IDWBE -Chapter 49 Unparalleled Beauty

If not for the fact that the man had presented ten thousand taels as a gift of respect, Lin Yi wouldn’t even have allowed him through the door.

“I beg Your Highness to consider that he is still young and ignorant. Please spare him this once,”

Wang Cheng kowtowed again. “After I take him home, I will certainly discipline him strictly.”

Lin Yi took a sip of tea and said calmly, “If everyone pleaded like you and I let them all go, how could I maintain authority in the future? People might even think that whatever the Prince’s residence says is nothing but empty wind.”

“I would not dare,”

Wang Cheng hurriedly replied, then straightened and cupped his hands. “Your Highness’s enfeoffment to Sanhe is a great blessing to this land. It is only that Sanhe is poor and has surely caused Your Highness some hardship. Your Highness builds roads and bridges for the benefit of the people, which makes me deeply ashamed. I am willing to donate fifty thousand taels to follow in Your Highness’s footsteps. I hope you will accept.”

“Rise,”

Lin Yi said with a smile. “Bring Master Wang a seat and tea—good tea.”

Wang Cheng had just begun to rise when Lin Yi suddenly added, “I am not a greedy man. If I truly wanted money, I could slaughter every one of you—wouldn’t that bring far more than fifty thousand taels? Raising a million or so should be no problem, right?”

Wang Cheng’s half-raised legs went weak. His suspended knees dropped back to the ground with a thud, and his whole body trembled like a leaf. “Your Highness is merciful…”

Lin Yi said in surprise, “Are all you former sea bandits so timid? I heard that in your day, Master Wang was called the Sea Dragon King, commanding a thousand men and a hundred ships—quite formidable.”

“Your Highness, please see clearly,”

Wang Cheng stiffened even more, panic rising. “I have been wronged!”

“Wronged?”

Lin Yi smiled. “Master Wang, are you saying I speak nonsense?”

“I would not dare!”

Wang Cheng felt even more frightened. If he had been confident he could escape from the eunuch standing before him, he would have fled at once.

Lin Yi tossed a grape into his mouth and said casually, “No need to be nervous, Master Wang. Please rise and speak. Who doesn’t have a past these days? It’s better to talk openly.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Wang Cheng forced his numb legs to stand, retreated carefully to a chair, and perched on the edge of it. With hands cupped, he said, “I am willing to donate another two hundred thousand taels to assist Your Highness in building bridges and roads.”

“Now look at you—what kind of person do you take me for?”

Lin Yi wiped his hands with the towel Hong Ying handed him and smiled. “Wouldn’t that make this extortion? We’re all intelligent people—why beat around the bush?”

“This is entirely my sincere intention,” Wang Cheng said.

“I will accept only the fifty thousand taels,” Lin Yi replied.

Hearing such words from a prince of the current dynasty felt unreal to Wang Cheng.

Moreover, this prince was famously greedy.

Refusing money that was practically being forced into his hands?

That could only mean he wanted something greater.

His heart tightened again.

“Your Highness, please give your instructions.”

Wang Cheng clenched his teeth. Apart from the lives of his entire family, everything else was insignificant.

Lin Yi smiled. “I don’t know many of the local gentry of Sanhe. Please pass along a message for me. I will not pursue past matters. But from now on, they must not commit crimes or wrongdoing. I want Sanhe to be a place where doors are left unlocked at night and lost items lie untouched on the road. Whoever breaks these rules—I will not spare them. Unless they intend to rebel, they are nothing more than meat on my chopping board. They should not think my blade cannot cut.”

“I will certainly deliver your words!”

Wang Cheng knocked his head three more times.

“As for the money,” Lin Yi continued with a smile, “I won’t take it for nothing. When one takes money, one must help avert disaster—that much professional ethics I still possess. I guarantee your son will be assigned light work, eat meat at every meal, and return home lively and unharmed.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, for your grace!”

Wang Cheng no longer dared to ask for his son’s release.

That his entire family could keep their lives was already a great blessing.

Seeing that Lin Yi had nothing further to say, he bowed three more times and carefully withdrew from the Prince’s residence.

After Wang Cheng left, Mingyue smiled and said, “Your Highness truly showed noble character today.”

Lin Yi rolled his eyes at her. “Are you mocking me?”

Since coming to Sanhe, both Mingyue and Zixia had become more relaxed in temperament, and Lin Yi himself felt happier as well.

“I would not dare,” Mingyue said.

Lin Yi said leisurely, “When harvesting leeks or shearing sheep, one must have skill. If you kill them outright, who will I collect from in the future? In life, one must take a long-term view and understand the difference between one full meal and meals forever.”

“Your Highness is wise,” Zixia said with a hand over her mouth, laughing softly. “I knew Your Highness must have your own reasoning—far beyond us foolish people.”

Lin Yi stood, walked to the doorway, then suddenly turned back to Hong Ying. “Tell that fellow Sun Yi to be sharp while working the gate these days. Perhaps he can make a little money along with me.”

Sun Yi, the stable hand and veterinarian, now had an additional duty as gatekeeper of the Prince’s residence.

Even a minor official at a prime minister’s gate held status; the Prince’s residence would be no less.

But there were few visitors to the residence. When some finally came, the opportunity to earn money had to be seized.

Hong Ying laughed. “Your Highness is generous. It’s that little rascal Sun Yi’s good fortune.”

Lin Yi smiled. “It’s been hard on him too. All of them left comfortable lives to follow me here and suffer.”

By both sentiment and reason, he felt responsible for ensuring those under him could live well.

It wasn’t enough for him alone to prosper.

At noon, just after finishing a meal, he received word that two local gentry of Baiyun City—Liang Gen and Qiu Wujin—had arrived, each bringing eighty thousand taels as gifts of respect.

Lin Yi naturally received them warmly.

In the evening, just after sunset, another large landowner, Shao Qing, arrived.

From then on, gifts arrived daily, as if by prior agreement—each visitor bringing eighty thousand taels.

In just five days, Lin Yi had received nearly nine hundred thousand taels of silver.

Looking at the room filled with glittering gold, silver, and jewels, Mingyue finally understood what her prince meant by the difference between one full meal and meals forever.

“If anyone dares tell me again that Sanhe is poor, I’ll be the first to disagree,”

Lin Yi couldn’t help saying with emotion.

The wealth of these local gentry and landlords far exceeded his expectations.

But after thinking it over, he understood. These families had been entrenched here for generations, and few were clean. Some were former sea bandits; others trafficked in illegal salt; still others secretly engaged in maritime trade with the Southern Seas.

After three days without visitors, just as Lin Yi thought no one else would come, a carriage stopped at the gate, followed by a long line of servants carrying chests.

Two hundred thousand taels.

“Quick!”

Lin Yi was overjoyed. “Invite them in. Brew my finest Longjing tea.”

Sitting upright in his chair, he saw a woman in white enter his view.

The moment he looked at her breathtaking face, a single phrase flashed in his mind:

Unparalleled beauty.

Why had he never known that such a woman existed in Sanhe?

If Song Cheng were here, Lin Yi would certainly have kicked him hard.

An intelligence failure!