Chapter 1385: The Unease Before Departure

"Zhao Jin may be powerful, but he can't force people to buy his goods, can he?" Liu Songping gave a cold laugh. "In the capital and elsewhere, how many trading houses are selling Xuzhou goods? Who knows how many of those trading houses are in the hands of court ministers? Think about how many of them are helping to peddle Xuzhou's products. So... the better Xuzhou goods sell, the higher their income..."

"This..."

This is impossible. How could the great ministers of the court possibly engage in such treasonous acts! Qi Wang wanted to say this, but the words never left his mouth.

The common folk might revere scholars as gods, believing they know all things under heaven and earth, but as members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who dealt daily with civil officials—both guilty and innocent—how could they still worship those presented scholars and civil officials as divine beings?

They were just a bunch of vulgar mortals after all.

"So, since even the court ministers don't take it seriously, what use is it for people like us to be so bitterly distressed?" Liu Songping continued to ask with a smile, then poured himself another cup of wine. "Just drink up. Having cheaper wine is a good thing—why be so tense about it?"

"Perhaps... perhaps some ministers have indeed engaged in deeds that harm the nation, but His Majesty the current Son of Heaven is divinely brilliant and devoted to diligent governance. He will surely be able to reverse the court's moral decline!" As if having found some confidence, the previously somewhat dejected Qi Wang rallied himself once more. "Besides, Grand Secretary Sun and Grand Secretary Yang are both upright and incorruptible worthy ministers. With their assistance, Xuzhou goods will surely be restricted, and that traitor Zhao Jin will certainly be swept away..."

Watching this impassioned young man, Liu Songping merely smiled again and poured himself another cup of wine.

This young man was just like himself twenty years ago—full of hot blood, brimming with spirit, always believing nothing under heaven was impossible. Yet reality had slowly worn down his edges. Perhaps one day it would wear down this young man's edges too.

"Third Uncle, you should really find yourself a wife again... at least tidy this place up. Look at what it's become! You can't go on like this." After a moment, Qi Wang once again earnestly urged Liu Songping. "I know you've been heartbroken since Third Aunt passed, but it's been several years now. No matter how hard the hurdle, you have to grit your teeth and get past it! You... you should at least leave the Liu family an heir..."

Under normal circumstances, that last sentence would have been far too blunt. Had their bond not been so deep, he would never have been able to say such words.

Liu Songping's wife and his father had both died in the epidemic a few years ago. Now Qi Wang was an orphan, and Liu Songping a widower, so the bond between them had only grown deeper.

Over all these years, natural disasters had never ceased. Even in Beijing, which the court sustained with the entire realm's resources, even in families that had lived on imperial grain for generations, some impact was unavoidable. So after all these trials, Qi Wang and Liu Songping both seemed to have grown rather indifferent when speaking of life and death—and besides, compared to the world beyond the capital's walls, their suffering was really nothing at all.

"An heir... in times like these, what's the point of leaving an heir? To drag a child into suffering with me? That's unnecessary. Besides, I'm already at this age—taking another wife would just be burdening someone, wouldn't it?" Liu Songping merely smiled and shook his head. "Alright, stop talking about me. You're not young anymore either—shouldn't you be thinking about your own lifelong matters? Don't tell me you can't find anyone. Refugees flooding into the capital region are countless now; so many families are desperate to sell their daughters and can't even find buyers. If you want to find a wife, your uncle will find one for you—I guarantee I'll find one who's both beautiful and good at managing a household. How about it?"

"I... I'm still young." The moment the topic turned to himself, Qi Wang's mood instantly sank.

The girl he had been betrothed to had died in an accident before they could marry, so he had not sought another since.

"See? You're just the same." Liu Songping teased him again, then picked up another wine cup and handed it to Qi Wang. "Come now, since you're already here at your uncle's place today, let's not talk about such depressing matters. Have a couple of drinks first!"

"Alright." Qi Wang took the cup and drained it in one gulp, as if hoping to use it to wash away the gloom in his heart.

It really wasn't as good as Xuzhou liquor... Before the Xuzhou people raised their banners in rebellion, he had drunk Xuzhou liquor many times.

Uncle and nephew drank in silence, cup touching cup, until the wine flagon was nearly empty and their bodies had grown warm. Only then did Qi Wang ask in a muffled voice.

"Third Uncle, don't you think this assignment the higher-ups have given us is a bit strange?"

This question had been pent up in his heart for a long time. One could even say that his visit today was precisely for this matter.

It was indeed very strange.

Not long ago, with the passing of the Tianqi Emperor, Wei Zhongxian—Eunuch Wei, whose power had overshadowed the realm—had collapsed overnight. After lengthy deliberations, the court had arrived at a punitive decision: Eunuch Wei was to be exiled to the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum and placed under confinement.

Had this been during the Wanli reign or earlier, there would have been nothing unusual about it. No matter how overwhelmingly powerful a eunuch might be, he was still just a household slave of the emperor, who could banish him wherever he pleased.

But now it looked strange—because Qi Wang knew that not long ago, the Xuzhou forces had advanced to the very walls of Beijing and forced the Tianqi Emperor to sign a treaty, ceding the entire area around the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum to that traitor Zhao Jin—though, of course, they had saved some face by not calling it a cession in name.

So, if they wanted to confine Wei Zhongxian at the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum, they would have to pass through territory controlled by that traitor Zhao Jin!

Even stranger was that, fully aware of this situation, the higher-ups had assigned only two people to handle the escort.

Those two being the uncle and nephew, Liu Songping and Qi Wang.

We're just petty junior officers—can we really shoulder such a heavy responsibility? The moment young Qi Wang received the assignment, a flicker of doubt had crossed his mind.

"For someone who usually seems so carefree, I didn't expect you to be so perceptive." Yet, unlike Qi Wang's gravity, Liu Songping was far more relaxed, still unhurriedly drinking another cup of wine. "So, Brother Wang, are you afraid?"

"Afraid... how could I be?" Qi Wang's face flushed again. "Yes, those Xuzhou scoundrels are utterly vicious, but I'm truly not afraid of them. At worst... at worst I'd just be throwing my life away. But... but think about it—our two lives are a small matter. What if we delay the mission the court has assigned us?"

"Keep your composure, lad. Do you think the court doesn't know the problems you can think of?" Liu Songping still smiled faintly. "Rest assured, the higher-ups have already considered it. We won't be heading straight down to Fengyang from the capital. We'll take a roundabout route—heading south without passing through Zhao Jin's territory, then once we reach the Southern Metropolitan Region, we'll turn north and carefully enter the Fengyang area. We'll carry official travel documents the whole way, and the local authorities along the route will look after us."

Hearing his uncle say this, Qi Wang finally felt somewhat relieved.

"But... but even so, isn't two people still far too few?"

"Fewer people is better!" Liu Songping laughed and drained a cup of wine. "Think about it—if there were more of us, how much commotion we'd make along the way. In Zhao Jin's territory, could we avoid attracting attention? If we alerted Zhao Jin's people, getting Eunuch Wei safely into Fengyang would be difficult indeed..."

So, in the end, it was fear of alerting Zhao Jin... Along with the sudden realization rose an indescribable fury.

The court... the court actually feared that traitor Zhao Jin to such an extent!

The Great Ming, wanting to banish a eunuch, yet having to take that traitor Zhao Jin into account—in two hundred glorious years, when had such a thing ever happened?

A sense of humiliation made his hand tremble slightly; it took great effort just to lift the wine cup and finish it.

Who had brought about such a humiliation?

For this young man, the answer was perfectly clear.

"Wei Zhongxian... Wei Zhongxian... it's all because of that treacherous eunuch who deceived his sovereign and ruined the affairs of state that the Great Ming has fallen to this state!" As the wine flowed into his belly, the surge of anger made him slam the plate hard, unable to restrain himself, splashing wine everywhere. "If not for him, how could that traitor Zhao Jin have grown so rampant? How could he have brought such calamity upon the realm? Those who ruin the state are these castrated wretches!"

At least he still retained a last shred of reason and did not cry out, as General Fan Zhong had when he bludgeoned the great eunuch Wang Zhen to death: "I would rid the realm of this villain for all under heaven!"

Yet even so, these words startled Liu Songping into sudden alarm.

"Brother Wang, watch your words!" He set down his wine cup and pressed down on Qi Wang's hand. "You... don't say things like that. It's fortunate you said it here at my place. If word of this got out, you... do you still want to keep your position?"

Indeed, as a minor figure within the Embroidered Uniform Guard system, one dared not casually mock or curse eunuchs. Everyone knew that the superintendent of the Eastern Depot was a eunuch, and the Eastern Depot essentially drew its personnel from the Embroidered Uniform Guard—often acting as the Guard's superior department. In the days when Wei Zhongxian controlled the Eastern Depot and enjoyed the personal favor of the Son of Heaven, had his ferocious power not blazed to the heavens?

If word of such cursing of eunuchs got out, even if his life were not in danger, his prospects within the Embroidered Uniform Guard would likely be finished.

"Uncle, I know... I know all of this... it's just this anger in my heart... it's too hard to bear!" Qi Wang shook his head miserably. "The Great Ming court has graciously supported our ancestors for so many years. Seeing the situation now, how... how can I bear it!"

The misery and indignation in these words could probably only be understood by Liu Songping, who shared the same background and experiences.

"Ah, child, why torment yourself like this? We were just having a drink, and you had to bring up such depressing matters." After a long silence, Liu Songping sighed again. "We're the same—who among us doesn't wish for peace and safety in the Great Ming realm? But..."