The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 138 Estates And Assets
Liao State, Shangjing, Dading Prefecture.
It happened to be the Liao Emperor's birthday, and the entire city of Shangjing was decorated with lanterns and banners as the people celebrated the emperor's longevity. The Liao people did not have as many rules and formalities as the Song. For the emperor's birthday, a grand procession would travel from the east gate to the west gate, distributing ten thousand cups of wine to the people, symbolizing "sharing joy with the people." Thus, the Liao Emperor's birthday was a joyous occasion for the Liao people, who took to the streets to catch a glimpse of the imperial carriage.
However, the person sitting in the imperial carriage was not necessarily the Liao Emperor. Last year, during the emperor's birthday, it was the Second Prince, Yelü Shege, who represented the emperor and distributed the ten thousand cups of wine. This year, it was the Third Prince, Yelü Han, who sat in the carriage. Holding a wine jar, his chest exposed, he laughed heartily and said to the guard general beside him, "Drink up! We won't return until we're drunk!"
The grand procession of ten thousand cups of wine lasted six hours before it finally concluded.
The Third Prince, Yelü Han, presented the wine offered by the people to the Liao Emperor, saying, "Imperial Father, this is the respect of your subjects!"
The Liao Emperor laughed heartily and drank the entire jar of wine in one go.
With that, the Liao Emperor's birthday banquet officially began.
The Third Prince, Yelü Han, was currently the most influential figure in the Liao court. His teacher was the Grand Preceptor, Yelü Ding. Although last year, Yelü Ding had been imprisoned for attempting to assassinate Yelü Qin, the Third Prince's faction remained the most powerful. Yelü Ding alone was enough to stabilize the situation.
The Second Prince, Yelü Shege, sat at the banquet, drinking wine from a jar like the other Liao officials. He frowned and set the jar aside. Yelü Qin leaned over and asked, "Your Highness, do you not like this jar of Shaoye wine? Shall I fetch you another?"
Yelü Shege, "No need."
It wasn't the wine he disliked, but the sight of all the Liao people at the banquet drinking heavily and tearing meat apart with their hands.
Even the Liao Emperor, as noble as he was, held a wine jar and poured it directly into his mouth, staining the entire front of his robe with wine.
Three months ago, Yelü Shege had hurriedly left the Song capital and returned to Nanjing's Xijin Prefecture. As expected, the day after his return, envoys from Grand Preceptor Yelü Ding arrived from Shangjing. Officially, they claimed the Grand Preceptor had matters to discuss with him, but in reality, they were there to verify whether he was still in Xijin Prefecture.
Yelü Shege's timely return had averted a crisis.
After personally visiting the Song Dynasty, Yelü Shege suddenly realized that the Song court was far less treacherous than the Liao State. The Song people were reserved, and the Song Emperor was weak. Moreover, the Kaiping Emperor had been gravely ill for some time and likely didn't have long to live. But what about the Liao State?
The Liao Emperor had fought many battles in his youth, leaving him with numerous injuries and ailments. However, a starved camel is still larger than a horse. The Liao Emperor was ruthless and bloodthirsty. He didn't need to understand the intricacies of court politics because no one in the Liao State dared to challenge the Liao Emperor's authority—not even Grand Preceptor Yelü Ding.
The Liao Emperor was like a sleeping tiger, while the Grand Preceptor was a coiled serpent on a branch.
The two stood in opposition, yet there was no inevitable conflict of interest between them. If anything, the Grand Preceptor supported the Third Prince, Yelü Han, and wanted to make him the Crown Prince. Although the Liao Emperor never explicitly stated it, he paid more attention to Yelü Shege, favoring this second son of humble origins.
"Shege, next month, accompany me to Nanshan for a hunt. Let me see if your archery skills have dulled!"
Yelü Shege snapped out of his thoughts, stood up, and struck his chest with his fist in salute. "Your son will surely shoot down an eagle as a belated birthday gift for you, Imperial Father."
The Liao Emperor laughed heartily.
By late February, spring had arrived in most parts of the Great Song. Tang Shen traveled north alone in a carriage, heading westward. As the days passed, the weather should have grown warmer, but the further north he went, the colder it became. On the eighth day, the carriage finally arrived ten miles outside Youzhou City.
Thick snowflakes fell from the sky, blanketing the ground in silver.
Tang Shen sat in the carriage, holding a warming hand heater and flipping through a poetry collection. At that moment, the coachman said, "Daren, it seems someone is waiting ahead."
Tang Shen lifted the carriage curtain and saw a few people standing outside a small pavilion about a kilometer away.
Youzhou was not like other cities in the Great Song. Few commoners traveled to Youzhou, so if someone was waiting ten miles outside the city, it was almost certainly for him. Tang Shen said, "It must be the Youzhou officials, knowing I'm coming, waiting for me there. Stop by the pavilion when we reach it."
"Yes, daren."
Tang Shen placed the poetry collection in the carriage drawer, straightened his robes, and stepped out of the carriage. As soon as he stepped out, a biting cold wind pierced through him, and Tang Shen shivered. He looked up at the people waiting outside the pavilion and immediately recognized the Youzhou Governor, Ji Zhaosi.
However, Tang Shen's gaze swept past him and landed on the person standing behind Ji Zhaosi.
His heart trembled violently as he stared at Wang Zhen. After a long moment, he said, "This lower official, Tang Shen, greets the Grand Secretary of the Left."
Wang Zhen was draped in a snow-white fox fur cloak, his gaze clear as he looked at Tang Shen. With a single glance, the two understood each other. Wang Zhen slowly raised his hand, "No need for formalities... hai hai."
Tang Shen immediately asked, "Senior Brother, are you ill?"
In his urgency, he forgot to address Wang Zhen formally and called him "Senior Brother" instead.
Wang Zhen coughed for a while, and Qin Si, standing beside him, explained, "Daren stayed up late handling official business a few days ago and caught a cold. He only fell ill yesterday. It's not a serious illness, but it came on strong, so it looks worse than it is."
Tang Shen breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The group returned to Youzhou City together.
Since Wang Zifeng was ill, Ji Zhaosi, who had originally planned to host a banquet for Tang Shen, had to cancel it so that Wang Zhen could rest early. Tang Shen supported Wang Zhen and took him to the residence where the two would stay in Youzhou. This residence had been specially prepared by Youzhou Governor Ji Zhaosi. Since the Silver Pull Division was established in Youzhou, its highest-ranking official naturally needed a place to stay in the city.
Ji Zhaosi escorted Tang Shen and Wang Zhen to the residence by carriage and said, "Tang daren, you don't have a residence in Youzhou. You've arrived too suddenly—I haven't had a chance to prepare one yet. In a few days, it will be ready."
Tang Shen replied matter-of-factly, "No need. I don't come to Youzhou often. I can just stay with Wang daren."
Ji Zhaosi didn't think much of it. "Understood."
Tang Shen helped Wang Zhen into the residence. Their wide sleeves concealed their hands, and Wang Zifeng took the opportunity to clasp Tang Shen's hand, their fingers intertwining. Tang Shen paused momentarily, but before he could react, Wang Zifeng leaned his head on Tang Shen's shoulder.
Minister Wang whispered, "Jing Ze..."
Tang Shen: "...?"
"Jing Ze..."
"I'm here."
"I'm not going to make it."
"...What?!"
Minister Wang said, "We're not married yet. If I die first, you won't get a single coin from my estate. And my estate is quite substantial. I have three manors in Shengjing, and shops on three streets in Shengjing, Northern Zhili, and Southern Zhili. In fact, I also own a dye workshop and a cloth shop in your hometown, Gusu. And in Jinling, which is the Wang family's stronghold, most of my assets are there..."
Tang Shen was dumbfounded, "As the Minister of Revenue, you've embezzled this much?!"
Wang Zhen, "Embezzled? How could you think that of me? Half of this was your mother-in-law's dowry... hai hai... How could you hit me? I'm sick."
"Then speak properly!"
Wang Zhen laughed and leaned heavily on Tang Shen. "My mother only had one son, so her dowry naturally belongs to me, and in the future, it will belong to you too. You haven't even heard the best part yet. In Jinling, do you know about the Qinhuai River?"
Tang Shen exclaimed in shock, "Don't tell me the Qinhuai River is also under your name!"
Wang Zhen let out an involuntary laugh, "The Qinhuai River is part of the Great Song's territory. How could it belong to me alone? But there are two highly profitable restaurants by the Qinhuai River that are mine."
"Are the singing girls yours too?"
Wang Zhen said cheerfully, "If I told you I own a few pleasure boats, would you be angry?"
"I wouldn't be angry."
"Good, then I do own a few... Ai, little Junior Brother!"
Tang Shen pushed him away and strode into the house.
Wang Zhen immediately chased after him, complaining grievously, "You said you wouldn't be angry."
Tang Shen looked him up and down, "Of course I'm not angry. Why would I be? What does it matter if you own a few pleasure boats? Do you even like women?"
Wang Zhen hugged him tightly and laughed loudly, "If you say that, I'll be heartbroken."
Tang Shen thought to himself: You look perfectly happy right now, thinking I'm jealous!
In truth, Tang Shen wasn't jealous. If Wang Zifeng could casually fall for a few singing girls, how could he have remained single until the age of twenty-nine? He was simply amazed. This guy is loaded! So annoyingly loaded! He had worked hard to earn his fortune, from Tang's Logistics to Xixia Tower, and only after opening Baibao Pavilion could he claim to be wealthy. But who would have thought that a true rich heir like Wang Zhen, with just his mother's dowry, could be so wealthy?
Tang Shen fell silent for a moment, "I gave you a ten percent share of Baibao Pavilion."
Wang Zhen said sincerely, "Jing Ze, you're really good at making money. The annual profits from that small Baibao Pavilion are almost as much as all my shops combined."
Tang Shen was about to say, "Since you're so rich, why don't you return my shares?" But after being showered with such flattery, he hesitated and couldn't bring himself to say it.
Wang Zhen, "Let's get back to the main topic. Jing Ze, I'm not going to make it." After saying this, he leaned on Tang Shen's shoulder again. "If I die, none of my assets will belong to you. That won't do... I remember you have an elder cousin."
Tang Shen, "? I only have a younger sister."
"Not Tang Huang, I mean your cousin in Gusu Prefecture."
"You mean Tang Yun? He's my cousin on my father's side, not my mother's side. My mother was an only child."
Wang Zhen frowned but continued, "That's close enough. According to family customs, if I die, you should go to him and have him help you reclaim my assets from the Langya Wang family. To do that, you'll need to tell him that you and I are lovers... hai hai."
Tang Shen pushed him away again, "Aren't you supposed to be sick?!"
Wang Zhen, "Yes, I'm sick. Very sick."
Tang Shen: "..."
You don't look sick at all when you're scheming!
"Do you know why I got sick?"
"Qin Si said it was because you stayed up late handling official business?"
Wang Zhen gently embraced Tang Shen. He wanted to kiss him but remembered he was sick and didn't want to pass the illness to Tang Shen, so he held back. He chuckled softly, his voice warm and clear but slightly hoarse, "You were coming, so I wanted to finish as much work as possible beforehand. That way, when you arrived, we could spend more time together. It's been three months since I last saw you. I really want to kiss you."
Tang Shen looked up at him, his lips parting slightly, "Senior Brother..."
Wang Zhen, "I'm afraid of passing the sickness to you, so I'll have to let it go for now."
Tang Shen was even more moved.
Minister Wang rarely acted like a decent human being, so how could he let such a touching moment be wasted on himself alone? Such a losing deal would never exist in his vocabulary.
Holding his little junior brother, Minister Wang deeply felt that he was indeed a once-in-a-century, once-in-a-millennium gentleman.