Chapter 172

The Prince specially inquired about the situation at Moon-Attaining Pavilion; only then did he learn that this tavern belonged to his eldest aunt's family, and also that the Youzhou White liquor shipped to Chang'an had been monopolily purchased by Moon-Attaining Pavilion, giving it an exclusive monopoly.

The Prince finally understood how they dared to sell watered-down liquor—it turned out only he himself selling it gave him the confidence to do so.

"Did you sign an exclusive supply contract with them?"

"No, the Head Steward didn't sign. But every time a caravan came to restock, Moon-Attaining Pavilion would buy out the entire lot in one go."

"Oh wow, that's really something—smashing my Youzhou White brand!"

The Prince went back and complained to Bai Ze in full: "Should I also open a tavern in Chang'an? Taverns look profitable, and once set up they're even better for gathering news than a merchant house."

Bai Ze drawled, "Go ahead, but you'd better go about it indirectly—everyone knows it's yours, so what's the point?"

The Prince, having hung out with Bai Yang for a long time, saw through this trick at once: "Got it—borrow a front and leave it to our Chief Steward Zhu to handle."

In the blink of an eye it was Bai Li Heng's wedding; the Prince was too young, so he just filled a headcount. Although no one would dare let Prince You sit at the kids' table, neither would anyone let the Prince drink.

At such occasions even senior court officials dare not approach the feudal lords; the Prince was so bored he wanted to pull out a checkers set, and by the time the banquet ended he still hadn't seen what his second brother's newly wed consort looked like.

After the wedding feast ended, already deep into night, the Prince came back and fumed: "I'm not going again! It's utterly boring—I just sat in my elder brother's residence drinking tea all afternoon, then sat through the wedding feast all night, so bored I was about to nod off—utterly dull!"

After his complaint, no one in the room paid him any mind; the Prince looked at Ling Yin, who belatedly replied, "Oh, does he plan to marry again next time?"

The Prince: ……

He then glanced at Wei Shen, who yawned and said, "It's not your wedding, so why do you need to find it fun? As long as your elder brother enjoys it, that's enough!"

The Prince was infuriated by those two, pointed at the door, and shouted, "Get out!"

"Sure thing~"

He didn't realize that, although he hadn't seen the new sister-in-law, the Prince made quite a presence that night at the Prince of Guangling's mansion—all because of the wedding gift he'd sent.

Everyone had come early to attend the wedding; since they were already here, they ought to bring a gift!

The Prince said his elder brother was so poor he had nothing but money, so the value of the gift didn't matter; what counted was novelty and sincerity, so that his brother would see it and immediately remember how good his younger brother was.

He entrusted this task to his "White Brother," and Bai Yang found him something 'high-tech.'

It wasn't a wedding, so he bought a big red lantern bearing the joy character.

When introducing it to the Prince, they said it was voice‑activated—so fancy that just a shout would light it up; hearing this, the Prince thought it was absolutely awesome!

Moreover, a non‑plug‑in version is hard to find; Bai Yang spent a long time tracking down a lithium‑battery model, which, although it would be disposable once brought to the Great Jin, is said to last three months with normal use.

The Prince thought, "Three months is sure to be enough time to move to Guangling; after the wedding's over I can just toss it."

For this he even had Meng Meng Duo gouge out fifty ingots from him before he could get hold of it—several hundred taels of silver, quite a sum, and the Prince remembers it crystal‑clear.

He fitted it with a red‑wood stand, packed it up, and sent it to his elder brother as a wedding gift.

This stand, paired with a large red lantern shaped like the joy character, looked exquisitely novel to the eyes of the Great Jin; the mansion, hoping for a good omen, placed it in the bridal chamber.

When Bai Li Heng returned, he gave it a couple of extra glances—indeed, it was quite handsome, and the lantern's light washed the whole room in a red glow.

During the bridal chamber rites—such as the joined‑cup wine and the matron's words—the lantern performed splendidly. When everything ended, the attendants withdrew, leaving only the newlywed couple, and the atmosphere grew a little awkward.

After all, it was everyone's first marriage.

Bai Li Heng sat quietly for a while, then rose, intending to turn off the lantern; he coughed and said, "Let's just…"

Just that 'cough'!

A common filler word used to break the awkwardness successfully woke that big red lantern!

It suddenly turned into a shining light ball!

It also came with a percussion‑style musical accompaniment; if the Prince were here he could even explain it to his elder brother—this is the !

He's heard it before!

That freakish lantern suddenly transformed, startling Bai Li Heng, who was standing by the bed, into jumping back a step—right onto the bridal‑bed steps—causing the Prince of Guangling to trip and plop down onto his rear……

Strong light, ChuaChua‑style, flashed red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple; it was still a highly penetrating strong light, click‑click flashing nonstop, flashing while spinning while singing the Ode to Joy. The first layer was a flashing blue‑light column, the second layer orange‑light little stars, ChuaChua spinning wildly~

Such penetrating strong light had never been seen by the people of the Great Jin; in the next instant the palace guards outside shouted, "Defend the chariot! Break in!" and burst through the door……

The Prince of Guangling sat on the floor, the new consort huddled inside the bed, and a whole room of guards stared blankly at the 'shining light ball' as it spun wildly and clanged while singing the Ode to Joy……

"Your… Your Highness, how do we turn this off?"

"Who knows!"

The Prince of Guangling gritted his teeth: "Bai! Li! Jing!"

Anyway, the next day after the wedding the Prince of Guangling led his new consort into the palace to kowtow to the Emperor and Empress, then came back, drew his sword, and headed for the Bureau of Hospitality.

Word had it that the Prince of Guangling chased the Prince You with his sword, hacking away!

The staff of the Bureau of Hospitality can attest—it's true, no mistake.

The Prince felt terribly wronged: "Elder brother, how dare you repay kindness with enmity! That lamp is costly—there's only one in the whole Great Jin, and I don't even have one; even if you don't like it, you can't just come hack at your younger brother!"

"Bai Li Jing, stand still! If you won't let me give you a beating, this isn't over!"

"What's wrong with the lamp? Isn't it auspicious?"

"Lamp! Great! Good—I just want to beat you up!"

Having heard Wei Shen and Ling Yin listen to the Prince of Guangling's personal Chief Steward describe the lamp, they tacitly gave up on rescuing the Prince.

Only after the Prince promised to make up for it by giving him a horse he didn't already own as a wedding gift did Bai Li Heng let him go.

Too bad good news stays at home while bad news travels a thousand miles—and even faster.

That afternoon the Emperor Ningde found out; an Imperial Edict Eunuch came from the Prince of Guangling's mansion, the emperor wanted to have a look at the lamp, and meanwhile summoned both the Prince of Guangling and the Prince You.

In the afternoon, Emperor Ningde already knew; an imperial edict eunuch had come to the Guangling Prince's mansion, and the emperor wanted to inspect the lanterns, and incidentally summoned the Guangling Prince and the You Prince.

The Prince's thinking is beyond ordinary people's: "What if Father Emperor also takes a liking to it—what then? The whole Great Jin only has one of these; I can't produce another."

Bai Li Heng was utterly speechless, "Don't worry, if Father Emperor takes a liking to it, I will definitely give it directly to Father Emperor." He didn't believe anyone could still like this thing; he studied it late last night for a while and didn't turn it off; finally he had the palace servants find a windowless room and put it in. This morning he heard from the palace servants that the thing only went out after daylight.

The Prince said, "That's not good; this is the big wedding gift I gave you."

「Say it again, you sent a treasure horse. Please cash it in as soon as possible. Don't think about defaulting on the debt. Even if I go to Broad Mausoleum, I'll send people to Secluded Prefecture to demand payment! 」

Your Majesty: ……

After going to the Hall of Containing Splendor, Emperor Ningde glanced at the two sons below who differed greatly in height; they actually get along pretty well? Amazing!

However, the brothers getting along is something he's happy to see; if the eldest were added, it would be even better.

「I heard you two caused trouble again at the Hall of Heralds this morning? I see you're just too idle. There's still some time until my Longevity Festival; you two plus the eldest, come attend the morning court together from now on! You'll learn something, so when you return to your fief you won't be completely clueless, right, Prince of You? Can you pay this year's tribute? 」

Your Majesty stared with his innocent big eyes: "Ah?"

………………divider line…………

………………don't look, those who don't love to complain…………

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Really speechless, really speechless! I have a thousand‑person author group; it's not that nobody updates more, they all open small accounts, have three accounts open, and hardly anyone updates ten thousand words on a single account! Because it's labor‑intensive and unrewarding.

The author of Xihongshi writes 99.9% 4000 words each day; I've also stayed at Lvjiang, each day two chapters, 3000 words, starting, point 4000. That person, big sis, don't you have the energy to send me a private message with a bunch of words? You also haven't seen you spend 15 seconds to vote and support the book, ah! I specially checked the backend. Xihongshi relies on ads, unless there's ten thousand; everyone cheered up for a day, and I also added two extra days—I have a clear conscience! Also, that income share, I only get 0.1, the rest is the platform's. Don't think I'm getting rich off this, okay!? Rest assured!

That big sis who sent a private message with a little essay scolding me for being lazy, you haven't even clicked a 15‑second ad—why do you demand that I work from 12 p. m. to 2 a. m. to add more? (｡í_ì｡) Whether I update or not, it's pretty much the same; as long as it's not too long a break, this book has already entered a silent word count…… Threats don't affect me; this is the last time—if you come again, I'll block you.

This book requires thought; it can't be mindless filler. Next time I write a livestream piece with netizen IDs, I'll flood it with five thousand comments in a day. When I do daily updates of 8000 words, feel free to come back! Thank you!

Why do I come here after the fact to chatter? Few people see it? Because many of my cute readers who follow me first thing each day have already finished reading by this time, so it doesn't affect many people—so I'll chatter a bit. (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)