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Regarding negotiations.
"Ah, such a beautiful lady, could you lower the price a bit more?" This is praise aimed at dismantling the other party's hostility.
"I'll buy more next time, so give me a better deal this time, alright?" This is dangling an empty promise as bait.
"Look at all these loose threads here, and even the logo is crooked, yet you still dare to ask such a high price?" This is digging for product flaws to devalue the opponent's offering.
"You dare sell it at this price? Do you know that just two streets over, the same thing is at least 20% cheaper?" This is inventing a fictional competitor to force down the price.
...
In his later life, was there a single day Fei Qian didn't need to negotiate?
Grocery shopping, buying clothes, even procuring office staples like staples—didn't it all require negotiation?
It all did.
He negotiated every single day.
Or to put it another way, in the Han Dynasty, was there anyone who, like Fei Qian, grew up immersed in one round of haggling after another?
No, there wasn't a single one.
Naturally, Yu Fuluo was no exception.
Fei Qian smiled very naturally, very happily, very relaxed.
Yu Fuluo, on the other hand, wore a stern expression, very serious, very vexed, very helpless.
Although a faint intuition within Yu Fuluo's heart warned him not to follow Fei Qian's pace, not to proceed with the conversation according to Fei Qian's topics, not to let Fei Qian dominate every aspect of the discussion... but...
Fei Qian's previous actions were akin to placing a jar of fine wine next to a hardened alcoholic, and then lifting the lid, letting the intoxicating aroma waft out. It was like a thousand tiny hooks and prods, gradually prying away at the defensive shell Yu Fuluo had erected.
The things Fei Qian spoke of were considerations for virtually every Chanyu, to varying depths and extents. Yu Fuluo naturally had pondered these aspects as well, but he had found no answers.
Yu Fuluo suddenly felt a twinge of regret for coming here, much like the last time at the Beiqu camp. Back then, his forces had seemed to hold the advantage, yet for some reason, he had felt Fei Qian's words made a great deal of sense...
"Lord Fei, why are you telling me all this?" Yu Fuluo pointed directly to Fei Qian's current predicament. "You must know that what you're saying offers no help for the present situation. I can afford to wait a while longer, while you, Lord Fei, might not even be able to withstand one more day."
"A destitute man obtains a ram and a ewe. After the winter passes, they will bear lambs. Yet, most people end up eating those two sheep before spring arrives." Fei Qian showed no emotional fluctuation at Yu Fuluo's words. He pointed towards the people below the hill, including the soldiers both he and Yu Fuluo had brought. "What they can see is the grass immediately before their eyes and the mud beneath their feet. But we are seated here. You are the Chanyu, and I am the Acting Governor of Shang Commandery. If we cannot see further than they do, then we might as well step down into the mud and stand alongside them."
Yu Fuluo stared at Fei Qian for a while, then let out a sigh. "A pity you currently lack both time and strength."
"True," Fei Qian replied with a slight smile. "I need time, and I need strength. However, under heaven, there is fundamentally nothing that can wait until all conditions are perfectly ripe before one acts. Xubu Guduhou is getting on in years, isn't he? I wonder how much time he has left? They say his health isn't very good either..."
"Then all the more reason for me to resolve matters here swiftly..." Yu Fuluo rapped his knuckles on the table.
Fei Qian nodded, actually offering praise. "The Chanyu speaks wisely. Matters here should indeed be resolved as quickly as possible."
Yu Fuluo glared at Fei Qian, then suddenly laughed, shaking his head. "Strength and time cannot be feigned... Oh, by the way, I forgot to bring that blade with me... If Lord Fei has nothing more of import to say, and as it's getting late, I shall take my leave..."
"Mm, very well!" Fei Qian agreed with startling readiness, even rising to his feet as if to see Yu Fuluo out. "It's perfectly fine for the blade to remain with the Chanyu for now... After all, in a couple of days, when the blade's owner arrives, the Chanyu can simply return it to him on my behalf..."
Upon hearing this, Yu Fuluo stiffened, his body halting mid-turn. He struggled for a long moment before finally being unable to resist asking, "...Lord Fei, what exactly is your relationship with the owner of this blade?"
This matter was, in fact, the most crucial question that had driven Yu Fuluo to keep this appointment. Yet, upon arriving, Fei Qian had acted as if he had forgotten all about it, never broaching the subject. Had Yu Fuluo not threatened to leave, it seemed Fei Qian had no intention of mentioning it at all.
But now, he had received the news Yu Fuluo least wanted to hear.
Lü Bu was actually coming?!
Of course, what Fei Qian said might not be true...
But what if it was?
The title 'Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry' did not exist from time immemorial. It only gradually gained prominence after that man appeared. Yu Fuluo knew all too well how troublesome that individual could be.
The White Wave Bandits, Lord Fei, the Hedong commandery troops—truth be told, Yu Fuluo did not hold any of them in high regard, because none possessed significant cavalry forces. Yu Fuluo could toy with them at leisure, or simply withdraw whenever he wished. After all, foot soldiers with their two short legs hoping to catch up to warhorses on this kind of loess plain was pure fantasy.
But provoking Lü Bu's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was an entirely different matter. Once entangled by them, even if one didn't perish, they would certainly be stripped of a layer of skin.
Yu Fuluo's greatest fear was this: if he cooperated with the Hedong forces to eliminate this Lord Fei, and if there truly was some connection, and then Lü Bu charged in to disrupt the situation... Setting aside whether he could shirk responsibility, or whether the Hedong troops could defeat the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, the mere prospect of his own return to the royal court would likely be delayed indefinitely...
Just as Fei Qian had mentioned moments before, Xubu Guduhou was old and in poor health. If Yu Fuluo could return sooner and use thunderous methods to reunify the tribes, he might still salvage the situation before a complete split. But if delayed too long, once people's hearts scattered, any subsequent measures would yield half the result for double the effort.
Yu Fuluo did not care about the rights and wrongs between the Hedong people and Fei Qian, or who wanted to kill whom. He only wanted to determine one thing: which choice would better help him return to the royal court! Which side could offer stronger support for his seizure of the royal court! Before this overarching goal, anything, any promise, could be set aside.
Yu Fuluo wanted to personally slay his foe. He wanted to use the foe's blood to wash away the shame of betrayal, to drink the wine of victory from the foe's skull. But he absolutely did not want to wait until Xubu Guduhou died of old age or illness, only to then let out the lonely howl of a wolf from afar...
Xubu Guduhou was a foe, not merely an enemy.
An enemy is fine as long as they are dead, regardless of how they die—even if they get drunk, fall off a horse, and break their neck. But a foe is different. A foe must die by one's own hand. Only then can Yu Fuluo find spiritual release, and only then can he comfort the spirit of his father in heaven!
"Lord Fei!" Yu Fuluo finally could restrain himself no longer. Assuming a solemn expression, he declared, "I ask you to show your sincerity!"