Tigers Sniff the Rose - Chapter 108

Chapter 108

The sky was scorched by a burning sun, and yellow sand rolled in waves.

As the deputy envoy, Wei Shu had followed the head envoy more than a hundred miles past the borders of the Great Wei.

Having exited the frontier and moved past Longyou, their party of about a hundred people had swapped their horses for camels and other pack animals, beginning to adapt to life in the desert. During the journey, one person fell ill due to the harsh climate. The mission could not halt the entire party for one person, so they settled the man in a safe place and continued on their way.

According to their map, they were originally meant to visit a small country. It was said to be a branch of a certain tribe that had established its own state there while fleeing the chaos of war. Earlier this year, when envoys from various regions visited the Great Wei, representatives from all sides had provided such a map to the Imperial Court.

Yet, as Wei Shu’s party followed the map, they found themselves standing in the middle of a vast, desolate desert, staring blankly and in a daze at the ruins of an ancient city buried underground by dust and sand.

The Hu guide they had hired was also stunned, never expecting that the country had already vanished.

The climate was plagued by a severe drought. Wei Shu stood on a high mound overlooking the desert. The people around him were all sitting on the ground in low spirits, each of them lifting their veils to catch a breeze. Wei Shu, however, sweated less than the others and was not as unbearably hot. He heard the guide say helplessly: "My lords, I was here three years ago. At that time, their country still existed. Looking at this now, I don’t know if it was war or a lack of water, but in any case... sigh, it was a wasted trip. My lords, could you please return the money you paid to hire me?"

The Hu people outside the borders did not understand the complex official titles of the Great Wei and referred to everyone as "My Lord."

Wei Shu squatted on the sandy ground, holding a brush to begin updating the map. He deleted the marker for the country from the original map and made a note on the side regarding the guide's explanation. An ancient city had disappeared silently, leaving behind neither written records nor any legacy. Had they not come here, it was likely that not even a shred of a record would remain in history.

The head envoy saw that everyone was disheartened and said, "In that case, let us rest a while here before heading to the next location..."

The guide, however, was very nervous: "My lord, this place is not safe. If bandits appear..."

Before he could finish his sentence, everyone heard a strange noise and looked up in unison. Their party was scattered before the ruins of the ancient city. Wei Shu was still kneeling on the scorching sand when he looked up and saw, as if a black cloud had covered the sky, dozens of Hu people wearing sheepskin coats and wielding long spears appearing on the desert hills above.

Those people were riding horses, moving as fast as lightning across the desert. Like a black tide pouring down from above, the Hu people shouted in a language they could not understand and charged toward them!

The head envoy immediately ordered: "Prepare for battle!"

The guide cried out from the side: "They must have seen our supply train and came to rob us! My lord, you might as well abandon the goods and seek peace..."

Wei Shu had already walked over. As the head envoy hesitated, his voice sounded cold and clear: "We cannot abandon them."

The guide was almost scared to tears by the impending fight: "Then our lives will be left here! You Great Wei people don’t know, these fierce bandits in the desert are especially terrifying... Many countries have been wiped out by them!"

A country wiped out! How savage was this!

The head envoy’s eyes flickered, slightly nervous. He shouted for everyone to gather together and not give the enemy an opportunity to attack them while scattered. At the same time, Wei Shu looked at the guide, his tone slightly strange: "May I ask how many prefectures and circuits those wiped-out countries had?"

The guide was confused: "What prefectures and circuits?"

Wei Shu simply asked something the other could understand: "How many people were in those countries?"

The guide: "A few hundred, I suppose..."

Once this was said, even the previously nervous head envoy felt less tense: "Scared me to death, I thought they were a major power like the Great Wei. To hear of a country being wiped out, he actually made me nervous for a second. A mere few hundred people, and they dare to call themselves a country... Although the feat of dozens defeating hundreds was still fierce, at least they were not as invincible as they had imagined."

Wei Shu explained from the side: "We cannot abandon the goods at this time. We have only just begun our mission, and to be short on supplies now would only make things more difficult later. Since we were able to preserve some of it initially, we should not give up."

The head envoy gave Wei Shu an approving look, thinking to himself that although this Seventh Young Master of the Wei family was a bit young, he was calm and intelligent, and did not hold the party back. He was quite impressive.

However, whether Wei Shu was intelligent or not did not have much to do with this battle in the desert.

Even if these bandits were not as formidable as everyone thought, they had been roaming these lands for who knows how long. The Great Wei’s mission team, half-scholars and half-warriors, was truly no match for their opponents. Seeing the enemy circle them on horseback, the bandits shouted arrogantly and excitedly, their eyes locked on the supply carts the mission was guarding in the center.

Seeing them about to kill, Wei Shu grabbed the shivering guide next to him: "Can you understand what they are saying? Can you translate my words?"

The guide: "...Yes!"

Wei Shu: "Good. Help me tell them that we are envoys sent by the Great Wei. The Great Wei’s territory is rich and vast; we are not a small country! If they harm us, the Great Wei will surely mobilize its armies... If they only have their eyes on our goods, we can negotiate!"

His words were too long, and the guide’s translation was stuttered. The bandits laughed heartily, not listening to a word they said. The leader of the opposing group raised his arm, and dozens of people lunged at them, their eyes gleaming with greed!

At the moment of life and death, Wei Shu felt his scalp tingle, knowing it was useless to reason with such robbers. Holding his sword, he had no choice but to fight them first. Although he was not a military official, aristocratic families of this era valued the mastery of both literature and martial arts. Even if Wei Shu was not as exceptional in combat as Yang Si, he could manage a standard fight...

Yet, Wei Shu was now worried. These bandits seemed exceptionally fierce... Was their mission to be cut short on the very first leg?

Wei Shu desperately racked his brain for a way to escape. The enemies attacked with fierce momentum, and Wei Shu found himself struggling. The bandit was sturdy and held a long saber. Disregarding Wei Shu, who was slight of build, the bandit swung his blade casually to kill him. Suddenly, a snowy white flash of light sliced in from the side.

The bandit was immediately alerted!

At the same time, Wei Shu was grabbed by an arm and pulled back heavily. The force almost threw him onto the ground. After stumbling a few steps, he saw a youth-like figure step in to meet the enemy for him. A narrow blade was extremely sharp; the person traded only a few moves with the enemy before cutting him down.

The enemy’s blood flowed out in torrents. The person who had saved Wei Shu turned to look at him.

The voice was clear and bright: "To negotiate terms, one must first exert force to subdue them. If you can’t even beat them, who is going to negotiate with you?"

Wei Shu was dumbstruck, staring blankly at this youth-like figure. Although the person was dressed in men’s clothing, she had willow-leaf eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, with fair cheeks and red lips... It was clearly, clearly... He blurted out: "Fifth Lady Zhao?"

How could Fifth Lady Zhao be in his mission team?

Zhao Lingfei made a face at him, and without waiting for him to collect his thoughts, she turned once more to engage in battle! —

That night, the mission and the bandits reached a truce, agreeing to negotiate the following day.

The envoys rested at the ancient ruins. As the deputy envoy, Wei Shu went to comfort the others and consult with the head envoy. Afterward, he stepped out of his tent and stood dazed for a while under the bright moon. Wei Shu looked up and saw the young woman sitting cross-legged atop a sand dune in the moonlight.

Zhao Lingfei was sitting there cleaning her blade when she felt someone approach. She turned her face and saw that it was indeed Wei Shu.

In the desert, everyone was somewhat disheveled, yet Wei Shu remained as radiant as ever, as elegant as a jadelike orchid.

Zhao Lingfei smiled: "You are quite different from before. In the past, you wouldn't say a word in a whole day, but since I’ve seen you in the mission, you talk to everyone all day long."

Wei Shu: "Official business, nothing more."

Seeing him brush her off with just a few words again, Zhao Lingfei hummed and rested her chin in her hand like a young girl, no longer showing the heroic and swift air she had while killing people during the day.

She stopped talking, and Wei Shu looked at her: "This was your first time killing someone, wasn’t it? You were quite... proficient. Aren’t you afraid?"

Zhao Lingfei: "When it’s a matter of life and death, where is there time to be afraid?"

Wei Shu watched her quietly. She felt he was different from the time in Chang'an, and he felt she was different as well. The Zhao Lingfei of Chang'an was still the Fifth Lady of the Zhao ritual master’s household, and although she studied martial arts, she was pampered and lively. Yet, the Zhao Lingfei of the desert had bright, resolute eyes and a wide, open expression... like a hawk in the sky, having burst out of its cage.

Wei Shu: "So you have been following the mission all along? You were just afraid I would find out, so you never showed your face before me?"

Zhao Lingfei: "I had no choice. I tried to dress as a man once before and was dragged out by Second Brother Yan. I was afraid that if I were caught this time, I would be sent back to Chang'an before I even left the Great Wei. So I had to be very careful."

She turned her head, her gaze toward Wei Shu filled with pleading. She tugged his sleeve gently and whispered: "Just pretend you never saw me. Don’t send me back to Chang'an, alright? I can stay with you and protect you. You saw today how dangerous it is outside the Great Wei; you need me."

Wei Shu pursed his lips and spoke softly: "You are, after all, a young lady."

Zhao Lingfei: "And what of it? Why look down on me? When you were almost killed today, wasn’t it a young lady who saved you?"

Wei Shu said helplessly: "I mean that there are always many inconveniences when you mix with a group of men like us. If Ritual Master Zhao finds out, he will surely be driven mad."

Zhao Lingfei froze. Not knowing what she thought of, she blushed and became awkward. She stammered for a long time, eventually bowing her head with a flushed face. Yet, she ultimately said softly: "...In any case, I cannot go back. I want to follow you."

Wei Shu: "Why don't you go find Third Young Master Yang?"

Zhao Lingfei: "You mean my cousin? He is currently starting out as a common soldier himself; he is not some great general. How could he hide me? Besides, my father is so close with him; if a letter were sent to Longyou, my cousin might just pack me up and ship me back to Chang'an.

"But you are different. You have left the Great Wei and cannot communicate with them; the Great Wei cannot control you either. Following you, traveling further and further away, is the only way I am truly safe."

Wei Shu: "Why? Is your father still forcing you to marry?"

Zhao Lingfei gave a sullen "Mhm."

Wei Shu: "But we don't even know when we will be able to return. Perhaps a year, perhaps ten years... are you truly willing to do this?"

Though her emotions were low, her eyes curved into a smile as she whispered: "Isn't it you who said not to surrender to fate, but to resist? My father was even about to exchange betrothal documents with someone else. If I didn't run, I wouldn't have been able to escape. He said I couldn't survive if I left the Zhao family and that everything I had depended on him. I simply refuse to believe that... That is why I want to leave the Great Wei. I want to prove that I don't need to depend on them, and I don’t need a man to support me... I can support myself. My life is not to be controlled by my father.

"They gave me life and raised me, but does that mean I should be a puppet? If I don't want to be a puppet, must I offer my life in apology? This world shouldn't be like this.

"Seventh Young Master, Brother Juyuan... just help me once. Let me go with you!"

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse; dust flew in the desert.

Zhao Lingfei looked up at the moon in the sky, her expression growing firm, bit by bit: "My cousin has always wanted to leave Chang'an, and now I understand—I want to leave Chang'an too. My cousin wants to be a free hawk in the sky, and now I understand that I want to be one too. I do not wish to be bound by others!

"Is there only one path for a girl—to marry? Beyond exchanging interests for the family, do girls have no lives of their own? I don't know... but I want to do it myself and figure out what I want."

Wei Shu watched her silently.

When she spoke of her own ideas, she was radiant. Yet, perhaps even she had not noticed—

Back in Chang'an, the news of Fifth Lady Zhao fleeing her marriage had put Lord Zhao in a towering rage. He had to grit his teeth to apologize to the aristocratic family involved in the alliance and shamefully take back the betrothal documents.

Lord Zhao had declared that when he saw Zhao Lingfei again, he would break her legs!

At the moment, he only believed his daughter had hidden somewhere in Chang'an as she had done in the past, or at most, had the courage to go to the frontier to find Third Young Master Yang. He did not know that his daughter was so bold as to leave the Great Wei directly.

Lady Zhao washed her face with tears every day, and though Lord Zhao sought to manage the situation everywhere, he could find no solution. A dark cloud hung over the Zhao household, to the point where even Princess Danyang had heard the gossip about the Zhao family from the mouth of an official.

Hearing that Zhao Lingfei had fled her wedding, Mu Wanyao became secretly vigilant and hurriedly sent a letter to Shuzhong, fearing that Zhao Lingfei was going to find Yan Shang. At the same time, she felt lucky that she had kept such a tight grip on Yan Shang. Otherwise, given Zhao Lingfei’s fearless temperament... Yan Shang might truly have been moved by her.

With Yan Shang gone, especially for something like disaster relief, and in such a distant place like Shuzhong—it had already been nearly half a year... Mu Wanyao was somewhat agitated.

In Chang'an, she was merely going through the motions of consolidating her political influence. Without Yan Shang’s company, without Yan Shang there for her to tease, this life was far too normal—so normal that it was boring. Yet, Mu Wanyao could not pursue him to Shuzhong... He was busy with official duties; what would it look like for her to chase after him all day?

It would make it seem like she couldn't live without Yan Shang.

Moreover, was she not busy herself?

While Mu Wanyao was busily and sullenly attending to the political affairs of Chang'an, no major events occurred in the city. The only thing that was somewhat unusual for her was that the Princess Jin was pregnant.

The Princess Jin had prayed for who knows how many years, and she had accompanied Mu Wanyao to pay respects to the Buddha more times than she could count... Now that the Princess Jin was finally pregnant, it relieved Mu Wanyao, who had witnessed for so long just how anxious the Princess had been. She felt a bit of happiness for this Princess who had not had an easy path.

So, it turned out that if someone wanted a child badly enough, they really could go to such lengths. Mu Wanyao felt that if the Princess Jin had not become pregnant, she would not have been far from insanity... Mu Wanyao then turned her thoughts to herself, but quickly made herself stop overthinking. Yan Shang had already accepted her; she should not look for trouble or torture herself.

However, amidst her happiness, Mu Wanyao worried about Chunhua’s treatment in the Prince Jin’s mansion.

When the Princess Jin was not pregnant, she had held Chunhua tightly, because the Princess had to prepare for the worst—if she remained childless, the Princess would certainly have to adopt Chunhua’s son as her own.

But the Princess Jin was now pregnant.

If she gave birth to a son, the subtle competitive relationship between a legitimate son and an eldest son... would inevitably lead to a change in the Princess’s attitude toward Chunhua. Chunhua’s days in the Prince Jin’s mansion would likely not be as easy as before.

Mu Wanyao stared blankly for a moment, but there was no solution. Chunhua had to live her own life, and she could not replace Chunhua to be the wife of her Fifth Brother. At most, she could remind her Fifth Brother a few more times to take care of the inner household... So, at the time, if only Chunhua had not had to become a concubine, how much better it would have been.

Thinking this, Mu Wanyao hated the Prince Qin even more.

Recently, the Prince Qin had also been acting frequently... Because the time Prince Qin had spent in confinement was long enough, and the mobilization of troops in Chang'an made him uneasy, it was estimated that Prince Qin would soon be released.

Mu Wanyao naturally pulled every string she could to hope that Prince Qin would be kept confined for a while longer. However, in July, Mu Wanyao watched helplessly as Prince Qin was released. Fortunately, this confinement, which had lasted nearly half a year, had a great impact on Prince Qin, making him much more low-profile for the time being, not daring to be in the spotlight again.

Prince Qin even made a special trip to the Princess’s mansion to wine and dine with Mu Wanyao, saying he wanted to temporarily reconcile with her: "Yao Yao, we were never enemies to begin with. Some things in the past were Third Brother’s fault; I have come specifically to apologize to you today, so please stop targeting me at court."

To this end, Prince Qin sent a large number of treasures.

Mu Wanyao really didn’t have many ways to deal with him, so she half-pushed and half-accepted Prince Qin’s reconciliation. At the same time, she felt secretly smug in her heart. As she played with Prince Qin’s apology gifts in her mansion, she thought that all of this was due to the status she possessed today.

Power, power, it was all about power.

This fascinated her endlessly.

She became even more addicted to participating in government affairs, and without a man, she became even more enthusiastic than before. Wholeheartedly planning for herself, the Princess Danyang’s influence behind the imperial court became incredibly important. It was at this moment that, one day, Xia Rong suddenly reminded Mu Wanyao of something: "Your Highness, when will the Second Young Master Yan be able to return?"

Mu Wanyao was reading a memorial and became vigilant upon hearing this: "Why are you concerned about this?"

Xia Rong: "Because the slave-maid’s younger brother was born two days ago, and I suddenly remembered, is the Second Young Master not about to come of age?"

Mu Wanyao was stunned and said: "His birthday is in mid-October; he will be coming of age then."

Xia Rong: "Then will the Second Young Master be able to return by then?"

Mu Wanyao was displeased: "Of course he will be able to return! He is there for disaster relief, not to live in Shuzhong. No matter how difficult Shuzhong is, the drought season will be over once September passes. Even if he is enthusiastic, there is no need for him to stay in Shuzhong any longer."

Xia Rong’s reminder made Mu Wanyao thoughtful and simultaneously excited. Mu Wanyao dropped the memorial, got up, and paced, muttering to herself: "How important is a young man’s coming-of-age ceremony. After the capping ceremony, that is when he is truly grown into a man. His father cannot come to Chang'an, so as his... hmm, I should be the one to organize it for him."

She tilted her head and thought: "I should go and discuss this with Master Liu."

Master Liu was Yan Shang’s teacher. If Yan Shang was to have his capping ceremony in Chang'an, it was certain that a respected elder like Master Liu would have to be the one to perform the ceremony for him. Mu Wanyao’s heart leaped with joy, thinking that she must discuss it thoroughly with Master Liu and give Yan Shang a surprise... He probably didn't even think that anyone would care about his coming-of-age.

Mu Wanyao had a strong sense of initiative. No sooner had the thought occurred to her than she went, without any prior notice, and took a carriage directly to Master Liu’s residence to discuss the matter with the Master.

With the sudden arrival of the Princess, the Liu household received her in a rush. When Mu Wanyao stepped off the carriage and entered the Liu residence, it was Liu Ruozhu who hurried over to welcome her. Over the past few months, due to Liu Ruozhu’s persistent pestering, Mu Wanyao had become much more familiar with this young lady, and her impression of her had improved quite a bit.

Therefore, when she saw Liu Ruozhu, Mu Wanyao held a hint of a smile and nodded to acknowledge her. However, as her gaze turned behind Liu Ruozhu and she saw a young gentleman who was slender, refined, and vaguely familiar, Mu Wanyao was startled.

The gentleman saluted her: "Subject Lin Dao, a scholar at the Hanlin Academy, pays his respects to Your Highness."

Mu Wanyao remembered—this was the person who, while she was presiding over a literary contest, had organized something like storytelling at the Hanlin Academy to compete with her, making her furious.

Mu Wanyao was displeased: "What are you doing here?"

Liu Ruozhu smiled from the side: "The batch of books I bought from the Eastern Market had some inaccuracies, and others were lost rare copies, while some were forged by later generations. I couldn't organize them alone, so Brother Lin came to help me. Brother Lin’s scholarship is excellent; with his help, we have organized many books over the past few months. Once they are all organized, we plan to transcribe them and send them to the Hongwen Pavilion so that scholars throughout the world can read them."

Lin Dao nodded from the side: "The batch of books rescued by Miss Liu is indeed extremely important. It is a pity that I originally wanted to donate them to the Hanlin Academy, but she wants to send them to the Hongwen Pavilion."

Liu Ruozhu blushed, saying embarrassedly: "In any case, the point is to let more people see them. If Your Highness is interested, we can also send some to the Princess’s mansion?"

Mu Wanyao smiled: "How could I just let you do the transcribing? I will send some people to help you copy the books together."

She walked past the two of them and smelled the fragrance of ink on them, thinking that they had likely been busy in the study earlier. Liu Ruozhu followed Mu Wanyao to take her to see her grandfather. Mu Wanyao looked back and saw Lin Dao following behind Liu Ruozhu... Her gaze flickered, and she suddenly felt that they were a talented and beautiful match; so that was how it was.

Mu Wanyao asked Liu Ruozhu: "After you finish organizing this batch of books, what will you do next?"

Liu Ruozhu whispered: "There are many books in the world that have been lost, and I would like to supplement them one by one. It is a pity that my manpower is meager, and I am but a woman; I do not know how such a wish can be fulfilled."

Mu Wanyao said with a casual smile: "That’s simple. You just need to marry a husband who is willing to do this with you. Someone to collect and organize these with you; someone to accompany you in traveling everywhere, visiting the ancient and questioning the present, and protecting these lost cultural artifacts together with you..."

Liu Ruozhu suddenly blushed, especially since Mu Wanyao said this in front of Lin Dao, causing her to stutter immediately: "Yo, Your Highness, what are you saying! How can you suddenly say such things!"

She looked at Lin Dao behind her in a panic.

Lin Dao smiled at her, making her blush even more and look away guiltily.

Liu Ruozhu: "I, I will go help Your Highness see what books you want..."

Mu Wanyao slowly waved her feather fan: "Choose whatever you like. I am all alone, after all; I cannot be like you, having someone with you, sharing the fragrance of red sleeves, with matching aspirations... Our Second Young Master Yan is not fond of these things."

She affectionately called him "Second Young Master Yan." Liu Ruozhu was already accustomed to the Princess’s style of occasionally showing off and reminding her to stay away from Yan Shang. Hearing this, she merely pursed her lips and smiled. Lin Dao, however, was lost in thought, wondering who Second Young Master Yan was.

Could it be... Yan Suchen?

The gentle and elegant Yan Suchen and this arrogant Princess who had been married off?

Interesting—

While Mu Wanyao was discussing Yan Shang’s coming-of-age ceremony with Master Liu in Chang'an, Yan Shang’s disaster relief in Shuzhong was progressing exceptionally smoothly.

So smoothly... it was almost eerie.

After arriving in Shuzhong, he went first to Yizhou, also known as Shu Prefecture. Yizhou was an extremely wealthy prefecture in Jiannan, yet the severe drought had occurred there. The officials in Yizhou were very cooperative with Yan Shang; whatever Yan Shang requested, the officials there arranged.

No major events occurred among the victims in Yizhou; there was neither rioting nor rebellion. The Imperial Court distributed grain, and they queued up to receive it every day. Yan Shang was afraid that these officials would manipulate the process, so he personally supervised from the side, and no problems arose. The prefects and magistrates in Yizhou all claimed they loved the people like their own children and would never dare to defy the Imperial Court or engage in duplicity.

Yan Shang believed them for the time being.

After leaving Yizhou, he went to several other key counties. This time, the situation was not as controllable as in Yizhou. In these small counties, as an official sent from Chang'an, the local officials naturally hosted him enthusiastically. Yan Shang supervised their disaster relief just as he had in Yizhou.

However, this time, when the commoners queued up to receive grain, Yan Shang discovered that the grain was mixed with sand and pebbles.

The porridge distributed daily was also mixed with a great deal of debris, with more water than rice.

In reason and logic, Yan Shang had to inquire about it. The officials also wept and wailed about their own difficulties: "Young Master, you come from Chang'an and haven't seen the disaster victims; you don’t know how difficult it is for us. There are too many suffering commoners. If we add more debris, we can save more people. As long as no one starves to death, that is good enough. Having reached such a difficult stage, saving more people is what is most important."

The other side clearly categorized Yan Shang as a high-ranking official who did not know the hardships of the commoners and did not understand the difficulties of local officials.

Even if the other side’s rank was truly higher than Yan Shang’s... however, there were distinctions between officials, and Chang'an officials held a higher status than local officials.

Yan Shang accepted their explanation on the surface. When he turned back, he said to his page, Yun Shu: "Grain mixed with debris—behind this phenomenon, there are two possibilities for where the numbers went wrong.

"One is that the quantity of grain in the warehouse likely has a problem; another possibility is the number of commoners... which doesn't match the actual situation."

Yun Shu did not understand: "We have the household records of the commoners here, and every daily quota for grain distribution is recorded... how could it not match?"

Yan Shang whispered: "I don’t know either. I’m just saying there is such a possibility... This matter has been too smooth; the line behind it may be buried very deep. But perhaps I am overthinking it... In any case, we must investigate and see."

Yun Shu: "If they are truly deceiving their superiors and deluding their subordinates..."

Yan Shang sighed and did not speak again—

Most of the commoners were victims of the disaster, but there were also those who were not.

Such as the local power-brokers, such as the aristocratic families.

There were no major aristocratic families in Shuzhong. If there were, they were no more than families that had just broken free from the local power-brokers. For such families, investigating was much easier than investigating aristocratic families. Yan Shang and his men privately visited the commoners and easily identified several such families. Behind them, someone was supplying grain, and they were not short on food.

Yun Shu held what they had investigated and said: "These families bought grain from outside merchants themselves, and the grain prices were a bit more expensive than in the market... However, this is also beyond reproach. It’s not as if we can stop merchants from making a profit."

Yan Shang sighed: "Merchants."

In the study at night, seeing Yan Shang silent, Yun Shu looked up: "Young Master, what is wrong?"

Yan Shang rested his hand on his forehead and whispered: "Yun Shu, do you know why we have always suppressed the rise of merchants? Clearly they are just making money; why must we constantly lower their status? Merchants value profit, and officials value profit just the same. Once officials and merchants collude... it is truly troublesome."

Yun Shu was startled: "Is the Young Master suspecting that they are making an issue out of the disaster relief grain?"

Leaning against the desk and looking at the pages spread out on the table, thinking of the commoners he had visited during the day... Yan Shang’s voice was calm: "If it were only this, I could still manage. I am afraid of more... I am afraid that the whole of Shuzhong is doing this. I am even more afraid that from top to bottom, everyone is aware and acquiescing to such things.

"If too many officials are involved... the law does not punish the masses; what am I to do?"

Yun Shu was silent.

Listening to Yan Shang’s calm tone, but having followed the young master for so long, he had already detected a trace of anger in his tone. Yun Shu clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking that for someone as good-tempered as the young master to be made this angry... these officials were indeed formidable.