IDWBE -Chapter 513 Strange Matters

Lin Yi widened his eyes and asked, “Are you telling the truth?”

Duan Rong smiled nervously and said, “I would never dare deceive Your Highness. Outside, this isn’t even a secret anymore—many people know about it.”

Luo Han scratched his head and thought for a moment.

“Your Highness, I think I’ve heard people mention it too. But at the time I assumed it was just a rumor, so I didn’t pay attention.”

After all, Chen Xinluo had served successively as the Chief Constable of the Sanhe Provincial Administration, then the Chief Constable of Yong’an Province, and now commanded the Ankang City Military Police.

A fourth-rank official!

Even officials like He Jixiang now consulted him whenever important matters arose.

How could such a man possibly fancy a middle-aged widow?

It sounded like a joke.

Lin Yi turned his head and looked at Pan Duo, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Secret Guards.

“What do you say?”

Pan Duo bowed and replied, “According to the information gathered by my men, ever since Madam Deng came to Ankang City with the carpenter Deng Ke, Lord Chen has been visiting Wei Yishan’s home every few days—under the excuse of caring about a colleague’s welfare—and drinking there.”

The Imperial Secret Guards were responsible for patrol, arrest, and intelligence gathering.

They normally didn’t bother with neighborhood gossip.

But Chen Xinluo was a high-ranking court official.

If the secret police didn’t know about his personal relationships, marriage status, and daily movements, that would be negligence.

Lin Yi laughed helplessly.

“What kind of strange habit is this?”

As far as he knew, Chen Xinluo wasn’t the only one who liked Wei Yishan’s mother.

His former guard commander He Hong liked her too!

And that reminded him of Jiao Zhong, who was infatuated with Cao Xiaohuan.

He really couldn’t understand his guards.

Why were they all obsessed with widows and divorced women?

Were they trying to imitate Cao Cao or something?

Pan Duo smiled awkwardly.

“I cannot say.”

Lin Yi asked curiously, “He Hong likes Madam Deng too. Is he okay with Chen Xinluo pursuing her? What happened between them?”

Pan Duo bowed again.

“Last year on the night of the full moon, Chen Xinluo and He Hong agreed to a duel at the summit of White Horse Temple. The monk and Xie Xiaoqing served as judges. Lord He Hong lost the match, so according to their agreement, he withdrew.”

Lin Yi frowned. “A duel between those two is a major event, and I didn’t even know about it. These two fellows aren’t young anymore. Why do they waste their time like this?”

Pan Duo smiled politely.

“Your Highness speaks wisely.”

Lin Yi continued, “So the real question is—is Madam Deng really that beautiful?”

He actually felt the most sympathy for Wei Yishan.

Perhaps no one could better answer the question:

“What does it feel like when your mother is extremely beautiful?”

Wei Yishan was now a commander of the capital garrison.

Yet it seemed like everyone wanted to become his stepfather!

No one cared about him at all.

Duan Rong answered eagerly, “Your Highness, Madam Deng truly is beautiful. From her appearance, she looks barely twenty. She used to be the most beautiful woman in Sanhe. Even Liang Gen admired her when he was young. But the Liang family was a powerful household. She couldn’t become the main wife, and she refused to be a concubine. So she eventually married Wei Yishan’s father.”

Lin Yi asked curiously, “Liang Gen had the chance and didn’t take it? He just let her marry someone else?”

Duan Rong laughed.

“I don’t know the details. But she really did marry into the Wei family afterward. I’m the same age as Wei Yishan and often visited his home when we were children. Madam Deng looked the same back then as she does now. Her appearance hasn’t changed at all.”

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.

“Did she ever practice martial arts?”

He thought of Consort Wen, Jingkuan, and the Grand Princess.

They practiced the Hongxiu technique, which seemed almost like an elixir of immortality—keeping them eternally youthful.

Sometimes when he looked at them, even he felt his heart flutter.

Pan Duo replied, “Madam Deng only studied a little Huiyuan Kungfu in Baiyun City. She’s only at the Huajin stage now.”

Lin Yi laughed.

“Then she must really know some beauty secrets. Otherwise how could she make men like He Hong and Chen Xinluo completely obsessed?”

Inwardly, he had already made up his mind.

One day he would definitely go and see Madam Deng himself—just to see what kind of beauty could captivate so many men.

Nothing else!

Just curiosity.

Pan Duo smiled.

“I think Your Highness is probably correct.”

Lin Yi sighed. “If you ask me, you people should learn from Shen Chu. Even though his wife objects, he keeps marrying concubines one after another—each more beautiful than the last. And he keeps having daughters—one more adorable than the previous one. Talking about love is pointless.”

Pan Duo chuckled. “Your Highness, Lord Shen’s fourth concubine gave birth to a son early last year. General Shen was leading troops in Jinzhou and couldn’t return in time. At the baby’s one-month celebration, Lady Shen personally brought the child home and raised him herself. When the boy turned one, they held a grand celebration. Miss Mingyue even asked Sun Cheng to deliver Your Highness’s gift.”

Lin Yi sighed with emotion. “Shen Chu finally has a son. His lifelong worry is finally gone.”

Then he turned to Pan Duo. “You’re not young anymore either. Don’t you want to find a wife soon?”

At least one thing comforted him—his subordinates all had normal preferences. None of them pursued men.

Pan Duo smiled bitterly. “I’m used to living alone. Starting a family would feel uncomfortable.”

Lin Yi scolded him. “I’m encouraging people everywhere to have more children. As officials of the court, you should lead by example. But one by one you’re either obsessed with romantic nonsense or saying you’re used to living alone. What kind of example is that?”

Then he waved his hand impatiently. “Hurry up. Get married and have children. Lead by example.”

He wasn’t worried about Pan Duo marrying someone he didn’t love and treating her badly.

That was modern thinking.

In feudal society, marriage was simple:

Marry a man, and you have clothes and food.

For ordinary women of this era, having enough to eat and wear was already satisfaction.

And Pan Duo was a high-ranking official.

He could provide security that ordinary people could only dream of.

Whoever married him would at least never worry about food.

As for love, that wasn’t something ordinary people had the luxury to think about.

Pan Duo sighed. “I understand.”

“Understanding isn’t enough—do it. Hey! You little rascal hiding over there—what are you sneaking around for?”

Under the dim lantern light, Lin Yi noticed Sun Chongde peeking around the garden.

“Come here immediately!”

Sun Chongde hurried over and kowtowed three times.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Stand up,” Lin Yi snorted.

“You heard what I just said?”

Sun Chongde quickly replied, “I will make arrangements soon.”

The woman he liked—his mother disapproved of.

The women his mother liked—he disliked.

Years passed like this.

All he could do was wander around brothels to ease his loneliness.

Lin Yi teased him.

“Back then Chen Jingzhi wanted to marry his granddaughter to you, and you refused. Regret it now?”

Sun Chongde laughed. “I don’t regret it.”

If he had married Chen Jingzhi’s granddaughter, how would he address Jiao Zhong, who had married Chen Jingzhi’s daughter?

“Uncle-in-law?”

That would have been embarrassing.

Lin Yi chuckled. “Do you have someone you like? I can arrange the match for you. If you truly like Jiang Zhen, I can help.”

Sun Chongde replied proudly, “If there’s no mutual affection, I won’t humiliate myself. A real man never lacks for a wife.”

“Fair enough,” Lin Yi yawned.

“Stop delaying. All of you get moving.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” everyone answered together.

“Alright, go to sleep.”

Lin Yi waved them away and followed a maid from the resort to wash up.

That Night

Lying in the bath barrel, Lin Yi endured a bit of guilty conscience while a bright young maid scrubbed his back.

Eventually he couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms.

He felt he had completely fallen into decadence.

Later that night, looking at the girl beside him, he sighed.

“When matters here are finished, come back to Ankang City with me.”

The girl thought she had misheard.

She quickly jumped out of bed, knelt on the floor, and cried with joy.

“Thank you for Your Highness’s grace!”

“Get up,” Lin Yi said casually. “Do you have any family?”

The girl lay carefully against his chest and whispered, “My name is Jin Xiang. My parents died when I was young. I grew up with my elder brother. When I was eleven, there was a terrible drought. The harvest failed completely. To keep me from starving, my brother sold me here to be trained by my aunt. Then he went to Qizhou Port to work as a laborer.”

At this point tears flowed down her face.

She still didn’t know whether her brother was alive or dead.

When she realized her tears had wet Lin Yi’s chest, she quickly knelt again.

“I deserve death!”

Lin Yi remained still, eyes closed, gently patting her back.

“Lie down. Just talk to me calmly. Don’t panic over nothing.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Jin Xiang hesitated before lying beside him.

“I am deeply grateful.”

“Don’t worry,” Lin Yi said softly.

“I’ll find your brother for you. It’s not a big problem.”

After saying that, he simply fell asleep.

The Next Morning

Pan Duo saw Jin Xiang coming out of the room looking radiant.

Before she could bow, he said, “Go see Aunt Wu. She’ll make arrangements.”

Jin Xiang bowed.

“Thank you, sir.”

She then went to the laundry courtyard.

A richly dressed woman holding a thorn branch was lecturing the maids and servants.

When she saw Jin Xiang, her stern face immediately turned into a warm smile.

“Good child. You didn’t disappoint your aunt.”

She then took Jin Xiang into the house.

When Lin Yi saw her again, the soft girl from last night had become almost unrecognizable.

She was covered in jewelry and luxurious clothing, dazzling to the eyes.

Lin Yi laughed.

“Who dressed you like this?”

Jin Xiang looked nervous.

“Does Your Highness not like it?”

“It doesn’t matter whether I like it or not,” Lin Yi replied.

“What matters is whether you like it.”

Then he ordered Pan Duo to prepare the donkey—they would continue traveling today.

Leaving the summer resort, they followed the official road north for ten more li.

The scenery remained devastatingly bleak.

In fact, families who could still sell their daughters were considered relatively wealthy.

Lin Yi picked up a child so thin he was almost all bones and sighed.

“The people are so innocent, yet they suffer such disasters.”

He ordered, “Inform Grandma Sang to adopt as many orphans in Jizhou as possible. No matter how hard things are, the children must not suffer.”

He had been encouraging population growth across the Liang Empire.

But what was the point of having children if they couldn’t even survive?

An old woman wrapped in hemp clothes watched them nervously.

She wanted to take back the child but didn’t dare, muttering something no one could understand.

Lin Yi stepped forward and handed the child back.

“Don’t worry. I’m not taking your child.”

Pan Duo gave her a bag of grain.

“Cook some porridge for the child.”

“A living Bodhisattva…”

The old woman stared at the rice sack like she was dreaming and knelt repeatedly.

When she looked up again, Lin Yi and the others were already far away.

The road was filled with cracked dry earth, low thatched huts, and starving villagers.

Now Lin Yi finally understood why Ankang City had so many refugees.

If people had even the slightest way to survive, who would willingly leave their homeland?

“Damn it…” In front of everyone, Lin Yi wiped his tears.

“The older I get, the easier it is to cry.”

Pan Duo said solemnly, “Your Highness, the secret guards still have some businesses. We can squeeze out some silver. I’ll send a carrier pigeon immediately to have grain transported here to relieve the urgent situation.”

Those businesses actually belonged to the former Shadow organization.

Its leader Qi Peng had once been one of the richest men in the Liang Empire.

Even after submitting to Prince He, those enterprises were never abandoned.

Prince He trusted Qi Peng and allowed the businesses to continue operating.

Instead, he simply demanded that the secret guards be financially self-sufficient.

Their accounts were still supervised by the Ministry of Revenue.

Even after supporting so many agents, they still had plenty of money.

In the treasury of the Ankang Military Office alone, there were still millions of taels of silver.

Lin Yi sighed. “Then let’s act immediately. Those with strength contribute strength. Those with money contribute money. No more trouble.”

His heart already felt exhausted.

The saying was indeed correct:

Compassion cannot command armies.
Kindness cannot manage wealth.

If one’s heart softened even a little, money would slip away.

He simply had no talent for hoarding wealth.

Late at Night, the group stopped in a large town.

In a nearby tavern, stationed soldiers were drinking and shouting loudly while playing drinking games.

Lin Yi watched them coldly.

Suddenly Han Long, who sat arrogantly on a bench, seemed to sense something.

He turned around sharply.

First he looked at Lin Yi, thinking he must be drunk.

He rubbed his eyes.

Then he saw Pan Duo behind him.

He immediately dropped to his knees and began kowtowing repeatedly.

The other soldiers didn’t understand what was happening.

But seeing Han Long kneel, they quickly knelt too.

Lin Yi walked up to Han Long and said slowly, “You seem to be enjoying yourselves.”

“Capital offense!”

Han Long’s voice trembled.

“I failed to welcome Your Highness from afar. Please punish me!”

The word “Your Highness” finally made the other soldiers understand.

They sobered instantly.

Many of them were veterans.

After confirming it was Prince He, they shouted together:

“Long live Your Highness!”