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Watching the farmers busy in the distance, Yu Fuluo couldn't quite catch on. He was having trouble following Fei Qian's train of thought. "What... um... what is Prefect Fei trying to say with all this?"
Having finished his complaints, Fei Qian continued, "...All this dirty, tedious, laborious farming work will naturally be done by me. No matter how hard or tiring, I think it will be worth it, for the Chanyu to reclaim the royal court as soon as possible. Don't you agree, Chanyu?"
By the Heaven!
Was that really necessary?
What else could he say? Could he say it wasn't needed?
Could he say he would do the farming himself?
Yu Fuluo naturally couldn't accuse Fei Qian of talking nonsense, nor could he have imagined Fei Qian would have such a thick face to speak such rubbish. He could only nod in agreement, at a loss for words.
"Therefore..." Fei Qian cleared his throat and put on another impassioned expression. "...Chanyu, reclaiming the royal court is not something that can be accomplished overnight. The more fully we prepare, the greater our chance of success! Isn't that right, Chanyu?"
At least this statement sounded reasonable. Yu Fuluo nodded seriously.
"Though the road to success is winding now, our future is surely bright! Am I wrong, Chanyu?"
"You are right! No mistake!" Yu Fuluo replied, nodding in agreement.
"We've temporarily lost our way, we've paused. It doesn't matter. Don't be afraid. As long as we keep working hard, we will eventually find the direction to our success! Isn't that correct, Chanyu?"
"You are right! No mistake!" Yu Fuluo answered loudly.
"Every strong person endures a period when no one helps, no one supports, no one cares for them. Get through it, and this becomes the stepping stone to our success. Fail, beg for mercy, and it becomes our bottomless abyss. Isn't that so, Chanyu?"
Yu Fuluo clapped his hands in praise. "Yes! Absolutely right!"
Yu Fuluo had never heard such talk before. After Fei Qian's long string of words, he felt everything made perfect sense. His head lifted higher with Fei Qian's gestures, his spine straightened. He felt that the pain and sorrow he had experienced were the thorns on the throne of success, the glorious scars of a warrior. All these hardships would become the past, the steps ascending to his throne...
"...A true friend does not hang friendship on their lips. They do not demand things from each other for the sake of friendship. Instead, they do everything possible for one another... I am such a person. Of course, I believe the Chanyu is the same. We are friends, the best of friends. Isn't that right, Chanyu?"
"Yes, that's right!" Yu Fuluo was completely immersed in Fei Qian's words, his face glowing with inspiration. Completely focused, he answered without hesitation.
Fei Qian smiled like a fox, his eyes narrowed, his expression radiant. "...Therefore, Chanyu, to ensure that both sides can stockpile more supplies and proceed more smoothly when reclaiming the royal court, I feel there are some things we should work on together now. For example, plowing the fields together. There's no problem with that, right, Chanyu?"
"Yes, no problem!" Yu Fuluo hadn't yet realized what was happening and answered habitually.
"Excellent!" Fei Qian clapped his hands. "Then it's settled. Thank you for your help, Chanyu! With the help of the Chanyu's men, we can deeply plow all these farmlands in the shortest possible time. Then we can free up time to help the Chanyu consolidate the surrounding small tribes..."
Yu Fuluo was still nodding unconsciously when he suddenly sensed something amiss. He raised his hand to interrupt. "Wait, wait... Hold on, Prefect Fei. What did you just say?"
"Consolidating the surrounding small tribes with the Chanyu? That way we'll have more manpower!" Fei Qian said with a puzzled look. "Is that wrong?"
Yu Fuluo blinked, his thick black eyebrows nearly knitting together. "This... this is right! That is correct. But... before that, before this matter, what did Prefect Fei say?"
"Before that?" Fei Qian's expression was one of utter innocence. "...We are friends who help each other... Is that wrong?"
"...That is also correct, but..." Yu Fuluo scratched his head. Then a flash of insight struck him. Amidst the tangled mess Fei Qian had woven to confuse him, he finally grasped the key point. "...You said help each other. Help with what specifically? Or rather, what do you want my men to help with?"
Fei Qian said casually, "Oh, that. Just plowing some fields..."
Yu Fuluo's mouth fell open. "Prefect Fei, did I hear you correctly? Plowing?"
Fei Qian's face fell. "Chanyu, you just agreed. Do you want to go back on your word already? Is there no integrity left between people?"
Yu Fuluo stammered, "This... I... you..."
Fei Qian ticked off on his fingers, explaining slowly, item by item:
"The fields here belong to me, right?
"The people repairing the canal are mine, right?
"The farmers planting are also my people, right?
"The seeds to be sown are also supplied by me, right?
"Then there's fertilizing, irrigating, weeding. When ripe, harvesting, threshing, sun-drying...
"I'm doing all of this. I'm only asking, as a friend, that the Chanyu use his horses to help during this critical time of plowing. At other times, the Chanyu can simply wait for the final harvest and then eat. Or does the Chanyu not want to help even this much? Does he only want to enjoy the fruits of others' labor without lifting a finger?"
"Well..." Yu Fuluo gulped. He felt Fei Qian's words made so much sense that he had no response.
How had Fei Qian's speech made him feel so guilty?
Yu Fuluo struggled feebly. "...But... my men don't know how to plow..."
"No problem. I'll have my people guide them. The Chanyu's men only need to pull the plows. They don't need to worry about anything else!" Fei Qian vowed, thumping his chest.
The fields were huge. If they pulled crooked, so be it. It didn't really matter.
"Well..." Yu Fuluo's eyes darted back and forth, hesitating.
Fei Qian added more weight. "Look, it's nearly March. To meet the season and finish the plowing, I have to throw in a huge amount of manpower. How can I possibly have any free time left to help the Chanyu consolidate the surrounding small tribes? That would delay the Chanyu's return to the royal court even further. Ultimately, the decision is in the Chanyu's hands. I'm just asking as a friend..."
Yu Fuluo's face twisted with indecision...