Chapter 24: The Four Houses

Wang Yuan had resided in the capital for many years and knew little about the small squad Wang Yu had brought with him. However, he was aware that among the ten members, there were three women, one of whom was exceptionally beautiful.

Wang Yuan had not planted any spies around Wang Yu, so he was naturally unaware of what had transpired the previous night. Yet, Wang Yu would never have brought servant girls from such a great distance to the capital. The maids currently serving Wang Yu in the capital had all been arranged by Wang Yuan himself. When these maids went to clean the rooms as usual today, they discovered Tian Yan, and in this way, the matter came to Wang Yuan’s attention.

"Do not worry, Third Uncle. I understand," Wang Yu replied. He was well aware that Tian Yan’s status was too humble; she could at best remain a woman kept in the shadows, or at most, barely qualify as a concubine. Furthermore, Wang Yu had come to the capital with a pre-existing marriage contract, making it even more imperative for Tian Yan to remain hidden. Wang Yu trusted that Tian Yan herself understood this, for besides being the top-tier assassin known as "The Jingni" of the Net, she was also the "Female Guan Zhong" of the Nong Family, renowned for her brilliant intellect.

"Good, as long as you are clear on that," Wang Yuan said with a satisfied smile. In truth, he only brought this up to serve as a reminder, fearing that Wang Yu’s youthful temperament might lead him to handle the situation poorly. In reality, Wang Yuan gave little thought to what had happened the night before. When he was Wang Yu’s age, he had been far more romantic, keeping no fewer than five women on the side. To Wang Yuan, such women were merely for amusement; if Wang Yu were truly fond of her, taking her as a concubine later would be acceptable, but it should end there. Wang Yu’s marriage had been decided years ago, and barring any accidents, his legal wife would be that specific person, and nothing would change that. Wang Yuan was merely concerned that the young Wang Yu might be led astray by beauty and act impulsively.

"By the way, this is for you. Take a look," he said softly, picking up an object from the table and handing it to Wang Yu.

This was the true reason he had summoned Wang Yu today; the other topics were merely incidental.

"The First Prince is hosting a poetry gathering!" Seeing the contents, Wang Yu was somewhat surprised. Was he truly going to face these princes head-on so soon?

At that moment, information about the First Prince flashed through Wang Yu’s mind. The First Prince’s mother was the Noble Consort Dongfang Xuerou, who hailed from the Dongfang family, one of the Four Great Families.

If the first generation of the four great generals—the Protectors of the East, West, South, and North—were the heroes who followed the first Cang Emperor through battle to establish the Great Cang Dynasty, then the contribution of the Four Great Families—Dongfang, Ximen, Nangong, and Beiming—was by no means inferior. Without their full support, it was questionable whether the Cang Emperor could have ever founded the dynasty. From the moment the first Cang Emperor raised his army until the formal establishment of the empire, the funds and supplies required for his campaigns were almost entirely provided by these four families. As a result, being appointed the Four Great Imperial Merchants was one of the rewards they reaped.

On the Tianqi Continent, merchants did not hold the lowest status as they did in ancient China. Their social standing was on par with other classes, especially given that these four families were the officially appointed Imperial Merchants. They were of ancient lineage, said to date back to the Shenwu Dynasty, and through centuries of development as Imperial Merchants, their economic reach had permeated every facet of the Great Cang Dynasty, save for a few specific areas. If one were to measure wealth, no one in the Great Cang Dynasty—and perhaps even the entire continent—could compare to them. They had accumulated so much that their wealth might even surpass that of the imperial court.

These families had their own way of operating; whenever the court needed funds for large-scale campaigns, they never hesitated to provide them. Consequently, for centuries, the court had not restricted them, beyond retaining control over currency minting, salt, iron, and specialized military armaments. The First Prince, Huangfu Mingze, being of the Dongfang lineage, was the one most capable of utilizing such resources to secretly cultivate experts.

He had been a primary suspect for Wang Yu from the very beginning. As for the Wang family, they did not have deep ties with these four families, despite both being descendants of the founding heroes. The four generals held real military power, each commanding 30,000 elite troops who were absolutely loyal to them. The Four Great Imperial Merchants, however, possessed the wealth and grain. Those with armies had to keep their distance; if those with soldiers were to collude with those with wealth, the imperial court would never sleep soundly. Thus, while the four generals could marry into any family, they were strictly forbidden from marrying into these four.

"Every year around this time, the First Prince hosts several poetry gatherings, simply to recruit talent. It would be good for you to attend; you might discover something," Wang Yuan said calmly with a smile. Having lived through so much, he had seen more than enough to read Wang Yu like a book; the flash of surprise and contemplation in the young man's eyes had not escaped him.

Wang Yu nodded, signaling his understanding. Regarding the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on his life, both he and Wang Yuan had narrowed the suspects down to the First Prince and the Third Prince. Attending this poetry gathering would provide an opportunity to probe the First Prince and see if he was involved in that attack.

However, the thought of attending a poetry gathering gave Wang Yu a headache. Neither in his previous life nor this one had he ever developed the skill of composing poetry. Was he now destined to become a literary plagiarist, following in the footsteps of many transmigrator predecessors by borrowing the masterpieces of great poets?