Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Outsmarting the Villain, Forcing Them into Submission

After cleaning up the traces of his morning release, Liang Xin performed a simple wash. While drawing water from the water vat, Liang Xin caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the surface. *Hmm, quite handsome.* With sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a face as smooth as jade, he was more than ten times more handsome than in his previous life.

After combing his hair and putting on his clothes, shoes, stockings, and hat, Liang Xin looked at his reflection in the water vat once more before heading out. "Da ga ho, ngo hoi Lau Tak Wah (Hello everyone, I am Andy Lau)," Liang Xin said, mimicking Andy Lau's Cantonese accent. He smiled after finishing the sentence, and the confusion and pressure of his transmigration dissipated significantly.

Just as he stepped out, Xiao Chunzi hurried up to meet him. "Aiya, you're a bit too slow! I've been waiting for you for a full incense stick's worth of time. Hurry, hurry! If we're late, we won't be able to collect our silver until next month."

Xiao Chunzi was a minor eunuch serving in the Imperial Pharmacy alongside Xiao Fuzi. His job was the same as Xiao Fuzi's: testing medicines on the nobles of the palace.

All along the way, Xiao Chunzi talked about what he planned to do once he received his silver—for example, buying a nice set of the Four Treasures of the Study for his younger brother outside the palace, buying new clothes for his father, and saving the rest for his little sister's dowry, and so on...

Liang Xin felt a bit moved and couldn't help but ask, "Don't you want to spend some money on yourself?"

Xiao Chunzi looked at Liang Xin with some confusion. "We are both castrated men; what money is there to spend on ourselves?"

Liang Xin was momentarily speechless. In the past, when reading history, he always saw great scholars condemning eunuchs for flattering their way to power, but had anyone ever truly taken the time to understand the inner world of a eunuch?

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the monthly allowance for eunuchs was quite substantial. Generally, minor eunuchs without official rank in the palace received one *guan* of silver per month. For high-risk workers like Liang Xin and his kind, the monthly allowance was as much as two *guan*.

Although Xiao Chunzi was urging him, in reality, by the time Liang Xin and Xiao Chunzi arrived, Eunuch Qian had only just begun distributing the silver. After waiting for less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Liang Xin and Xiao Chunzi had collected their monthly allowance.

Just as Liang Xin and Xiao Chunzi were about to leave, they were blocked by three eunuchs. Xiao Chunzi looked up at the three eunuchs and immediately bowed. "Eunuch Hai, Eunuch Yun, Eunuch Li."

Within Liang Xin's merged memories, there was information regarding these three eunuchs. All three were eunuchs from the Jinxiu Palace. Recently, Noble Lady Lan of Jinxiu Palace had received the Emperor's favor, so the status of these three in the palace had risen along with their mistress.

Eunuch Hai Fu looked at Xiao Chunzi with a beaming smile and said, "Xiao Chunzi, have you collected your monthly allowance yet?"

"I have. Thank you for your concern, Eunuch Hai," Xiao Chunzi replied with a bow.

The smile in Hai Fu's eyes deepened. "Since you've collected the silver, then pay back the money you owe me."

"The money I owe you?" Xiao Chunzi was slightly stunned. "Haven't I already repaid the silver I borrowed from you, Eunuch Hai? I even added interest."

"It's true you added interest, but the calculation for that interest wasn't quite right." Hai Fu pulled a small wooden abacus from his waist and said, "According to the rules, a loan follows the 'nine out, thirteen return' principle. You borrowed one *guan* from me for a total of three months. According to the rules, you should have returned one thousand three hundred *wen* to me. But in reality, you only returned one thousand one hundred *wen*. You're still short two hundred *wen*."

"This..." Xiao Chunzi was illiterate and had no way of calculating such a debt. Liang Xin, however, was different; he had worked in pawnshops. This "nine out, thirteen return" was precisely the method invented by pawnshops to exploit the poor.

Liang Xin gave a light smile. "Xiao Chunzi, this is where you went wrong. Repaying debts is only natural; if you owe Eunuch Hai silver, you should return it to him."

Xiao Chunzi looked at Liang Xin in shock, his eyes filled with both surprise and anger. "Xiao Fuzi, you..."

Liang Xin reached out, took one tael of silver from Xiao Chunzi's hand, tossed it in the air, and said, "This one tael is equivalent to one thousand *wen*. Even if I use this one tael to pay Eunuch Hai your two hundred *wen*, you should first give me eight hundred *wen* in change."

"I don't have any small change on me right now. Don't worry, I'll have Xiao Yunzi bring the change to the Imperial Pharmacy tomorrow," Eunuch Hai said with a smile, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the silver in Liang Xin's hand.

"This..." A look of difficulty appeared on Liang Xin's face. Eunuch Hai immediately took the initiative and said, "How about this? Words are unreliable, so how about I write a written note to serve as a voucher?"

"That would be no problem." Liang Xin tossed the one tael of silver to Eunuch Hai. Then, Eunuch Hai had Xiao Yunzi go to Eunuch Qian to borrow the Four Treasures of the Study and some cinnabar ink.

As Eunuch Hai picked up the brush to write, Liang Xin leaned in with a fawning smile and said, "Eunuch Hai, this humble one attended a private school in my hometown for two years; writing a few words won't be a problem. How about I act as your scribe for this note, and you only need to sign it later?"

"Good, good, good. You're a sensible lad. If Jinxiu Palace is short on people in the future, I'll transfer you to our palace," Eunuch Hai said as he handed the brush to Liang Xin.

"Then I thank Eunuch Hai for thinking so highly of me." Liang Xin smiled, gripped the brush, and wrote several lines on the paper with vigorous strokes. After finishing, Liang Xin stopped, gently blew on the ink to dry it, and read aloud: "Today, Xiao Chunzi of the Imperial Pharmacy borrowed money, giving one thousand one hundred *wen* to Hai Fu of Jinxiu Palace. Because there is a deficit of two hundred *wen* from the agreed amount, and due to a lack of small change, one *guan* was given. It is hereby agreed that the silver owed by Hai Fu to Xiao Chunzi must be returned in full tomorrow. Fearing that words alone are unreliable, this document is established as proof. Signatory: (Blank), the third day of the third month in the fifth year of Zhenghe."

Hai Fu carefully read the contents of the note. Seeing that it matched exactly what Liang Xin had read, he took the brush and signed his name in the signatory spot, while simultaneously pressing a thumbprint in cinnabar over his name.

"Tsk tsk, I must say, your handwriting is truly beautiful, kid," Eunuch Hai said, looking at the note.

*This was just me scribbling casually; if I actually wrote seriously, I'd probably blind you,* Liang Xin thought to himself. He was an expert at forging the works of famous masters; his calligraphy would leave those calligraphy association experts in the dust.

Liang Xin took the signed note and said indifferently, "Eunuch Hai, don't forget, it is two *guan* and one hundred *wen* in total. You must return it all tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I will certainly—" Hai Fu took the one tael and put it into his money pouch, when suddenly he realized and shouted, "What do you mean two *guan* and one hundred *wen*? It's clearly eight hundred *wen*!"

"Where?" Liang Xin shook the note. "A total of two *guan* and one hundred *wen*. It is written clearly and plainly right here. Could it be that Eunuch Hai wants to default on his debt?"

"I want to default?" Hai Fu bellowed. "Where in that note does it say I owe two *guan* and one hundred *wen*? If you have the guts, point it out to me!"

Liang Xin shook his head helplessly, picked up the brush, added a few punctuation marks to the note, and read: "Eunuch Hai, please listen carefully. Today, Xiao Chunzi of the Imperial Pharmacy borrowed money to give one thousand one hundred *wen* to Hai Fu of Jinxiu Palace. Because there is a deficit of two hundred *wen* from the agreed amount, and due to a lack of small change, one *guan* was given. It is hereby agreed that the silver owed by Hai Fu to Xiao Chunzi must be returned in full tomorrow. Your signature and seal are on this, so you cannot deny it."

"You... you're talking nonsense! What you just read clearly didn't mean that!" Hai Fu shouted anxiously.

Indeed, because the entire note lacked any punctuation, Liang Xin had only changed the way a single sentence was read. The meaning Hai Fu understood was: "Today, Xiao Chunzi of the Imperial Pharmacy borrowed money, giving one thousand one hundred *wen* to Hai Fu of Jinxiu Palace." This meant Xiao Chunzi borrowed money and gave Hai Fu 1,100 *wen*, still owing 200 *wen*.

But Liang Xin's modification changed it to a different meaning: "Today, Xiao Chunzi of the Imperial Pharmacy borrowed money to give, one thousand one hundred *wen* to Hai Fu of Jinxiu Palace." This way, it became that Xiao Chunzi first lent 1,100 *wen* to Hai Fu, but since Hai Fu wanted to borrow 1,300 *wen* from Xiao Chunzi, and because there was a 200 *wen* deficit from the agreed amount and Xiao Chunzi had no small change, he gave Hai Fu another *guan* of silver. Thus, Hai Fu truly owed Xiao Chunzi two *guan* and one hundred *wen*.

(As a side note, during the Northern Song Dynasty, one thousand *wen* made one *guan*, and one *guan* was roughly equivalent to one tael of silver.)

"You... you... you dare to trick me?" Hai Fu trembled with rage, pointing at Liang Xin and cursing, "You little brat... Ow!"

Liang Xin grabbed Hai Fu's finger and snapped it backward. In pain, Hai Fu fell to his knees. Liang Xin said with a sinister face, "You blind dog! You dare provoke someone from our Imperial Pharmacy? Let me tell you, the people of our Imperial Pharmacy are already marked by the King of Hell. We aren't even afraid of death, so why would we fear you? Hand over the two *guan* immediately, or I'll kill you today."

"I am from Jinxiu Palace! You won't get away with treating me like this!" Hai Fu roared, trying to hold on, though the intense pain caused sweat to bead on his forehead.

"I see you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. I'll gouge out your eyes today and see if you still dare to be stubborn with your grandfather here."

As he spoke, Liang Xin extended his index and middle fingers to gouge Hai Fu's eyes.

Hai Fu was terrified and said in panic, "I'll give it! I'll give the money! I'll give it right away... Xiao Yunzi, Xiao Li, what are you standing there for? Give him the money!"

Xiao Yunzi and Xiao Li hurriedly handed the money to Liang Xin. After taking the money, Liang Xin kicked Hai Fu aside and tossed four taels of silver to Xiao Chunzi.

Xiao Chunzi instinctively took the money, and only then did he snap out of it.

Liang Xin walked over to the trembling, terrified Hai Fu, crouched down, patted Hai Fu's face, and said, "Remember, don't come provoking the people of our Imperial Pharmacy. Otherwise, when we become ghosts, we'll come looking for you at night..."

"Ah—!" Hai Fu screamed loudly in terror. Liang Xin grabbed Xiao Chunzi and turned to leave.