IDWBE -Chapter 137 War

No wonder!

That little eunuch had actually caught Hong Ying’s eye!

After Tan Xizi arrived, the happiest person was undoubtedly Ye Qiu.

Hong Ying poured all his energy into Tan Xizi, and Ye Qiu’s pressure instantly lightened.

The most miserable, however, were Fang Pi and Yu Xiaoshi. Hong An now revolved around Tan Xizi—“Senior Brother this, Senior Brother that”—completely ignoring them.

Yu Xiaoshi wanted to beat Tan Xizi up, but as his cousin, Fang Pi responsibly stopped him for only one reason:

He couldn’t win.

Since that was the case, why go looking for trouble?

Yu Xiaoshi could only watch helplessly as Tan Xizi and Hong An went everywhere together.

Even Shan Yin felt the malice of the world.

Fifteen years old.

Peak of the Seventh Rank!

This little eunuch could no longer be described as merely a prodigy.

Standing before him, Shan Yin was too embarrassed to even mention his own cultivation level—let alone call himself a martial arts genius!

Hong Ying was openly teaching Tan Xizi the so-called Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, without avoiding onlookers. Shan Yin went to watch for a while, then hurriedly ran away.

He still needed to carry on the Shan family line.

But he could clearly sense the terrifying power of that sword technique. He had once heard Ye Qiu mutter, “When the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique appears, there is no other sword technique under heaven.”

He genuinely admired Ye Qiu’s swordsmanship—purely in terms of sword skills, Ye Qiu could be said to be unmatched in the world.

If even Ye Qiu said so, then the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique must truly be formidable.

With that technique, Tan Xizi stepping into the Eighth Rank was only a matter of time.

Thinking of Hong Ying’s terrifying strength, Shan Yin dared not imagine what Tan Xizi would become in the future.

In short, he himself was the most useless one.

But he was not someone who surrendered easily. His daily diligence in practicing the Huiyuan Art was no less than Ye Qiu’s.

Shan Qi felt very gratified seeing this.

Lin Yi, however, was not in such a good mood.

Because news of his illness had reached his father, his marriage arrangements had temporarily fallen through.

He would have to wait until news of his recovery reached his father—and then wait again until his father happened to be in a good mood and remembered the matter—before he would have a chance to bring his wife home.

“Tragic.”

Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn’t help resenting Shan Qi again.

I’m not even dead yet—why rush to submit a memorial?

“Your Highness, what are your orders?”

Lin Yi’s sudden remark left Shan Qi utterly confused.

“I’m twenty now…”

“Your Highness has grown another year older. Congratulations.”

“I’m still single.”

“Single?” Shan Qi didn’t understand the term at all.

“Through the long nights, this prince is alone.” Lin Yi glared at him.

“…”

Shan Qi didn’t know what to say.

Mingyue and Zixia were present—he couldn’t very well say, You have two maidservants!

They might not be peerless beauties, but they could certainly keep you company!

Otherwise, why keep maidservants at all?

“If I get married, would I need to return to the capital?” Lin Yi suddenly asked.

“Your Highness,” Shan Qi spoke carefully, thinking he wished to go back to the capital, “Princess Pingjiang is in Nanzhou. His Majesty likely intends for Prince Heshun to escort her directly here.”

“Otherwise why arrange the marriage with her family? It’s for convenience,” Lin Yi understood perfectly. “Even if my father dies, I still wouldn’t be allowed back.”

Such was the fate of a vassal prince.

One could shamelessly linger in the capital—but returning after leaving was harder than ascending to heaven.

Even a father’s death would not permit it.

Upon hearing this, Shan Qi dropped to his knees with a thud. “Your Highness, be cautious with your words!”

“Look at you,” Lin Yi snorted.

Shan Qi said solemnly, “One who eats the ruler’s salary must be loyal to the ruler.”

“Your salary is paid by me now,” Lin Yi said disdainfully.

The great ships of the Shan family sailed under Sanhe’s shipping permits—if Qi Peng hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t have known.

But he didn’t say it outright; that would hurt feelings.

“Just yesterday, you moved twenty thousand taels of silver out of my manor.”

How could the meager taxes collected by the Provincial Administration Office possibly suffice?

Wasn’t he the one subsidizing everything?

“You are correct, Your Highness,” Shan Qi lowered his head.

“Hmph. If you’ve got something to say, say it. If not, go home and sleep. I’m tired too,” Lin Yi yawned.

“I do have a suggestion,” Shan Qi said with cupped hands. “Sanhe now has eight schools. The expenses are heavy. Could we charge tuition?”

Lin Yi said, “Your office doesn’t even have that little money?”

“I fear it would be like the moon in water or flowers in a mirror—an illusion,” Shan Qi replied.

Lin Yi sipped his tea. “The plan of one year lies in planting grain;
the plan of ten years lies in planting trees;
the plan of a hundred years lies in cultivating people. Do I need to explain this?”

“Your Highness, time does not favor us!” Shan Qi urged.

“You people…” Lin Yi shook his head. “Some things aren’t done because we see hope. We see hope because we persist. I don’t need you teaching me how to do things.”

Chen Desheng added, “Your Highness, matters have priorities.”

Lin Yi smiled. “You’ve all seen beggars, right?”

Chen Desheng said gravely, “Please enlighten us.”

Mingyue massaged Lin Yi’s temples. Feeling comfortable and increasingly lazy, he said, “A beggar doesn’t envy the wealthy—but he certainly resents another beggar who earns more than he does.”

Shan Qi and Chen Desheng exchanged a glance. Anyone with sense understood.

They withdrew.

The scabs on Lin Yi’s back finally fell away.

His back was still red and purple, but once he confirmed there were no open wounds, he ignored the heat and went into the mountains to soak in the hot springs.

It was said hot springs were good for the body. Whether there was scientific proof or not—soak first, ask later.

He didn’t dare stay too long—half an hour before hurrying out.

Dressed simply, he wandered unknowingly to Baiyun Temple.

Incense-burners were crowded with worshippers, yet no one recognized him.

Sun Xing, the fortune-teller at a stall, spotted him immediately and approached with a bow. “Your Highness…”

Toward this man, he felt both love and hate.

Since Prince He came to Sanhe, the once-deserted temple had flourished. He had even established a rule of “no more than three fortunes per day.”

Even so, he earned plenty.

He also worked as a legal advocate.

It might not be riches beyond measure, but earning two or three taels a day was easy.

He had never made that much in a whole year before.

The only problem was that Prince He, perhaps out of spite, had ordered him to teach bone-reading fortune-telling to the orphanage children—

Including a blind one!

For this blind disciple, he had lost sleep night after night.

Prince He had already said: if the disciple failed to graduate, he need not remain a Taoist.

Shameless beyond words!

And yet he dared not resist.

Everyone knew—under heaven and earth, in Sanhe, Prince He was the greatest authority.

“You look radiant. Picked up money again?” Lin Yi teased.

“You jest, Your Highness.”

Sun Xing nearly exploded.

Why don’t you go pick up money and show me?!

But considering the prince had just recovered, he lowered his voice.

If the prince died, his source of income would be cut off.

Like many clever people in Sanhe, he believed Prince He being alive was rather useful.

Lin Yi ignored him and strolled inside.

At the entrance he hesitated—left was the Buddhist hall, right the Taoist temple.

Since he worshipped any deity he encountered, he decided to go left first. Later he could pay respects to the Three Pure Ones as well.

Inside the spacious hall, more than a dozen prayer mats were filled with devout worshippers.

Not a single man in sight.

He was the only one.

“Bodhisattva, you are truly efficacious. Prince He’s illness is really cured. Thank you. From now on, I, Yan Shiqi, swear to offer incense daily…”

The voice was barely audible.

Lin Yi caught enough.

He had never imagined this young girl would pray to all the gods and Buddhas for him.

Yan Shiqi rose from her mat and turned—only to see Lin Yi standing behind her.

She stuck out her tongue and hurried away.

Lin Yi watched her back and couldn’t help smiling.

Imitating her, he respectfully knocked his head three times before the Bodhisattva—

Then placed a silver ingot into the offering box.

Meanwhile, Jin Ke, a general under the bandit leader Han Hui of Yuezhou, had been cornered by Lin Yi’s own uncle, Yuan Qing, and forced into Sanhe.

The border was unstable, cutting off the flow of refugees into Sanhe.

Shan Qi, Xie Zan, and a group of elders—including Wen Qian and Han Deqing’s navy stationed on Bird Island—had all returned.

If over a hundred thousand routed soldiers poured into Sanhe along the newly built roads, the consequences would be unimaginable.

How many people did Sanhe have in total?

Such a flood of men would bring devastation beyond description.

“Your Highness, please decide!”

After Shan Qi spoke, everyone in the room knelt.

“My uncle really knows how to make things difficult,” Lin Yi muttered.

He still clung to the hope that the rebels wouldn’t enter Baiyun City.

“Your Highness, with so many children—if the bandits break in…” Xie Zan seemed to grasp Lin Yi’s weakness. “The consequences would be unthinkable!”

“Then fight the bastards!”

Lin Yi finally made up his mind.

No matter what, he would not allow harm to come to the children.

“Your Highness is wise!”

The shout nearly burst his eardrums.

White slogans plastered the streets of Baiyun City:

Glory in Enlistment!
Defend Sanhe!
Those with money contribute money; those with strength contribute strength!
Strengthen preparedness—prepare for war!

A chilling atmosphere blanketed Sanhe.

Even a fool sensed something was wrong.

In just ten days, the garrison expanded to ten thousand troops, with seven thousand laborers.

Then grain prices rose.

Shan Qi proposed arresting the profiteering merchants and beheading them.

“Economic problems require economic solutions.”

Lin Yi stopped him.

He opened Sanhe’s granaries, lowered grain prices, and planned to bankrupt the profiteers instead.