Chapter 473: Changing Faces and Attending a Banquet

Although the government prohibited the use of gold and silver, and even copper coins were once restricted, with gold and silver ingots only given as rewards to nobles and high-ranking officials, ordinary people still trusted nothing more than real gold and silver. Now that silver was expensive while money was cheap, the Ministry of Revenue set the rate at one ingot of paper money for one dan of rice and one tael of silver for two dan of rice. Yet in reality, a hundred ingots of paper money were needed to buy just one dan of rice, while five qian of silver could buy two to three dan of rice. In other words, that so-called rare treasure from Xuanfu—a tiny weasel—was worth as much as three dan of rice in a place like Xuanfu, with five of them being equivalent to that amount.

So, when someone suddenly shouted loudly, the group of officers sitting below immediately began buzzing with discussion. Their monthly salaries and occasional extra earnings allowed them to treat themselves to a meal from time to time, but it was far from enough to afford such delicacies. Thinking of the two people who had just gone upstairs, those who were clever enough to scheme gave their colleagues a look, all sitting leisurely ready to watch the show. Sure enough, in the face of the tall attendant’s questioning, Manager Cui remained calm.

“You’re right. Our shop does indeed buy some weasels at high prices every day, but the quantity is limited, as it’s always pre-arranged by the high-ranking officials at the military headquarters. Today, it was the young marquis of Baoding who asked in advance to host guests here…”

“Stop lying! Who in this tiny place would bother coming here? Lord Wang is hosting a banquet tonight for the imperial eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot, and even the Marquis of Xing’an from the military headquarters is there. Don’t try to make excuses to get away with it!”

By now, Meng Jun and Zhang Yue had already reached the top of the stairs. Though neither of them was the kind to bully others, having their meal disrupted like this made them angry. Meng Jun gently pushed Zhang Yue behind him, shook his head at him, then slowly walked downstairs with his hands behind his back. Seeing him suddenly stagger as he walked, Zhang Yue immediately understood.

Since the private room still had high-quality white charcoal burning, Meng Jun’s face was naturally red, and combined with the smell of alcohol on his breath, he looked like he was completely drunk. After stepping downstairs unsteadily, he glared at Manager Cui and snapped, “Manager Cui, why is it so noisy all of a sudden? Can’t people eat in peace here? I haven’t seen my cousin in almost a year. Can’t I even find a quiet place to sit? Huh, you… seem to be someone close to Lord Wang?”

Xiao Dakou, his personal attendant, was actually Wang Guan’s half brother-in-law—although the rules were strict now, eunuchs in the capital couldn’t marry or take concubines no matter how high their rank, those stationed outside had much more leeway; at least they wouldn’t turn away beauties offered to them. He thought his sister was very favored by Wang Guan, so she could naturally act domineerously outside. When he recognized Meng Jun, he felt a bit embarrassed but didn’t dare truly disrespect this young marquis of Baoding, so he hurriedly bowed.

“I thought the shopkeeper here was just talking nonsense. I never expected it to really be the young marquis.” His eyes shifted, and his originally rude tone instantly turned eager and polite, with a delighted smile on his face. “Today, Eunuch Wang wasn’t feeling well, so he couldn’t go greet those imperial envoys. That’s why he held a banquet tonight. Just now, when he sent me out to find some weasels, he also asked me to look for the young marquis. It’s quite a coincidence that we met here. Is the young marquis here to welcome Lord Zhang? If so, would the two of you kindly come to the garrison? Eunuch Wang will surely be pleased.”

He was skilled at changing his attitude, so Meng Jun, who had originally planned to cause trouble while drunk, hesitated. At that moment, he heard footsteps on the stairs, followed by Zhang Yue’s familiar voice.

“My brother-in-law and I have almost finished eating. Since Eunuch Wang has invited us, let’s go together. But we drank a bit too much just now, so I’m afraid I can’t walk. Go hire a carriage.”

Xiao Dakou, who had just been lying, saw Zhang Yue coming down and spoke again. He immediately realized this must be Lord Zhang and felt distressed. Though he liked to take advantage of others, he wasn’t foolish enough to reject these two. Ignoring the matter of the weasels, he turned around with clasped hands and said apologetically, “Lord Zhang, it’s curfew now. It might be too late to hire a carriage from the station. I happened to come here by carriage. If you and the young marquis don’t mind…”

Meng Jun didn’t know why Zhang Yue wanted to go to the eunuch’s garrison, but since his brother-in-law had started the act, he simply continued it, pretending to be drunk and saying, “Stop talking nonsense. As long as there’s a carriage, that’s fine!”

As he spoke, he unbuckled a heavy money bag from his waist, called over Manager Cui, grabbed a handful of coins without counting and stuffed them into the other man’s hands. Then he pulled Zhang Yue outside. Seeing this, Xiao Dakou hurried forward to support his arm, but was shooed away by him and could only follow closely behind cautiously. As they left, the officers in the hall immediately began to complain in regret.

They had originally wanted to see the young marquis punish the arrogant slave in a fit of anger, but instead, he changed his attitude so quickly and gave up altogether, just like the general and the eunuch in charge—unable to take any action. Such high-ranking officials were simply too exhausted!

Although he was just a retainer, Xiao Dakou’s black, flat-top carriage was a gift from the king. The walls of the carriage were lined with thick cotton cloth, and thick, warm furs hung in front, which were of inferior quality compared to those given to the eunuch in charge. Usually, he would sit comfortably in the warm carriage whenever he went out. But now, with those two nobles inside, even though he was extremely reluctant, he had no choice but to sit next to the coachman and endure the cold wind. By the time they reached the eunuch’s residence, he was almost frozen solid.

“Young marquis, Lord Zhang, we’ve arrived.”

Xiao Dakou called out twice before the carriage curtain was finally pulled back slightly. He quickly stepped forward to help them out. After assisting the two gentlemen to the ground, he hoped someone would go in to announce their arrival and called for help. But after shouting a few times, there was no response from inside, which made him even angrier. He then raised his voice loudly.

“It’s not even bedtime yet! Where the hell have everyone gone to be so lazy?”

His loud shouting finally alerted the people inside. Soon, a drowsy doorkeeper staggered out, cursing rudely, “What’s the fuss at this late hour? You’re not even a real relative—why are you shouting at us like this? What the hell…” As he rubbed his eyes irritably, he suddenly felt someone rush at him, and soon a heavy blow hit his cheek, making him stagger and nearly fall.

“Are you blind? This is the young marquis of Baoding and Lord Zhang! If you mess up this important task for the eunuch, I’ll kill you! What are you standing around for? Hurry up and help support them!”

Meng Jun pretended to be heavily drunk, and Zhang Yue also pretended to be slightly drunk. Seeing the doorkeeper reluctantly step forward to help, and noticing that it was pitch dark inside, he casually asked, “Is this entire guard post so frugal that they don’t even light a lamp at night?”

“This is the outside; the courtyard inside is bustling with activity!” The gatekeeper was slapped suddenly for no reason, filled with anger. He grunted softly and said, “My lord is entertaining distinguished guests tonight. He brought in four cooks from outside alone, and who knows how much meat, fish, poultry, and livestock he purchased. He also sent for the best musicians from Xuanfu early on—apparently, they were originally assigned to the Daiwang Palace in Datong. Since there are too many people registered there now, they ended up here in Xuanfu. Because of this connection, my lord ordered that no lights be lit outside and that the guests be entertained inside the second gate…”

Hearing this, Xiao Dakou glanced at Zhang Yue and Meng Jun. One seemed not to have heard clearly, while the other continued to talk in a drunken stupor. He became furious immediately and snapped at the gatekeeper, “These are matters handled by higher-ups. How dare you talk nonsense? Just do your job properly and don’t worry about anything else!”

At that moment, only the faint light from lanterns existed, but since the gatekeeper was right beside them, Zhang Yue still sensed that he seemed dissatisfied. However, he had already learned what he wanted to know and was too lazy to care about anything else. There was no further conversation. When they reached the second gate, they saw a completely different scene. On both sides of the hanging gate were large red lanterns made of Goryeo paper, inscribed with the characters “Hongxi.” Along the main path inside, a row of lanterns stretched all the way to the inner rooms, creating a bright and lively atmosphere.

Hearing the sounds of music and instruments drifting in from inside, Zhang Yue glanced at Meng Jun and saw that his brother-in-law was still pretending to be drunk, which made him smile.

At this point, Xiao Dakou, worried about the weasels he hadn’t yet caught, quickly interjected, “Young master, Lord Zhang, this is not a place I can enter. Let these maids guide you in. They were specially brought here from Datong by my lord and will surely serve you well! Please tell my lord that I’ll continue to explore the city to look for more weasels!”

After learning the truth about this unique feature of Xuanfu, Zhang Yue had already decided never to touch such things again. Seeing Xiao Dakou leave in a hurry, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly—throughout history, those who were wealthy and powerful were indeed willing to go to great lengths when it came to food. Turning to see several neatly dressed maids approaching to greet them, he ordered them to lead the way, helping Meng Jun along the way.

He didn’t know how many doors and passages he had passed, but finally he arrived in a courtyard illuminated as brightly as day. Before he could recover from such a sharp contrast in light, a cheerful voice came from ahead.
“Lord Zhang, you set off ten days after we did, yet here you are almost at the same time. You must have had a tough journey.”
He had been puzzled by Wang Guan’s initial excuse for not meeting, and now wondered why there was such a grand invitation, but at that moment Zhang Yue recognized the person speaking and suddenly understood everything. It was none other than Hai Shou, the deputy head of the Imperial Horse Supervision Bureau!