Chapter 339

What crime was rebellion? Even if everyone in the household were killed, that did not mean the Emperor would let the others go unpunished. How he chose to pursue the matter would depend on who spoke to him. Though the Emperor had developed a temperament that others could not easily sway, he was not the sort to stubbornly refuse all advice.

Unable to sleep, Wang Xiujin tossed and turned, his mind filled with thoughts of the rebellion. Before, he had not thought much of it, but once sleep eluded him, his thoughts multiplied. Rebellion could not be sustained by one man alone. Who would cooperate with Lord Liu? As a veteran minister of two dynasties, Lord Liu had no shortage of disciples. Would they believe the so-called evidence of rebellion? Would they join him in rebellion? How far had their plans progressed? Now that they had gone so far as to mint silver privately, was the manufacture of weapons next? Had they already made contact with the workshops producing gunpowder? Was the fire at the shipyard connected to the refugees from the Kou kingdom and the rebels? If so, then anyone involved in the rebellion deserved to die ten thousand times over.

When he thought of the innocent people whose villages had been massacred, Wang Xiujin could not help feeling that, as officials of Great Liang, they were indirect accomplices. How could they face the taxes paid by the common people?

He turned over again, growing even more unable to sleep. His chest felt as though it were blocked by a breath he could not release.

Wang Xiujin’s restlessness disturbed Li Linshan as well, leaving him unable to sleep. He pulled Wang Xiujin into his arms and held him tightly. “We’ve both been busy all day. I had intended to rest early, but since you refuse to settle down, I don’t mind exhausting myself a little more.”

At first, Wang Xiujin did not understand. By the time he realized what Li Linshan meant, he had already lost the ability to think.

After being tormented by Li Linshan in every possible way for a long while, Wang Xiujin was so exhausted that he could barely keep his eyes open and soon fell unconscious. Li Linshan cleaned him up, applied medicine, and only then held him as he went to sleep.

He slept dreamlessly until dawn. When Wang Xiujin rose, Li Linshan was nowhere to be seen again. Knowing that the fire had little to do with Li Linshan, Wang Xiujin was no longer particularly worried. After paying his customary respects, he returned and ate some light food. Then he heard from a servant that when Li Linshan had left that morning, he had taken all the seafood sent by his elder brother to the military camp, saying it was meant to nourish the young men there.

If his lower back had not been so sore, and if he had not been hopelessly weaker than Li Linshan, Wang Xiujin truly would have charged to the military camp and demanded an explanation. Damn it! Dozens of pounds of seafood, and he had not eaten a single bite before Li Linshan had taken it all away to give to someone else. How could he be so ruthless, knowing full well how much Wang Xiujin loved seafood?

That day, whenever the employees of Wang Xiujin’s shops in the capital saw their proprietor appear, they all became as timid as quails. Not one dared to gossip. Some even took long detours whenever they spotted him from afar. The reason was that their proprietor’s face was frighteningly long and dark. Anyone timid by nature might easily have been scared into illness.

Shopkeeper Wang was not as cautious as the others when he saw Wang Xiujin. Instead, he laughed heartily and said, “Master, you arrived at exactly the right time. My wife is preparing several good dishes and will send them over at noon. You must stay and have a taste. The seafood sent from Feng City this year is especially plump and fresh, so the flavor should be excellent. My wife’s cooking cannot compare with the chefs at the General’s Residence, of course, but it has its own charm.”

Wang Xiujin’s eyes lit up. “You mean your wife cooked the seafood sent from Feng City? Then I must certainly try it.”

The expression on his face became far less terrifying. If a special effect could have appeared behind him, it would undoubtedly have been a riot of blooming flowers.

Shopkeeper Wang raised an eyebrow. “You still haven’t tasted the seafood sent from Feng City?”

“Li Linshan sent all of it to the military camp, saying it was to nourish the soldiers. But even if they needed nourishment, there was no reason to send over every last pound of it. He could at least have left some to dry so we could use it in hot pot broth during the winter!” Wang Xiujin was deeply displeased that all the seafood had been carried away and given to others.

At once, Shopkeeper Wang understood that his employer was angry because the seafood had all been given away. But he soon remembered that Wang Xiujin tended to suffer stomach trouble whenever he ate seafood by the coast, and regretted having said anything. If the young master of the Li family learned that he had let Wang Xiujin eat seafood, would he summon him to the training grounds for a little “conversation”? Shopkeeper Wang was already an old man with brittle bones; he could not withstand that sort of beating.

Yet Wang Xiujin was his employer, and Shopkeeper Wang did not dare tell him he should not eat it. Inside, he was close to tears. How could he have been so thoughtless as to forget that Wang Xiujin was not supposed to eat seafood?

Wang Xiujin had no idea what was going through his mind. Even if he had known, it would have been too late for Shopkeeper Wang to regret it, because his wife arrived with the food.

Shopkeeper Wang’s residence was not far from the shop, so there was no need to worry about the dishes growing cold. His wife arranged the plates and invited Wang Xiujin to sit down and taste them. Under ordinary circumstances, Wang Xiujin would have exchanged a few polite words first, but this time he did not bother. He sat down at once, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite.

“Mm... Sister-in-law, your cooking is superb.”

As he spoke, he continued quickly picking up food. His praise made the older woman beam like a flower. Shopkeeper Wang coughed several times, but still could not make his wife stop smiling.

Wang Xiujin was not ungrateful. After being thoroughly worn out the night before, he did not dare eat too much seafood today. The food was highly cooling by nature, and he did not want to upset his stomach. If that happened, he would be the only one to suffer. Thus, he did not eat much. He merely sampled each dish before setting down his chopsticks.

Then he began discussing recent events in the capital with Shopkeeper Wang. He could not mention the rebellion, so he merely warned him to be cautious, saying that the capital would soon become very chaotic.

Shopkeeper Wang nodded in agreement. Though he did not know why his employer had suddenly brought up the matter, he understood that Wang Xiujin never spoke without reason. Wang Xiujin instructed him to warn all the shops and workshops to be careful when coming and going from work. Even if they saw something they should not, they were to pretend they had seen nothing. If someone came knocking at their homes in the middle of the night to beg for help, they were not to meddle. Otherwise, they might bring disaster upon themselves. By then, even if Wang Xiujin personally intervened, he might not be able to save their entire family. He might even be implicated himself.

The more Shopkeeper Wang listened, the more alarmed he became. What kind of major incident had occurred in the capital to make his employer speak so gravely?

He was curious, but he suppressed the urge to ask. Having lived so many years, he understood better than anyone what should and should not be questioned. Since Wang Xiujin had already spoken to this extent, asking more would make him seem tactless.

Wang Xiujin did not elaborate further. Instead, he changed the subject to the storytelling competition. He had no intention of becoming involved himself. The academy had already entered the matter, so they could simply observe from the sidelines.

Shopkeeper Wang found the subject interesting. When he heard that the voting system would be based on two copper coins per vote, his first reaction was that the idea must have come from Wang Xiujin.

“You’re overthinking it. That was his idea. I could never have come up with such an ingenious way to fleece money from the public. All I thought of was selecting the top few and sending them on a storytelling tour throughout the realm.” Wang Xiujin was perfectly frank.

Shopkeeper Wang was stunned. By the time he finished listening to Wang Xiujin describe the entire plan, he realized that if everything proceeded smoothly, the sports grounds might not have to worry about a lack of funds for several years.

That very afternoon, the announcement concerning the storytelling competition was posted. Before long, a crowd had gathered around it, discussing the matter animatedly. No one objected to the voting method. In the capital, any household that was not exceptionally poor or miserly had a few coins to spare. A couple of copper coins meant nothing to the city’s residents.

As for other cities, the amount would depend on the local conditions. Wealthier regions would charge two copper coins, while poorer ones would charge only one. The money would be counted every day, and the total would be publicly announced, ensuring complete fairness, impartiality, and transparency.

That day, storytellers from teahouses large and small throughout the capital all hurried over to see what was happening, and many registered on the spot.

There was no registration fee. Each storyteller merely had to move the judges with a fifteen-minute performance. If two of the three judges approved, the contestant would advance to the next round. From the opening of registration to the preliminary elimination matches, the greatest mystery was the identity of the three judges.

Wang Xiujin did not go to the registration site to watch the commotion. With an event like this, he could hear people discussing it even without leaving the house; there was no need to make a special trip.

Every customer who came and went through the shop spoke of the public announcement. Outside, people throughout the streets and alleys were discussing the same thing. When he returned home, even the steward asked whether the servants in the residence could vote as well. He especially enjoyed listening to one particular storyteller and, if that man had registered, wanted to cast a few votes for him as a small contribution.

Wang Xiujin smiled awkwardly after hearing this. He could hardly tell the steward that the storytelling competition was a scheme he and the Emperor had devised together to raise money. All he could do was give an embarrassed smile and nod.

He had never realized that the steward enjoyed listening to storytellers. When did the man find the time to go out and listen?

When Li Linshan returned that evening, Wang Xiujin immediately drove him to the study to sleep. He had not forgotten that Li Linshan had given away all the seafood.

Li Linshan was helpless, though he understood perfectly why Wang Xiujin was angry. He stood in the courtyard for a while, thinking of a way to get inside. At last, he came up with one and said only two words:

“There’s more.”

More? The only matter Li Linshan could possibly mean was the rebellion. There was already more news after just one day?

Wang Xiujin thought Li Linshan was talking nonsense, but he could not suppress his curiosity. He stood at the door hesitating for a while before finally opening it.

“Come in and talk.”

Li Linshan entered, immediately hoisted Wang Xiujin over his shoulder, and smacked him once on the buttocks.

“I gave the seafood away for your own good. Count for yourself how many times you’ve suffered stomach trouble after eating it.”

“I’ve never had trouble eating seafood in the capital. The water there must be bad.” Wang Xiujin kicked and struggled, trying to get down. Damn it, being spanked was so humiliating! “You’re getting worse and worse. You actually used this trick to fool me. Get out. If you don’t sleep in the study tonight, I’ll go sleep there myself.”

“Let’s discuss the serious matter.”

Li Linshan set him down on the couch and did not mention the seafood again. He had already explained what needed explaining; Wang Xiujin understood him without requiring further words.

Wang Xiujin sat upright, his expression turning solemn as he listened to Li Linshan speak. He wanted to hear exactly what this supposed development was.

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