novelraw Chapter 235
Chapter 235
Chapter 235: Heartache
On the first day after entering the city, thanks to Pei Yongjie's tact, Wei Yu's guards had taken control of the entire Prefect’s office that very night.
All the movements inside the office were monitored by the guards; nothing could slip past Wei Yu.
The people sent out to contact Yi Shisan quickly reached him.
That night, Yi Shisan, who had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of His Highness for a long time, quietly made his way over.
At that moment, Wei Yu was writing a letter to his father. When he heard a few knocks on the window, he immediately knew who it was without asking.
“Tsk, come in.”
As soon as Wei Yu finished speaking, the window was opened and a figure climbed in.
“Your Highness.”
It was a very familiar face. Wei Yu looked at Yi Shisan's face and wanted to tease him, “Why didn't you come through the front door? Climbing through windows, have you been up to sneaky deeds again?”
Yi Shisan straightened his chest and said confidently, “This subordinate is used to it. Taking the front door is something Lord Fang and their group prefer.”
Wei Yu: …
He was actually proud of himself.
Wei Yu shook his head, dipped his brush in ink, and prepared to continue writing the letter.
“All right, just tell me, what have you been up to in the City lately? Are those three hundred men still doing fine?”
Yi Shisan replied: “I haven’t done much, just been waiting for Your Highness. The others are fine, nothing out of the ordinary.”
Wei Yu was organizing his words in his letter and did not have much energy to focus on Yi Shisan’s affairs. When he heard that Yi Shisan had no problems, Wei Yu merely nodded.
“Good, good, it's good that there’s nothing wrong. Pei Yongjie’s side isn’t much of a concern… Oh, right, you should prepare in these few days. Take more men and go to Donghai Commandery to gather some intelligence.”
While writing the letter, Wei Yu occasionally said a few words to Yi Shisan.
There was another mission to undertake, and Yi Shisan was not unhappy when he heard about it. However, he glanced at His Highness Wei Yu’s face and, taking advantage of a pause, suddenly voiced his own opinion.
“Your Highness, travel expenses.”
What?
Wei Yu’s hand holding the brush suddenly stopped.
He turned his head to look at Yi Shisan and asked incredulously, “You’re seriously asking me for travel expenses? Hm, wait, I don’t think you were even given any travel expenses this time. Where did you get your money?”
Wei Yu suddenly realized this question. He sat up straight, wanting to ask how Yi Shisan managed to lead three hundred men for more than half a month without starving!
That was quite worth learning from.
Looking into His Highness’ shining eyes, Yi Shisan remained calm and said, “Oh, I borrowed it from someone.”
Wei Yu was shocked, “Who in their right mind would lend you money?”
“I don’t know.”
Wei Yu grew suspicious:
“You didn’t happen to do any forced buying and selling, did you?”
Yi Shisan tilted his head.
What does that mean? He didn’t understand.
He was seriously borrowing money with IOUs, so how could it be forced transactions? His Highness was being unreasonable.
After all, it was His Highness; whether or not to be reasonable was up to Wei Yu.
Wei Yu thought this guy was unreliable and forced Yi Shisan to explain the whole situation.
After hearing it, Wei Yu was silent for a moment.
He looked deeply at the honest-looking Yi Shisan and couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up.
“You’re really something—using Ding Facai’s name to act first and report later, you’ve even ruined Facai's reputation.”
Wei Yu was not even a little doubtful that those people who were “borrowed” from in the City might be cursing the name “Ding Facai” day and night. Maybe they were hating that person intensely…
Wei Yu thought to himself:
Maybe it’s better not to have Ding Facai come here after all.
It just didn’t feel very safe.
Exposing his little scheming in front of His Highness, Yi Shisan wasn’t ashamed at all. He even stretched out his little “sinful” hand again, asking Wei Yu for money.
Wei Yu: …
Not very willing to give it.
“Ah—”
Seeing Yi Shisan’s hand reaching for money again, Wei Yu remembered the fake ten-thousand silver taels his Third Brother had fabricated under the name of “Wang Jiu,” and he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
This trip was really a loss!
Not only did they not steal anything, but they also ended up having to pay a large sum out of pocket.
Wei Yu actually didn’t mind spending money to support those under him; after all, supporting some people was necessary for a good life. But his Third Brother had fabricated a debt of one hundred thousand taels under “Wang Jiu”!
It was said that the matter was decided by his Third Brother, and that he would handle the follow-up, and Wei Yu himself didn’t have to really pay the hundred thousand taels. Honestly speaking, even though he felt sorry about it, he wouldn’t try to save that money in this kind of situation.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it.
As a royal family member, who was supported by the people of the world, spending some money to do something for the people was only right…
But he still felt a bit heartache!
Wei Yu closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and said weakly, “Fine, I’ll give you the travel expenses. Go find Fang Sheng tomorrow to get it.”
With the prospect of money, Yi Shisan was satisfied and withdrew his hand.
“All right. Your Highness, shall I take my leave then?”
Wei Yu said nothing and waved his hand with eyes closed.
“Go quickly, go quickly. Just seeing you makes my heart ache.”
His little money…
—
The first time Emperor Wei received a letter actively written by Wei Yu, he was quite surprised.
After all, if Emperor Wei hadn’t taken the initiative to contact him, the unfilial son wouldn’t have written back.
Emperor Wei had recently received a reply about Merchants' Alliance's matter. When he received this letter again, Emperor Wei thought the unfilial son might have forgotten something and was writing back to supplement the Merchants' Alliance’s profit plan.
But when he saw the contents of the letter, Emperor Wei’s face darkened.
“Impertinent!”
His sudden angry shout scared the palace staff on duty into kneeling.
Even Li Cheng, who was waiting nearby, jumped in alarm.
He carefully glanced at His Majesty’s face and saw that His Majesty’s face was as dark as ink, brows tightly furrowed, looking furious.
[Is it something that Ninth Highness wrote that made His Majesty angry?!]
Li Cheng had just been speculating when His Majesty began yelling.
“What a Cao Ji! What a Prefect of Dong City Commandery! Controlling forty percent of Huzhou’s grain, conspiring with Japanese pirates… What kind of idiot is the Prefect of Huzhou?!”
Emperor Wei was so angry he nearly smashed the table.
The banging on the table frightened Li Cheng, who rushed over to support him.
“Your Majesty, please calm down, please calm down. You can’t treat yourself this way. This table is so hard—look, your hand must hurt…”
“Calm down my foot!”
Emperor Wei glanced at the letter. Seeing its contents made his blood boil, his chest felt tight, and he wanted to send troops to wipe out Cao Ji's entire family!
And when he thought about all the nonsense written earlier by the Prefect of Huzhou and other prefects—about favorable weather, flattering greetings—Emperor Wei got a headache from anger.
“I actually believed Huzhou was peaceful and stable. Look at the good officials under my rule—what great people they are, hiding everything so well! They are absolutely incompetent at their work but excellent at deceiving superiors and subordinates! Ji Commandery was like this, and now Huzhou too! This is utterly intolerable!”