My husband is not easy to mess with. - Chapter 6: An Order from the Palace
Chapter 6: An Order from the Palace
Nie Yao certainly knew Sun Ji was a big, fat sheep.
But this was the capital, not some mountain den where you could fleece a sheep with impunity.
The capital had its rules.
They had to play by the rules.
Nie Yao: “That stingy guy only promised three hundred. He hasn’t gone out to look at the mountains for years, so take the three hundred taels for now, it’s a good omen in any case.”
In the past, Sun Ji had been cautious.
They hadn’t found any handle to directly raid his home for years.
Now that his ambition was exposed.
How far away could a house-raid be?
“Understood, Your Excellency! You can rest assured this matter is in my hands!”
Qian Henduo had a lot of money, but he was an old bandit.
He was very experienced in intimidation.
Patting his chest, he guaranteed: “I guarantee I’ll scare that old fellow into fāng yuán dà luàn, revealing his true colors!” (Note: Nie Yao mentally corrects this to fāng cùn dà luàn, or “being in a state of turmoil”).
It was fāng cùn dà luàn (方寸大乱 – to be greatly disturbed/mind in a turmoil).
This fellow, why did he only grow muscles and not a brain?
Nie Yao waved his hand, telling him to leave quickly.
He didn’t want him hanging around and causing a headache.
“Your Excellency, someone from the palace has arrived.”
As soon as Qian Henduo left, the person outside came in to report that someone from the palace had come to issue an imperial decree.
An imperial decree on his very first day officially in office—it seemed achieving peaceful coexistence with the new Emperor wasn’t going to be so easy.
Nie Yao shook out his sleeves.
“Let’s go, let’s see what instructions this new Majesty has.”
There were no instructions, though.
The imperial decree merely commanded him to go to the palace that evening. The time was set for around 8 PM, when it would be completely dark.
Why would he be summoned to the palace at such an hour?
Nie Yao didn’t even kneel, just stood to receive the decree, and didn’t give the eunuch a reward, asking directly, “Eunuch, what is His Majesty summoning me to the palace for so late in the evening?”
His attitude could be described as highly disrespectful.
However, the elderly eunuch did not reprimand him, bowing his head and speaking respectfully: “Replying to Your Excellency, His Majesty only commanded you to come; he did not state anything else.”
“Fine, I understand.”
Nie Yao casually tossed the imperial decree to the person beside him, “I’ll go after I have dinner.”
Watching the palace retinue walk away.
Nie Yao curled his lips.
He said to the person beside him, “What do you think, is this new Emperor letting me be arrogant while waiting for me to expose a flaw before striking a fatal blow, or is he trying to show me goodwill?”
“Replying to Your Excellency, judging by the current situation, that side does not intend to break off relations with us yet.”
“Hmm, I wonder how long he can endure.”
Nie Yao’s dinner was three dishes and one soup.
After eating, he went to the palace.
The person who came to meet him looked familiar. Nie Yao lowered his eyes and pondered, only recognizing the person when he reached the entrance of the new Emperor’s sleeping quarters: it was the person he had once given to the young lord (or young gentleman, xiăogēr).
The person was still kept.
It looked like he was even given an important position.
“Your Majesty, the Young General has arrived.”
“Mm.”
The palace doors opened.
The few palace servants present all stopped, lowered their heads, and quietly waited for Nie Yao to enter.
The old toad (the former emperor) had never held court and spent his days lingering in the consorts’ quarters, hardly ever using his own sleeping quarters. But the new Emperor had them torn down and rebuilt after ascending the throne.
The new palace was adorned with gold and jade.
Extremely luxurious.
Nie Yao felt like he was treading on money with every step.
Why was the new Emperor also so wealthy?
Was he the only one in the whole world, Nie Yao, poor enough not to be able to afford to open a schoolhouse?!
Nie Yao was inwardly indignant, but maintained his usual expressionless demeanor outwardly. Perhaps due to his father’s genes, his face was much sharper than in his previous life.
As long as he didn’t smile, he looked sharp.
Arousing fear.
“Lord Nie.” The new Emperor clearly had just finished bathing, and let him in while still wiping his hair with a cloth. Leaning against the low couch, his posture was extremely relaxed. “I heard Lord Nie is doing business, and that as long as one can afford the silver, even the Nie family’s army can be commanded.”
Nie Yao had actively had people distribute the leaflets.
He naturally wouldn’t deny it.
“Has Your Majesty seen it?”
Nie Yao seriously observed the new Emperor’s reaction, yet couldn’t discern any sign of displeasure on his face. In fact… he seemed to be quite pleased about it?
Nie Yao paused, then probed, “Did Your Majesty summon your subject to the palace late at night just for this matter?”
“Yes, and no.”
The new Emperor lazily threw the cloth onto the small table. He didn’t keep the suspense going for long, “I let you take the blame for me today, Lord Nie. I suppose you must feel wronged.”
The ascension ceremony was prepared by the people on the Prime Minister’s side.
Its simplicity was entirely their own doing, and had nothing to do with Nie Yao.
But simply because it resembled Nie Yao’s past party-planning style too much, everyone had pinned the blame on him.
Nie Yao was too lazy to argue.
However, he didn’t plan to take the fall for the new Emperor for free; he had already decided how to extract his deserved compensation from the Prime Minister’s side.
He just hadn’t had time to implement it yet.
“So Your Majesty is aware.”
Wronged? How could he be wronged?
Nie Yao was already used to it.
But he couldn’t say that; he still needed to ask the man for money.
Nie Yao: “However, your subject can understand Your Majesty’s actions. As long as Your Majesty and the Prime Minister settle the spiritual damage fee that your subject is owed, your subject can forget this matter.”
Whether it was his young lord (or young gentleman) dressing as a man, or the blame being thrown at him, he could forget it all.
The premise was that the money was delivered.
“Spiritual damage fee?” The new Emperor lightly toyed with the words on his lips, then smiled charmingly, “Rest assured, my dear Minister. The remaining seven hundred thousand taels from this banquet are all yours.”
“How is that, Lord Nie, are you satisfied?”
How much?
Seven hundred thousand!
Nie Yao’s heart trembled. He was extremely satisfied with this number.
“Your Majesty is brilliant.” Nie Yao swore that today’s banquet was indeed planned and executed by him, Nie!
Even if God himself came down, he would still say the same!
“For these seven hundred thousand taels, will Your Majesty give me cash or…”
“Lord Nie likes cash?” The new Emperor’s tone conveyed utter disregard for money, and he agreed very casually, “Then I’ll have someone carry it back later.”
Such a lovable wealthy person.
Nie Yao’s attitude towards the new Emperor instantly became much more respectful, “Does Your Majesty have any other commands? If not, may your subject take his leave?”
“Lord Nie, I want to do business with you.”
The new Emperor rose from the couch.
He picked up a stack of papers from the desk on the other side and handed them to Nie Yao.
The papers contained the matter the new Emperor wanted Hu Sheng to handle.
He knew Hu Sheng would not obey his arrangements, and instructions could only be conveyed through Nie Yao.
“Lord Nie, please have a look. To accomplish this, how much silver do I need to pay my Minister?”
Nie Yao hadn’t expected this.
Not only did the new Emperor express no dissatisfaction over his inability to control the army, but he also freely began to do business with him according to Nie Yao’s rules.
Was this acceptance a little too quick?
He hadn’t even made his move yet!
Nie Yao rubbed the papers given by the new Emperor between his fingers, quickly entering a focused state and reading the information on them.
—The new Emperor actually wanted to uproot the Zhang family in the south.
Nie Yao knew a little about the Zhang family in the south.
They could almost be called the wealthiest family in the south. They enjoyed exploiting the common people, and the entire family held great influence in the south; it was no exaggeration to call them the uncrowned local emperors of the south.
When Nie Yao was a bandit before, robbing them yielded the biggest harvest.
“One million taels.”
Nie Yao shook the papers and quoted a price, “As long as Your Majesty can give your subject one million taels. At the latest, within three days, two legions of troops at the border will head south to assist Commandant Hu in eradicating the Zhang family, this social parasite!”