Chapter 72
There's an old saying that goes, "No story is told without coincidences." Xue Jin'an never expected it to be such a coincidence. The only two people he could claim to have interacted with in the Northwest Army were likely acquaintances of Zhou Yushu, the original owner's uncle.
Xue Jin'an's commotion in damaging the tent wasn't exactly quiet, but it wasn't until he came out with his things that people ran up to him, looking very anxious. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him standing there unharmed. "Long... Commander, are you alright?"
This man was one of Helian Cheng's personal guards who had been specially left at the main camp to watch over this tent. He was also wary of the poison that was spreading inside the tent, so when Helian Cheng gave the order, he told people to keep a distance and not let anyone in.
Although Helian Cheng hadn't expected to lose his base camp, he had instructed his men not to approach the tent for the time being. After Xue Jin'an's troops took over the base camp, the men Helian Cheng left behind would naturally tell the other soldiers about it. Upon hearing that it was the general's order, the others obediently complied. Even those who were more curious dared not challenge the general's authority.
The gatekeeper, finding the gate easy to guard, inevitably became a little lax. Unexpectedly, while he was eating his meal, a rebellious one appeared. He ran over and saw that it was none other than Commander Xiaolong, who dared to directly refuse even the Great General and had actually led his army to rob the Great General. Well, then, all is well.
The tent had been dismantled, and the poison had mostly dissipated. The remaining traces of its aura were not enough to affect others. Xue Jin'an had the place cleaned up and then returned directly to the commander's tent.
The camp was kept very clean, with no military reports, secret letters, or even a single piece of paper with writing on it—this was Helian Cheng's habit to leave no information about the Northwest Army that could be seen by others, so as not to be used by those with ulterior motives. In addition, he was also more accustomed to carrying important items on his person.
Xue Jin'an scanned the screen with his high-definition camera, but in the end, he could only confirm from a familiar game on a small sand table that Helian Cheng was playing his character terribly.
In the end, Xue Jin'an still used Doctor Chang's broken jade pendant. He pretended not to know whose it was and had people inquire about it in the army. Then, from the various conversations, he pieced together the fact that Doctor Chang had brought the jade pendant and bamboo tube with him when he came to the Northwest Army. Doctor Chang had no relatives, had never married or had children, and was still single at his advanced age. Two years ago, a sickly but very handsome young swordsman came to him, seemingly to ask for medicine.
Two years ago, when the Zhenfei case broke out, Xue Jin'an was 75% certain that the young swordsman was Zhou Yushu.
In the original owner's memories, Zhou Yushu had no other problems besides being a little weak. Moreover, he was skilled in martial arts and could move freely in the palace without ever being caught by the Imperial Guards. It is conceivable that his martial arts skills were quite good. Judging from the time the bamboo tube existed, he and Doctor Chang must have known each other when they were in the palace. If he really had an illness, he should have sought treatment from Doctor Chang back then.
Unless Zhou Yushu came to see Doctor Chang for artificial disguise, but based on the information Xue Jin'an obtained, Zhou Yushu came alone and did not bring Chu Wenjing. The possibility that Doctor Chang could disguise Zhou Yushu's face to look like Chu Wenjing without any reference is less than 50%.
Xue Jin'an's data analysis leans more towards the idea that Zhou Yushu disguised himself, meaning that Zhou Yushu's visit to Doctor Chang was more about arranging something than asking for medicine.
If we reconnect the people and events related to Zhou Yushu, we can arrive at a very interesting chain of characters:
Zhou Yushu and Doctor Chang are good friends. Two years ago, Zhou Yushu visited Doctor Chang at the Northwest Army. The opportunity for Zhou Yushu, disguised as Chu Wenjing, to enter the Ministry of Justice was to solve a major human trafficking case and save Princess Baoyi's daughter. Before Cui Zui, the rebel king, took control of the Northwest Army, he had stayed at Princess Baoyi's residence for a period of time.
Seemingly unrelated things, when put together, are subtly connected, and Xue Jin'an highlighted this data in bright red.
In truth, Xue Jin'an didn't care much about what Zhou Yushu wanted to do. But Princess Baoyi was the woman who directly killed the male lead and supported the young emperor to become regent in the extra chapters.
If his above speculation is true, and Cui Zui is the eldest princess's man, then it's hard to say who actually holds the military power of the Northwest Army. Based on the data, the regent is most likely just a stepping stone for the eldest princess. If "I Want to Become Empress" were to continue writing side stories, it would probably be about the eldest princess ascending the throne as empress.
As a phone whose original form had no gender distinction, Xue Jin'an did not think that Princess Baoyi's ambition was a rebellious thing. In fact, to be honest, the princess was the emperor's first child to survive. In the absence of a legitimate prince or princess, the princess and the eldest prince were treated the same.
Xue Jin'an's target is the emperor, and the eldest princess is his rival. To him, the eldest princess, who has always kept a low profile, is a greater threat than the princes.
In this way, Xue Jin'an would have to figure out the relationship between Zhou Yushu and the Princess.
However, if Zhou Yushu really discussed anything with Doctor Chang or even Helian Cheng, it would be impossible to get anything out of them. And Zhou Yushu obviously doesn't plan to see Xue Jin'an right now—after all, although Zhou Yushu himself can't enter the inner palace, judging from the memorial tablet of Zhou Yuting that he saw in Zhaoyang Palace before, he must have planted people in the palace.
Xue Jin'an had been confined in Zhaoyang Palace for over a month and was well aware that the Imperial Guards outside were turning a blind eye to his movements. Getting in was not easy, but sending a message in was not difficult at all.
Thus, Zhou Yushu's people have all disappeared, clearly indicating that Zhou Yushu has no intention of contacting him.
With both paths blocked, the only clue Xue Jin'an could find now was the case of the abduction of the eldest princess's daughter from years ago.
This case was handled by Zhou Yushu when he was still the Prefect of Jingzhao. The Prefect of Jingzhao would definitely have kept some files, and the Three Departments should also have backups.
It seems like there are many places to investigate, but Xue Jin'an simply doesn't have the manpower.
He could use the token in Lingzhi's hand to order the spies of the Imperial Clothing Bureau to steal files from the Three Departments, but this token was given by the Empress Dowager, and the Imperial Clothing Bureau was currently under the Emperor's control. The chances of him being discovered were as high as 86%.
Xue Jin'an did not intend to use this token unless absolutely necessary.
Xue Jin'an didn't wait for the main force besieging Helian City to return. As soon as he saw the notification that the event was over, he logged off immediately.
He sat in the chair, lost in thought.
Cui Zui arrived at this moment, rushing in dressed in a tight-fitting outfit. Seeing his master staring at the sand table with a deep expression, he thought he had encountered some difficult tactics. He went over to take a look and found that his master's blue soldiers had occupied 90% of the sand table. This was not just a win, but a huge win.
"Master, what are you thinking about?" Cui Zui asked with some curiosity, but he was just asking casually and didn't expect to get a definite answer from his master. Anyway, his master seemed to have a good temper and could respond to everything no matter what strange things you said, but in reality, every answer was just using the situation to his advantage and would not really reveal his thoughts and calculations.
Cui Zui secretly learned many of his master's techniques for reading and rewriting messages, and mastered them. When he went out to do business, he could make unscrupulous merchants weep and cause the chamber of commerce to collapse.
Although Jiu Tianyi's shops haven't officially opened yet, his reputation as the "Death King" has already spread to the ears of the owners of all the taverns and teahouses in the capital. Now when he goes out to talk business, people have learned not to beat around the bush and just talk straight to the point, which has greatly improved his efficiency.
He's been really busy these days. The day after reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, he signed another contract with the Minister of Works at the residence of the Minister of War. As soon as the contract was officially approved, the Minister of Works, along with the land deeds, money, and men, bulldozed the two estates that the Ministry of Revenue had approved.
Cui Zui hadn't taken the Minister of Works' words seriously when the Minister of War said he was an impatient person, since he himself was quite impatient. But he never expected the Minister of Works to be so impatient that he actually drew up architectural plans for a real-life PUBG game overnight and then ordered people to start laying the foundation.
"There's no need for such a rush, is there?" Cui Zui couldn't help but approach the Minister of Revenue. "Besides, it's not easy to lay foundations in winter, is it?"
Although Beijing is located in the north, it's not that far north—so far that the ground freezes in winter, and a shovel can only break in one direction—making construction in Beijing in winter is still more troublesome than usual.
Upon hearing this, Minister of Revenue Feng Yinshou chuckled and said, "Otherwise, why do you think the Ministry of Works is so wealthy these days?"
With the national treasury empty, people had to be very careful with their spending just to make ends meet, let alone undertake large-scale construction projects. Naturally, the Ministry of Works became idle. However, the current Minister of Works was an old man who couldn't stand being idle. He couldn't bear to see a bunch of idle people in the department just drawing salaries without doing any work, so he submitted a memorial allowing the Ministry of Works to take on private jobs.
Both the emperor and the Ministry of Revenue were truly poor at the time, almost unable to pay their officials' salaries. Upon seeing the Ministry of Works' memorial, they agreed without hesitation. Their thinking was simple: even if the Ministry of Works couldn't make a lot of money, it would be good if it could support itself, at least relieving some of the financial pressure on the Ministry of Revenue.
Then the Ministry of Works took off and became the richest of the six ministries. The craftsmen looked shabby, but they were actually rolling in money.
If Feng Yin, the Minister of Revenue, was the most adept at cutting expenses, then Zuo Mengchang, the Minister of Works, was the most adept at increasing revenue.
Feng Yinshou was truly envious of Zuo Mengchang's earning power, as were the officials in the Ministry of Works who were united in purpose and followed suit. And then there were the monsters and freaks in the Ministry of Revenue... tsk.
Feng Yinshou wanted to resign again.
While the real-life PUBG scene was in full swing with its foundation being laid, Cui Zui, having finalized the design drafts, was used and then discarded by the Minister of Works, who then went off to busy himself with board game matters—mainly negotiating wholesale deals with various taverns and teahouses.
This matter initially caused Cui Zui quite a headache. The reason was that the shop owners were all shrewd. They had never played sand table games before. Even though Cui Zui's description seemed interesting, and they had asked around and found out that soldiers were indeed talking about it, they still didn't want to take the risk of losing money. So they simply raised the price on the spot. Some people even saw that Cui Zui was a novice in business and directly asked Cui Zui to give them a hundred or so decks of cards to test the waters. Cui Zui simply smiled coldly and chased them away.
To put it bluntly, businessmen are profit-driven and won't act until they see a tangible benefit.
Cui Zui finally consulted Xue Jin'an, who then offered two options:
First, it's a normal wholesale business. The bookstore only makes a profit of one or two coins on each set of board game cards. They will also give priority to recommending any new card game gameplay. If business is not good and you want to return the goods, you can go through the normal return process, with unconditional returns within thirty days. Second, they provide board game cards for free, and the merchant provides the space, earning 60/40 of the profits. The playing cards take up little space, and you only need a shelf space to display as many as you want.
Many small businesses with limited capital and weak risk resistance, as well as hesitant medium-sized businesses, opted for the second option; while large businesses and those optimistic about the business chose the first option, with most placing orders of around a thousand sets at a time. This was also because board games and playing cards were relatively inexpensive; even buying a thousand sets would only cost a dozen or so taels of silver, an amount that an innkeeper could easily afford.
The opening of Jiutianyi Chess and Card Hall was scheduled for the first day of the Lunar New Year, which coincided with the official holiday. Due to the cooperative relationship, the three ministers were happy to have their wives and children help out and bring their friends in for a game. Whether they would stay or not depended entirely on how well Jiutianyi, the owner, performed.
Cui Zui was naturally very confident in his master's idea. With three high-ranking officials backing him, the business of the chess and card hall wouldn't be too bad. However, the businesses at the bottom still needed some care. So he sent out a batch of goods to various teahouses and taverns in advance, and even specially hired people to play in the shops of each partner who bought a thousand sets. This immediately attracted the attention of many people.
With more people coming, more people playing, and more money for the businesses. After all, people who come to play cards can't just play for a short while, and the winners usually pay for water and food readily.
Cui Zui also allowed customers to bring their own playing cards to play, which the merchants somewhat disapproved of, feeling that it would affect their business. Later, they discovered that playing cards were quite fragile; they would become old after being played once, and tattered after being played a couple of times. Moreover, it was currently winter and very humid, and if not properly protected, the cards would become damp, soft, and yellow, making them uncomfortable to play and causing people to dislike them. Therefore, most people who came to the store to play still bought new cards.
"Boss Cui is amazing!" All the cooperating merchants admired him. Allowing them to bring their own cards to play made them look generous without hindering their profits. It was truly a brilliant strategy.
Cui Zui was also a little proud, after all, he was the one who came up with this idea.
However, Cui Zui did not expect that compared to board games and card games, playing cards had a wider audience. Of the ten card tables, four were playing Dou Dizhu, four were playing Run Fast, and the remaining two were playing board games, and most of the board game players were teenagers.
Cui Zui was quite frustrated by this, but his cousin Cui Zhuo cleared up his doubts with a single sentence: "The simpler something is, the easier it is to get started and the easier it is to become addicted."
For example, in a casino, you can roll dice to see who's bigger or smaller. You can tell how to play just by looking at it; there's absolutely no barrier to entry.
Cui Zui suddenly realized his mistake and increased the printing of playing cards. However, he didn't expect that when the card and board game hall opened, board games would be the most popular items.
"Why is that?" Cui Zui couldn't help but grab his cousin and ask again.
Cui Zhuo laughed and said, "Naturally, it's because wealthy people don't lack cards to play. They come here to play something new, so they naturally tend to be more inclined to play things they haven't seen before."
The rules of poker are actually similar to those of mahjong and leaf cards, so for wealthy people it's just a substitute. On the contrary, the various board games and card games are quite novel and attract their attention more.
Cui Zui understood, and immediately realized why fewer ladies were coming. After all, the biggest audience for board games was young people, and interested ladies wouldn't want to get involved with the children.
The next day, Cui Zui put Mahjong and Leaf Cards on the table in the card room, and sure enough, more ladies came to play.
Of course, that's all in the future.
Cui Zui had just finalized cooperation agreements with various shops, and as soon as he had some free time, he rushed into the palace. Then he heard Fu Lu say that his master had been practicing martial arts very diligently lately, and had even brought out a sand table to figure out tactics.
He immediately disregarded the winter chill, excitedly went back to the carriage to change into a lighter set of clothes, grabbed his bow, and ran over. "Master, come on, I finally have some free time today, so I came to the palace specifically to practice martial arts and learn tactics from you."
Cui Zui felt that what his master was thinking was not important; what was important was that he absolutely could not miss this hard-won martial arts lesson.
Cui Zui thought Xue Jin'an wouldn't answer his curious question, but to his surprise, Xue Jin'an looked up at him and said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking about whether I should expel you from the sect."
Xue Jin'an felt that investigating the abduction of the princess's daughter would be fraught with difficulties. In comparison, it would be more practical to expel Cui Zui from the sect and let him follow the original story's path of turning evil and becoming a rebel king.
Caught off guard by this devastating news, Cui Zui was utterly bewildered: "???"
Before he could react, he heard Xue Jin'an, who thought the idea was very feasible, say, "I think you should still pursue literature."
"You can first go through one of Prince An's henchmen to enter the Fifth Prince's residence. After the Fifth Prince falls from power, your estate will be inherited by the Ninth Prince. The lustful Ninth Prince will take a liking to your beauty and humiliate you... After that, you will go to the Eldest Princess's residence. After being influenced by the Eldest Princess, you will become completely corrupted and run to Qizhou to take over the Northwest Army and become a rebel king." Xue Jin'an briefly described Cui Zui's path of rebellion in the original work.
"!!!" Cui Zui crossed his arms in front of his chest to show his refusal. "I don't want this so-called difficult and promising future!"
"It's not that difficult, just three to five years. You can do it." Xue Jin'an thought for a moment and then said, "Once I ascend the throne, your future will be bright."
Cui Zui refused to accept the poisoned cake, grabbed his bow, and fled in a panic. "Master, I think I forgot to extinguish the fire in the stove. I'm leaving now!"
"Isn't Jiu Tian Yi not open for business yet? Where did the stove come from?" Fu Lu's puzzled voice came from outside.
Cui Zui entered the palace in high spirits, but in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he drove off in his carriage, as if there was a fire still burning in his house.
For several days afterward, Cui Zui didn't dare to enter the palace, fearing that if he stepped into Zhaoyang Palace with his left foot, his master would ruthlessly dissolve their master-disciple relationship on the spot.
As the year drew to a close, Cui Zui secretly slipped board game cards into the New Year's gifts his grandfather had prepared for his friends, only to be caught red-handed by his grandfather.
Cui Pengfei saw the grandson with his butt sticking out in the warehouse from the yard. He couldn't resist picking up a small stone from the ground and throwing it in. He was quite good at the Six Arts of a Gentleman, and even in his old age, he hadn't lost his aim. The stone flew towards the grandson's big butt.
Cui Zui dodged the stones that came flying at him with a cool and collected air. "Which grandson is trying to harm his grandfather?"
"You want to be my grandfather?" Cui Pengfei chuckled as he walked into the storeroom, casually picking up a feather duster that was standing to the side, holding it with his hand behind his back.
Cui Zui immediately knelt down, pinching his ears obediently: "Grandfather, I was wrong."
"Alright, since you've shown remorse, I can let you off the hook." Cui Pengfei pulled out a thick stack of bound papers. "This is the Seventh Prince's New Year's homework. Take it to the palace."
"So many?!" Cui Zui couldn't help but crane his neck to take a look, and was surprised to find that the major questions on the exam were no longer about the Ministry of Revenue's finances. "Huh, is Master starting to learn how to judge cases now?"
Cui Zui had, after all, gone through the imperial examination process himself, and with a cousin who was preparing for the metropolitan examination, he knew a thing or two about the types of questions in the imperial examination. Although most of the examination papers were Confucianism questions, there were also questions on practical application of knowledge, especially in policy essays. However, in times of peace and without policy reforms, the questions were mostly about fiscal revenue (households) and water conservancy and farmland (industry).
In addition, there will be a question specifically set by the Sixth Department. However, because it has been about case sentencing and punishment for many years, and tests familiarity with the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, many students have come to assume that this is a question set by the Ministry of Justice.
Cui Zui himself may only have a superficial understanding of rites, music, poetry and books, but he was well-versed in the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty. After all, he was really poor and wanted to take the imperial examination a third time after failing twice, so he had to earn money himself.
He had the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations), making him half a scholar, and he also frequently engaged in escort missions, making him half a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person who travels the martial arts world). At first, he didn't know who approached him, but he ended up working part-time as a lawyer representing江湖人 (jianghu people) in lawsuits.
It was precisely because he associated too closely with people from the martial arts world, and because Jiangnan Prefecture was a place with a strong literary tradition, that he had a bad reputation there. The Cui family felt that he was bringing shame to the family, so they looked down on him even more.
"Hey! I can do this problem." Cui Zui had been struggling with the problem for a long time and was almost ready to accept that he was illiterate. But now he found that he could not only read the problem but also solve it. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Then his grandfather gave him a light tap with a feather duster, saying, "Don't think that just because I haven't returned to Jiangnan Prefecture I don't know what you've been up to all these years, Attorney Cui."
Cui Pengfei didn't look down on Cui Zui for being a lawyer for江湖人 (jianghu people), but he felt that Cui Zui was putting the cart before the horse. However, it was good that things were the way they were now. Cui Zui had chosen to take the path of a martial artist, which was much more enjoyable than being a scholar.
"Go to the palace." Cui Pengfei handed him the stack of papers.
Cui Zui immediately felt that this was a hot potato. He didn't dare to say that his master was going to expel him from the sect, so he lied and said, "Master has been quite busy lately, and there are too many questions. Let's not do it."
Cui Pengfei, however, saw through the truth and chuckled, saying, "I think it's because you've angered the Seventh Prince that you don't dare to see him, is it?"
"Hurry up and go to the palace. His Majesty has sealed the palace, and the palace should be preparing for the New Year. If you don't go today, you won't be able to go until after the seventh day of the first lunar month." Cui Pengfei gave him a light tap.
"I understand." Cui Zui had no choice but to leave with his things, unable to express his bitterness.
He arrived at the entrance of Zhaoyang Palace at the slowest possible speed, only to find an extremely luxurious carriage already parked there. The totem patterns carved on the carriage clearly belonged to the Princess's residence!
Cui Zui: !!! The Eldest Princess! She's the Eldest Princess that Master mentioned, the one who made him a rebel king!!
"Oh no, my master is going to sell me out!" Cui Zui was immediately terrified. Without any hesitation, before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, he used his light-footed skill to rush towards Zhaoyang Palace.
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