Volume One, Chapter Nine: The Wedding Day Approaches

The wedding day for Li Jize and Wang Yuanya was drawing ever closer.

Three days had passed.

His mother, Huang Suqiu, still had not left Li Jize’s side. Fearing that her foolish son’s mind was still "flickering between clarity and madness," she had clung to him like a burr, refusing to be driven away.

During these three days, what had Li Jize been doing?

After receiving the imperial decree, claiming his land, and collecting his gold, Li Jize had gone mad! He was spending money lavishly, constantly recruiting refugees from the city under the pretense of "farming." If any malicious soul wished to bring him down, the charge of "buying public favor" would have been more than enough to ruin him.

Yet, strangely, not a single person in the entire Great Qi court had moved to impeach him; in fact, no one even bothered to question his actions. Why? Because the Great Qi Dynasty was plagued by incessant natural and man-made disasters, with a severe drought ravaging the Shanyuan region. A continuous stream of refugees, unable to survive any longer, had either risen in rebellion or fled directly to the capital, right under the Emperor’s nose.

The imperial court was in complete chaos. They were either busy dealing with "rebel uprisings" or scrambling to manage the refugees in the capital. If handled poorly, what if these refugees, standing at the very gates of the Emperor’s palace, decided to revolt as well? Thus, the officials in the capital were only too happy to see wealthy individuals like Li Jize take the initiative to provide relief or take these refugees off their hands.

Huang Suqiu had watched with her own eyes as her son took in batch after batch of refugees over the past three days. If it were for farming, there were far too many people; if it were for charity, there was far too little money. The Empress had bestowed only one hundred taels of gold—which sounded impressive, but in this feudal era, the exchange rate between gold and silver was one to ten, sometimes even as high as one to thirteen. Therefore, one hundred taels of gold was nowhere near enough to support so many people.

She watched as her son directed the refugees, marked out plots of land for them to build shelters, and commanded them in their cooking. And the meals were exceptionally good; in a time when the world outside was filled with starving people, he was feeding everyone white rice at every single meal.

Seeing her son squandering money again, Huang Suqiu rushed over and grabbed Li Jize by the arm. Under the confused gazes of the many refugees, she offered an awkward smile and pulled the bewildered Li Jize aside, whispering, "Son, let’s step aside for a moment, let’s talk!"

They soon arrived at one of the thatched huts. Huang Suqiu sighed, "Son, you... you..." She looked at the perplexed Li Jize, stifling her frustration for a long time. She desperately wanted to ask, "Has your brain suffered too severe a trauma?"

"Oh, Mother! What exactly are you trying to do?" Li Jize was annoyed; he hadn't finished organizing the work, and being dragged away by his mother was truly vexing.

Huang Suqiu sighed, "That is what I should be asking you! Your heart for helping the refugees is good, but you must act within your means. Giving out a bowl of porridge would be enough; why must you bring them all home? Even if you want to farm, we don't need this many people!"

Li Jize remained silent. He could hardly tell his own mother that he was planning a rebellion and raising a private army! With the Great Qi suffering through disasters and the refugees having nowhere else to go, this was a golden opportunity. But Huang Suqiu did not understand. As the wife of the pathologically loyal Li Jin, she wouldn't even dare to entertain the thought of treason.

Li Jize scratched his head, feeling troubled. After a moment of thought, he smiled and said, "Mother, don't worry about the money. I have my own ways of making it!"

Huang Suqiu was stunned. What kind of joke was this? She admitted her son was brilliant—a General of the Heavenly Strategy—but he only knew how to lead armies and handle internal politics; how could he possibly know how to do business?

Regrettably, Li Jize had no intention of explaining further and turned to return to his work. Huang Suqiu realized what was happening, stepped forward, and grabbed her son by the collar, pulling him back.

"Mother, my dear Mother! What on earth are you trying to do now?" Li Jize was exasperated. As an orphan, he had envied those with mothers, but now that he had one, why did it feel so tiresome?

Huang Suqiu rolled her eyes at him and snapped, "Whether you make money or recruit refugees, I can leave you to it, but do you know what day tomorrow is?"

Li Jize stared at her blankly, unable to recall for a moment. Tomorrow? What was special about tomorrow?

Huang Suqiu sighed, looking at her "foolish son." She said helplessly, "Don't say I didn't warn you! The three-day deadline—it’s your wedding day! All you've done for these three days is build huts and recruit refugees. What? Are you planning to have your bride live here once you're married tomorrow?"

Li Jize froze; he had completely forgotten! That woman, the Empress, in order to avoid his marriage contract, had directly designated this match between him and the "ugly woman" Wang Yuanya.

Although Li Jize was extremely resistant—not even considering whether the woman was ugly or not—the key was that this marriage was not his choice; he was being forced by the Empress. Yet, Li Jize understood that in this feudal era, imperial power reigned supreme. The consequences of defying a decree were self-evident. Before his own strength was sufficient, he could not say "no" to the Empress.

"Mother, don't worry! I will obey the decree; this marriage..."

"This marriage must return to the Li family estate!" Before Li Jize could finish, Huang Suqiu interrupted. After beating around the bush, it turned out this was what she had been waiting for all along.

Li Jize’s expression soured instantly. Seeing his reaction, Huang Suqiu squeezed out a forced smile and sighed, "Sigh, a new daughter-in-law must eventually meet her in-laws! What will you do when it comes time to bow to your parents?"

She grabbed Li Jize’s hand and said earnestly, "Jize, what has happened has happened. Sometimes I think that if you weren't the Prince of Qin or a General of the Heavenly Strategy, and you were just an ordinary man marrying a wife and farming, it would be a happy life for the family. No matter how many faults your father has, he is still your father! You still have the blood of the Li family flowing through your veins, don't you?"

Li Jize remained silent, staring intently into Huang Suqiu’s eyes, noticing that she was almost begging him. He thought to himself: he had secrets here—the refugees, the buildings, and the stockpiles of gunpowder. If they were married, even if he didn't care about the relatives from the Li side, what if the bride's family came?

Li Jize did not approve of this marriage; it was merely a temporary expedient. He didn't care about grandeur or bowing to parents. However, before his wings were fully grown and before his firearms were perfected, he did not want to create unnecessary complications. If he was going to turn against the Empress and the Li family, he would wait until his blade was sharp enough!

Therefore, under his mother’s watchful gaze, he simply nodded in agreement.