Chapter Thirteen: Reactions from All Parties, Filial Piety

  It was late at night, and almost everyone in Yang Jian's mansion had gotten drunk and was lying horizontally or vertically on the playground. Only Liang Xin was inexplicably getting more and more sober as he drank, until after everyone else had fallen to the ground, he alone was still holding a wine jug and shouting loudly: "Drink, drink, we won't leave until we're drunk, we won't leave until we're drunk..."

  Tonight the moon is in the sky, tonight I'll get drunk and sleep soundly, tonight... someone else can't fall asleep.

  Late at night, firecrackers were set off and loud noises filled the air. If this had happened in modern times, someone would have already called the police to complain. Not far from Yang Jie's mansion, several famous mansions in Bianjing City lit up their lights, including the current Grand Preceptor Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng, known as the "Hidden Prime Minister" of the Song Dynasty.

  Cai Jing walked into the courtyard wearing a long gown, and Wang Tong, the steward, hastened to meet him, preparing to support him: "Master, was it the firecrackers that woke you up?"

  Cai Jing waved his hand and said: "People get older, they sleep lightly, and a slight breeze will wake them up, it's nothing."

  Cai Jing, although old in years, was still quite spirited. He walked steadily to the side of the artificial hill, climbed a few steps onto the stone stairs and looked out, asking: "Wang Tong, shouldn't that be the fireworks set off by Yang Jie's household over there?"

  "It's the firecrackers set off at Young Master Yang's residence. I sent someone to investigate and they said it seems that Young Master Yang has just acknowledged a new godson, but they don't know his name yet."

  "What? Yang Jia has acknowledged a sworn son?" Cai Jing raised his right hand and stroked the whiskers under his chin, saying: "Yang Jia is a man of average learning, but he is deeply favored by the Emperor. In all these years, he has never taken in a sworn son, so how can he suddenly have one now? Ah, Wang Tong, didn't you receive news from the palace that the Emperor recently appointed a new imperial attendant?"

  "Yes, sir. The news says that the imperial attendant is quite young and his name is Liang Xin."

  "Liang Xin?" Cai Jing thought for a moment before saying: "Tomorrow morning, send a thick gift to Yang Gonggong's mansion on my behalf and say that I am congratulating him on the birth of his noble son. Also, make a copy of the gift for Yang Gonggong's adopted son."

  "Yes, sir." Wang Tong replied with a bow.

  On the other hand, Liang Shicheng's mansion was slightly closer to Yang Jie's mansion, so he knew what had happened in Yang Jie's family earlier than Cai Jing. The relationship between Liang Shicheng and Yang Jie cannot be said to be good or bad.

  Yang Jie served as the head of the Nei Shi Fang, the first eunuch in the palace, while Liang Shicheng was in charge of the Wenyi Temple's external library, responsible for transmitting imperial edicts. This was a lucrative position, and all imperial decrees passed through his hands before being promulgated to the world. Outsiders referred to him as the "Hidden Prime Minister". Among all eunuchs in the Song Dynasty, only Yang Jie could rival him, and even Tong Guan, who led the army on the frontier, looked up to him and Yang Jie.

  To be precise, Liang Shicheng and Yang Jie were like well water not offending river water. They occasionally cooperated on some matters, such as the Huacheng Gang case, although it was mainly managed by Yang Jie, but Liang Shicheng also made a profit from it.

  However, as the saying goes, one mountain cannot contain two tigers. The title of the first eunuch will forever belong to only one person, so no matter how Yang Jie and Liang Shicheng balance each other, there is still a certain competitive relationship between them.

  Upon learning that Yang Jia had acknowledged a son, Liang Shicheng and Cai Jing's reactions were almost identical, also instructing the housekeeper to prepare lavish gifts to go to Yang Jia's mansion to congratulate him. However, Liang Shicheng also casually ordered a sentence, letting the palace people pay attention to the newly promoted imperial attendant, if they can make friends with him, then make friends, if not, see if they can pull him down.

  Early in the morning, Liang Xin, who knew that playing a role should be done thoroughly, got up early and personally cooked "Hua Tuo sobering soup" for Yang Jia.

  Yang Jia just got out of bed, and Ren Hu brought a servant girl to bring over Liang Xin's hangover soup. Yang Jia had just finished washing up, and when he saw Ren Hu come in, he immediately asked: "Ren Hu, you got drunk last night, didn't you?"

  Ren Hu's face showed a hint of embarrassment as he nodded and said, "Indeed, I'm drunk. It's been a long time since I've gotten this drunk. But the young master has a great capacity for liquor, and even when he was on the verge of passing out, he still insisted on sending you to bed before collapsing."

  "Oh?" Yang Jia's heart was deeply moved, and he nodded: "Good child. By the way, how is Young Master now? Hasn't gotten out of bed yet? If not, don't disturb him, let him sleep a bit longer. Tell the kitchen to delay breakfast today, I'll eat with Young Master after he wakes up."

  "Where's Master, Young Master woke up early. Not only that, he even went to the pharmacy himself to grab some medicine and personally went to the kitchen to cook a hangover soup for you." Ren Hu smiled somewhat awkwardly and said: "This old slave overstepped his bounds and took advantage of Master's kindness to drink a bowl first. Young Master is truly divine, this old slave drank the soup and immediately sobered up, and didn't even have a headache anymore."

  "My dear son hasn't even gotten me up to make the hangover soup yet?" Yang Jia's heart warmed, and he immediately rubbed his hands together with a smile: "Come on, bring it over for our family to taste. My head is really hurting."

  The maid brought over the wake-up soup, and Yang Jian picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Because Liang Xin had added mint leaves to the soup, a refreshing feeling went straight from his mouth to his stomach, and then rushed to his head.

  Yang Jian took a deep breath and let it out, shouting with relish: "Great! This hangover soup is really good!" Yang Jian excitedly patted his own thigh and stood up, saying: "Ren Hu, come on, accompany me to see my precious son."

  "How dare the son let his adoptive father come to see me?" Liang Xin walked into Yang Jian's house, knelt down on one knee and said: "Father is above, the son has come to pay respects to you."

  "Get up, get up, no need to be so polite." Yang Jiaolong smiled so much that his mouth couldn't close, and he helped Liang Xin up. He looked at Liang Xin again and again, making Liang Xin's heart feel anxious, fearing that Yang Jiaolong was an old glass who had taken a liking to his "beauty". At this time, Yang Jiaolong looked at Liang Xin just like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, the more he looked, the more he liked. Yang Jiaolong patted Liang Xin's shoulder and said: "Let's go, you and I will go have breakfast."

  Breakfast was served in the main hall of Yang's mansion, where Yang Jian's twelve wives stood around the table in a semicircle to serve the two. Liang Xin politely greeted each of Yang Jian's twelve wives one by one, calling out: "First wife good morning, second wife good morning, third wife good morning..."

  The twelve wives and concubines also followed Liang Xin back to the house, each giving him a red envelope. The envelopes were thick, seemingly containing paper, which Liang Xin guessed was "qian yin". This "qian yin" was the earliest paper currency in Chinese history, previously called "jiao zi", later renamed by Song Huizong as "qian yin".

  The breakfast atmosphere was warm and harmonious, with Yang Jian constantly serving dishes to Liang Xin, who kept thanking him and returning the favor, the two of them going back and forth like a loving father and son. The only drawback was that there were twelve nominal "mothers" watching him eat breakfast, making Liang Xin feel extremely awkward inside.

  After finishing breakfast, Liang Xin pretended to care about Yang Jia and took his pulse instead. As it turned out, Liang Xin actually diagnosed that Yang Jia's body had an illness.

  "Uncle, I'd like to ask you something. Have you been experiencing dizziness and tinnitus lately, as well as headaches and facial flushing? Are you easily irritated? Also, have you had palpitations and insomnia, and do you get dizzy when you're tired?"

  "Ah, wonderful!" Yang Jiaolong excitedly patted his thigh and said: "Son, the symptoms you just mentioned, I have them all. The imperial physicians in the palace also saw me, they were all as you described. They prescribed me several doses of medicine, which I drank, but none of it had any effect. A group of incompetent doctors!"

  Li Xiang smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Uncle. Your body is very healthy, it's just that you have a bit of liver yang rising and some qi and blood deficiency. I'll write two prescriptions for you, ask Ren Daguai to go to the pharmacy and get them filled, take them for three to five times and you'll be cured. Also, I'll give you two acupuncture treatments later, guaranteed to make you feel refreshed immediately."

  "Great! With a son like you in our family, we don't have to worry about getting sick." Yang Jiaolong exclaimed excitedly.

  Li Xiang smiled and shook his head, saying: "Uncle, what are you talking about? Uncle's body is healthy and will definitely be free from illness. But uncle can also rest assured, with a son like me taking care of you, you'll live to be a hundred years old."

  "Alright." Yang Jian patted Liang Xin's shoulder and said, "I'll leave this old body entirely in your hands, haha..."

  As soon as Yang Jian's words fell, two doormen walked in, each holding a delicate brocade box. The doorman said: "Master, young master. The doorman just received congratulations from Cai Taishi and Liang Gonggong, a total of four gifts. Two of them are congratulating Master on the birth of his noble son, and two are congratulating Young Master on becoming the young master of the Yang family."

  "Hmm, these two old guys are quite well-informed, aren't they?" Yang Jia sneered and said: "Give all four gifts to the young master, and also, Yan Hu, take out the gift I prepared for Xiang Er."

  "It's the old master." Ren Hu responded and retreated, not long after he entered the house and brought out a wooden box to hand over to Yang Jiaolong. Yang Jiaolong handed the wooden box to Liang Xin.

  Liang Xin took over the wooden box and didn't rush to open it, but first thanked him: "Thank you, Uncle."

  Yang Jian waved his hand and said: "No need to thank me, take it back to the house and have a look. I hope those two old guys won't be too stingy with their hands."