Chapter 73: Improper Rescue Letter

This brings up the 'improper rescue letter' that Changzhou received from Prince You earlier—uncle, food, hungry.

The mansion was in an uproar for a while, until Wei Peng returned and, seeing this letter in the Prince's own hand, finally relaxed.

He concluded that the Prince's situation was certainly not as dire as the old man thought; his young nephew couldn't have written such a plea.

The Prince had been sensible since age four; he would only write such a childish plea if he were truly starving to death.

Upon further inquiry, it turned out to have been sent by someone from Chang'an.

The outer envelope was still added by palace staff, lacking even a wax seal, and was sent open‑mouthed like that.

It was said the messenger was a young eunuch; Wei Peng had his eldest son, Wei Ke, personally receive him.

After half a day, Wei Ke extracted everything the little eunuch knew, saying the Prince had written to His Majesty, and this letter to Changzhou was tucked inside, asking His Majesty to send someone to deliver it to the Wei family. When he set out, he heard his master say that His Majesty had already ordered grain to be raised and sent to Youzhou for the Prince.

'My son feels this Changzhou letter is just an afterthought, not meant for us to see.' The Wei family's Southwest Army can barely feed itself, so His Highness should know at least a little. The distance between the two places crosses the whole of Great Jin, with mountains high and waters far; seeking rescue here is like trying to quench immediate thirst with distant water. This joking letter probably hints that the situation isn't that serious.

Nevertheless, Marquis Wei Ting remained uneasy; after his only daughter died, the old man's worries outside turned to the Fifth Princess and Prince You. The Fifth Princess resides in the inner palace, also housed in a branch palace of the Wei family, needing no concern for now—leaving only Prince You alone on the northern frontier.

He set aside five thousand taels of silver for Wei Ke to deliver to his grandson; there was simply no more to spare.

But Wei Ke was already serving in the army and had been to the capital; fearing recognition on the road would cause trouble, the task fell to the family's sole idle person, the second son, Wei Shen.

Changzhou also had little spare grain; his grandfather instructed him to exchange the silver for grain at a midsize prefecture along the way and send it to his cousin.

Wei Shen trusted his father, believing his cousin certainly wouldn't go hungry, and that transporting grain would only slow his journey indefinitely.

How could so vast a Youzhou, even in drought, starve the Prince? He didn't believe it, so this fellow went straight to Youzhou empty‑handed, without buying any grain.

Upon receiving the five‑thousand‑tael silver note, the Prince felt a surge of emotion, his eyes turning sore.

Changzhou and Youzhou lie east and west at the extremes of Great Jin; counting from when the letter arrived in Changzhou, Wei Shen truly came at breakneck speed.

He merely went through the motions, bringing Changzhou along, never expecting his maternal grandfather and uncle…

The Prince swallowed his tears, jumped up, and tried to sling an arm around Wei Shen's shoulders, saying, 'Second cousin, to thank you for not turning those five thousand taels into a sword, I'll give you a better one!'

Seeing the chubby kid earnestly trying to hook shoulders with him, Wei Shen rolled his eyes, lowered his stature, and accommodated the Prince a bit.

'…Wait, is this little blade a military sword? Is it used in the army?'

The Prince finally found a kindred spirit who appreciated his toys, pulled out the high‑spec blade he carried, and eagerly shared it with Wei Shen. Zhang Tu stood guard on the third‑floor stairwell, letting no one up; as a result, the two barely exchanged a few serious words before they started playing…

'Look at mine—it's better than several you can buy. This one's expensive and hard to sell; later I'll have Bai Ge make you one.'

'Wow, yours looks sturdier!'

……

'…This can magnify text on a page and roast ants; I've roasted an entire woodshed with it~'

'What are we waiting for? Let's go try it out.'

Zhao Bao: ……

'This second young master is so flighty, he doesn't seem like a Wei at all—don't blame him for not recognizing you.'

Wei Shen's arrival pleased the Prince; even the liveliness of Myriad Phenomena City couldn't draw him away. He made arrangements to return to the manor, intending to bring his second cousin to taste his roasted lamb leg.

The Prince, though young, was hospitable, and everything was arranged clearly.

He shoved the military sword Wei Shen had liked into his hands, saying, 'Play with this for now; later find someone to buy you one like mine. Come back to the manor for a meal—you must be tired; eat and rest well.'

In truth, this party was travel‑worn; one could tell they'd been rushing all the way, and Wei Shen's clothes still had loess stuck in the folds.

Upon meeting, Wei Shen saw that the Prince's younger brother lived quite well—at least well fed and clothed. Once they left the street and realized the grand building before them, resembling a splendid little city, was the Prince's manor, he discovered how much better than 'not bad' the Prince's life actually was.

The two stood outside Southern Splendor Gate, heads tilted up to behold the super‑luxurious gate tower beyond his imagining; Wei Shen sincerely sighed, 'Royalty really is rich!'

Had his brother who'd been to Chang'an come instead, they'd suspect the Prince had unearthed seven or eight gold mines. Outsiders already suspect the southwestern‑holding Marquis Wei Ting is funding him—does the Wei clan not know its own standing?

The visitor now is the second young master making his first trip out of Changzhou; he's never seen Chang'an's imperial palace or any other princely manor, and assumes this is what imperial wealth looks like.

He grabbed the Prince's little shoulder and shook it back and forth, saying, 'Just this—you're still hungry? Hungry for food?! You're terribly sly, Bai Li Jing!' His grandfather's scraped‑together five thousand taels—could it buy the copper gate of Southern Splendor Gate? Surely it'd take a whole line of palace servants to push it open!

The Prince: 'You you you let go of my my my～'

This time, the Han troops accompanying Wei Shen didn't come to stop him, for they too were stunned enough. Their Changzhou is also a southwestern border; looking at those walls—uh, not city walls but manor walls—amazing! They wanted them!

It's just so high and sturdy; even if you tried to storm it, even with specially made tall ladders, how long would it take to climb up?

The most important thing in ladder assault is speed; the difficulty of climbing those walls at this height goes without saying. If enemies attacked, just the wall alone would consume who knows how many people.

The Prince brought his carefree second cousin into the manor, first showing the Changzhou entourage—whose eyes weren't up to snuff—a few halls of the front court, just the usual walk‑by viewing. He focused on the rear garden, taking Wei Shen to see the Youzhou three‑color young fish selling for two hundred taels per piece, the large fish for three to four hundred taels each—remote Changzhou folk never imagined fish could fetch such a price.

Even a coarse person could tell the Prince's manor's exquisite garden was top‑notch; everyone gasped in admiration. At noon the Prince held a banquet in the Rosy Clouds Pavilion to entertain his second cousin; the view was excellent, reaching far.

Wei Shen quickly realized the Prince's manor wasn't just handsome—its food was novel too.

There were dishes on the table he didn't recognize.

The Prince treated his second cousin as one of his own, with no false courtesy or fuss over formal dining; what was served were his favourites: a plump red‑braised lamb leg, potato‑and‑carrot‑stewed lamb ribs, mashed potatoes, grilled sea fish, the sole green being the kitchen‑mandated cabbage vermicelli, and steamed white rice as staple.

Wei Shen picked up a long strand of potato noodles and asked, 'What is this?'

The Prince jabbed the potato chunks in the lamb ribs and said, 'Made from this—potato noodles!'

Wei Shen: 'I don't believe it—don't lie to me!'

The Prince: ……