Chapter 601

Chang'an City suffered a series of violent strikes yesterday; today it is destined to be restless as well.

The Great King received the news in the afternoon; Prince Chen's Heir met Prince Guanghan, the Xiongnu envoy encountered the Kucha envoy at a tavern, and the court officials and the Honglu Temple had no contact for the time being.

The Great King nodded and asked, "What about the populace? Any reaction?"

The populace's voice is quite loud.

Half are passionately discussing the fireworks display, the other half discussing the Divine Dragon's appearance in Chang'an City.

The Great King's chin slammed onto the table with a "bang—". "No, isn't there anyone discussing me?" Wasn't it agreed that this kind of princely king rebelling to seize power should prepare to be criticized all his life? Not giving face, not even discussing it?!

"Do they have no objections to me occupying this position?"

Zhu Ti: "……One also has to dare say it out loud. However, with the dragon and fireworks, no topic can overshadow these two in the short term."

After smashing two hot-search headlines, the people of Chang'an City no longer have the leisure to gossip about how Baili Jing climbed to power. He has been entrenched in Chang'an for quite a while; since the Northern Border Army took over Chang'an, the people feel much safer. Who wouldn't like a court with strong military strength? Combining both, the populace has no major negative sentiment toward the Great King's ascension.

"I don't need to worry about a popular uprising?"

The Grand Steward earnestly nodded: "Yes, you only need to pay attention to the various rebel kings plotting revolt and the vassal states fleeing."

Just as the Great King was about to smile, he suddenly felt an arrow pierce his chest.

He noted in his little book: Do not easily chat with the Grand Steward; it's suffocating.

When Xie Tu arrived, the Great King was clasping his waist and sighing long: "I truly am the people's choice, the heaven's mandate~hahaha~"

Xie Tu: ……

Does he need to echo?

Before he could hesitate and reach a conclusion, the Great King spotted him: "When can the newspaper go to print? Put yesterday's dragon and fireworks in it!"

Xie Tu had prepared in advance; he took out a proof of the new issue, already typeset. Earlier he had even prepared the news of the new emperor's accession; last night he stayed up revising details, adding his illustration of the fireworks gala and the Great King's inspection of Chang'an, and today the engraving has already begun.

"Your Majesty, take a look if anything needs changing; the engraving isn't finished yet, so there's still time to revise."

The Great King took it and examined it closely; at first glance he looked at the painting—indeed, the famed Master Xie, with a few strokes, the splendid scene of the fireworks performance leaps onto the paper. In the sky are exquisite immortal pavilions, the majestic Gate of Proper Rites, and the bustling crowds of Chang'an citizens. The Great King commented: "Pretty good."

Looking again at his entourage, the carriages are splendid, the cavalry fierce; a simple sketch fully expresses the grandeur of the emperor's tour. The Great King commented: "Quite capable."

Wei Shen, sitting at his lower side, covered his face……

"No problem, hurry up and finish the engraving and print it!"

"As you command."

After Xie Tu left, even the underachiever Wei Shen began to advise the Great King: "I used to think poor grades were no big deal, but now that your status has changed, you still talk like this—I feel everything's wrong. Should we study hard?"

The Great King lifted his chin, feeling his cousin knew nothing about him: "I do have scholarship~it's just that ordinary people don't understand."

Wei Shen: ……It seems only you yourself don't understand.

After the coronation affair was over, the Great King's heart flew to the Floating Pagoda Tower. He granted a general amnesty, plus the southern floods and northern droughts, just waiting to slaughter the big households to ease the urgent need. Knowing the auction starts only tonight, he still wants to leave the palace early.

"So busy, where's the time to read books~"

Ge Yuan's ancestors three generations engaged in trade, starting from a peddler; luck plus talent allowed the Ge family's capital to accumulate extremely fast, and by his generation they had become a giant merchant of Guanzhong. His ancestral home is Changling County south of Chang'an; when the times were bad, he also learned from those great merchant clans and built a small fortified manor in his hometown as a refuge.

A few days ago, hearing that Chang'an had stabilized, he had business to attend to, so he came back to Chang'an. At that time, He Guang had already begun promoting the Floating Pagoda Pavilion auction; in this world, such a shrewd person like him had little interest in auction treasures, and it was better to keep silver in his own hands. But there was one thing: being filial, the item "Re-youth" on the auction list caught his attention.

At home his mother's health was poor; he had invited several famous doctors, whose diagnoses were all similar—her vitality was exhausted, and it would be over by year's end; everyone said the old lady wouldn't make it through this year.

The Floating Pagoda Tower's "Re-youth" caught his attention; he didn't even return home, inquiring all over Chang'an about who the owner of the Floating Pagoda Tower was, whether it was reliable, and how the effects could be so……absurd!

Rumors spread more and more, for example, the Floating Pagoda Tower is a branch from Youzhou; even the teahouses in Chang'an were saying that the master behind this tower is the Northern Border King. Hearing this, he felt somewhat reassured, thinking that someone about to ascend the throne wouldn't sell fakes, right? Until yesterday in the city, he first watched a divine dragon rush from the east into the imperial palace, then witnessed the fireworks display sponsored by the Floating Pagoda Tower, and he realized: this 'Young Again' he must obtain.

The Floating Pagoda Tower really does have good stuff!

The Floating Pagoda Tower's final move last night has already been spent, putting out two hundred thousand taels, just waiting to make a big profit today and recoup the cost.

From dawn, the tower began opening its doors to welcome guests; unlike ordinary shops, not everyone can enter this tower—entry requires a wealth check.

Those with less than one hundred thousand taels in their pockets are refused service.

Hearing this rule, even the scholar-officials who had one hundred thousand taels were dissatisfied, feeling this was overly mercantile and unbecoming of their stature. Being stopped to show their banknotes, it's no wonder those arrogant scholar-officials wouldn't be happy.

No matter what unpleasant things they said, the attendant smiled and replied: 'Esteemed guests, please understand, this has always been the rule of our Floating Pagoda Tower. The Youzhou Floating Pagoda Tower headquarters has already successfully held two large-scale auctions, each time with this rule. If there were no threshold and anyone could enter, the crowd of onlookers would be too large, leaving no room for genuine buyers who truly wish to purchase treasures.'

Seeing that the attendant had no intention of backing down, the man snorted, but still signaled his attendant to produce the banknote for inspection. The dragon had flown away and was no longer visible; now this Floating Pagoda Tower is the top attraction in Chang'an, and he wants to join in the bustle.

"Guest, the Floating Pagoda Tower arranges floors according to the presented banknote or family crest; which would you prefer?" Of course, this family crest refers to those of the major clans that he can recognize; even if a third‑tier clan flashes theirs, no one would know it.

"Heh~ You really aren't afraid of offending people!" the man coldly snorted.

The attendant continued to smile, not joking—what does he have to fear offending anyone? His master is the sovereign of the world! If you aren't afraid of offending people, what are they afraid of?

Behind him there were still many people queuing, not lacking familiar faces of higher status than his; the scholar‑official‑born man could only hold back his anger and signal his attendants to fetch a few more slips, after the doorman attendant finished registering him he was handed over to the attendant inside responsible for seating.

Regarding the banknote check, Ge Yuan had no objection; he honestly produced a five‑hundred‑thousand‑tael banknote, the attendant verified it and led him to a cramped private room on the first floor. This startled him greatly—originally five hundred thousand taels only got him a small room on the first floor; a little less and he would have been seated in the open hall!

He tried not to stare at the interior decorations, sitting down with his attendants, wearing a calm expression.

After the attendant left, Ge Yuan began to worry. As soon as he entered, he noticed that the items for sale might indeed be extraordinary; just from the tower's décor one could tell, everything was something he had never seen in Chang'an. His confidence in the long‑advertised climax lot, 'Young Again,' suddenly waned.

Ge Yuan shook his head with a wry smile; he never expected that the great merchant Ge family of Guanzhong would also have a day of worrying about insufficient funds.

By noon, even a long queue had formed outside the Floating Pagoda Tower. The morning's news that entry required at least one hundred thousand taels had spread throughout Chang'an's streets; now the whole street was packed with onlookers. After all, it was the first time they saw scholar‑officials and wealthy merchants visiting a shop without being bowed and ushered in by the shop assistants; instead they stood under the blazing sun in line, and the queue kept growing.

The king had not eaten in the palace; he had deliberately saved his appetite for the Floating Pagoda Tower, and rushing over, what he saw was this long dragon (the queue).

He brought the Wei brothers, Zhao Bao, Ling Yin, and also summoned Xie Tu back, asking him to come gather material, so he could write about the Floating Pagoda Tower auction in the next issue.

Adding the palace guards, this entourage was already quite sizable; although they were all in ordinary attire, they were still very conspicuous.

Many scout‑cavalry had already been deployed here; Wei Ke asked the king whether they should enter through the back gate, since even if things got chaotic there would be people to respond. Evidently he did not understand the king in this regard, unlike Wei Shen.

"Not necessary."

The king pulled out a flamboyant owl‑mask from the carriage's interlayer and placed it on his face, tugged at his brand‑new floating‑light brocade robe, and led the way down from the carriage.

Wei Shen chuckled strangely from behind, "Just to let people know peace has arrived—otherwise tonight's auction would lose twelve‑ten‑thousandths of its grandeur, and they'd sell several hundred thousand taels less silver!"

"Ah?" The impoverished king loved hearing that.

He flicked out his waist‑folding fan and shook it twice, "Cousin, say more! I love to hear it!"

Wei Ke: ……

"Big brother, you haven't seen the scene of the last Youzhou Floating Pagoda Tower auction; if you had, you'd know how poor our family is. That silver—hundreds of thousands of taels, hundreds of thousands of taels—gets shouted upward, and the closing treasures all sell for millions of taels~"

Wei Ke had a head full of question marks: "That much?" He then turned to the Great King: "Where's the money?"

Great King: ……

Very good.

The question was good; don't ask again next time.

Ask again and he'll get angry.

"All 【the money】 goes onto the cavalry, all gets fed into the war horses' mouths. And there's the bottomless pit of refugees~ sigh~ The Northern Border is vast and sparsely populated; just turning over the tax revenue collected to operate the Northern Border Prince's mansion is already a strain, let alone the military provisions and the cavalry's daily expenses."

Wei Ke thought, indeed it's an immeasurably huge number. He reached out and rubbed the Great King's little bun, "Tai Ping, you've worked hard."

The Great King lifted his neck, looking like a proud little rooster. "That's right! But don't touch me, don't mess up my hair."

After saying that, he didn't forget to straighten the top-quality mutton-fat jade hairpin pinned on his little bun……

Wei Ke: ……