Chapter 75: The Final Contest
The people of Yan were overjoyed, finally able to use fine refined salt.
Of course, there were also those who suffered terribly, such as the owners of the saltworks. Those who had not gone bankrupt were the ones who had endured the pain and acted quickly, crying to heaven and earth as they converted their saltworks into other businesses.
Of course, compared with the number of common people in Yan, their number was nothing worth mentioning.
What was even more tragic was that after they went bankrupt, they were still cursed by others, saying that back when they sold salt at such high prices, their consciences must have been eaten by dogs.
In Shangjing, Chen Bai and Qi Zheng were receiving the reports sent back.
“It seems things are going even more smoothly than we imagined,” Chen Bai said. “In a few more days, we can cut off their salt.”
Qi Zheng frowned. “So soon? Their saltworks have only just collapsed. If they rebuild them…”
Chen Bai smiled. “Even if they rebuild them, so what? After getting used to cheap, high-quality refined salt, can they really go back to spending a fortune on coarse salt?”
“Thinking like that is rational, but don’t assume everyone can look at this rationally. Sometimes people’s greed and desire are not restrained by reason, especially… common people who spend their whole lives worrying about firewood, rice, oil, and salt. They won’t listen to explanations. They only want cheap salt. If the Yan royal family cannot provide that, they themselves know what kind of chaos they will face.”
Such was human nature. Reason did not necessarily make people endure. As people who had already benefited, even a small loss of benefits was enough to make them erupt.
“Besides, do the salt merchants of Yan really dare to restart those saltworks?” Chen Bai looked at Qi Zheng. “By now, the merchants of Yan all know that our Great Qian has cheap refined salt, right? If they restart, won’t they be afraid that our Great Qian will start selling salt to them again?”
Qi Zheng thought to himself that this was indeed true. The saltworks of Yan had suffered such a huge loss this time. Even if Yan needed them again now, they would definitely have to wait and observe before making a move. Otherwise, they would merely go bankrupt all over again.
And that little bit of time they spent waiting and watching was already enough.
A few days later, Qi Zheng’s order was passed down. The saltworks of Great Qian would no longer sell salt to Yan merchants. All salt would be redirected to domestic sales.
This news caused quite a stir within Great Qian as well. Originally, only a portion of the salt produced by the various saltworks was sold domestically, and it was not even enough to fully satisfy Great Qian’s own needs. Yet a large portion had been sold to Yan first, so quite a few people had been dissatisfied.
But there was nothing to be done. They had promised Qi Zheng that for half a year, all sales strategies would be decided by him, and no one was allowed to object. Although the common people of Great Qian did not understand it, they were gradually able to buy a little refined salt, which directly suppressed their dissatisfaction.
As the saying went, it was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury back to frugality. The people of Great Qian had never experienced refined salt before, so giving them just a little benefit was enough to satisfy them. But Yan, after growing accustomed to refined salt, would find it difficult to return to expensive coarse salt.
Besides, the court had also earned quite a lot of money from selling salt, and it was money earned from another country. What was there to be dissatisfied about?
If Great Qian was merely stirred up by this news, then Yan merchants were stunned, and the common people of Yan were in an uproar.
The Yan merchants were truly dumbfounded. Hadn’t the trade been going perfectly well? They had also made a huge profit from it. Why had Great Qian suddenly stopped selling salt to them? They had not heard of anything going wrong with Great Qian’s saltworks either.
They were no longer doing a business that made money? Originally, they had been delighted. When selling other goods, they still had to consider whether they might lose money, but selling refined salt required no such worry. Yan had an enormous demand for it; they did not have to worry about being unable to sell it at all. Moreover, the salt was so good that buyers were all smiles when they purchased it, as if they had picked up some incredible bargain.
For a time, the faces of the Yan merchants turned very ugly. Such a massive business had disappeared just like that.
This was the consequence of valuing trade while neglecting production, handing one of their lifelines completely into Great Qian’s hands.
In modern times, no country would dare to do such a thing. Even if it relied entirely on imports, it would never import from only one single country. That would simply be waiting to be controlled.
And this was salt, something most basic to people’s livelihoods.
But in this era, when trade between nations was still undeveloped, who could have noticed such a problem?
Sometimes that was simply how things were. If one’s thinking was one step ahead, one could seize the initiative at every step.
No matter how shocked the Yan merchants were, they could no longer obtain salt.
The consequence was that, all of a sudden, Yan had no salt available across its lands. The small amount of salt still in storage soared in price overnight, becoming even more expensive than Yan’s original salt. A rare thing naturally became precious.
If it had been some other commodity rising sharply in price, then so be it. People could temporarily go without it. But salt was different. It was a daily necessity, something every household and every common person came into contact with, something they could not do without.
For a time, all of Yan was in an uproar.
No one had expected that, in just one night, the public sentiment of Yan would change so drastically.
The news reached the Yan capital immediately, and the entire Yan court was also stunned, feeling as if they had been struck on the head out of nowhere.
“Why did this happen?”
“Why so suddenly?”
In truth, if they carefully sorted through it, they could find the cause and effect. It was just that no one had thought in that direction before.
Crown Prince Ruohong also received the news at once. A flash of surprise crossed his face.
Yan had enjoyed peace for a long time, and such nationwide chaos had never occurred before.
The first thing Ruohong thought of was the consequences. If Yan lacked salt for a long time, uprisings would likely break out everywhere. It was not much different from a grain shortage.
Ruohong narrowed his eyes. This was shaking the foundation of people’s livelihoods, a sign that great disaster was coming. It had to be resolved as quickly as possible, by any means necessary.
At once, Crown Prince Ruohong’s order was sent to the court. “Have all local saltworks resume production immediately. They must supply the people with the most basic salt.”
As long as they could provide the most basic salt, this crisis should be solved.
But a few days later, what awaited him was not a failure of the order to be carried out, but rather—
“Your Highness, the saltworks in various regions have already been converted for other uses. It will likely be difficult for them to resume production in such a short time. In addition, those salt merchants are making excuses and are unwilling to rebuild the saltworks. Their attitude is uniformly passive.”
Ruohong froze. The situation had come too urgently, and he had not had enough time to understand the details.
The person reporting continued, “Those salt merchants say that if they reopen the saltworks and end up losing everything again, until their families are ruined and they are bankrupt, will the court be responsible for their losses? They also say that if the court forces them to reopen the saltworks, it is no different from forcing them to their deaths.”
Their attitude was actually that firm?
For those salt merchants, it was indeed so. Reopening saltworks required a huge investment. More importantly, even if they invested, their techniques were far inferior to Great Qian’s. If Great Qian supplied salt to Yan again, then without a doubt, their saltworks would once again be destroyed like rotten wood before a storm, without even making a ripple.
To be honest, this was something Ruohong had not expected either. He had not expected that even rebuilding the saltworks would no longer be feasible.
Moreover, what worried him even more was whether, even if the saltworks could be rebuilt, the common people would still accept high-priced coarse salt.
During the days when he ordered saltworks in various regions to be rebuilt, he also used Yan’s intelligence network to gather a great many details. The more he read through the compiled information, the more shocked he became.
It was as though an invisible hand had pushed this entire incident into motion.
Ruohong’s face darkened. “Great Qian’s imperial prince contest? My Yan has actually become the battlefield for Great Qian’s struggle over the position of crown prince.”
Sure enough, two days later, the Yan court received a state letter from Great Qian.
The content of the letter was very clear: in exchange for continued salt supply, Yan was to cede three cities.
For a moment, the entire Yan court fell silent.
“This is Great Qian’s scheme. What a sinister Great Qian, actually trying to use salt to control our Yan.”
“It should be because of Great Qian’s imperial prince contest. That Prince Zheng of Great Qian holds control over Great Qian’s new salt. He suddenly sold a large amount of new salt to Yan. We originally thought he was trying to curry favor with us, but we never imagined it was for this moment of leverage. He truly had no good intentions. At last, the fox’s tail has shown.”
The things they had not seen through before surfaced bit by bit, but it was already too late.
“I heard this round of the contest is precisely for the three cities of Yan. The retainer representing Prince Zheng is his chief retainer, Mountain Lord. The world-shaking Divine Mural was created by him. I originally thought he was an elegant scholar, but who would have thought he was such a filthy-hearted schemer.”
“His heart is truly too dirty. Without anyone realizing it, he used salt sales as a breakthrough point and schemed against the entirety of Yan. This man is truly sinister. In the future, Yan must be on guard against him.”
“Hmph, when has Yan ever suffered such a great loss? If we agree, where will Yan’s backbone be? If Great Qian refuses to sell salt to us, and our saltworks cannot resume production for the time being, then we can purchase salt from neighboring countries. Are we unable to survive without Great Qian’s salt?”
They were filled with righteous indignation.
But Ruohong’s brows remained tightly furrowed. Without Great Qian’s salt, although Yan would not be unable to survive, it would certainly fall into great chaos and would have to pay an unimaginable price.
Buy salt from neighboring countries? What a joke. In a time when all nations were in turmoil, it would already be benevolent if those neighboring countries did not kick Yan while it was down. Did they really expect them to lend Yan a hand at such a moment? They were probably eager to see Yan descend into chaos, or even fall apart.
But there was no other way now. They could only try their best to restore Yan’s saltworks while also attempting to purchase salt from neighboring countries.
In fact, Ruohong’s thoughts were entirely correct. The merchant caravans sent out to purchase salt returned with nothing and even had to face the mockery of salt merchants from other countries.
Of course, it was not entirely true that they gained nothing. At the very least, Ba and Wei, Yan’s allied nations, did sell them some salt.
As for the amount, one could only say that they had done the bare minimum out of humanitarian concern. There were too many monks and too little gruel; it was nowhere near enough. So-called allied nations were willing to advance together when there were profits to be made, but when you were in trouble, who knew how much they were secretly gloating?
After all, this alliance had not reached the point where they were as close as brothers.
Of course, that was a matter for later.
After Ruohong left court and returned to his residence, he went to Lan Ruoyun.
“You hid yourself rather deeply. Great Qian truly has produced an impressive strategist.”
A bitter smile appeared on Lan Ruoyun’s face. “Would you believe me if I said I only just learned of this as well? In the imperial prince contest, each household acts according to its own abilities. They do not inform one another.”
What Lan Ruoyun did not say was that he also had not expected Prince Zheng and that Mountain Lord to bring such unimaginable chaos to Yan.
Moreover, this chaos was likely only the beginning. If the Yan court failed to handle it properly and could not continue supplying salt everywhere, or rather, could not continue supplying cheap refined salt, then uprisings would likely begin.
In this imperial prince contest, he had originally thought that they had brought Yan something it had long dreamed of obtaining, and no other prince could possibly defeat them no matter what.
But he had not expected that Prince Zheng and that Mountain Lord would unexpectedly play such a move, placing Yan in a dilemma.
Was it more important to obtain potatoes, which could solve Yan’s low grain production, or to keep refined salt circulating and avoid riots? That was hard to say. After all, the effectiveness of potatoes still awaited practice, while riots in various regions were something that would occur immediately and very tangibly.
But neither Ruohong nor the Yan court could possibly make the decision to cede three cities so easily.
What they were thinking of now was still how to resolve the salt shortage. As long as they solved that problem, everything else would naturally be resolved as well.
In Great Qian, in Shangjing, Qi Zheng and Chen Bai were also waiting for news.
Chen Bai was not anxious. He had already thought through every countermeasure Yan could come up with. “Even if they pay an enormous price and buy such a huge amount of salt from others, it will still be useless. The people will not accept salt at such high prices.”
The price might even be higher than before. Merchants from other countries were not fools. Why would they not seize the chance to make a fortune?
The people of Yan surely had some sense of loyalty to their country, but when their own interests were involved, there would always be people who became dissatisfied. Those people would be enough to start unrest.
When news from Yan returned to Great Qian, Great Qian was almost shaken as well.
Prince Zheng had held control over salt sales for only half a year. How long had it been? Yet he had already caused nationwide unrest in Yan.
Yan was Great Qian’s enemy. In the past, because Yan was wealthy, Great Qian had suffered no small amount of anger from them.
Now, it was as if they had finally vented that anger, and everyone felt exhilarated.
“Prince Zheng is truly formidable. Without spending a single soldier or pawn, he has pushed Yan into such an embarrassing position. Serves them right for daring to assassinate our king.”
“And that Mountain Lord, he truly deserves the title of unparalleled strategist. This move is simply brilliant. To be honest, before this, who could have imagined that salt alone could throw the whole of Yan into such chaos? It truly clears the mind and lifts the spirit.”
“And those students of Cloudward Academy too. They contributed greatly to Great Qian’s saltworks reform. In that sense, they also played a part in this round, especially Grand Scholar Zhaoxue. I heard he was the chief supervisor of this saltworks reform.”
“Mountain Lord does not show off his abilities, but he is a true renowned scholar. He decides victory from within his palm and wins from a thousand li away. Mountain Lord devised the strategy, and his student Chen Zixiu carried it out…”
In the past, saying that Mountain Lord could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Four Gentlemen of Great Qian was actually somewhat exaggerated. There was still some distance between him and a true renowned scholar under heaven. But after this round, among all the nations under heaven, who could fail to know the name of Mountain Lord?
From now on, the title of renowned scholar under heaven belonged to Mountain Lord in both name and reality.
“Those who secretly cursed Prince Zheng for aiding the enemy before must be regretting it so badly their intestines have turned green.”
“Exactly. So what if we get to eat refined salt a little later? Being able to teach those Yan people such a huge lesson is what truly makes people feel delighted.”
The court of Great Qian was also extremely lively.
In the past, during Great Qian’s conflicts with Yan, there had been no small number of casualties, yet they had gained little benefit. But this time, they had achieved such results without spending a single soldier or pawn. It was truly unbelievable, and at the same time, deeply satisfying.
“Prince Zheng is indeed worthy of being a member of our Great Qian imperial clan. Brave and resourceful, he is truly Great Qian’s good fortune.”
The Prince Zheng of today was no longer as isolated and helpless as before. Since this matter had brought so much honor, naturally someone would praise him before everyone.
“In my view, the winner of this round of the imperial prince contest must be none other than Prince Zheng.”
As a result, someone snorted. “That may not necessarily be the case.”
Everyone looked over. The one who had spoken was Prince Zhuo. Prince Zhuo’s expression was not very good. He truly had not expected such an unexpected turn of events. He said, “Until the final moment, who knows who will win or lose?”
Even Chen Bai could not help freezing for a moment. Looking at Prince Zhuo, did he still have some move left?
That made sense. Up to now, Chen Bai and the others had not found out what strategy Prince Zhuo’s side was using. One had to admit, they had kept it far too secret.
It was not that Chen Bai and the others had not sent people to inquire about Lan Ruoyun’s movements. It was just that the information they obtained was truly enough to make one laugh and cry.
They heard that Lan Ruoyun spent every day in the Yan capital with that old lover of his, the former Crown Prince Ruohong of Yan, swaggering through the streets and indulging in wine and pleasure. What a pair of adulterous men—no, a pair of immortal lovers. There was not the slightest sign that he was carrying out a mission, let alone any clue as to what strategy he was using.
But now, Prince Zhuo’s attitude made it seem as though their mission was going very smoothly, which was truly puzzling.
At least for the moment, however, he still held the advantage.
Moreover, Chen Bai knew very well how long Yan’s remaining salt reserves could last. After all, all of it had been sold by Great Qian.
The news of Yan’s livelihood falling into chaos also spread to the various states. Most people were naturally watching the excitement. Aside from enjoying the spectacle, they also remembered two names: Qi Zheng and Mountain Lord.
To be able to throw a great state like Yan into such a state with a mere raise of the hand—it was hard for people not to remember them.
As Chen Bai had expected, the amount of salt Yan could buy from other countries was limited, and it was also high-priced salt. The riots across Yan arrived right on schedule.
Of course, the local common people did not think of themselves as rioting. At most, they thought of it as making a little trouble. They merely wanted salt to eat, nothing more.
In the eyes of different people, because their identities and positions were different, their views on the same matter would also differ.
The Yan court finally panicked. If it had only been a few places rioting, even large-scale riots might not have frightened them. But when riots of all sizes were reported from all over the country, that truly made their hearts tremble.
Things they had never even considered before now had to be considered, such as the conditions Great Qian had proposed.
Ruohong’s brows were also tightly furrowed. Strictly speaking, it was not impossible for Yan to restore salt production, nor was it impossible to make the common people accept the old high-priced coarse salt again. But all of that required time to sort out. What they lacked now was precisely time. The violent mobs across Yan would not wait for them to slowly restore things to how they used to be.
The matter was urgent. Even knowing that they were going to suffer a loss, they had no choice but to take that loss. This was probably precisely what Prince Zheng and Mountain Lord had planned. They had calculated that Yan would not have enough time to restore salt production and quell the riots, and thus, for the sake of Yan’s stability, Yan would have no choice but to agree to their conditions.
The first part was a hidden scheme; the latter part was an open scheme, leaving Yan no room to choose.
It looked simple, but every step had to be calculated without omission in order to create the current situation.
Yan’s situation was changing day by day. No matter how much hatred they felt, they first had to wait until this livelihood crisis was quelled.
Qi Zheng and Chen Bai were also waiting. Or rather, the entire Great Qian court was waiting for Yan’s reply.
What they received was a Yan envoy who had ridden day and night without rest, spurring his horse all the way to Shangjing.
Judging by the envoy’s travel-worn appearance and bloodshot eyes, he probably had not stopped at all along the way. Chen Bai and Qi Zheng exchanged a glance. It seemed things were taking shape.
But the words of the Yan envoy instantly made Chen Bai’s face darken to the extreme. Or rather, it was not only him. The faces of most officials in court also changed color at once.
The Yan envoy said, “The king of Yan has agreed to your request. Yan can cede three cities as compensation for the Yan merchant’s assassination attempt against your king.”
Everyone cared about face. Naturally, they could not say that Yan had to rely on Great Qian’s salt to calm its internal chaos, and so it was begging Great Qian to resume salt supply at the price of three cities.
That would be far too humiliating. Thus, they used compensation for the assassination attempt against the king as an excuse. After all, this made things proper and justified, and it sounded slightly better when spoken aloud.
At this point, Chen Bai began to feel delighted. He thought to himself, It’s done.
But then the Yan envoy suddenly changed the direction of his words and said, “However, the land of three cities is priceless. Great Qian must also agree to resume trade with our Yan salt merchants.”
That was only natural. The salt chaos could at most throw Yan into disorder for a while; it could not keep Yan in chaos forever. They were merely making use of a gap in timing. Exchanging that for three cities was certainly worth it.
“And in addition, Great Qian must also agree to the condition proposed by Deputy Envoy Lan Ruoyun, who was part of the envoy delegation your king sent to Yan this time.”
Chen Bai froze, somewhat curious as well. What condition had Lan Ruoyun proposed that Yan cared about it so much, even at a time like this?
The one presiding over court this time was still Empress Dowager Zhaosheng. A flicker of doubt clearly crossed Empress Dowager Zhaosheng’s face as well. This envoy delegation had mainly gone to hold Yan accountable. They had not carried any conditions with them…
Empress Dowager Zhaosheng thought for a moment and roughly guessed a few things. Lan Ruoyun had been part of the delegation. Perhaps this had been prepared by Prince Zhuo for the imperial prince contest.
She could not help saying, “Oh? Then tell us what condition Lan Ruoyun proposed to you.”
She left herself a margin. She only said the condition Lan Ruoyun proposed, not the condition proposed on behalf of Great Qian’s envoy delegation.
The corners of the Yan envoy’s mouth lifted, because before he departed, Crown Prince Ruoqing had repeatedly instructed him that it did not matter whether Great Qian agreed to this condition or not. What mattered was that he had to say it aloud before Great Qian’s entire court.
“Deputy Envoy Lan Ruoyun of your country brought an oral decree from your king, stating that Great Qian was willing to provide Yan with potatoes that can grow in dry land in exchange for three cities from Yan. Yan is voluntarily ceding territory to Great Qian. Asking for these two conditions in exchange is not excessive, is it…”
Before his voice had even faded, Chen Bai’s smiling face had completely darkened.
The potatoes had been something he provided to Great Qian. Now the king was using potatoes against him.
The entire court fell silent.
If potatoes could truly grow on Yan’s land, Yan would make up for its only shortcoming. Coupled with Yan’s existing wealth, what would Great Qian, as an enemy, have to face?
It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. For a long while, no one could even react.
“How dare you.” It was finally Empress Dowager Zhaosheng’s shout that brought everyone back to their senses.
The Yan envoy smiled. “Why must Your Majesty the Empress Dowager be angry? This was originally a condition proposed by your king. I am merely repeating it. Or could it be that even Your Majesty did not know of this?”
Silence. A very long silence.
Then came Empress Dowager Zhaosheng’s cold laughter. “After Yan lost its first crown prince, is this the only petty trick it can resort to now—slandering others?”
After speaking, she did not wait for the other party to respond and continued, “If you continue speaking, I will have you beheaded.”
The Yan envoy quickly cupped his hands. “I am only conveying the meaning of the Yan royal family. Whether Great Qian agrees or not depends on Great Qian.”
Chen Bai looked at Empress Dowager Zhaosheng’s darkened expression. Perhaps others might think this Yan envoy was slandering the king, and that Empress Dowager Zhaosheng, for the sake of the imperial family’s reputation, would define the matter as nothing more than the Yan envoy spouting nonsense no matter what she truly thought inside.
But Chen Bai’s heart sank to the bottom. In order to prevent Qi Zheng from becoming crown prince, the king could actually go this far?
To be honest, it was truly frightening. It was also impossible to understand his reasoning.
At this moment, the officials seemed to come back to themselves and began condemning the Yan envoy.
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
“For such a major matter, how could the king not have discussed it with us? We will not listen to your demonic words meant to mislead the people.”
No matter what they thought in their hearts, at this moment, condemning him was the correct thing to do.
The Yan envoy was unmoved by the verbal attacks and said, “Everyone should still carefully consider the conditions proposed by the king of Yan.”
Only then did he pull the topic back.
“It would naturally be good to obtain three cities from Yan, but handing potatoes over to Yan like this is absolutely impossible.”
“Exactly. Such an auspicious crop has not even been used by Great Qian yet. How can we hand it over to Yan?”
The Yan envoy suddenly said, “Are you truly not going to consider it? Those are three cities. To be honest, all three cities of Yan are wealthy cities. Do you truly not want them?”
At this moment, a voice rang out. “Even if we do not give you potatoes, Yan will still have to offer up those three cities with both hands. Right now, the one who should be anxious is not Great Qian. You had better think about what Yan will look like if Great Qian refuses to resume supplying salt.”
The discussion came to an abrupt halt.
That was true. They did not need to consider this issue at all. The one who should be anxious now was Yan.
The Yan envoy looked upward. “May I ask who Your Excellency is?”
Chen Bai replied, “Great Qian’s Grand Scholar Zhaoxue of Hongwen Pavilion, Participating Grand Scholar of the Inner Cabinet, and Palace Scribe.”
The Yan envoy could not help taking another look at him. “So you are the student of the renowned scholar Mountain Lord. You do have some insight. It is true that Yan is anxious, but eventually, the riots will be quelled. If Great Qian misses this opportunity, it will truly lose three cities. How much war and how many soldiers would be needed to obtain three such cities?”
This person was indeed eloquent. No wonder Yan had chosen him as the envoy to Great Qian.
Chen Bai smiled. “No matter what you say, you cannot cover up the fact that if Yan cannot restore its salt supply, the riots will not stop. If things were truly as calm as you say, you would not have rushed to Great Qian without stopping, would you? We are not in a hurry. If you want to negotiate conditions, we can sit down and take our time.”
The Yan envoy: “…”
Why was this man so impervious to persuasion, clinging to this one point and refusing to let go? How was he supposed to break through?
Negotiation was about playing to one’s strengths and avoiding one’s weaknesses. Chen Bai simply seized the fact that Yan’s current situation was urgent. Say a thousand things, ten thousand things; no matter how Yan might recover in the future, at least right now, it had to beg Great Qian. Their side was the one holding the initiative.
Although the Yan envoy appeared calm and composed on the surface, he was indeed anxious inside. Riots in Yan were blooming everywhere, and with every moment they dragged this out, who knew what the situation would become.
After another round of verbal sparring with the officials of the court, he finally agreed “reluctantly” to the condition that Yan would cede three cities as long as Great Qian restored salt supply.
Originally, he had never expected to convince Great Qian to provide potatoes to Yan. This had merely been a retreat-for-advance tactic.
The Great Qian officials were delighted. Just like that, they had obtained three wealthy cities from Yan?
In the past, even one city or one piece of land required both sides to fight to the death.
Expanding territory without expending even the slightest bit of national strength—truthfully, it had also opened a sales channel for Great Qian’s salt. It could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
The way they looked at Qi Zheng became somewhat different. At the very least, very few kings of any country could accomplish such a thing.
Only Qi Zheng’s expression did not improve.
Judging from the current situation, he should have already won this round of the imperial prince contest.
Chen Bai glanced at him and roughly understood what Qi Zheng was thinking.
If the Yan envoy truly had slandered the king, then that would be one thing. But if not, then the matter was complicated and dangerous.
The officials and the Yan envoy signed the state letter. By rights, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng should have remained present throughout the whole process, but she handed the matter over to the Three Dukes, said that she was tired, and left.
But no matter how one looked at it, she did not seem tired.
And indeed, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng directly had someone push her to the king’s bedchamber.
Rarely, the king was not resting. Instead, he sat there as if waiting for someone.
That was expected. Although the king had not attended court, what happened in court could not be hidden from him.
The king looked up and said calmly, “You have come.”
Empress Dowager Zhaosheng did not answer. Instead, she looked seriously at the king sitting in the wheelchair. Only after a long while did she speak.
“You once promised me that if you became the king of Great Qian, you would live for Great Qian and die for Great Qian. Have you done so?”
The king sighed. “In the end, Mother has come to question me.”
Empress Dowager Zhaosheng’s brows were dark. “Do not tell me that Lan Ruoyun acted on his own and you knew nothing of it.”
The king replied, “No matter what I have done in this life, I fear I could never meet Mother’s expectations. Or perhaps, a person like Mother has never truly regarded me as worthy in the first place. It was only because Great Qian needed a king, and I just so happened to be your son, that Mother placed me in this position. Then what has my life amounted to?”
“I am the king of Great Qian. Would I personally push Great Qian into the abyss? Is that alone not enough for Mother to trust me?”
“Even if the decisions I make for a time leave Mother puzzled, in my heart, in the end, they are still for the good of Great Qian.”
Empress Dowager Zhaosheng fell silent.
Was she questioning Great Qian’s supreme king? Should she not question him?
No one knew how long the silence lasted. Empress Dowager Zhaosheng did not speak again. She merely had someone push her away.
Only when she was far away did her unquestionable voice drift back.
“Return that position to him. It belonged to him in the first place, and no one is more suited to it than he is.”
The king’s body trembled.
He had spent his whole life working diligently and cautiously, yet in the end, he still could not earn Mother’s approval?
After Empress Dowager Zhaosheng returned to her sleeping palace, her face was expressionless. She summoned a person and said, “Go to Yan at once. Summon Lan Ruoyun back to court.”
As for what the truth truly was, perhaps only Lan Ruoyun could explain it clearly.
And Lan Ruoyun—when he was thirteen years old, she had trained him into Great Qian’s spy chief. Only then had he remained by the king’s side and become Lan Guard, one of the four hidden guards.
The king probably still believed even now that he had a keen eye for talent and had discovered a pearl hidden in the vast sea.
But in this world, how could there be so many pearls that shone brilliantly without first being polished?
She had not told the king back then only because she wanted him to have more confidence, to believe he had the ability to fully control Great Qian and become a good king.
Unexpectedly, it had made him overconfident instead, daring to do anything at all.
When news from the court spread into the streets and markets, the whole of Shangjing boiled over.
Just like that, three more cities had appeared on Great Qian’s map. This was more worthy of celebration than any festival.
As Chen Bai’s carriage passed through the market streets, even he was infected by the festive atmosphere.
There were even bold commoners who cheerfully bowed toward Chen Bai’s carriage.
“Grand Scholar Zhaoxue, your future is boundless!”
They were asking for an auspicious blessing.
Chen Bai had put in no small amount of effort during the saltworks reform. Everyone knew this too. It was also the direct reason Great Qian had been able to obtain three cities. So saying that his future was boundless was not wrong.
Chen Bai froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
When he returned to the Court Commandant’s estate, Chen Xiaobu was wearing another little robe so festive that he looked like a fortune doll.
“Brother, Mother is preparing another huge banquet. The invitations have already been sent out. She even wants to invite the relatives from our hometown. She said you and I have brought honor to the family ancestors, so we have to celebrate properly.”
Chen Xiaobu had also participated in the saltworks reform, so naturally he would have a share of the credit.
“But Brother, I just want to take Dalmatian out to play. I don’t want to be surrounded by so many people. They’re always pinching my face and making me recite the Analects. I can’t even recite it. It’s so embarrassing.”
Chen Bai thought to himself, That is what you get for not studying properly all day. In Meng Huanchao’s class, you spend all day listening carefully to strange stories and customs from various countries, while ignoring the proper learning.
However, Chen Bai was also somewhat resistant to those overly enthusiastic scenes. So he simply said, “I’ll take you out to play.”
This made Chen Xiaobu overjoyed. He immediately took Dalmatian and left, not even changing his clothes, because if he went back, his mother would definitely grab him and show him off.
The now jubilant Shangjing offered a completely different experience.
There were simply too many people on the streets. It was inconvenient for Chen Bai to squeeze through the crowds with Chen Xiaobu, so he simply took him to Prince Zheng’s residence instead.
As a result, Prince Zheng’s residence was even more festive.
As the main figure who had won three cities for Great Qian, one could imagine how celebratory Prince Zheng’s residence was.
Chen Bai even vaguely heard some servants whispering that only the final round of the contest remained now. Even if they did not win the final round, His Highness would still have the highest score, right?
Chen Bai smiled. No wonder they were so happy. But he did not take the servants’ words seriously. Until the matter reached the very end, who knew what might happen?
Chen Bai had Chen Xiaobu take Dalmatian to play with Qi Zheng’s Alaskan dog, then went into Qi Zheng’s study by himself.
Yet there was not much joy on Qi Zheng’s face.
Chen Bai could not help saying, “The whole of Shangjing is celebrating like crazy right now. Why are you still wearing such a stern face?”
Qi Zheng replied, “You’re asking what you already know.”
Chen Bai smiled. He roughly knew what Qi Zheng was thinking.
“Why bother? Even if this matter had never happened, wouldn’t the king’s attitude still be the same? Since it’s something that wouldn’t change anyway, why trouble yourself over it?”
Qi Zheng froze. “You are rather broad-minded. Right, why did you come here at this hour?”
Chen Bai shrugged. Truthfully, he had nothing to do. The road had simply been too crowded, and he was afraid Chen Xiaobu might get lost, so he had entered the residence to avoid the crowd.
But since he was here, even if there was nothing to do, he had to find something.
“In any case, we’ve already won up to this point. Only the final round remains now. As long as we win that final round, everything will be settled. With something announced to the whole world, could the king still take back his word?”
Qi Zheng thought that was true. As long as they could take the final round, the matter would be settled beyond dispute. Even if the king wanted to make things difficult, he would first have to establish him as crown prince.
“Drink, drink. We won’t return until we’re drunk.”
It was just that by the end, Chen Bai truly became drunk enough not to return. He clung to Qi Zheng’s thigh.
“I’m not drunk. I’m not leaving. I can still drink.”
Qi Zheng’s face darkened. He had barely drunk that much, yet he was already this sloppy, his true colors fully exposed.
Speaking of which, Chen Zixiu still had not properly explained to him what was going on with that cat-eared, awl-faced appearance from before.
At this moment, Chen Bai suddenly said, “Qi Zheng, your leg is really firm. Take it off and let me take a photoshoot for you. Tsk, tsk…”
Qi Zheng: “…”
In the future, he absolutely could not let Chen Zixiu get drunk. It was truly outrageous. Touching a man’s leg and repeatedly shouting that it was firm—what kind of behavior was that?
Qi Zheng, who had originally been sitting with his legs spread in a broad, imposing posture, could not help pulling his legs back and clamping them together.
Still, Chen Zixiu was the same as that Mountain Lord in this regard. They both liked strong, well-built men. The corners of Qi Zheng’s mouth could not help lifting slightly.
Chen Bai had no idea how he got back.
When he woke up the next day, Chen Xiaobu was really covering his little face while wiping Chen Bai’s face with a handkerchief. Seeing Chen Bai wake up, he hurriedly said, “Brother, you were so embarrassing yesterday. I almost had no face to meet anyone.”
Chen Bai froze. “What happened?”
Chen Xiaobu said, “Yesterday, you hugged Prince Zheng’s leg like that and even praised his leg, saying it was good and that you could play with it for who knows how long.”
Chen Bai’s entire being went bad at once. His drunkenness was scared clean away.
My heavens. He had no face left.
…
As Chen Bai passed this rare stretch of idle time in such a “leisurely” manner, the court also sent people to take over the three newly acquired cities.
The common people of Yan’s three cities were also utterly stunned.
They had become Great Qian people now?
There had been no war, no smoke of battle, no bloodshed or slaughter. Just like that, they woke up the next day and someone told them they had changed countries.
To be honest, they were stunned beyond words.
“Truly, live long enough and you’ll see anything.”
“Exactly.”
Of course, there was bound to be panic at first, and even some dissatisfied people causing trouble.
But Great Qian’s army had already stationed itself there, so it was destined to lead nowhere. Besides, even Yan had acknowledged it, so what was the point of resisting?
The person Empress Dowager Zhaosheng sent to Yan to summon Lan Ruoyun back to court also arrived in the Yan capital.
At the former Crown Prince’s residence.
Lan Ruoyun looked at Ruohong in surprise. “You’re letting me leave just like this?”
Ruohong smiled. “I sent you a great gift. Once you return to Great Qian, you’ll know. Whether you can survive will depend on yourself. Killing you now would feel rather lacking in amusement, wouldn’t it?”
Someone had to take the blame for privately offering potatoes to Yan. Since Great Qian’s king refused to acknowledge it, then…
Lan Ruoyun looked at Ruohong’s smiling face and also smiled.
“Then I shall take my leave here. This world indeed needs a few special people to be more interesting.”
Ruohong watched Lan Ruoyun leave.
“If even this cannot kill him, then he really is an interesting person. What he said is true as well. Without such a person in the world, it would be rather lonely.”
As for why he had exposed the potato deal instead of waiting to complete the transaction in private, naturally he had a better way to obtain it.
“Lan Ruoyun, you must not die. I am still waiting for you to help me complete this game.”
When Lan Ruoyun returned to Great Qian, it was also the day the final round of the imperial prince contest began.
It was also the moment when the winds and clouds of the entire world truly began to stir.
