Chapter 60: Clash (IV)

Chapter 60: Confrontation (Part 4)

The next day, Le Wuya ordered the yamen opened and the streets swept, preparing to receive Xiang Zhi.

The Nanting Coal Mine was currently under the temporary stewardship of Deputy Magistrate Sun, who single-handedly managed all mine affairs.

Deputy Magistrate Sun had initially thought this was a lucrative assignment, but once he took it on, he discovered it was a real hot potato.

First, an imperial envoy was visiting, and then the Emperor himself took notice—how could he dare to rake in profits at such a critical moment?

He had no choice but to resist the temptation to get a piece of this fat prize, relying instead on his years of cultivated influence in Nanting. He managed the mine meticulously, combing through every detail from top to bottom—strictly observing work hours, prioritizing safety, and even handling mundane matters like soil conservation in accordance with regulations. All this to build an impressive record for a glorious promotion and raise.

It was precisely because Le Wuya saw Sun Ru's unusual hunger for office that he entrusted this task to him.

As it turned out, he was a good judge of people.

The Nanting Coal Mine was now well-ordered with stable output. The contracts Master Chen had signed were either transferred or settled as appropriate, leaving everything cleanly wrapped up—no matter who inspected, there'd be no issues.

All of this was thanks to Deputy Magistrate Sun's deep roots.

Deputy Magistrate Sun was smug and self-satisfied, privately hoping envoys from the capital would come inspect the mines so he could show off his administrative competence.

But he never expected it to come so quickly.

Last night, when the magistrate sent word to his house, Deputy Magistrate Sun was so overjoyed he nearly leaped for joy. He stayed up all night getting all the mine's documents in order and presented them at the yamen, full of confidence, ready for inspection.

The group waited until the sun was well up, but Xiang Zhi was nowhere to be seen.

Deputy Magistrate Sun's heart began to pound: "Magistrate, should we go to the post station to fetch him?"

Le Wuya nodded in agreement: "Deputy Magistrate Sun, please go and extend the invitation."

Deputy Magistrate Sun smiled ingratiatingly: "Magistrate, what would that look like if I went?"

"Consider it a gesture of goodwill," Le Wuya said nonchalantly. "He's probably no longer at the post station anyway. Let's send people to press him a few times and make sure we've done all the proper formalities."

Deputy Magistrate Sun was briefly puzzled: "Didn't you say the imperial envoy was coming to inspect the Nanting Coal Mine?"

"The inspection will definitely happen, but he likely has other pressing matters right now."

"What matters?"

Le Wuya shook his head with a smug grin: "...He's off doing business for our Nanting."

Deputy Magistrate Sun was speechless: "..."

He discreetly sniffed the air, baffled:

He didn't smell any liquor on the magistrate.

Why was he talking drunk talk this early?

When Deputy Magistrate Sun, in his full formal robes, set out for the post station to pay his respects, Le Wuya had already called in the rites clerk and asked him to bring the list of Nanting scholars for next year's provincial exam.

As Le Wuya flipped through the list, he instructed Deputy Magistrate Sun: "If the imperial envoy isn't at the post station, please invite the County Princess of Tonglu instead."

Deputy Magistrate Sun was at a loss for words: "..."

He quietly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

This Nanting County, ever since the magistrate took charge, had guests coming like clouds.

After Deputy Magistrate Sun left, Le Wuya set aside the scholars' list and headed to the back hall.

Wen Ren was there—one person, one desk, one brush—copying essays while also shelling pine nuts on the side.

Before leaving, Le Wuya had placed a dish of pine nuts beside him, saying that when he got tired of copying, he could shell a few to stretch his fingers.

He'd thought slyly that Wen Ren wasn't a big eater.

He'd eat half and leave half for him.

When he arrived at the back hall, he found Wen Ren indeed shelling pine nuts, with a little snow-white mountain of pine nut meats piled beside him.

Seeing his hands fully occupied, Le Wuya placed the list in front of him and sneaked a small handful of the shelled nuts: "Take a look—these are all your competitors."

Wen Ren didn't refuse and began to study the list carefully.

Le Wuya swiped another three or four kernels, cupping them in his palm to eat later in the main hall, and teased him: "I thought the honorable gentleman wouldn't want to look."

"The first version of this list was already submitted last year, so I already have a good idea," Wen Ren said gently. "I've already earned a degree, and with Brother Gu as such a great mentor, I've already gained a huge advantage. At this point, if I don't pass with a good result, wouldn't I be letting Brother Gu down terribly?"

Le Wuya loved hearing that, bobbing his head happily: "Isn't that so?"

He gestured: "Wouldn't it be a shame not to aim for the top provincial scorer?"

Wen Ren took his hand and set the whole dish of kernels into his palm: "Aim for the zhuangyuan."

Le Wuya was a bit stunned: "You're giving me all of them?"

Seeing his stunned expression, Wen Ren smiled softly: "I shelled them for you. Scholar Ming can't eat pine nuts—they give him a rash."

Hearing that, Le Wuya had no choice but to accept the gesture.

But seeing Wen Ren's fingertips red from shelling, even Le Wuya, with a face as thick as a city wall, couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

He quickly promised: "Next time, next time I'll buy you something you can eat!"

Wen Ren gave him a soft smile: "Alright."

"Dream on, top scholar," Le Wuya picked up their earlier thread. "You think becoming the top scholar is that easy?"

"Did Brother Gu ever become one?"

"...Get out of here. Not telling you."

With that, Le Wuya looked into the air and gave a helpless smile.

...

Back then, he'd never had any intention of taking the imperial exam route.

Thanks to his outstanding military record and natural talent for riding and archery, he'd been given a teaching post out of the blue. Every day he taught Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi riding and archery, while amusing himself by getting Xiaoliu to chat and Xiaoqi to get riled up. He was single-minded, busy and thriving every day.

One day, the Emperor came to the training grounds with a dark expression, making even the two kids nervous as hell.

Le Wuya stood obediently at attention to the side, silently cursing in his treasonous heart:

Both my precious disciples are top-notch—if anything goes wrong, it's all the fault of that sour dragon face of yours.

Fortunately, he'd taught them well, and they performed admirably—galloping on horseback, hitting the bullseye with their arrows, showing off their youthful spirit.

The Emperor's expression eased a bit. He beckoned Xiang Zhi and Xiang Zhishi to his side and gave them handkerchiefs to wipe off their sweat.

Before the two kids had even dried off, he spoke with a mysterious, knowing smile: "How about your father tests you both with a question?"

Little Seven said brightly, "Please, Father, give us the question!"

The Emperor said, "If you two ever sat on the throne..."

At those four words, the two children, who had just settled back into their seats, shot up and kowtowed in unison.

Since the princes were kneeling, the tutors naturally didn't dare stay standing—they all dropped to their knees in a clatter.

Le Wuyan, as their teacher, had no choice but to kneel too, cursing under his breath:

"You just go ahead and mess with the kids."

The Emperor waved a hand, all magnanimous: "What's this? Rise. It's just a question—how could it scare my fine Xiang boys into two little scaredy-rabbits?"

Seeing the kids too scared to get up, he didn't push it and just went on: "If you two were on the throne and had to call all the regional officials to the capital for talks, how would you decide who to see first?"

Little Six, who wasn't quick with words, was still thinking it over, when Little Seven piped up first: "Our Great Yu learned from the last dynasty's collapse and has always valued both civil and military matters. But Little Seven's a scaredy-cat, and seeing the teacher's military swagger every day makes me respect and fear him, so I'd first make sure to calm down the military brass; the study tutors have the best tempers, so I'd call them in later—they wouldn't get mad anyway."

Le Wuyan nodded in approval, thinking, "Smart kid."

Coming from a military family, he knew full well that when the current Emperor took the throne, he'd first calmed the generals before calling in the civil officials.

The Emperor had come to the training grounds on purpose, not the study, clearly wanting the kids to sing his praises and then come up with a couple of naive, silly ideas.

First, it showed off his wisdom and virtue.

Second, it showed off his skill at raising sons.

Sure enough, the Emperor beamed: "Little Seven's words are a bit clumsy, but they make some sense. Yet why didn't you let your big brother speak first? Where are your manners?"

"Just throwing out a brick to get some jade," Little Seven said cleverly, hands behind his back. "Sixth Brother must have his own brilliant ideas."

With that, all eyes turned to Little Six.

Little Six, never much of a talker, was now so nervous his shoulders were shaking: "Your son... thinks... the same... as Seventh Brother."

Le Wuyan watched him at his leisure, thinking, "These two are really good at playing pretend."

One was faking innocence, the other was just playing dumb.

And with his stutter, he really did sound pretty dumb.

...Ah, come to think of it, letting his stutter become a real thing maybe wasn't just to set himself apart from Little Seven.

Le Wuyan never dreamed that this very glance would land him in trouble.

The Emperor called, "Youque."

Le Wuyan quickly pulled himself together and said, all respect, "Your servant is here."

"Little Six can't answer—you answer for him. You're a rare young military talent; your views must be something special."

Le Wuyan: "..."

As the days went by, his urge to go looking for death only got stronger.

Every time he had a break, he felt like finding a way to die just for kicks.

So he opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, you could call the provincial governors to the capital to ask about each region's economy."

This answer caught the Emperor off guard.

He frowned, thoughtful: "Call the second-in-commands?"

Le Wuyan knew the Emperor got his point.

Funny thing, the two little ones beside him seemed to get the subtleties too.

Little Seven looked at him, eyes bright with interest.

Little Six, though, was giving him a tiny shake of the head.

He acted like he didn't see it and went on, "Yes."

"That way, the number twos, grateful for the imperial favor and seeing a shot at promotion, would bust their guts to repay it. The number ones, not knowing what you talked about with their deputies, would get nervous and worried, and in that unease, they'd work twice as hard."

"In the end, it's Your Majesty who comes out on top."

The Emperor shot up, strode over to Le Wuyan, and hauled him to his feet.

"Youque, go take the imperial exams," the Emperor said, staring at him hard. "When you get to the palace exam, I've got more questions for you."

Le Wuyan, who'd been all about seeking death, was totally blindsided: "...Huh?"

So, technically, he took the exam because the emperor ordered it—he had no choice.

As for ending up as the top scholar instead of the third-place, that was just because his brains beat out his looks—what could he do?

...

Right now, facing Wen Renyue's sincere look, Le Wuyan felt a rare twinge of guilt.

You can't bite the hand that feeds you.

He had no choice but to comfort him: "...It's not that hard, really." Even though he'd passed on his first try.

Wen Renyue lowered his head, unable to hide the smile in his eyes.

Le Wuyan, always sharp-eyed, caught that smile: "What are you grinning about?"

Wen Renyue held up a finger: "I've learned one more thing about Brother Gu, and that's worth a smile."

Le Wuyan raised an eyebrow, his voice going a little cold: "Oh? What else do you want to know about me?"

Want to know about my exam success, my fighting for the people, my skill at governing and lawsuits?

Or do you want to know about my crimes, my cronies, my bribe-taking, my killing my own teacher, and my treason?

Wen Renyue, seeing his face go cold, was confused for a second: "...Brother Gu?"

Le Wuyan put down the plate of pine nuts, pulled a fan from his sleeve, and gave Wen Renyue a light tap on the head with it. Then, without another word, he turned and left.

...

Just as Le Wuya said, Xiang Zhi had left Nanting Station, with no one knowing where he'd gone.

Deputy Magistrate Sun, an old hand at officialdom, was starting to get nervous wondering whether the Imperial Commissioner had already secretly inspected the Nanting coal mine.

But everyone at the mine said no outsiders had come recently.

The Imperial Commissioner neither said he would inspect nor said he wouldn't, so Deputy Magistrate Sun could only channel his anxiety into action, giving the whole place a thorough going-over, even shelling out his own money to give the miners extra meals.

Over the next few days, the miners enjoyed pork and cabbage stew daily, wolfing it down with such gusto that plenty of able-bodied men in Nanting started getting jealous and even began asking around about how to get a job at the mine.

As for Deputy Magistrate Sun himself, after all his hard work, he'd shed a few pounds, plain as day.

While Xiang Zhi was missing, Le Wuya and Qi Hongzhuang had rewritten the contract terms.

Qi Hongzhuang was super careful about boundaries; whenever she met with Le Wuya, she never brought up the past, never dwelled on old memories, and never stared at his face to think of days gone by or people she'd known.

But Guo Guzi couldn't help grumbling under her breath—was the County Mistress maybe just dazzled by his pretty face?

Sure, it was only natural to be charmed by a young buck like Magistrate Wenren, but the revised contract wasn't just generous—it was practically handing him money.

Guo Guzi wanted to talk her out of it, but Qi Hongzhuang cut her off with one sentence: "I'm happy."

...Well, then.

In all her years serving the County Mistress, Guo Guzi had never once seen her "happy."

If money could buy the County Mistress's "happiness," then the money wasn't wasted at all.

Le Wuya figured Sister Qi still had a soft spot for him—even a knockoff "Le Wuya" like him could get such treatment from Sister Qi.

All that scheming he'd done in his last moments hadn't been for nothing.

After taking a happy stroll to check on the newly planted camellias, Xiang Zhi, who'd been gone for days, finally showed up at the yamen for a visit.

Le Wuya had just wrapped up a land dispute case between neighbors and was stepping out of the courtroom when he saw Deputy Magistrate Sun trotting over, sweat pouring down his face, to report that Xiang Zhi was sitting in the back hall having tea.

When Le Wuya arrived at the back hall, Xiang Zhi was savoring his tea.

Seeing him arrive, Xiang Zhi cut straight to the chase: "Magistrate Wenren, how exactly did you offend Prefect Lyu?"

Le Wuya looked innocent: "This humble official has no idea."

He casually pointed at the cup in Xiang Zhi's hand: "This tea was actually a gift from Prefect Lyu."

"No wonder he dislikes you so much," Xiang Zhi set down his cup. "A proper Prefect, lowering his dignity, swallowing his pride, widely spreading word of Nanting's road repairs, and even teaching people to secretly collude with beggars of the lowest class... What great sin have you committed to offend your superior to such a degree?"

"Ah?" Le Wuya looked utterly sincere. "Really?"

Xiang Zhi smiled back at him, his fingertip tapping crisply on the closed lid of the teacup with a clear, ringing sound:

"Wenren Yue, you did this deliberately, to provoke me into investigating, didn't you?"

Le Wuya bowed, smiling as he looked back at him: "That you took the bait is my fortune, and the fortune of Nanting's people."

Xiang Zhi slammed the table: "How dare you!"

Deputy Magistrate Sun, who had just rushed to the door with the documents in hand, heard the sharp rebuke and shuddered, immediately kneeling at the threshold with the documents held high.

Moments later, however, the Seventh Prince's hearty, cheerful laughter came from inside the room.

Kneeling in the blazing sun, drenched in sweat, Deputy Magistrate Sun began to doubt his own ears:

...Had he misheard?