Conspiracies are strategies devised when there is a power disparity between parties or a desire to reduce losses. They often represent the rats that skulk in dark corners, symbolizing one shadowy plan after another...
and an elastic bottom line.
Zhou Li's bottom line was quite miraculous. When his standards were high, he could swing his bottom line around and play with Taiying. But once he started to lower his bottom line, he could join hands with the King of Han and the Golden Snake Lady to skip rope with it.
But this time, Zhou Li backed off.
We might use the phrase "mend one's way" to describe someone who realizes their wrongs and decides to turn over a new leaf. But in Beiliang, people would describe such a change as "shocking and outrageous," especially when the term was applied to Zhou Li.
"I'm sorry, I'm a good person."
In that dark, twisted corner, Zhou Li held a musket to Han Shizhong's head and lamented as if he were smoking an eternal e-cigarette.
"Who knows."
