The Sixty-Eighth Year of Yong’an.
Late tenth month. The frost fell.
The weather turned cold as another year drew to a close.
Lu Mingyuan stood by the window of his bedchamber in Qingzhu Hall. He watched the setting sun paint the dusk sky as autumn leaves drifted down, silently counting the months since he had crossed over into this world.
"One year and two months. It’s already been over a year, just like that."
He murmured to himself, then sat down and poured a pot of hot tea, picking up the Great Yan Mansion Report from the table.
The Imperial Court had been unusually lively recently. The Princess Jinwu had arrived and singled out the Seventh Prince. The story was that her convoy had been attacked by bandits on the road, and she had nearly lost her life. Fortunately, a noble person had co to her aid. So of the transported weapons and armor were lost, and a flag from the Yunwan Comrce Association was conveniently found nearby, along with wheel ruts matching the specific width of the Capital City’s official roads. It was clearly a deliberate fra-up.
The Cabinet took this matter extrely seriously, imdiately summoning Prince Langya, Lu Yunwan, to court for a confrontation.
Lu Yunwan, for his part, looked completely dumbfounded. He claid to know nothing about it, saying he would never dare to sche for the Court’s weaponry, not even if he had the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard.
The Princess pointed out that the lead bandit was a monk with thick eyebrows and large eyes, suggesting a connection to the many monks under Lu Yunwan’s command.
Lu Yunwan argued that such childish words could not be used as testimony and that there was no necessary connection between the two.
The Princess, unhurried, brought up a righteous warrior nad "Yang Jian" and recounted a conversation between them.
The Court summoned this "Yang Jian," but the Bright Lamp Bureau could never find the so-called master, and the case reached a stalemate.
Reading this, Lu Mingyuan clicked his tongue. ’Looks like my doppelgänger can’t make an appearance for a while,’ he thought. ’I’ll have to lay low and let this blow over.’
In the end, the Court discovered a large amount of smuggled ironware in the cellar of the Langya Royal Mansion, along with many other contraband items, including yeast for brewing, armor from the Golden Crow Country... and so on.
According to Great Yan Law, for a rchant to privately brew and sell alcohol without a special certification from the Court was a capital offense, punishable by beheading.
Furthermore, massive floods had subrged most of the farmland this year, making grain scarce. Fortunately, the granaries in various regions were full, but the next year was sure to be one of famine. Therefore, the Court had already essentially banned brewing to conserve grain and cope with the coming food crisis.
During such a critical ti, any rchant caught brewing privately would absolutely face the extermination of their entire family.
Not only did Lu Yunwan secretly brew alcohol and sell it for profit throughout the states and counties of Great Yan, but he also had his eyes on Golden Crow ironware. He had undoubtedly crossed the Court’s bottom line.
This was all within Lu Mingyuan’s expectations.
He had arranged everything long ago. He’d diverted the trouble from the Golden Crow Country toward Lu Yunwan, having his Shadow Warriors deliver the intercepted ironware to Prince Jin’s Mansion. Prince Jin’s Mansion then moved the batch of ironware into the Langya Royal Mansion.
He just hadn’t expected the pleasant surprise that Lu Yunwan had so many dirty secrets of his own.
Besides smuggling, he also evaded taxes, bribed officials from top to bottom, used his connections to suppress other rchants, and was deeply corrupt, forming a vast, monopolistic network of influence.
For so much to be uncovered at once, involving so many people and matters, was nothing short of an earthquake.
The Advisory Platform Bureau and the Ministry of Revenue jointly impeached Prince Langya, Lu Yunwan, on more than ten charges, including tax evasion amounting to over a hundred million silver, smuggling iron and alcohol, and human trafficking.
The Yunwan Comrce Association headquarters in the Imperial Capital was seized by the Bright Lamp Bureau. Its various branches and nurous subordinate industries couldn’t escape involvent and were all subjected to strict investigation.
With the Court in dire need of funds, encountering a case that practically handed them money ant they would naturally prosecute it with great fanfare. There could be no leniency, sparking a massive, sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
Officials all across Great Yan were terrified.
Lu Mingyuan felt that Lu Yunwan was incredibly unlucky, but since he wasn’t clean himself, he couldn’t bla anyone else.
However, there was one point that concerned him.
This sche’s fuse had been lit by Prince Jin, Lu Guangjing.
If the plan succeeded and they drove the Seventh Prince to his death, wouldn’t that just benefit Lu Guangjing?
He had been thinking about this question even before carrying out the mission to fra the Seventh Prince, especially after learning that failure would cause Lu Guangjing’s Realm to drop.
So, ever since returning from Luo Ying’s, he had been pondering how to change the outco of this affair.
The Yang Jian persona’s mission was complete, so he didn’t have to worry about Prince Jin’s scrutiny for now. The next step was to consider how to manage the endga.
It wasn’t that he wanted to save Lu Yunwan, but rather that he wanted to find a way to prevent Lu Guangjing from advancing his Realm so smoothly.
The key still lay with Lu Yunwan.
Although his opponent had suffered a great loss of Primordial Qi in this battle, he was still a prince. As long as he wasn’t accused of treason or "cleansing the sovereign’s side," his cris weren’t punishable by death. Still, one could imagine how devastated Lu Yunwan would be. It would be a wonder if his heart didn’t bleed after seeing his life’s work seized by the Court.
Lu Mingyuan didn’t think that seizing the Seventh Prince’s industries and his comrce association was the right decision.
Doing so would lead to mass unemploynt among tenant workers and sever entire supply chains.
The industries managed by the Yunwan Comrce Association were already inextricably linked to the common people and cultivators of Great Yan. Shutting them down rashly would only cause the Great Yan economy to collapse.
Many marketplaces would suspend operations, shops would close, commoners would lose their jobs, and construction on temples and houses would halt, leading to an economic crisis.
It would be just like the collapse of a certain giant real estate company in his previous life, causing widespread public panic.
Right now, the Great Yan Court was only thinking about how to squeeze more money out of Lu Yunwan to fill the huge deficit in silver created by the border war. They paid no attention to the closed shops and unemployed commoners. Even when taking over his assets, they only chose the most profitable industries, like textiles, silks, tea, and furs, viewing many other businesses as dispensable.
In reality, this was a latent risk.
The slightest misstep could cause Great Yan to suffer a great loss of its vital energy.
No matter how he looked at it, Lu Mingyuan felt that making Lu Guangjing suffer a setback was a good thing, beneficial both to himself and to the people.
’Good,’ he thought. ’Yang Jian and Fa Hai can disappear for a while. It’s ti for the third doppelgänger to be born.’
Lu Mingyuan chuckled softly, and his fingertips twitched.
Before him, a new Shadow Warrior materialized.
Sending this new doppelgänger to stir up conflict between Lu Guangjing and Lu Yunwan would definitely be a good thing.
Just as Lu Mingyuan was thinking this, a graceful figure arrived in the courtyard of Qingzhu Hall and knocked on the bedchamber door.
"Little Uncle, are you busy?"
It was none other than the voice of Princess Consort Zhao, Yang Yingchan.
"Sister-in-law, please co in."
Lu Mingyuan called out, and the Shadow Warrior in his hand instantly dissipated.
The woman who entered had her dark hair coiled high, adorned with magnificent vermilion and jade gold hairpins. She wore a light and flowing crimson silk dress and twirled a verdant embroidered handkerchief in her hand. The sway of her skirt seed to flutter straight into his heart.
Yang Yingchan’s eyes, beneath her willow-leaf brows, were like a clear spring. She looked at Lu Mingyuan sowhat timidly and whispered, "Little Uncle hasn’t called for to read with you recently. Your Highness must have been too busy. So... should we still read at night in the future?"
"Of course, we’ll read. Why wouldn’t we?"
Lu Mingyuan smiled and gestured for her to take a seat.
But before Yang Yingchan’s seat was even warm, another knock sounded at the door.
"Lu Lang, I’ve brought Little Sister Huo to pay her respects."
The mont Lu Mingyuan heard the voice, he knew it was Qi Muxue.
He glanced at Yang Yingchan, who was right in front of him, and sucked in a sharp breath, a difficult expression appearing on his face.
Yang Yingchan’s eyes were also on him. Seeing his reaction, a flicker of disappointnt dimd her gaze.
Lu Mingyuan steeled himself and said, "Co in."
’I haven’t done anything wrong,’ he thought. ’What’s there to be nervous about?’
’It’s just reading a few books, cultivating one’s sentints, that’s all.’
A mont later, Qi Muxue, wrapped in a fluffy white cloak, entered the hall, pulling Huo Hongling, who was dressed in a long red skirt, by her delicate hand. Qi Muxue had been looking quite happy, a smile on her face.
But when she saw the exquisitely featured, mature-looking Yang Yingchan sitting there, her expression clearly froze for a second.
Huo Hongling had the sa reaction.
The three won’s eyes t. Qi Muxue was the first to speak. "This lady must be His Highness’s sister-in-law. My surna is Qi, and my given na is Muxue. I am..."
Lu Mingyuan cut in, "This prince’s wife."
Qi Muxue shyly acquiesced.
"I have long heard of Princess Consort Qi’s great na." Yang Yingchan showed no alarm, her expression calm as she gave a small smile.
Her gaze shifted to the uncomfortable-looking Huo Hongling, and she nodded in greeting.
"And Princess Consort Huo as well."
Qi Muxue walked to the desk and looked at Yang Yingchan’s notes on martial arts. The characters were crooked and not at all well-written.
"What are you two...?"
"Little Uncle said my cadence is well-suited for reading aloud, so he often invites here to discuss martial arts."
Yang Yingchan racked her brains to co up with a plausible explanation.
"I see."
Qi Muxue gave a faint smile, let go of Huo Hongling’s hand, gathered her sleeves, and picked up a calligraphy brush. She said to Lu Mingyuan,
"Lu Lang, why be such a stranger? Transcribing martial arts, reading aloud, grinding ink... I can do all of that just as well. Why trouble Sister-in-law?"
She pulled back her sleeve, lifted the brush, and began to copy the characters on the page one by one. Her calligraphy was perfectly ford, exuding a stately grace; it was truly the work of a master. The contrast made the difference in skill obvious. As expected of the Imperial Capital’s number one talent, anyone else’s handwriting paled in comparison to Qi Muxue’s.
Lu Mingyuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "This is too much work. I couldn’t possibly trouble you, my lady."
Beside them, Yang Yingchan looked slightly embarrassed. "My handwriting must be a laughable sight to Lady Qi."
She had learned to write late in life, as she had always focused on martial training. Her characters were barely legible and certainly not attractive; she couldn’t compare to Qi Muxue.
Qi Muxue smiled magnanimously. "It’s nothing. There are techniques to calligraphy; it isn’t that difficult. As long as you grasp the thods, I’m sure Madam Yang can write well too."
Huo Hongling, who had been silent all this ti, was flipping through a large stack of martial arts manuals on the desk, a keen light flashing in her eyes from ti to ti.
"I never thought... my husband would have so many martial arts manuals here. They’re all from the major sects of Great Yan. In the outside world, these would be priceless treasures."
"It seems Little Sister Huo has also studied martial arts deeply," Qi Muxue said. "Perfect. Since we have nothing else to do at the mont, why don’t the three of us work together to organize these martial arts manuals for His Highness? Seeing this study in such a ss is quite vexing."
"Alright."
"Mm, no problem."
Both of them agreed.
Qi Muxue took charge and quickly assigned tasks.
Yang Yingchan was responsible for reading aloud, Huo Hongling for categorizing, and she herself for writing and taking notes.
After she finished writing a section, she would occasionally instruct Yang Yingchan on the proper force and technique for calligraphy, thoroughly enjoying her role as a teacher. Yang Yingchan, knowing this was a rare opportunity, studied very seriously. She asked questions whenever she didn’t understand, showing no restraint, reading and writing as she went.
Lu Mingyuan sat to the side, watching the three won, feeling like he was the superfluous one. He felt rather left out.
...
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