Chapter 486

As soon as Da Wang entered the inn room, he smelled a musty odor; he wrinkled his nose, "Didn't you say there were upper rooms? Why are we staying in a cheap one, or rather four to a room?" It's not like we're short on this bit of money, right?

Wei Ke pulled out two sheets he'd brought and spread them on the bed, "We're not wanderers, are we? Which wanderer gets their own upper room?"

Da Wang: ……

Da Wang swallowed the complaint that had risen to his lips. Yes, he had chosen this role himself; even if he had to cry, he'd see it through for today.

Wei Shen saw him and laughed wildly, laughing at his self-inflicted trouble.

Da Wang could tolerate camping on the march, but after many people had stayed in rooms with a strange smell, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Even free-and-easy wanderers aren't that comfortable," the wanderer Da Wang sighed repeatedly.

In the room with two beds, he and Wei Shen squeezed onto one; Da Wang tossed and turned all night, feeling itchy all over. Though he hadn't lived a smooth, luxurious life since childhood, he'd never endured such hardship, and only then did Da Wang realize he himself had a bit of a cleanliness obsession?

Before dawn the next day, Da Wang sat up looking weak. "Older cousin, let's change our roles; let's set aside the wanderer identity for now. Next stop is the pleasure-laden city of Jiankang; once we've broadened our horizons, we can be wanderers again!" Surely we can't let him, on his first visit to Jiankang, stay in a shabby room and eat bran just to look at it, can we? This is the famously wealthy city of Jiankang. Da Wang may be short on money, but it's the big kind; a sum of eighteen hundred taels is negligible—selling a single lobster would be enough for the four of them to eat and drink well.

Wei Shen sat up with a pained expression and agreed, "Change! If we don't change, I also refuse to sleep with him! This rickety wooden frame is about to collapse!"

Da Wang heard Wei Ke had no objection, got up happily, rummaged through his bundle, and put on a better set of clothes.

Prosperous Jiankang, I'm here~

At this time, Wu Commandery was merely a poor, desolate coastal commandery; most people lived off the sea, and not many refugees were seen. Da Wang toured the area and found that the drought covering half of the Great Jin seemed to have little effect on them; he felt rather pleased, thinking the south wasn't as chaotic as he'd imagined.

The group failed to buy good horses in Wu Commandery, rented a cart and headed for Jiankang; Da Wang claimed they had connections in Jiankang to get good horses. In fact, he had Zhu Ti store several in the warehouse, picking the Western Region and Xiongnu horses bred by the ranch—over twenty in total, hardly any alike.

The black wind horse and the snow cavalry's white horse were too conspicuous, obvious to anyone; the ranch also bred a few other fine horse strains, enhanced by the ranch's foundation, their quality surpassing before, normally used by the intelligence group and commerce department. Finding an opportunity, he let the personal guard fetch the horses, and the party switched mounts and continued on their way.

Leaving Wu Commandery to go northwest went smoothly; the Qinhuai region had always been prosperous, firmly in the court's hands and never fiefed, a land Da Wang had never dared dream of; now it was within reach, and he insisted on going to see it.

Upon arriving in Jiankang, they happened to catch an autumn rain. From afar, the city's outline after the rain looked especially blurred.

The blue-gray city walls were soaked with moisture, and dark green moss clung in the brick cracks; Da Wang found it novel.

"So this is what Jiankang City is like~"

Entering the city, white walls and dark tiles, horse-head walls undulating. Inside, there was the grace of Jiangnan water pavilions, plus the bustling prosperity of market life; Da Wang felt this place had more vitality than Chang'an, and the townspeople's robes showed more colors.

On the gentle waves of the Qinhuai River floated some painted barges; by day they were quiet and still, and on the railings where the lacquer had peeled hung faded red lanterns.

Otherwise, it was just… like that.

Da Wang muttered hesitantly, "It seems different from what I imagined."

"This is just daytime, I hear it's lively at night." Wei Shen looked around, "This is an old city, certainly different from your brand-new You Prefecture City."

"Oh, I get it now—you're scolding us for You Prefecture being too new and lacking foundation!"

Wei Shen: ……

Da Wang resembled a country bumpkin, watching scholars in wide robes ride horses down the street; watching maidens under blue cloth wine banners sell wine openly; watching peddlers shoulder their poles and hawk wares along the street—he found everything novel……

"Jiankang City is far less lively than I imagined!" they said while sitting in the city's most expensive tavern.

The innkeeper who had come to welcome the newcomer Xiao Feiyang overheard and smiled, "Is this your first time in our Jiankang, honored guest? You've come late—back when times were good, our Jiankang City was very lively; even if it couldn't match Chang'an and Luoyang, it was still fine. Compared to Guangling and Langya, it was hardly worse. Nowadays, far fewer people go out. Think back—our Prosperous Lou was Jiankang's Number One Lou; we had all the mountain and sea delicacies one could name; countless nobles splurged thousands of gold, a table hard to come by; nowadays, only three out of ten wealthy patrons remain…" Having said that, he finally realized he'd said too much. Their business was already poor enough; scaring off this outsider Xiao Feiyang would be disastrous.

Da Wang understood: the gullible rich had fled, no longer coming to spend.

He, relying on his youth and the fact that no one knew him, put on a clueless face and asked, "What does that mean? Are the wealthy patrons not fond of your tavern? Is it that your food isn't good? So… should we still eat?"

As he spoke, he made a show of wanting to leave; the innkeeper hurriedly stopped him, "No, no! It's that the times are bad—formerly wealthy patrons kept a low profile. Even their usual means, these days they dare not come out to spend lavishly, but you're different—just one look and you're obviously wealthy!"

Da Wang: ……

"Wealthy—whose dog is that? Shouting it out loud! My royal treasury's deficit, if spoken, would scare you to death!"

Da Wang reluctantly stayed and ordered a table of the signature dishes of Jiankang's Number One Lou, after all, they'd come all this way.

The result was inferior to his own tavern.

Da Wang was used to fine food; he had modern recipes and ingredients enhanced by the ranch's foundation, and really couldn't stomach Prosperous Lou's old-fashioned dishes.

After settling the bill, Da Wang looked at the receipt and shouted about going back to raise the tavern's prices!

This trip to Jiankang wasn't in vain; Da Wang learned Jiankang's prices.

Before leaving Jiankang, the news of the northern border imperial examinations finally arrived. Da Wang's identity shifted like the wind: "From now on we are impoverished scholar-officials; we three brothers will go to the northern border to take the exams, seeking a bright road!" He acted grandly, unashamed, boasting of himself as the "bright road".

Everyone couldn't be bothered to complain; they just went along meekly. This identity wasn't bad—better than suddenly becoming refugees.

Who would have thought this identity wouldn't be useful for long—before long, the refugees really came.

Having fulfilled his wish in Jiankang, the king wanted to enter Guangling directly to see his second brother; who would have thought they hadn't even reached Guangling before running into a group of south‑fleeing civilians on the road.

Upon inquiry, they learned that a place called Youchuan to the northwest had seen a refugee uprising.

After asking around, they heard that the local aristocrats had been seizing refugees to sell; after a spell of disorder, wherever there was oppression there was resistance, and the refugees rose up in revolt!

The rebel army looted the countryside, turning more people into refugees; like a snowball, the affected area kept expanding. Those fleeing south were all nearby civilians who had heard the news—they didn't want to join the rebellion or be looted, so they had no choice but to escape.

Hearing this, the king's mood soured; fortunately he was always open‑minded and never dwelled on anything too long. While resting, he would sit there eating a couple mouthfuls of rice and sizing up Wei Shen and Wei Ke.

Wei Ke let him stare, but Wei Shen was almost fed up with being looked at, saying, "If you have something to say, say it—what are you staring at?"

"Let's see if you have the air of a rebel leader."

"Huh?"