Double-Standard Dog

“There’s one more thing…”

“I agree!”

“I haven’t even said what it is yet.”

“As long as it has anything to do with money, I agree to it all!”

The clerk’s decisive declaration left the shopkeeper completely at a loss.

What?

He agreed to anything related to money just like that?

Had he…

Come into a fortune?

Or had he been captivated by her irresistible charm?

The shopkeeper couldn’t figure it out—and she didn’t need to.

All she needed to know was that this clerk had completely satisfied her demands. Although he was still lacking in other respects, he was just barely acceptable.

And so, she broke into a radiant smile and said, “All right. Since you’re so sincere, I’ll give you this opportunity.”

“When you go back, you can have someone bring the betrothal gifts.”

“Once this war is over, we can get married.”

The waiter brought over the tea at that moment. The clerk picked up his cup and took a leisurely sip before nodding.

“Fine. As long as you’re satisfied. However…”

“I have a condition as well.”

“You still dare to make demands?” The shopkeeper frowned. But then she thought that since the clerk was willing to spend so much money, there was no harm in allowing him to make one request. She smiled and said, “Fine, I’ll satisfy you. Go ahead and ask for whatever you want. I’ll agree to anything.”

“Who can blame me? I love you so much!”

The clerk said, “My request is actually very simple.”

“No matter what kind of betrothal gifts you want, or how much money they cost, you’ll have to borrow it from a money house inside Iron Gate Pass. I’ll pay it back!”

The shopkeeper nearly thought she had misheard him.

What?

She had to borrow the money for him to marry her?

Wouldn’t that amount to her spending money to marry herself?

Had she heard him wrong?

Or had the clerk gone mad?

How had he come up with such an outrageous idea?

More importantly, how had he found the nerve to say it aloud?

Her expression immediately changed, and she said coldly, “Are you joking with me? Hmph. You want me to borrow money so you can marry me…”

Before the shopkeeper could finish venting her anger, the clerk hurriedly interrupted her.

“You’ve got it wrong. I’m not asking you to borrow money to marry yourself. I’m marrying you, and you’re the one who needs to borrow the money. But don’t worry—the entire principal and all the interest will be paid back by me!”

“You’ll pay it back?”

The shopkeeper still couldn’t follow the clerk’s train of thought. Yet, on hearing his words, she felt that there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the arrangement.

The money would be borrowed in her name, but she wouldn’t have to repay either the principal or the interest. It seemed…

She wouldn’t have to give up anything at all!

However, while the logic sounded reasonable at first, it couldn’t withstand even the slightest scrutiny. The shopkeeper immediately said, “No, no. What if you run away?”

A flash of disappointment crossed the clerk’s eyes.

“The money will be in your hands. What are you afraid of?”

The shopkeeper thought about it and realized he had a point. But after thinking it over again, she felt that something was still wrong.

“What if you decide not to marry me?”

“I love you so much. How could I possibly refuse to marry you? Unless you’re unwilling to marry me.”

Those words left the shopkeeper momentarily speechless.

Looking at the clerk again, she suddenly felt that he seemed different from before—as though he had suddenly become enlightened.

But in Yunjing, shouldn’t becoming enlightened mean showing greater respect for love, being willing to give up everything for love, even one’s life…?

The path by which this clerk had become enlightened was rather strange.

That, however, was no longer important.

What mattered was…

She couldn’t agree to these conditions!

This wasn’t a question of whether they were reasonable or not. It was that… why should she be the one making the sacrifice for him to marry her?

She was beautiful, well-read in all kinds of romantic tales, and ought to be a highly sought-after prize on the matchmaking market. Why should she have to borrow money in her own name?

Had he gone mad?

Her expression turned cold.

“No. Absolutely not. If you want to marry me, then bring the betrothal gifts yourself.”

“I’m not borrowing the money, no matter what.”

“If anyone is going to borrow it, then you can do it yourself. But I can promise you this: once you give my family the betrothal gifts and marry me, I won’t run away.”

“I’ll love you wholeheartedly.”

“I’ll stay by your side for the rest of my life.”

As she spoke those final two sentences, the shopkeeper once again became tender and affectionate, just as she had always been with the clerk.

But this time…

The clerk’s heart had grown completely cold.

All the countless excuses he had made for her collapsed in an instant. The naked reality lay before him, leaving him without the slightest trace of hope.

He drained the tea in his cup and said, “I’ve already paid the bill. You don’t need to settle it.”

“I have something to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.”

“As for our marriage, forget it.”

“The betrothal gifts are too expensive. I can’t afford them!”

With those words, the clerk turned and walked out. At the door, he bumped into Zhang Shi, who had been waiting nearby, and said bitterly, “General Zhang Shi, thank you for your advice. It has helped me see this woman clearly at last.”

“I’m willing to tell you everything I know about General Lu Chaosheng!”

Zhang Shi should have been delighted, but he was utterly dumbfounded.

It worked?

That was it?!

Lu Shuang had used a casual scheme to effortlessly win over the clerk standing before him.

“Looks like I was too arrogant before and overlooked Lu Shuang’s usefulness. Now that I think about it, Lu Shuang was personally selected by Su Jin and sent to me. I really ought to learn from her.”

Coming back to himself, he said to the clerk, “Good. Since you’ve come to your senses, follow this general back to the tent.”

He took the clerk out of Iron Gate Pass and returned to the military tent. Everyone took their places, waiting for the clerk to begin his account.

Lu Shuang stood to one side, listening in.

Partly because she was curious, and partly because… she needed to learn these things so that she could better help General Zhang Shi defeat reckless in this battle.

She turned her head and was somewhat surprised.

For Zhang Shi had quietly taken his seat behind the desk. Holding a writing brush, he had begun scribbling furiously across a sheet of paper spread before him.

Her surprise turned into curiosity. Lu Shuang wanted to take a look, but ultimately restrained herself.

The clerk’s voice had already begun to ring out.

“Our General Lu Chaosheng has a beloved. Her name is Ning Wanqin. She and General Lu Chaosheng have been together since childhood. You could call them childhood sweethearts!”

“No, that’s not quite right…”

“They are childhood sweethearts in the truest sense!”

“Their relationship has always been excellent.”

“You could say they’ve been sweet and loving for more than twenty years.”

“I’ve followed General Lu Chaosheng for a long time and have witnessed their affection firsthand. I’ve always been incredibly envious of them.”

“I thought the two of them were practically a model of true love!”

“Almost perfect in every way.”

“If I had to point out a flaw, it would be that… Miss Ning Wanqin has extremely high standards for General Lu Chaosheng.”

“General Lu Chaosheng loves Miss Ning Wanqin deeply and has always been willing to put in enormous effort to fulfill her every wish.”

“Driven by that motivation, General Lu Chaosheng devoted himself to studying military strategy and actively built up his connections. Relying on his military achievements and strength, he rose steadily through the ranks and has now become the de facto commander of the entire Jiangbei fortress network.”

“In other words, the Jiangbei fortress complex isn’t as strategically important as the natural barrier of the Yangtze. Otherwise, General Lu Chaosheng would at the very least be on equal footing with the Grand Commander of the Yunjing Navy!”

“But…”

“General Lu Chaosheng has already accomplished so much, yet Miss Ning Wanqin is still dissatisfied with him, finding fault with him at every turn for not being a high-ranking official!”

“It seems…”

“It’s as if Miss Ning Wanqin could never be happy for the rest of her life unless General Lu Chaosheng became a high-ranking official.”

Zhang Shi, who had been bent over his desk taking notes, raised his head and blurted out, “So Ning Wanqin is obsessed with official rank?”

“No!” the clerk immediately replied. “She isn’t obsessed with official rank.”

As he spoke, an awkward look also appeared on the clerk’s face. “To be honest, back when this first started, we clerks were also discussing it in private, saying that Miss Ning Wanqin was obsessed with official rank.”

“She couldn’t become an official herself, so she urged Lord Lu Chaosheng to rise to a high position. But then… one of our clerks discovered something…”

“He discovered that Miss Ning Wanqin had been getting very close to a certain military officer!”

Swish!

Zhang Shi’s eyes lit up.

After listening for so long, he had finally heard what he wanted to hear.

Without realizing it, he had also begun to take an interest in all this messy gossip. Not only was he interested, but he was already thinking about how he could make use of it.

“That military officer has quite a handsome face…” the clerk continued. “But he’s a complete good-for-nothing. As for his abilities… he basically has none.”

“Although he’s now a naval officer, he rose through the ranks entirely because of Miss Ning Wanqin’s connections and recommendations. All in all… he’s worlds apart from our General Lu Chaosheng.”

“You could say the difference is as vast as heaven and earth!”

“Yet Miss Ning Wanqin is exceptionally tolerant toward that useless officer. She doesn’t mind in the slightest that his rank isn’t high enough. Instead…”

“She’s always praising that useless officer, both in public and behind his back, saying that he has extraordinary talent but has merely been overlooked for the time being. Someone like him is bound to shine sooner or later.”

By this point, everyone understood perfectly. Lu Shuang immediately summed it up with precision:

“What a hypocrite with double standards!”

The clerk nodded, completely agreeing.

Only Zhang Shi was stunned for a moment before writing the three words “double-standard dog” on the paper. It was at that moment that he finally gained a relatively clear understanding of the concept of a “double-standard dog.”

“So that’s what you call a double-standard dog!”

“Learned something new, learned something new!”

…