No one dared say otherwise. Those who had already stepped forward earlier behind Madam Wang, proclaiming they would donate silver, came back to life again. One by one, their voices trembling, they declared they would donate silver.
Song Chuyi took a sip of tea and unhurriedly set down her teacup. She had Qing Tao record all the amounts they pledged to donate one by one, then had them all press their fingerprints. Only then did she turn toward Madam Liang, who had remained silent the whole time: “What do you say, Madam?”
Madam Liang didn’t know what to say. Of course she cared about her grandson, and of course she wasn’t unwilling to part with silver. But this matter wasn’t hers to decide—in her household, it had always been Liang Shoufu alone who made all the decisions.
And Liang Shoufu was notoriously miserly. Despite being so wealthy, whenever any temple needed repairs or roads in their hometown needed paving, he had never contributed a single coin. His常 saying was that he’d rather pile all his silver underground to rot than donate a single fen. Throughout the year, the household of Yangzhou’s wealthiest man was ironically the one that monks, nuns, and Daoist priests visited least. Everyone knew they were famously stingy, so they simply saved their breath.
And now the Crown Princess Consort and Crown Prince had come with overwhelming force, demanding donations that wouldn’t be a mere thousand or few hundred taels, but at least a hundred thousand or more. How could Liang Shoufu bear to part with such money? If it weren’t for his unwillingness to spend money, he wouldn’t have instigated these Yangzhou people to commit such foolhardy acts that offended the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Consort.
The Prefect’s wife was somewhat frightened and kept shaking her arm, shaking until her heart grew flustered. After quite a while, her teeth chattering, she shook her head: “This humble woman cannot make such decisions. Your Ladyship should find—”
She had thought Song Chuyi would mock or make things difficult for her again, but Song Chuyi merely smiled knowingly and paid her no more attention. She simply nodded with a smile and handed the ledger containing the amounts the other madams had pledged to Qing Ying, having her take it outside. Then she smiled at the gathered madams: “We’ve enjoyed the flowers here quite enough. Since you ladies have such refined interest in flower viewing, why not visit the official residence? Taiqing Temple just sent over several pots of camellias yesterday—their quality is quite good. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy them.”
This was hardly about viewing flowers—it was clearly about seeing the children. The Prefect’s wife looked at her mother with some alarm.
Madam Liang gave no response, but not a single one of the other madams refused. They all nodded in agreement.
Song Chuyi smiled and instructed Qing Ying and Ziyun to make preparations in advance, then personally led the madams back to the official residence.
Even Madam Liang and the Prefect’s wife, who had been hesitant and undecided with no intention of following, were brought back together by Song Chuyi. Song Chuyi kept her word—once back at the residence, she immediately had someone summon these young masters to set the madams’ hearts at ease.
However, while setting these madams’ hearts at ease, it was still completely useless for Liang Shoufu and the others.
Liang Shoufu hadn’t expected this Crown Prince to be so difficult to deal with. None of the elaborate shows he had prepared got staged. The Crown Prince simply didn’t play by conventional rules at all, saying that since he had come to Yangzhou, he naturally ought to visit the Imperial Palace.
Speaking of which, this palace had been used by Emperor Chenghua during his southern tour in the Chenghua era. However, after Emperor Jianzhang ascended the throne, his health had been poor and he had never come to the Jiangnan region, so the palace had never been used again. Logically speaking, before the Crown Prince’s arrival, the Prefect should have restored it properly for the Crown Prince to stay in. But the Prefect had never mentioned this matter. Now hearing Zhou Weizhao bring it up, the Prefect felt his face burning with shame—as a subject, he had indeed been far too neglectful of the future emperor.
Liang Shoufu hadn’t anticipated that Zhou Weizhao would deliberately use the palace to slap everyone’s faces, but since Zhou Weizhao insisted on going, going for a visit wasn’t such a big deal—the palace couldn’t sprout flowers, and discussing matters could be done anywhere.
However, Zhou Weizhao truly had no intention of letting everyone have an easy time. Before the dishes were even served, he began finding fault, saying that while the Prefect and others all claimed hardship, they used Fenghuang Tower’s banquet for entertaining guests. If they had this silver to spare, there was no need to spend it on him—it should be spent on the soldiers and civilians in Xibei. All the people under heaven would remember their kindness and so forth.
Hearing this made Liang Shoufu want to roll his eyes. In fact, he really was rather impolite. He set down his chopsticks and looked at the newly served crystal roasted suckling pig with a laugh—a skin-deep laugh that was quite sinister: “Listen to what Your Highness says! We people are in the salt trade, in silk and tea—yes, we make money. But we also have many workers underneath us who need food, lodging, and wages. We’re not the Heavenly Emperor—how can we manage whether others suffer or not? Your Highness sits high above and naturally doesn’t understand the people’s hardships. As for the matter in Xibei, we know those soldiers are all fighting for the court, but speaking frankly, what does it have to do with us? The taxes we owe, we haven’t paid any less. I’ve never heard that when the court lacks silver, they should come to us to fill the gap. I haven’t seen you taking the lead either—”
The words that followed became rather discourteous. The Prefect grew anxious, feeling cold sweat beginning to form on his forehead. His father-in-law truly valued money over life—he dared say anything.
From beginning to end, Zhou Weizhao hadn’t touched his chopsticks and hadn’t gotten angry either. Only after Liang Shoufu finished his complaints did he ask: “Master Liang may not know that the Empress has reduced the expenses of the inner palace. The imperial consorts, along with the families of capital officials, have altogether donated over three hundred thousand taels of silver.”
This information had all been in the official gazettes, but Liang Shoufu had never taken it seriously. He didn’t believe the Empress, Crown Princess Consort, and Crown Princess Consort would really donate all their dowries. Hearing this, he nearly laughed: “Let’s speak plainly between honest people—” He sighed: “You don’t know, but we truly don’t have much silver. We haven’t even paid this year’s taxes yet. I’ve been so worried about it that I can’t even eat—”
Zhou Weizhao finally raised his eyes, but he looked at the Prefect: “If Master Liang says this, then as the parent official of this prefecture, the Prefect deserves death. Last year’s taxes from Yangzhou that were submitted to the national treasury seemed quite wrong, yet you all insist they were all paid. So where is this silver—”
This time the Prefect was truly shocked into a cold sweat, so terrified he couldn’t utter a single word.
Zhou Weizhao didn’t need him to speak. He turned back to look at Liang Shoufu, who still didn’t realize his arrogance had gone too far: “Master Liang truly hasn’t eaten?”
Master Liang didn’t know how the conversation had turned to eating or not eating, but his answer was still quite straightforward: “Of course! Your Highness has surely seen what chaos the refugees outside the city are in. Though our days aren’t difficult, they’re not as good as previous years either. Fenghuang Tower’s food isn’t something we can afford to eat all the time. If it weren’t for Your Highness coming—”
“How very strange indeed.” Zhou Weizhao smiled: “Isn’t Fenghuang Tower precisely the Liang family’s property? How is it that you yourself cannot afford to eat there? Master Liang must be joking, surely?”