Chapter 110: The Prince's Banquet

Seeing the strange expressions of many officials, the Wang Fu Secretary Kong Zhangyu repeatedly winked at the Prince of Badong. However, the Prince did not even look at his trusted strategist, only saying to Wang Yang:

"Two days ago, before your family's grain arrived, grain prices had already dropped by seventy or eighty percent. This morning, when your fleet arrived, it actually fell back to the original price! After the grain was unloaded, it was transported into the city bag by bag, and the price dropped by another thirty percent! I had someone check the accounts from previous years, and only then did I realize that the grain price in Jingzhou has now returned to the level of the fifth year of Yongming! Before, grain prices remained high, and I heard that some censors were preparing to impeach me over this matter. Now, shouldn't they be backing down? Hahahaha! Wang Yang, your contribution this time is not small!"

Wang Yang said politely, "It is all due to Your Highness's strategic planning; how would I dare claim credit?"

The Prince of Badong said as a matter of course, "Naturally, it is due to my strategic planning, but you also have merit."

Wang Yang:...

The officials:...

"I have already ordered people to handle the matter of the military households being registered. Also, doesn't your family have thirty more ships of grain behind? Now that grain prices are so low, I can't let you suffer a loss. How about this: no matter how much you transport, the official granary will purchase it at the price of one hundred coins per hu. Mr. Kong, have the Granary Official..."

Wang Yang interrupted somewhat awkwardly, "Your Highness, I have a matter I would like to report to you privately..."

In the hall, the officials watched as Wang Yang sat beside the Prince of Badong, the two whispering about something.

Standing behind the Prince of Badong was the Wang Fu Defense General Jiao Shirong, wearing armor and a sword, his expression solemn. Seeing Wang Yang sitting so close to the Prince, he could not help but frown, his tiger-like eyes fixed on Wang Yang, like a beast ready to pounce at any moment.

"What?!" The Prince of Badong was full of astonishment.

Wang Yang lowered his head, acting very honest, and whispered, "I dare not deceive Your Highness."

"Then the fleet that arrived today..."

"It is the Xie family's ships."

"Xie Fei's fourth daughter? I was wondering why she was going to be late..."

"Your Highness is wise."

The Prince of Badong had not yet recovered from his surprise, muttering, "I am so wise, yet I was played by you?"

"How would I dare play Your Highness! It's just that at the time, the talk was about lowering grain prices, but it wasn't said how to lower them..."

The Prince of Badong looked at Wang Yang. "Were you so sure that grain prices would drop? What if the news was released and they didn't drop?"

"They wouldn't have. Your Highness said that Jingzhou only had a minor drought last year, and grain prices remained high mainly because grain merchants were hoarding goods. They hoard grain to sell it, but once outside grain arrives, their grain becomes a burden. So, not only do they have to sell, they have to sell earlier and faster than their peers! How to sell earlier and faster? By lowering prices. Grain prices are falsely high; this market is bound to collapse sooner or later. As long as we lower their market expectations, we can accelerate this process."

"Mar... market expectations?"

"Uh... it's the grain merchants' judgment of future trading conditions."

The Prince of Badong looked Wang Yang up and down, thought for a moment, and asked, "Those grain bags that were unloaded and transported into the city—how did you handle that?"

"Sand and soil."

"Sand and soil?!" The Prince of Badong's eyes widened, and then he laughed loudly. "You know how to play, you really know how to play!"

Everyone watched as Wang Yang and the Prince of Badong whispered for a while, and then the Prince laughed loudly, all of them confused.

The Prince of Badong laughed a few times, his face suddenly turning cold, his gaze gloomy. "So you admit that you were deceiving me before?"

Wang Yang was stunned. *Damn, your face changes way too fast! * He hurriedly explained:

"Actually, it doesn't count as deception. It was just a matter of expediency. With so many people present, there was no time to ask for instructions. I only had to sound as real as possible and have enough confidence to make people believe I had grain."

"That's still deception! I don't like being deceived. Since you deceived me, you have to pay the price."

The Prince of Badong put his arm around Wang Yang's shoulder with a fake smile. The guests were surprised that the Prince was so close to Wang Yang!! Only Wang Yang felt a genuine chill.

It was a pity that his attendants were not allowed into the Wang Fu; otherwise, if Chen Qingshan were here, he might have felt a bit safer.

Actually, it wouldn't have made much difference. If the Prince really wanted to move against him, even with ten Chen Qingshans, he wouldn't be able to walk out of the Wang Fu.

Wang Yang was not sure if the Prince of Badong was teasing him or was serious, but based on his judgment from the only two encounters he had had with this young Prince, he smiled and said:

"Your Highness just said my contribution was not small. How about giving me a chance to offset my fault with my merit?"

Seeing that Wang Yang was not afraid as if he were joking, the Prince of Badong's eyes immediately revealed a playful light.

He looked at Wang Yang as if examining a novel toy. "Are you not afraid of me? I am known for being as crazy as thunder; when I go crazy, I don't care what your surname is."

*So you know you're crazy! *

*I also think you have the potential to be a madman. *

Wang Yang complained in his heart, but on the surface, he said nonchalantly, "What am I afraid of? Although Your Highness is crazy, you are very wise; you definitely won't blame me!"

The Prince of Badong let out a low laugh. "Well said! Then I will give you a chance! Deceive me one more time. If you succeed, I won't pursue this, and I'll give you a great benefit." He paused and said, "A very great benefit."

Wang Yang had no heart to consider the benefit. He was not sure what the Prince of Badong meant. "Deceive... deceive one more time?"

"Yes." The Prince of Badong withdrew his arm from Wang Yang's shoulder, adjusted his sitting posture, and said, "Deceive me."

Wang Yang:???

"Now?"

"Yes, hurry up and deceive me! So many people are waiting for the banquet to start." The Prince of Badong urged.

*You're not having a snowball fight on a snowy day, you're just playing around, right! *

*Deceive, deceive my head! *

The Prince of Badong looked at Wang Yang's embarrassed appearance, his interest growing even stronger. He whispered:

"Deceive me now! If you don't succeed, I'll flip the table and say loudly, 'Good job, Wang Yang, you actually had no grain at all, it was all a fake!' Then I'll pursue your crime of deceiving your superiors, using sand to pass for grain, hoodwinking the people, and disrupting the market."

Seeing the Prince of Badong's excitement, Wang Yang felt a chill down his spine, thinking that with this guy's mental state, he might really do it. This was a complete Trap Banquet!

The Prince of Badong became impatient. "I'll count to five. If you don't deceive me, I'll flip the table. Five, four..."

Wang Yang said anxiously, "Wait! What counts as a successful deception?"

"If you tell a lie and I don't see through it, it counts as a successful deception. I saw how you spoke as if it were true when you said your family had grain ships. I think highly of you! Come on, three..."

"Wait, wait, wait! Can we extend the time, say within three days? That would be more fun! Now that you know I'm going to lie, won't you just expose me as soon as I speak? What's the point of that?"

Wang Yang tried to use this excuse to buy three days to design a deception. But the Prince of Badong did not cooperate at all.

"You think it's pointless, but I think it's interesting! I'll continue counting, three, two, one... flipping the table!" The Prince of Badong pressed his hand on the table, only to hear Wang Yang say: "I am lying."

The Prince of Badong smiled. "You thought of something? Then say it."

"I'm done saying it. I am lying." Wang Yang repeated.

"How are you done? What did you say?"

"I said the sentence 'I am lying.' Your Highness, identify it. Do you think this sentence is a lie?"

The Prince of Badong was a bit confused. "This... isn't it?"

"If it isn't, then it proves that the sentence 'I am lying' is true. Then I am lying, and Your Highness didn't see it, so it counts as a successful deception!"

The Prince of Badong blinked twice and changed his words. "I'll say it again, this is a lie!"

"If it's a lie, it means the sentence 'I am lying' is false. Since it's false, I didn't lie. I didn't lie, but Your Highness said I lied, so I still deceived you."

The Prince of Badong was dumbfounded. He stared for a long time and then pointed at Wang Yang and laughed, laughing louder and louder. The look in his eyes was interpreted by Wang Yang as "You're awesome"...

Wang Yang thought: It's not that I'm awesome, it's that Eubulides is awesome...

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Note: ① The prototype of what Wang Yang said at the end is Eubulides' "Liar Paradox." Eubulides' paradox was inspired by Epimenides' assertion that "all Cretans are liars." The latter has loopholes and is not yet a paradox; it was adapted into a paradox by Eubulides.

② What Wang Yang sang in the previous chapter was a segment from the Peking Opera *The Blocking Cart*, which is also the title of the previous chapter. It really wasn't "driving" (slang for sexual content). Someone told me, and only then did I realize it caused ambiguity. I went to Baidu, but I didn't find any such obscenity. Maybe the reason is me? Because Wang Yang promised to investigate the truth, I changed "slaughter them all" to "investigate them all"? It's also possible that there was text without music, so the effect was easily skewed...

I'm not a gentleman who strictly adheres to etiquette. It's mainly because if that segment by Wang Yang was "driving," it wouldn't fit the mood of that scene. It's still my lack of writing skill; the effect was a bit ruined:: ＞_＜::. To avoid causing ambiguity, I've changed it back to the word "slaughter." But actually, the fit with the original context is slightly reduced. ===== CHAPTER 111 =====