Zhou Shuren pressed his brow. “I quickly smoothed things over with the officials at all levels in Jinzhou, just to reduce trouble and spend more time with you during childbirth.”

At this point, Zhou Shuren became even more frustrated. Zhulan was over nine months pregnant, and it looked like she was about to give birth; he couldn’t rest easy for a moment.

These past few days had been peaceful, with the officials in Jinzhou not daring to make any moves, but today he was worried.

Zhulan could tell that the only thing that could make Zhou Shuren so frustrated was the Emperor, who was very close this time. Jinzhou was less than a day’s journey from the capital, half a day by carriage, and less than two hours by fast horse.

Currently, Song Momo isn’t in the main courtyard. She should have returned to the main courtyard for the full moon celebration, but Zhulan was worried about Zhao Shi’s attitude towards the child, so she had her stay a few more days.

Without Song Momo by her side, Zhulan asked in a low voice, “So what decree was issued?”

Zhou Shuren gritted his teeth. “Previously, the Pinggang Maritime Affairs Bureau was responsible for all maritime taxes, bypassing the local prefecture and going directly to the imperial court. Now it’s under the jurisdiction of the prefecture, and the accounts are checked by the prefecture before going to the capital.”

Zhulan was speechless.

Should she say, “The Emperor is powerful? He drops bombs now and then; a single decree can really turn the world upside down.”

In two years, maritime trade had been frequent, and tax revenue had been considerable. This could no longer be called a piece of fat meat; in these two years, countless powerful figures had been fattened up. Now that the maritime affairs bureau had been put on hold, it was very good.

Zhulan said with great emotion, “This is the real purpose of sending you here. If I remember correctly, you received a ‘show of force’ when you came to Pinggang.”

It was only a little over a month since then.

Actually, being close to the capital was not necessarily a good thing. Some eighth-rank officials came from prominent aristocratic families. It wasn’t that their fathers were particularly powerful; rather, their yéye, wàigōng, shūshu, or jiùjiu held high positions. And these officials were especially arrogant, refusing to submit to anyone.

So what if Zhou Shuren was the Emperor’s trusted confidant? Their families were also being given important positions, and all of them were in the capital. They knew exactly how far they could go in making things difficult for him, and they weren’t afraid of the Emperor finding out. In fact, they would be more than happy for the Emperor to know so that he would realize that Zhou Shuren was no better than they were.

During these past two months, Zhulan had managed to avoid trouble because she was pregnant and the Zhou family had someone suffering from a difficult childbirth. No one had really come looking for trouble with her.

Zhou Shuren, however, had it much worse. To deal with these arrogant people, he had to outwit them and beat them at their own game. Just when he had finally managed to get the officials in Jinzhou to settle down, the Emperor had thrown an even bigger headache his way.

Zhou Shuren said quietly, “So, the officials in Pinggang must be regretting it.”

Zhulan said, “…probably regretting it to the core.”

In the palace, the Emperor had just finished his evening meal. He had eaten with his five sons. After the meal, the Emperor glanced at his sons and asked Eunuch Liu, “Has the messenger returned?”

Eunuch Liu felt sorry for the princes; the Emperor had kept them there all afternoon. The princes were happy now, but they would be unhappy later. “Yes, the messenger has returned.”

The four princes, excluding the Crown Prince, were on edge. Their Royal Father’s decision to keep them for dinner today was unusual, suggesting the decree he issued was also unusual.

The Emperor smiled and said, “Alright, that’s enough for today. You can all go back.”

The Crown Prince led his brothers out of the main hall. After walking for a while, the Second Huangzi approached, “Brother, no, Crown Prince, you spend all your time with your Royal Father. Do you know what the decree is?”

The Crown Prince actually knew about it. It all started when his Imperial Father began pitting Zhou Daren against the sons of various influential families and watched them scheme against each other for his own amusement. The Crown Prince was fortunate enough to witness it as well. He had thought it would take Zhou Daren at least three or four months to bring the Jinzhou government office under control, but unexpectedly, he finished the job in less than two months.

The reason given was that Zhou Daren needed to be with his wife during childbirth, thus speeding things up.

So, since Zhou Daren had sped things up, Royal Father had sped things up as well. Originally, Imperial Father had already written the imperial edict and planned to announce it in the summer.

The Crown Prince couldn’t bring himself to smile and chat amiably with those troublesome younger brothers, so he simply turned around and left. In any case, they would all know about it once they returned later, so there was no need to rush.

The Second Huangzhi stared at the Crown Prince’s retreating figure, his expression almost bursting with anger. He was furious; he could tell just by looking at the Crown Prince. He couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince was so favored by his Royal Father. He was jealous.

Once they returned to their respective residences, they all found out what the imperial edict said. Some of them immediately cursed out loud. They had only just been given a warning, and now this edict had come down. Great, my ass.

At the Crown Prince’s residence, he stood in the courtyard, looking at the moon. It was truly large and round tonight. A cold wind blew through the chilly garden, calming the Crown Prince’s fiery heart. His father hadn’t kept his actions a secret; he had even pointed out the underlying intentions. He couldn’t get agitated; he had to stay true to himself.

The Crown Prince sighed inwardly. Zhou Daren was a living chess piece; Royal Father was using Zhou Daren to continually tighten the net he was preparing to cast. By tomorrow morning, it would be the Yòu Shìláng of the Ministry of Revenue.

The next day, in Jinzhou Prefecture, Zhou Shuren had only just gone to the front office when Wang Tóngzhī raised an eyebrow and said, “Zhou Daren, the family of Li Daren, the Yòu Shìláng of the Ministry of Revenue, was confiscated today. Did you know about it?”

Zhou Shuren suppressed the twitching at the corner of his mouth. Wang Tongzhi, I know your father is a first-rank official, so there’s no need to flaunt your extensive information.

Zhou Shuren couldn’t say that aloud. “Wang Daren, your information network is excellent. However, although Jinzhou Prefecture is close to the capital, even a fast horse would take a while to deliver it. Wang Daren, I admire you.”

Wang Ju gave a dry, silly laugh. He’d been so angry lately that he’d acted childishly and shown off. Luckily, his father didn’t know; otherwise, he really didn’t want to be punished by kneeling. “Zhou Daren, you’re joking. Oh dear, look at my memory. I had something to do. How could I forget?”

Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes inwardly, too lazy to deal with this slippery Wang Daren. Zhou Shuren sat down and drank his tea. His information network wasn’t excellent, but he was good at calculations. From yesterday’s imperial decree, he knew the Emperor would expose the mole within the Ministry of Revenue. He hadn’t expected it to be the Yòu Shìláng¹.

Zhou Shuren was utterly speechless. The Ministry of Revenue—without the Ministry of Revenue’s Shàngshū² turning a blind eye, how could the Yòu Shìláng have kept it hidden? It was simply that the shàngshū had received an imperial edict from the Emperor. How could these people possibly think they could keep it hidden?

In fact, everyone’s every move was under the Emperor’s watch. Zhou Shuren felt even more frustrated. He had spent the entire night thinking about it yesterday, working backward from the Emperor’s actions, and realized that he had ended up trapping himself. If only he had known, he would have taken things slowly. At least then, he could have stayed with Zhulan while she gave birth.

Now, the Emperor had dealt with the Yòu Shìláng today; just wait, he would soon issue an edict to audit the accounts. Once the maritime affairs ledgers arrived, he wouldn’t be able to relax. He truly admired the Emperor; each step was meticulously planned and executed.

That evening, Zhou Shuren returned home and saw an invitation on the table. “Whose is it?”

(End of Chapter)

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Footnote

1. Right Vice Minister, a senior deputy official who assisted the Shàngshū (尚书), the Minister who headed a central government ministry.
2. Minister, the senior official who headed a central government ministry.