Living in the comfortable quarters of the prefectural yamen, Wen Zhuo was getting much better rest, and his back no longer ached from being pressed against a hard plank bed.
There was only one thing he disliked about it—the yamen had far too many rooms, and he could no longer sleep side by side with Shen Zheng.
When he woke that morning, Wen Zhuo instinctively reached toward the space beside him. His hand met nothing but empty air; Shen Zheng’s warm, solid chest was nowhere to be found. He opened his eyes at once.
Half propping himself up, he stared blankly at the vacant space on the broad bed for a long while. Only then did he throw off the quilt, get out of bed, and call for someone to bring him water.
He really was not used to this.
What would he do once they returned to the capital?
The door creaked open, and someone entered carrying a copper basin.
Wen Zhuo’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why are you here?”
Shen Zheng set the basin securely on the iron stand, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
Wen Zhuo schooled his expression and solemnly began to admonish him. “How could I allow Your Highness to personally—”
Shen Zheng raised a brow. “What about when you crawled into Your Highness’s arms, Teacher? Or when you secretly tucked your cold hands into Your Highness’s sleeves to warm them? Or when you stole kisses while Your Highness was fast asleep?”
The string of questions struck every sore spot, leaving Wen Zhuo’s lecture on the distinction between ruler and subject with nowhere to go.
Shen Zheng even knew that he had slipped his hands into his sleeves to warm them! And he knew about the stolen kisses too…
Wen Zhuo felt his dignity as a teacher teetering on the brink. He hurriedly gathered his robes, turned around to hide his burning cheeks, and tossed out, “I suddenly feel rather tired. I need to rest a while longer,” before attempting to burrow back beneath the quilt.
Shen Zheng wrapped an arm around his waist. With a little effort, he swept Wen Zhuo off his feet and carried him horizontally, his arms supporting him firmly. Wen Zhuo’s flushed profile and burning eartips were laid bare before his eyes.
His feet suddenly left the ground, and Wen Zhuo instinctively threw his arms around Shen Zheng’s neck in surprise. By the time he had regained his composure, his dark hair was slightly disheveled, and he was already nestled in Shen Zheng’s arms.
Wen Zhuo’s breath caught. He felt exactly like one of those rakish young men from the capital, lounging in another man’s arms and allowing himself to be observed in a state that was both awkward and secretly pleasurable, with nowhere to hide.
In his previous life, he had never possessed much of a good reputation to begin with. In this life… it seemed his name was heading in the same direction.
“Is it also improper for me to hold you like this?” Shen Zheng asked, looking down at him.
Wen Zhuo clutched at his robes. “…Naturally.”
“Then let it be improper.”
Shen Zheng said it with complete composure. Still carrying him, he walked over to the bronze mirror and forced him to look at their reflection. “I tossed and turned all night thinking of you. Did you sleep well, Teacher?”
Wen Zhuo hardly dared look at himself in the mirror. He hurriedly buried his face against Shen Zheng’s shoulder, his ears burning. “Of course I slept well.”
“I missed you terribly, but I couldn’t hold you. I endured it for an entire night.” Shen Zheng lowered his head and lightly breathed in the delicate, jade-like skin at Wen Zhuo’s neck, his voice husky.
“…”
Wen Zhuo felt that he had been far too stubborn. His answer had come too quickly as well. Clearly, he had missed Shen Zheng too, but he insisted on putting on a stern, proper front in front of him.
His heart softened slightly. He reached up, slipped his fingers into Shen Zheng’s hair, and gently stroked it.
Shen Zheng nuzzled against the hollow of his neck, inhaling the faint medicinal fragrance clinging to him for a while before setting him down. His smile faded, and he said seriously, “Now for business. Huang Ting has sent over a team of experienced disaster-relief workers from Xingjing. They arrived early this morning and are waiting for you to assign them duties.”
“Oh?” Wen Zhuo’s spirits lifted, and he immediately pressed, “Has the situation there improved? There are still many places that need manpower right now.”
Shen Zheng replied, “Since he was able to spare people, things must be moving smoothly there. The officials here in Mianzhou truly need someone to lead them as well.”
Wen Zhuo nodded. He hurriedly washed and dressed, tied up his hair, and stepped out of the room alongside Shen Zheng.
They had barely left the room, before they had even seen the disaster-relief troops, when an official came staggering toward them. He fell to his knees and reported, “Lord Wen! Wen Yingjing and Wen Ze have arrived with their family wealth. There are several carts piled high with goods, and the entire city has seen them.”
Wen Zhuo sneered at the news.
He had known that even with death staring him in the face, Wen Yingjing would still put on a show of benevolence and righteousness, seeking a fine reputation and treating the goodwill of the people as his shield.
“Come. Let’s go take a look.”
All the runners had been sent out to work, and there were no cases being handled at the moment. The front offices of the yamen stood utterly empty. Under the sunlight, the thick morning mist scattered like little ghosts fleeing for their lives.
In the past, whenever Wen Ze entered the Mianzhou prefectural yamen, people had always crowded around him with smiling faces, ushering him inside with utmost respect.
He and Lou Changsui had called each other brothers and secretly plotted major affairs together. It would not have been an exaggeration to say that Wen Ze regarded the yamen as half of his own base.
Naturally, Lou Changsui’s smiles had all been bought with hard cash from the Wen family. But as the saying went, when one man rose to power, even his dogs and chickens ascended to Heaven. Which person in the yamen had not benefited from the Wen family’s generosity?
Yet now, these runners, so adept at reading the wind and steering their sails, had actually put on official airs when they saw Wen Ze and his father approaching. They adopted a businesslike attitude, puffed out their chests, lengthened their faces, and said stiffly, “The two of you, the Governor-General requests your presence.”
Wen Ze was so furious that his teeth ached. He wished he could slap these fair-weather opportunists and make them recognize who he was!
But when he caught sight of Wen Zhuo’s vermilion official robes in the distance, his legs immediately went weak. All he could do was force down his anger and enter with his eyes lowered and his manner meek.
Wen Yingjing strode inside, displaying a hint of neither servility nor arrogance. His eyelids hung slightly lowered, and his gaze neither challenged Wen Zhuo directly nor clung humbly to the floor. He merely cupped his hands and bowed.
“Working for the welfare of the people and saving the masses from suffering is precisely the duty of men like us. In the past, when Tao, a city of the State of Song, suffered a locust plague, Fan Li acted selflessly for the public good. He opened the granaries to provide relief to the victims and helped the people resume production. As the saying goes, gathering wealth is inferior to dispersing it; dispersing wealth is inferior to passing on the Way; and passing on the Way is inferior to having no self. I, Wen, am unworthy, but I have always taken Lord Fan as my example. Today, I am willing to donate all my family’s possessions to help Mianzhou survive this calamity!”
From the way he said it, one might have thought he had volunteered to donate his family fortune to provide relief.
Wen Zhuo knew that he was putting on an act, and Wen Yingjing knew that Wen Zhuo saw through it. Yet he insisted on spouting those sanctimonious words all the same, simply because he wanted to needle Wen Zhuo.
Wen Zhuo glanced over the seemingly endless line of chests. His tone was casual, tinged with disappointment. “This is the entirety of the Wen family’s wealth accumulated over the past ten years?”
Wen Yingjing replied, “It is.”
Wen Zhuo said, “It doesn’t look like much. The Governor-General is truly disappointed.”
Wen Yingjing smiled without warmth. “I, Wen, have always conducted my affairs honestly and worked diligently. Though my profits have been meager, I earned them honorably and slept soundly at night.”
Wen Ze listened from the side, admiration for his father filling him to the brim.
The more desperate the situation, the more one had to remain calm and composed. Only then could one avoid losing one’s bearings and revealing a flaw.
Wen Zhuo did not bother arguing with him. He did not even care to ask further questions. He simply raised a hand and called out, “Liu Qiying, take inventory of these valuables. From now on, when the grain merchants come to redeem their promissory notes for silver, you will be responsible for handling it.”
“Yes!” Liu Qiying answered.
As she left, her gaze carved into Wen Ze like a cold blade. It was as though, if the Great Qian laws were not holding her back, she would have stripped the flesh from his body right then and there.
Back then, she had fled to Bozhou, where Wen Zhuo had protected her and finally allowed her to escape a life on the run.
But the mark of humiliation branded onto her chest by Cao Fangzheng remained like a bone-deep parasite. No matter what she did, she could never erase it.
Though she possessed a resilient nature and extraordinary endurance, she was ultimately only a sixteen-year-old girl. That scar kept her awake at night, giving rise to a hatred that came straight from her heart.
She had once steeled herself, seized a short knife, and tried to carve away that patch of flesh, but her unsteady hand nearly cost her her life.
When Wen Zhuo learned of it, he sat beside her bed, a cup of Songluo tea in hand. After taking a sip, he asked coolly, “Why did you try to kill yourself?”
Liu Qiying weakly closed her eyes, her voice filled with resentment. “I wasn’t trying to die! I only wanted to cut away this mark of shame!”
Wen Zhuo gazed at her stubborn, pallid face and said slowly, “If you cut away the brand, you’ll only be left with a bloody hole. What difference would that make?”
Liu Qiying bit her lip and insisted, “It would make a difference.”
“It’s nothing more than a mark. If you regard it as embroidery, then it becomes embroidery. If you regard it as a disgrace, then it will remain a disgrace forever.” Wen Zhuo’s tone was light and indifferent, as though even his attempt at comfort was halfhearted.
Liu Qiying raised a hand to cover her eyes. Scalding tears rolled down through the gaps between her fingers. “How could Lord Wen possibly understand what I’m going through?”
Wen Zhuo gazed at her in silence before saying, “I understand.”
It was then that Liu Qiying learned Wen Zhuo’s secret.
She learned where that cruel, humiliating burn scar had come from. She learned that Wen Zhuo, too, had once walked the path of blaming himself, hurting himself, and finally learning to let himself go.
It wasn’t that he was incapable of empathizing. He was simply more tenacious than anyone else, like an immortal herb that refused to wither even in the depths of winter.
Wen Ze felt a chill run down his spine beneath her gaze, his heart full of confusion. When had he offended one of Wen Zhuo’s maids?
After Liu Qiying withdrew, Wen Zhuo no longer paid any attention to the father and son from the Wen family. Instead, he turned to a yamen runner and asked, “Has Inspector Song returned?”
“I’ll go check at once!” The runner turned and hurried away.
Wen Yingjing once again cupped his hands, seeking an opportunity to take his leave. “If the Governor-General has no further business, then I, Wen, shall—”
But Wen Zhuo acted as though he had not heard him. He rose and walked straight behind the screen.
Wen Yingjing: “…”
Once they were behind the screen, Wen Zhuo said in a low voice, “Let them begin distributing disaster relief first. Your Highness, come with me to inspect the farmland here. I’d like to see just how much of the grain fields these incense merchants have taken over.”
Shen Zheng nodded and took the opportunity to slip a piece of sweet rice cake into his hand. “All right.”
Wen Zhuo had noticed that Shen Zheng was growing increasingly practiced at these little displays of intimacy. As he covered his lips with his sleeve and ate, his eyes curving into a smile, he secretly reflected that he ought to be more restrained in his responses.
Shen Zheng suddenly asked, “Should we find a way to confirm whether Wen Yingjing handed everything over?”
“No need,” Wen Zhuo said. “He definitely didn’t hand over all of it.”
Shen Zheng was taken aback. “You know that?”
“I know him too well. He’s the sort of man who won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin.” As Wen Zhuo spoke, he reached one hand from his sleeve and opened his palm, giving it a light, expectant shake.
Shen Zheng lowered his eyes, saw the open palm, and smiled as he placed another piece of sweet rice cake into it.
Still, Shen Zheng vaguely felt that Wen Zhuo seemed rather eager for Wen Yingjing to cheat and hide some of his wealth.
Without Wen Zhuo’s permission, Wen Yingjing and Wen Ze could do nothing but wait awkwardly in the front office.
This place was also known as the main hall, where Lou Changsui had publicly heard cases. A plaque bearing the words “Justice Shines Brightly” hung directly above the center of the hall. It had never seemed particularly notable before, but today it looked unusually glaring.
Before long, Inspector Song came hurrying back, gathering up his official robe as he ran, a saber strapped to his waist. He had no time even for the briefest exchange of pleasantries with Wen Yingjing. His voice was brimming with delight.
“Governor-General! Thirteen grain ships arrived at Mianzhou Port today, carrying a full five thousand dan of grain! They came after hearing that Mianzhou was buying grain at high prices. They’re all waiting for you and the Fifth Prince to set the price!”
This was also thanks to Shen Zheng’s far-reaching reputation as a chess master. His status as a prince provided an additional guarantee of trust, and after Huang Ting had gone around Xingjing spreading the word, quite a few grain merchants had been willing to come and take a gamble.
Wen Yingjing and Wen Ze’s expressions changed drastically at once.
Five thousand dan—today?! How was that possible?
The news that Wen Zhuo was buying grain had clearly only been announced at the incense gathering. How could these grain merchants have received the news so quickly and arrived in such a short time?
“Father!” Wen Ze called softly, panic already creeping into his voice.
Wen Yingjing remained silent, but his face had turned ashen. Even in the slightly chilly daylight, cold sweat had appeared at his temples.
He understood what Wen Zhuo intended to do.
If Wen Zhuo bought all five thousand dan of grain today at a price far above market value, then once word spread, even more grain merchants would come rushing in.
Once the news got out, it would be impossible to contain. In the end, the grain supply would inevitably exceed demand, and prices would collapse until grain was practically as cheap as cabbage.
At that point, Wen Zhuo would only need to set up checkpoints that made it difficult for the merchants to return home. He could then force the price down and buy up huge quantities, recovering all of his earlier losses—and perhaps even making a substantial profit.
There was no way to counter this move. The merchants, driven by greed, had no choice but to follow the flow. Every one of them would think that he himself could never be the unlucky final buyer. They would all swarm toward wherever the profits were greatest, only to end up squeezing one another out.
But the one thing Wen Yingjing could not understand was the timing.
When exactly had Wen Zhuo begun planning all this? Could it be that the Wen family had long since become fish caught in his net?
His heart filled with dread as a powerful sense of unease seized him.
At that very moment, Wen Zhuo walked slowly out from behind the screen.
“Good! Pass down my order. Today’s grain price will be five taels per dan. Any high-quality grain that passes inspection will be purchased in full by this office. Not a single payment will be delayed!”
“Understood!” Inspector Song turned and went to spread the order.
Before the locust plague, grain in Mianzhou had sold for no more than one thousand two hundred copper coins per dan. Wen Zhuo had actually offered five taels per dan!
Wen Ze felt his blood surge in his chest. “It isn’t his money, so of course he doesn’t feel the slightest pain spending it!”
Wen Zhuo slowly turned his head and cast a puzzled glance at the father and son. “Why are you two still here?”
“At five taels, you—”
Wen Ze had only managed to blurt out three words when Wen Yingjing seized his wrist and clamped down hard.
With a grave expression, Wen Yingjing said nothing. He simply withdrew, step by measured step.
The moment they left the government office, Wen Ze wrenched his hand free from his father’s grasp and asked in a panicked voice, “Father! Does he truly have enough grain to buy all this?”
Wen Yingjing gazed at the vultures shrieking across the sky and murmured, “This move is ruthless, but it has one fatal weakness. If Wen Zhuo lacks sufficient silver to hold out until the grain market collapses, then the entire plan will end in defeat.”
“Then that’s good… That’s good!” Wen Ze stroked his chest and let out a long breath of relief.
But Wen Yingjing’s brows remained tightly furrowed.
He had originally been certain that Wen Zhuo had no grain to buy, that even if he held money in his hands, he would have nowhere to spend it. Yet now grain ships were arriving one after another, while the amount of silver available was fixed. What would happen when Wen Zhuo’s coffers ran dry?
Would Wen Zhuo show mercy toward the half of the family fortune that belonged to them, out of consideration for Yingniang?
Wen Yingjing suddenly realized how foolish it was to place his hopes of turning the tide on someone else’s momentary decision.
That day, the Mianzhou government office spent enormous sums to purchase four thousand nine hundred dan of grain. Without even entering the city, the grain ships immediately divided their cargo and transported it by sea to villages and counties along the coast.
On the morning of the fifth day after Wen Zhuo announced the disaster-relief effort, the common people finally tasted their first steaming bowl of rice porridge with plump grains in half a year.
The starving refugees, clinging to life by a thread, trembled as they held their coarse porcelain bowls. They watched the steam rise, breathed in the rich fragrance of rice, and gradually saw a light return to their murky eyes.
They knew that they could finally survive.
The following day, even more grain ships gathered at the port, bringing three thousand four hundred dan of grain. Wen Zhuo once again gave his approval and set the price at five taels per dan.
The grain merchants were making a fortune, every one of them beaming with delight. This grand, lavish relief effort sent shockwaves in every direction, and the news spread on the wind for miles around.
That day, grain began to be transported to the inland townships and counties farther from the coast. The refugees who received their porridge embraced their families and wept, their scalding tears streaming into the bowls and mingling with the rice porridge, giving rise to a bittersweet hope.
On the final day of the seven-day agreement, another 4,300 dan of grain arrived at the port. This time, Wen Zhuo set the price at four taels per dan.
Four taels was still far above the market price. Though the grain merchants who arrived later regretted missing the best opportunity, they were nevertheless quite satisfied.
That same day, the commoners who had continued risking their lives to search for ambergris along the sea cliffs also received the news. Half believing it and half doubting it, they made their way back home.
When they saw the steaming rice porridge in the pots and heard that all debts owed to the Wen family for grain had been forgiven, and that all the children from the cliffside caves had been returned to their families, everyone was moved to tears. They fell to their knees one after another and kowtowed in thanks for this life-restoring kindness.
In just three days, Wen Zhuo had purchased 12,600 dan of grain, spending 58,700 taels of silver.
Liu Qiying entered the inner hall at a brisk pace, carrying the account books. “My lord, there are still three hundred taels’ worth of notes that have yet to be redeemed, and the silver remaining in the residence has completely run dry. If we continue purchasing at this price, we won’t last another two days. The moment we start buying on credit, word will spread among the merchants in no time, and within a few days, no more grain ships will come!”
Wen Zhuo remained calm, idly playing with the ink brush on the desk. He asked, “How many days has it been since the ambergris fair?”
Liu Qiying replied, “Today is the eighth day.”
“How many townships and counties have yet to receive aid?”
“There are still seven. It isn’t that we lack grain; the mountain roads leading to those places are simply too treacherous, and we don’t have enough runners. Transporting the grain requires taking a longer route and therefore takes more time.”
Wen Zhuo nodded. “How long will our current grain reserves last for porridge?”
“If we ration it carefully, they can last fifteen days. But if we could stretch that by another month, Mianzhou would make it through the coldest part of the season. Then the fields could be planted, and the people would truly have endured the worst.”
“Since there are still townships and counties that have not received their grain, then this office has failed to fulfill its agreement with the people of Mianzhou.” Wen Zhuo’s tone was calm, but a trace of coldness flashed through his eyes. Afraid that Shen Zheng beside him might notice, he swiftly concealed it and continued in a voice of authority, “This office must not break its word to the people. Summon a squad of runners. I will personally go to Liangping County to apprehend those responsible!”
