Witch Wind

Chapter 177: Yin Xin's Prayer (Part )

In Fentian City, at the northwest corner of the Forbidden Palace, at the foot of Xiaojinxi Mountain, there are lush forests and a group of government offices with flying eaves and gables.

The Baolin Office of the Imperial Household Department of Dayu Dynasty is right here.

Ten years ago, the current empress dowager turned against the New Party, which was in charge of the New Deal. All the leaders of the New Deal were beheaded, and many of their followers were exiled or disappeared. The previous emperor, who had been wholeheartedly colluding with the New Party, inexplicably had his anus ruptured while he was using the toilet, and he died of heavy bleeding.

Therefore, the Queen Mother selected Yin Xin, who was only twelve years old, from the royal family to inherit the throne.

Yin Xin's father was just an idle prince in the royal family. He had no ability and could not even do the usual royal family practices of bullying men and women, occupying people's land, monopolizing commerce, and forcibly seizing shares. His family of more than a hundred people lived on the annual salary of tens of thousands of stones of rice, thirty thousand taels of silver, and the production of thirty thousand acres of land under his name.

Life was very tight these days. It is said that once, Yin Xin's biological father went out to attend a banquet hosted by royal family, and was unexpectedly seen by a maid. She found two thumb-sized patches on the lining of the front of his robe.

For a time, Yin Xin's father became a laughing stock among the entire Fentian City royal family, the powerful circles, and even the common people.

After Yin Xin ascended the throne, he naturally showed an extremely strong interest in silver and money.

But the huge Forbidden Palace and the huge Fentian City, every move is under the control of the Empress Dowager. The storehouses of various government offices and the treasury of the Forbidden Palace are also firmly grasped in the hands of the Empress Dowager. How can Yin Xin come up with the money?

So, after several years of hard work, Yin Xin finally asked the Empress Dowager to issue an edict one day when she was in a good mood, and tailor-made a new government office for him - the Baolin Office.

What does this yamen do?
Specializing in planting trees!

Every year, Yin Xin personally went to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, as well as wealthy government offices such as the Salt Administration and the Iron Administration. He even went to the door of the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and extorted varying amounts of silver. Then, he asked the young eunuchs around him to run to private nurseries, and in the name of special supply for the palace, he forced down the price and purchased some saplings, which he then planted indiscriminately in the mountains north of Fentian City, which bordered several deserts and Gobi deserts.

No one knew how much silver had been lost. Even the most capable secret services under the command of the Empress Dowager could not calculate how much Yin Xin had taken from it over the years.

Anyway, everyone in Fentian City saw it clearly. After Baolin was established, in just three to five years, Yin Xin's biological father, the powerless prince, expanded the size of his mansion fivefold, owned nearly one million acres of fertile land, had three to five hot spring villas outside the city, and more than a dozen properties including the finest hunting villas and farms.

In Fentian City, on the dozen or so most prosperous commercial streets, Yin Xin's biological father had nearly a hundred shops under his name.

In response to this, three or five upright censors posted some listless messages, admonishing Yin Xin not to "compete with the people for profit" and other old-fashioned nonsense. Even the empress dowager was too lazy to pay attention - the emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty used some despicable means to just take some money, what kind of a big deal was that?

Moreover, although His Majesty the Emperor was greedy for money, he did not use the money to maintain private soldiers or private assassins. Instead, he used the money to subsidize his biological father and make more gold and silver jewelry for his mother. This is "pure filial piety"!

Because of the tacit approval of the Empress Dowager, the Baolin Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs became a very special government office in Fentian City.

In the past two years, the young eunuchs in Baolin's office have become the hated rats crossing the street. They are like debt collectors crawling out of the eighteen hells. They stand at the door of any government office and ask you to pay the money obediently.

Around the Baolinchu Yamen, not only officials and common people, but even the garrison troops and patrolmen were unwilling to get close to it, and even beggars would walk around it at least a mile away. Once, a beggar passed by the Baolinchu Yamen with a dozen copper coins he had just begged and two hot meat buns.

Guess what happened?

The young eunuch guarding the gate summoned up his might and knocked the beggar to the ground. He accepted the dozen copper coins with a smile, and the two meat buns were swallowed up by the dog guarding the gate at Baolin's place with a "wuuu".

The officials and common people of Fentian City began to spread the word - here, when geese pass by, their feathers are plucked; when beasts leave, their skins are left behind; when mosquitoes fly over Baolin’s government office, they have to shake their butts and leave a trace of oil and water.

At noon, in the lobby of Baolinchu Yamen, there were seven or eight plates on the desk, filled with some side dishes such as boiled chicken, braised pig's trotters, pig ears, and braised large intestines, and two jars of the cheapest white wine on the market.

The weather was a bit hot. Yin Xin had his hair loose and wore a thin shirt, like a street scoundrel. He had one foot on the ground and the other on a big chair, shaking his head and humming an obscene tune. From time to time, he reached out to grab a piece of greasy meat and put it in his mouth to chew it. He picked up the eight-cent wine cup and took a sip of the wine. His expression was full of satisfaction.

In the lobby, seven or eight most popular courtesans who were invited from the top brothels in Fentian City using invitations from Baolin were singing extremely erotic songs in a shy and confused manner with melancholy looks on their faces.

These courtesans all had awkward expressions and extremely awkward movements. Their voices were even more awkward, as if their vocal cords were knotted. The tunes they sang did not have the slightest bit of eroticism or provocative flavor. Instead, they sounded like mourning.

You must know that they are the top brothel in Fentian City and the most popular courtesans.

If they want to be more gentle, they can sing "Willow Bank, Morning Breeze and Waning Moon".

If they want to be more bold, they can wave the iron plate and shout "The river flows east, the waves wash away all."

They can play the dongxiao, the suqin, the pipa, and even if the guests have different tastes, they can play the erhu and play a song "Who will listen when the strings are broken due to lack of understanding" according to the guests' mood.

But they never dreamed that the Emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty would actually call them over and ask them to sing obscene songs like "The Young Widow Visiting the Grave" which were only sung by old girls in half-closed doors and secret brothels.

You are His Majesty the Emperor!

Although you have your hair down, who can't see the nine small strands of hair at the back of your head?

In such a huge Yu Dynasty, the only person who could have nine braids, apart from the heartless rebels, was the emperor!
Besides, to be honest, we are all old acquaintances. Even if we don’t see the braids, who wouldn’t recognize your face?

You are the emperor, how can you listen to these things?

Of course, His Majesty the Emperor is a person of high status. If you are willing to listen, these courtesans can sing even more vulgar songs. The problem is...

Yin Xin raised her head and shouted, "Hey? You girls, why are you all acting like pitiful people who have a sick mother, a deceased father, a younger brother who is addicted to prostitution, gambling and drugs, and your whole family is desperate and have no choice but to go astray?"

“You are the most popular girls in Fentian City. When I ask you to sing ‘The Little Widow Crying at the Grave’, I don’t mean that you should really cry at my grave… at my grave!”

"Sing, sing more happily, sing more passionately, smile more brilliantly, shake your body, and jump your little buttocks! Hey, musicians over there, why are you girls so sad? Did the madam not give you your monthly salary? Or did you not have enough food last night?"

"I asked you to sing the song, but I'm not not paying you... that... money?"

Yin Xin blinked and looked at the eunuchs around him: "Didn't you pay?"

Several trusted eunuchs laughed dryly, and an old eunuch came up and muttered in a low voice: "Master, recently, there is indeed a famine... Ahem, the several nurseries we often patronized in the past two years, those unscrupulous nurseries that did not know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, have all closed down and stopped doing business."

"Also, those government offices... have been on guard against those Jiazi walking since last year. The Empress Dowager has issued an imperial decree that all government offices seal their accounts and all transfers of silver must be approved by her in person before the money can be withdrawn." Yin Xin nodded slowly, suddenly realizing, "So, we really didn't pay them to sing the songs?"

After a pause, Yin Xin grabbed a piece of pig intestine and stuffed it into his mouth, muttering, "Lu cuisine still has a pure taste, and it emphasizes the original flavor of each ingredient. Uh, how much money do you owe?"

The old eunuch laughed dryly: "It can be at least seventeen or eighteen times, right?"

Yin Xin squinted her eyes and raised her orchid finger at the popular girls in a very coquettish manner: "Look at your behavior. I...ah, I have always heard that there are pearls hidden in the sea and unicorns hidden in the wilderness. There are many chivalrous and heroic women in brothels who are as good as men...Look at you, you little girls!"

Yin Xin sighed and shook his head gently: "Originally, I thought that based on our friendship, we could talk about feelings. I thought that since I have given my pure body to you without reservation, we can at least call each other 'confidants'."

"I didn't expect that what you were thinking about so much was that stinking thing!"

Yin Xin raised her head, and two clear tears naturally seeped out from the corners of her eyes, slowly, slowly, flowing down her cheeks with great affection and sadness.

He sobbed, "There are few friends who understand me, there are few friends who understand me, the world is so lonely, I am going home, I am going home, the world is so vast, I am just a lone wild goose in the boundless sky, I came alone, I will leave as a lone shadow... But it's all right, it's all right!"

Yin Xin stood up, hunched over, with a look of melancholy, loneliness, emptiness and solitude on his face. With three parts of worry, three parts of sorrow, three parts of hatred, and one part of inexplicable thoughts, he staggered towards the gate of Baolin.

He walked past the stunned courtesans and was almost at the entrance to the hall when he suddenly turned around and staggered back to the desk. He picked up a jar of water and wine in one hand and nodded to a few trusted eunuchs: "Here, get some oil paper and pack these goodies back. Heat them up and have them as a midnight snack."

After a dry cough, Yin Xin continued to sigh towards the sky: "Long sigh, long sigh, everything in the world is bitter; the world is full of filth, but I am the only one who is proud and unique, pure and innocent like a... the coldest... water lotus!"

'Crunch!'
There was a musician playing the erhu next to them. The pretty girl's hands trembled and the strings made a sound like sawing wood.

The courtesans all shut their mouths, biting their lips until they were pale, and almost vomited.

Yin Xin maintained an attitude that was even lofty, profound, otherworldly, and concerned about the country and the people than Mi Xiangjun, and he staggered and staggered as he walked out in small steps.

Several trusted eunuchs sighed in unison, and also put on the desolate expressions of "worldly sufferings". They squeezed their eyes hard, and finally squeezed out a few tiny tears, and hurriedly followed Yin Xin.

The courtesans in these top brothels in Fentian City could earn seven or eight thousand taels or even tens of thousands of taels of silver just to sit with someone and have a cup of tea. If they were to accompany you to a banquet, hold hands, take advantage of you, and sing a little song, it would cost tens of thousands of taels of silver.

There are seven or eight courtesans of equal worth here.

What’s worse is that they have already owed more than a dozen payments that have not been paid.

If this matter were to get out, would Yin Xin and these eunuchs still be able to save their reputation?
Go quickly, go quickly!
A penny can not only stump a hero, but even a group of eunuchs can be stumped!

The courtesan was speechless, the musicians were silent, and when Yin Xin and the others left, they looked at each other, sighed together, and spat softly on the ground - forget it, forget it, just think of it as a nightmare, being possessed by a ghost?
Keep suppressing it and you will get used to it.

The courtesans were calming down and the musicians were preparing to leave when a group of minor officials from the Baolin Office, dressed in blue and smiling mischievously, suddenly jumped out and said, "Wait a minute, you are all invited by our master to attend a banquet. It's not even half an hour yet. How can you leave? Hurry up, keep playing the music, keep dancing... Someone, go to the restaurant across the street and buy a table of the best bird's nest, shark's fin, and seafood delicacies on credit. Say that you will have money at the end of the year to settle their bills."

"Keep playing the music, keep dancing... Could it be that you look down on us? Or do you look down on the boss behind us? Let me tell you, if you offend our Baolin Office, no matter who your boss is, believe it or not, we will just run to their door and ask for their hand. They will skin you alive!"

The courtesans looked up at the sky, but the sky was speechless.

Yin Xin walked out of the Baolin Office and casually handed the wine jar to the two guards who followed him. He put his hands behind his back and sighed with emotion: "Where can I go to make a fortune now? Well, what did the head of the Ministry of Revenue who was confiscated three months ago do? They actually took more than 30 million taels of silver from his mansion!"

"Hey, if possible, if we kill all the officials from the six ministries in Fentian City, wouldn't we have money?"

The eunuchs and guards following Yin Xin all remained silent and shook their heads.

You are so bold to say this, just say it to satisfy your own desire to brag.

Without the decree of the Empress Dowager, there were only a dozen eunuchs, old and young, and more than thirty guards around Yin Xin. Among these eunuchs and guards, only four eunuchs and three guard chiefs were from Yin Xin's father's palace, and the others were arranged by the Empress Dowager, and they were probably all secret spies.

With such a small number of people, any servant in the mansion of a minor official from one of the six ministries could beat them and make them flee in fear.

Confiscating the property? Beheading? Ha!
This kid is doomed. The emperor has lost his brain and started talking nonsense!
The street outside Baolinchu is not wide but very long. On both sides of the road, which is only about two meters wide, there are the towering walls of the Forbidden City on one side and the walls of various government offices on the other side. Moreover, the gates opening onto this street are all the back doors of the government offices, with an average of thirty to fifty meters between each gate.

On both sides of the road, there were old trees more than ten feet high. On the other side of the Forbidden City wall, there was a moat half a mile wide. Between the moat and the trees was a slope about seven or eight feet wide. At this moment, the wild grass and flowers on it were blooming extremely gorgeously. Many cats and dogs were running around among the flowers and grass.

Yin Xin suddenly stopped and said with a cheerful smile, "It's a really good dog, a top-quality black dog. Wow, it's so strong, I'm afraid it can produce 50 kilograms of top-quality meat, right?"

Then, in a field of brightly colored wild poppies, they saw four fat and strong Great Danes, almost as big as ordinary people, with shiny bodies and black fur like black satin. They were sitting quietly in the flowers, looking up at Yin Xin and others who were walking on the road.

In the middle of the four Great Danes, there was a straw mat. On it, a man wearing a sunshade hat was sitting quietly cross-legged, with three thin fishing rods sticking out in front of him.

The eunuchs and guards were all shocked.

This road, because it is remote, quiet, and has such a long and wide Forbidden Palace moat, many years ago, it was the supreme holy land for fishing enthusiasts in Fentian City, with hundreds of fishermen fishing here all year round. Because the moat is too wide, the Forbidden Palace guards on the other side of the river are too lazy to pay attention to these fishermen as long as they don't go into the water.

But since Baolinchu settled here, those fishermen have long abandoned this fishing paradise. Since the eunuch of Baolinchu brought people to forcibly collect the "Shenzhou Greening Tax" from them, how many years has no one dared to come here to fish?
Today, what the hell is this?
But if you look closely, you can see from the hair exposed under the man's bamboo hat that his hair is a strange light green with a slightly silvery luster. It is obvious that this man is not a citizen of the Eastern Country, but a foreign barbarian.

That's... no wonder!
But, foreign barbarians also fish?

Yin Xin waved his hands at the group of eunuchs and guards, laughed, and strode towards the man fishing: "Hey, brother, I can tell from the looks of it that you're a good person. Come on, lend me a fishing rod so I can try my luck today!"

A group of eunuchs and guards surrounded this small patch of flowers and plants.

If they were citizens of the Eastern Kingdom, they would definitely strip the man naked and search him thoroughly. However, since they were "friendly people" they were dealing with, I think with their "high moral standards", they would not kill the king, right?
Yin Xin sat down next to the man, stretched out his legs comfortably, and said with a smile: "Come on, share a pole... Well, how is the matter going?"

Dozens of bees were flying among the flowers, their wings vibrating with a humming sound. The subtle sound completely drowned out the conversation between Yin Xin and the man, and not a single word could be heard more than three feet away.

(End of this chapter)