward to take risks.
For example, this plan he has now is a great risk that he doesn't need to take, but he does it anyway for the great benefits that await him if he succeeds in this plan.
"Are you sure about all of this? You know, even with your superior cultivation, you have few Gu... I don't want to see you dead for risking more than you can handle," Wang Mei says in a low voice that only he can hear, her eyes full of worry, reflecting the emotions of her heart.
Chen Wei nods, bringing comfort to Wang Mei, who trusts him completely since there is no one else to act as emotional support at this moment.
"I am. Besides, after we leave this village, if everything goes according to plan, I will have one of my Gu at Rank 2 as well as a new defense type Gu that will suffice for now," Chen Wei keeps his heart calm even though he knows the weight of the risk he is taking.
In fact, it could be said that Wang Mei has more confidence in him now than he does because he is fully aware of his current status as a paper dragon, unable to express the full strength of a Rank 4 Gu Master.
But even so, in the face of danger where most would choose to retreat for fear of their lives, he still has the drive to advance and confront the risk head-on without the slightest fear in his heart.
"And along with the benefits like Gu and refining materials that I can obtain by negotiating with the elders of the Huo Clan, I---!" Chen Wei cuts his words short when he hears soft footsteps just outside his room.
*Knock* *Knock* As if wanting to quickly calm Chen Wei's alert state, soft knocks are followed by the gentle voice of a girl coming from behind the room's door.
"Sir Gu Master, my apologies if it is too late to disturb you, but Leader Xin invited you to be an honored guest at his banquet tonight..." says the voice of one of the young maidservants of Li Xin's house. "...as well as planning to introduce you to his wife, whom you requested to see as you asked for the services of the best midwife in the village."
Hearing this, Chen Wei puts on a fake smile as he slowly walks to open the door, coming face to face with a beautiful young girl with brown hair, dressed in a delicate and lovely outfit, as expected of a maid in the village leader's house.
"Tell Leader Xin that it will be my honor to attend his banquet!" Chen Wei says with a warm and virile smile that makes the young girl blush deeply as she nods, looking at the floor.
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