Taoyuan Hotel.
Currently the largest and most luxurious hotel in the city, built in a square courtyard layout with more than three hundred rooms.
At present, virtually every business bearing the Taoyuan name was an enterprise under Master Zhao's umbrella.
Wen Jingran had brought a full company of over a hundred people and arrived at the hotel requesting fifty rooms.
"Minister Wen, please rest here a moment — I'll handle the arrangements."
The hotel manager was a middle-aged woman, sharp and efficient in every way.
As one of Taoyuan's earliest residents, she had seized just about every opportunity available to an ordinary person, and stood as a shining example of what someone with no connections could achieve.
In the beginning, her husband had joined a construction crew while she, as little more than an appendage, could only tend the master's fields.
Later, when a factory opened in Taoyuan, she didn't hesitate — she dropped her hoe and walked through the factory gates.
Then, when Jinyi Apparel opened its shop, she promptly set down her pig-slop pail and applied for a clerk's position at Jinxiu Apparel. Her abilities quickly earned her the store manager's post.
When Zhao Baihui led the move to Dragon City, she followed Jinxiu without a second thought and was placed as general manager of this, the largest hotel in town.
Now she had over a hundred people under her, a genuine pillar of Jinyi's commercial empire.
She had made a name for herself on Jinxiu's side of things, outpacing her own husband by a considerable margin — he was still just a minor crew leader in construction, drawing a Grade 2 wage.
This was very nearly the ceiling an ordinary person without special connections could reach these days.
Her own wage rating was Grade 5, but this position came with commissions.
In a decent month, she took home more than District Chief Jinyi herself.
Working in government offered authority, stability, and a higher ceiling.
Working in Jinxiu's commercial empire offered fast growth, quick promotion for those with talent, and higher earnings compared to people at the same wage grade.
Each had its merits and drawbacks.
"Manager Wu, I'm sorry to trouble you." Wen Jingran was perfectly courteous.
However impressive his title of Viceroy of the Two Rivers might be elsewhere, here in Dragon City he made a point of treating even mid-level people with respect.
Jinyi and Jinxiu both treated these people with courtesy rather than ordering them about like servants — so who was he, old Wen, to do any different?
"Minister, you're too kind. You look exhausted — shall I open a room for you to rest?"
"No need. I've sent word to District Chief Jinyuan; she may be coming shortly. I'll wait."
"Of course. Then please sit back in the sofa and rest a while. I'll have someone bring you tea and make sure you're not disturbed."
"Wonderful. Thank you for your trouble."
Manager Wu nodded and withdrew.
After some time, Wen Jingran opened his eyes to find that Jinyi and Li Xuanji had arrived. The sight of Li Xuanji's attire gave him pause.
So he really hadn't been seeing things earlier — His Majesty had genuinely been standing a guard post.
"Your aged servant pays his respects to Your Majesty—" Wen Jingran dropped to his knees.
Li Xuanji neither accepted the obeisance graciously nor rushed forward to help him up. He simply stepped slightly to one side.
"Minister Wen, as I have said — I am no longer emperor. There is no need to bow to me."
"Very well then." Wen Jingran rose to his feet, adapting to the situation with a speed that his good friend old Lin could never have matched. No wonder this man was a viceroy while old Lin had risen only to governor — there was simply a natural gap between them.
"Where are Jiang Ying and the others?"
"Ah — Mr. Li, allow me to show you the way."
"Thank you, Minister Wen."
As Wen Jingran led the way, he spoke. "About what happened a month ago — there was a traitor in our ranks."
"Those Ming rebels secretly dispatched three thousand of their finest men, and caught us completely off guard."
"The traitor has since been dealt with, and those three thousand rebels have been defeated. The territory south of the great river remains firmly in our hands."
"We have dispatched a large number of scouts to monitor the rebel army's movements. We will not allow them to cross the river."
Li Xuanji listened attentively and nodded. "I have no interest in any of this."
Then why were you nodding?
The two men arrived at the hotel's finest private dining suite. The door opened to reveal a room full of women and children.
"Your Majesty the Empress — His Majesty has arrived." Wen Jingran announced, ushered Li Xuanji inside, and moved to close the door — to give the family a moment to themselves.
"I heard that emperors are allowed to marry lots and lots of wives. That many?"
Wen Jingran stared speechlessly at the young girl who was brazenly pushing the door open and peering inside. He put his weight against it.
Jinyuan shoved back hard. The two of them were locked in a standoff.
One bent slightly down, one tilted slightly up, four eyes refusing to yield to each other.
"Step aside — I'm about to put my back into this. Don't blame me if I catch your little fingers in the door!"
He was then plucked away by Jinyuan's attendants, leaving Jinyuan to sprawl against the doorway and peer in to her heart's content.
Inside the room, Empress Jiang looked at her husband — the most exalted man in the world — now dressed in the plain coat of a minor functionary. Tears of heartache streamed down her face.
Was someone doing this deliberately to humiliate him? Did they want to watch a once-supreme emperor fall into the common dust?
"Your Majesty — you have suffered so much!"
"Stop calling me Your Majesty. I am not going to be emperor anymore."
"I came here for precisely this reason. Chengqian — if you wish to be emperor, then be emperor from now on."
The fifteen-year-old Li Chengqian dropped to his knees in fright. "Father! Your son has not harbored the slightest thought of usurping the throne — please, Father, believe me!"
"I don't care whether you've had such thoughts or not. If you are unwilling, then let Prince Fu or Prince Yan take the throne."
"Father!"
Li Xuanji paid no further attention to his eldest son and turned to look at the women. "Consider the emperor already dead. I am now simply an ordinary man. From this point on, live your lives however you see fit."
"I'm leaving."
Li Xuanji walked toward the door with steady steps, deaf to the chorus of "Your Majesty" and "Father" that rose behind him.
At the door, he caught sight of the near-shameless surveillance being conducted, and it made him laugh.
Jinyuan tilted her head up with a grin. "Cousin, there are so many people in there! How many wives do you have?"
"Hmm. Several dozen, I suppose — though I was only intimate with those five in there."
The Empress, and the four Grand Consorts — Xian, Liang, Shu, and De.
"Wow, you really have that many wives?"
Jinyuan didn't quite catch the meaning of "intimate," only that she'd heard "several dozen wives." "Oh — and if you pass the throne to your son, what does that make me? Does that mean I move up in the world and become an Imperial Aunt?"
"Ha. You're quite right. Come along then, little Imperial Aunt — your cousin has the afternoon off. Let me take you to lunch."
"Hmm, never mind — I don't eat fast food. With the few coins rattling around in your pocket, you could probably only afford fast food anyway."
"Well... there's a new snack shop that opened on the street. I noticed it had all kinds of things little children love. Shall we go have a look?"
"Delicious things? I — I don't want to! I am not a little child!"