Song Zhiyuan slapped his knee heavily. Despite the sharp pain, his old face radiated with a brilliant smile. "Since we cannot rob them in broad daylight, we shall make them willingly throw their silver into this fire pit!"
"This method not only preserves the foundation of the people's livelihood but also fills the treasury... Could this Miss Xu be the God of Wealth descended to earth?"
When he saw the end of the letter, Song Zhiyuan's breath slammed hard against his chest and then froze there.
At the very end were only a few lines of small characters, but each word carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
The Third Prince is here. He commands you, Uncle, to cry poor as loudly as you can before His Majesty, and under no circumstances must you reveal our true hand. This layout is a joint scheme between His Highness and the Xu family. Uncle, our Song family is about to board a great ship that will turn the tides of the world!
Song Zhiyuan folded the letter, the few thin sheets of paper crinkling into fine folds under the forceful grip of his palm. He closed his eyes, pretending to rest, while the thoughts in his chest surged like an angry tide. The Third Prince, Xiao Jingyan? That Highness who was always silent in the capital, looking like a sealed gourd, was actually hiding in Taoyuan County?
The situation was now crystal clear!
"I should have guessed it long ago! How could a mere woman from a merchant family possess such a world-swallowing vision? It must be the handiwork of the Third Prince! The Xu family is nothing but a shadow on the surface. His Highness is carving out his own territory in Yuzhou, using gold and silver to amass power, aiming his sword at... the throne!"
And he, Song Zhiyuan, was the shill chosen by His Highness. This was no family letter; it was clearly a pledge of allegiance before a change of dynasty.
"My Lord?" Seeing his superior's laughing and manic demeanor, the adjutant was so frightened that his palms sweated. "What is wrong with you? Do you need me to summon a doctor?"
Song Zhiyuan opened his eyes. Those once murky pupils were now as piercingly bright as if they had been reforged in a furnace.
"Summon what doctor! I am perfectly lucid!"
He stood up, dusted off his official robes, bowed slightly to the empty air, and spoke with a resonant voice: "Pass down my order! After today, whoever dares to utter half a word outside will be beheaded without pardon! As for the outside world, just say that the Ministry of Revenue is so poor that even the mice have had to move out in tears! The Palace of Longevity wants silver? No way, they won't even see a single brick! Let those people in the Ministry of Works go eat the wind!"
"I am going to the palace right now to ask for a reward... no, to cry poor!"
To cooperate in this act would earn him the merit of supporting a new emperor.
...
The Imperial Palace, Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The interior of the hall was dim and stagnant, with candlelight struggling to dance on the coiled dragon pillars. The air was filled with a stale fragrance, as if narrating the decay of time.
The emperor of the Great Qian, Emperor Tiansheng, half-leaned on the couch, clutching a memorial in his hand. His hands were as dry as twigs, age spots clearly visible, but the depths of his eyes always revealed scrutiny and suspicion.
"This memorial from the Third..."
"It is written quite... magnificently."
The attendant eunuch beside him bowed his head to the ground, not even daring to breathe too loudly. The Third Prince, Xiao Jingyan, had always been as tight-lipped as a sealed gourd in the great hall; other than routine greetings, it was hard to get him to say a single extra word. But today's writing...
The emperor casually tossed the memorial aside. The booklet hit the jade desk, producing a muffled thud that echoed endlessly in the spacious hall.
...In Taoyuan of Yuzhou, roads are built with blue-grey stones, harder than iron; pavilions are formed by the shadows of colored glaze, their brilliance dazzling the eyes. The woman of the Xu family harbors the ambition of an outstanding scholar, turning the tides, and is a blessing to the Great Qian...
Every sentence of this flattery sounded like hidden nails in the ears of Emperor Tiansheng.
"Long streets built of stone, colored glaze reaching the sky?"
Emperor Tiansheng tapped his fingertips on the table, the sound like a death-hastening curse. He chuckled softly in the empty hall: "My body hasn't even rotted through yet, and he's already in such a rush to conjure up all these auspicious signs for me?"
"Your Majesty," the eunuch comforted in a low voice, "the Third Prince has always been sparse with words. Perhaps that Taoyuan County truly has something extraordinary about it?"
"Extraordinary?"
The emperor sat up straight, a bit more chill in his gaze: "Even my state treasury is hitting bottom; where in the world would there be such a merchant who can turn things to gold at will? The common people are still struggling to fill their bellies; where would there be some saint capable of bringing peace to the Four Seas?"
The emperor's logic was as sharp as a blade: If it was fake, then it was the Third Prince deceiving his sovereign and father, harboring unfathomable motives. If it was true... that would be even more fatal. If a prince could buy people's hearts and control monstrous wealth in a local region, what was he trying to do?
"Roads built of cement, colored glaze swallowing gold..." Emperor Tiansheng muttered, a bone-piercing coldness hidden deep in his eyes. "Is this Xu Qinghuan a talented woman who saves the world, or a vicious tiger the Third Prince is raising on the outside?"
No matter what the truth was, it had already stepped on the red line of imperial power.
"Dark Shadow."
From a dark corner, an assassin dressed in black slowly walked out and knelt on one knee.
"Pei Ji, the Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, is he bored out of his mind in the capital right now?"
"To answer my Lord, Lord Pei just finished handling a case of a powerful tyrant occupying civilian houses, and is currently fretting over having no bones to chew on."
Pei Ji. A character in the capital's officialdom whose mere mention made people's teeth ache. This man was rigid and inflexible; other than the law, he saw not a hint of worldly wisdom or social pleasantries. No matter which powerful noble fell into his hands, they would lose a layer of skin even if they didn't die.
Emperor Tiansheng's lips stretched into a smile, but the amusement did not reach his brows.
"Since the Third Prince has praised Taoyuan County as something that exists only in heaven and not on earth, and that old sly fox Song Zhiyuan has suddenly become uncharacteristically quiet..."
"Then let's send the most inflexible, bite-prone mad dog to take a look."
"Pass down my decree. Appoint Pei Ji to the position of Joint Inspector and have him set off for Yuzhou immediately."
"I want to see just how long this illusion of Taoyuan County can last under Pei Ji's iron face!"
"If all this is true, I will have this money change masters. If it is fake..." The emperor closed his five fingers, crushing the paper into pieces, "Then let the Xu family, along with the Third Prince, disappear together."
...
At dawn the next day, the South Gate of the capital.
Cold frost condensed on the ground, creating a misty expanse.
Pei Ji sat astride a pitch-black steed, wearing a scarlet official robe. His back was as straight as a spear, and his cold, hard face showed not a trace of liveliness, his entire being screaming for strangers to keep away. Behind him, the bailiffs of the Court of Judicature and Revision stood solemnly, ready to depart, and the air itself seemed to congeal with a chilling intent to kill.
Old Master Pei tightly held onto the reins, the wrinkles on his old face bunching together as he bitterly advised, "My son, His Majesty's intention for this trip is ostensibly to investigate the truth, but in reality, he is sending you to wade into muddy waters. Since that place is rumored to be so miraculous, and the Third Prince and Vice Minister Song are deeply involved in it, you won't be able to grasp the proper limits!"
Pei Ji looked down, his eyes thoroughly clear, yet also revealing a despair-inducing stubbornness.
"Father, His Majesty sent me because he trusts my eyes to distinguish right from wrong."
"In the laws of the Great Qian, the words 'pleasing both sides' have never been written."
"Divine stones? Colored glaze? A saint of the merchant path?" Pei Ji said coldly, a trace of contempt on his lips. "It is nothing more than a charlatan's trick to extort wealth under a false guise."
"In this world, there have always only been swindlers harboring sinister designs, and fools who do not know the immensity of heaven and earth."
Pei Ji raised his hand and cracked his whip. The steed reared its hooves and plunged into the morning mist.
"On this journey, I will definitely expose the true face of that Xu family woman!"
"No matter who stands behind her, as long as they violate the law and bully the good citizens, I, Pei Ji, will absolutely not spare them lightly!"
The lingering sound of his words scattered in the wind, leaving only Old Father Pei stomping his feet and sighing repeatedly on the spot.
...
Thousands of miles away in Taoyuan County, Yuzhou.
"Achoo!"
Lounging on the third floor of the Liuli Pavilion, Xu Qinghuan was in the middle of counting her silver notes when she suddenly let out a loud sneeze. She rubbed the tip of her nose, staring in astonishment at the overflowing piles of ledgers before her. A wave of unease washed over her. Gazing out the window at the bustling construction site of the unfinished building, her gut told her that someone was up to no good.
"Who is scheming against me behind my back?"
