Nianzu and Xiao Zhan stopped by a silk cloth house shop that belonged to the richest merchant from Changying. They both walked in and found the workers were packing the stuff.
"Hey, Brother," Xiao Zhan stopped one of the workers, who had a large bolt in his hand. "Where are you taking all these materials?" He questioned him.
"The shop is getting closed," the servant replied to him and walked ahead. Xiao Zhan looked at Nianzu, who frowned as it seemed strange to him.
Nianzu went to the second floor while Xiao Zhan tried to search for the merchant on the first floor itself.
Nianzu saw that the small blocks where once every kind of clothes was stacked had emptied. The merchant was indeed vacating the shop. But why? This merchant was known to deliver clothes in Luoyang too.
He encountered a group of few men, who were employers in the cloth house.
"So, even our Master had decided to shift his shop to Yeosu, the small city adjacent to Changying," Nianzu heard one of them. He hid behind the pillar and peeked at them to see their expressions.
They did not look happy, maybe because they had to shift to a completely new city or had to leave work.
"Lord Lian has given Master Yue Qi a better offer that he could not decline. He did not have to give taxes under the leadership of Lord Lian," the other one said.
Nianzu was shocked to learn the strange truth. Why would the merchant not pay the tax? Wait! Was this the reason that most of the people were not opposing Lord Lian's ways and easily turning to his side?
"But what do you think if the Emperor finds out about it? He surely will kill Lord Lian before he could even start consolidating these small regions.
"But if people will voice together to be with Lord Lian, I think even the Emperor has to surrender himself," asserted the third one.
The other three started to laugh at him. "Are you serious? Don't you know who the current Emperor is?! The most powerful Prince in the Han Empire. His Majesty will surely come to check into this situation. Also, I feel the taxes imposed by the Han are not big. It is a reasonable amount. What if Lord Lian imposes taxes on us?" The first one asked them questions.
Nianzu found out that the people had mixed opinions about this matter. However, most of the people were blindly following Lord Lian without thinking about the long-term consequences. He came down and walked to Xiao Zhan, who had conversed with a few other workers in the shop.
They came out of the shop and walked ahead. "Your Highness, the rebellion is g
iving false hopes to people. He is misleading them," Xiao Zhan said with a fit of rage.
Nianzu agreed with his words. Lord Lian was targeting not only the lower-middle working class but also the merchant class. He wanted to bring revenue to his territory and lured the merchants towards him through zero taxation.
Nianzu and Xiao Zhan kept their ears open while walking. They found most of the people were talking about shifting to Yeosu.
'I cannot believe that the people for whom our Father and our officials did so much today are turning against us without even thinking of its repercussions. To protect this region, Brother Sheng even led a war. We lost so many soldiers yet the people have forgotten their sacrifices,' Nianzu thought while listening to the talks of the people.
~~~~~~
Huo Jin placed the perfume bottle that Wang Fuxing had asked for. Wang Fuxing had a keen interest in collecting perfumes.
Wang Fuxing told Huo Jin to sit with him for a while. "You should have stayed with Yin Na in the Xu Residence," he suggested to Huo Jin.
"Father, Yin Na has started to trust Xu Wenhai. So, I thought about letting them spend time together. Moreover, General Wang is busy in the Palace, so I thought to return," Huo Jin asserted as he rested his wrists on his knees.
"Hmm." Wang Fuxing found out that Huo Jin was indifferent about Yin Na's closeness with Xu Wenhai. He had thought that Huo Jin would interfere and stop them from going ahead with this proposal.
Huo Jin's resolute behavior always astonished Wang Fuxing. Though he wanted Huo Jin to move ahead in his life, but now he could not either say anything about this.
"Xu Wenhai is a man with great values that must be the reason that Yin Na opened up to him," Wang Fuxing stated.
Huo Jin did not want to disappoint him by telling him the true face of Xu Wenhai. But then Xu Wenhai's hatred towards him was understandable to him. Xu Wenhai was good in Yin Na's eyes. He even wrote a poem for her. Though it was simple, it was beautiful enough to flutter the heart of any woman.
"I would like you to see you married too, Huo Jin. You suffered so much in your life. You also need a shoulder to lean on. Though, this old man respects your choice, do consider giving a chance to yourself," Wang Fuxing asserted.
"Yes, Father," Huo Jin said and stood up. "Father, I must check the lunch meals for Sister Bai. I will take my leave," Huo Jin bowed before Wang Fuxing and walked out of the room.
He came towards the kitchen when he saw Yin Na. &nbs
p;
"What are you doing here?" Huo Jin came near her. "When did you return?" He asked.
"A few minutes ago. Xu Wenhai was called to the Court urgently," Yin Na replied. "That's why I returned. I was thirsty, so instead of going to my room, I first came to the kitchen," she explained to him.
"Oh."
"Do you know about that technique?" She asked him suddenly. "That rare technique to shoot arrows," she was curious to know.
"Why do you want to know?" He questioned her back.
"Because it's amazing. You know those things which only a few great people in the Han know," she passed a compliment to him.