The Earl of North Border and Lord Jingnan had both gone to Quande Building to have duck right after they entered the city. It can be said that Quande Building’s reputation had reached its peak.
However, Quande Building’s business has been very quiet these days.
Because the ducks at Quande Building were very expensive, ordinary people could neither afford them nor bring themselves to indulge. As for the wealthy and noble families, they had no appetite for such things these days. Some... might never be able to eat there again.
"Which bunch is this?" Zheng Fan, sitting by the window on the second floor of Quande Building, asked.
"Lord Zheng, this is the fourth batch."
"Master Zhang, I told you when we first met, don’t call me Lord Zheng."
"Then what should I call you? Little Fan or Little Zheng?" The Sixth Prince happened to push open the door and walk into the private room, taking off the bamboo hat on his head and throwing it to Master Zhang beside him.
He was wearing a coarse, long robe, looking like a penniless scholar. His clothes were streaked with mud and grass, and his knees were stained with dirt.
"What were you doing?" Zheng Fan asked. The source of thɪs content is 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
"Mourning at a grave. The small shrine I built for my mother and maternal grandfather was razed the day before yesterday. I disguised myself and went there to cry for a while. Sigh, I’m dying of thirst."
The Sixth Prince reached out, picked up the teapot in front of him, and started drinking directly from the spout.
After quenching his thirst, the Sixth Prince wiped his mouth, handed the teapot to Master Zhang beside him, and said, "Bring me another pot of tea."
Zheng Fan immediately reminded Master Zhang, "Use a different teapot."
"Are you disgusted by me?"
"Well, stay heartbroken."
Master Zhang took the teapot and left.
"Don’t feel too bad," Zheng Fan said comfortingly.
"I’m alright. I’d been secretly building that shrine for several years, just waiting for the day Father would have it torn down." The Sixth Prince reached into the basket, picked up a piece of crispy cookie, and took a bite.
"That’s right. You see, if you want to punish someone, you naturally have to take away what they cherish to make the punishment effective. If you’re greedy for wealth, your property will be confiscated. If you’re greedy for power, you’ll be demoted. If you have nothing, then the punishment will be inflicted directly upon you, tasking your body. So, even if you don’t particularly like anything, you have to create a few ’cherished’ things to act as a buffer. When the time comes, those in authority will ’take them away.’ And after it’s done, you still need to act heartbroken to give them the sense of accomplishment from punishing you."
"Is that even possible?"
"Why not? There, see? Down below."
Zheng Fan turned his head to look down. It was the fifth group of prisoners being escorted down this street by the Imperial Guard.
"Servants from the household of Vice Minister Jiang of the Ministry of War. His entire family has already been executed, and these servants are being sent into exile."
"Mhm. Your transfer from Hutou City to Green Willow Fortress was arranged through the Jiang family’s connections. Their youngest son owed my gambling house a considerable sum. Though I may be an idle prince, a debt to a prince is not one to be easily dismissed."
"An exchange of power for money, so blatant?"
"Such directness appears frank."
"Moreover, the Jiang family had a property in Huwei—a mountain said to be a coal mine, but it’s actually a copper mine. I’ve had my eye on it for a long time. Their assets have now been confiscated by the state, so in a few days, I’ll have someone purchase it from the Imperial Household Department."
"You had this planned all along?"
"Exactly. Who asked the Jiang family to be so unaccommodating? I offered to buy it with silver, but they refused to sell."
Just then, Master Zhang brought up a fresh pot of tea.
As Zheng Fan poured the tea, he thought to himself: If this were a game called "Loving Father and Filial Son"... For the first ten years, the Yan Emperor relentlessly tormented Ji Chengjue. But Ji Chengjue is a sharp one; he quickly figured out the patterns and began to deliberately exploit the game’s mechanics in reverse.
"Aren’t you afraid His Majesty will find out?"
If His Majesty finds out you’ve tricked him, used him as a weapon... Heh.
"My father is swamped with myriad state affairs every day. How could he possibly have the leisure to check up on what his son is doing daily? At most, when he happens to think of me, he’ll casually ask a question, just like I’m asking Master Zhang now: Wei Zhonghe!"
Master Zhang immediately bowed and said, "This servant is present."
"How has Cheng Jue been doing recently?"
"Answering Your Highness, the Sixth Prince secretly went to the ridges of the fields outside the city today and knelt there crying for a long time."
"CLAP!" The Sixth Prince clapped his hands once, shrugged at Zheng Fan, and said, "And that’s about it."
Zheng Fan picked up his teacup and took a sip. It was Old Eagle Tea. As the name suggested, its flavor wasn’t the finest among teas, nor was it considered particularly valuable. However, in the capital at this time, drinking Old Eagle Tea perfectly suited the atmosphere.
"My father won’t ask further. He has many other matters to attend to: strategies for the war against the Qian State, deciding whether to execute, demote, or exile the members of the powerful clans—a mountain of issues weighs upon my father.
"As long as Father doesn’t ask again, Wei Zhonghe won’t report further. Even if the Spy Bureau under Wei Zhonghe’s command learns that I acquired the Jiang family’s copper mine through the Imperial Household Department, he still won’t say anything. Oh, no, he won’t *volunteer* the information.
"It’s not that Wei Zhonghe would be disloyal to my father; it’s simply his duty as a servant."
"Very impressive," Zheng Fan commented.
Now *that’s* a high-level player.
Of course, there was another point. Zheng Fan had noticed it; the Sixth Prince was definitely doing this intentionally. Since Zheng Fan had arrived, Master Zhang had been calling him ’Lord Zheng,’ and the Sixth Prince had been using ’I’ when speaking to him, instead of the royal ’We’ or ’This One’ he used previously.