Chapter 3 Prelude to Stormy Weather

  Sitting leisurely in the elegant chamber on the second floor of a small building, looking out through the window at the bamboo forest outside, I feel as if I have returned to South Chu. Now, I am the Sima of Yong Wang Fu, with an important position, but I still like to take Xiao Shunzi on a tour in plain clothes, although Yong Wang has repeatedly advised me to be careful about my safety. What I lack now is a very important candidate who can infiltrate the Crown Prince's side. Unfortunately, the candidates provided by Yong Wang are not quite satisfactory to me. This person must be elegant and refined, able to conform to the Crown Prince's temperament; this person must also be good at flattering, in order to gain the Crown Prince's favor; this person must also have exceptional talent, in order to gain the Crown Prince's recognition. Such a person is indeed hard to find. Although the people provided by Yong Wang can barely meet my requirements, I still hope to find an even more suitable candidate.

  I hadn't sat for long when the door creaked open and Chen Yin and Han Wuji walked in. This was a place I had arranged beforehand. The owner of this famous winery in Daxiong, Jing Shun, is my cousin. Two years ago, when I was recuperating in South Chu and Tianji Pavilion was just starting to make a name for itself, Jing Shun came to me seeking refuge. This was because he had a falling out with his uncle.

  My mother came from a prestigious family, the Jing clan in Jiaxing was the most prominent scholarly family, but after my mother's death, my father had a big conflict with them. The house we lived in and all the fields were given to my father by my maternal grandfather. After my mother's death, my uncle, who had never gotten along with my father, threatened to take everything back. By right, these properties were under my father's name, they had no right to take them back. However, my father was proud and arrogant, under my uncle's insults and bullying, he abandoned everything in anger, taking me away from Jiaxing, and explicitly stated that he would cut off all ties with the Jing clan. Therefore, after I became a top scholar later on, the Jing clan also did not have the face to come and make amends with me.

  My younger paternal cousin is not very bright and doesn't like to read, so he didn't get the love of his uncle. He had an affair with a maidservant in the house and got her pregnant. When his uncle found out, he wanted to abort the child, sell the maidservant, and have my cousin marry his fiancée immediately. Actually, if my cousin could take that maidservant as his concubine, they would be satisfied, but his uncle refused to let him offend his future in-laws. As a result, my cousin, in a fit of anger, brought the maidservant and escaped to Jianye to rely on me.

  I have a good impression of this younger cousin, although he is not good at reading books, but he is clever in handling matters. I heard that he has been managing the family's property and affairs for some time. His fiancée is the daughter of a wealthy merchant from southern Chu, and it was because his father-in-law valued his ability that they agreed to the marriage. My uncle thought that since my cousin couldn't achieve success through imperial examination, he might as well marry into a good family. Who would have known that my cousin had an affair with a servant girl, offending his in-laws, which is why my uncle was furious.

  I sympathized with my younger brother and still held a grudge against my uncle, so I arranged for my younger brother to meet the master of Tianji Pavilion. Of course, the master of Tianji Pavilion was very impressed with my younger brother and helped him start his business. To avoid the oppression of the Yue family, my younger brother crossed the river to Dayong. At that time, South Chu and Dayong were still maintaining a superficial harmony, so my younger brother didn't encounter any obstacles and settled down in Dayong. My younger brother was indeed a commercial genius, and within two years, the 100,000 taels of silver I invested initially grew exponentially. He became a giant in the silk industry by trading goods between Dayong and South Chu, and he timely invested his funds in other industries, becoming one of the giants in the silk industry. This was because I helped him improve his looms and he was clever and capable. A year ago, his father-in-law came to visit, not only made amends with him but also brought his fiancée over. In fact, my younger brother's fiancée, although strong-willed, was a reasonable person. The cooperation between my younger brother and his father-in-law allowed his business to develop rapidly. Merchants are profit-oriented, they saw the crisis in South Chu, so the two of them prepared to transfer part of their business and funds to Dayong, and my younger brother was the pioneer.

  I didn't expect my younger cousin to turn out so well. Initially, when we invested, it was agreed that Tianji Pavilion would hold 50% of the shares. Later, when my cousin's prospects expanded, he proposed buying back the shares for 500,000 taels. Of course, he was prepared for us to make an outrageous demand, but I wouldn't be too excessive, and Tianji Pavilion never does things that hurt its partners too much. So, we sold the shares at a reasonable price, but as usual, retained 10% of the shares. My cousin knew about the influence of Tianji Pavilion, so both parties happily reached an agreement. My cousin is a man who values relationships and righteousness. Although he didn't know about my relationship with Tianji Pavilion, he still sent over generous gifts several times to thank me for my guidance at the beginning.

  This time I was captured by King Yong and brought to Da Yong. Before that, Chen Yin and others were sent to Da Yong to wait for me. Among my cousin's properties, there are many people I have settled, although they don't remember much about the secret camp, but they still remember the kindness of the secret camp settling them, and their qualifications are relatively outstanding after all, so many became important personnel. With the identity of Tianji Pavilion, the secret camp can come and go freely in my cousin's property. This wine house is one of my cousin's properties in Da Yong, called Jiangnan Spring, selling Nan Chu flavor wine and dishes, very popular among the nobles of Da Yong. My cousin is quite good, knowing I was captured, personally came to Chang'an, hoping to do his best for me, several times through connections trying to ask King Yong to 'show mercy', but the way was not clear, until I became the Sima of King Yong's mansion, King Yong only knew that my cousin had tried to rescue me through connections, and was very appreciative of my cousin, so this time I could easily go out of the mansion to Jiangnan Spring for a drink. After all, no one here can conspire with the boss to ambush me, and King Yong also sent several strong-willed guards to protect me, otherwise King Yong would not be at ease about my safety.

  I looked at Chen Yin and Han Wuji and smiled: "How have you two been lately? I'm afraid Jiang has been a bit reckless, causing you both to worry."

  After the two exchanged greetings, Han Wuji smiled and said: "Your subordinate has exhausted all his thoughts to arrange a fake death plan for you, but unfortunately, it was ruined by one mistake. You were still moved by King Yong's words. Can you compensate us for our hard work?"

  Chen Yubai gave him a glance and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Who was it that kept saying that the young master didn't have to resort to such a dangerous trick, and now I hear that the young master has changed his mind and is overjoyed about it?"

  Chen Yin's words were joking, but my heart was moved. I looked at Han Wuji and secretly calculated in my mind. He is also a Shu person, how could he be so supportive of me surrendering to King Yong? My suspicious gaze was fixed on Han Wuji, if this person had a problem, wouldn't my secret camp have already been leaked out? But there were no signs of that.

  He had no choice but to kneel down and say, "Young master, I indeed lean towards the Great Yong. The other day in Chang'an, we were waiting for you when I met an old colleague who saw that my situation was not bad and told me to join them in supporting the Crown Prince of Shu to restore Shu. I politely declined at the time, but he said that there are people organizing a resistance force now, if I don't agree, those people will definitely not let me off when they find me, this ungrateful traitor. I know these people bully the weak and fear the strong, if you surrender to the Yong Emperor and borrow his power, then these people would not dare to come after me openly."

  I let out a soft sigh, the existence of Shu's resistance forces didn't surprise me, but using this method was truly foolish. Han Wuji had been relatively opposed to Da Yong in the past, and when I wanted to fake my own death, he didn't say anything but was very enthusiastic. Now, however, he was overjoyed that I had surrendered to King Yong. This change was brought about by those resistance forces. Who would want to throw themselves into a hopeless resistance movement again after having given up on the past and started their own life? Having confirmed that those forces wouldn't stir up too much trouble, I still instructed Han Wuji and the others to be mindful of their safety. Although assassination couldn't change the country's fate, it could change an individual's destiny. After some thought, I said to Han Wuji: "Next time they come to pressure you, just tell them you're doing business and willing to provide financial support, but you don't want to participate yourself."

  Han Wuji was shocked and said: 'Why did you do this, young master?'

  I smiled faintly and said: 'I want you to control their actions, this will be of some help to me, and it will also make it easier for me to eliminate them in the future.'

  The cold had no plan, silently and wordlessly. I was somewhat perplexed, just about to ask him what's wrong, when Xiao Shunzi's voice sounded in my ear: 'Young master, he is a Shu person.'

  It wasn't until now that I realized he may have felt at ease with me joining the Great Yong, but it didn't mean he wanted to see the Shu resistance fail.

  I shook my head slightly and said, "No plan, I understand your thoughts, but you must be clear that most of these people are not loyal to Shu State with all their heart, but rather they want to regain the power they lost. They use this way to plot a rebellion, which not only has no chance of success, but also will implicate more people and even harm more people. For example, if you don't have the ability to protect yourself, how will they deal with you? Think carefully about it, I won't force you, I'll let someone else handle these things."

  Han Wuji knelt down on the ground and knocked his head, saying: "Your subordinate thanks Master for your magnanimity."

  I looked at Chen Yin, he nodded slightly, I knew he would take over this matter, and he would keep an eye on Han Wuji, not letting him jeopardize my grand plan.

  Chen Yin looked calm and said: 'I don't know if the young master is prepared to tell King Yong about the secret camp.'

  I smiled faintly and asked: "What's your view?"

  Chen Yin said: 'I think that if we tell King Yong, then the prince will lose his power to protect himself in the future. But if we don't tell King Yong, I'm afraid he will suspect the prince's loyalty in the future.'

  I looked at Xiao Shunzi, and Xiao Shunzi said coldly: "What you said is not bad, but the secret camp must never be exposed to the sunlight. The reason why the young master can come and go freely is entirely because of the existence of the secret camp. Moreover, King Yong suspects the young master's loyalty, we can just leave Da Yong."

  I thought for a moment and said, 'Xiao Shunzi is too extreme, this way we are equivalent to being hostile to the King of Yong. This is not good, the secret camp cannot be exposed. So, from now on, I will try my best not to meet Chen Yin, Chen Yin is in charge of hosting the secret camp, Xiao Shunzi is responsible for conveying my instructions. From now on, the task of the secret camp is to blend into the lower class of Chang'an, remember my words, cannot get involved with the upper-class power, this way, even if the King of Yong finds out about the existence of the secret camp, he won't have too much suspicion towards me. After all, the King of Yong wouldn't believe that I don't have any forces to rely on at all. At worst, I can say that the secret camp is under Xiao Shunzi's command, I think it will pass, after such a long time, they should be able to see through some of Xiao Shunzi's depth.

  Xiao Shunzi nodded and said: "When the King of Yong confined the prince, he always sent some masters to monitor us. Although I can come and go freely, if I bring the prince with me, it's likely that we won't be able to escape easily. Now, the guards sent by the King of Yong have decent martial arts skills, but they are only here for protection purposes. There aren't any top-notch masters among them who could tie me down, and their overall strength is much weaker. They're just here to assist me in protecting the prince."

  I was just about to instruct them on some matters when suddenly a loud noise and the sound of clashing weapons came from outside. I furrowed my brow, this Jiangnan Spring Wine House is a high-end place, how could someone start a fight here? I glanced at Xiao Shunzi, he understood and walked out, not long after he came back to tell me that it was a dispute outside. Xiao Shunzi said it seemed like a vendetta from the jianghu world. I had seen bloody battles on the battlefield before, and I had also seen scholars' verbal sparring matches, but I had never seen a vendetta from the jianghu world before, my interest piqued, I called out to Xiao Shunzi and walked out of the room.

  Although the Jiangnan Spring is nominally a wine house, it is actually a small garden. The garden is filled with Jiangnan landscape, flowers, bamboo forests, small bridges, flowing water and fake mountains, which cleverly divide the space into hundreds of small spaces. Each small space has its own unique style of building, most of which are quiet and secluded. Between the buildings, there are corridors connecting them, and outside the corridors are lush flowers and trees, making the layout elegant and secretive, perfect for secret meetings.

  The small building I'm in is very elegant, and when I push open the door to the second floor, there's a vermillion balustrade surrounding the platform outside. Next to it is a staircase leading down to the lower level, where the king's guards are waiting on duty. Standing at the railing, looking down, I see an old man standing with his hands behind his back on the corridor connecting the lower level and another pavilion. Behind him stand two middle-aged men with powerful physiques and a beautiful young girl. Outside the corridor, on a rockery, stands a young scholar in yellow robes, who looks refined but slightly frivolous, holding a jade flute. Across from him is a handsome young man wielding a precious sword, and they're currently engaged in combat. The young man's swordsmanship seems quite good, and with flashing sword light, he's forcing the scholar into a difficult position. However, the scholar occasionally laughs and taunts, causing the young man to become red-faced and furious.

  As I looked down, the scholar was defending himself while shouting: "Oh dear, this is going to be the death of me! I was just joking with a few words, not competing with you for the beauty. Don't worry, your junior sister may be pretty, but I've seen many beauties in the world, and there are plenty who are more beautiful than her. It's just a joke, and I didn't even touch a single hair of hers, why are you fighting so desperately?"

  That young man shouted: "Nonsense, nonsense! You came to us for refuge, we kindly accepted you, but you, you dared to do such an impolite thing and offend my junior sister!" As he spoke, his sword moves became even faster.

  That young man in yellow clothes, while defending himself, solemnly swore: 'Fair maiden, a gentleman's heart is pure and noble. I merely long for the beauty, pursued Miss Sha for several days, but absolutely did not behave improperly. Besides, Miss Sha is a disciple of Fengyi Gate, even if I were reckless and arrogant, I wouldn't dare offend her! Jingjing, Jingjing, please intercede on my behalf, I didn't mean to offend you.'

  That beautiful young girl's face turned slightly red, and she said fiercely: "What pursuit, always entangling me, nothing but blowing nonsense outside, and even stealing my things. You'd better let my senior brother beat you up, then return my stuff. Otherwise, I will never let you off."

  That scholar in yellow robes let out a long sigh and said, "Alas, it seems you won't let me off, hey, have you had enough of watching the show? Younger brother, if you don't save me now, I'll lose my life." As he spoke, the jade flute in his hand suddenly transformed into thousands of illusory shadows. The young man seemed unable to distinguish between them and subconsciously took a step back, but forgot that he was standing on the fake mountain. He stumbled and hurriedly steadied himself. In that instant, the scholar suddenly flew up into the air, charging towards my direction, shouting "Younger brother, save me!"

  Just as he was about to make his move, a middle-aged man behind the old man swooped down like an eagle, and the scholar's hand shook violently. A loud explosion sounded, and within a radius of several dozen feet, a thick smoke billowed out, mixed with red mist. The scholar shouted: "Younger brother, don't use poison! I have no great grudge against them." Everyone held their breath, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it did, they looked around to find that the scholar had vanished. In the direction he had fled, a young man in green robes was standing on a building, smiling wryly. Behind him stood a slender servant, who seemed to be stealing a smile.

  That young man pointed at the building with a sword and shouted: "Where is that bastard? Hand him over quickly! You dare to use poison in broad daylight, you must not be a good person!"

  I couldn't help but smile wryly as I was being pointed at, and it seemed that I had been framed. Just now, Xiao Shunzi whispered to me in secret, saying that this bookworm seemed to be about to make a breakthrough. I was just curious and wanted to see how he would break through. When the green smoke appeared, Xiao Shunzi immediately blocked my way, and then we heard his slanderous accusations. What the red smoke is, I don't know, but I do know that it's absolutely not poison. However, facing those angry gazes, how could I possibly explain?

  At this time, several guards from the Yong Wang Fu had rushed up to the floor, seeing that I was safe and sound. One of the guards walked over to me and whispered, "Your Excellency, what happened?"

  I shook my head slightly and said loudly: "Gentlemen, the person just now has nothing to do with me, please be clear."

  The young man said loudly: 'You're quibbling, when we met that person, he was walking towards you, and just now he broke through from your direction. You two aren't accomplices? Quickly say it, what's the relationship between Fengliu Langzi Xia Jinyi and you?'

  I smiled slightly and said: "I am really not related to that person, please be clear."

  The old man suddenly said: 'Do you despise our intelligence so much? Xia was originally heading in your direction, and after seeing you, he wanted to break through in your direction several times. If you have nothing to do with him, why haven't you ever refuted?'

  At this time, the guard whispered in my ear: "These people are from Chang'an Guanzhong Association. The old man is the leader of the association, Sha Qingyuan. Guanzhong Association gathers warriors from Chang'an and is actually a place where the imperial court controls Jianghu people. Sha Qingyuan is currently neutral but leans towards Prince Qi because many of his disciples serve in Prince Qi's army."

  Suddenly, a vague plan emerged in my mind, and I opened my mouth to say: "Jiang Lianzhu's words are wrong. We heard the noise outside and came out to take a look at the excitement. That person suddenly grabbed us, and there were several buildings nearby. How could we know that this person was grabbing us? Master Lian, you listened to one-sided words and didn't investigate thoroughly, which is not suitable for your status."