r18novel Chapter 216 I Want to Make Money! Your Highness, would you like to buy some jewelry?
Chapter 216 I Want to Make Money! Your Highness, would you like to buy some jewelry?
Qixia Town was like another world in the Ming Dynasty. The people here only cared about things in their own town. The capital was not far away, but they didn't even know who the emperor was.
At Tongfu Inn, everyone still addressed Chu Yang as "Your Highness"...
The people here only know that the original emperor died and a new emperor has been appointed. They are not very interested in who the new emperor is. For most people, the emperor seems to be just a title.
Even Guo Furong was the same; she didn't even know that her father was no longer the instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards, and he was happy and carefree like a fool every day.
"Hehehe, senior brother, you came to see me, did you bring any gifts?"
"Bring a hammer."
"Where's the hammer?"
"..."
Guo Furong's intelligence level shows a serious tendency to be assimilated, even though she was not very smart to begin with.
The two chatted casually in the lobby, as it was still early and no customers had arrived yet.
It's said that there wasn't a single guest staying at the inn, so business at Tongfu Inn was truly dismal.
Thus, Chu Yang became a god of wealth in Tong Zhanggui's eyes. Without him having to ask, a table full of delicious dishes would be served on his own initiative, with Guo Furong drooling over the sight of the fish and meat.
"Your Highness, our little shop doesn't have much good food, please make do with this for now. I'll have Big Mouth go buy some groceries later."
Sitting in the main seat, Manager Tong covered her mouth with a palace fan, smiling as she looked at Chu Yang, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
The innkeeper had to buy vegetables on the spot, which made Chu Yang both laugh and cry. He simply took out a few thick silver ingots from his pocket and placed them in front of him.
The moment he saw the silver ingot, Manager Tong's eyes shone like incandescent bulbs, widening to the limit of human endurance.
Chu Yang was stunned.
Before Manager Tong could even rejoice, Guo Furong swiftly snatched the silver into her bosom and exclaimed, "This is a gift from my senior brother!"
"Guo Furong!" Manager Tong jumped up in a flash, strode over to Guo Furong, and started grabbing at her. "How dare you say that? How many things have you broken in the shop these past few days? My blue and white porcelain bowls and plates, my sandalwood stools—don't you think they're free?"
"And the customers you injured, the customers you scared away—these are all losses for the shop. We didn't care when we were short of money, but now that we have money, you'd better hurry up and compensate me!"
According to Manager Tong, Guo Furong was like a tyrant reincarnated, who nearly brought Tongfu Inn to its knees.
Guo Furong was stunned by what she heard. She subconsciously loosened her grip, revealing the silver. Manager Tong moved with lightning speed, leaving a blur in the air, and quickly retrieved the silver.
Old Bai, who was passing by, said in shock, "Shopkeeper, you've chosen the wrong profession. If you had followed me a few years earlier, you might have been the master thief."
Chu Yang nodded in agreement, saying, "People can unleash their potential when they're in a hurry."
Shopkeeper Tong stuffed the silver into her bosom, then resumed her previous ladylike demeanor, covering her mouth and laughing, "Hehehe, Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness. We're a small business, and it's rare to encounter such a generous guest as Your Highness."
Chu Yang smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Junior sister has caused the shopkeeper a lot of trouble here. This little bit of silver is nothing but a token of my gratitude."
"I will be staying at Tongfu Inn for a while, and I will need your help in many ways, Manager Tong. I hope you will take good care of me."
Is the God of Wealth going to stay at Tongfu Inn?
"What are you saying? It's not me taking care of you, it's you taking care of us!" Manager Tong grinned from ear to ear, his unrestrained laughter echoing in the hall, as frightening as a fox that had stolen a chicken. Old Bai trembled beside him.
After saying that, she ran to the backyard to urge Li Dazui to cook some more dishes, not caring whether Chu Yang could finish them or not. It didn't matter if he couldn't finish them; there were so many people in the inn, one bite per person would be enough to finish the leftovers.
Tong Xiangyu never does business that loses money.
Guo Furong sat in her chair, lost in thought. Just moments ago she had been eyeing the dishes on the table, but now she wouldn't even glance at them, muttering to herself, "My money..."
She wasn't even interested in the food, so she seemed genuinely upset. Chu Yang put a chicken leg in her bowl and comforted her, "You get used to losing money. Look at me, I never take it to heart!"
Guo Furong glared at Chu Yang, her voice trembling with tears, "Of course you don't care because you're rich! If you were poor, would you still be saying that?"
Chu Yang agreed wholeheartedly, nodding quickly and exclaiming, "Luckily, I have money."
Guo Furong: "..."
Having disgusted Guo Furong, Chu Yang felt better after almost being killed by her during his adventures in the martial arts world. He laughed heartily, his appetite returned, and he began to devour the food at the table.
Guo Furong stuffed the chicken leg from the bowl into her mouth, took a big bite, as if making a firm decision, "I'm going to make money!"
Chu Yang smiled with satisfaction, "Hmm, that's ambitious. May I ask how you, heroine, make your money so you can rob the rich to help the poor? I wonder which kind-hearted family will run into this jinx."
Recalling her past achievements, Guo Furong felt a mix of guilt and anger, and huffed, "I want to make money properly!"
Chu Yang exclaimed in surprise, "You've ever thought about such inappropriate things before?!"
Guo Furong wolfed down the chicken leg in a few bites and called out to the scholar at the counter who was doing accounts, "Scholar Lü, I've decided! I'm going to help you publish a book!"
The scholar was so frightened that he threw down his pen, regretting that he should not have let Guo Furong read his novel. Seeing her talking nonsense, he, who was already a little shy, quickly came over and tried to cover Guo Furong's mouth.
"What are you doing!"
Guo Furong, who was skilled in martial arts, was not about to let the scholar succeed. She slapped him so hard that he cried out in pain.
"Don't be so loud, or everyone will know I'm writing a book!"
Lu Xiucai said, his face flushed.
"If you know, you know. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Guo Furong looked at him with a puzzled expression, thinking he was making a fuss over nothing.
Lu Xiucai pulled Guo Furong aside and whispered, "The Prince is still here!"
Guo Furong was still completely confused. "He's at home, what does it have to do with your writing a book?"
Lu Xiucai said embarrassedly, "I also wrote the prince into the book, and he's a major villain at that. If the prince finds out, will I be...?"
As he spoke, Lü Xiucai made a throat-slitting gesture.
Guo Furong's eyes widened. "When was this written? I didn't see it!"
Lu Xiucai explained, "The latest plot was only written not long ago. When you came last time, the prince cut off the arms of those two eunuchs, and then sat down with his old friend to drink together. The prince's dashing and heroic manner left a deep impression on me. After having the inspiration, I spent a long time brewing it before writing it."
Guo Furong asked doubtfully, "According to what you're saying, my senior brother should be a righteous person."
Lu Xiucai said embarrassedly, "If he is upright, wouldn't it make me look too weak? The real protagonist is Lu Luodi, the scholar with the magic brush."
Guo Furong gave Lü Xiucai a deep look.
You're such a closet pervert...
After much rambling, Guo Furong finally understood why Lü Xiucai was afraid that Chu Yang would find out he was writing a novel. If Chu Yang wanted to read it, Lü Xiucai wouldn't be able to refuse.
If a prince knew he had been written into a novel as a villain, he certainly wouldn't let Lü Xiucai off the hook.
That's generally correct.
But Guo Furong knew Chu Yang's personality well. Although he could be a bit sharp-tongued at times, he was a very good person. She had caused him so much trouble, and it was unlikely that he would suddenly get up in the middle of the night and kill her.
Realizing this, Guo Furong belatedly felt ashamed.
"Look at what you wrote for my senior brother! Show it to me right now!" Guo Furong glared at him and said angrily.
"Don't worry, I didn't dare to write anything recklessly." How could Lu Xiucai dare to fabricate stories about the prince? He put a lot of effort into this character, even more than into the protagonist, and created a villain with a lot of personality.
A moment later, the two hid behind the stairs to check the contents of the novel, looking for anything out of line.
After reading the general plot, Guo Furong's complexion gradually improved. Just as Xiucai said, he hadn't written it randomly. The villain based on Chu Yang was very interesting, and she became fascinated after reading only a few paragraphs.
"Hmm, it's not bad. If you write it like this, your senior brother won't blame you." Guo Furong read the manuscript over and over again for a while before saying, "It's just that the title 'Carefree King' is a bit too common. Could you come up with something more dashing?"
"No, no, the word 'carefree' is very evocative, and it perfectly matches the prince's unrestrained temperament!" Lu Xiucai suddenly became confident when discussing the novel. "Think about the prince's demeanor when he faced his enemies last time. He was even more composed and relaxed than Guo Jing, defeating two masters with a wave of his hand."
"Only villains like this can put more pressure on the protagonist, forcing him to grow stronger. When the protagonist defeats the villain, the reader will feel more connected to the character!"
Guo Furong was persuaded by the eloquent scholar and immediately felt that the title "Carefree King" was very fitting, so she stopped questioning it.
"Does Your Highness really not care?"
"Don't worry, he'd love for you to make him even more handsome!"
"Absolutely no problem! As long as His Highness is happy, we can even replace him with the main character."
"Ugh~~~ You look disgusting right now, just like a treacherous minister from a storybook!"
"Who are you calling a treacherous minister?!"
The two then discussed publishing a book, whispering behind the stairs, but no matter how quietly they spoke, they couldn't escape Chu Yang's ears.
Upon hearing that he was referred to as "The Carefree King," Chu Yang found it both amusing and exasperating. He felt the title sounded familiar, which explained why Guo Furong had said it was overused.
But let them be; a name is just a label anyway.
Guo Furong confidently declared that she wanted to make money, but it turned out she was going to help Xiucai publish his books. No one knows where she got the information.
"What are you two doing here, lounging around instead of working? You're blatantly slacking off! Aren't you afraid the manager will come down and scold you?"
Old Bai appeared out of nowhere, waving the rag on his shoulder in front of the two of them, stirring up dust everywhere in the air.
"Ahem, Lao Bai, you've come at the right time. I have something to discuss with you!"
Guo Furong was about to get angry, but then she turned her eyes around and pulled Lao Bai aside to whisper to him.
Chu Yang also heard the gist of it. It meant that Guo Furong wanted Lao Bai to be a supervisor. In case the publisher was not satisfied with what Lü Xiucai had written, and Xiucai was unwilling to make changes, Lao Bai would give him a boost, applying all sorts of pressure points, including numbness, itching, and speech.
His viciousness is comparable to that of Zhou Bapi (a notorious philanthropist).
Chu Yang almost burst out laughing after hearing the whole process. If Master Guo saw his daughter's capitalist face, he would be furious.
In just a short while, Manager Tong came out of her boudoir, looking somewhat worried. She had been cheerful just moments before, but now her face had changed, and she seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Why are you all standing around like this instead of working properly? Have you mopped the floor? Have you wiped the tables and chairs? Open all the windows to let in some fresh air! You have so much to do, why are you just standing there!"
Manager Tong displayed the demeanor of a decisive and capable businesswoman, leaving the shop assistants stunned. No one knew how the manager, who had been perfectly fine just moments before, could suddenly become so aggressive. However, they dared not ask and slunk back to their posts.
After saying that, she smiled apologetically at Chu Yang and said, "I'm sorry you had to see this."
Chu Yang took a sip of his drink. "It's good to have some fun."
Guo Furong wanted to sit down and continue enjoying the feast with Chu Yang, but Tong Zhanggui pulled her up, saying, "Go to the backyard and wake Xiao Bei up for school. It's so late, she's still sleeping!"
"If she's late, I'll deduct your pay!"
"Why should I!" Guo Furong was furious. The words "deduct money" had a huge impact on her. She didn't even bother to argue with Manager Tong. She disappeared from the lobby with a "whoosh".
Old Bai sighed, "If Xiao Guo had followed me a few years ago, he might have been a master thief with his lightness skill."
"The streets are full of master thieves, how are other people supposed to live?" Manager Tong said irritably. "Come up here with me, I need to talk to you."
"Someone needs to see me again. Quite a few people are looking for me today." Old Bai chuckled and skipped up the stairs. No matter what the shopkeeper wanted to see him about, he figured he could do as little work as possible. It was only natural for a worker to slack off.
Before long, voices could be heard coming from the room. Chu Yang had no interest in eavesdropping, but his senses were too sharp right now, and even though he tried to suppress them, he still vaguely heard a few words.
"Lei Laowu's things... clear the accounts... hand them over to the yamen... sell them separately..."
By chance, Manager Tong acquired a batch of stolen goods left behind by a tomb robber. Fearing that handing them over to the authorities would be difficult to explain, Lao Bai suggested that she find a few foolish and wealthy suckers to disassemble the jewelry and sell it piece by piece.
That's roughly the gist of it.
Chu Yang could understand their taboos. Magistrate Lou was fairly honest, but such an unclear matter, coupled with Lao Bai's past, made it hard not to be suspicious. It was better to avoid trouble.
Footsteps thumped.
Old Bai and Manager Tong went downstairs.
Just as Chu Yang finished his meal, he asked Lao Bai to tidy up the table. Manager Tong glanced at the table and was immediately amazed to find that Chu Yang had eaten all the food.
Chu Yang devoured a meal that would have kept the entire inn's food for three days!
"Your Highness, you really have a huge appetite! Aren't you afraid of indigestion?"
"Those who practice martial arts can burn off their energy with just a little exercise."
"Then wouldn't that mean you can eat whatever you want without gaining weight? Is that even a use for martial arts?"
"No, it's just that I have a special constitution."
While the two chatted, Manager Tong quickly sat down next to Chu Yang, gazing at him with affection.
"Your Highness, are you buying jewelry?"
Upon hearing this, Lao Bai, who was wiping the table, felt his legs go weak and knelt on the ground, almost scared to death.
Chu Yang: "..."
(End of this chapter)