Chapter 155: The Art of the Bluff

He Yu glanced at the two of us and pointed an accusing finger at me. “Hey, hey, hey, what’s the meaning of this? You two are bullying me because I can’t read the room, aren’t you?”

I stood up, hooked my arm around his neck, and pulled him aside. “I have a plan, but it’s a last resort,” I whispered. “Just watch me work. Stand to the side with a dark expression and act like you’re extremely impatient.”

Next, I had Xiao Wu move some furniture. I told him to place a wooden table in the center of the cabin with a stool on either side. I chose one and sat down, positioned so I was directly facing the inner room where Liang Si would emerge. He Yu and Xiao Wu stood on either side of me, their expressions stiff and grim, looking like a pair of temple guardians.

When Liang Si came out, Xiao Wu had just finished brewing the tea. Liang Si clearly hesitated at the sight of this sudden, formal arrangement, but as someone who had spent years navigating both the legal and illegal worlds, he remained remarkably composed. In contrast, the Short Old Man behind him looked utterly bewildered.

I gave a gentle smile and gestured toward the table. “Old man, I’ve got the table all set up. Let’s sit down and have a proper chat.”

Liang Si paused. He knew I was clearly trying to play the negotiation card, but as the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. He wasn’t the type to be unrefined, so he immediately returned the smile and calmly sat down across from me.

“So, has the Young Master finally thought things through? What do you want to talk about?” As soon as Liang Si opened his mouth, a wave of stale tobacco breath hit me. His calloused fingers gripped the teacup, and his eyes crinkled into crescents, making him look exactly like a fat, cunning merchant.

My heart was pounding, but I kept my face expressionless as I raised my tea to my lips. “It’s actually quite simple,” I said with a smile. “My Fourth Brother just met with an accident, and now Yinggan Tang is already bickering over a split. If word of this got out, neither of us would have any face left. There are so many people on this boat, and the Liu Family has ears everywhere. A conflict would only make us a laughingstock. Don’t you agree, old man?”

I watched Liang Si’s expression as I finished. That single look gave me fifty percent confidence. His movements stalled for a fraction of a second, and he set down the water he had been about to drink. “Young Master, are you trying to negotiate with me?”

“I am. It just depends on whether you’re willing to give me the face to do so.” I stared at him with an innocent gaze, devoid of any aggression.

Liang Si chuckled. “Fine! Then, Young Master, in your opinion, how should we resolve this matter?”

I held the tea saucer in my hand, thinking to myself that it was finally time to get to the point. “To be honest, I entered the trade late. I have no seniority, and I’m not particularly interested in the position of head of the house. You probably know better than I do just how many treasures are hidden in those Ship-Burial Coffins at the bottom of the river.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt Xiao Wu and He Yu shift simultaneously beside me. I hadn’t told them my plan beforehand, so they probably thought I’d lost my mind.

Strictly speaking, these words were completely irrelevant to the subject we were discussing, yet they were indispensable. People act to achieve certain goals. What Liang Si cared about was absolute authority over Yinggan Tang on this boat, because with that authority, he could lead his men down to scavenge for treasure without any restraint.

Therefore, the primary goal was still the treasure.

My words shifted the focus away from the power struggle and toward the Mingqi he valued so much. In a way, I was subtly hinting to him that I wasn’t his enemy; instead, we could be mutually beneficial.

As expected, Liang Si hesitated. He began to have serious doubts about my true purpose for this trip. “You’re actually thinking about the Mingqi down there, and not about finding a way to save your Fourth Brother first?”

I looked at him but didn’t answer his question directly.

Liang Si burst into a loud laugh. When he finished, he leaned in close and lowered his voice. “No wonder you’re a descendant of the Gan Clan. To have such realization at such a young age… You want the Mingqi below as well? Let’s cooperate. We’ll kick those Liu people off the boat first, and once we pull the goods out, we’ll split them fifty-fifty. How about it?”

I took a sip of tea and shook my head.

“What? You’re not willing?” Liang Si asked.

“If we want to cooperate and get the Mingqi properly, we can’t drive the Liu Family off the boat,” I said. “The Gan and Liu families are the ones organizing this expedition, and there are people above watching us. If we openly kick the Liu Family off, it’ll cause a massive stir. It might even alert the higher-ups. If the truth comes out then, neither of our heads will stay on our shoulders.”

Liang Si was completely cowed by my words. At the end of the day, he was just a second-rate thug from a small town. The people around him were either elderly folks left behind in villages or farmers for generations. They weren’t real Mojin Xiaowei, and he didn’t have the broad experience of someone like Hou Jinshan. It was relatively easy for me to bluff him.

“Then you tell me, how should we pull off this job?”

I put on a solemn expression, set down my cup, and pondered for a moment. “How about this: you’ll be the lead and I’ll be the deputy on this boat. We’ll each take half the men into the water to scout the area first. We’ll do a survey and go from there.”

Liang Si suddenly went silent. I sat there waiting for his reply, but this time his silence stretched on. I was afraid he was starting to catch on. Eventually, my hand began to tremble slightly, so I quickly switched hands on the table.

“Heh heh, Young Master, you’re trying to trick me, aren’t you? You don’t actually care about the Mingqi. You just don’t want me to have sole power over Yinggan Tang. Me as the lead and you as the deputy? You have no seniority and no prestige. If it weren’t for us, who in the trade would even recognize you as the Gan Young Master? Everything you just said was a bluff. I’ve dealt with plenty of people who tried to play these tricks on me. You’re still too green to fool me!” Liang Si laughed.

My mind raced. My face darkened, and I slammed my hand onto the table as I stood up. I smashed the cup in my hand against the table with a violent crash. The glass shattered instantly, and several shards grazed past Liang Si’s stomach. He clearly hadn’t expected me to turn hostile so quickly and was stunned by my actions.

He Yu and Xiao Wu also looked at me, completely baffled.

I gave a cold laugh, grabbed He Yu’s wrist to check the watch he was wearing, and then turned to Liang Si. “I’m bluffing you? What are you thinking, Old Man Liang? We’ve already wasted a lot of time. Is my time not worth anything? If you don’t want to cooperate, fine. Go ahead and kick the Liu Family off the boat right now. I’ll leave, and you can take your own men down to scavenge. If you manage to find anything, I’ll take your damn last name!”

With that, I made a move to brush past him and lead Xiao Wu out of the cabin. Hearing the hidden meaning in my words, Liang Si immediately signaled his men to block my path with fawning expressions.

“Wait, wait, wait! Young Master, Young Master! Let’s talk this through. Don’t be in such a rush!”

Liang Si pulled my hand away from Xiao Wu’s and dragged me into a corner, whispering urgently, “Young Master, please be magnanimous. I was just being cautious earlier; it was all my fault. Do you… do you know something?”

I didn’t even give him a glance, acting utterly impatient. “I already know where the entrance to the burial site is.”

Liang Si was greatly shocked and immediately began apologizing profusely.

“I’ll be honest with you,” I continued. “The Black Hoof Iron has been in my hands the whole time, but I didn’t want to bring it out on the boat and make things ugly. You should have heard about what happened with Qiao Sangui, right? Do I have seniority? You should know the answer to that yourself. Now, I’m humbling myself to act as your deputy, and you’re actually complaining? Old man, stop with the constant testing and games. If you waste any more of my time or make things difficult for me, I won’t bother saving your face anymore.”

I paused for a beat. “After all, I can retrieve the Mingqi on my own without you.”