Chapter 495: - Great Fury

Wen Sutong’s residence was not large, but its arrangement carried a strong Jiangnan flavor.

His family had come from the official gentry of Qian, after all. In taste and refinement, there was truly nothing to criticize.

When Count Pingye and the Blind Man arrived, Wen Sutong opened the main gate and personally came out with his cane to receive them.

Afterward, Count Pingye went alone to the study to rest.

For one thing, the audience in the Imperial Study that morning had consumed far too much of his mental energy. For another, he wanted to leave the father-in-law and son-in-law some room to talk. At most, he would show his face again before leaving and exchange a few polite words.

Perhaps because he was still wearing armor, his body naturally shifted into some of the habits it had learned on campaign.

Falling asleep became much easier.

Count Pingye genuinely fell asleep.

While he slept, a red-robed senior eunuch arrived at Lakeheart Pavilion carrying an imperial decree and opened the iron gate.

“Commoner Ji Chengyue, receive the edict.”

Third Highness, dressed in white, stared at the scene in astonishment.

He had already prepared himself to spend the rest of his life here.

He truly had not expected an imperial decree to arrive now.

“This son... this commoner pays respects to His Majesty. Long live His Majesty! Long live! Long, long live!”

The red-robed eunuch smiled faintly and opened the decree.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Commoner Ji Chengyue...”

The decree essentially contained two points.

The first was a reprimand for the mistakes he had committed in the past. Naturally, an imperial edict could not openly state what Ji Chengyue had actually done. It merely used conventional language about negligence, disobedience, and similar offenses.

The second was that His Majesty judged Ji Chengyue to have reflected properly upon his mistakes during these years at Lakeheart Pavilion. He was therefore permitted to leave.

His status as imperial prince and titled prince would not be restored, but he would be permitted to reenter the Court of the Imperial Clan.

In other words, his membership in the imperial clan was restored, even if none of the privileges attached to his former rank were returned.

But he was, ultimately, a son of the Emperor.

Now that he had crossed this threshold, if a general amnesty came someday, he might at least receive some lesser noble title.

The hardest obstacle had finally passed.

“This son thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace.”

Ji Chengyue bowed low, both hands raised before him.

The red-robed eunuch placed the imperial decree into his hands and helped him to his feet.

Tears were already streaming down Third Highness’s face.

“Your Highness, allow this slave to help you back. His Majesty’s intention is that you continue living in the Princes’ Residence. The Imperial Medical Bureau has already prepared physicians to examine you.”

“Thank you, Eunuch. Thank you... Father.”

Being confined in Lakeheart Pavilion for several years had clearly damaged his health. It would have been easy to leave behind chronic ailments.

Once outside, he naturally needed to follow the imperial physicians’ instructions and slowly recover.

As for the red-robed senior eunuch, the more he looked at Third Highness standing before him, the more strangely familiar the prince seemed.

After all, Third Highness was now, in a certain sense, one of his own kind.

Once a man lost that particular root, enough time would naturally cultivate a somewhat softer, more feminine air.

And Third Highness had always loved poetry and books, so his bearing had already leaned toward the refined and scholarly.

The red-robed eunuch immediately drove the ridiculous thought from his mind.

What the hell was he thinking?

Inside the carriage, the senior eunuch personally served Ji Chengyue a cup of tea.

Ji Chengyue accepted it with both hands and said pleadingly, “Eunuch, I left some books, calligraphy, and paintings behind. We left in such a hurry that I had no chance to gather them. May I trouble you to...”

“Your Highness, listen to yourself. You only need to give the order. This old servant could never accept the word ‘trouble’ from Your Highness. I’ll have someone collect them shortly.”

“Thank you, Eunuch.”

“Your Highness is too courteous.”

The carriage passed through the streets.

Ji Chengyue smelled freshly baked flatbread and instinctively sniffed.

The red-robed eunuch had served people since childhood. Although he had now climbed to a high position inside the palace, he had never forgotten the basic skills of his profession.

He immediately ordered a young eunuch outside to buy two flatbreads.

Ji Chengyue held the piping-hot bread in his hands and devoured it ravenously.

“Your Highness, slowly. Eat slowly. Be careful not to choke.”

In truth, the food at Lakeheart Pavilion had not been particularly poor.

It was simple fare, but compared with the meals of ordinary commoners, it was already decent.

The problem was that every dish had to be inspected before delivery. By the time the food actually reached Ji Chengyue, it was generally cold.

Summer had been manageable.

In winter, he had been forced to use his small tea stove to reheat his own meals.

It was not the flatbread itself he craved.

It was that piping-hot scent of ordinary human life.

Put another way— he craved the taste of freedom.

After finishing both flatbreads, Ji Chengyue let out a long breath. He raised the tea, now already cold, and drained it in one gulp.

Then he kept the tea leaves in his mouth and slowly chewed them.

It was a habit he had developed during his years in Lakeheart Pavilion.

After a moment, Ji Chengyue looked at the red-robed eunuch.

“Eunuch, when may I go thank Father personally for his grace?”

“This... His Majesty gave no instructions.”

“I understand.”

Ji Chengyue had nothing left to complain about.

...

“Old Fifth, you’re about to leave. What are you still fussing with over there?”

The Fourth Prince sat on a nearby table and watched the Fifth Prince draw diagrams.

“Can’t Fourth Brother see? I’m drawing plans. These are methods of river control recorded in old books, along with a few I collected myself. I don’t expect them to prove useful. I merely want to compare them against one another.”

“Heh. I know you’re drawing plans. But I suspect those river works of yours aren’t going to happen.”

“Oh? Fourth Brother has heard something?”

“This untalented brother still has a few acquaintances in the Ministry of War.”

The Fourth Prince’s maternal clan was the Deng Clan of Sanshi.

The clan had declined after the First Battle of Wang River, but it had still left behind a little influence.

Besides, he was an imperial prince himself.

Certain information was never especially difficult for him to obtain.

“What happened?”

“It seems military affairs were discussed inside the Imperial Study today.”

“What of it?”

“The word coming out of the Ministry of War is that tomorrow’s court session may see the wind rise.”

“The wind rise?”

“There may be war.”

“War? Now?”

“Yes. And if it’s a war serious enough to be raised at a full court session, then it won’t be anything like Eldest Brother’s little scuffles with that Qian youngster around Nanwang City.”

“How are we supposed to fight? Fourth Brother, you know perfectly well what condition Great Yan’s treasury is in. Otherwise the two of us wouldn’t still be living here.”

By custom, once an imperial prince established his own residence, both the state treasury and the inner treasury provided a substantial “settling-in allowance” with which to purchase a mansion.

His monthly allowance would also rise sharply to cover household expenses.

While living in the Princes’ Residence, however, he theoretically ate from the communal kitchen. Food was provided, along with a few eunuchs and palace maids, and his monthly allowance was barely higher than Little Seventh’s inside the palace.

Nor was that all.

Over the past two years, whenever an old noble died and his heir submitted a memorial requesting succession to the title, those memorials had often been quietly set aside.

Delay the succession by one year, and the court saved one year of grain and silver.

Officially, the court would say it was merely following procedure: verifying the heir’s identity, evaluating his character, determining whether he qualified to inherit, and deciding how many ranks the title should be reduced upon succession.

And if you dared make trouble?

Fine.

In serious cases, the court could declare your character unworthy and strip the family title completely.

In lighter cases, it could demote the inherited title an extra rank or two to teach you a lesson.

Take the Fourth and Fifth Princes as examples.

Politically, they currently enjoyed treatment comparable to imperial princes of the highest rank.

Once they established their own residences, their material support would have to match that status as well.

Those benefits would continue until one of their brothers took the throne. Their relationship with the sovereign would then change from imperial sons to imperial brothers, after which tradition required them to request a voluntary reduction in rank.

Setting aside the stipend attached to whatever official posts they held, which amounted to only around two hundred taels of silver a year, each prince at that rank could receive ten thousand taels of silver and ten thousand shi of grain annually.

That did not even include seasonal benefits, ice and charcoal allowances, or gifts from the palace.

Other noble ranks naturally received less than princes.

But Great Yan had no shortage of meritorious nobles.

Add all of those payments together, and the sum became enormous.

Count Pingye’s present rank of Count brought him two thousand taels of silver and two thousand shi of grain every year. When the court shipped money and grain to Snow Sea Pass, that amount was listed separately in the accounts.

In short, simply by keeping the Fourth and Fifth Princes inside the Princes’ Residence, the court saved twenty thousand taels of silver and twenty thousand shi of grain every year.

Old Sixth Ji’s reputation among the imperial clan and meritorious nobility had become terrible over the last two years.

The reason was simple.

With the court’s finances in crisis, he had unhesitatingly taken the knife to the imperial clan and noble houses.

He did not merely choke their statutory grain and silver allowances.

He also paid portions of those allowances with notes issued by merchant houses, requiring the recipients to take the notes to those firms and exchange them for goods of equivalent nominal value.

Bank drafts and similar instruments had existed for a long time.

They were especially common in Qian’s Jiangnan region, though they were still used primarily for convenience in commerce and had not spread widely among ordinary people.

Ji Chengjue did not dare use the method on a large scale.

He only used it to pay subsidies to imperial clansmen and nobles.

The problem was that notes with the same face value traded on the street for only eighty percent of that value.

That was naked exploitation of the imperial clan and meritorious nobility.

Unfortunately for them, Emperor Yan’s authority was far too great, and the lingering terror from the cavalry purge of the great clans had not faded.

Under another emperor, the imperial clansmen and nobles would probably have dragged their old and young to the palace gates and wept in protest long ago.

Against this Emperor, they did not dare.

That fact alone showed how strained Great Yan’s finances truly were.

Under normal circumstances, an imperial court should support the imperial clan and meritorious nobility generously whenever possible.

Even if some had already become rice-eating parasites, they still had to be fed.

Their ancestors had risked their lives for Great Yan and the Ji Clan, shedding blood and losing heads to win prosperity for their descendants.

If the court mishandled that bargain, who would be willing to risk his life for the Ji Clan in the future?

Wasn’t what everyone wanted, in the end, noble titles enduring for ten thousand generations, honors for their wives, and advancement for their sons?

The Fourth Prince smiled.

“I think there’s a real chance we’re going to war.”

“No money, no grain. How?”

“A living man isn’t going to let himself be strangled by his own piss. If they truly want to fight, they’ll find a way to make the war happen. So your river works probably won’t need to be built.”

If war began, where would there be spare money, grain, and labor to send into river works?

The Fifth Prince shook his head.

“Until Father issues a decree, I’ll keep doing what I’m supposed to do.”

“Fine. You’re obedient.”

At that moment, noise came from outside.

The eunuch attendant assigned to the Fifth Prince hurried over.

“Master, Fourth Highness, Third Highness has returned.”

The Fourth and Fifth Princes immediately looked at one another.

Both saw shock in the other’s eyes.

Truthfully, they had already prepared themselves never to see Third Brother again in this lifetime.

No matter how one looked at it, Third Brother had never seemed likely to leave Lakeheart Pavilion.

The Fourth Prince murmured, “I heard Zheng Fan went to Lakeheart Pavilion yesterday to see Third Brother. So does this mean he finally gave an accounting and the two of them settled their grudge?”

The Fifth Prince shook his head.

“I don’t think Third Brother could truly let go of that grudge.”

“Heh. You’re saying that because you’ve never been locked in there.”

“If they gave me enough timber while I was confined, I honestly wouldn’t mind.”

“You’re insane.”

The Fourth Prince jumped down from the table and straightened his clothes.

The Fifth Prince took off the clothing he wore for carpentry and changed into something more proper.

Whatever else might be true, Third Brother had returned.

As his younger brothers, they naturally had to go pay their respects.

Just before leaving, the Fourth Prince suddenly remembered something.

“If I remember correctly, Consort Ming’s birthday is late this month, isn’t it?”

Consort Ming had always possessed a virtuous reputation. She was mild-tempered, well read, and proper in conduct.

Third Highness’s early love of poetry and books had been influenced in no small part by his mother.

The Fifth Prince looked at him.

“You mean Father spent last night with Consort Ming?”

The Fourth Prince immediately kicked him.

“Is that something I’m supposed to know?”

If I received reports every day about where Father slept the previous night, what exactly would that imply I was trying to do?

The Fifth Prince shrugged.

“I thought you knew.”

“Don’t get me killed.”

“Hey, I was just asking. But I do think that if Consort Ming learned Zheng Fan had visited Third Brother, she might have taken the opportunity to plead with Father. And with her birthday approaching, Father may have agreed to let Third Brother out.”

“Ah. Our father’s heart is still soft,” the Fourth Prince sighed.

“Fourth Brother, do you have a fever? Are you delirious?”

The Fourth Prince glanced at the Fifth Prince.

“You were the one who started talking nonsense first.”

...

Third Highness had barely moved back into the Princes’ Residence when the Fourth and Fifth Princes came to visit.

“This younger brother pays respects to Elder Brother.”

“This younger brother pays respects to Elder Brother.”

“Brothers, rise. Rise.”

What followed was a display of brotherly harmony as the three sat together and exchanged pleasantries.

Before long, the imperial physicians arrived, so the Fourth and Fifth Princes took their leave.

Once outside, the Fourth Prince stretched.

“Third Brother always used to hold himself like a scholar and barely looked at the rest of us. After being locked away for two years, he seems much more grounded.”

“True,” Old Fifth agreed.

“What a pity. I don’t think Third Brother has any chance of taking revenge now.”

“You think he still wants revenge?”

“Heh-heh.” The Fourth Prince laughed twice. “I don’t believe he stopped hating. Every night, he’ll hate. But Zheng Fan is already Count Pingye. An imperial prince led his mount. The Crown Prince welcomed him into the capital. How is Third Brother supposed to compare?”

“I’ll be going to Sixth Brother’s residence later. I made a few toys for the child myself.”

“You’re certainly eager. You’re really going to see Zheng Fan, aren’t you?”

“More or less. Zheng Fan leaves the capital the day after tomorrow. Unless Father issues a new decree, I’ll still be traveling with him to Jin.”

“Aren’t you worried people will start calling you part of the Sixth Lord Faction too?”

The Fifth Prince chuckled.

“Fourth Brother.”

“Mm?”

“Third Brother came out.”

“So?”

“No matter how badly things go, can they go worse than they did for Third Brother?”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Then let me put it differently. A man like Zheng Fan crippled an imperial prince, yet he was still ennobled afterward. What did he rely on? Ability. Whether the person above is Father, Second Brother, or Sixth Brother, once he sits in that position, bloodline, brothers, descendants... none of those matter as much as people who can actually get things done. So even if there’s no manpower or material support this time, I am going to the Wang River. I absolutely must go. I’ll contribute what I can and make sure no one truly treats me as useless. Do you understand now, Fourth Brother?”

“I understand.”

“Good.”

“You’re calling me useless.”

“...” Old Fifth.

...

After waking from his nap, Count Pingye went to the Wen family’s sitting room.

And immediately realized that failing to bring the Blind Man with him to visit the Empress Dowager of Jin earlier had been an enormous mistake.

The Blind Man and Wen Sutong were seated facing one another, each holding a cup of tea.

“You look very well.”

“You’ve lost weight. You must have too many matters keeping you busy. Take care of yourself.”

They were speaking about ordinary family matters.

But very slowly.

Often a long time passed before either one said the next sentence.

Zheng Fan knew perfectly well that the Blind Man was communicating with Wen Sutong through the Mental Link.

There were people from the Secret Intelligence Department inside the Prince of Jin Residence.

That was only natural.

And there would certainly be no fewer of them inside Wen Sutong’s home.

Zheng Fan could not simply find a secret chamber and speak privately with the Empress Dowager of Jin.

If he did something like that, Emperor Yan’s fury would descend immediately.

Emperor Yan’s ambition was to unite all the Xia lands.

How could he possibly stand by while a general under his own command did something that looked like violating the widow of a fallen state?

And that was why Zheng Fan’s trip to the Prince of Jin Residence had been so bland.

Far, far blander than he had imagined.

Ah.

If only the Blind Man had been there.

Then things would have been much easier.

At least they could have exchanged a few private words.

In the end, Count Pingye sat down, drank half a cup of tea, and chatted with Wen Sutong about the climates of Snow Sea Pass and Yanjing.

The tea had only just cooled before he stood and took his leave.

When they returned to the Sixth Prince’s residence, everyone ate dinner together.

Gou Moli then asked Zheng Fan whether he could take him to the prison of the Secret Intelligence Department.

Count Pingye hesitated.

Everyone outside knew that the Savage King had been defeated, captured, and sent to Yanjing.

Some rumors claimed the Savage King had already been executed.

Others claimed he was still imprisoned in the Secret Intelligence Department’s prison.

Zheng Fan, of course, knew that the real Savage King stood in front of him.

The man locked away in Yanjing was an impostor.

That impostor was A’Lai, a man who looked remarkably like Gou Moli and who had willingly chosen to become the Savage King’s shadow.

If Gou Moli had asked Zheng Fan to take him to the Rear Garden to see the Commandery Princess, Count Pingye would unquestionably have kicked him over on the spot.

But this request was different.

After hesitating, Zheng Fan said, “I’ll have Old Sixth Ji’s people pass a message to Wei Zhonghe. We’ll say that in order to understand the situation on the snowfields more clearly, I want to meet that Savage King. Whether we actually get to see him will depend on Wei Zhonghe.”

Gou Moli dropped to his knees and kowtowed heavily to Zheng Fan.

That night, Ji Chengjue did not return until well after midnight.

When he came back, he did not go see Zheng Fan. He simply returned to his own room and went to sleep.

...

The next morning, Count Pingye had just woken and washed.

He stepped into the little courtyard, preparing to light his morning cigarette.

Then he saw Old Sixth Ji already sitting on a bench, holding a water pipe.

At present, Qian people were fond of Five-Stone Powder.

That stuff hit far harder than tobacco.

Tobacco itself was still mostly treated as medicine. Some people smoked it, but the habit had not yet become widespread.

And strangely enough, the older a person was and the worse his health, the more likely he seemed to smoke. People believed tobacco smoke could drive illness from the body.

The water pipe in Ji Chengjue’s hand was beautifully crafted, practically a work of art.

At his waist hung a jade-marrow Buddha’s-hand snuff bottle, another exceedingly precious object.

Great Yan’s treasury might be strained, but not strained enough to affect Ji Chengjue’s personal life.

Whenever political conditions allowed, he was like Count Pingye: he enjoyed comfort.

Most importantly, he did not rely on money from the state treasury to finance those pleasures.

In fact, according to Ji Chengjue himself, among all Great Yan’s merchant families, none paid taxes more meticulously and honestly than the firms under his control.

Zheng Fan walked over, took the water pipe out of Ji Chengjue’s hand, and said:

“Don’t touch this stuff. It’s bad for you.”

Then Count Pingye used a fire striker to light the pipe and took a puff himself.

“What about you?” Ji Chengjue asked, rolling his eyes.

“I’m a Sixth Grade Martial Artist. My body can take it.”

“So you practiced martial arts just to compensate for all the damage you do to yourself?”

“Heh-heh. Aren’t you going to court today?”

“I requested leave. Requested it directly from Father. You’re leaving the capital tomorrow, so I’m taking you around today.”

“That serious?”

“It has to be. Heaven knows when I’ll see you again.”

“Fine.”

“The carriage is already waiting. I’ll take you to Kuanmin Alley for breakfast. The food there is the most authentic.”

“Good.”

Eunuch Zhang drove, as always.

Kuanmin Alley was an old street in Yanjing.

The road itself was narrow, but the place was packed with life.

Breakfast was little wontons.

Old Sixth ate two bowls.

Count Pingye ate three.

Eunuch Zhang ate four.

Afterward, the two men did not return to the carriage.

They wandered on foot instead.

They went to Yin Lang Shrine.

Like Yinlang Commandery, the shrine had originally become famous because of that old Great Yan Chancellor. But the shrine in the capital had since transformed into a market for calligraphy, paintings, and antiques.

As Ji Chengjue walked beside Zheng Fan, he explained the antique trade.

“A lot of people in the capital like coming to Yin Lang Shrine to browse. Everyone dreams of finding some overlooked treasure. But sellers are always shrewder than buyers. Finding a real bargain here is difficult. Gold, silver, and jade won’t be displayed casually. Only an idiot sells those things cheaply. As for old paintings, calligraphy, inkstones, porcelain, and the like, most are fake. And even when something is genuine, if you buy it because you personally enjoy it, collect it, and play with it without thinking about resale, then fine. But if you want to buy low and flip it for profit, you still need someone else who understands the object as well as you do, and that person needs money to spare. When famine truly comes, you can take these things to a grain shop and they still won’t exchange for much rice. The clerk behind the counter won’t know how to appreciate them.”

Despite saying all that, Ji Chengjue still bought Count Pingye an inkstone, a painting, and a piece of mottled jade.

“The inkstone is real. Good material. Worth the price. The painting is fake, but the copy itself has some age. Buy it for one tael and you’ll never sell it for a hundred, but ten taels? Easy. As for this jade pendant, it hasn’t been fully nourished yet. It’s actually high-grade Huairou jade. Wear it against the body for three generations. By the time your grandson reaches adulthood, the texture should become beautifully clear and smooth. Then it’ll be worth money. If grain prices are still about the same, perhaps five hundred taels.”

Count Pingye held a cloth bundle and put the purchases inside.

Eunuch Zhang smiled and took it from him for safekeeping.

“You really could survive anything. If you ever ran out of money for food, you could just walk around here, make a few trades, and come away with everything you needed.”

As the saying went, in a famine, a craftsman never starved.

That was the principle.

Ji Chengjue shook his head.

“These are all minor skills. To tell the truth, things like this are painfully ordinary in my eyes.”

He had been born into the imperial family.

His maternal clan was the Min Clan.

Precious antiques and famous objects that dazzled ordinary people were no more unusual to Ji Chengjue than chopping boards in his own kitchen.

“Then how did you end up so poor you couldn’t afford food back then?”

Ji Chengjue casually took out a piece of broken silver and tossed it into the bronze gong of a monkey trainer near the entrance to the market.

The monkey immediately sprang up, kowtowed repeatedly to Ji Chengjue, then turned a somersault.

“Look at that monkey. It may not enjoy kowtowing and turning somersaults, but it has to do them because people enjoy watching.”

“Heh.”

“This is only your second time in Yanjing. And counting this trip, you’ve only met Father twice. In your eyes, what sort of man is Father?”

“I don’t know how to describe him.”

“You should be afraid of Father.”

“I don’t like the word afraid.”

“Fine. Then... wary?”

“I don’t like this subject.”

“Because talking about it on the streets of Yanjing feels dangerous?”

“More or less.”

“Father treats you very well.”

“Mm.”

“But you still went to Litian City.”

“Yes.”

“That is what a Son of Heaven is. He makes you grateful, and he makes you afraid.”

“Not quite.”

“I know it doesn’t quite fit. It applies to other people, but not to you. You are more willing than any of us to let go. The thing I admire most about you is that you seem to treat your own life, this entire lifetime, like one of the festival operas performed at Yin Lang Shrine.”

“That comparison fits.”

“I can’t live as freely as you.”

“You still have room to improve.”

“Once you have children, you won’t be that free either.”

“We’re back to children again?”

“What do you want for lunch?”

“Breakfast hasn’t even digested yet.”

“Then let’s drink tea. Yanjing’s teahouses are famous too.”

“Boring.”

“Lately the teahouses have all been telling stories about you.”

“I’m thirsty.”

They drank tea in a teahouse until noon.

Once hunger returned and sunflower seeds and peanuts were no longer enough to suppress it, Zheng Fan and Ji Chengjue walked back outside.

“Well?” Ji Chengjue asked.

“After hearing my own story, I feel full of strength.”

In the storyteller’s version, Count Pingye was a Third Grade Martial Artist who had fought the Eighteen Grand Guardians of Chu!

No one knew whether Chu even had eighteen Grand Guardians.

The princess herself probably had no idea.

And Count Pingye certainly had not known he was secretly a peak Third Grade Martial Artist.

After leaving the teahouse, Zheng Fan felt his steps becoming slightly unsteady.

He had swallowed too much motivational chicken soup.

It was about to overflow.

“What do you want for lunch? Anything except roast duck.”

“I still want roast duck.”

“Quande House’s roast duck isn’t good anymore.”

“I never thought it was good.”

“Fine.”

They ate lunch at Quande House.

Ji Chengjue ordered one roast duck and one pot of wine.

He and Zheng Fan split the wine.

Eunuch Zhang ate the entire duck himself.

They bought several other dishes from vendors outside Quande House.

“There’s a rule in Yanjing. If a shop can make one signature dish well, it focuses on that dish. At the same time, it isn’t allowed to drive away vendors from outside who sell other foods. If you want an extra dish, you simply call for one and have them bring it in. The shopkeeper isn’t allowed to chase them away. After all, most shopkeepers began as street vendors themselves. They only earned enough capital later to rent or buy a storefront. Who knows? By the time their sons or grandsons inherit the business, the eagle may turn back into a chick, and the family may have to return to selling from a stall. Make life easy for others and you make life easy for yourself. If you can eat until you’re seventy percent full, you ought to leave enough behind for someone else to drink a little soup.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Count Pingye asked. “Trying to teach me that I eat too greedily?”

“I’m a merchant. I’ve told you that many times. And since I’m a merchant, I naturally prefer making money through harmony. Sometimes I think some of your methods go a little too far.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“I only care about making myself happy.”

“Only caring about your own happiness is also a form of selfishness.”

“Is selfishness bad?”

“It... isn’t necessarily.”

“Exactly. A man gets one life. Live it freely and thoroughly. That’s enough.”

“Heh. You talk as if you’ve already lived one entire lifetime and learned all its lessons.”

“Maybe I have.”

“Sometimes I feel helpless too. Truthfully, I’m much broader-minded than Second Brother. I don’t like pushing matters to the absolute end either. Second Brother is the one who’s genuinely narrow-minded. Eldest Brother chose to stand with me partly because he saw that. But the problem is that outsiders now—especially the imperial clan, the meritorious nobility, the Ministry of Revenue, and some smaller local families—think I’m a cruel official, while the Crown Prince is the benevolent ruler.”

“A crow never knows it’s black.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Different positions, different methods. If you were in the Crown Prince’s position, you’d become kindhearted and benevolent too. I’ve always thought people are basically the same. If you could live comfortably, who would willingly spend his whole life with his face to the yellow earth and his back to the sky? If you could have wives and concubines around you, why wouldn’t you live freely? People simply stand in different positions and don’t get to choose everything they want. The person underneath remains the same.”

“That’s true.”

“So you’re being melodramatic.”

“You’ve been wandering in front of me every day these past few days. You’ve infected me.”

“Drink.”

“Cheers.”

They emptied another cup.

As Ji Chengjue poured the next round, he said, “Third Brother came out of Lakeheart Pavilion.”

“Don’t tell me the afternoon plan is visiting Third Highness.”

“I’m not going to rub salt into his wounds. That would be too cruel.”

“Watch your words. I helped him get out.”

“Then should I tell him to bring gifts to the residence tonight and thank you personally?”

“I perform good deeds without seeking recognition.”

“What are we doing this afternoon?”

“You’re the guide.”

“Guide? That word fits. The Rear Garden has wonderful scenery. It was built entirely in the style of Qian’s Jiangnan gardens.”

“No matter how beautiful the scenery, if there’s a tiger living inside, I lose all desire to appreciate it.”

“I heard Father punished her by making her copy the Heart Sutra at home.”

“His Majesty is wise. I think the Four Books, Five Classics, and every famous work of the ancients could each be copied several times too. Excellent for cultivating the temperament.”

“How about riding outside the city? I’ve practiced horsemanship regularly these past two years.”

“You can’t beat me.”

“Not necessarily.”

“I ride a Pixiu.”

“...” Ji Chengjue.

In the afternoon, they did not go riding.

Nor did they visit the Rear Garden.

Instead, they went to Yingchun House and spent the afternoon drinking with courtesans.

Ji Chengjue ordered nine women.

Two sat beside each man.

Three danced.

The other two sang.

But the entertainment remained clean.

At most, there was a little groping.

Neither man actually went into the inner rooms to borrow a scented bed.

At dusk, the pair emerged somewhat drunk.

Ji Chengjue patted Count Pingye on the shoulder.

“Well?”

“Next time, let’s not come to places like this. If word gets out, it’ll damage our reputations.”

“Burdened by fame? If they knew you were the famous Count Pingye, they’d all be volunteering their pillows.”

“If they knew you were an imperial prince, they’d go even crazier.”

“I’m going to see Third Brother now. Look at the sky. It’s already so late that if I wait any longer I may not make it.”

“You go. I’m not coming.”

At that moment, a man dressed in black stood beside Eunuch Zhang’s carriage.

“Greetings, Count.”

The man displayed his waist token from the Secret Intelligence Department.

Ji Chengjue rubbed his eyes.

“What’s this about?”

“I asked Grand Eunuch Wei for permission to meet the Savage King.”

“Oh. Good. Looks like Grand Eunuch Wei is willing to grant you the convenience. Then go. I’ll take the carriage to the Princes’ Residence.”

“I’m the guest. Obviously the carriage is for me.”

“It’s my carriage.”

“I’m the guest.”

In the end, the two men who both valued security enormously and were both extremely afraid of dying had no choice but to ride together back to the Sixth Prince’s residence first.

Count Pingye got out.

The Sixth Prince continued onward in his own carriage to the Princes’ Residence.

Count Pingye gathered the Blind Man, Gou Moli, and the Sword Saint, then climbed into the carriage driven by Little Eunuch Zhang and headed for the Secret Intelligence Department prison in Yanjing.

The “Savage King” was confined in the deepest part of the prison.

Men from the Secret Intelligence Department brought a chair for Count Pingye.

He sat.

The Sword Saint, Gou Moli, and the Blind Man stood behind him.

Inside the cell, A’Lai slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze swept over Zheng Fan, then across the three people standing behind him.

Then he lowered his head.

He laughed.

The laughter grew louder and louder.

He laughed until he began coughing.

After coughing, he laughed again.

Then coughed again.

He kept laughing until his strength was gone and his throat had turned hoarse.

Even then, both hands clutched the iron chains as he raised his face toward Zheng Fan and continued shouting.

“The stars do not die! The Sacred Race endures forever!”

“The stars do not die! The Sacred Race endures forever!”

Until the moment they left, Count Pingye sat in that chair without saying a single word.

It was the same as at the Prince of Jin Residence.

The same as at Wen Sutong’s residence.

There were not many places inside Yanjing where a person could speak normally.

As for the cells beside the Savage King’s—

Heaven alone knew whether the men locked inside were actually prisoners.

Count Pingye led his people out of the prison.

Outside, a red-robed senior eunuch waited for them.

“This slave pays respects to Count Pingye.”

The man was probably one of the senior figures in the Secret Intelligence Department, a subordinate of Wei Zhonghe.

“Count, it seems you didn’t say anything at all?”

Zheng Fan smiled.

He reached out, patted the red-robed eunuch on the shoulder, then went farther and hooked an arm around him.

“Looking at an old defeated enemy already feels good enough. Saying even one word would be a waste. Wouldn’t you agree, Eunuch?”

“Yes, yes. That is certainly the principle.”

Before leaving, Count Pingye took out a small handful of gold melon seeds and stuffed them into the eunuch’s hand.

“Count, no, no. This slave could never accept your gold.”

“You can. You can. When you report to Grand Eunuch Wei later, please tell him I said quite a lot to the Savage King. I’m worried Grand Eunuch Wei might laugh at this Count for being petty if he learns I came all this way merely to make myself feel good.”

“Heh-heh-heh. Certainly. Certainly.”

Count Pingye climbed into Little Eunuch Zhang’s carriage and left.

Inside, Gou Moli looked melancholy.

Count Pingye sat with his eyes half closed.

Gou Moli raised three fingers.

“The Savages of the snowfields will provide thirty thousand young fighting men to Great Yan for the siege.”

...

Count Pingye had drunk twice during the day, yet he still did not sleep early that night.

He would leave the capital tomorrow.

There was no reluctance to go.

Only a faint melancholy.

He did not possess Huang Chao’s heroic spirit:

When autumn comes, on the eighth day of the ninth month,
Once my flower blooms, a hundred blossoms die.

What he felt instead was a quiet certainty that the next time he came here, everything would be the same place and yet all the people would have changed.

That feeling continued circling in his heart.

The Blind Man had not gone to sleep either.

He sat beside the bed, silently reviewing everything he had seen and heard these past few days.

Of all the Demon Kings, the Blind Man was the one most enthusiastic about rebellion.

The others had their own hobbies.

The Blind Man’s hobby was rebelling.

The Savage King had not slept either.

He curled up in a corner.

The embroidered shoe had already been tossed aside.

One hand covered the left side of his face.

At times he laughed.

At times he cried.

He Chunlai and Chen Daole sat facing one another over tea.

The tea was bitter.

Their hearts were more bitter still.

This was Yanjing.

The heart of Great Yan.

They had come here— and dared do absolutely nothing.

The Princes’ Residence, by contrast, was exceptionally lively.

Third Highness had left Lakeheart Pavilion, so the brothers were drinking together.

Even Little Seventh had been sent out by his mother consort.

His elder brothers drank wine.

He sat beside them drinking a cold sweet beverage.

The Crown Prince did not come.

But he sent two jars of excellent wine.

Ji Chengjue was not a cultivator, after all.

His capacity for alcohol was not as good as Count Pingye’s.

And he had already drunk twice during the day.

By now, completely drunk, he pointed at the two wine jars sent by the Crown Prince and began cursing.

“That heartless bastard! He still calls himself a brother? What kind of fucking brother can’t even be bothered to come see us? The imperial clan says I’m a skinning ghost. The meritorious nobles say I’m cold-blooded. The Ministry of Revenue and all those people outside say I’m stingy, that I’m a cruel official. Hahahahaha! Every one of them says the Crown Prince is benevolent. What kind of fucking benevolence is that? Cold-blooded! Shameless! No human feeling at all!”

In the end, the thoroughly drunk Ji Chengjue was carried back in Eunuch Zhang’s carriage.

According to the servants, even while drunk he continued cursing the Crown Prince.

The words only became uglier.

...

Early the next morning, Count Pingye waited at the palace gates and received the princess as she emerged.

She came out with a formal princess’s carriage procession.

The Ji Clan was generous.

They sent with her eighty eunuchs, one hundred and sixty palace maids, and more than twenty chests of gifts and ceremonial goods.

Count Pingye left all the gifts, eunuchs, and palace maids at the Sixth Prince’s residence and told Ji Chengjue to deal with them.

What a joke.

If he dragged that entire crowd and all those belongings back to Snow Sea Pass, how long would the return journey take?

This time, even the carriage was abandoned.

Every personal guard mounted a horse.

The instant they left Yanjing, the entire group broke into a gallop.

The princess sat in Zheng Fan’s arms.

The Pixiu carried two people without the slightest difficulty.

“Husband, why are we in such a hurry to get home?”

Count Pingye shouted back:

“To beat up your family!”

...

In the fifth month of the third year of Yongping:

On Consort Ming’s birthday, the Emperor praised her virtue, wisdom, and propriety, elevated her to Noble Consort, and held a grand banquet.

During the feast, musicians from Chu were invited to perform the ancient piece *Yangchun*.

Halfway through the music, one musician drew a blade hidden beneath his instrument and attempted to assassinate the Emperor.

Prince Yue threw himself forward to save the sovereign.

He was struck by the blade and died of his wound.

The Emperor was furious.

[End of Chapter 495]