Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 271 Two Hundred and Fifty Jin of Gold

After Song Shi'an returned to Sheng'an, the entire capital city was in an uproar.

The same applies to the Song family.

Everyone was waiting in front of the mansion gate, including Song Jing himself.

Even the First Madam, who had always been prejudiced against this illegitimate son, had to obediently force a smile.

Peace and tranquility at home are very important, especially at a time when the Song family is at the center of the storm.

"Father," Song Ce asked in a low voice, sounding concerned, "Do you think he knows what happened in Sheng'an?"

“What happened, we’ll definitely find out,” Song Jing said. “But how would he know the specifics of the cause and effect?”

What happened at Sheng'an was very disgraceful.

The sword, personally selected by the emperor, was surprisingly abandoned by the prince himself.

Moreover, all the officials unanimously agreed and strongly urged him to keep Yan as prime minister.

Finally, there was the story of the King of Wu and the King of Zhongshan kneeling all night, begging the emperor to let them return to their country.

To the general public, it was all a beautiful story. But to these powerful figures, it was all a scandal.

“That’s true.” Song Ce nodded.

With the Embroidered Uniform Guard accompanying him, which of the officials and imperial guards in the delegation were his close associates?

How can the truth get to his ears?

“But he should be able to figure it out.” Song Jing still wanted to believe in Song Shi’an’s wisdom in this regard, but he had some doubts. “I’m just afraid that he has a lot of complaints in his heart.”

When you meet the emperor, don't say anything inappropriate just because he abandoned you.

There are only wronged ministers, never wronged emperors.

“Father, I don’t think my brother would do that.” To this, Song Ce replied with unexpected firmness, “He is not afraid of any malice.”

These words reassured Song Jing somewhat.

Indeed, Song Shi'an is a very goal-oriented person, and no emotion can sway him.

Consequently, they also find it difficult to get close to others.

It's truly heartbreaking.

Just as they were waiting, a servant from the mansion rushed back, excitedly shouting, "Young Master is back! Young Master is back!"

So everyone eagerly awaited it.

Not far away, Song Shi'an rode alone in front, followed by San Gou driving a carriage with a lot of luggage.

Before he could even dismount, Madam Jiang rushed over, her eyes brimming with tears, and grabbed his arm: "My son, why did you lie to your mother again? Didn't we agree that the Prince of Yan was the Emperor's subject and there would be no danger on this journey? How could you be assassinated again, and almost boiled alive by the Prince of Yan?"

Previously, it was said that going to Shuofeng was not dangerous, since even the emperor's sons went there to gain prestige and promotions. However, hundreds of thousands of people died there.

This kid doesn't tell the truth at all!

“It’s all just a performance, a show of social skills and human relationships,” Song Shi’an said. “I had already discussed it with the Prince of Yan. He would pretend to boil me alive, then the officials would pretend to plead for me, and then he would release me. It was all to put on a good show for the people below.”

"Fake?" Jiang asked in surprise.

“These kinds of strange things that are out in the open are all fake.”

"The King of Wu and the King of Zhongshan knelt at the palace gate..."

“Mother, you can’t just say things like that.” Song Shi’an looked up and quickly interrupted. Then, he had San Gou bring the gift and presented it to her with both hands, “Mother, this is a gift from the officials over there, a white tiger skin.”

The old lady's eyes lit up when she saw this.

Warm and thick like snow, tiger skin without any impurities is an exceptionally fine product. Such quality is rare in the Great Yu Kingdom; it could be considered a royal tribute.

Did he have such influence in the state of Yan?

"Thank you, son, but all I want is for you to be safe."

After receiving the item, Madam Jiang handed it to a maidservant standing nearby. She then took his hand and said, "Let's go back to the manor."

"Ah."

Song Shi'an and Jiang Shi left the mansion together.

Upon seeing everyone, Song Shi'an bowed respectfully to Song Jing, saying, "Son greets Father."

"Hmm." Song Jing nodded slightly, his demeanor quite aloof.

Then, Song Shi'an looked at Cui Shi with a faint smile.

Logically, he should pay his respects to the mistress, but Song Shi'an was not in a hurry.

"Shi'an, you've lost a lot of weight since you came back from Yan." The airs of Madam Cui were completely gone, replaced by gentleness and friendliness. She even took his hand and said, "The food there must not have been good."

"Thank you for your concern, Auntie. Of course, it can't be compared to what I have at home."

After speaking, Song Shi'an turned sideways and stretched out his hand.

Then, San Gou presented another white tiger skin.

Cui couldn't hide the natural smile that appeared on her lips. As she took the gift, she gently stroked it and asked with interest, "Which Yan official sent this?"

"These were gifts from Madam He, two in total, both top-quality white tiger skins." Song Shi'an knew what the old lady admired, so he flattered her, "They were specially made for the Queen of Yan, and ordinary princesses are not worthy of them."

"So that's how it is..." Cui Shi liked this feeling of nobility and said with great pride, "Yan is just a small country. Your mother and I are still worthy of it."

After saying that, he even cast a glance at the Jiang family to show goodwill.

She smiled politely, even though she was inwardly rolling her eyes to the heavens.

To put it bluntly, Cui was indeed wealthy. But without Song Shi'an, she would never have been the matriarch of a noble family, even in several lifetimes.

Now, all we can do is curry favor.

Just like before, because of her status as a maid and the fact that her husband had a son, she was discriminated against in every way.

Offense and defense have changed.

"Hey! Where's mine?"

Song Qin walked up to him and held out her hands: "Give me a freebie." "Everything's here, everything's here, San Gou, bring it all out." After saying this casually, Song Shi'an pointed to the box and said to the servants in the mansion, "Come, move this to the main hall."

After giving his instructions, he said to his father, "I have something to report to you, Father."

"I also have a lot to say to you."

Song Jing said with a serious expression.

“Jingming, you come too.” Song Shi’an then looked at Song Ce.

"Yes."

And so, the three of them went to the lobby together.

The box arrived ahead of schedule.

"Jingming, close the door." Song Shi'an called to his younger brother.

Song Ce closed the door behind him, then returned and looked at the box, asking with some confusion, "What's this?"

"Could this be...?" Song Jing frowned.

Then, Song Shi'an opened the box directly.

The gleaming gold immediately caught their eye.

They were all greatly shocked to see so much gold displayed together, having never seen it before.

This is human nature.

4000 gold.

That translates to 250 jin of gold.

In ancient China, the purity of gold was already extremely high. The gold ingots found in the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun were very close to modern pure gold. That is to say, a full 250 jin (approximately 125 kg) of gold is here.

Even the most illustrious families couldn't afford it.

Huang Tong did receive a reward of three thousand gold coins, but he was already lucky to get one thousand gold coins in his pocket.

It might even be less than a thousand gold pieces.

They were all risking their lives, and there were other officials and brothers who had fought alongside them. He needed to unite people's hearts; how could he take the lion's share?

Even Conson couldn't do it.

After splitting the five thousand gold coins with Gongsun Xing and deducting the expenses for favors, he would only receive a maximum of three thousand gold coins himself.

Therefore, Song Jing's first reaction was: "No, we have to return it to the Emperor!"

“The Emperor doesn’t want it,” Song Shi’an said. “I said it would go to the national treasury, and then he said he could afford to play around with it, and that after killing Ji Hui, the rest would be mine, so he insisted on giving it to me.”

"Did you also become so greedy when you saw all this gold that you couldn't resist taking it all?" Song Jing asked with extreme seriousness.

Then, Song Shi'an took a few steps in front of him.

Then, he looked at Song Jing.

Song Jing, his mind already somewhat muddled, was also quite stiff. Realizing that this kid was mocking him, he suddenly exploded: "You brat, you want a beating, don't you!"

"Father, calm down!" Song Ce quickly advised, "My brother also has his reasons."

“I know your predicament; the emperor can’t take it back,” Song Jing said shrewdly. “However, having four thousand taels of gold in your family is different from the emperor knowing you have four thousand taels of gold. This is very dangerous.”

Why can't wealth be made public?

Two reasons.

The emperor was concerned.

The officials and the people were jealous.

"Seeing all these golden dads and you're already like this, I dare not say anything more."

"Tell me, tell me!" Song Jing was terrified. "Please don't make such a big decision without saying a word again."

Take 20,000 gold to Beiliang to buy a hostage for murder; if you fail, you're doomed.

That's a fucking gambler!

“This four thousand taels of gold is after I declined it. Previously, the emperor wanted to give me seven thousand taels of gold,” Song Shi’an said.

"..." Song Jing gasped, and said sarcastically, "Are you trying to make our family richer than a country?"

“I proposed to use three thousand taels of gold to repair the road to Yan,” Song Shi’an said. “And the emperor agreed, and even wanted to reward me for doing business with him.”

"No, no." Song Jing waved his hand.

“Father.” Song Shi’an was speechless. “There’s nothing we can do. He just wants to drag our Song family down with him and make us new nobles so he won’t be afraid of us anymore.”

"Your land reclamation reforms and many other matters all involve removing the nobles," Song Jing bluntly stated, hitting the nail on the head. "And once the nobles are removed, our family will become nobles ourselves. Aren't those nobles just hoping we're dead? Do you understand this logic?"

“I understand.” Song Shi’an spread his hands. “He’s the emperor, what he says goes.”

"Oh, you!" Song Jing was utterly exasperated, completely at a loss, pacing back and forth. "We can't do this, doing this will lead to the extermination of the entire family, the emperor has no good intentions..."

"Hey, Dad, watch your words!" Song Shi'an quickly interrupted.

"Father, even though the palace maids aren't here, we should still be a little careful," Song Ce whispered a reminder.

Song Jing sighed.

Looking at this box of gold, I felt particularly conflicted.

Just then, Song Gan's voice came from outside the door: "My lord, it's me."

Song Ce closed the box directly, and then Song Jing said, "Come in."

So Song Gan went in and reported, "My lord, someone from the Duke of Li's residence has come to invite you."

"The Duke of Li wants to see me?" Song Jing was a little confused, after all, he didn't have much interaction with him.

"My lord, this old servant is clumsy with words."

Song Gan quickly explained, "It is the Duke of Li who invited you to his residence for a chat."

(End of this chapter)