Chapter 61: CH 52

Yu She had already learned how shameless and stubborn Zhong Wan could be when he had interrogated those officials originally from Qian An earlier.

Yu She was stubborn too. He clearly knew that Zhong Wan had had a difficult time during those years, but still wanted to ask exactly how difficult things had been. 

Those two officials were from poor families. They didn’t have any important connections and were also timid. After being summoned by Yu She, they freaked out. At first, they answered whatever questions they were asked, not daring to keep any secrets at all.

In order to cover things up for Zhong Wan, Yu She needed an excuse. He purposefully guided the conversation,  implying instead of interrogating, “Was that money actually from bribes, or was it money that Prince Qian An originally should have received from taxes?”

Yu She had originally planned to give these officials a way out. This way, they wouldn’t get dragged into the mess and try to put all the blame on Zhong Wan. He came up with an excuse for the two of them, but unexpectedly, these two little officials exchanged glances after hearing his question and trembled while answering, “How perceptive, my Lord! Qian An is located near the borders. The land is barren, so couldn’t afford to keep a princely estate in the first place. A few years ago, there was a great calamity followed by a terrible drought. For many years, the citizens of Qian An have relied on the Court’s relief funds to live. Where would we collect tax money from? When this lowly official was in office, I spent all my days in fear, living on thin ice. I didn’t dare to forcefully collect taxes from the commoners, but also didn’t dare to mistreat Prince. I honestly had no other option!”

The other little official continuously kowtowed too. “Qian An was fortunate to be blessed by the Heavens; we were graced with a prince. Originally, we ought to have treated him as well as we could, but the deficit over so many years was honestly too great. It’s true that the financial resources of the people were lacking. This lowly official had no other choice but to sell my ancestral properties in order to make up for the taxes! Unexpectedly, I’ve now been blamed for such things. My Lord, please investigate carefully!” 

Yu She scoffed. These people really knew how to please.

It was true that Qian An was poor, but not to the point that they couldn’t afford to pay for Prince Qian An’s estate. It just so happened to be that these people had been permitted by the capital to act in this manner. Secondly, they wanted to maintain their distance and keep Prince Qian An’s estate at an arm’s length.

Yu She was too lazy to treat them seriously. “So that means the situation of Prince Qian An privately colluding with local officials is even more implausible…”

“Exactly so!” The little official hurriedly nodded. “At the time, Prince Qian An was only ten or so. He had just gotten to Qian An, so was slightly unused to the new environment. He never left the estate. We lowly officials waited to see the prince but weren’t allowed to! Thus, we lowly officials could only give the silver…give the tax money to Zhong Wan from the prince’s estate in private.”

Yu She narrowed his eyes. He coldly said, “Did he find you guys first or did you guys take the initiative to find him?”

The two little officials paused before saying, “It was Young Master Zhong…who asked us about the taxes first.”

Yu She calmly stated, “A long time had passed, yet you guys still hadn’t given them their tax money, causing them to not have enough food. In exasperation, he could only lower his head to you people.”

The little official hurriedly kowtowed incessantly. 

Yu She inhaled deeply. Since he planned to mislead this case, he couldn’t continue asking questions.

However, when he looked at these people, he thought of the difficulties Zhong Wan had encountered in the past. Yu She honestly couldn’t keep his rage in check.

He couldn’t keep interrogating them for Zhong Wan’s case, but he could start another case and investigate them under someone else’s name.

Yu She asked, seemingly casually, “If even the Prince’s estate couldn’t collect any taxes, what about the other officials in Qian An? The salary of local officials have traditionally been collected from their own lands. How did you guys take care of this?” 

The little official was speechless.

They naturally couldn’t cut off the officials’ salaries.

Only, if they now said that the local officials were wealthy, but Prince Qian An’s estate didn’t have enough money for food, that would be like slapping their own faces.

A little official stuttered out, “The Court gives spring and winter bonuses every year…” 

Yu She scoffed.

The other little official hurriedly said, “This lowly official has remembered! W-we once asked Zhong Wan this question too. During the good years, when there were surplus crops, we would ask if we should take some silver from this surplus and subsidize the other officials. But Zhong Wan said, said…”

Yu She had long since gotten tired of listening to them say these useless things. He shouted, “What did he say?!”

The little official’s voice trembled. “Zhong Wan s-said… He said that with the status of the other officials’ estates, they didn’t need those few silver ingots. If we sent them over, that would mean we looked down upon them!” 

The other little official suddenly remembered too. He continued, “Yes yes yes. It was Zhong Wan himself who said it! Since those lords had come to take up official positions in Qian An, that meant that they definitely didn’t care about the minimal pay. They had come here purely for fun and didn’t care about silver or money. If we were determined to bring them silver, we might accidentally anger them into quitting.”

The little official added, still shivering, “Yes. Zhong Wan also said that if we gave anyone silver, that would mean we looked down upon them. After he said such a thing, we lowly officials… didn’t dare to act even if we wanted to. We could only give all the silver to Prince Qian An’s estate.”

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At the time, Yu She hadn’t expected that one hour later, Zhong Wan would be shamelessly sticking to him again.

Since morning court, Yu She had been dealing with these problems for Zhong Wan. He was both physically and emotionally fatigued. Yet in the end, he still needed to send someone to his own estate to retrieve money.

It was only three thousand silver ingots. The privileged and affluent Young Prince Yu didn’t care about the amount at all, but he was unable to stomach this anger! 

Why did he have to?!

Meanwhile, Steward Feng and the family soldier in charge of being the messenger seemed to be deliberately acting dense. Their questions wouldn’t stop!

After the family soldier brought the silver tickets over, he innocently and stubbornly asked, “Steward Feng asked this subordinate what Heir is spending all this money on. This way, he can more easily write a memo. This subordinate told the steward that it’s ransom for an accused official. Thus, the steward asked again, Why does Heir, as the head of Dali Temple, need to pay back the bribes on behalf of the accused official after judging the case?’ Consequently, this subordinate answered again…”

Yu She’s voice was ice cold. “Shut up.” 

The family soldier innocently snapped his mouth shut.

Off to the side, Zhong Wan’s shoulders slightly trembled. He did his absolute best to hold himself back.

Yu She was so angry that his tone had changed. He muttered, “IOU… Write me an IOU! You must.”

Zhong Wan was surprisingly obedient. He didn’t dare to deny anything again and took two steps forward to carefully write out an IOU using Yu She’s brush and ink. He even left a handprint. 

Yu She folded the IOU up and put it away, slightly more comforted in his heart.

Yu She rubbed his sore neck. He felt that today’s occurrences were completely illogical. He furrowed his brows and said in a low voice, “Return to the estate.”

Yu She stood up and walked outside. Zhong Wan followed behind him, step for step.

He exited Dali Temple. Zhong Wan, who had paid back all the bribery funds and wrapped up his case, exited too. 

Yu She got into his own horse carriage. Zhong Wan hurriedly crawled in after him.

“What are you coming up here for?” Yu She finally couldn’t take it anymore. He angrily said, “Do I still have to make an extra trip to take you back to Prince Qian An’s estate? Don’t push me too far!”

Zhong Wan froze for a moment. He softly said, “I’m returning to your estate with you.”

Yu She blanked. “Why are you coming to my estate?” 

Zhong Wan pressed his lips together. “I… Just now, I became indebted to you.”

Yu She was bewildered. “What does that mean? Do all debtors these days need to live in their creditors’ homes to eat their food and drink their water?”

While Yu She’s mind was still muddled from anger, Zhong Wan wildly made up an excuse. “But don’t those who sell themselves to bury their fathers leave with their new owners after receiving the money?”

Yu She had never met someone who sold themself to bury their father. He pondered for a bit. Zhong Wan took this opportunity to scurry inside the horse carriage. 

Thus, Zhong Wan managed to fool his way into the side courtyard of Prince Yu’s estate.

After entering the side courtyard, Yu She went off to take a nap alone. He forbade Zhong Wan from following him. Zhong Wan was greeted by Steward Feng, who was overjoyed, and led to the little courtyard he had stayed in as a youth.

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Zhong Wan even very familiarly asked Steward Feng for a favor. He wanted Steward Feng to send a message to Prince Qian An’s estate for him.

Naturally, Steward Feng was willing. 

Zhong Wan gathered his wits and wrote a letter to Xuan Congxin. He didn’t go into great detail, only telling her that he was already out of trouble and was temporarily staying at an old friend’s home. When he had time, he would return to visit.

He stuffed another piece of paper into the envelope too. This contained the words he wanted to say to Lin Si.

Though he knew that there was an 80% chance that Tang Ming had already run off, he still needed to investigate. Zhong Wan wasn’t incessantly kind to everyone. This time, Tang Ming had laid a death trap. If anything hadn’t gone according to plan, he would’ve ended up dead; Xuan Rui wouldn’t have been able to escape either. Now, things were resolved, but all because Yu She had vouched for him. Tang Ming, the old thing, still deserved to die.

Zhong Wan didn’t write out his name explicitly, but Lin Si would definitely know who he was talking about. He told Lin Si that there was no need to have mercy. The cleaner the cut, the better. 

After sending the letter, Zhong Wan leaned against his bed and scoffed at himself.

This was supposed to be his shixiong.

After so many years, this wasn’t the first time his heart had felt so cold. Zhong Wan had a big heart. He only remembered the good about Prince and Princess Consort Ning. Because of this, he could suffer through any hardships. However, everytime he remembered that this was someone Old Imperial Preceptor Shi had left for him, slight disappointment would rise from the bottom of his heart.

The one who had harmed him had been the trusted aide Shi Jin had left him. The one who had saved him had been… 

Full of cheer, Steward Feng brought Zhong Wan’s change of clothes over. Zhong Wan thanked him and asked, “Where’s Heir?”

“Resting.” There was a big smile on Steward Feng’s face. “Young Master Zhong is truly a good luck charm. As soon as you’ve arrived, Heir’s temperament changed. Just now, he ordered me to wake him up each time morning court is scheduled to be held. He’s planning to attend punctually from now on.”

The smile on Zhong Wan’s face froze.

As expected, Emperor Chongan never showed mercy without a reason. 

He had been easily let off the hook not because of those three thousand silver ingots, but because Yu She had reached a compromise with Emperor Chongan.

Steward Feng noticed that Zhong Wan’s expression seemed off. He asked, “What’s wrong? Isn’t this a good thing?”

Zhong Wan nodded. “It is… it is a good thing.”

In a soft voice, he asked, “Can I go see Heir?” 

Steward Feng laughed dryly. “Maybe wait until nighttime? Truth be told… Heir’s expression didn’t seem that great just now.”

Then Steward Feng whispered, “Heir’s headache has already started. No matter what you tell him now, he won’t remember.”

Zhong Wan furrowed his brows. “Headache?”

“An old health problem.” Steward Feng sighed. “He had this problem from the start. After great joy or sorrow, his mood fluctuates greatly. The imperial doctors looked over him, but the symptoms didn’t get better. After he had eaten that harmful poison, it became even worse… When it starts, he gets a headache. Sometimes, it seems like he can’t hear what other people are saying too clearly. Usually during these times, he’s bound to throw a temper tantrum. Heir also knows that when his brain’s a mess, he’ll take out his anger on others. Everytime this happens, he’ll usually go lay down alone and wait for himself to calm down before coming out again.” 

Zhong Wan’s heart tightened. “The imperial doctors don’t have any other solutions?”

“There aren’t any good solutions. Medicine is useless. Previously, the imperial doctors said that this problem requires maintaining a calm mood for years to heal properly.” Steward Feng chuckled bitterly. “Isn’t that useless? Given Heir’s circumstance, how could it be possible for him to remain calm for so long?”

“Then I’m supposed to leave him alone?” Zhong Wan sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll go check on him."

“Don’t!” shouted Steward Feng, instantly stopping him. “You’re finally visiting. Young Master, are you planning on getting into an argument with Heir? Wait a bit, seriously. It doesn’t look to be that bad today. Let Heir rest awhile by himself. He should be better in the evening.” 

Zhong Wan stood up. “I won’t argue with him.”

“Who dares to argue with Heir? But when he’s like this, he’s capable of saying anything! He says whatever is most hurtful. A few days ago, he got into an argument with Princess Royal. Doesn’t Princess Royal let Heir have his way enough? Even she couldn’t keep herself from slapping Heir across the face.” Steward Feng was worried that Zhong Wan would become angry and run off because of something Yu She, who wasn’t in the right state of mind, would say. He hurriedly persuaded, “Listen to me. Wait four hours…”

Zhong Wan gently pushed Steward Feng. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave no matter what he says.”

When Zhong Wan entered Yu She’s room, Yu She was lying on the bed, eyes closed. One of his hands was holding onto a storybook and resting off to the side, while the other covered his face. 

Zhong Wan softly walked closer. All of a sudden, Yu She opened his eyes; upon realizing that it was Zhong Wan, he closed them again, then turned around so his back was facing the other.

Zhong Wan approached even closer. He sat beside the other and suddenly said, “Heir, about the silver…”

Yu She ignored Zhong Wan.

Quite a while later, Yu She seemed to want Zhong Wan to leave. He perfunctorily stated, “Do you not even get a monthly wage at Prince Qian An’s estate? Save it. When you save enough, pay me back.” 

Zhong Wan paused, before saying, “I actually don’t. There’s not much I need to spend on anyways. If I really need to use money, I can simply take some from the estate’s account.”

Yu She scoffed. “Then isn’t your life truly great. Any random servant has it better than you.”

Zhong Wan got refuted, but didn’t really feel anything. After a brief silence, he stubbornly started again, “The silver…”

As soon as Yu She thought of how horrible Zhong Wan’s life had been these past few years, he wanted to throw a tantrum. Extremely agitated, he furrowed his brows and lowly said, “Get out.” 

Zhong Wan seemed to have not heard. He pleasantly said, “How about, we come to an agreement?”

Yu She paused for a moment. “What agreement?”

Zhong Wan’s ears flushed red. “You know, using something else to make up for the money. For example… each kiss can be used to pay back some silver, okay?”

It was uncertain if the thickness of Zhong Wan’s skin had shocked Yu She. For a lengthy interval, he didn’t speak. 

A long time later, Yu She opened his completely bloodshot eyes. “How much silver is one kiss worth?”

Zhong Wan put up two fingers.

Yu She scoffed. “Two hundred ingots?”

Zhong Wan spoke very softly, “Two qian.” 

Yu She: “…”

Was he planning to give kisses until the next lifetime?

Zhong Wan sat on the bed, extremely close to Yu She. “I’m scared that I won’t ever be able to finish repaying you. How about… we hurry it up?”

Zhong Wan made to kiss Yu She. Yu She slightly turned his face to the side to avoid him. 

Zhong Wan felt a bit awkward.

Yu She hesitated for a moment. “If you open your mouth, I’ll consider it worth three qian.”

Zhong Wan didn’t understand. “What three qian? Isn’t it… wu…"

Yu She yanked Zhong Wan over, the latter landing on the former’s body. He lay in Yu She’s embrace. This posture was quite indecent. He tried to prop himself up with his arm, so placed a hand on Yu She’s leg. Yu She gently pushed his arm away. 

Yu She furrowed his brows, displeased at how much Zhong Wan was struggling. In one move, he twisted Zhong Wan’s arm behind his back and completely trapped the other in his arms. After this, he finally felt a bit more pleased. He lowered his head and kissed the other, separating Zhong Wan’s lips and teeth, spending a long time taking back that three qian of debt.

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