The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  If Su Bai thought that he could stump Wang Chong with mere 2700 gold taels, he underestimating him!

  “Yes, I will bring it over now!”

  Shen Hai answered. Before leaving, he glanced at Su Bai and smiled contemptuously. Even though a huge ruckus was going on before the gates, he thought of it as a mere farce.

  After the days of accompanying Young Master Chong, Shen Hai and Meng Long knew that he had many secrets. The both of them have seen tens of thousand of gold taels being loaded on Wang Chong’s carriage several times now.

  Yet, Su Bai was causing at ruckus at the door of the Wang Family Residence for a mere few thousand gold taels. To him, this felt like nothing but a small bicker.

  “Young Master Chong, there’s no need to be polite with these people!”

  Shen Hai said before leaving.

  Wang Chong only smiled in response. Waving him away, Shen Hai immediately rushed into the residence.

  “What’s going on? Who are you all!”

  A few breaths after Shen Hai’s departure, a perplexed voice echoed from the back. Then, a beautiful middle-aged lady walked toward the gate with a group of maids and nannies trailing behind.

  “Mother!”

  Upon seeing this sight, Wang Chong’s complexion turned awful. He intended to resolve this matter silently, but his mother still ended up being alarmed!

  Madam Wang was resting in the residence when she heard the commotion outside. Confused by the buzz, she came out to take a look.

  “Su gongzi?”

  Upon seeing Su Bai, Madam Wang was stunned. She recognized Su Bai as she had seen the latter standing beside Madam Su in the palace before.

  “Why are you here?”

  Madam Wang was astonished.

  “Hehe, Madam Wang. You came at a timely moment. Your son owes us 1700 gold taels and this is all recorded clearly on a contract. I’m not slandering anyone here.”

  Su Bai shook a note in his hand as he smiled treacherously:

  “Right, just a side note, there is a two percent daily interest on the sum!”

  “What!”

  Hearing Su Bai’s words, Madam Wang felt her vision go dark. As though struck by lightning, her body swayed and she nearly fell to the ground.

  Madam Wang didn’t expect Wang Chong to borrow a sum of a thousand gold taels outside behind her back, even offering a two percent daily interest on it.

  This was something unthinkable for Madam Wang. The Wang Family couldn’t shoulder such a debt.

  “Hehe!”

  Upon seeing this sight, Su Bai laughed gleefully. The thing that he had been expecting was finally happening.

  Nearly no one of the Wang Clan knew about Wang Chong’s act of borrowing money in the Eight Gods Pavilion. The reason why he gathered so many people here today to cause a huge ruckus was to blow this matter up, enlightening the Wang Clan and everyone else of this matter.

  The size of the Wang Family Residence was proportionate to its expenses.

  Wang Yan’s measly stipend was barely sufficient to support this large group of guards, nannies, and maids. At the very most, he would only be left with a hundred gold taels at the end every month.

  1700 gold taels, in addition to the interest, meant a total of almost three thousand taels. How could the Wang Clan afford to pay such a huge debt!

  “This is bad!”

  Upon seeing his mother getting involved in this matter, Wang Chong’s heart sank. He had intended to deal with this matter secretly without alarming his mother, but his efforts were futile.

  “Chong-er, is what Su gongzi said true?”

  Madam Wang gritted her teeth and her face was steeled. From the looks of it, Wang Chong didn’t just owe Su Bai money. With a single glance, she could see countless other scions from the other clans. It was hard to imagine how much money he owed altogether.

  He was being audacious!

  She had just barely sprouted some good impression of Wang Chong when his old habits kicked up again.

  “Mother, listen to me. This matter isn’t as you think it out to be!”

  Wang Chong bucked up his courage to say.

  “You just have to tell me whether Su gongzi‘s words are true or not!”

  Madam Wang stared at Wang Chong sternly.

  “Yes!”

  Wang Chong lowered his head.

  “You! You! You!”

  Infuriated, Madam Wang wagged her finger furiously toward Wang Chong, unable to say a single word.

  “Madam, calm down!”

  “Madam, calm down!”

  Seeing madam flying into a rage, the nannies and maids immediately dashed forward to support her and massage her. At the same time, they hurriedly persuaded Wang Chong:

  “Young master, don’t speak anymore.”

  Wang Chong was also thinking that this was bad. He didn’t tell his mother about the matter at the Eight Gods Pavilion and the Hyderabad ores. The reason was simple, Wang Chong didn’t wish to worry his mother. Knowing that he was taking such risk, it was unavoidable that her thoughts would wander.

  Furthermore, now that he was grown up, there were many things he could settle on his own. He didn’t wish to stress his mother over such matters.

  Wang Chong didn’t intend to hide these two matters from his mother, just that the this timing seemed to be bad.

  Not too far away, Su Bai sneered coldly. This was what he hoped for.

  Wang Chong glared at him before turning to his mother. Even though the matter regarding the Eight Gods Pavilion had been exposed, Wang Chong didn’t panic at all.

  “Mother, the matter isn’t as you thought. 1700 gold taels may not be a huge sum, but it isn’t a problem. I can solve it with my own means!”

  “Stop bragging! How can you solve the matter!——”

  The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

  Their clans may be rich, but their allowance was only a few gold taels every month. Even at most, it only numbered up to a dozen taels or so.

  Thus, he didn’t dare to borrow money as casually as Wang Chong did. Not to mention, the Wang Clan didn’t have any businesses and was in a worst situation than them.

  It would be a miracle if Wang Chong could repay the debt.

  Wang Chong couldn’t be bothered with them. 1700 gold taels, to the current him, posed as no trouble at all.

  “Mother, listen to me. I didn’t squander the money. I used it as an investment.”

  Wang Chong said.

  “Investment? What kind of investment?”

  Madam Wang finally calmed down. Hearing his words, she asked.

  “Hahaha, even at a time like this, you still wish to lie to your mother?”

  Su Bai burst into laughter. He had heard Wang Chong’s words. What investment? To him, it sounded like a load of nonsense.

  “What do you mean by lie? When did our young master have to lie to anyone? Isn’t it just a mere thousand gold taels? Take it!”

  At this moment, a bright voice revealing disdain echoed from within the gates. Peng! Before the person could be seen, a black shadow flew out first.

  Su Bai stepped aside and dodged the sudden attack. Turning around to look, the thing that was on the floor was a gold ingot.

  In an instant, Su Bai’s expression darkened.

  “Hahaha, Shen Hai, you came at a good timing!”

  Seeing Shen Hai walking swiftly over from the gates, the frown between Wang Chong’s eyebrows soothed and he laughed heartily. Talk was cheap, and this matter couldn’t be resolved with just words. Money was the only solution.

  “Young master, to deal with these fellows, you should smash gold into their faces. There’s no need to talk crap with them. They are just a bunch of fools who claim a few gold taels from their clans every month, they aren’t worthy of being spoken alongside our young master’s name!”

  Shen Hai glanced at the crowd outside disdainfully. In his hands, the wooden box which weighs a few hundred jin seemed as light as an empty crate.

  (a
jin = 0.5kg)

  “You mere servant, what are you bragging about! A few gold taels is it? Why don’t you show it to us then! ——”

  The prideful scions bellowed indignantly.

  They might not dare to talk about to Su Bai’s insults, and Wang Chong wasn’t a person they could trifle with either. However, how could they allow a mere guard to look at them with such contempt?

  This was something these prideful scions couldn’t accept.

  “Hmph!”

  Shen Hai harrumphed contemptuously and allowed his actions to speak for him. Peng! Letting his hand loose, the wooden crate fell heavily onto the ground.

  The crate broke on the impact, and in the tightly sealed box, a large pile of shiny ingots appeared. They were all gold!

  Shua!

  In an instant, everyone’s breathing stopped. Even Madam Wang, standing up from the arms of the maids only to see a large pile of gold on the floor, was dumbfounded.

  It was as though time has stopped at the doorstep of the Wang Family Residence.

  “T,this is impossible! ——”

  Su Bai widened his eyes in shock. This was the only thought that was in his mind at this very instant.

  Chapter 74: Palace Aide of the Censor-in-chief

  The Wang Clan was an extremely strict family. Wang Chong only received a few silver taels every month. Based on Su Bai’s calculations, it should be impossible for Wang Chong to produce so many gold taels.

  Yet, the fact laid itself before him. There were more than a thousand gold taels here!

  Su Bai was stunned.

  Wang Chong, Shen Hai, and Meng Long, sensing his astonishment, chuckled.

  “Gongzi, there’s no need to be courteous to such people. You should have done this from the very start!”

  Shen Hai said.

  “Indeed. Unscrupulous people like him should be dealt with this way.”

  Meng Long agreed with Shen Hai’s words.

  After being beside Wang Chong for the last few days, their attitudes toward him had changed significantly. In the past, when Wang Chong was always fooling around with Ma Zhou and the others and brought trouble to the family, the both of them didn’t really like him.

  Many times, they were felt resentful toward him.

  However, the past month with Wang Chong had changed their impression of him. They had personally seen him accomplishing many inconceivable deeds.

  In the eyes of the two, Wang Chong was already the most outstanding offspring of the Wang Clan, and they see it as their duty to protect him. Whoever who dares to talk bad about Wang Chong is their enemy!

  Su Bai tried to publicly humiliate him in public, how could Shen Hai tolerate it?

  “Well done!”

  Wang Chong secretly shot a thumbs up to Shen Hai and complimented him. The truth always surpasses all the other rumors, and Shen Hai’s actions had managed to effectively instill fear in them all.

  His action of smashing the crate was truly ingenious! Wang Chong couldn’t have done it any better!

  The gates of the Wang Clan was completely silent. Everyone was surprised by the sight of the 5000 gold taels scattered before them! Even Wang Chong’s mother, Zhao Shu Hua, was stunned speechless.

  In total, Wang Chong has earned two loads of wealth. In the first time, after circling around the capital, he sent it over to Arloja and Ablonodan.

  The second time, he passed half of it to Wei Hao and the other half to his uncle. This was the first time Wang Chong was bringing gold back to his residence. Furthermore, it was sealed in a box.

  Thus, not even Madam Wang knew of the existence of this gold.

  This amount of gold taels was an unthinkable sum for the Wang Family.

  Madam Wang wanted to ask Wang Chong where all of these gold came from, but she held it in. This wasn’t the time for her to be asking such questions.

  “How, how did you earn so much money?”

  With eyes fixated on the gold spilling out from the crate, a scion muttered to himself in astonishment.

  In the Eight Gods Pavilion, they were already considered the more affluent bunch. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lent their money to Wang Chong. However, from the looks of it now, they were far from matching up to Wang Chong’s wealth.

  There were at least 4000 to 5000 gold taels in the crate. This very fact was inconceivable to them.

  All of the sudden, everyone felt as though they lived in a different world from Wang Chong. It was as though there was a huge rift between them and Wang Chong.

  They were on one side of the rift, and Wang Chong, on the other side, had already ran far ahead of them, becoming an existence they could only look up toward!

  Wang Chong was still the same Wang Chong, but there was something about him now that daunted them.

  “There’s no need for you to know of it.”

  Wang Chong’s gaze swept the surroundings as he sneered coldly:

  “Isn’t it just a mere 1700 gold taels? Come and exchange it with your debt notes then. I intended to pay each of you an additional hundred taels, but since you all are siding with Su Bai to deal with me, naturally, you don’t have to dream about that sum. This reward would only be left to those who didn’t come today!”

  “A hundred gold taels!”

  “Ah! I knew that I shouldn’t have come!”

  “Young Master Chong, I have nothing to do with this. I didn’t say anything at all just now!”

  “Me too! Young Master Chong, I’m just passing by!”

  …

  Upon hearing that a hundred gold taels had just slipped them by, everyone immediately wailed in agony. Those who were of lower birth and lower standing couldn’t afford to offend Su Bai, as well as the Duke of Su who was backing him.

  However, the Duke of Su hasn’t reached a level where he was able to dictate everything that goes on in the royal court. Thus, there were also a few who refused to give in to Su Bai. Those who were here just wanted Su Bai to owe them a favor, but losing a hundred gold taels for it was a heavy price.

  This was equivalent to their allowance for more than a year!

  This wasn’t a small sum. It could finance their drinking and playing for a long time!

  Thus, upon seeing Su Bai fail in his affair and losing so many gold taels at once, they felt intense regret.

  “Hehe, young master sure is wise!”

  Shen Hai and Meng Long didn’t say anything, but they were grinning on the side. This was what being ingenious meant. Without forking out a single tael, he ripped apart Su Bai’s faction.

  Some of those who were agitated by the matter even started cursing Su Bai.

  “I didn’t realize in the past, but young master sure is formidable!”

  The duo thought.

  If Wang Chong had just passed the gold to them, these fellows might have just thought nothing of it. However, by telling them that he had intentionally to give them more, but because they decided to follow by Su Bai to deal with him, all of it was cancelled and their benefits were removed, they would feel their heart ache in pain.

  Beside Wang Chong, Shen Hai and Meng Long could clearly see the pained faces of the scions. A huge bunch of them were clearly unhappy with Su Bai.

  They might be hesitant to speak up as an individual, but it was different in a crowd.

  “Bastard! Don’t listen to his nonsense!”

  Su Bai didn’t expect Wang Chong to use such a move. He felt both anxious and infuriated. He had gone through much effort to gather so many scions and nobles, but his plan was about to fall apart right before him. How could Su Bai allow this to happen so easily?

  “Wait a moment!”

  Su Bai glanced at the wooden crate which Shen Hai smashed on the ground and a thought flashed through his head. He abruptly stood forward, pointed to the gold tael, and bellowed:

  “Wang Chong! Your Wang Clan isn’t skilled in commerce and given your own capability, how could you possibly earn so much money? Hmph, could it be that your Wang Clan is corrupt a
nd accepted the bribes of others?”

  Su Bai glared at Wang Chong menacingly, to the point that it felt as though he would tear him apart with his eyes. Previously, when Wang Chong had returned the blow to him, he nearly panicked.

  However, Su Bai swiftly recovered and the thought appeared in his mind. Given how the Wang Clan didn’t deal in commerce, living off just their measly stipends, how could they have so much money?

  In any case, Su Bai would never believe that the Wang Clan would be able to save up so much money. There must something amiss in the matter.

  “Censor Fu! Checking on the officials and ensuring order is your job. Even though the Wang Clan has always been known as upright and incorruptible all along, they secretly corrupted so much gold for their own. I believe that there’s a need for you to stand up and uphold order!”

  Su Bai suddenly turned to look at a carriage led by a black and white striped horse. Jiya, the doors of the carriage slowly opened and a purple-robed white-haired elder walked out from the carriage with a dark expression.

  The elder was probably listening to the matter in the carriage, and only when Su Bai called for him did he walk out.

  Wang Chong didn’t recognize the elder, but when he saw the ‘fish token’ on his waist, his expression immediately darkened. Not only was he a censor of Great Tang, he was the assistant head censor.

  (The ‘fish token‘ is a metal token that is shaped like a fish.)

  In order to deal with him, Su Bai had brought over two officials from the Court of Judicial Review, as well as a censor of Great Tang.

  “Su Bai!”

  Wang Chong glared at Su Bai ferociously. At the very worst, the officials from the Court of Judicial Review would just land Wang Chong in their jail.

  However, since he brought a censor along with him, it was clear that Su Bai’s goal wasn’t just him but the entire Wang Clan. He was trying to pin the blame on the entire Wang Clan, not giving Wang Chong a chance at all.

  And for a censor, instead of discussing important matters in the royal court, to hole himself in a carriage and listen to this farce, Wang Chong would never believe that Su Bai hasn’t been planning this matter for a long time.