Li Yunxiu's Disquiet

The three jianghu roughnecks coughing blood and collapsing caused scarcely a ripple. It was an obvious martial arts grudge. With no wronged party stepping forward and the imperial authorities turning a blind eye, the onlookers naturally had no desire to invite trouble. The tavern staff continued serving dishes, and the patrons resumed clinking cups, though their conversations grew quieter by degrees, steering clear of both the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor and celebrated martial experts. *** Returning to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, Wang Yu escorted Qianqian back to Hongyan Pavilion, gifted her a bottle of lavender perfume, and then headed toward the manor's rear hall carrying a bottle of tulip perfume. The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor was divided into front and rear halls. The front hall served as the formal venue for receiving guests and hosting banquets, while the rear hall was where the manor conducted its administrative affairs. Li Yunxiu was currently working in the rear hall. "You went out with Qianqian today?" Li Yunxiu asked. "You planted informants in the manor already?" Wang Yu asked with a raised eyebrow. At the mention of this, Li Yunxiu looked somewhat vexed. "Zi Ling went looking for you, which was how I found out. I don't know what kind of spell that Qianqian has cast over the manor's servants, but the handmaidens and attendants are all siding with her." Wang Yu looked at Li Yunxiu's intimidating aura, thought back to Qianqian's soft, tender demeanor, and nodded in profound understanding. "What is that look supposed to mean?" Li Yunxiu was well aware of this, but running the manor's affairs meant she could not afford to take Qianqian's approach. Balancing grace with severity was the only proper path! "I came to bring you perfume. A novelty newly arrived from the Western Regions. Carry it with you and apply two drops whenever you like—the fragrance lasts for two hours." Wang Yu placed a bottle of tulip perfume onto Li Yunxiu's desk. Li Yunxiu picked up the small metal vial and dabbed two drops onto her sleeve. A rich fragrance instantly drifted through the air. "It is stronger than a sachet. Thank you." Li Yunxiu drew a deep breath, then asked Wang Yu, "What is Qianqian's background, anyway? Zhao Zheng actually had an old acquaintance like that?" "I don't know," Wang Yu said, shaking his head. "Then what is her surname?" Li Yunxiu asked again. Knowing her surname would make it possible to investigate her family and origins. "I don't know," Wang Yu replied with another shake of his head. Li Yunxiu narrowed her eyes. "Then what do you know?" Wang Yu offered a grin. "I know she's truly gorgeous." Li Yunxiu ground her teeth. "Not a single man is any good. The moment you become a prince, you're well-fed and thinking of lust." Wang Yu said helplessly, "I am a normal man. You won't give yourself to me, yet you stop me from looking elsewhere? The ones who want to control the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor are the Emperor and you, not me. If you want the horse to run, you have to let it graze." Li Yunxiu was rendered speechless. Inheriting the title of Prince of Zhenxi didn't count as letting the horse graze? Yet watching Wang Yu spend all his time clinging to Qianqian whenever he wasn't practicing martial arts made Li Yunxiu feel an inexplicable pang of discomfort. By all logic, she harbored no romantic feelings toward Wang Yu. Her devotion was to the Emperor and the peace of the realm; to her, Wang Yu was merely a partner, a stranger with whom she shared a marriage in name only. Yet along their journey, Wang Yu had risen to the occasion multiple times, outwitting the men in black and swaying Fang Shaobai with his words. Whether speaking of swords or wine, he carried an effortless, unhurried poise that commanded respect. Upon returning to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, while he hadn't mimicked Zhao Yu's eccentric and tyrannical temperament, he had remained composed in the face of crisis, projecting the air of someone with everything under control, dominant and decisive. Setting aside how he had persuaded Zhao Rong to keep using him after learning that Zhao Zheng had died at the late Emperor's hands, just looking at his actions on the second day—intimidating the manor's fierce generals in the reception hall and stripping Zhao Siqi of military command—even Li Yunxiu had to admit her admiration upon hearing of it. That was only his second day at the manor! He had been away from the manor for ten years. Under such circumstances, no ordinary person would head-on confront a veteran commander of his grandfather's generation, an army commander and the most senior general in the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor. Yet Wang Yu had done it, and he had succeeded. The handover of the Xionglue Army went smoothly, and after departing, both Peng Hu and Lu Yunzhou even publicly remarked that he possessed his father's style and the true bearing of a prince. One was the foremost fierce warrior, and the other was a famed tactical commander. Both had declared their loyalty to Wang Yu, allowing him to establish a firm foothold in the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor from the outset and making her own governance much smoother. There had been no outsiders present during the confrontation in the reception hall that day, but Peng Hu had let details slip while drinking later, and Li Yunxiu easily pieced together the specifics from his remarks. Even if saving her also meant saving himself, the thought of a man stripping an army commander of military authority for her sake was undeniably touching. Of course, that did not mean Li Yunxiu would offer herself to him. At present, she merely held Wang Yu in high regard, treating him as an exceptionally capable partner. If Wang Yu were merely dallying with the maids in the manor, Li Yunxiu might not have cared much. However, Qianqian's appearance had indeed caught Li Yunxiu completely off guard. She herself was the Princess Consort bestowed by the Emperor, but Qianqian was the betrothed chosen by the former Prince of Zhenxi for his son—neither held a status superior to the other. Thus, seeing Wang Yu together with Qianqian gave Li Yunxiu the sensation that something belonging to her was being taken away. Although Li Yunxiu rationally recognized how ridiculous that feeling was, she still could not suppress it, especially when Wang Yu showed such keen interest in Qianqian. "Did she agree to give herself to you?" Li Yunxiu asked, casting a sideways glance at Wang Yu. "No," Wang Yu answered honestly. The corners of Li Yunxiu's lips curved slightly. Though she didn't know Qianqian's origins, she knew the woman was far from simple; she would never release the hawk until she saw the hare, and she certainly wouldn't surrender herself to Wang Yu easily. "Then how do you plan to handle it?" Li Yunxiu asked with a teasing smile. "I plan to buy an unblemished courtesan," Wang Yu confessed honestly once more. "You!" Li Yunxiu couldn't help glaring, but before she could say more, Wang Yu cut in. "I ran into three people while strolling outside today. I wonder if you recognize them?" "Who?" "A couple, and a young woman." Wang Yu described the appearances of the middle-aged couple and the green-clad girl he had seen today, and how a mere snort from the man in the restaurant had shaken three jianghu toughs until they coughed blood and wailed. Li Yunxiu raised an eyebrow. "The man carried a four-foot wooden box on his back, and the woman held a purple bamboo xiao flute?" "That's right." "With such distinct traits, Zhao Yingjie still didn't recognize them?" Li Yunxiu shook her head with a smile. "Still too young. He pays too much attention to experts from major factions and overlooks the wandering individuals of the jianghu." "You know them?" "Of course I know them," Li Yunxiu chuckled. "There can't be many in the jianghu who don't." "Who are they?" "There are many renowned couples in the martial forest, but only four pairs stand at the very pinnacle, and they are one of them," Li Yunxiu said quietly. "'Gu Tong's three melodies tender as the spring breeze; Zi Yu's single note clear as the autumn moon.' Wei Gutong is a master of the guqin, and Yan Ziyu is skilled with the xiao flute. The two roam the jianghu, carefree and unburdened. To hear their joint harmony of qin and xiao is considered a rare fortune." At this point, Li Yunxiu frowned slightly in puzzlement. "However, Master Gutong and Madame Ziyu have always traveled the jianghu together as a pair. I've never heard of them having a child, and that green-clad girl's age doesn't fit either." Wang Yu spread his hands. "So you don't know everything either. What right do you have to mock Zhao Yingjie?" Li Yunxiu was so vexed she nearly grabbed the paperweight to hurl at him. "That green-clad girl was standing behind them—she was clearly just along for the ride. Knowing that Master Gutong and his wife have arrived in Longshan Prefecture is enough!" Her voice paused, and her gaze sharpened slightly. "What did they come to Longshan Prefecture for? Could they be targeting the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor?" "No," Wang Yu shook his head. "How do you know?" Li Yunxiu countered. "Because if they were targeting the manor, they wouldn't have let me leave Wanghai Restaurant," Wang Yu said. Li Yunxiu: "..." That made sense! "Then it doesn't matter." Li Yunxiu waved Wang Yu off. "Go on, go on, stop interrupting my work. One final reminder: that Qianqian is no simple creature. Keep your distance from her, lest she see through your secret." Now it was Wang Yu's turn to be speechless. What an iron lady! Seeing that Li Yunxiu had set the perfume aside, Wang Yu dropped the topic of Qianqian and brought up his second purpose for coming. "How are the manor's accounts? What kind of surplus do we have each year?" "Why the sudden interest in this?" Li Yunxiu asked, surprised. "Don't worry, there's plenty of money for you to buy an unblemished courtesan!" Wang Yu sighed. "Can't I show a little concern for my future standard of living?" "Fine!" Li Yunxiu said with a smile. "The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor maintains fifty thousand foot soldiers, three thousand cavalry, and thirty thousand war horses. Beyond their pay, we must provide their food and clothing, as well as the annual replacement and repair of weapons. That item alone costs over two million taels of silver each year. "In addition, there are laborers, servants, craftsmen, and so forth. The annual expenditure comes out to around 2.8 million taels." Li Yunxiu looked at Wang Yu, amusement playing at the corners of her eyes. "The advantage, however, is that the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor holds the strategic arteries of the Northwest trade route. Combined with the three prefectures under our rule, our annual tax revenue exceeds three million taels." "So we still have a surplus of two hundred thousand taels each year?" "To be precise, it was two hundred and seventy thousand taels last year." "That's pretty good." "Good enough to maintain the status quo, but far from enough for expansion," Li Yunxiu said, shaking her head. "A few years ago, the manor launched another expedition into Mobei. Right now, the manor's private treasury holds less than one million taels in reserve. "If the imperial court issues an order and the army mobilizes, this bit of money will fall completely short." Wang Yu pointed toward the east. "If the army mobilizes, shouldn't the imperial court provide the funds?" Li Yunxiu couldn't help smiling. "You make a fair point." The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor could go to war on the court's behalf, but having to pay out of their own pocket would indeed be unreasonable. *** Exiting the rear hall, Wang Yu took out the remaining two bottles of perfume and assessed them. "The alcohol purity isn't high, and they probably used petal steeping rather than distilled essential oils. "While the scent is richer than a sachet, it's far inferior to modern perfume, and it lasts less than two hours—an hour and a half at most. "Yet a tiny bottle like this sells for ten taels of silver. What an exorbitant profit!" Wang Yu's eyes gleamed. In any world, being without money was simply out of the question. Should he try his hand at something travelers in alternate-history novels always did? Returning to Dehe Pavilion, he saw Zhao Yingjie waiting by the door in a rather flashy sapphire-blue robe, wearing a sly, conspiratorial grin. "When do we set out?" "Change of plans!" Wang Yu waved a hand. "Go purchase a batch of flower petals for me, along with the strongest distilled shaojiu!" Doing some manual DIY was far more interesting than searching for unblemished courtesans! Zhao Yingjie: ???