Chapter 105: Departure, Yang Zhou! [Many thanks for everyone's support! Bowing again!]

Baoxiu stood to the side, watching her young mistress revise the poem, and recited softly:

"Last year on the night of the Lantern Festival, the flower market's lamps were bright as day.

The moon rose above the willow tips; we drank together after dusk.

This year on the night of the Lantern Festival, the moon and lamps remain the same.

I see last year's person again, smiling as she hides her face behind her spring robe's sleeve.

Young Miss, this poem Fifth Brother Jing brought back last night—your revision has greatly improved its mood.

On the Lantern Festival, one can still meet last year's old friend, drink wine together, and happily smile while hiding one's face in one's sleeve.

Before, I didn't know who wrote it; why would anyone talk about beating someone after dusk!"

Baoxiu was Hai Lady Chaoyun's personal maid.

There was another personal maid named Miss Zhu Zhu Jian.

Both maids' names were given by Hai Lady Chaoyun's own elder brother.

They originated from the verse: 'Watching the morning clouds embrace the mountain peak, listening to the evening stream pour into the ravine.'

He did not choose pleasant names like 'Little Bridge' or 'Rushing Rain,' but sought only an auspicious meaning: hoping his younger sister would have a husband as steadfast as a mountain range.

Miss Zhu Zhu Jian, slightly older than Baoxiu, walked over to grind ink for Hai Lady Chaoyun and said, "Young Miss, wasn't the person who beat someone last year on the Lantern Festival the Fifth Young Master of Marquis Marquis Yongyi's Hou Fu?"

"Young Miss, could this poem have been composed by the Xu family's Fifth Young Master?"

Hai Lady Chaoyun nodded and said, "It must be him. This very evening, he was dining with his elder brother at Fan Lou."

Baoxiu said, "Then it's no surprise. This Fifth Young Master of the Xu family is famously hot-tempered and highly skilled in martial arts; isn't it said that even the noble barbarians of Northern Liao cannot defeat him? Still, it's not bad for a scion of a noble military family to produce something like this."

Hai Lady Chaoyun smiled and glanced at Baoxiu.

Miss Zhu Zhu Jian lowered her face and scolded, "Baoxiu, you are just a little maid; how dare you critique a young master from a marquis's household? I think the Young Miss indulges you too much!"

Seeing her young mistress remain silent, Baoxiu realized she had overstepped and quickly bowed her head, saying, "Elder Sister, I was wrong."

Ignoring Baoxiu, Miss Zhu Zhu Jian continued, "Young Miss, I heard that tomorrow, Bai Wu Daniang of the Lady Ningyuan Hou Gu family will take her children and daughter-in-law out of the city to board a ship and return to Yang Zhou. Fifth Young Master Xu is going with them."

Hai Lady Chaoyun asked with full confusion, "Going to Yang Zhou at this time? Is there some urgent matter?"

Baoxiu leaned in to listen as Miss Zhu Zhu Jian continued, "Young Miss, I heard that Lord Bai is unwell, and Bai Wu Daniang is going to check on him. As for Fifth Young Master Xu, it seems his aunt lives in Yang Zhou and is celebrating her birthday."

Hai Lady Chaoyun pressed her lips together and asked, "Where did you hear all this?"

Miss Zhu Zhu Jian replied, "Young Miss, the grandmother of Miss Yu, whom we met the other day at Wu Lou, is a handkerchief friend of Lady Xu, and I learned this from chatting with their junior maid."

Hai Lady Chaoyun thought for a moment and said, "I remember now; it was that little sister. Though young, she has considerable insight into embroidery."

"The Young Miss has an excellent memory."

The next day.

During the Chen hour (before 9 AM).

At the Dongshui Gate southeast of Bianjing.

On the dock outside the city, various ships in the nearby river channel entered the massive city of Bianjing like traffic from a past life.

With a population of a million in Bianjing, human and animal transport within the city accounted for only a tiny fraction.

The absolute main force of transportation was river transport.

Xu Xu Zaijing had once seen the Great Zhou's official gazette; last year, over eight million shi of tax grain entered the capital via river transport.

That was only the tax grain; other goods were not included.

The belongings of the Gu and Xu families had been transported to the dock by carriage early on, and now, along with the carriages, they were being loaded onto the Bai family's huge passenger ship on the Bianhe.

Xu Xu Zaijing watched as his cousin led the horses into the hold of a ship behind them.

Gu Gu Tingye walked over, standing proudly beside Xu Xu Zaijing, and said, "Brother Jing, isn't this ship large? When my mother married into Bianjing, my maternal grandfather provided five ships' worth of dowry."

Xu Xu Zaijing looked at the passenger ship, as large as a building, and clicked his tongue in silent amazement.

"Brother Jing, what are you looking at?"

Bai Shi's crisp voice arrived; Xu Xu Zaijing turned, cupped his fists, and bowed, saying, "Auntie, greetings for spring. I was marveling at how large this ship is and how much dowry it can hold."

Having spoken, he glanced at Gu Gu Tingye.

Hearing this, Qingxia and Sister Qingzhi, who followed behind their mistress, covered their mouths and laughed.

Since Xu Xu Zaijing was young, Bai Shi had liked him, the kind of affection an elder holds for a junior.

Moreover, when her father was in Bianjing, he had hinted to her that, according to the calculations of that expert in their household, this child of the Xu family had altered her fate, allowing her to avoid a calamity of life and death.

Bai Shi had known since childhood that her father greatly trusted that expert; whether it was truly a calamity or not, she wasn't clear, but since befriending the Xu family, her days in Bianjing had become much more comfortable.

Furthermore, Xu Xu Zaijing's own elder sister was her daughter-in-law.

Recently, Bai Shi had smiled little, having received news that her father's health was poor.

But hearing these words, she exchanged a smile with Xu Xu Pingmei, then Bai Shi nodded toward Cui Cui Mama Chang.

Seeing Bai Shi's signal, Cui Cui Mama Chang walked to Xu Xu Zaijing's side, shielding her mouth with one hand as she said, "Young Master Jing, regarding our Da Da Niangzi's dowry, just the ready silver..."

Although servants and stewards from both marquis households surrounded them, Cui Cui Mama Chang still lowered her voice: "Sixteen thousand taels per ship."

Xu Xu Zaijing was dumbfounded, while Xu Xu Pingmei smiled at her younger brother's expression, for she had been even more stunned when she first learned of it.

Xu Xu Zaijing calculated in his mind: in ancient times, one jin equaled sixteen taels; one ship held five tons of ready silver!

"Hiss—"

His gaze went blank.

Gu Gu Tingyi covered her mouth, laughing; since she had known Xu Xu Zaijing, she had truly never seen him like this.

Cui Cui Mama Chang added in a low voice, "There are also other dowry items: fields, properties, shops, gold and silver jewelry, and various treasures, none of which are included in that figure. However, most of it has already been used to fill the holes in the marquis household."

Xu Xu Zaijing thought silently, "The truly valuable items are those fields, properties, and shops mentioned later; no wonder my mother holding a small share in the Bai family's business made life so easy for the Xu family."

A north wind blew; Bai Shi took Xu Xu Pingmei's hand and said, "The wind is strong; let us board the ship."

The passenger ship withdrew its gangplanks and sideboards.

The boatmen chanted their work song, and the passenger ship slowly began to move.

After settling Brother Qingyun and Seeing Seeing Qingcao, Xu Xu Zaijing walked to the top deck of the passenger ship; for this return journey to Yang Zhou, Bai Shi had brought three ships, each bearing a flagpole in the middle of its hull flying the banners of "Lady Ningyuan Hou Jue Gu," "Marquis Marquis Yongyi Xu," and "Yang Zhou Wuxiang Bai."

Looking out into the distance,

Xu Xu Zaijing's eyesight was excellent; with a slight squint, he spotted a passenger ship flying the banner "Loyal and Diligent Count Yuan" drifting away in the distance.

Xu Xu Zaijing shook his head slightly: "I've left you all with your dignity intact; why do you still offer your faces to be slapped?"

Although Great Zhou had horse-breeding grounds, the relay stations from Bianjing to Yang Zhou were prohibited from using horses for anything other than national policy and military intelligence, forcing reliance on urgent foot couriers for all else.

The letters had likely already traveled more than half the distance.

Night,

Imperial Palace,

The Emperor was still processing court documents.

Glancing at the memorandum submitted by the Imperial City Bureau, he asked:

"The Xu family's Han Wulang has gone to Yang Zhou?"

"Yes, Your Majesty; he boarded the ship today. We have dispatched people to follow him and will certainly ensure his safety."

The Emperor glanced at the Chief Eunuch: "Ensure?"

The Chief Eunuch froze, then said: "Your Majesty, this humble servant spoke out of turn; I meant to plug the gaps. Your Majesty, the Southeast has been neglected for too long; if we start manipulating things again, this humble servant..."

The Emperor's expression became somewhat unnatural; since his accession many years ago, no Imperial Prince had grown up healthy, and even after replacing the Empress once, the Imperial City Bureau had exhausted all efforts yet discovered nothing,

directly losing the Imperial Favor.

Meanwhile, the Military Strategy Bureau, which competed with the Imperial City Bureau, had continuously achieved merits in the North.

With resources so limited, the Imperial City Bureau's lack of favor meant they could only live an impoverished life.

The Emperor tacitly allowed the Military Strategy Bureau to cover over the Imperial City Bureau's local influence.

As a result, a few years ago when the Xu family delivered cotton wadding, the Empress, through the Imperial City Bureau, uncovered several death warriors from the Imperial Honorary Nursing Home.

This Imperial Honorary Nursing Home was an institution the Emperor himself had ordered not to be disturbed, as it was where he had grown up.

The Imperial City Bureau:

Furthermore, last year the North faced off against two major powers, and a large number of Military Strategy Bureau clerks and soldiers were transferred northward.

Before the Imperial City Bureau had fully recovered, the Military Strategy Bureau withdrew its personnel, creating a power vacuum in intelligence agencies across the entire Southeast; without the supervision of a violent secret police force, the Emperor had already sensed changes in Southeastern taxation.

"Increase the silver funds and restore operations as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Continuing to read the memorandum, the Emperor sneered: "This Yuan family is truly..."

The Chief Eunuch beside him also shook his head repeatedly.

At that moment, a child's voice came: "Chief Official, why are you shaking your head?"

"Aiyo, my Imperial Prince, how did you get here? This humble servant greets Her Majesty the Empress."

"How did you and Fang'er come over?"

"Our son said he missed you, and since you wouldn't come to the sleeping quarters, we came here instead," the Empress said as she was helped forward by attendants.

"Chief Official, you still haven't told me."

The Chief Eunuch looked awkwardly at the Emperor, while the Empress also looked at him.

Without permission from the Emperor and Empress, he dared not say much.

"It's fine, speak."

"Combining memoranda from the bureau in previous years with accounts from official families returning from Yang Zhou, it seems Sheng Hong, the Assistant Prefect of Yang Zhou, has his concubine managing the assets of both the Sheng and He households, while his Da Da Niangzi Wang Shi manages only the dowry from the Wang family; this rumor reached the Yuan family's ears, and they likely went to try their luck."

"I know this young official; he writes a fine hand, but alas, his household management skills..."

"Your Majesty, shall an imperial edict be issued to reprimand him?" the Chief Eunuch asked.

The Emperor caught sight of the Empress, who had just pursed her lips.

The Emperor stood up, waved his hand, and said in a low voice: "Forget it! He collects taxes well and has just received a reward."

Then, raising his voice slightly for the last sentence: "Let's not make things difficult for him!"

The Empress rolled her eyes and snorted, then raised her hand, and Zhao Fang took his mother's hand.

"Your Majesty, you should go to Concubine Rong's quarters instead."

We're setting off!

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If there are any typos or awkward passages, please do not hesitate to point them out, esteemed readers!

Cough, cough, the last two chapters from yesterday have been revised.

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(End of Chapter)