Xiang Yong sneered, "Steward Zhou needn't worry about how I found out. The point is, I know."
Zhou Zheng's face was grim as he said, "Yesterday's events were somewhat unexpected. The Chief Steward went to inspect his orchard as I'd hoped, and he did discover the missing spirit fruit. He was about to have me taken down, but at the critical moment, General Sichen intervened and ruined everything."
"There's no need for Steward Zhou to recount the details. I've already learned the rest from other sources."
Zhou Zheng was stunned. "You already know everything, so what are you even coming to me for!"
"Naturally, I've come to demand an explanation from Steward Zhou!"
Zhou Zheng let out a bitter laugh. "Demand an explanation from me? What explanation do you think you're entitled to?" His expression turned cold. "And since when do I owe you any explanation at all?"
Xiang Yong snorted. "If you hadn't put me up to it, would I ever have done something so despicable? Now that the deed is done but yielded none of the expected results, shouldn't the Steward take responsibility?"
Zhou Zheng's face was so dark it seemed on the verge of dripping. "When did I ever put you up to anything? I told you before — this matter was enormously consequential, and you'd have to think it through carefully before acting, and bear the consequences yourself. Now that things have gone wrong, you want to pin it on me?"
Xiang Yong craned his neck in that stubborn, defiant manner of his. "I don't care about any of that. The way I see it, we're grasshoppers tied to the same string — if one dies, the other isn't getting away either."
Zhou Zheng seethed with fury, wishing he could palm this idiot to death on the spot. He silently cursed himself for ever having suggested that foolish scheme in the first place. And now look — not only had he failed to get what he wanted, he'd gotten himself reeking of trouble instead.
"What do you want?" Zhou Zheng asked coldly. Xiang Yong was the sort of fool with no brain to speak of, and his status was low — hardly comparable to Zhou Zheng's own precious standing. If someone was going to blackmail him over this, he really had no room to push back.
Xiang Yong grinned. "What I was after, and what the Steward well knows I was after — as long as the Steward can make me satisfied, naturally I'll make the Steward satisfied as well."
Zhou Zheng narrowed his eyes. "You want to swap territories back?"
Xiang Yong shrugged. "Swapping back doesn't really matter anymore. All I need is to be transferred near Xiao Die."
Zhou Zheng nodded slightly. "If that's all, then there may well be a way… Go back and wait for my word. Once I've sorted things out here, I'll let you know."
Xiang Yong eyed him with suspicion. "The Steward isn't trying to fool me, is he? I may look rough and simple, but I'm not so easy to fool."
Zhou Zheng exploded. "Why would I fool you! Would I even need to lie about something like this?"
"Fine, I'll trust you one more time!" Xiang Yong nodded and cupped his fists. "I'll take my leave now. I'll be waiting for the Steward's good news."
"Wait!" Zhou Zheng raised a hand to stop him.
Xiang Yong turned back. "Does the Steward have further instructions?"
Zhou Zheng gritted his teeth. "That fruit — what happened to it?"
"What fruit?" Xiang Yong looked baffled.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Oh!" Xiang Yong's face lit up with understanding. "You mean the one I stole…" He patted his belly. "That's long since been offered up to my five internal organs. The taste wasn't even that great!"
"You…" Zhou Zheng stared at him speechlessly, then waved in disgust. "Get out, get out!"
He deactivated the restrictions on the great hall and let Xiang Yong leave. Then Zhou Zheng paced back and forth inside for a good while before finally letting out a heavy sigh. This plan had been practically flawless. If General Sichen hadn't made that last-second intervention, Yang Kai would likely be a ghost by now. But as things stood, not only was Yang Kai perfectly fine — he himself was drowning in trouble.
Xiang Yong… would probably have to be disposed of. Where there was a first time, there would be a second, and he didn't want to spend the rest of his days being threatened over this. But even as the orchard steward, getting rid of a menial worker wasn't so simple a matter. He would need to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity.
In Yang Kai's orchard, a flash of light flickered and two figures appeared out of thin air — Yang Kai and Du Rufeng.
Yang Kai studied Du Rufeng's expression but found it perfectly calm and unreadable, giving no clue what he was thinking.
He didn't dare ask directly. Today's events had fully confirmed his earlier suspicions. With what had transpired, neither Zhou Zheng nor Xiang Yong would come to a good end. When Zhou Zheng fell from power, whether Yang Kai himself could rise to take his place was secondary — what really mattered was that he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his days watching out for interference from above.
His request to Du Rufeng about wanting to become the orchard steward had been nothing more than an ambitious opening bid. He didn't actually think Du Rufeng would agree — for one thing, his qualifications were lacking, having been at the orchard for only a few months. For another, his cultivation was insufficient to command respect.
Even if he couldn't become the orchard steward, Du Rufeng would surely offer compensation elsewhere, and that would leave him plenty of room to negotiate.
Had this matter not been a direct threat to his life, Yang Kai wouldn't have wanted to push things this far. If Zhou Zheng had merely given him a hard time trying to extract some benefit, Yang Kai could have swallowed his pride and let it go. But now that the bastard had resorted to something as vile as stealing spirit fruit, Yang Kai felt that if he tolerated it again, he wouldn't even know how he'd died.
He invited Du Rufeng to sit, poured him a cup of tea, and waited in silence.
After a long pause, Du Rufeng finally offered a faint smile. "You really are something. You haven't even been here half a year, and already two people have ganged up to try and take your life. How did you manage to offend them both?"
"That's what I'd like to know!" Yang Kai said with a look of genuine bewilderment. "As for Steward Zhou — it's probably because I received a generous reward last time and never paid him his cut, which left him holding a grudge. But as for Xiang Yong, I've gone over it again and again and I still can't figure out why."