Chapter Six: Deciding on a Plan

  A cup of hot tea, a warm fur coat, and Zhu Yinglong immediately felt the deep affection of the woman behind him. He had married three princesses at once, except for the innocent Ye Liangwei who was unaware, Zhou Yuning and Tian Shuying had already developed strong feelings for him. Zhu Yinglong gave them unprecedented respect and love, as well as a rare freedom that women in this time period seldom had. In this male-dominated society, such respect and love made them happy, especially when Zhu Yinglong allowed them to do what they liked. This was something few men in this era could do, making them feel both the tenderness under a man's dominance and the dominance within tenderness.

  Zhu Yinglong gently lifted his head to look, and the person behind him was his legitimate wife Zhou Tianning. The delicate and rosy little face showed a sweet smile as she looked at him. Zhu Yinglong turned around and quietly grasped the icy small hand of the beauty, saying with concern: "Ning'er, it's so late, why haven't you slept yet? What are you doing here?"

  Zhou Yingning's faint smile made Zhu Yinglong momentarily infatuated, and he only heard the beauty softly scolding in his ear: "Your Highness, you're not sleeping either?"

  "Anything wrong?" Zhu Yinglong asked softly, while pulling the beauty to his side, gazing at her deeply.

  "Hmm." Zhou Yining's beautiful little face suddenly turned red, and she lowered her head, subconsciously responding.

  "What's going on that you're coming to find me so late, Ning'er?" Zhu Yinglong felt that Zhou Tingning's behavior tonight was somewhat off, and asked in surprise.

  "Does the king not like me and my sisters Shu Ying and Lian Yi?" Zhou Yining summoned up her courage, lifted her head, and asked seriously with a straight gaze into Zhu Ying Long's eyes.

  "How could this be? Ning Er, how could you think of this?" Zhu Ying Long asked in surprise, wondering to himself that he had always been good to the three girls and had never said anything unpleasant!

  "From the day we got married, why has Wang Ye never shared a bed with us sisters?" Zhou Tingning's voice was barely audible by the end, indeed, asking such an embarrassing question was quite humiliating.

  Zhu Yinglong suddenly realized, patted himself on the head, scolding himself for being stupid. He had only considered his own thoughts and forgotten about the feelings of the three women. In his heart, he was scolding himself for being so foolish. He should have explained things to them earlier. So, with a apologetic tone, he said: "Ning'er, it's not that I don't want to share a bed with you all, but rather that we are all still young and shouldn't get involved in romantic affairs too early, or else we will suffer harm to our bodies and minds, which would be a pity. Sorry, I didn't consider your feelings!"

  As soon as this apology came out, Zhou Yining's pretty face turned red, and she lowered her head and said in a mosquito-like voice: "Your Highness, I understand."

  Zhu Yinglong saw her under the candlelight, shy and awkward, with a small cherry-red mouth and a slender waist like a willow branch. He couldn't help but feel moved by her charm. He reached out to grasp Zhou Tingning's small hand, pulled her in front of him, and sat her on his lap. He blurted out: "Ning'er, don't worry, you'll eventually become this king's true wife."

  Zhou Yingning was suddenly extremely embarrassed, although she had gotten used to being hugged and held, but such explicit words were the first time she heard Zhu Yinglong say them. The stimulation of the words combined with her physical reaction made Zhou Yingning feel like her whole body was soft and weak, her face burning hot, and she didn't have any strength to get up from leaning against Zhu Yinglong's chest.

  Zhu Yinglong didn't make any further moves, he was afraid of losing control of himself. Physically, he was only about fifteen years old, but mentally, he was already twenty-five years old. Both sides were still virgins, and with Rouran in his arms, he wasn't like Liu Xiahui; his self-control had already become quite weak.

  Zhu Yinglong's heart skipped a beat, and he asked: "Ning Er, why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

  Zhou Yingning said in a voice that only Zhu Yinglong could hear: "There's a rumor going around that the prince likes..."

  "What's your pleasure? Are you saying that I, the king, like men?" Zhu Yinglong opened his mouth wide, still disbelieving.

  "Mm." Zhou Yingning slightly squirmed in Zhu Yinglong's arms, her face deeply buried in his chest, and softly said, it was so comfortable to be in the arms of someone she liked.

  "What are they all saying? Ning Er, tell this king everything!" Zhu Ying's face suddenly darkened, his eyes clouding over with anger.

  "Your Highness, I also just randomly heard it, maybe it's a rumor, can't be true? Moreover, I also know..." Zhou Yining saw the anger on Zhu Yinglong's face and regretted saying it out loud, so she quickly added, but when she said it to the end, she couldn't help but look up at Zhu Yinglong's earlobe, her words were an admission that she had a crush on Zhu Yinglong, but she didn't know if he felt the same way about her. Although she was being held by him and they were intimate, women are emotional creatures and need to hear it from the man himself to feel secure, this is true everywhere in the world!

  "Rumors, Ning Er, do you know how terrible the effect of spreading false information can be? If it's not stopped in time, soon everyone under heaven will know that I, the king, have a fondness for men!" Zhu Yinglong felt a headache coming on. He hadn't yet gotten rid of his foolish and infatuated nature, and now he had developed a taste for handsome young men. His bad luck just kept going on and on!

  This made Zhu Yinglong even more sleepless, got up to send Zhou Tingning back to her room to rest, and asked Xu Yingyuan to call Xiong Zhaoqian. Such an important matter, rumors had already reached his wife's ears, yet Anying was not making a single move, how could it not make Zhu Yinglong extremely angry?

  "Brother Xiong, have there been any discussions about me outside recently?" Zhu Yinglong suppressed the anger in his heart and calmly asked Xiong Zhaoyun, who had hurried over.

  Xiong Zhaoken's heart skipped a beat, and he felt uneasy, thinking that being summoned so late at night wouldn't be for something trivial. He replied nervously: "Reporting to Your Highness, it's just the usual matters, nothing special."

  "Oh, is it?" Zhu Yinglong deliberately lengthened his voice, and his face suddenly sank.

  "Your Highness, I've been busy setting up the Shadow recently and haven't heard any rumors about you." Xiong Zhuoqun thought carefully for a moment, but really couldn't think of anything, so he answered truthfully.

  Zhu Yinglong also let out a sigh of relief, looking at Xiong Zhaoqi's bewildered face, guessing that he really didn't know, thinking to himself that he was too impatient. The Dark Shadow had just been established, how could it be perfect from the start? He wasn't so angry anymore, and his tone became more gentle: "Since that's the case, you go investigate for this king quickly, recently there seems to have been some rumors spreading that are unfavorable to this king."

  "Understood." Xiong Zuoqi felt a sense of trepidation, being summoned so late at night. This rumor was definitely not simple, and he wondered which unlucky person was going to be affected.

  Zhu Yinglong saw that Xiong Zuoqi had not left yet, so he said: "Brother Xiong, the king has no other business, you can go and rest."

  "Yes, Your Highness." After Xiong Chaoqun returned to Zhu Yinglong's side, he was very obedient and followed the hierarchy, handling matters in a way that pleased Zhu Yinglong. Several times, Zhu Yinglong tried to correct him, but it had no effect, so he just let it be.

  "Cheng En, you also investigate in the mansion, rumors may have spread from within." Zhu Yinglong instructed Wang Chengen, who was still attending to him. Cui Chengxiu suspected that the servants and maids he had found for himself were the most suspicious, because they had the opportunity to come into contact with his life, and the rumors must have spread from their mouths.

  "I understand, Your Highness. It's so late and the weather is so cold, you should get some rest early, don't catch a chill." Wang Cheng'en said with great concern.

  Although the eunuch is not very likable, especially this Zhu Yinglong who has come back from the afterlife, Wang Chengen is indeed a considerate and capable person. He knows what he should and shouldn't do, which in modern times is called knowing one's place. Although he has physical defects, he is still mentally normal and doesn't have any abnormal behavior, so Zhu Yinglong trusts him even more.

  "Alright, I'm also a bit tired from the outing today, you can go and rest too. Your service is no longer needed here." Zhu Yinglong waved his hand to dismiss Wang Chengen.

  "I take my leave!" Wang Chengen said respectfully and left Zhu Yinglong's study.

  Zhu Yinglong lay in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time. In the current Great Ming Dynasty, the government was corrupt, bribery was rampant, and public grievances were simmering everywhere. The economy was also on the verge of collapse, with eunuchs fighting each other, mountains and rivers shattered, and a mess waiting to be cleaned up. Although he had knowledge that was hundreds of years ahead, he didn't fully understand this world. History was written by people, seven parts true, two parts fabricated, and one part personal feelings, so the history he knew could only be used as a reference, not completely trusted.

  The key is that people are not enough, and the gap between him and Xiong Tingxiu's generation is not just one generation. To unify their thoughts and consciousness to the same height as himself is probably very difficult. Moreover, some things inherent in this era, such as the Confucianism and Legalism controversy over governance, make it even more challenging. Although the ancients were intelligent, most of them were rigid, especially the literati; the military leaders were slightly better. As he pondered, a vague outline of a new national system, born from the three provinces and six ministries system with separation of powers, emerged in Zhu Yinglong's mind. However, when it comes to governance, regardless of the time and space, he is an outsider. As Mao said, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, and this truth applies universally across all times and spaces.

  Here is the translation:

  As soon as Cui Chengxiu mentioned his birthday while strolling in the garden, Zhu Yinglong couldn't sleep anymore. This was a great opportunity to make money, and Zhu Yinglong wished he could build the Yinglong Villa overnight. However, building the villa required a lot of money, and anyone with discerning eyes would know that as a newly appointed king who had only been governing for half a year, he didn't have enough silver coins. Even if his father-in-law supported him, he wouldn't use all his family's wealth to help him. As long as Cui Chengxiu was in Kaifeng, Zhu Yinglong couldn't build the villa on a large scale. But celebrating the king's birthday gave him an opportunity to make money. All the officials from nearby areas would come to pay their respects, and this way, he would have enough money to build the villa without arousing suspicion from the eunuchs. But why did Cui Chengxiu remind him of his birthday? Could it be that the eunuchs wanted to help him? That was unlikely; they probably wanted to keep him in Kaifeng. Ha! Although their plan was clever, Zhu Yinglong was no longer the same person he used to be. He wouldn't let those corrupt officials' money go to waste, and he would even demand more from them. If they didn't give enough, he wouldn't let them enter the palace gates.

  As soon as the sky brightened, Zhu Yinglong excitedly pulled out Shi Kefa, who was still dreaming in his bed, and told him about his plan to make a fortune by taking advantage of the opportunity to celebrate his birthday.

  After Shi Kefa followed Zhu Yinglong, he had almost completely deviated from the way of the sage and did mostly things that went against the classics. Zhu Yinglong sighed at his own great influence, and as soon as Shi Kefa heard this plan, not only did he not oppose it, but he also applauded with both hands. Zhu Yinglong secretly rejoiced that Zuo Guangdou had not taught Shi Kefa to be stubborn and unyielding, and at the same time, he was pleased with his own influence.

  When Shi Kefa surprisingly proposed to secretly divide the wine table into levels, those with heavy gifts and many congratulations were invited to sit closer to Prince Xing's side, while those with lighter gifts were placed further away. Then, the closer one was to Prince Xing's seat, the more secretive the deal became. Although Prince Xing had no real power, he was the emperor's younger brother, so naturally, people wanted to curry favor with him. Shi Kefa now looked exactly like an unscrupulous merchant. Zhu Yinglong was speechless. It turned out that Shi Kefa really had the potential to be a merchant. Therefore, the matter of celebrating Prince Xing's birthday and making money was left entirely to Shi Kefa to handle. At the same time, Zhu Yinglong also understood why Shi Kefa was so enthusiastic about it. Firstly, he didn't want to let go of the corrupt officials' money for nothing. Secondly, although the money was nominally used to build his own Shadow Dragon Villa, in reality, it would still be used for the country and its people. Shi Kefa naturally had no objections to this kind of thing. He was willing to do it, as he had been taught by Zhu Yinglong that even honest officials should be cunning. Not only did he remember this lesson well, but he was also putting it into practice and gradually maturing in the process.

  Once a person's mind is biased, their life trajectory will undergo tremendous changes. Similarly, Shi Kefa may not become a national hero in the future, but with his current potential for development, it is hard to say that he won't become a financial expert of the Ming Dynasty.