“I’ll think about it a little more and make my decision in a few days,” Wei Fei said after some contemplation.

Even though he couldn’t fully understand the Five Yuan Spirit Body manual, he was well aware of its potential value.

If he hadn’t trusted Wei Tu’s character, he would have most likely kept this manual hidden and slowly looked for a way to decipher it on his own.

Now, involving Kou Liang and Fu Zhizhou seemed too risky.

“This is entirely up to you, Second Brother. I’m merely offering a suggestion,” Wei Tu replied, respecting Wei Fei’s choice. Seeing that Wei Fei was cautious and not rushing into a decision, he did not push the matter further.

Three days later.

County Captain Xu declared that the Martial Luck Pavilion remnants had been mostly captured in Si Yang Town and its surrounding villages. Only a few remaining members were still on the run, and he called on the commoners to assist the authorities in apprehending them.

That afternoon, in front of a gathered crowd, he publicly executed several Martial Luck Pavilion warriors at the town’s grain-drying yard.

The commoners looked on in silence, while the local gentry and wealthy families stood stiffly in the crowd, visibly trembling.

That evening, those same gentry and landowners who had hesitated during the initial raids suddenly became very “cooperative.” One after another, they pushed wooden carts filled with their household wealth to Liu Family Fortress, where the garrison was stationed.

“Now, gentlemen, let’s be fair about this. We all became officials to rise in rank and amass fortune. I’ll take fifty percent, and the rest will be distributed among you according to custom.”

The wealth was now piled high in the central hall.

County Captain Xu sat at the head of the room, casually weighing a jade ruyi scepter in his hand as he glanced at the assembled military officers.

His gaze swept across the room, stopping briefly on each person’s expression before landing on Wei Tu and Wei Fei.

The two brothers exchanged an unreadable look but remained silent.

They had no illusions about where this wealth came from—it was essentially extorted from the wealthy families of Si Yang Town. But at this point, there was no changing the course of events.

If they didn’t take their share, they would simply be leaving the silver for others to grab.

Moreover, if they played the role of “righteous officers” and refused the wealth, they would certainly become targets within the garrison, seen as troublemakers by County Captain Xu and the other officers.

Refusing silver was not an act of righteousness—it was an act of stupidity.

On top of that, as unranked officers, they didn’t even have the status to enter the so-called clean administration faction.

“Many thanks, Captain Xu.”

After a brief silence, the military officers all smiled and cupped their hands in gratitude.

County Captain Xu nodded approvingly before turning his gaze toward Wei Tu and another middle-aged officer.

“Military Commandant Wei, Military Adjutant Chu—this time, you two will be responsible for distributing the wealth among the officers and soldiers,” he instructed.

The two men immediately cupped their hands and accepted the order.

With the wealth already gathered in the hall, it was now up to them to divide it according to rank and contributions in the battle.

One hour later.

The division of the spoils was completed.

The officers were satisfied, each taking their share without issue. None had any objections to the way Wei Tu and Military Adjutant Chu had handled the distribution.

As a Military Commandant, Wei Tu received over forty taels of silver.

Counting what he had seized personally during the battle at Liu Family Fortress, this expedition had earned him a total of one hundred and thirty taels—enough to repay his debts and still have a considerable amount left over.

“Tomorrow at dawn, we break camp and return to the county,” County Captain Xu announced as the meeting came to an end.

Wei Tu was about to leave when County Captain Xu suddenly called out to him.

“Military Commandant Wei, stay a moment.”

Wei Tu paused for a brief second but quickly composed himself and remained standing in the hall.

After the other officers exited, County Captain Xu reached into his pile of loot, pulled out a gold ingot, and pressed it into Wei Tu’s hand.

“Military Commandant Wei, you’ve made two major contributions this time. If you forget to account for that when dividing the spoils, that’s not a good habit.”

County Captain Xu chuckled as he spoke.

“This…” Wei Tu looked down at the gold ingot placed in his palm, slightly taken aback.

One tael of gold was equivalent to ten taels of silver, and this ingot weighed around five taels—fifty taels of silver in total.

This was no small sum.

It was equivalent to what a military officer would receive in the division of spoils.

“Many thanks, County Captain Xu.”

After considering his options for a brief moment, Wei Tu collected himself and cupped his hands in gratitude.

Earlier, when he had been in charge of distributing the loot, he had indeed been aware of his significant contributions. However, he had deliberately taken the same amount as Military Adjutant Chu to avoid drawing attention or stirring resentment.

“Follow my lead, and you won’t have to tread so carefully in the garrison.”

County Captain Xu stepped closer and gave Wei Tu a firm pat on the shoulder, speaking with a smile.

Before Wei Tu could fully process the meaning behind those words, the captain waved him away, signaling that he was dismissed.

As Wei Tu exited the hall, he began to ponder the deeper implications of this encounter.

“Could it be that County Captain Xu has ambitions beyond his position?”

“Is that why he’s trying to draw me in, to make me one of his trusted subordinates?”

Wei Tu mulled over the situation.

Sharing the spoils among the officers was a longstanding practice—it wasn’t as if Captain Xu could keep everything for himself. If he had tried, the officers under him would become dissatisfied, making them much harder to control.

By distributing the wealth fairly, Captain Xu maintained authority over his troops.

However, what happened next was far more significant.

Once the rest of the officers had left, he had secretly given Wei Tu additional gold.

This was a clear sign of favoritism—a deliberate attempt to win his loyalty.

Buying loyalty and forming cliques within the military was a serious offense.

Distributing war spoils among soldiers was one thing, and the higher-ups would likely turn a blind eye. After all, the court hadn’t provided sufficient rations or rewards for the campaign against the Martial Luck Pavilion.

But privately handing out additional gold? That signaled something much more concerning.

Anyone with half a brain could see that County Captain Xu had ulterior motives.

However, Wei Tu had no intention of getting involved.

“This has nothing to do with me.”

“Fifty taels of silver is hardly worth selling my soul.”

He patted the gold ingot at his waist and resolved to take the reward but not the obligation.

If County Captain Xu wanted to pull him into some grand scheme, he would need to offer much more than this.

For now, Wei Tu was only loyal to himself.

The Next Morning.

At dawn, County Captain Xu assembled the troops, conducted a final headcount, and issued the order to break camp and return to Qingmu County.

As the garrison departed, making their way back over the hills where they had waited before the siege, Wei Tu heard the faint sounds of drums and gongs ringing from Si Yang Town in the distance.

He exhaled softly, shook his head, and turned his Qingcang horse to follow the rest of the troops.

He didn’t need to look back to know what was happening.

County Captain Xu had spent the last few days extorting the wealthy families of Si Yang Town—now that the military had withdrawn, those same gentry and officials would begin their own power struggles to fill the void.

It was none of his concern.

Returning to Qingmu County was a smooth journey.

After days of hard marching, the troops finally arrived back at the county seat without any further incidents.

Upon reaching home, Wei Tu immediately stripped off his armor, washed away the grime of the road, and changed into clean robes.

Then, he picked up a pouch containing thirty taels of silver and set off for the Huang Family Residence.

“Thirty taels?”

“You managed to gather this much so quickly?”

Wei Hong, upon hearing the reason for Wei Tu’s visit, looked at him with disbelief.

Thirty taels of silver was no small sum—based on Wei Tu’s official salary, it would have taken him three to four years of strict saving to accumulate this amount.

And yet, it had only been two years since she had lent him the money.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep