Chapter 50: The Market Opens

Time flows like a stream, and in the blink of an eye, it is the end of the month.

A heavy snowfall last night turned Beijing into a world of ice and snow.

A biting cold wind wanders through the deserted streets, freezing the old Beijingers so much that they hold in their hot urine, unwilling to get out of bed.

Early this morning, Zhang Yunxiu left his warm bedding, dressed himself, and headed straight for the Forbidden City.

For the Emperor to do business inside the Forbidden City—let alone looking across all the monarchs of the Great Ming, it would be hard to find such a thing even if one scoured the history books.

Once this news broke, the spit almost drowned Zhang Yunxiu and the Emperor.

Fortunately, Li Taihou made the final decision, and since this belonged to the Inner Palace, the outside officials could not interfere.

Thus, the Wanli Emperor found three long corridors in the palace, set up shops just like the ones outside, and sold goods.

Today happens to be the opening, so Zhang Yunxiu naturally had to enter the palace to take a look.

In less than half an hour, Zhang Yunxiu arrived at the East Warm Pavilion, and upon seeing him, the Emperor immediately became excited.

He paced to the front of Zhang Yunxiu and asked excitedly, "Zhang Yunxiu, how much silver do you think I can earn in a day?"

Zhang Yunxiu pondered for a moment and replied steadily, "I don't know, but there are tens of thousands of attendants in this palace, and since this is the only place where things can be sold, it should be quite a lot."

"Good, good, good! Usually, I am the one giving them rewards, but today I am going to earn all that money back." The Wanli Emperor was extremely agitated; he waved his palms, walked back and forth in the room twice, and added, "From now on, I won't have to worry about silver anymore."

"This world belongs to Your Majesty, so naturally, you don't have to worry about silver."

"Sigh, if only everyone thought that way." The Wanli Emperor let out a long sigh, and just as he was about to continue complaining to the respectful Zhang Yunxiu, he suddenly heard someone walking in.

Upon looking, it was the Managing Eunuch of Cining Palace, Wan He.

Wan He smiled and performed a salute, then asked with a grin, "Ten Thousand Years, the Empress Dowager is ready on her side, and she sent this little one to ask you when we can begin."

"Tell Mother, I am coming right over."

The scene shifts, and a large crowd of people escorts the Emperor and the two Empress Dowagers to the market.

Looking out from here, the market is surging with people, and a dazzling array of goods spreads from one end of the street to the other. Shouts, hawking, and the sounds of bargaining are endless.

By now, the snow had stopped, and the snow accumulated last night hung on the roofs, appearing even whiter against the colorful sights of the streets and alleys.

Feng Bao, who was at the back, saw this chaos and was somewhat dissatisfied. He stepped forward and suggested to Li Taihou and the others, "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, there are too many people here. How about this old servant sends people to disperse them first, and let them return after you have finished your visit?"

"Da Ban, you don't understand; visiting a market is only fun when there are many people." The Wanli Emperor smiled at him, waved his hand, and refused, "If there were few people, it would be cold and desolate; what would that look like?"

"Oh, Jun'er, could it be that you have actually visited a market before?" Chen Taihou smiled enchantingly.

The Wanli Emperor dared not say, so he hurriedly gave a vague answer, then shifted his gaze toward his birth mother.

Li Taihou noticed her son's gaze, smiled faintly, and nodded, "That is the logic. If it weren't for these palace maids and servants, it would lack the fun."

Saying this, Li Taihou led the Emperor into the market.

The Emperor and the Empress Dowagers walked in front, Feng Bao followed two steps behind, and Zhang Yunxiu and Wei Qing lowered their heads, keeping some distance from Feng Bao.

"Eunuch Wei, long time no see. Your complexion has improved quite a bit." While the Emperor was strolling, Zhang Yunxiu glanced at Wei Qing and chatted with him with a smile.

"I have been practicing the Five Animals Frolic recently, and I do feel much more relaxed." Wei Qing moved his palms and replied in a thin, shrill voice.

"The Five Animals Frolic is useful, but I see that you are also in high spirits because of happy events."

"You, Young Master Zhang, have quite a big happy event yourself."

Wei Qing smiled and retorted. Zhang Yunxiu chuckled, raised his eyebrows, looked at Wei Qing, and added, "The two of us are sharing the joy; a double blessing has arrived at the door."

Immediately after, without waiting for Wei Qing to reply, Zhang Yunxiu asked in a low voice, "I heard that Eunuch Wei has a nephew who serves as a Trial Hundred-Household in the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"An unpromising boy, not worth mentioning." Wei Qing did not know why Zhang Yunxiu mentioned him; his eyes rolled, and he became vigilant in his heart.

"With your status and position today, Eunuch Wei, it is a waste of his talent for him to be a Trial Hundred-Household."

Once these words were spoken, Wei Qing's eyes lit up, and his breathing became a bit more rapid.

The two looked at each other; a smile appeared on Wei Qing's fair face, and he nodded without saying another word.

Up ahead, the Wanli Emperor wandered around, asking here and looking there. Suddenly seeing Zhang Yunxiu and Wei Qing whispering, he stomped his foot and chided, "What are you two whispering about over there?"

The two were startled, hurriedly lowered their heads, and walked to the front. At this moment, Li Taihou turned her eyes and carefully sized up Zhang Yunxiu.

Seeing his upright posture, high nose bridge, and eyebrows raised like swords, wearing a green Daoist robe, he had quite the air of a dashing scholar.

"This subject greets the Empress Dowager and the Emperor." Zhang Yunxiu looked flustered and performed a salute.

Li Taihou waved her hand to signal him to be exempt from the salute, then teased the Emperor, "Emperor, look, Minister Zhang has been scared by you to this extent. Could it be that you usually scare him like this?"

"Mother, this kid is cunning; I can't scare him at all." Wanli replied with a laugh.

"Cunning?" Li Taihou frowned and sized up Zhang Yunxiu once more.

Zhang Yunxiu was so nervous that his palms were sweating. He could treat the Emperor as a friend, but toward the Empress Dowager, he felt only fear and respect in his heart.

She was able to defeat Meng Chong and defeat Gao Gong, which was enough to show her political prowess.

Feng Bao, who was on the side, smoothed things over, "Empress Dowager, it is almost time for a meal. There is a restaurant ahead; let's go there and rest."

"That will do." Li Taihou nodded, turned her head to look at Chen Taihou, and asked with a smile, "We are used to the palace cuisine; today let's taste the craftsmanship from the outside. Sister, what do you think?"

"That depends on Jun'er." Chen Taihou handed the decision-making power to the Emperor.

The Wanli Emperor smiled, patted his chest, and replied, "The two Mothers can rest assured. I tasted the delicacies outside the palace yesterday and felt they were not much worse than the dishes in the palace."

Having said that, the group walked into a restaurant.

A waiter, who was a eunuch, immediately walked up and said ingratiatingly, "Your Majesty, whatever you want to eat, just say the word."

"Just have that stir-fried chicken tongue, bring another radish-stewed crucian carp, and... and Jinhua ham, steamed duck liver..." The Wanli Emperor reeled off five or six dish names in one breath.

Li Taihou and Chen Taihou took over and ordered two more dishes, and that was that.

A short while later, a table of dishes was served.

Li Taihou pointed to a plate of thumb-sized things and asked, "Is this the stir-fried chicken tongue?"

"Exactly." The little eunuch said not without pride, "A chicken only has one tongue, and the meat on it is the tenderest. This one dish alone requires nearly a hundred chickens."

"This is too wasteful."

Li Taihou frowned and asked again, "How much does a chicken cost outside now?"

The little eunuch wore a troubled expression.

Outside, chickens cost one tael of silver for ten, but palace procurement involves layers of exploitation, so they report the price as one tael of silver per chicken.

The little eunuch dared not expose this, and could only look pitifully toward Feng Bao.

Feng Bao dared not conceal the truth; his eyes darted, and he said with a plastered-on smile, "Ordinary chickens outside can be bought for over ten per tael of silver, but the chickens we usually procure are of superior quality, so the price naturally goes up."

"On this point, Director Zhang should be the most clear."

Why are you dragging me into this? Zhang Yunxiu was startled by this sudden attack, but he had no choice but to answer the question put to him.

Thinking of the Qing emperors eating fewer eggs to buy warships, one tael of silver per chicken did not seem excessive, so he replied, "It is indeed as Eunuch Feng says; the price of these chickens does fluctuate greatly."

"Then this platter, wouldn't it cost over a hundred taels of silver?" Li Taihou was shocked.

If one were to eat like this, no matter how much money the imperial court had, it would not be enough.

"Mother, we don't eat like this every day." The Wanli Emperor picked up a bite, swallowed it, and complained, "I only spend thirty taels of silver on a meal. I hear that wealthy merchants outside spend thousands of gold pieces in a single night just to win a beauty's smile."

"I am the Emperor, yet I am not even as good as a few merchants."

Upon hearing this, Li Taihou narrowed her phoenix eyes and rebuked, "Thirty taels for one meal, that is one hundred taels a day. Emperor, do you know how many families of three could live for a year on one hundred taels of silver?"

The Wanli Emperor realized he had spoken wrongly and hurriedly stood up to receive the lecture.

Chen Taihou, who was to the side, laughed and smoothed things over: "Oh my, it is rare to be happy today; it is merely a hundred taels of silver, so what is spent is spent. Money can be earned again after it is spent, right, Jun'er?"

The Wanli Emperor nodded and looked timidly at his birth mother.

Li Taihou also felt she had lost her composure and signaled for the Emperor to sit down and eat.

After the midday meal, the two Empress Dowagers returned to their respective palaces, and only then did the Emperor let out a long sigh, pointing at the eunuch and cursing, "You dog, these chicken tongues are so expensive, who told you to serve them?"

(End of this chapter)