Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 458 - 36: Imperial Seal, Yin Yang Contract

"Back then, when He Baiyang stole the Jade Seal, it wasn’t to help Prince Qian ascend the throne, nor was it for his own glory and wealth, but to prevent a trade deal."

Now that the conversation had been opened up, Blind Su no longer kept anything hidden.

"This matter starts with the foreigners’ immigration. I’m not entirely clear on the details, but I know that back then, some foreigners spent a good deal of money looking to buy a patch of land within the country and move their clans over."

"In principle, there’s nothing wrong with this. After all, in the Northwest and Southwest regions, there are also quite a few ethnic autonomous prefectural governments. These people coming in is just like adding an extra pair of chopsticks. The territory of Ming is vast—it’s not as though there’s no room for them."

"The Imperial Court was actually happy to accept the foreigners’ silver, as this deal wasn’t like the previous unequal treaties signed with foreigners, leasing or ceding land to other countries. At least it seemed acceptable."

Old Master He glanced at him and asked indifferently, "How much silver did the foreigners offer, and how much land did they want to buy, and where was it?"

"How would I know that? However, I heard it was over in the Northeast."

Blind Su spoke helplessly, "It’s said that initially, those foreigners were quite demanding, picking out several locations. After much deliberation, the Imperial Court finally settled on that land in the Northeast, past the Blackwater River, where there was basically no population. I only heard there’s a port called the Unfrozen Port."

"The foreigners didn’t care about the amount of silver or whether the place was remote; they only had one requirement, which was to have the Imperial Jade Seal stamped on the document."

"According to the rules, should the Jade Seal be used?"

"Naturally, according to the rules, it shouldn’t be used. There are dozens of different Emperor Seals, and because of this incident, I specifically sought the advice of an old master in the palace back then."

Blind Su shook his head, "Everybody knows about that particular Imperial Jade Seal, which is about the transmission of the state, and it serves to highlight the Emperor’s legitimate and sacred status. For the usual enfeoffment of barbarians, only the ’Imperial Order Seal’ is used, roughly meaning it’s to prove that the command comes from the Emperor."

Fourth Wu smacked his lips, "Old Su, oh Old Su, you sure have kept it well hidden. I’ve never heard you talk about these matters before."

Blind Su snorted, "Would it have been any use telling you? What else could that scabby brain of yours remember besides what’s beneath your trousers? What kind of seal did I just mention? Now, repeat it back to me!"

Fourth Wu opened his mouth but then hesitated.

He truly hadn’t remembered.

"Old Su is right."

Jin Buhuan interrupted, "I also know about this. The Imperial Family has many rules, especially when it comes to bureaucratic protocols about documents. Those old Hanlin scholars do nothing important all day but delve into this matter. The reason why this became an issue back then was that the foreigners would rather spend more money just to have the imprint of the Imperial Jade Seal. Once the news spread, some found it suspicious, which led to an in-depth investigation and eventually the secret of the Yin Yang Contract was unveiled."

"What is the Yin Yang Contract?"

"At that time, rumors were rife in the Jianghu World... I don’t know how this message got out, but it was said that the Foreigners secretly bribed the officials in charge and produced two sets of documents, one public and one secret. The public document granted them a territory the size of a prefecture, whereas the secret one gave them three. Moreover, unlike the later naturalization of Fusang, the secret document handed over everything—land rights, legal authority, tax revenues—to them, effectively establishing their own nation."

Fourth Wu was flabbergasted, "How could that be possible?"

"What’s impossible about that? Back then, the area beyond the border was sparsely populated, with only some native tribes who didn’t know farming and relied on hunting to survive. Beyond the Blackwater River to the north lies a primordial land, where snow never thaws all year round and where tigers outnumber people in the forests."

Jin Buhuan sneered, "You don’t know how those bigwigs in the Imperial Court think. If the land can’t be cultivated, then it’s useless to them. The territories that the border soldiers fought to the death to secure are less valuable in the eyes of those bigwigs than the bones gnawed by their dogs at home. As long as the Foreigners are willing to spend silver and grease palms, such things aren’t as difficult to achieve as you think."

"Of course, that said, the intricacies involved are something not even our own family members can fully grasp. To succeed in such a maneuver, there had to be someone to pull strings from the middle. Isn’t that right, Old Su?"

Jin Buhuan turned his head, and when he looked at Blind Su again, his gaze had become as sharp as a knife.

"So many years have passed, and those events had almost been forgotten, but now that you mentioned it, I recall. He Baiyang’s reason for stealing the Jade Seal was that the deal had already been settled, lacking only the final step of stamping the seal, right?"

Blind Su paused for a moment, then countered, "Didn’t we discuss this matter back then? I asked you all a question: for people at our level, even if we were given an official position, we wouldn’t necessarily understand it. When it comes to issues at the national level, who’s right and who’s wrong, do we really have the right to get involved?"

His words immediately silenced Jin Buhuan.

Blind Su raised his glass in a toast to Old Master He, saying, "Old Master, I’m going to speak frankly, don’t take offense. As the saying goes, ’One who takes the king’s coin, bears the king’s burden.’ When we fought for the Imperial Jade Seal for Qian King’s Mansion, it was because of Old Master Wang’s kindness. As for what Old Master Wang wanted with the Imperial Seal, it was his family affair, none of our business, and you can’t pin any big charges on me. As for your favored disciple, I must ask you, whose side is he on?"

"If you say he’s just a thief, stealing the Imperial Jade Seal already proved himself. If you say he’s the President’s man, but the President hasn’t gotten the seal, has he? You keep bringing up the Yang Family, talking about Foreigners, arbitrarily slinging mud on our heads, but have you really thought about what kind of person your disciple is? He’s been hiding the Jade Seal for all these years, what’s his excuse?"

Old Master He laughed, "He’s just a person from Ming Country, what else could he be?"

Blind Su downed his drink and spread his hands, "Since you’ve said so, what else is there to talk about? It turns out that he’s the only person, and we’re not?"

"Everyone’s a person, everyone’s a person. Alright now!"

Old Master He burst out laughing, "Isn’t that just the way of the Jianghu World? Rights and wrongs, kindness and grievances, who can speak clearly about them? I didn’t come out here to argue with you all. Since we’ve talked this far, I won’t hide anything. Let me ask you all directly, if the Imperial Jade Seal can be found, what do you plan to do? Would you really, as Blind Su suggested, hand it over to Qian King’s Mansion?"

"Otherwise, what?"

Fourth Wu puzzled, "Old Master, what are you getting at? Are you suggesting we join your disciple and send this Imperial Jade Seal back to the Capital, to curry favor with the President? If we had descendants, that wouldn’t be a bad angle. But we brothers can’t have children, with only Little Lanzi as the sole seedling who’ll eventually marry off, it’s rather meaningless. Or are you suggesting..."

He glanced at Wang Yunxiao, "You want to secure a future for your young disciple? But you should know the President better than us; she’s not fond of this sort of thing."