Chapter 571

Everyone has their worries, but officials in Chang'an are no less troubled by Da Wang's unreasonable, rule-breaking behavior.

Da Wang merely occupies the Jianzhang Palace without properly managing affairs—he dismissed all of Chang'an's military officers, some imprisoned, others reassigned to the Imperial Guards to retrain from bronze-level basics, yet other government offices still must operate normally.

Yet Da Wang only makes them work, without even mentioning salaries; the silver needed for office operations is completely absent.

If you go looking for him at Jianzhang Palace, you won't even see Da Wang—guards at the gate will directly take you to tour the Jin Dynasty's national treasury, which is truly empty as can be; strolling around Chang'an's main streets might net you a couple copper coins by chance, but you'll find nothing in the treasury.

Da Wang shrugs it off: I don't know, there's no money, and I, the king, don't want to.

Though the adults' interests are too entangled to know what they truly think, minor clerks have already begun hoping Da Wang ascends the throne soon.

Otherwise, when will this thankless labor ever end?

They believe it's because of the current transitional period between two regimes that Da Wang can shirk responsibility; the only hardship these workers face is that they dare not neglect their duties, yet earn nothing—pure loss.

Everyone agrees Da Wang is deliberately slacking off now, waiting for his ascension, after which he'll have to take charge.

The situation is indeed as such—Da Wang saw this and thus decided to loaf.

Even while loafing, offices must keep running, because every office in Chang'an has a diligent door god stationed; Da Wang ignores affairs and skips court, but he still conducts inspections.

He knows exactly how many personnel each office has, and every morning everyone must report to the 'door god' he assigned to sign in.

For example, today the Shangfang Ling of the Shaofu didn't come and didn't request leave—marked as absent once, and the ten-day attendance sheet will still be posted at the palace gate for display. On that blacklist, attendance rates are ranked from bottom to top, with the top three in large font. Even fearing confusion over duplicate names, personal details include their exact residence within the mansion. Civil officials are not like Da Wang—they value face more than heaven. After appearing twice on the blacklist, those who had been slacking since the previous dynasty now show up at the offices, whether busy or idle posts—you must attend, lest you be forced to display yourself at public expense.

Yet the busiest remains the Minister of Revenue, whose sole current task is household registration census; Da Wang even assigned them considerable cavalry assistance, and receives verbal urgings from him every few days.

The entire Chang'an officialdom operates nonstop—except for Da Wang.

Da Wang's life consists of daytime martial training or going out to 'assess public sentiment,' and nighttime stall-selling at the Phoenix Market. His latest catchphrase: 'If we don't play now, it'll be too late!'

I heard Xie Yuan has already reached Luoyang!

The wind is fair, the weather clear. Early this morning, Da Wang hid around a corner, speaking before revealing himself: "Pfft-hiss~"

"Hiss~"

Upon hearing this signal, Da Wang realized: damn, someone's blocking the door again today.

He crouched in place, and shortly after, Wei·Scout·Shen came back around the bend: "The Minister of the Imperial Clan and the Shaofu are outside requesting an audience. Should we go back and rest today?"

Da Wang refused: "Xun Wind Roast Goose just opened today—I must go check its business prospects; if it doesn't sell well, I'll need to adjust strategy immediately! With so many gates in the palace, why must I use this one? Change gates!" His resolve was firm.

Da Wang rose and changed gates without looking back.

Wei Shen twitched the corner of his mouth behind him: "Selling a single roast goose requires strategy? May I ask—if business is poor, how do you plan to adjust this strategy?"

Da Wang stopped, hands behind his back, posing wisely: "Of course it needs timely adjustment—switch to roasted squid or something! This shop is my private funds; it must succeed, cannot fail—understand?"

Wei Shen: ……

Da Wang believed changing gates would surely avoid ambushes, making his scouting cousin redundant. "My cousin stays with the Eagle Riders to train; I'll go with Ling Yin." Mainly, Da Wang was taking a commoner's route today—bringing along Wei Shen, who resembles him, risked recognition, which could affect his business. Last time's incident wasn't long ago; fearing sharp eyes might spot him again and disrupt his trade.

Wei Hang is now Chang'an's top celebrity; his misfortunes are widely known. It's said Wei Er Gongzi, since being released by the Jing'an Bureau, hasn't left his door. He's embarrassed to go out, but Da Wang remains unaffected, dreaming of eager attempts to pull another heist—only nowadays, Chang'an's atmosphere of panic makes the fraud business unfavorable.

Wei Shen heard this and had no objection; with Ling Yin present, he felt no concern, and in his short combat attire, he needed no change before heading straight to the palace drill ground.

Da Wang led Ling Yin leisurely toward Danyang Gate; upon nearing the Spring Bliss Hall, he spotted from afar two palace maids holding a child, gazing at flowers. The only child likely to appear in the palace is that one.

Da Wang shouted: "Old Seven!"

The child looked about three years old; though unaware he was being called, Da Wang's enthusiastic shout from flat ground startled him into a flinch.

Da Wang twitched his mouth: "Three years old and still this timid?"

The maid shivered while bowing; her 'Old Seven' clung to her, finger pointing toward the inner palace, muttering softly: "Go go go..."

The maid holding him hastily set him down, whispering: "His Highness the Seventh, quickly pay respects to His Highness the Beijiang King."

"Beijiang Palace Peace~"

Da Wang: ……

Just watch—his family's promising Old Seven, once set down, didn't even stand, plopping straight onto his butt, unable to rise for a while? Sitting there, he gave a half-muttered 'peace.' Da Wang seemed to understand how this guy survives—he's not just clueless.

Da Wang examined him closely: this Old Seven's face bore the same clear innocence as Xiao Jin's, utterly undeniable as genuine.

"Could he be… still unable to walk?"

The two maids hastily pleaded innocence, saying he can walk, just rarely does.

Listen—three years old and still not walking often? During the High Ancestor's era, feudal princes were enfeoffed by age five.

Da Wang still had doubts—quickly raise this good-for-nothing; this walking ability has high moisture content.

Old Seven's birth mother, it's said, was merely a palace maid; after giving birth to him, she soon offended the Wang consort and was demoted to the service quarters, where she quickly deteriorated and died. Poor thing—even less fortunate than him. Similarly abandoned by his father, at least his maternal side holds troops; the old man superficially won't discriminate too much, and Bai Jing, despite disliking him, dares only to play petty tricks in secret.

"If you can't raise him, switch caretakers! Come here!"

As the words fell, a guard stepped forward: "Your subordinate is present."

"The Minister of the Imperial Clan keeps blocking me daily—he seems idle. I'll assign him a task: let him reorganize personnel to raise Old Seven."

Then he pointed at the two trembling maids: "Dismiss the old palace staff from her quarters." Well, I absolutely won't keep idle people.

After Da Wang finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed the collar of his useless younger brother, lifting him like a ragdoll to eye level for close inspection. Done—he also looks foolishly dull, but fortunately his courage is large enough that he hasn't cried yet.

Da Wang's eyes shifted, and an idea struck him: this… hauled out as a new prop wouldn't be bad.

Chang'an residents only guard against sibling pairs in their early teens or late teens; bringing Old Seven out makes a fresh combination!

Da Wang grinned, hauling Bai Ling out of Danyang Gate, mouth never idle: "Third Brother, take a look at the outside world—later I'll send you to drill in the Imperial Guards. Our family has few left; we absolutely won't allow useless ones. Understand? Fatty Four is beyond saving—if you're also a little useless, the Bai clan's success rate will be too low~"

The little useless one said nothing; Da Wang swung his arms twice, shaking: "Understand? Answer!"

Bai Ling instinctively echoed: "Answer~"

Da Wang: ……A bad feeling.

Da Wang's grip lifted the child effortlessly; Bai Ling didn't know if it was due to good temperament or inability to resist—either way, being held by the collar left him no opinion, requiring vigorous shaking to trigger his replay function.

Da Wang led him, already having left the palace square's front, eyeing entry into Ruiyang Ward, when a pair of riders came galloping from outside the city.

Before he could get a clear look, Ling Yin spoke first: "Looks like it's Shen You from the Jingzhao Prefecture."

"Hurry up and go!"

Seeing him still accelerating, Da Wang instinctively sensed it wasn't good, lifted his leg to flee, but unfortunately, carrying a child on foot couldn't outrun a horse. Shen Yu dismounted, trotted over quickly, and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Highness! Refugees have come again outside the city!"

Da Wang:...

This "again" character is quite interesting.