Chapter 46

Things were destined to happen all at once; before they even left Suiyu Hall, palace attendants reported that Bai Jun had arrived, and they brought 100 Northern Hu horses.

The Great King slapped his forehead, "Oh, I almost forgot—this is what I asked him for yesterday!"

He hurried over and took a glance; the overall quality was better than the five hundred horses he had brought from Chang'an. Half were young colts, half were adult horses, and they looked spirited.

The Great King nodded in satisfaction and inquired about the price. Bai Jun dared not overcharge the Great King, quoting the cost plus five taels. He thought that if the Great King changed his mind, he would simply take away this little profit.

Merchants seek profit; unless absolutely necessary, they really don't want to waste a trip. If it were just these hundred horses, he could half‑sell, half‑give them to the Great King to curry favor, but the Great King's appetite is huge—he wants two thousand, and the Bai family simply can't afford to be that generous.

These horses would sell for forty taels or more if taken to Chang'an, but now they've been robbed by the King; even adult horses he dares only to price at thirty taels, the same as foals.

The King glanced at Commander Zhang, saw him nod, then broke into a smile and turned to Bai Jun, saying: "Not bad! You still have to guarantee the quality of that remaining 1,900 taels. Zhao Bao, record it on the account, and give Old Master Bai a bill; later he can go to the shop and take the koi money to offset the bill. Hauling silver back and forth is a hassle—let us, our own folk, save ourselves the trouble!"

Bai Jun: ……

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Since he's not buying the koi, these 3,000 taels are just gone, right? No, not just these 3,000—going forward, 60,000 taels will all be gone!

Zhao Bao stepped forward and gave Bai Jun a tentative clasped-hand salute, saying, "Congratulations, Old Master Bai—you are now a partner merchant of the You King's manor."

"Thank you, Your Highness for your great grace!"

No matter what he thinks, Your Highness is certainly pleased. Hand the horses over to Commander Zhang, and the King promptly climbed onto the carriage and returned to the city.

Grand and mighty, they tumultuously returned to the city, once again arriving at the old royal residence. Previously, lacking the new northern frontier as a comparison, they felt this place was merely a bit empty and crude; now, after a month and back again, they felt the city's manor could hold its own against the new manor's stables.

Zhao Bao almost teared up, saying, "Your Highness has suffered!"

Your Highness himself: "Yes, so today's lesson……"

Zhao Bao quickly regained his composure: "Tutor Xu is already waiting ahead for Your Highness."

The King: ……

The King ultimately failed to skip class; he dutifully attended Tutor Xu's lesson. In the afternoon, martial arts studies could be waived, and Zhao Chuan was dispatched by him.

The King took Zhao Bao and a few guards onto the street, preparing for a big shopping spree to set up a stall that evening.

Zhao Bao thought the King was out buying little trinkets for himself, but the King went straight to the jewelry shop, ignoring gold and silver and instead looking for materials that were cheap yet finely worked. He bought a few trifles, then moved to the general store, where he even picked up several bamboo-woven trinkets and packed bowls made of chelí that had been sitting in the shop for who knows how many years.

The King didn't realize that this 'chelí' is actually the valuable agate of later generations; he simply thought these white bowls of various sizes were quite pretty.

Finally, at night, the King flipped through today's ledger for the aquatic world; the turnover indeed dropped sharply, to just 5,200 taels.

Still, it's not bad—the King's external task turnover is halfway done.

As for the 1,000 ingots of the myriad realms, he'd have to rely on himself entirely. The King tore down the bed curtains, bundled all the day's spoils, and hauled them over to Bai Yang's place, intending to let him first give them a look.

"Look, these are all I bought on the street today—just as you said, they're well-made and inexpensive little trinkets." Brother Bai said to start with the cheap ones to try, so we can earn the price difference.

Bai Yang took a look—"Nice!"

Red coral hairpin, agate-carved bowl!

He felt extreme heartache: "You Great Jin folks only know how to eat plain rice, right? You make bowls out of such a huge piece of agate? You should be selling agate beads as bracelets! You should carve them into ornaments! This size and clarity are museum-worthy!"

Moreover, this red coral—if it were a pure coral-carved hairpin, that'd be fine, but this kind of inlay work, why use copper full of impurities?

He couldn't know that red coral isn't worth much in the Great Jin right now; there it's called jiangshu. Fishermen who scoop it up at sea sell it cheaply to small vendors, and jewelry shops prize its bright color, using it as a low-end substitute for rubies.

Inlaid with a small red flower made of coral, those who can't afford gold or silver jewelry will also choose his shop when buying hairpins because of its brightness.

Bai Yang endured the heartache, picked an agate bowl, and also picked an ox‑blood‑red carved plum‑blossom branch hairpin. He actually wanted both, but couldn't afford more.

It seems he can't just loaf around; he needs to make more money—there's plenty of good stuff. Even the Phoenix Market shows traces of the cultivation world; maybe someday he'll actually run into an elixir! Since opening a shop in his homestead, after attaining real‑world sports cars and mansions, he's become quite indifferent.

Watching the energetic little king each day, he wants to try harder. Money is always better the more you have—for example, today, if he had enough money, he could buy back those several agate bowls.

"I'll give you 5,000 ingots for these two—sell them to me first."

"How… how much?"

The King was shocked; he'd hauled this big bundle, which altogether cost over a hundred taels. Especially those agate bowls—he'd gotten six for only twenty taels, not knowing how long they'd been stacked; when they sold out at once, the shopkeeper was so delighted he kept seeing him out the door, and Zhao Bao just stood there sighing.

"This is red coral and agate. If I calculate, buying 500,000 still leaves a profit—especially this bowl, which in later ages is pricey but unobtainable, a prohibited controlled item. Where we're from, mining these two would land you in prison, you know? You'd rot away in jail! You can't buy them on the market at all; the old pieces handed down are already astronomically priced."

The King noted that the original jiangshu is now called red coral, and chelí is still called agate.

But he's a conscientious kid, and this is his first time directly facing the price differences across realms. "Then you just give me the buying price, okay? Brother Bai has already helped me a lot, and you helped me buy the fish tank and oxygen tablets, but you didn't follow my selling prices here."

The King gave a sly smile: "We'll just make the profit margin off others! These things are so valuable; from now on, whenever I see them I'll collect them, and you take them to sell to others."

The King would take at most 50 ingots; Bai Yang was deeply moved, voluntarily closing his shop to accompany the King to set up a stall at the Phoenix Market.