Chapter Thirty-Five: Taking Over the Family Business

When Zhongli Yu returned to the residence, Zhan Yan was still in the study. He pushed open the door and saw her sitting quietly, diligently attending to her affairs. He walked up behind her, gently wrapped his arms around her, rested his head on her shoulder, and without a word, simply breathed in the faint, sweet fragrance that lingered on her.

“What’s wrong? Is something troubling you?” Seeing his silence, Zhan Yan couldn’t help but speak first.

“The Emperor has already given the order to send the King of the South to the front. Yan’er, the King of the South is your father. Are you worried about him?”

“Oh? The King of the South—do you think he’s up to the task?” Zhan Yan couldn’t help but sound doubtful. All these years, from what she knew of that man, there was nothing left of the heroic spirit he was once said to possess. He seemed an ordinary man, nothing remarkable about him.

“Yan’er, I think you underestimate your father. In his day, he was the War God of Dongling, undefeated in almost every battle, or so they say.” Zhongli Yu chuckled softly, amused by the disdain in her eyes. It was a sorrowful fate for great generals: in times of peace, they were considered nothing and forgotten as a matter of course.

“All right, perhaps I have underestimated him.” Zhan Yan pursed her lips. She vaguely remembered hearing people talk about her father when she was little, but she could never reconcile the noble title of War God with the man she knew. How distant she must be from her own father, she thought with a helpless shake of her head.

“Yan’er, I can’t help but feel uneasy. This campaign for the King of the South feels far more complicated than it seems. Maybe it’s just my imagination.” Zhongli Yu rubbed his forehead, speaking with some helplessness. It was an instinctive anxiety, but he couldn’t find a reason for it, and that left him unsettled. In his twenty years of life, he had never experienced such a feeling before.

“It’s all right. Don’t worry.” Zhan Yan patted his hand, trying to comfort him. She understood that feeling, because she felt it too—a kind of instinctive unease.

“Yan’er, there are things I hadn’t planned on telling you, not wanting to trouble you, but now, in these times, I may need your help.” Zhongli Yu’s voice was apologetic.

“What do you need me to do?” Zhan Yan couldn’t bear to see him blaming himself. They were husband and wife, and should stand together.

“I want you to help manage the affairs of the royal residence. I don’t know if I’ll be called to the front myself in this war, but it’s best to prepare in advance, so that if the time comes, there won’t be too much left unsaid.” He spoke with resignation.

“All right, I’ll help you.” This was, after all, the responsibility of the lady of the house, only he was always so considerate of her, unwilling to let her tire herself.

With her agreement, Zhongli Yu took Zhan Yan’s hand and led her to a large bookshelf, explaining everything in detail. The shelves were filled with account books—hundreds of them in total. Zhan Yan’s eyes widened in surprise; there were so many ledgers—just how wealthy was this man?

“These ledgers—only the top shelf holds the recent ones. The lower you go, the further back they go in time. You only need to look at the top shelf. But you don’t have to examine the accounts yourself; the people I’ve chosen to handle these matters are reliable. I’ll introduce them to you, and if you need anything, just call on them for answers. Don’t tire yourself.” His voice was gentle, always putting her first.

“I know what to do.” She was the kind of person who could read ten lines at a glance and forget nothing; this was a mere trifle for her.

After explaining this, Zhongli Yu took her to a pile of chests. He opened one, revealing stacks of slim booklets inside.

“These are the personal records of the members of Serene Pavilion. If you need anyone, you’ll find their details here. Just follow the instructions in the booklet to contact them.” His explanation was soft.

Zhan Yan was stunned. Just how many people did Serene Pavilion have? There were fifteen chests, thousands of booklets in each—did that not mean there were tens of thousands in all? Though she had married this man, she realized how little she truly knew of him. As she flipped through the booklets, she found that everyone recorded within was no ordinary person; each had their own special skills. Her admiration for him grew ever deeper.

“Yan’er, don’t tire yourself over it. You only need to know these ten people. If you need anyone, just ask them, and they’ll find the right person for you.” Zhongli Yu handed her a larger book, which indeed contained detailed introductions and responsibilities for those ten individuals.

“You’re really going to entrust all this to me?” Zhan Yan was speechless. To suddenly take over so much was overwhelming.

“Of course I trust you, Yan’er. If I can’t trust you, then whom could I trust?” His voice was indulgent.

“I’ll try my best, but I can’t guarantee I’ll do it well. If things go wrong, don’t blame me.” Zhan Yan replied helplessly.

“I won’t blame you. Just treat it like a game, and if you break it, it doesn’t matter.” Zhongli Yu’s laughter was gentle.

“Well then, with your assurance, I feel at ease.”

“Yan’er, take your time to look things over. I have to go out for a while.”

“All right.”

After Zhongli Yu left, Zhan Yan picked up one of the account books and started reading. She opened one and saw that the revenues recorded were substantial. It seemed her husband was not only a capable manager but also a shrewd businessman. If he lived in modern times, he might well have become the world’s richest man.

She skimmed through the income ledgers, feeling she had a good grasp of their sources, and then turned to the expense accounts. These were recorded in detail: for example, on the third day of the fourth month, in the fifteenth year of Tianhe, twenty taels of silver were given to Old Song of Song Family Village, who was childless, for his retirement; on the sixth day of the fourth month, fifty taels were spent to rescue ten trafficked children and reunite them with their families; on the twentieth day of the sixth month, eight hundred taels were spent to purchase fifty thousand dan of grain for refugees when Baiyang County suffered drought. There were countless such entries. The more Zhan Yan read, the more she was shocked. How much had this man done for others? She realized how little she knew of him. She had never imagined he was such a compassionate man, helping others so selflessly—how many people in this world could do the same? As a prince, he could have spent his life in luxury and ease, with servants attending to his every need, but he chose not to. Instead, he used his abilities to help those in need.

In that moment, Zhan Yan was once again moved by this man. She didn’t know how many more virtues he possessed that she had yet to discover. All she knew was that the more she learned about him, the deeper her love grew.