The hidden door had been blasted, and large numbers of shiny silver ingots had cascaded to the ground with broken stone.
The secret room behind the blasted hidden door was filled with silver ingots which were glittering. When the door had been blown up, these ingots had lost their cover and been thoroughly revealed. Right now they were all over the ground, mixed with dust and pieces of bricks.
At the sight of those silver ingots, Yao Yi, who was the first to enter, came to know that what his masters had been looking for was now found.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong waited until the clouds of dust in the underground chamber cleared away to go in. As he sighted the silver ingots lying right and left, he chuckled in delight, “They’re indeed here. My father didn’t lie to me.”
“How big is the secret room?” asked Yuwen Tong.
Yao Yi, who had checked that secret room already, replied, “Bigger than half of this outer chamber.”
“My goodness. Imagine how much money this could be.” Ling Zhang made a rough mental calculation and then drew a conclusion. Then he said, “No wonder my father said that there’s a large sum of money hidden here. The Zhu family must have emptied the vault of that unlucky prince!”
Yuwen Tong stooped down, picked up a silver ingot, looked at it and found that it bore the official seal of the former imperial household, that it’d been cast in the same times that that unfortunate prince had lived in.
“These are all government-cast ingots. The imperial court definitely tried to track down that unlucky prince’s possessions after his attempt at a usurpation failed, but the Zhu family somehow managed to transfer these ingots to this place without anybody noticing. The reason why they never dared use this money is because the imperial court has been secretly looking into it all these years, but these ingots did embolden them. Seeing as these things are kept in a secret room, the Zhu family must have been regarding this money as some kind of talisman.”
Ling Zhang leaned over to take a look. Finding that there was indeed an official seal on the ingot as Yuwen Tong said, he remarked, “Ill-gotten gains are ill-gotten gains after all. The Zhu family believed these ingots would bring them good luck and secure their future, but the younger generation of the family still went down a dark path. Zhu You was so short-sighted as to collude with Wang Xiangxin, with the pipe dream of becoming a Wang (a nobleman of the highest rank below the monarch in feudal China). I wonder if this is divine retribution for their forefather’s deeds.”
Yuwen Tong tossed the silver ingot back to the pile of broken stone and said, “Now that we’ve found these ingots, all we need to do is have them come down here and get these ingots out of this place. It’s time we went up there.”
Having found the silver ingots, Ling Zhang, who felt quite contented, willingly agreed to Yuwen Tong’s suggestion and the two of them returned to the book chamber above. Yao Yi and some others transferred those silver ingots out of the secret room and boxed them up on their own, without letting any common soldiers get involved. These ingots were to be transported back to the capital city to be melted and remade, and then the imperial court would allocate them to Jiangzhou to help the people there restore their lives.
The purpose of this visit to Jiangzhou fulfilled, neither Ling Zhang nor Yuwen Tong lingered in this prefecture. Apart from anything else, it hadn’t been long since Yuwen Tong’s enthronement, and the political situation had just stabilized. They still had a long way to go before the Great Wen could return to full powder and strength. Therefore, now that this matter had been settled, they naturally decided to go back to the capital city as soon as possible.
On fast horses, the two of them traveled with all haste, but it still took them almost five days to finish the journey from Jiangzhou to the capital city.
Yuwen Tong had left the capital city secretly, so he returned to the palace first without alarming anybody. Ling Zhang stayed outside for half a day to stagger their return.
The emperor hadn’t shown his face in a court meeting for almost a month, so over time some people had guessed that Yuwen Tong had left the capital city, but they didn’t have a clue when Yuwen Tong would come back. However, after the news of Ling Zhang’s return to the capital city spread, almost everybody came to realize that they could now relax safe in the knowledge that barring accidents, the emperor would soon return, given that the empress had come back already.
The first thing Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong did after their return was have some rest. What with the long weary journey, they were too tired to do anything else and directly went to bed. Early the next morning, the two of them woke up in succession.
Having had a good night’s sleep, they both felt quite refreshed.
The Infinite Fortune Palace had been quiet for almost a month, and all guards and eunuchs were very happy to learn that their masters had finally returned, their faces etched with delight.
Chu Liangyan, Old Master Ji and some other courtiers entered the palace at a very early hour. The emperor had returned, and there were a lot of matters they needed to start dealing with. As a result, Yuwen Tong had to hurry to the consultation hall immediately after having breakfast with Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang didn’t go with him. He had learned a lot during his visit to Jiangzhou, so he decided to lick those pieces of information into shape first and then go to talk to his father about the matter of Jiangzhou.
During the journey, Ling Zhang had first traveled past Cangzhou, then entered Haizhou, and eventually reached Jiangzhou, lodging everything he’d seen and heard in his mind. And now it was time to think back and summarize them.
When he’d finished summarizing all of them, it was already noon. Yuwen Tong returned in haste to join him for lunch.
“How did it go? Is the work too much for you to handle?” Ling Zhang asked him.
Yuwen Tong replied, “Not really. Would you like to go there with me in the afternoon?”
Ling Zhang shook his head and handed Yuwen Tong a pamphlet in which there was a summary he’d spent the whole morning to make. “Take a look at this.”
While eating, Yuwen Tong opened it and ran an eye over it. After coming to know what it was about, he closed it, planning to bringing it to the imperial study to read it carefully after lunch.
“There’s something I need to figure out in the afternoon. The maritime trade situation in Pingtao City is pretty good, and a lot of things there struck me as quite interesting. I’ll sort them out first and then go out of the palace to talk with my father and ask him his opinions,” added Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Tong nodded. “That might not be a bad idea. The port outside Pingtao City is one of the largest in Haizhou. Actually it’s one of the largest ports in the Great Wen. Half of the merchant ships from the Fangcun Kingdom get ashore in that port. What with the previous situation in Jiangzhou, Pingtao City was under martial law, and all the Fangcun merchant ships had to switch to other harbors. On top of that, winter is coming, so Pingtao City wasn’t at its liveliest when we were there.”
A faintly disappointed look appeared on Ling Zhang’s face. Thinking that he’d seen many interesting things there when it hadn’t been at its liveliest, he couldn’t help but wonder how fascinating the city would be when its vigor was at its peak.
“We’ll pay another visit to Haizhou sooner or later, but I’m not letting you go anywhere in the next few weeks.” Yuwen Tong, who could divine what Ling Zhang was thinking just by looking at him, immediately nipped his plan in the bud.
This was no joking matter. After Ling Zhang left, he hadn’t been able to eat well or sleep well. He had had a hard job bringing Ling Zhang back. If he let Ling Zhang go on another journey, his life would be like hell. How was he supposed to endure it when every day he was up to his eyebrows in work and his lover was not by his side?
“I know, I know. I’m just thinking about it. I didn’t say I was planning another journey.” Ling Zhang felt slightly guilty. The idea had just crossed his mind, and he hadn’t said anything about it yet, but Yuwen Tong had still got it in one.
“Humph. As far as I could tell, you’ve been doing too much traveling lately and is kind of getting addicted to it.” Yuwen Tong was not very happy.
Ling Zhang cast him a sidelong glance. “What are you talking about? I did that because I wanted to know more about common people’s living situation. You see? I even summarized the information I got for you. I’m doing sensible things, not getting addicted to travel. Besides, I missed you all the time out there.”
He had really benefited a great deal from this journey, and the greatest gain was a change in his mentality. Previously he’d seldom paid any attention to common people’s lives, and had always regarded them as part of normality, but now, with a different identity and new responsibilities on his shoulders, he had thought about from a different perspective what he’d seen and heard during the last journey. The change in his mentality had brought a change to the way he saw things. At the same time, it’d been broadening his horizons constantly.
There were so many prefectures in the Great Wen. What he’d witnessed in Cangzhou and Jiangzhou was merely the tip of the iceberg. Even during his stay in Haizhou, he had only seen Pingtao City. He really wanted to see with his own eyes the natural conditions and social customs in every prefecture in the Great Wen to get more acquainted with this country and at the same time further expand his horizons.
He told Yuwen Tong about his opinions. Yuwen Tong said, “In a year or two, after we get everything handled, I’ll go with you.”
Ling Zhang looked at him. “Are you sure you’ll be able to go with me?”
Yuwen Tong replied, “The next two years or so is going to be hectic, but after that, I will find the time. In the past I mostly stayed in the north-west. Youzhou and Shengzhou are the two prefectures I know best. I’m quite acquainted with the Wan Kingdom as well, less so with the Luohai Kingdom. As regards the area to the south of the Great Wen, I’ve been there only once, and I think it’s about time I paid another visit to it. Do you remember there was still unrest in the south-west when I was enthroned? It was He Xiao and his men who handled it eventually. Now I’ve acceded to the throne and the outcome is a foregone conclusion, so those people don’t dare make trouble any more, but they’re still a threat. If the situation in Cangzhou and Jiangzhou stabilizes and the imperial court gets back on track in the next two years, we’ll be able to pay a visit to the south-west to fix things that need fixing, so that when our army returns to full strength and is ready to fight another war with the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, the south-west wouldn’t be a burden to us.”
After hearing Yuwen Tong’s words, Ling Zhang fully understood. The south-west was indeed a hidden peril. Currently they were able to have those people toe the line, but there was guarantee they would stay this way forever. In fact, they would almost certainly start making trouble again when the Great Wen went to war with the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom. Such a latent danger must be removed. Yuwen Tong had ambition. The Great Wen had ambition. If they were to unify the three nations, first they’d have to make sure that the Great Wen was a united country, that every side was willing to make a contribution. Otherwise the unification of the three countries would be nothing but a pipe dream.
“All right. We’ll pay a visit to the south-west together in two years.”
After the two of them finished lunch together, Yuwen Tong, carrying the pamphlet with him, returned to the consultation hall to resume dealing with state affairs. Ling Zhang had a few moments’ rest and then carefully thought back to the details of what he’d seen in Pingtao City, sifting out from them anything that might be of use and carefully sorting them. Shortly before nightfall, he went out of the palace. Before leaving, he instructed the cooks in the kitchen to make dinner for Yuwen Tong and deliver it to him.
Knowing that Ling Zhang had gone out of the palace and probably wouldn’t return until late at night, Yuwen Tong had dinner in the imperial study instead of going back to the Infinite Fortune Palace.
In the Ling Mansion.
The Ling Mansion had been in peace and quiet lately. Ling Zhaowen had gone to Shengzhou. Ji Yin and Ji Yanlai and their men had all left. Members of the Ling family and their servants were the only ones in the residence. Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowu both had titles of nobility, but neither of them had to participate in any political affairs. Ling Xingzhong was at his advanced age, and seldom accepted any invitations to banquets or other social activities. Ling Zhaowu went to socializing occasions from time to time, but more often he was nowhere to be found. As a result, over time, those who visited the Ling Mansion on a frequent basis had come to realize that neither of them were into social activities. A lot of people had given up trying after being turned town several times.
Thus, the Ling Mansion became even quieter. There were hardly any visitors except for the couple of madams living in the Abode of the Marquess Fuan, who came to the Ling Mansion occasionally to keep Fu Caiwei company.
This time around, Ling Zhang’s return caused a stir among the whole Ling family.
