Chapter 310

Sitting in the carriage on the way back to Wu County, Wang Xiujin spoke to Li Linshen about his plan to construct an exceptionally long wooden railway. Starting from the capital, it would pass through several major cities, with its final destination in Wu County. It wasn't that he was playing favorites with the county, but rather that Wu County was worthy of such an investment.

"It is naturally worthy. Not to mention how many famous officials have come from Wu County, the workshops alone justify this railway. But if it is built for Wu County, what about Qiu City?" Li Linshen felt it necessary to offer a reminder.

"Qiu City is not suitable for a wooden railway; there are too many mountain roads, and the terrain is far too rugged." Wang Xiujin dismissed the proposal for Qiu City outright. He didn't know how to blast through mountains or dig tunnels, and if he had to build the tracks winding around the mountains, what would be the difference between that and building a railway across the entire country? He pondered how much money he would have to pour into such a project. Every time the Emperor merely moved his lips, Wang Xiujin was expected to cough up funds. He wasn't a money-printing machine—or rather, he was, but one that the court treated as an inexhaustible gold mine.

Although Li Linshen did not fully grasp the intricacies of these matters, he felt that if Wang Xiujin said it couldn't be done, then it certainly couldn't. Li Linshen trusted Wang Xiujin implicitly. Beside them, Yachang looked at his father and then at his "little father," wondering why his father seemed to be hoodwinking his little father. While there were indeed various difficulties in building a wooden railway, it was not an insurmountable problem; his little father was simply looking for an excuse to refuse the Emperor.

Ten days later, Wang Xiujin and Li Linshen finally arrived in Wu County with their son. The servants first delivered the family of three to the Wang family’s grain shop before driving the carriage to Wang Village. They needed to have the housekeeper tidy up the courtyard and ensure that the room where Master Wang stayed was meticulously cleaned, as the young master intended to stay there for several days. Wang Xiujin looked up at the plaque of the grain shop. "Son, this was your father's first official shop. Before this, I even set up a small stall, selling steamed buns on the street in the morning. Back then, we were truly poor." Liu Xingyun recalled those days, feeling no bitterness, only a sense of profound good fortune.

Wang Xiujin and Li Linshen did not hide their arrival in Wu County, and the local officials soon received word and hurried over. Wang Xiujin stated plainly that they had only returned to visit their ancestral home for a few days and asked not to disturb others. The county magistrate agreed repeatedly but still passed the news on to the prefect of Xiang City. The prefect, however, was a man of sense; since the Imperial Merchant had indicated he did not wish to disturb others, it meant he did not want officials calling on him. He decided to send some local specialties before the merchant returned to the capital, ensuring he would not inconvenience the merchant while still leaving a favorable impression.

Life back in Wang Village was leisurely and undisturbed. They spent their days wandering through Wu County, visiting the workshops, and checking on the grain shop. It was exceptionally peaceful, free from intrigue or competition. Wang Xiujin suddenly felt a desire to retire, to spend his wealth for peace, buy a property on a small hill, and live a life of farming at sunrise and resting at sunset. Such a life, however, was only a fantasy. One cannot live life entirely according to one's own whims. Wang Xiujin shook his head; he had too many obligations. To put it grandly, he was responsible for future generations; to put it plainly, he had a whole family to support. He couldn't just walk away. Once the business had expanded and there were so many people depending on him, he had to grit his teeth and carry on, no matter how bitter or exhausting it became. He wasn't a cold-hearted person, and he couldn't do cold-hearted things.

On the seventh day in Wang Village, the two received a letter from the capital. The enemy forces that had invaded from the west had been wiped out, and the enemy had sent a prince to surrender. The Emperor ordered the Imperial Merchant to return immediately. "What does the enemy's surrender have to do with me?" Wang Xiujin wondered, puzzled. He gave the housekeeper some money for the courier's tea and, after the official left, voiced his confusion.

"Perhaps he wants to discuss the amount of reparations?" Ever since Wang Xiujin had suggested demanding compensation from the losing side, the officials of the Great Liang had remembered it well. When it came to the previous matter of destroying the Kou Kingdom, some ministers had disagreed, feeling there was no money to be made. But once the Emperor pinned the blame for the Empress Dowager's death on the Kou Kingdom, war was inevitable. Like the current cleanup of the invading forces, most of the ministers who had opposed the deployment before had never experienced demanding money from a defeated nation. Once they tasted the benefits of extracting wealth, none of them dared to speak out against it; they were eager to calculate the enemy's assets and drain them dry so that the enemy would no longer have the means to eye the Great Liang.

"Doesn't the Ministry of Revenue handle that? Those people are all sharper than I am; why would they need me?" Wang Xiujin shook his head, thinking it unrealistic that they would consult him about reparations. Yet, no matter how strange it seemed, if the Emperor summoned him, he had to go.

Neither Wang Xiujin nor Li Linshen ever imagined the possibility of a forged imperial decree. Whoever was behind this was incredibly bold, using the news of the surrender as bait to lure them back to the capital.

The couple and Yachang boarded the carriage. Because they were bringing back far more than they had arrived with, the magistrate of Wu County discussed the matter with the city guard and sent a detachment to escort the Imperial Merchant back to the capital. Wang Xiujin had wanted to refuse, but Li Linshen didn't mind; they indeed had a lot of goods and needed extra hands to keep watch. They had only brought household servants to Wu County, who had no combat ability; if they truly encountered villains, the servants would be of no use.

The city guard sent a small team of over a dozen men, instructing them to ensure the safety of the Imperial Merchant. The journey from Wu County was bumpy and much slower than their arrival. Wang Xiujin yawned, feeling a vague, uneasy premonition. He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint the issue.

Yachang slept soundly with his head on his little father's lap. Li Linshen sat beside the coachman, guiding the horses. Wang Xiujin stroked his son's hair, his mind preoccupied with a sense of unease.

The person who had tricked Wang Xiujin into returning to the capital and intended to take his life was the remarkably patient Rites Official. People, it seemed, should not be pushed too far; when driven to the edge, one’s personality could truly change. Having been expelled from the Ministry of Rites by the Minister, the official felt deeply resentful. Despite his usual facade of reverence toward everyone, he was secretly arrogant, looking down on others and constantly trying to one-up even his close friends. Now, disgraced and cast out of the office, the Minister had even sent word to other departments forbidding anyone from hiring him.

Although he held a nominal rank, he could no longer report for duty, and after a few days, his position was stripped away, leaving him a commoner. The official had not entered the Ministry of Rites through the imperial examinations but through the connections of his teacher. When he went to seek help from the teacher, the teacher could do nothing but sigh. The official had some family connections, but he had previously looked down upon them, obsessed with studying for a government post. He had repeatedly failed the exams, holding only the title of a scholar, far from a government position. Fortunately, he had a good relationship with his teacher, who had used his influence with former students to secure him a sinecure.

The official had previously managed the welcoming ceremony for the returning army, which had brought his teacher great honor. The teacher had believed this student would catch the eye of the Fourth Prince and perhaps achieve great things. Who would have thought that within days, the student would be kicked out? After asking for the reason, the teacher didn't feel the student had done anything wrong. Their relationship was built on compatible tempers, money, and shared interests. As for the official's nature, only the first point aligned.

The teacher looked down on merchants and harbored much dissatisfaction toward the Imperial Merchant, but he lacked the influence to keep the merchant in check, so he suppressed his resentment. In truth, he was afraid to offend him. When he heard that his student had been purged from the Ministry of Rites for failing to track down the Imperial Merchant's whereabouts, the teacher was naturally displeased. He echoed the student's anger, cursed the merchant behind his back, and sent someone to investigate. It wasn't long before they learned that the Imperial Merchant and his husband had taken their child back to their ancestral home for worship and then headed south to Wu County to inspect their businesses.

To the teacher and the official, Wang Xiujin was clearly playing with them, which only added to their fury. The official felt stifled; he hadn't felt this frustrated since he stopped taking exams. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he began to blame all his misfortunes on the Imperial Merchant, wishing for his demise. That was what the official thought, and that was what he prepared to do.

The official was not without a brain; he knew that to succeed, he had to be clean and leave no traces, lest he implicate his family. He first investigated who the merchant had brought back to his hometown, and upon learning it was only a few servants, he calculated how many men he would need to wipe them out. Just then, news of the surrender arrived. The official wrote a letter with his left hand, paid someone to deliver it to the post station, and gathered men to ambush the mountain pass where bandits were known to hide. They would throw stones and fire arrows as soon as Wang Xiujin passed. But he had accounted for everything except the soldiers escorting the Imperial Merchant back to the capital. The official had to abort his plan, watching the carriage pass by in silence.

Once the carriage entered the area, Li Linshen noticed something amiss. Inside, Wang Xiujin also felt that something was wrong, as if he were being watched. He peered out through the carriage curtain but saw nothing unusual, yet his heart remained heavy. It was the same feeling he had experienced in his past life during the apocalypse, just before danger struck.

He rubbed his arms, where the hairs were standing on end, and prayed for safety. He clearly felt the carriage speed up; it seemed Li Linshen also sensed the danger. Soon, Li Linshen entered the carriage. "There might be people on the mountain. I'm not sure how many, or if they are targeting us or if they are just local bandits."

"Father, are we going to clear out the bandits? Can I join in?" Yachang, who had been sleeping, immediately sat up, his eyes shining with intense fighting spirit.

"A child shouldn't meddle in such things. You'll have to wait a few more years before you can lead the way," Wang Xiujin said, poking his son's forehead before looking at Li Linshen, fearing he might agree.

"We have many goods. Let's wait and see. If they don't move, we won't either. We can reach the next city before dark and have the local guards handle it then."