94, Forty-nine Heavens

Late autumn dusk, and the sunset cast its slanting rays.

The young men in the ox cart were laughing and jesting, writing on each other's dusty faces.

After the laughter and noise, the Princely Heir sat on the ox cart and looked towards Chen Ji, "Not many have been able to outsmart my father over the years. Half a year ago, during the floods in Henan Province, he went south to levy grains. The local scholars banded together to underreport their land acreage to dodge taxes. Each household donated grain like they were dispensing alms to a beggar, only ten stones each, and on the very same day, they hosted guests on the Qinhuai River, pouring a hundred jars of fine wine into the river, claiming it was an invitation for 'all under heaven to drink together.'

"And then what?" Liu Quxing perked up—they rarely heard such interesting anecdotes about court and politics.