Chapter 521

The old slaves surround Fei Cai but dare not go forward, and they gloat over a bulge in his clothes, thinking he might even lose his life for stealing the young tribe leader’s shoes. Ma Ying Jie, standing at the tent entrance, finds his shoes gone. His old personal servant says the new young slave very possibly stole them to sell for money, and that it is not his first theft. Ma Ying Jie is furious. ^{ch. 521}

Extremely anxious, Fei Cai remembers Zhao Lian Yun’s instructions and walks up with his head high. Ma Ying Jie sees the old slaves look like an escort for Fei Cai, who does not appear panicked, and his fury gives way to curiosity and doubt. Fei Cai kneels, denies the theft, and opens his shirt to take out a ball of high grade silk with the shoes inside. Ma Ying Jie coldly calls this proof. Fei Cai sets the shoes down and presses his forehead to the ground, accepting any punishment, while the old slaves demand that his hands be cut off. ^{ch. 521}

Ma Ying Jie, somewhat interested, holds back, because killing a slave over shoes would be spread as brutal when he praises himself as wise and benevolent and Ma tribe now heads a huge army. He lets Fei Cai explain. Fei Cai, relieved, replies exactly as Zhao Lian Yun instructed. He says his father died in the tribe’s internal strife, so Ma Ying Jie’s destruction of Fei tribe can count as revenge for him, and he could never return benevolence with enmity. He is only a mortal who cleans shoes, and he spent all his savings on real silk to keep them from being cold. ^{ch. 521}

Ma Ying Jie is greatly surprised. Obsessed with cleanliness, he would have been disgusted by bare shoes held in clothes, but silk is different, and if Fei Cai speaks the truth, the devotion is overwhelming. Fei Cai kowtows and confesses a sin, that in keeping the shoes warm he forgot how extremely inconvenient their absence would be when Ma Ying Jie goes out. Ma Ying Jie sighs that he called Fei Cai only because the pair he usually wore had vanished, and that he nearly blamed his loyal servant. ^{ch. 521}

The old slaves cry that Fei Cai is very crafty and lying. He answers that these old slaves stole shoes many times, incited him after his appointment, and resent him because he never listened, and he asks for an investigation. He does not fear one, since this was the first time he had stolen shoes. The old slaves had plotted against him, letting slip as if by accident that the finest shoes sell high, and he had never noticed which shoes the young tribe leader wore. Zhao Lian Yun’s instructions saved him. ^{ch. 521}

The old slaves turn pale, and Ma Ying Jie, seventy or eighty percent convinced, summons an investigative Gu Master, who brings the truth to light in five minutes. The old slaves kneel weeping, and Ma Ying Jie spares them for their years of service and sends them to the supply camp to clean latrines. They kowtow, extremely thankful. ^{ch. 521}

Ma Ying Jie tells Fei Cai that stealing his shoes shows he truly is extremely daring, and punishes him by making him head of the slaves. Fei Cai, stumped, realizes the punishment is a promotion, and thanks him. He heads for the secret place to report to Zhao Lian Yun, as she told him. She widens her eyes in surprise. Her plan depended completely on Ma Ying Jie’s mood, and a death command would have finished Fei Cai, yet he was quite lucky. ^{ch. 521}