The Most Powerful Young Master of the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 11: The Great Demon King’s Reign Is Over

After returning, she hid in the donkey stable. Wang Xiaoya was extremely excited because, for the first time in her life, she was about to drink alcohol. She looked incredibly eager, her eyes wide open. After Wang Bang dipped his chopsticks in some wine, Erya stuck out her little tongue and licked the chopsticks. “Want to lick it again?” Wang Bang asked. Erya was a bit timid after all, so she shook her head slightly. The donkey, Xiaobao, walked over, clamped his teeth around the wine flask, tilted his head back, and gulped it down in a few gulps. After getting Xiaobao drunk, Wang Bang took charge of directing the operation while Wang Xiaoya dug a hole in the donkey stable to create a hiding place, where they safely stashed the 150 wen. It was quite a secret—even the donkey Xiaobao didn’t know about it, hehe… The next day, Erya found thirteen eggs—just as her older brother had said, more than the day before. So, in Wang Xiaoya’s eyes, these eggs had become symbols of sugar figurines and rice noodles. Yesterday’s feast had been absolutely delightful—the happiest day of Wang Xiaoya’s life, even more blissful than the Lunar New Year. “As a child, not having tasted candy figures or drunk alcohol is one of life’s greatest regrets,” Erya murmured happily; she had completed both of these life tasks yesterday. As a noble young master, Wang Bang didn’t enter the chicken coop; he waited outside. Seeing Wang Xiaoya emerge with a look of pure bliss on her face, Wang Bang surmised that there would be more eggs than expected. Just as Wang Xiaoya was about to excitedly report her findings, a gentle voice came from behind them: “You two are up this early, too? Good work. This is the way of the Wang family—one must work hard throughout one’s life to have no regrets in one’s later years.” Hearing this voice, Wang Bang and Erya’s faces instantly fell—they’d finally been caught. Before Wang Bang could come up with a quick response, Anshi’s father walked over with a smile and said, “Let your father take a look. You two look so happy—how many eggs did you find?” Wang Bang hurriedly intervened, “Father, I’m afraid your son is going to have to scold you again.” Wang Anshi looked taken aback. “Criticize me again?” Wang Bang replied, “You are the governor of Huaixi, appointed by the Emperor, with immense responsibilities and countless matters to attend to daily. Raising chickens is not your job, yet you insist on meddling in it—that is a misplacement of priorities. If such a trivial matter were to delay matters of state and military importance, it would be a betrayal of the Emperor…” Before he could finish, his “demon king” of a father slapped him on the back of the head, sending him to the side. Wang Bang clutched the back of his head and continued, “Did your son say something wrong?” Wang Anshi felt somewhat exasperated with this son of his. Ever since he’d been kicked by a donkey, he’d become smooth-talking and mischievous—which was entertaining, to be sure, but Wang Anshi couldn’t help feeling he lacked gravitas and was a bit too frivolous. With that in mind, Wang Anshi crouched down and said gently, “Bang’er, you’re not wrong, but it’s a bit of a shortcut—it smacks of being a pedantic scholar. I don’t approve of this approach of yours, which is also why I turned a blind eye when you were too mischievous to attend the prefectural academy. That place is rife with sophistry and this kind of pedantic thinking. While there is certainly learning to be found there, such attitudes are most undesirable.” Wang Bang dared not show off anymore. The “Great Demon King” really wasn’t so easy to fool after all. Wang Anshi beckoned with a smile, “Little Ya, come here. Let your father see—how many eggs did you collect this time?” Wang Xiaoya had no choice but to hand them over, her eyes brimming with tears. When Wang Anshi saw that the basket contained thirteen eggs—all large and as beautiful as works of art—he was slightly taken aback. “You truly are a child prodigy—well done. Keep up the research. If you can eventually distill a systematic set of insights, the people of our Great Song will no longer suffer from malnutrition. When that day comes, even I will bow down to you.” Wang Anshi, looking like a scruffy rascal and not caring about appearing lowly, confiscated the eggs from the two little brats and strode off. Da Bang was practically in tears. They hadn’t even produced any real results yet, and he was already claiming them on behalf of the people of the Song Dynasty? Now Wang Bang was deeply concerned about his father’s character and finally understood why his father had made so many enemies in the bureaucracy. With a sigh, Wang Bang ruffled Erya’s little head and said, “Our old man’s a failure.” Wang Xiaoya bit her finger and asked, “What do you mean, ‘he’s a lost cause’?” “The Great Demon King loves to plunder deep down. Now that he’s ‘plundering’ us, he’ll soon move on to ‘plundering’ the officials of Huaixi, making life unbearable for officials, their sons, and the idle rich alike. That’s when the resentment will start piling up. So don’t be fooled by his impressive display—eventually, he’ll have offended too many people, and the emperor will kick him out to some backwater to be a lowly soldier. Then he’ll have to take another long, winding detour,” Wang Bang muttered. Upon hearing this, Erya’s eyes welled up with tears as she hugged Wang Bang’s waist and said, “I don’t want our dad to get into trouble.” Wang Bang crouched down and pinched her little nose. “As long as Da Bang is here, everything’s under control. Our dad’s so adorable, yet they keep picking on him. Do they really think the Wang family has no one to stand up for him? I’ll definitely help Dad sort this out. Right now, we just need to wait for the right opportunity—until word of the chicken-raising venture gets out.” Wang Xiaoya’s blood boiled as she stood at attention and declared, “I’m ready to follow Da Bang’s orders at any moment.” Wang Bang then gave her a light slap on the back of the head and said, “Then what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get to work—feed the chickens, clean the troughs, and scoop up the chicken droppings. That manure is money, too; we can sell it.” Wang Xiaoya clutched the back of her head and said, “Dad confiscated all the eggs, and we’re out of rice noodles. Is there even any point in doing all this anymore?” Wang Bang replied, “You’re not standing your ground. Even though one batch of eggs was confiscated, more batches will keep coming. I don’t believe Dad’s going to be here guarding them every single day.” Now that no one was around, Wang Bang unzipped his fly and looked down. What a total loser. That little chick is way too small—I’ll have to eat something nutritious to bulk up. After finishing his daydream, he pulled up his pants and headed to the kitchen to take a look. Erya’s mother was busy working in the kitchen. The aroma of rice was already in the air; she was cooking porridge. “Erniang, what are you doing?” Wang Bang asked. Mrs. Zheng looked a bit flattered. It was clear that the Wang Bang of the past wouldn’t have called her “Erniang,” as he had undoubtedly been swayed and influenced by his beautiful mother. Zheng Erniang said flusteredly, “Young Master, you shouldn’t be in the kitchen—this is a place for women.” “Erniang, you may not know this, but a true hero is one who can hold his own in the grand hall and in the kitchen alike. In fact, I am exactly that kind of person—I thought you were aware of this,” Wang Bang said. Zheng Erniang couldn’t refute him, because her idol, Lord Wang Anshi, was exactly the kind of person he described. In the early years, Aunt Wu had a潔癖 and found the kitchen too dirty to enter. Given Wang Anshi’s stingy nature, he certainly wouldn’t hire a cook or let his mother come into the kitchen, so he took matters into his own hands. Because of this, Old Wang always appeared disheveled and grubby. It wasn’t until Zheng Erniang joined the household that Old Wang was finally “liberated.”