The next morning, when Zhao Rong heard what had transpired the previous night—especially that Wang Yu had invited Gutong and Ziyu to stay as guests—he froze in place for a moment. Hurrying to the reception hall, he discovered everyone was already eating breakfast.
After greeting one another, Wang Yu invited Zhao Rong to take a seat, and Wei Gutong explained their purpose in staying at the manor.
"My wife and I are like wild cranes among idle clouds, accustomed to drifting without fixed abode. But having Feifei travel with us presents some difficulties," Wei Gutong said. "With her family ruined and slaughtered, Feifei has been deeply disheartened and does not wish to remain in the Central Plains. Her original intention was never to return there after exacting her revenge, but to conceal her name and identity and travel far into the Western Regions.
"They say the Western Regions bridge the East and the West, boasting desert oases and thirty-six kingdoms living in peace, where men and women alike are gifted at song and dance—a blessed realm on earth. Yet upon arriving in Longshan Prefecture and making inquiries, we learned that warfare is raging across the Western Regions as well, and they can barely protect themselves."
"As luck would have it, we chanced upon Prince Zhao," Yan Ziyu said. "Though Prince Zhao has quite a fiery temper, he is sincere and dependable, and the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor commands enough might to deter any petty scoundrels.
"Therefore, we wish to entrust Feifei into Prince Zhao's care, allowing her to stay temporarily at the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor. My husband and I would be deeply grateful for your hospitality. Should any young talent of the Northwest take a liking to Feifei without minding her past, the two of us will provide a generous dowry."
"Auntie," Yuan Feifei gasped, her breath quickening. "From now on, I only wish to live out my days in solitude..."
"Nonsense," Wei Gutong cut in. "If you live out your days alone, the Yuan family bloodline will end with you."
Yuan Feifei fell silent, though a stubborn resolve lingered in her eyes.
Wei Gutong sighed. Refraining from pressing the matter further, he looked toward Wang Yu.
Naturally, Wang Yu had no objections. "That Senior Wei and Senior Yan place their trust in the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor is this prince's honor. Miss Yuan, please make yourself at home in Yingfeng Pavilion and stay as long as you wish. It will also grace our manor with an air of elegance, and this prince might have the fortune of hearing a masterpiece that transcends the ages."
"Splendid, splendid!" Wei Gutong clapped his hands and laughed. "Feifei may be young, but she has inherited the true teachings of the Yuan family. Her zither mastery is extraordinary, and her performance of Flowing Springs of the Icy Mountain is exceptionally refined."
Yan Ziyu smiled. "Then we thank Prince Zhao."
...
People of the martial world came and went as freely as the wind.
Once breakfast was finished, Wei Gutong and Yan Ziyu bade their farewells and departed. Wang Yu gifted Yan Ziyu three bottles of his homemade perfume, earning another wave of goodwill. Zhao Yingjie then went to have Yingfeng Pavilion tidied up, and Yuan Feifei settled into the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor.
Several days later, the aftermath at Qianliu Manor was completely settled. The collateral branch of the Ding family sold vast amounts of land and storefronts to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, retaining only the estate grounds and a modest portion of farmland and wealth. Combined with the new patriarch's meager martial skills, they had practically withdrawn from the martial world.
Construction of the perfume workshop progressed smoothly as well. Small batches of perfume derived from locally cultivated orchids, peonies, and peach blossoms in the Northwest began rolling out. The manor's merchant caravan had already set off toward the Central Plains carrying the finished perfume, intending to procure roses, lilacs, multi-flowered roses, and other flowers grown there.
After all, this world was nothing like modern times, where temperature-controlled greenhouses allowed all manner of flowers to be cultivated year-round. Here, one had to rely on the seasons or purchase dried flower petals left over from the previous year.
During these days, Wang Yu also continued his training, making steady progress in internal force, lightness skill, and sword techniques alike.
Zhao Rong had even managed to procure another hundred-year-old wild ginseng and a piece of aged mountain sealwort.
Watching Wang Yu scarf down the wild ginseng and aged sealwort as if munching on steamed buns once more, Zhao Rong's mouth twitched.
All medicine carried some toxicity; no matter how nourishing the herbs were, wasn't eating them raw and whole like this a bit reckless?
Unable to hold back any longer, he asked Wang Yu, "Would you like Physician Li to check your pulse, Young Master?"
Physician Li was the manor's resident doctor, responsible for treating any illnesses among the household staff.
"No need, I know what I'm doing!"
Wang Yu waved a hand, feeling his meridians widen and his internal force flow ever more smoothly. "Uncle Rong, keep purchasing medicinal herbs—especially those a century or older, or great tonics useful to us martial artists."
Zhao Rong was speechless.
Seeing Zhao Rong linger, Wang Yu asked, "Uncle Rong, is there something else?"
Zhao Rong nodded. "Young Master, you have already met General Peng and General Lu. Now that the manor has stabilized, do you think you could find time to visit the northern front and meet General Yang and General Feng?"
General Yang was Yang Tianzhao, commander of the Yangwei Army, stationed at Jinfeng Pass on Longshan Prefecture's northern front.
General Feng was Feng Jing, commander of the Ding'an Army, stationed at Lingwu Pass on Qing'an Prefecture's northern front.
The Prince of Zhenxi was, after all, a title won on horseback. Whether the founder, Zhao Ling, or Wang Yu's sham father, Zhao Zheng, both had commanded armies, swept across the northern deserts, and carved out an independent realm.
Thus, generals had to understand their troops, and princes had to know their generals.
Stationed along the northern front, Yang Tianzhao and Feng Jing could hardly abandon their posts to pay their respects at the manor. If Wang Yu did not travel north, he would have to wait until next year's troop rotation before they could come to greet him.
However, that would take far too long and would easily give people the impression that the prince lacked the nerve to visit the front lines. When a prince did not know his generals, decline was never far behind.
"Sounds great!" Wang Yu's eyes lit up, and he agreed without hesitation.
As a Huaxia man, alongside the wuxia dream of roaming the world with a sword, he naturally harbored the general's dream of carving triumphs at Mount Langjuxu and watering his warhorse at Lake Baikal.
During the modern revival of Hanfu, people often claimed men had no interest in traditional attire, that there were few good-looking garments for men, and that women held up the entire Hanfu movement.
Just try handing a man a suit of Bright Light Armor and a gleaming silver spear!
In historical-costume scenic areas, what drew the most turned heads was never the various pretty young women, but the handsome men clad in full armor, astride warhorses, brandishing polearms.
At the bare minimum, they wanted to be an Embroidered Uniform Guard with a spring-embroidered blade slung at their waist!
It wasn't that men were unwilling to wear it; rather, high-quality armor was simply too expensive.
Besides, if a dozen gorgeously dressed young women gathered together, onlookers merely admired the sight. But if a dozen burly men gathered in full armor carrying weapons, see if the local police wouldn't haul them off the street!
Who would have thought that a dream he could never fulfill in modern times would come true after a single transmigration?
"Nothing much is happening lately anyway, so let's go."
To be honest, gaining control of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor had turned out far simpler than Wang Yu had imagined—and even simpler than Li Yunxiu had estimated.
Although Li Yunxiu had never believed that Wang Yu—who was Zhao Yu's spitting image—would be exposed as an impostor, his martial skills had been poor, and having been away from the manor for ten years, he possessed no foundation within its walls.
Even if the real Zhao Yu had returned, securing real power rather than being sidelined as a figurehead would have required scheming and political infighting inside the manor.
After all, neither the chief steward Zhao Rong nor the six army commanders under the manor were people to be trifled with.
Yet Wang Yu's performance had vastly exceeded Li Yunxiu's expectations.
Though she did not yet know his martial arts had reached a level capable of deceiving Zhao Rong, Wang Yu had struck back with resolute decisiveness whenever questioned or tested by Zhao Rong and Zhao Siqi, displaying the commanding presence of an ambitious sovereign.
As a result, Zhao Rong offered wholehearted assistance, Zhao Siqi's military authority was stripped away, and the entire manor was won over by Wang Yu. Consequently, the clerks and administrative officials assisting with governing became far more cooperative with Li Yunxiu.
Bits and pieces of news from that day had leaked out. Everyone understood that the more capable Li Yunxiu was, the stronger the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor would become. As a lone woman here, no matter how great her abilities, could she really turn the world upside down?
After all, Wang Yu still held the final say in all manor affairs!
Unless she bore Wang Yu a child, killed him off, installed her son as prince, and assumed control of the manor as Dowager Princess to surrender to the imperial court.
Not only would such a scheme take an eternity, but even if she attempted it, the resistance would be immense and the chances of success slim. Beyond marveling at her audacity and ruthlessness, people would only lament that Li Yunxiu's reputation as the female Zhuangyuan was undeserved.
In any case, Wang Yu and Li Yunxiu's takeover of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor had gone so smoothly that Li Yunxiu could conduct her duties unimpeded, leaving Wang Yu free from having to linger at the manor as a mere mascot to back her up.
Or rather, inspecting the northern front to ensure the loyalty of Yang Tianzhao and Feng Jing was an equally crucial task.
Seeing Wang Yu agree so readily, Zhao Rong smiled. "Then I will immediately prepare wine, meat, and reward silver to bolster troop morale on your behalf, Young Master, along with additional grain and medicines."
Wang Yu asked curiously, "How much are you preparing?"
"Two jin of meat, one sheng of wine, and half a tael of silver per man," Zhao Rong answered.
"Only half a tael? What good will that do?"
"Half a tael is no small amount. This isn't their regular pay, but an extra reward."
At this, Wang Yu recalled another question and asked, "How much is their regular military pay?"
"Twenty taels a year."
"Only twenty taels a year?"
"Twenty taels is quite generous. Food and board are provided, so those twenty taels are essentially money to support their families. Fifty thousand frontline troops alone cost one million taels, not to mention the three thousand heavy cavalry, thirty thousand warhorses, replacement clothing, weapons, and equipment. Just maintaining the manor's army costs nearly two million taels a year."
Zhao Rong emphasized, "The compensation of our Zhenxi Army is already far superior to the imperial court's. The border troops in Qing'an Prefecture and Yumen Prefecture receive only twelve taels of silver a year, to say nothing of local garrison troops elsewhere."
Wang Yu counted on his fingers, doing the math.
He had let himself be misled by wuxia novels from his past life again, where characters tossed around hundreds or thousands of taels without a second thought. In reality, prices in an ancient agrarian society were remarkably low; twenty taels was plenty to support an entire household.
Twenty taels didn't seem like much, but multiplied by fifty thousand, it was an astronomical sum.
One had to admit, maintaining a regular army was truly exorbitant—ordinary people could never afford such a game.
All right, even if he wanted to raise the soldiers' wages right now, he didn't have the means to do so anyway.
Still, even without a wage hike, handing out occasional bonuses and subsidies was enough to boost the troops' sense of belonging and fighting spirit. It was just like state-owned enterprises in modern times—even if the base pay wasn't high, distributing cash and goods during holidays made people feel the benefits were fantastic.
"I only took office as Prince of Zhenxi this year, so let us make this reward even more generous," Wang Yu said after a moment's thought. "Two jin of meat, two sheng of wine, and two taels of silver."
An extra sheng of wine was trivial, but two taels of silver was no small sum. Zhao Rong couldn't help asking, "What about the other three armies and the Iron Eagle Cavalry...?"
"The exact same amount, naturally."
Fifty thousand frontline troops meant one hundred thousand taels of silver. The manor's internal treasury could easily bear it, and with the perfume workshop already beginning mass production, its annual revenue would far exceed one hundred thousand taels.
Zhao Rong was well aware of this, so he raised no objection.
Wang Yu instructed, "I will visit the northern front in person. Keep an eye on the rewards for the other three armies. Tell them this reward is to celebrate my accession as the new Prince of Zhenxi. Anyone who dares embezzle will be making an enemy of me. If I uncover it, they will face military law."
Zhao Rong broke into a smile, as if catching a glimpse of his sworn brother in his youth, and answered wholeheartedly, "Understood!"
Chapter 25