Chapter 98: Wei Zhongxian's Transformation

Wei Zhongxian truly moved like an old palace retainer, slowly adding firewood. His face was sharply defined, each wrinkle dark and hard, his gaze calm yet carrying an unspoken weight.

Wei Zhongxian listened to the young eunuch's words, then shook his head and said, "Orders? What orders could I possibly give now?"

The young eunuch looked at Wei Zhongxian's hunched back and felt a flicker of sympathy—or perhaps something else—in his heart. He stepped closer and whispered through gritted teeth, "Your Grace, why not tell His Majesty what Prince Hui has done? If His Majesty deals with Prince Hui, you could return to the Directorate of Ceremonial and regain His Majesty's trust."

Wei Zhongxian listened and suddenly let out two dry chuckles.

The young eunuch's heart jolted, and he stared fearfully at Wei Zhongxian's back. Before, they had feared Wei Zhongxian because he held their lives in his hands. But this Wei Zhongxian, returned without power, chilled him to the bone even more.

The old ferocity seemed gone from Wei Zhongxian. He stirred the firewood with a stick and said with a faint smile, "Report what about Prince Hui?"

The young eunuch froze, his mouth already open, yet not a single word came out.

Before the young eunuch could speak, Wei Zhongxian turned to look at him and said, "What misdeeds has His Highness Prince Hui committed? Has he bullied men and abducted women? Insulted officials? Or perhaps plotted treason and rebellion?"

The young eunuch's face went pale at once, and he frantically shook his head.

Wei Zhongxian turned back around, his face somewhat cold as he stared at the flames, and said, "His Highness Prince Hui is a first-rank Prince, the Emperor's youngest brother, and Her Majesty the Empress treats him as her own son. Not to mention there is no evidence—even if there were, who would dare casually bring such an accusation?"

The young eunuch's heart nearly stopped at Wei Zhongxian's words. This was truly no small matter—at the least it was slandering an Imperial Prince; at the worst, it was sowing discord among the imperial family and harboring treacherous intent.

That was a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of kin!

After speaking, Wei Zhongxian took out a book and began flipping through it before him.

He had been illiterate before and had suffered greatly for it. So, while in prison, he had begun studying and learning characters. Though he still knew few, he could now read some simple books. Since his release, he always kept a book at his side.

After reading for a while, Wei Zhongxian suddenly spoke again: "His Highness Prince Hui merely loves wealth and is greedy for money. Although the Ancestral Emperor's ancestral instruction forbids imperial clansmen from engaging in base trades, after a hundred years it has long become a dead letter—countless princes and nobles openly or covertly do business. Reporting this to His Majesty would bring no benefit. You must remember: Her Majesty the Empress is not to be trifled with, and His Highness Prince Hui is even less so."

The young eunuch acknowledged tremblingly, staring at Wei Zhongxian before him, cold dread creeping up his spine.

Just then, Zhang Yanyao walked over softly, stepped across the threshold, and bowed slightly: "Thank you for your instruction, Uncle."

Wei Zhongxian waved his hand, and the young eunuch, as if pardoned, bowed once and scurried out.

Wei Zhongxian turned a page of his book and said, "What did Prince Hui say?"

Zhang Yanyao furrowed her brow, seeming quite displeased, and said, "He refused."

Wei Zhongxian smiled, tossed aside the book, stood up, and looked at her, saying, "Barring any surprises, when will he see me?"

Zhang Yanyao was briefly taken aback, then said, "He didn't say he would see you, Uncle."

Now it was Wei Zhongxian's turn to be stunned. He looked at Zhang Yanyao and said, "You mean to say, he has no intention of seeing me?"

Zhang Yanyao nodded gently, her eyes filled with confusion.

The wrinkles on Wei Zhongxian's face shifted, a fierce glint passing through his eyes as he muttered to himself, "He won't see me? Could he be scheming something again?"

Zhang Yanyao looked at Wei Zhongxian, without feigning weakness, and said in a cool, clear voice, "He said he would hand the salt works over to you, Uncle. You must earn at least one million taels for him every month—otherwise, otherwise he'll have your corpse lying in the street!"

A flash of ferocity instantly crossed Wei Zhongxian's face, his gaze savage and terrifying—but it quickly dissipated without a trace, returning to calm.

With his back to Zhang Yanyao, he stared at the burning firewood, silent for a long while, then smiled again: "Though it differs from what I anticipated, it is still a step closer. As long as I get through this immediate crisis, I can slowly plan from there."

Zhang Yanyao held great reverence for this uncle of hers, who was quite mysterious to her. Looking at his back, she said softly, "Uncle, should I do something within the palace?"

"Not needed!" Wei Zhongxian whipped around, his expression severe, then coldly warned: "If you want to survive in this harem, remember my words: First, revere His Majesty—at no time may you harbor any other thoughts! Second, respect Her Majesty the Empress—she is the mistress of the central palace, and your life rests in her hands! Third—"

Wei Zhongxian's eye twitched, and he said in a deep voice, "Third, avoid Prince Hui. He is far too special within this palace, his methods dark and unpredictable, impossible to guard against. If you don't want to be caught in his schemes, you must make him feel that you pose no threat to him!"

Zhang Yanyao's face paled slightly, and her heart tightened with awe. She had never imagined that that child would be regarded with such dread by this uncle of hers, whom she could never hope to reach.

"Alright," Wei Zhongxian wiped his hands and said to Zhang Yanyao, "Everything I should teach you, I have taught. As long as you remember my words, so long as His Majesty lives, the wealth and honor of your Zhang family will never be lacking."

Zhang Yanyao knew Wei Zhongxian was about to leave the palace, so she bowed deeply: "Yanyao would never dare forget Uncle's instruction."

Wei Zhongxian nodded indifferently, glanced outside, and strode out.

Once aboard the carriage, amid the jostling, his taut expression relaxed, and he sighed with dimmed eyes: "As expected of His Highness Prince Hui—he truly looks down on me, not even deigning to meet me once…"

The imperial palace was fraught with prohibitions; finding someone secretly was no simple matter.

Several days passed with no word from Wei Zhongxian, until Fu Tao entered the palace.

Fu Tao entered the palace carrying a large chest, all filled with ledgers of income and expenditure from various places.

In Zhu Xu's small study, only Zhu Xu and Fu Tao were present. Zhu Xu sat at the desk flipping through the account books, while Fu Tao sat to the side drinking tea, ready at any moment to answer Zhu Xu's questions.

Zhu Xu turned the pages slowly, his heart heavy with sorrow.

Every page of these ledgers screamed four words: "Income falls short of expenditure." Every character reached out to him, crying, "Silver!" "Silver!"

Of the silver he had spent, aside from labor costs, most had gone toward purchasing land and stockpiling grain.

The trading company had just been established and was in a stage of meager profit. He was hardly lacking in ways to make money, but he couldn't unleash them all at once—he needed sufficient time to accumulate, and proceed slowly.

The workshops, through the Huimin Merchant Association, had also begun turning a profit, but these were small-scale ventures; it would be difficult to earn large amounts of silver in a short time.

In summary, this year he was still in a phase of expansion at a loss, and what he was overdrawing—besides the silver of his Jinghuan Palace—was the Huitong Trading Company. This was akin to unlawful misappropriation; if a run occurred, it would collapse.

Fortunately, the recent upheaval at court had been so great that no problems would surface for the time being.

Moreover, he could discern many things between the lines of these account books.

The land purchases secretly overseen by Fu Changzong—aside from some barren mountains and wild tracts of seemingly unwanted wasteland—were mostly of lower-grade fields, because they were cheap, three or four taels buying a mu. But most were in Jiangnan and north of the Yangtze; there were almost none in Huaibei especially. All were along the coast, with not a single one inland.

This indicated that, apart from Jiangnan, most of the country was suffering severe drought, unsuitable for planting sweet potatoes and corn.