IDWBE -Chapter 37 Influence

Hong Ying said softly, “Your Highness, shall we bring him over now?”

Lin Yi nodded.

Yawning, he glanced at the sun hanging higher and higher in the sky.

It looked like another unbearable day.

Under the blazing sun, Ge Laoshan, who had roamed the jianghu for more than thirty years, had never felt as stifled as he did last night.

Two seventh-rank experts, leading fifty or sixty men, had suddenly appeared without warning. Damn it—where did these ruthless people come from?

At the very least, shouldn’t they have announced their names first?

He, the chief bandit leader of the Nan Province underworld, hadn’t even been given a chance to speak before being kicked to the ground and tied up with ropes.

It was truly a case of crying to heaven and heaven not responding, crying to earth and earth not answering.

Thinking back on these past years, although he was a bandit, he had always followed certain rules.

First, he only sought money and never took lives. He had never even touched the hand of a pretty young wife, for fear of ruining someone’s reputation.

Second, he never robbed scholars. On the contrary, he would even tell those scholars who were desperately poor where they could find a ruined temple to shelter from the rain, or where there were courtesans who specialized in entertaining scholars in exchange for gifts of silver.

As long as the scholars were diligent and traveled a bit more, encountering dozens of such courtesans would easily provide enough money—not only for travel expenses to the capital for the examinations, but even to return home, buy land, and marry a beautiful wife.

A helpful man like him could be considered a “chivalrous thief” among bandits.

He didn’t expect good deeds to be rewarded—but he certainly hadn’t expected to be this unlucky!

His hands and feet tied, eyes blindfolded, thrown sideways across a horse’s back, he had been jolted all the way along. His stomach couldn’t take it, and he had vomited several times.

After finally getting off the horse, no one paid attention to them. They were left baking under the scorching sun, drenched in sweat, their hands and feet still tied, unable even to wipe their faces.

When had he ever suffered like this?

Just as he was feeling lost and uneasy, someone dragged him away.

When the blindfold was removed, his sweat-blurred eyes slowly opened. Sitting before him was a young man with a gentle smile.

“May I ask who you are, sir? Have we met before?”

He racked his memory but found no impression. He was certain they had never met.

Lin Yi took a sip of tea and said with a smile, “We haven’t.”

Ge Laoshan continued, “Have I ever had any enmity with you?”

Lin Yi shook his head. “None.”

“Are you people from the government?” Ge Laoshan asked, his voice trembling.

Lin Yi said, “No.”

He was from the imperial family.

Ge Laoshan said, “I have no grievance or enmity with you, so why have you tied me up?”

His tone now carried barely suppressed anger.

Lin Yi replied calmly, “So many travelers have no grievance or enmity with you. Why do you rob them?”

“Well…”

After hesitating for a long time, Ge Laoshan gritted his teeth and said, “All these years in the underworld, I have never harmed an innocent life!”

“Not even one?” Lin Yi asked.

Ge Laoshan said, “In the underworld there are always grudges. I have killed people from other strongholds—but they had many innocent lives on their hands as well. I was merely carrying out justice on heaven’s behalf.”

“You’re honest,” Lin Yi said.

If he hadn’t already interrogated Ge Laoshan’s subordinates separately, he wouldn’t have believed him.

Ge Laoshan said, “Then who exactly are you, sir, to make things so difficult for me?”

Lin Yi smiled. “Nothing serious. I’ve long heard of your reputation, so I specially invited you here for a chat.”

He couldn’t very well say outright: I’ve got my eye on your money, could he?

And indeed, this fellow was really rich!

A casual search in Song City had turned up fifty thousand taels of silver—and who knew how much more he had hidden privately.

Hearing this, Ge Laoshan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Is this how you invite someone?

But the situation was stronger than he was. There was no point dwelling on it. He could only force a smile and say, “Thank you for thinking highly of me, sir. May I know who you are?”

Hong Ying announced loudly, “This is the Ninth Prince of Liang, Lord of Sanhe, Prince He!”

Under their prince’s repeated insistence, he had long memorized this line, delivering it with dramatic cadence.

“Ah—you are the one rumored to be…”

An eccentric!

He ultimately didn’t dare say the word aloud.

“I, a humble commoner, have long heard of Prince He’s great name. Please forgive me, Your Highness—I am unable to bow properly.”

He was still tied up, lying on the ground, speaking while craning his neck upward.

Lin Yi smiled. “Untie him.”

Shen Chu drew his blade; with a flash of steel, the ropes binding Ge Laoshan were cut.

Freed, Ge Laoshan hurriedly knelt. “Greetings, Prince He.”

Lin Yi waved his hand. “Please rise. I’ve seen the man—indeed, an extraordinary figure. There’s nothing else. You may go back. In the future, try to live as a decent man.”

After standing up, Ge Laoshan’s gaze kept drifting toward the five large chests in the room.

How could he not recognize his own belongings?

That was the wealth he had saved over half a lifetime!

Seeing Lin Yi waving him off, he could only bid farewell with tears in his eyes.

Cupping his hands, he said, “Your Highness, I take my leave.”

What was losing money?

Better than losing his life!

Watching Ge Laoshan depart tearfully, Lin Yi sighed, “He really is a man of loyalty and sentiment.”

Song Cheng cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness possesses the bearing of a dragon and tiger. That bandit, after seeing you, was probably moved and reformed.”

Luo Han, standing nearby, nodded repeatedly.

No wonder that man could be a chief steward while he himself could only run an escort agency!

After lunch, the bright sun suddenly disappeared, and a drizzling rain began to fall.

The roads turned muddy, making travel inconvenient, so everyone had no choice but to remain in the town a while longer.

Bored from staying in the inn, Lin Yi put on a bamboo hat and strolled through the small town paved with stone slabs.

Fang Pi walked beside him, half jogging, half turning back to shout, “Young Master Wang, there’s someone selling sugar figurines!”

Lin Yi waved his hand. “Buy more. Don’t keep them all for yourself—bring some for the others too.”

There were more than twenty children in the group, all orphans. If he didn’t treat them well, they would truly have no one to rely on.

“Got it,” Fang Pi said.

After buying them, he wrapped them in oiled paper and tucked them into his clothes.

Lin Yi said to Hong An beside him, “Is there anything you want to eat? Buy whatever you like—this young master is treating.”

Hong An shook her head, only occasionally glancing back at her master walking behind them.

Lin Yi sighed helplessly. The child still had emotional knots in her heart. If she developed something like depression, that would be troublesome.

He would have to speak properly with Hong Ying later. Even if she was a disciple, she shouldn’t be restrained too harshly.

A middle-aged man in a wheelchair approaching from the opposite direction caught Lin Yi’s attention.

His face was thin, and he pushed the wheels with both hands, coming closer and closer.

Lin Yi recognized the wheelchair—it was his own “invention,” produced by his furniture shop.

The wheelchair stopped at the steps of a teahouse. Two servants following behind each grasped a handle and slowly lifted it upward.

Lin Yi stepped forward and, without hesitation, helped lift the back of the chair.

The three of them worked together to carry the wheelchair into the building.

“Thank you for your help,” the middle-aged man said to Lin Yi.

“It was nothing,” Lin Yi replied.

Only Lin Yi truly understood what it felt like to sit in a wheelchair.

“Master Qi,” the teahouse waiter greeted, “your private room has been reserved.”

Qi Peng nodded to the waiter, then looked at Lin Yi. “If you don’t mind, would you like to come in and have some tea together?”

Lin Yi smiled. “Then I shall gladly accept.”

Probably because of the rain, many people had nowhere to go and were passing time in the teahouse; it was very lively.

Following the middle-aged man into the main hall, passing through a small door and along a long corridor, they arrived at an elegant little courtyard.

Outside the window, a river flowed gently, and in the distance green mountains were shrouded in misty rain.

Lin Yi suddenly didn’t dislike the rain so much anymore.

“Please have some tea,” Qi Peng said, personally pouring a cup for Lin Yi. “My name is Qi Peng. May I know how to address you?”

“As for me—Lin San,” Lin Yi used an alias. He was too famous, though not for good reasons. “Just call me Lin San. A rough fellow, no courtesy name. This tea is good.”

“If you like it, you may take some with you later,” Qi Peng said with a smile.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony,” Lin Yi said, nodding. “Such beautiful scenery—truly splendid. Master Qi is someone who knows how to enjoy life.”

Qi Peng smiled. “I once imagined riding an ox in the morning, singing as I went, and returning at dusk the same way. What I never expected was to be trapped in this wheelchair. Drinking tea and admiring the scenery is merely a forced consolation.”

Lin Yi smiled. He believed he was telling the truth.