Chapter 5.9
Qin Ce's Middle Army was already in charge of the defense of the capital, before, because of his amnesia, the Empress Dowager's camp exploited the loopholes. Now that he was back, as long as he called, his old subordinates would all respond and taking back the imperial city would only be a matter of time.
But in order to ensure the safety of the young emperor, Qin Ce didn't make too much noise. Instead, he secretly made arrangements in order to make sure that there would be no bloodshed.
This day, the subordinates he'd sent finally captured the Empress Dowager's son alive and brought him back to the barracks.
After strictly interrogating through torture, Qin Ce obtained a list of traitorous officials, then prepared to raid the imperial city to clean up the imperial court that same night.
The generals were gathered in the commander's tent to study the sand table when someone suddenly announced outside,
"General Yu, someone outside the camp is requesting an audience."
General Yu was Qin Ce's right-hand man, and also the General Ding Yuan who was previously ordered to protect the Zhu mansion. Noticing the Commander frowning in discontent, he didn't dare slack off, immediately waving,
"Fool, at this time, even the Heavenly Emperor would be turned away if he came! Tell them to leave!"
The solider hesitated for a moment, then said,
"The other party claims to be Zhu Zi Yu from Qing Min County, he came to send the General some army provisions."
As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach, which shows the importance of rations and fodder to army combat. The surrounding generals' eyes brightened, all looking toward their commander.
Why did Zi Yu come to delivery army provisions to specially Yucheng? Qin Ce's thick eyebrows furrowed, he waved his hand,
"Bring him in. Yucheng stay, the rest of you leave."
The generals bowed and retreated.
"What's your relationship with Zi Yu? Have you met before?"
The Commander's tone sounded very gloomy. Yucheng was slightly startled, he quickly replied,
"This subordinate has never met Zhu Gongzi before. I was ordered by Commander to guard the Zhu mansion before, Zhu Gongzi probably feels grateful for this, that's why he came here to deliver provisions."
Obviously, he was the one who'd issued the command, but the benefits all went to his subordinate. Qin Ce felt very upset, but he didn't want to expose his identity at this time, so he had no choice but to hide behind the screen. He said
"Talk to him, I'll hide for now."
Yucheng was baffled by his actions, but it also wasn't a good idea to ask too many questions, so he had no choice but to have someone invite Zhu Gongzi in.
When the curtain was lifted, a young man with a striking appearance wearing dark red colored light clothing slowly entered, his bright red lips naturally curled upwards, so that he seemed to have a slight smile even when not smiling.
His peach blossom eyes were sparkling and clear, seemingly passionate, seemingly ruthless, one could not help but be captivated.
This person was comparable to the blazing sun, always the focus of attention wherever he goes.
Yucheng stared in awe, when he finally returned to his senses, he unobtrusively looked for a sindoor on the other man's body. A Ger's sindoor generally grows in a very visible location, either on their wrist, earlobes or forehead.
The redder the color, and the more ideal the position, the higher the value. If a Ger had a bright red sindoor in the middle of their forehead, they would be like a heavenly immortal descending to the world of mortals, attracting people from all over the world.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Yucheng searched, he couldn't find a sindoor, he had no choice but to regretfully admit that Zhu Gongzi was a man. Looking like this yet actually a man, such a waste!
His heart was a tangled mess, but Yuchen didn't reveal it on his face, he straightforwardly asked,
"May I ask, why has Zhu Gongzi come to deliver us provisions?"
There's no such thing as a free lunch, everyone knew this.
Zhou Yun Sheng also didn't beat around the bush, he cupped his hands and said,
"Honestly, I really do have something to ask of the General. Three years ago, my parents met with bandits in the Luo Shui area and were both killed. Luo Shui is in the General's jurisdiction. I'll be so bold as to ask the General to send troops to eliminate the bandits at the cost of 200,000 dan of foodstuff, saving the common people from harm."
Although Zhu Zi Yu's only wish was to save the Zhu family, Zhou Yun Sheng thought that this was not enough. Since he was taking over someone else's life, he must be perfect.
Of course, he also wanted to uncover this General Ding Yuan's true identity. Yucheng was over 6ft, looked heroic, had a cold temperament, and his body exuded a familiar scent of tobacco. No matter where he looked, he really resembled his long-lost lover.
If it was ordinary times, Yucheng naturally wouldn't reject him, but now the imperial court was approaching a crisis, he was powerless under his many responsibilities, so he could only apologize,
"I'm afraid I cannot accept Zhu Gongzi's request. I won't conceal it from you, I have a lot of urgent matters to take care of right now, I really don't have any time to spare..."
Zhou Yun Sheng knew that he must be under a lot of pressure from the Empress Dowager seizing control of the palace, so he waved his hand and smiled,
"No matter, I'll come trouble the General after this matter is dealt with. The 200,000 dan of provisions will be left to the General as a small token of my appreciation. The General guarded the Zhu mansion before, I haven't had time to thank you yet."
He was already dazzling when he was expressionless, his sincere smile was simply soul-stirring and dizzying. Yucheng stared in awe again, then he quickly waved his hand and said
"It was nothing."
Zhou Yun Sheng didn't dare stay too long in this important military camp, he cupped his hands slightly and was about to take his leave when he suddenly turned back as he was walking out of the tent, asking,
"General, do you like smoking?"
"Yes, did the smell of tobacco on me offend Zhu Gongzi?"
Yucheng tugged the hem of his shirt in embarrassment.
"No, it's a very good smell."
Zhou Yun Sheng's lips hooked up slightly, then he sauntered away. In the past, he found the smell of tobacco very repugnant, only when he couldn't smell it anymore did he suddenly realize that he had already gotten used to it. That smell was especially comforting.
Yucheng's cheeks reddened, he only noticed that the Commander was standing in front of him with a dark face and malicious eyes when the other man had walked far away.
"You're not allowed to smoke anymore. Throw away your pipe as soon as you get back."
"Why?"
"Smoking too much is bad for your health, the cold weather makes you cough."
"But Commander, you smoke a lot more than I do."
"I quit after I lost my memory."
But now it was time to start smoking again.
Thinking of this, Qin Ce lowered his head and sniffed his arm, but he could only smell fresh soap, no tobacco flavor. He frowned, very upset.
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That night, the Middle army's thousands of soldiers suddenly surrounded the imperial city. They captured all 137 members of the Empress Dowager's family alive.
The Empress Dowager tried to take the child emperor hostage to break out of the siege, but discovered that the child emperor had disappeared. Her own son also appeared tied up at the entrance of Ci Ning Palace with two soldiers holding a sword to his neck.
The Empress Dowager was helpless, she had no choice but to be arrested.
Early the next morning, the mourning bell resounded inside and outside the imperial city. The fourth-generation Chu Yun Emperor had died, the throne was passed to the not yet five years old young crown prince.
The Middle Army commander Qin Ce, Left minister Yang Rong and Right minister Huang Bingwen were selected as regents to assist the imperial government.
The whole nation mourned for 3 months, after which the young crown prince ascended the throne, waived taxation, opened up the imperial examinations, and granted general amnesty to all citizens.
Then a torrential rain suddenly poured over the land, bringing salvation to the barely thousand li of Chu Yun Country. The people kowtowed towards the direction of the imperial palace, all saying that the child emperor was the true Dragon Emperor.
Having calmed down the imperial court, Qin Ce, who had already inherited the title of the Marquis of Shen Wei, led fifty thousand soldiers to Lou Shui to eliminate the bandits by order of the emperor, while his trusted aide was sent to the Zhang family with many gifts to express his gratitude.
Naturally, the previously sent grain and banknotes was not enough to buy back Qin Ce's life. This time, he added a lot of gold and silver, jewels and several deeds for villas, which were delivered with great fanfare to the Zhang family's door. He also invited a famous scholar to be Zhang Jia Rui's teacher.
The matter of the Zhang family saving the the Marquis of Shen Wei spread throughout the countryside. Those who used to bully the Zhang family were all retaliated on by Zhang Shu Lin and Zhang Jia Rui.
A month later, Zhang Jia Rui went to the capital to participate in the autumn examinations. He won sixth place with good results, then he immediately participated in the municipal civil service exams and passed brilliantly once again.
In the final court examinations, the child emperor heard of the Zhang family's kindness to Marquis Shen Wei, so he selected Zhang Jia Rui to be the third-place candidate.
This could really be described as 'My high horse proudly gallops with the gentle breeze of Spring. In one day, I see all Chang'an flow'rs that make my heart sing!'
The former Qing Min County magistrate was promoted to the governor of Zhao Prefecture for his achievement of protecting the emperor, and Zhang Jia Rui logically replaced his position, becoming the newly appointed county magistrate.
Zhang Jia Rui, who thought that he would remain in the Imperial Hanlin Academy, was very dissatisfied with this job.
He visited the Shen Wei Marquisate several times to try to improve relations, but he was not allowed to enter. He had no choice but to resentfully take the job.
But Zhang Shu Lin was very happy about this, thinking that, since his younger brother became the Qing Min County's local tyrant, he was free to flex his muscles without fear of offending any local bullies.
He planned to open a winery and specialize in brewing wine. Because Qing Min County had no large-scale cultivation of grapes, the acquisition costs might be very high, so he planned to buy a mountain to grow his own grapes.
After searching the vicinity of Qing Min County for a few days, he finally settled on a mountain. He sent someone to ask around and learned that the mountain belonged to the Zhu family, then he sent Zhu Zi Yu an oral message.
"It's not for sale."
Zhou Yun Sheng bluntly refused.
Zhang Shu Lin still didn't give up; he increased his reserve price by 10% and reported to the other party.
"I said it's not for sale."
Even if Zhou Yun Sheng was to let someone off lightly, it wouldn't be the Zhang family.
Zhang Shu Lin was helpless; he had no choice but to continue looking at more mountains. But the soil and water conditions of the other mountains were not as good as the Zhu family's, they wouldn't grow high-quality grapes. He was a fastidious Virgo, so he lost a lot of hair worrying about this.
"He refused to sell?"
When Zhang Jia Rui heard about this matter, he sneered,
"Then I'll personally drop by to talk to him."
As the saying goes, the river flows thirty years to the East, thirty years to the West, now that he was the local official of Qing Min County, who must not give him a bit of face? Zhu Zi Yu repeatedly rejected his older brother's request, this was simply blatantly slapping his face.
The county magistrate personally came to visit, even if Zhou Yun Sheng was getting fed up with this, he had no choice but to invite him in.
The two sat opposite each other, both not smiling on the inside.
"Zhu Gongzi, my big brother has his eye on that mountain, so name this price."
"You'll offer a price first?"
Zhou Yun Sheng took a small sip from his teacup.
"How about this number?"
Zhang Jia Rui extended his palm.
Zhou Yun Sheng immediately laughed,
"My Zhu family bought that mountain for eight hundred taels, and you hack off three hundred taels for me at once. Official Zhang, are you doing business, or are you openly robbing?"
Zhang Jia Rui narrowed his eyes and said,
"You give me a discount today, and I'll help you out some other day. This is mutually beneficial for us, it's pointless to talk about loses suffered. Zhu Gongzi is extremely smart, I'm sure you'll make the right choice."
As the saying goes, citizens shouldn't fight with officials. A small landlord wanting to compete with the county magistrate was like striking a stone with an egg. But Zhou Yun Sheng was very stubborn, the more he was pushed, the more he bounced back. He sneered,
"I have nothing to ask of you Official Zhang, mutual benefit is impossible. I'm not selling this mountain, so Official Zhang, if you please."
After saying this, he shook his sleeve to drive him out.
Zhang Jia Rui didn't expect him to be so unyielding, his complexion changed from red to white, then white to green. He said through gritted teeth,
"Zhu Gongzi, I hope you don't regret this decision later."
"What, you still want to use your power to oppress others? Suppressing the House of Benevolence praised by the Emperor, you'll have to find a good name before you can succeed, otherwise, beware of losing your black hat."
Zhou Yun Sheng pointed to the gold plaque bestowed by the emperor, which was enshrined in the main hall. It read 'House of Benevolence'. As long as he had this plaque, anyone who wanted to touch the Zhu family must first reconsider.
Zhang Jia Rui's anger was choked back by his words, he strode away with a purple face.
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T/N:
'My high horse proudly gallops with the gentle breeze of Spring. In one day, I see all Chang'an flow'rs that make my heart sing!' – Excerpt from poem called 'After Passing the Imperial Examinations' by Meng Jiao. It means that when something good happens, you easily forget all the troubles from before.
the river flows thirty years to the East, thirty years to the West – change is the only constant
black hat- black hat worn by officials