Chapter 72 Cousin's Ambitions Harm
As for why Wang Shou would appear here...
It was inevitable, in fact.
—Ever since being forced to leave their hometown of Hezhou, where they grew up, the Yang family members, though they didn't say it, were all uneasy. Wang Shou felt a little better after regaining his memory, but even in the unfamiliar city of Liuzhou, he felt just as uneasy.
My cousin, whom I've never met, has become a prince. He treats them very well and supports them.
On the surface, there seems to be no problem, but the biggest problem is that my cousin himself is in Liuzhou, thousands of miles away from the capital, acting as a prince in a place even more remote and dangerous than Hezhou.
What exactly is happening outside?
So, after the first two days of settling in... Wang Shou couldn't resist going out for a stroll and to find out more about the situation.
Although Tian Niang was physically weak, she was not yet bedridden. Under the care of that divine doctor Bian, her complexion improved significantly.
"Zhong'er, don't you like watching the Imperial Guards drill? Your mother and I are going out for a walk. You can come back tonight." Wang Shou casually made up an excuse to send his son away.
The little boy had a chubby face and didn't look very clever, but his eyes would light up when he heard the word "drill," and he would run off happily, shouting, "Wow!"
If the threshold was too high, he would use both little hands to lift himself up, stick his bottom out, and laboriously climb over it. He was too impatient to wait for the servants who came to dismantle the threshold.
The Imperial Guards' training ground was also in the east courtyard, so Wang Shou wasn't worried about his son getting lost in the palace.
"Be careful." He tenderly supported his frail wife. Doctor Bian had said that proper walks and relaxation would be helpful for Tian Niang's condition.
"Where are we going?" Tian Niang wasn't exactly gentle, but her illness had made her voice weak and soft. The two of them slowly left the palace.
She had only walked a short distance when she was already panting slightly, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.
"Let's wander around for a bit and find a teahouse or restaurant to sit down and rest," Wang Shou gave a conservative answer. But as the couple looked at the entrance of the Wang Mansion and the dazzling array of goods outside, their expressions changed and they began to show surprise.
On the day of his arrival, everything was in chaos, and Wang Shou didn't have a chance to properly observe his surroundings.
But what does he see now?
Wang Shoudu was prepared to see an even more remote and impoverished town. But everything was so unfamiliar that he didn't recognize it at all.
The ground was an eerily smooth, grayish-white surface, and it felt very hard when stepped on. Wang Shou could list several advantages without even thinking.
The roads and paths... well, they were exceptionally clean, which is to say they were filthy.
People were warm and hospitable, hawking all sorts of unfamiliar things on both sides of the street: "Tomatoes! There's no supply outside, and I only have a small pile of not-so-good ones left. If you don't buy now, they'll all be gone!"
"Potato pancakes for sale! They're made from potatoes, a new crop taught by the Prince. They're fragrant and sweet!"
Sweetie was overwhelmed by the sights, curiously looking around. A group of hurried passersby walked by, whispering amongst themselves, and then left nervously. Their voices drifted to Wang Shou's ears:
"Bai Xiang Fang has released a new soap?" "Don't even mention soap, the hottest selling item lately is the flush toilet! I heard that men all use ceramic ones, or you can buy a cheaper wooden one, but you need to sign a contract with the government. They say they have to come to your door and connect it to the sewer system."
"That has nothing to do with us. I just want to get through spring peacefully..."
"Didn't they say that some alcohol factory and mirror factory are hiring? And they're new factories that the prince is partnering with someone to start! Let's go, this time we'll finally be able to grab a share, right?"
"Food and lodging included, and if you're selected as a junior manager, they'll even take care of your family! If I'm capable enough to get hired... I'd never change jobs again for the rest of my life." The man's envious voice drifted away.
"..." Wang Shou and Tian Niang looked at each other, both at a loss.
Having listened to this far, there are so many unfamiliar words and so many unfamiliar things in front of me that I don't understand anything at all.
Sweetie visibly became awkward and flustered. She lowered her eyes and asked in a dejected voice, "Brother Shou, when you were in the capital, did you usually wear these kinds of things?"
She heard that her husband's cousin—the prince—had come from the capital, and for a moment she thought that this was how things were in the capital, and that the popular things were too new and trendy. She couldn't keep up, so she felt inferior and shrank back.
Wang Shou: "…………"
Don't talk nonsense, he didn't. He's never seen anything like this in the capital.
"Don't be afraid, it's not like this in the capital." The young man lowered his eyes and comforted his wife with certainty, but his expression was somewhat complicated and subtle.
The only thing he was certain of was that his cousin was no ordinary person!
"What are you doing!" A loud shout rang out, and two constables rushed over.
Beside the constable was an old woman who was leading the way. She was panting, but her face was rosy and her eyes were full of excitement. When she started to run unsteadily, Wang Shoudu subconsciously frowned and followed her with his gaze.
"It's him! He's abusing the prince's... you know, potato!" the old woman accused menacingly.
The stall owner who had been selling potato pancakes earlier changed his expression drastically. Startled, he quickly waved his hands, denying it: "Don't talk nonsense! These aren't real potatoes. This old man doesn't have the guts to... to bring up the prince's important affairs!"
The two constables exchanged a glance, then suspiciously approached his stall, scrutinizing it closely. "Potatoes are a type of grain that will only be distributed next spring. If you say these aren't real potatoes, then you're just selling pancakes under the guise of potatoes?!"
"I—this—" The stall owner was speechless, his face changing.
"Take him away!" Two constables took one of the stall owners, who were still crying and trying to explain, and led him away. The other was grabbed by the sleeve by the old woman, who asked timidly yet excitedly, "Sir, what about me..."
"We'll give you money for reporting this when we get to the yamen!" the yamen runner said readily.
The two of them walked away.
Wang Shouyi, bewildered, watched the whole ordeal unfold with Tianniang in his arms. He keenly noticed that everyone around them went about their business as usual, showing neither surprise nor fear. Only when the stall owner was taken away did someone point and mutter, "...Serves him right!"
Or someone might stomp their foot in regret and remorse: "Oh no, how did she beat me to it!"
Wang Shou: "..."
He still felt as if decades had passed in an instant, rather than as if he had been abandoned in Hezhou for several years. The outside world was developing so fast that he no longer recognized it.
"It seems we need to learn how to integrate into Liuzhou," Wang Shou said in a low voice. He was honest and kind, but not the kind of person who was conservative, closed-minded, or resistant to new things. Tian Niang, on the other hand, looked fearful and helpless, somewhat at a loss.
Wang Shou's eyes flickered slightly as he made up his mind. He touched the money pouch in his pocket, then turned his gaze to the restaurant in the distance, where people were coming and going and the aroma of food wafted far and wide. He said confidently, "We've walked for so long, let's go and rest."
Sweetie grew up in a small town, so it's even harder for her to accept these things. Let's start with some delicious new dishes—Sweetie loves food, and hopefully local Liuzhou cuisine can help her relax.
So after the two entered Baijia Restaurant, they ordered a table of dishes for themselves, based on what the people around them had ordered. Wang Shou instructed, "It smells delicious, but for your health, eat only a little of everything."
I'll only eat a little bit today.
"Brother Shou, how could you say such a thing?" Tian Niang's face showed a faint resentment. Usually, it was fine, but none of the dishes in Bai Family Restaurant were familiar to her, and each one had an overwhelming aroma.
They deliberately avoided dishes with chili peppers, leaving these incredibly tempting dishes...
Forget about a little bit, just ask how to hold back?
Wang Shou also felt that it wouldn't be easy to get Tian Niang to hold back, so he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Otherwise, should I have the waiter send most of the dishes to the Wang Mansion first?"
Such a large meal is naturally meant to be shared by the whole family.
Sweetie knew she couldn't bear it, so she painfully looked away, as if cutting off a piece of her own flesh: "Let's do it this way!"
...It was under these circumstances that the two groups of cousins met.
After glancing knowingly at his cousin and his wife's table, Qi Chengming felt relieved and stopped pretending: "Manager! Bring me a jar of the wine that Bai Xuan left here."
"How many cups?" he asked.
Sweetie's hand quietly pressed onto her husband's arm.
"Just a little bit," Wang Shou replied in a low voice, his tone as somber and resolute as before.
Neither of them wanted to say anything to the other, so they exchanged glances for a long time before silently looking away.
Qi Chengming was struggling with his own health, but seeing his cousin and cousin-in-law behaving recklessly still made him somewhat worried. He called Xiao Dezi over and whispered something to him. Xiao Dezi responded with relief, turned around, and went back to find the family physician.
That evening, Qi Chengming drank with his family and got drunk for the first time, becoming drowsy and feeling very at ease. Song Gu'an sat quietly, only smiling foolishly after getting drunk, but not as crazy or talking nonsense as he had imagined.
Although Wang Shou was alright, he was also immersed in the lively atmosphere of the restaurant lobby and became slightly tipsy from the ambiance.
Xiao Chengzi drank the least, and his face was flushed with an unnatural redness. He looked at the others with a worried expression, guessing that they would all fall ill tomorrow.
The only truly sober person present was probably Tian Niang. She had originally intended to avoid going back home, but Liuzhou was a remote and desolate place, and there weren't many rules about eating out. It wouldn't do for her cousin to come and prevent the couple from having a proper meal together. So, Tian Niang awkwardly sat down and continued eating. She had witnessed the amusing state of the others as they drank.
Wang Shou fiddled with his wine glass with his right hand, which had lost several fingers, a faint murmur playing on his lips. The young man seemed to be lost in thought, his eyes lowered. After a long while, in this most harmonious and warm atmosphere, he closed his eyes and said, "I just heard something about the north. The Di people are marching north to Jinzhou... The two armies sent to suppress them have both been defeated."
He added slowly, as if sighing, "There was the original Mighty Army."
Sweetie's expression changed drastically.
Song Gu suddenly opened his eyes as if he had just woken up.
Qi Chengming also sobered up instantly: "..."
"Brother Shou, you—" Tian Niang was somewhat shocked and worried, and only managed to finish her sentence.
Qi Chengming's heart sank. He asked his cousin's wife the rest of the question in a low voice, "Cousin, do you mean... you want to join the army? To give the original Mighty Army a helping hand?"
The Weiyong Army and the Weiyong Marquis's Mansion must be the army that my maternal grandfather, uncles, and cousins served in back then.
“It’s too late.” Wang Shou frowned, lowering his voice in a heavy silence. “Whether I return to the capital as a member of the Wang family or go to the north incognito, it won’t stop the current situation.”
Moreover, given the extent of his injuries, Doctor Bian said he would need at least until spring to recover.
“But you haven’t given up,” Qi Chengming said confidently, he had guessed correctly.
My cousin used to be a warrior, and now that he has a family and is settled, is he really going to just live a peaceful life forever? Especially now that the Earl's mansion is teetering on the brink of collapse and no one is there to lead it. Their original army, weakened by their power, is probably in ruins too.
Qi Chengming had thought about this question before and was wondering about it.
He's not surprised at all now.
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