The carriage reached the foot of Liu Mountain, and the two switched to sedan chairs for the ascent.
Snow-covered stone steps stretched up into the distance, and pine branches on either side were covered with thick layers of accumulated snow, piled high like waves layering and crashing against each other.
Ye Yunting was bundled in a heavy fox fur coat and wore a neck warmer around his neck. He held a small coal stove close as he gazed excitedly about him, his cheeks tinged pale by the cold mountain wind.
From his seat in another sedan chair, Li Fengqi observed Ye Yunting's expression and knew that the trip had been worth it.
"There's a hot spring on this mountain," Li Fengqi explained. "The He family built a hot spring villa halfway up the mountain, drawing water from the springs. It's warm in winter and cool in summer—a perfect retreat from the world. After the He family got into trouble, the villa was confiscated and eventually came into my possession. I remembered about it recently and decided it'd be a good place to bring you for a few days."
"The He family?" Ye Yunting asked curiously. "Do you mean the He family of Runan?"
"You've heard of them?" Li Fengqi raised his eyebrows.
"Teacher mentioned it before," Ye Yunting said. "It is said that the governor of Runan made Runan very prosperous. Unfortunately, he got too ambitious later on, colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, and ended up with his whole family executed."
When their teacher had talked about noble families in Beizhao before, he had mentioned the He family of Runan.
Runan was in the southwest, and covered the prefectures of Dianzhou, Lingnan, and Baiyue. It bordered Nanyue and shared a border with Xihuang, and used to be wild and undeveloped land. But at that time, Runan's governor, He Fangxin, was a business genius. He convinced Emperor Zhaozong to open up trade, doing business with both Nanyue and Xihuang. Thanks to trade with those two countries, Runan flourished and was even called the "Capital of the South" for a while. Alongside the imperial capital Shanjing, they were known as the "Twin Capitals."
During those years, Beizhao became prosperous. Taxes from Runan's three prefectures alone could fill the national treasury, which had been running deficits for years. The He family also rose to become the most influential clan in Beizhao.
But this prosperity didn't last long. Later, the He family seemed dissatisfied with just being the richest in Beizhao. They colluded with Nanyue to overthrow the government and take power. In the end, they were caught and every member of the family was executed. Afterwards, Emperor Chengzong banned all trade with Nanyue, Xihuang, and other foreign countries. With commerce shut down, what had once been flourishing Runan gradually fell into decline.
Ye Yunting had heard about Runan's glory days from his teacher. At its peak, Runan was said to rival even Shangjing in splendor. Merchants from three kingdoms came to trade at Runan's port, creating a scene of unprecedented prosperity and peace.
He'd always longed to see this prosperous Runan for himself, and regretted that he couldn’t have the opportunity. He never imagined he'd have the chance to visit the former He family estate.
"It is true that Runan did prosper, and it is true that the entire clan was executed, but whether it was for treason is another matter," Li Fengqi shook his head. As they approached the manor at the end of the steps, a sadness flickered in his eyes.
Having experienced firsthand the saying “the bow is put away after the birds are killed”, he empathized with the He family.
Throughout history, countless loyal ministers and generals had given their all for country and shared the worries of the monarch, only to meet a bitter end when their usefulness waned.
"Wangye, what do you mean...?" Ye Yunting asked, slightly taken aback. Then again, it didn't seem impossible.
The He family had made Runan too prosperous—so much so that taxes collected from those three prefectures could match the nation's total revenue. Even an emperor might find such wealth tempting. And if Runan alone generated such high tax revenues, then the He family controlling it must be incredibly wealthy, perhaps even comparable to a country.
It was often said that powerful rulers were prone to worry. Even accumulating wealth equivalent to a nation's riches wouldn't guarantee peaceful nights.
People were naturally suspicious, let alone emperors.
"This is just a guess based on some documents I've seen," Li Fengqi said, putting away his thoughts with a smile. "It all happened over twenty years ago, and everyone in the He family is dead now. Whether it's true or not has nothing to do with us."
Ye Yunting thought this as well, and stopped dwelling on the past. Instead, he focused his attention on the snowy scenery around them.
After travelling for about an hour, they finally arrived at the estate.
The hot spring villa had been standing for many years. Even the main gate exuded an air of ancient simplicity. A two-person-tall stone tablet stood in front of the gate, inscribed with the words "Unfettered and Free" in graceful, elegant strokes. Ye Yunting, being fond of calligraphy, couldn't help but admire the writing. He looked further down for the signature, curious who had written it.
Unfortunately, the signature seemed to have been deliberately worn away. Only the faint traces of the characters "He Lan" remained; anything after that was unreadable.
Putting the characters together, it seemed like a woman's name.
Recalling that this estate once belonged to the He family, Ye Yunting guessed that perhaps it was the handwriting of one of family’s daughters. Later, when misfortune struck the He family, someone might have purposefully erased the signature from the stone tablet.
A walking distance after passing through the main gate and the stone tablet was the entrance to the villa itself.
Li Fengqi had already sent servants ahead to prepare the estate. When Ye Yunting and Li Fengqi arrived, the estate steward and his staff were waiting respectfully at the gate. They immediately came to greet the pair. Some held umbrellas, some blocked the wind, and others handed them heaters.
Ye Yunting shook off the snow on his cloak and pushed Li Fengqi inside with him.
This estate was different from the extravagance that he'd imagined. Instead, it felt cozy and unique at every turn. There were rock gardens, flowing water, winding corridors: they didn’t seem very luxurious, but always something interesting to catch the eye.
After passing through the corridor, they reached the main hall and took seats.
The floor was heated, and a maid hung up their cloaks before bringing out hot flower tea and snacks. The steward bowed low as he reported on the progress of cleaning and organizing the estate.
"I have arranged for the house to be cleaned up these past few days. We found quite a few old items and books. I didn't know what to do with them, so I just gathered them in the side courtyard."
Ever since Li Fengqi acquired this estate, it had mostly sat empty. He spent most of his time on the northern border, and even when he returned to the capital, he rarely came here alone. As a result, many of the previous owner's belongings remained untouched.
"Leave them there for now," Li Fengqi replied. He initially wanted to tell the steward to throw everything away, but when remembered that among those items might be relics from the He family, he changed his mind.
Ye Yunting perked up at the mention of old books. "What kind of books are they?"
The steward thought for a moment before listing off some unfamiliar titles. "They are all books I have rarely seen."
Ye Yunting's interest was piqued when he heard that these were books that he had never read. "Clean them up and send them to our courtyard."
The steward agreed and tried to continue discussing other matters, but Li Fengqi waved him off. He pointed at Ji Lian, who was attending to them. "You can talk about these things with Ji Lian from now on. There's no need to report everything to me and Wangfei."
With that, he patted Ye Yunting on the arm, motioning that it was time to leave. "Let's go around the estate."
Ye Yunting was also feeling impatient to deal with such trivialities and had been itching to explore. Hearing this, he immediately stood up and pushed Li Fengqi towards the door.
Left behind, Ji Lian stared wide-eyed and instinctively took a step forward, calling out, "Young Master!" in a sad voice.
Why did he just hand me over to the steward?!
I don't know anything!
Ye Yunting glanced back, seemingly reading his thoughts. With a reassuring pat on the shoulder, he spoke with the mixture of optimism and sternness an older brother would direct to his less-accomplished younger sibling. "If you don't know, then learn from the steward properly. You should also learn some useful skills."
Then, eager to be on their way, he turned and continued pushing Li Fengqi along.
Ji Lian: ???
Young Master, you've changed. You weren't like this before.
Ye Yunting pushed Li Fengqi around the entire estate.
The villa stood at the foot of Liu Mountain and covered a large area. The front housed an elegant courtyard, while the back featured winding hot spring pools. These pools were man-made, each with its own size, depth, and shape. They were scattered among trees and flower gardens, creating a unique and beautiful scene. The water for the springs was piped down from the nearby mountains, filling the pools and sending up clouds of steam that carried a strong sulfur smell.
Beyond the hot springs lay a viewing platform that seemed to extend out thin air.
An octagonal pavilion was built on the stone platform. One corner held a small red clay brazier, which was convenient for brewing tea or warming wine while taking in the view.
Ye Yunting wheeled Li Fengqi into the pavilion. Their eyes took in the sea of snow-covered trees stretching layer upon layer into the distance.
Standing there, it felt as if nature was vast beyond measure, and they were tiny specks within it.
"The person who built this viewing platform must have really longed for the grand world outside."
Behind the pavilion bloomed warm pools with flowers, while before it stretched high mountains and deep streams—a majestic landscape unfolding across the sky and earth.
At those words, Li Fengqi turned to look at him. "You like it here?"
"I like it," Ye Yunting nodded firmly.
If he was destined never to leave Shangjing, then being able to see the vast world from this observation platform could be regarded as fulfilling a wish of his.
Li Fengqi smiled as if reading his thoughts. He pointed westward and said, "That way is Weizhou." His finger slowly moved rightward. "Over there is Jizhou, and further east lies Zhongzhou."
He looked intently at Ye Yunting. "It might not seem interesting from up here, but someday... I'll take you across all thirteen states of Beizhao so you can see beautiful mountains and rivers of our country with your own eyes."
Ye Yunting felt touched, his eyes wide with amazement as he stared at Li Fengqi. "How did the Prince know my..."
Before he could finish, Li Fengqi understood what he wanted to ask.
"Maybe it's just a connection between us?" He smiled roguishly, his burning gaze piercing straight into Ye Yunting's heart. "What the Eldest Young Master thinks is what I think as well."
To avoid that overly-intense stare, Ye Yunting looked down at the pine forest below, which rippled in waves like an ocean under the wind. He pulled his cloak tighter around his neck. "It's windy up here. Let's go back."
"You don’t want to look anymore?" Li Fengqi asked, surprised.
They had just been talking about how much he liked it here. Why was Ye Yunting leaving so soon?
"Wangye said he'd take me to see all thirteen states of Beizhao someday. Naturally, that means there’s not much else to see here now." Ye Yunting explained with a small smile. He pushed Li Fengqi back down the mountain.
The wind was strong and cold up in the mountain. It would be better to go back and read a book by the warm stove.
"The Young Master sure has a short attention span," Li Fengqi remarked, pretending to sigh dramatically. "What if someone comes along who treats you even better than I do? What should an old friend like me do, then?"
Ye Yunting looked at him, his eyes soft. When Li Fengqi's gaze met his own, Ye Yunting quickly masked his expression with a smile. He changed the subject instead: "Instead of think about things all day, why don't you spend more time reading? Reading books make people wise."
Reading more books might also stop you from spouting such nonsense.
Li Fengqi choked on his words and studied Ye Yunting closely for a moment, still muttering under his breath, "The Eldest Young Master certainly isn't what he used to be."
His tone implied that Ye Yunting was rapidly surpassing his mentor.
Li Fengqi clicked his tongue, feeling a sense of impending danger.
=== Author’s Notes ===
Tingting: Read more and talk less nonsense, and then maybe you’ll be better-liked.
77: Pretty boy speechless.jpg
=== Translator’s Notes ===
Get ready Li Fengqi lmaoooo dorks.
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