The boat was moving farther and farther away from the shore. Finally, the sound of hurried hoofbeats came from behind Liang Ye.
“Master!” Chong Heng spat out a mouthful of blood to the side. “Everything has been taken care of.”
Liang Ye dismounted, his face expressionless as he pulled out the dirty object that had barely pierced his palm.
Chong Heng looked around but didn’t see Wang Dian. He immediately understood that the master hadn’t caught up with him. His heart sank, and he cautiously looked at Liang Ye.
Liang Ye lowered his head, carefully wrapping a cloth strip around his palm. With his eyes downcast, he said, “Wang Dian threw a letter into the water. Have someone retrieve it.”
“Yes.” Chong Heng waved his hand, and several hidden guards immediately leaped into the cold water. After about a quarter of an hour, someone came ashore with a sodden envelope that barely resembled its original form.
Water dripped onto the ground as Liang Ye glanced up at the dirty ink stains that had spread across the envelope. He reached out and took it. Blood from the cloth strip quickly stained one corner of the envelope red.
Liang Ye stared at it for a long while, then casually threw the soaked envelope to the ground. He mounted his horse, grasped the reins, and said in a deep voice, “Return to the palace.”
Chong Heng couldn’t help but look down at the letter on the ground, but it was quickly trampled by horse hooves and sank into the mud.
According to their original schedule, they were supposed to have set out for the capital two days ago. But because the master had pursued them to Yunshui, they had to rush back. The original ten-day journey was compressed into five days, and several horses died from exhaustion along the way.
On the way back to the palace, Liang Ye was unusually silent, showing almost no emotion, which made Chong Heng increasingly uneasy.
The day they returned to the capital happened to be the fifteenth day of the month.
The court officials, seeing Liang Ye on the dragon throne with bloodshot eyes, dared not ask why the grand ceremony to bestow the title of Empress had suddenly been canceled, nor why he had disappeared for so many days.
After all, during the ten-plus days when Imperial Preceptor Wen had been in charge, everything had been calm—except for the war that broke out between Loufan and Eastern Chen.
Regarding this matter, the Great Liang court and the common people maintained a highly unified attitude: fight however you want, we resolutely won’t get involved.
The common people didn’t want war because they would ultimately be the ones to suffer. The court didn’t want it because the national treasury simply couldn’t afford it.
The newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Qi Ming, was at his wit’s end. In fact, when he suddenly received the imperial edict promoting him to Minister of Revenue on the morning of the first day of the month, he was completely stunned. After all, just yesterday, he had attended court with Wang Dian and even made plans to have tea together at Yingsu Square after court on the first day.
However, the imperial order couldn’t be defied. Even though he was puzzled, he dutifully accepted the edict. Later, when he tried to get information from his teacher, Wen Zong, the latter was tight-lipped and only advised him to do his job well.
The problem was that everything had happened so suddenly. Although he had been working under Wang Dian for a while, Wang Dian’s methods were vastly different from those of ordinary officials. Wang Dian had been teaching him diligently, but due to his own slowness, he could only grasp half of it. He had intended to ask Wang Dian to continue the handover for another ten to twenty days, but who knew that both His Majesty and Wang Dian would disappear without a trace.
In short, he couldn’t figure out Wang Dian’s previous meticulous arrangements, and the money was visibly dwindling. A clever housewife can’t cook a meal without rice. Every day when he reported for duty, he felt like resigning from his post.
At this moment, the eyes of Liang Ye and all the officials fell on him. Although he felt uncertain, Qi Ming cleared his throat and said seriously, “In response to Your Majesty, the silver in the Ministry of Revenue’s hands can support disaster relief for at most two prefectures.”
“Just north of the capital, there are five prefectures and dozens of counties affected by snow disasters,” said Head of the Secretariat Cui Yun. “If the court cannot provide timely disaster relief and distribute grain, the number of refugees will inevitably increase. If these refugees move south, it will surely lead to chaos.”
(TL: “中书令” (Zhōng shū lǐng) refers to the Chancellor or Head of the Secretariat in ancient China, particularly during imperial dynasties like the Tang or Han dynasty.
The 中书令 was a high-ranking official responsible for managing imperial documents and overseeing the secretariat, which was involved in drafting and issuing important state decrees. This title was prestigious and often held by individuals with significant political influence.)
The atmosphere in the court immediately became heavy. Liang Ye frowned as he sat on the dragon throne. The others didn’t dare to complain further, after all, the money for His Majesty’s Empress conferment ceremony had all been used to fill the holes, at least ensuring winter clothes and military rations for the frontier soldiers.
Those vast amounts of silver came from confiscating the Cui and Jian families’ properties. On that day, cart after cart was transported out, and before it could even warm up in the national treasury, it flowed out like water.
In previous years at this time, the northern part of Great Liang would always suffer disasters. When Cui Yuxian was in power, she would usually just symbolically send some silver to deal with it. Most of this silver would be embezzled through layers of corruption, with only a few copper coins actually reaching the disaster victims. At that time, they were indignant and unwilling, but now that power had finally returned to the outer court, the situation had hardly changed.
There was money and grain. The capital was full of noble families and high-ranking officials, all with overflowing coffers. But when it came down to it, who would willingly hand over their own money?
They spoke earnestly, but asking for money was harder than asking for their lives.
Liang Ye watched expressionlessly as the officials argued vehemently. He knew that the envoy from Eastern Chen hadn’t arrived yet. If they waited until the Eastern Chen envoy arrived and forced Northern Liang into war, that would truly spell disaster.
This mess was even worse than the letter Wang Dian had thrown into the water.
After court was dismissed, Yun Fu and Yu Ying carefully approached him. Yun Fu helped him remove the outer dragon robe, revealing the clothes underneath stained with blood and mud.
The timing of their return had been too rushed, he hadn’t even had time to change his clothes before putting on the dragon robe and attending court.
Then he listened to that group vividly demonstrating how the Liang state was about to collapse.
Liang Ye leaned against the edge of the bath, closing his eyes in exhaustion. He raised his hand to squeeze his aching brow, then suddenly paused. Lowering his hand, he stared grimly at the face reflected in the water’s surface.
Not only were his actions the same as Wang Dian’s, but his eyes now looked almost identical to Wang Dian’s when he was tired.
Without realizing it, he had unconsciously learned many things from Wang Dian.
He stared at that face for a long time, revealing a gloomy and twisted smile.
The next day, in the conference hall.
Dozens of important officials were discussing how to deal with the impending arrival of the Eastern Chen envoy. The ultimate goal was to politely but firmly reject the other party’s malicious intentions, and to create an atmosphere that Great Liang was strong, wealthy, and unafraid of going to war with them.
Qi Ming, sitting at the end, listened to the officials talk about how the banquet should be extremely luxurious and how much gold and jewelry should be bestowed upon the other party. His heart was practically bleeding. The several secretaries behind him were writing notes with furrowed brows. He wanted to grab these old men who were talking big without considering the consequences and make them come to their senses.
Liang Ye frowned and spoke, “There’s no need for gold rewards. If Eastern Chen wants to take Shen Yueli back, let them exchange gold for her.”
The conference hall fell silent for a moment. Wen Zong stroked his beard and nodded slowly, “Although it lacks decorum, it could work.”
The Right Vice Minister Yan Ze hesitated to speak, but after careful consideration, he thought that while it might be a bit shameless, gold and silver were tangible benefits not to be passed up.
(TL: Previously as ‘You Pushe’ 右仆射; high-ranking official title in ancient China, particularly during the Han and Tang dynasties. It can be translated as “Right Deputy Director” or “Right Vice Minister.”)
The Head of the Secretariat Cui Yun was more practical, “We still have a piece of land in Huadong County occupied by Eastern Chen. Why don’t we take this opportunity to make them give it back?”
At the mention of this, the old men suddenly became energetic, eloquently employing a belly full of schemes and intrigues, eager to strip Eastern Chen of everything they could.
Qi Ming, standing in the corner, spoke with a look of despair, “Honored officials, our national treasury has limited funds. Perhaps we should only consider matters that don’t involve war.”
“Such an opportunity comes once in a thousand years, how can we miss it?” Someone slammed the table and said, “We must take back that piece of land in Hedong County no matter what. Although it’s only four counties, the silver it generates each year is no less than that of the capital. We have several gold mines there. Back then, Cui Yuxian sold out the country for personal gain. How can we continue to endure such humiliation?”
Liang Ye spoke up, “It’s not yet time for the matter of Hedong County. Shen Yao is no fool, he won’t give up land just for one Shen Yueli.”
In the end, they were merely pinning the blame on Shen Yueli, using assassination and rebellion as leverage, providing a reasonable justification to silence Eastern Chen. They couldn’t ask Northern Liang to send troops, but they could take the opportunity to rake in some silver. However, if they asked Shen Yao to return the land, he wouldn’t do it even for ten Shen Yuelis.
Qi Ming nodded in agreement and reluctantly spoke, “The Ministry of Revenue’s silver is nearly depleted. The national treasury relies entirely on supplements from Your Majesty’s private coffers. This is truly not a long-term solution. This minister implores the honored officials to quickly devise a plan. How to generate money is the urgent matter at hand.”
To get more money, they could only increase taxes. But the problem was that the common people could barely survive as it was. They needed money to provide disaster relief and help the people get through the winter. Increasing taxes would simply be a vicious cycle.
The conference hall fell silent once again.
At that moment, Chong Heng’s voice suddenly came from outside the hall. “Master, this servant has urgent matters to report.”
The door of the hall opened and closed. Liang Ye glanced indifferently at Chong Heng, “Zhen is in a meeting.”
“This servant knows his crime.” Chong Heng quickly knelt down to admit his fault. The rule set by Liang Ye was that meetings in the conference hall were not to be disturbed, but this matter was truly urgent. He turned his head and beckoned behind him, and two guards brought forward a middle-aged man with a bruised and swollen face.
The man was crying, his face covered in snot and tears. Upon seeing Liang Ye, his legs immediately weakened further. He fell to his knees with a thud, shaking like a sieve, too frightened to utter a complete sentence.
Liang Ye cast a casual glance at him, “Who?”
The man kneeling on the ground wailed and began to kowtow tremblingly.
A flash of impatience crossed Liang Ye’s eyes. Seeing this, Chong Heng quickly said, “Master, this person was caught today sneaking out of Wang Dian’s mansion with something hidden on him. The guards apprehended him. According to his confession, he had been hiding in a secret room in the mansion for days. The room was extremely well-concealed, we didn’t discover it during our search of the premises.”
Liang Ye was silent for a moment, “Why did Wang Dian hide such a person in his mansion?”
His courage is smaller than a mouse’s.
Chong Heng kicked the man and said irritably, “The one before you is Ziyu Daren. Hurry up and hand over what Wang Dian gave you!”
The physician, who was already scared out of his wits, took out a crumpled envelope from his waist with trembling hands. Gasping for breath, he said, “This… this is what… Young Master Wang… told me to… to carry… If, if I was ca-caught, it was only to be… given to… to… Zi-Ziyu Daren…”
Liang Ye impatiently snatched the letter.
The envelope was severely wrinkled, and the ink on it had long since dried, obviously having been written some time ago. As he opened the letter, he heard Chong Heng say beside him, “According to this man’s confession, Wang Dian gave him the letter over half a month ago, instructing him to leave the secret room only on the sixteenth of this month. Wang Dian sought this man to save a dying person. Based on his description, I had someone draw a portrait…”
Liang Ye glanced at the four large characters on the envelope that read “For Ziyu’s eyes only.” The familiar handwriting unconsciously made him raise an eyebrow in pleasure. The thick stack of letter papers inside felt weighty. He sneered and took out the stack of papers to unfold them.
Then Chong Heng and those around him saw His Majesty’s originally smiling lips gradually flatten and slowly press downward. His eyes, which had just shown a hint of amusement, turned dark and terrifying. The aura around him became several degrees colder than the ice and snow of Great Liang in the twelfth month.
The thick stack of dozens of pages didn’t even have a salutation at the beginning of the letter. There was only a line of beautiful title, even with quotation marks as Wang Dian had mentioned: [Detailed Matters Regarding the Handover of the Minister of Revenue.]
It bluntly stated its purpose.
Liang Ye reluctantly flipped through the pages.
[Five-Year Development Plan for Wang’s Merchant Fleet,] with a note: Please consider matters related to the fleet accordingly, avoid being too aggressive. See page 17 for details on the Hexi fleet.
[Ten-Year Mountain Resource Investment Situation and Profit Analysis and Plan,] [Explanation of Chang Yun, Ming Yun, and Sansheng Taverns Information Network]…
[Situation of Palace Undercover Organization Personnel] with a note: Hope they can be put to good use. The fault lies with Wang Dian, do not indiscriminately kill the innocent.
[List of Profitable Projects and Available Liquid Funds] with a note: Can be used when the national treasury is in urgent need.
[Personal Salary Statement] with a note: The silver this minister took away was all earned from his own salary capital. Private property is a personal privacy matter, not convenient to explain.
…
Dozens of pages, densely packed, meticulously detailed, from the distribution and planning of various industries to fill the national treasury, to how every piece of silver Liang Ye gave him was spent. It even included how he had escaped from the palace eluding the secret guards, which teachers he had invited for Liang Huan, how many books he had read, what agreements he had reached with Cui Qi… Everything was accounted for in great detail.
The last ten or so pages described what he thought were urgent methods to save the current situation in Liang country, including points they had previously disagreed on. Wang Dian had even carefully considered improvements and listed how to implement them.
[… This is merely this minister’s personal opinion. Hoping Your Majesty will consider it carefully.
Wang Dian.]
Liang Ye desperately flipped through again, but there was nothing more.
Dozens of pages, Wang Dian must have spent a long time writing, yet every word and sentence was about official business, arranging everything in perfect order. He even considered Liang Huan and the palace maids and eunuchs. Except for the two characters “Your Majesty,” there wasn’t a single word about Liang Ye personally.
The most intimate part turned out to be the four characters “For Ziyu’s eyes only” on the envelope.
Liang Ye stood in front of the conference hall. Within his sight were the majestic and grand imperial palace and the endless prosperous capital. The letter papers in his hand were thick and heavy, yet felt light as a feather.
It seemed as if he had received nothing at all.
