Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: A Night Visit

Dongfang Wei knew his brother and subject had been having a rough time lately.

Cang Chuli had always been a picky eater to begin with, but after going hungry for three months, by the day he returned to the capital for the banquet, he could even force down shredded eel, the dish he hated most.

And those old fossils at court kept making trouble for him, too. Today it was an assassination attempt, tomorrow it was cutting off his grain supplies, the day after that it was destroying his weapons.

Dongfang Wei had already prepared himself for the possibility that his brother would snap, turn completely ruthless, and slaughter everyone in a fit of rage.

To his surprise, Cang Chuli had actually stayed obediently in his residence and started sorting through clues to investigate the case.

Worried, the young emperor paid a nighttime visit to the General’s Mansion, slipping in quietly without bringing anyone along.

He just had not expected his subject to have fallen on such hard times.

“Are there no normal servants in your residence at all?”

Dongfang Wei had always thought of himself as rather cold and heartless, but after coming to the General’s Mansion, he found himself shedding a bitter tear for his brother for once.

Just look at what they had driven the young master of the Marquis of Northern Pacification’s Mansion into.

When he entered, he was received by an elderly man with a hoarse voice. Dongfang Wei knew him-it was Uncle Zhao, whom he had also met as a child.

Uncle Zhao had Chuqing lead him to the study. Along the way, all Dongfang Wei could hear was the little girl’s stomach growling.

After they finally made it to the study, the little girl fled with her face flushed bright red.

Inside the study, aside from his own brother, there were two pale-faced young servants who looked weak at a glance-

Mo Qing and Mo Bai were hunched over the account books doing math problems, the two of them calculating as if their lives depended on it.

In just two days, they had already become proficient in using all the numbers, as well as addition and subtraction.

Now they could even recognize which symbol was which without needing to look at the written comparison chart. They were frighteningly familiar with them.

As for the other two, they were probably maids… Maybe. He was not sure. He would have to look again.

One had her head wrapped in bandages and was writing furiously.

The other had one arm hanging in a sling, her face covered in bruises of green and purple, yet she was still using her other hand to flip through the account books and read out the quantities.

They vividly embodied the phrase: disabled in body, unbroken in spirit.

Beside each of them sat a bowl, and the sharp, spicy smell of scallions and ginger from the bowls rushed straight up Dongfang Wei’s nose.

This was unnecessary. Truly unnecessary.

Dongfang Wei felt he really had not cared enough about his brother.

In any case, Cang Chuli was the General of the Northern Pacification personally appointed by him. Yet in private, even the servants at his side were in such a state.

There was not the slightest bit of dignity to it, and Dongfang Wei had known nothing about it?

“If it really won’t do, I’ll bestow two people on you. Use them for now.”

Cang Chuli gave Dongfang Wei a strange look, then pointed at the one with the arm in a sling, who looked the most miserable.

“Isn’t that one of your people?”

Dongfang Wei examined her carefully.

“Hiss!”

Wasn’t this Qiulin, the secret guard he had given to Cang Chuli? How had she ended up in this sorry state?!

Oh. And the one beside her seemed to be the Xia family’s concubine-born daughter, Xia Heng.

Qiulin walked over with a wooden expression and bent her knees in a salute.

“This subordinate greets Young Master.”

“No need to kneel. Get up…”

For the first time in a long while, Dongfang Wei felt a pang of conscience. It even replaced the dull ache in his head from not sleeping well.

When Qiulin was in the palace, she had been the best at qinggong among the secret guards, and naturally, her martial skills were not poor either.

He had only wanted to place a reliable, trustworthy person inside the General’s Mansion, so it would be convenient to pass messages.

He had never expected that in just a few days, his brother would torment her into this state.

Behind them, Xia Heng looked over curiously.

Whoa, a handsome guy!

This lord looked about as tall as Cang Chuli, with a high, straight nose bridge and long, narrow eyes that carried a sharp edge.

It was just that his complexion did not look too good. There was an odd flush beneath his eyes and on his lips.

Wait.

Qiulin called him “Young Master”?

And he could speak to Cang Chuli like this?

Why didn’t she remember Cang Chuli having such a handsome buddy he could practically put an arm around in the original novel?

Wasn’t Cang Chuli’s only friend the current emperor, Dongfang Wei?

Could this be Dongfang Wei? The Mad Tyrant Dongfang Wei????

The Dongfang Wei who loved Xiao Yaqing to death and back???

Yes, yes, that had to be it. There was no way the male lead of the original novel could be bad-looking.

And the male lead had witnessed his own mother’s death when he was a child, and had even been fed poison…
That was what left his mind stretched taut to the breaking point, unable to sleep at night.

Only when he was with Xiao Yaqing did the symptoms ease somewhat. In the end, it was only after the heroine found the Tianshan Snow Lotus that he was fully cured…

Dongfang Wei felt Xia Heng’s gaze on him shift from burning intensity to something strange.

His eyes flickered. Xia Jinguang’s niece seemed to be even smarter than they had thought.

After a moment of thought, Xia Heng also rose and offered a salute.

Qiulin had addressed him as Young Master, and he had not called himself We, the emperor, either. Best to pretend she knew nothing.

Mo Qing and Mo Bai also stood and saluted, looking not overly restrained.

Cang Chuli told them to continue sorting through the Ministry of Revenue’s account books, then took Dongfang Wei back to his Tingtao Pavilion.

“The Marquis’s Mansion is still the same as ever.”

Dongfang Wei looked at the trees within Tingtao Pavilion, his tone touched with nostalgia.

“Mm. Nothing has changed. Only the people have.”

“I don’t think that many people have changed. Uncle Zhao is still hale and hearty. Is Chef Xiang still here?”

Dongfang Wei poured himself a cup of water.

He swallowed it in one gulp. A sharp, spicy heat rushed straight up his nose, and then his entire body rapidly warmed.

Cang Chuli pointed at the cup in his hand.

“Chef Xiang brewed it.”

Dongfang Wei frowned and rubbed his temple.

“Chef Xiang really hasn’t changed at all.”

“How are the account books coming along? Those people from the Ministry of Revenue are clamoring for their chief again.

“They say the autumn harvest is almost over, and with the minister absent even for a single day, they don’t know how to handle matters.

“From the sound of it, he’s even more important than me, the emperor.”

Cang Chuli gave a cold laugh.

“They’ll be finished in these next two days. Since he’s so important, let’s see who is willing to go in and keep him company.”

“You’ve investigated everything?”

Dongfang Wei asked.

“Wang Jian died too quickly. In his suicide note, he took full responsibility for secretly replacing the Zhenbei Army’s weapons.

“As for the assets uncovered at Putuo Temple, he explained that portion clearly as well. He managed to separate everyone else from the matter.

“This time, the Ministry of Revenue seems quite confident too…”

Cang Chuli took an account book from his sleeve.

Dongfang Wei opened it and glanced through it.

“Oh? So this is the ‘table’ you mentioned?”

“That’s right. If I hadn’t investigated, I wouldn’t have known the Ministry of Revenue had so many accounts with money going out and nothing coming in.

“Written in the original method, it really is difficult to see. An ordinary person couldn’t possibly remember such complicated accounts either.”

“But once they’re laid out in a table, hmph. With so many blank holes, I suppose they were waiting for me to fill them?”

Dongfang Wei flipped through the neatly organized ledgers at the side and said seriously,

“Was this Xia Heng’s doing too?”

“First she produced refined iron weapons. That arm-mounted crossbow is probably connected to her as well. And now she knows these unheard-of numerals and calculation methods… Just who exactly is she?”

“No matter what secrets she has, as long as she can be of use to us, we can keep her for now.

“If she does not make herself our enemy, then my General’s Mansion of Northern Pacification is not so small-minded that it cannot tolerate her.”

“Mm. That’s true.”

Dongfang Wei nodded, then pointed at the symbols above the Chinese characters that he did not recognize and asked,

“So these are ‘numerals’? What do they all represent?”

After listening to Cang Chuli explain them clearly, Dongfang Wei fell silent for a long while.

“If I introduce these numerals into the imperial court, what do you think will happen?”

“Much of the filth that cannot be seen or sorted out would be reduced. The web of relationships and problems within the court would become clear and obvious. No one in the Six Ministries would dare commit corruption and violate the law so brazenly again.”

Cang Chuli paused, then added,

“The prisons of Dali Temple might end up full.”

Dongfang Wei laughed.

“Then have Dali Temple begin building new prisons first. This method will be tested in the Zhenbei Army for now.

“When you return next time, report on how the trial went, where it fell short, and what benefits it brought. Summarize everything and submit it.

“It is about time the court cleaned out its old almanacs.”

Dongfang Wei tightened his grip on the account book in his hand and said in a low voice,

“As for how to use it, I’ll leave that to you. The day after tomorrow, take down the Ministry of Revenue first.”

The corner of Cang Chuli’s mouth curved upward.

“The Ministry of Revenue is likely going to have to bleed a little.”