Chapter 85: Speak Your Plan

Baiyang began to earnestly advise the Great King, "Great King, do you know what you should be doing right now?"

The brat discovered a new continent, and the calculator has a key that makes a sound!

The whole shop was echoing: reset reset reset reset…

Great King: "Hahaha reset~ What should I do, you say~"

Baiyang: …You seem unreliable no matter what you do.

"…You need to stockpile grain, then recruit troops and buy horses, and hold out in You Prefecture."

Great King: "Huh?" Is the topic jumping that big?

"Recruit troops and buy horses? You also see that the Northern Bearded will go south, right? I just said You Prefecture is drought‑stricken and starving, with no food—how could the northern grasslands still have food? Brother Bai, when do you think they'll head south?"

Baiyang: "Done for, you forgot you still have external threats. Then you'd better stockpile grain, recruit troops and buy horses, and train them well to preserve your lives! According to the history I've known since childhood, your Great Jin has already reached the brink of a cliff. What's your grain price like? These 16,000 ingots—do you want to cash them out to buy grain, or have me exchange them for grain? With 1.6 million, you can buy plenty of aged rice where we are."

The Great King stared, stunned: "The… cliff edge? What does that mean? Is Great Jin going to perish…?" He spoke halfway, then chubby hand covered his own mouth.

"No, no, don't be afraid. I'm just guessing you might have entered a little ice age—you're always saying it's cold, and harsh weather makes society turbulent, so it's good to prepare early. Owl Riders, haven't you started yet? This is great, Great King—we need to make two‑handed preparations and keep a trump card for survival! Of course, this is all just my guess, just a guess."

The Great King lamented: "I'm still saving this bit of money for the curved blade I ordered; how could I buy grain? Let me think—last time you bought me that final batch, it's already settled, right? I still have 1.7 million catties here, and I don't even know how much will be left by autumn……"

Baiyang, acting as a dog‑headed strategist, advised the Great King: "No matter what next spring brings, you must organize large‑scale planting of potatoes and sweet potatoes—these two have low climate demands and are easy to grow. If they don't store well, have them turned into powder, cooked, and dried; however you prepare them, they'll always be edible. I've already contacted several seed companies about potatoes and sweet potatoes, so you can relax."

The Great King looked at him with starry eyes; Baiyang made it hard for him not to worry.

"Wait, where did you buy the curved blade? Why didn't you bring me to haggle?"

The next day, when the Great King went to look at the samples, the blond young man at the weapon shop noticed that the noble child who kept private soldiers had brought his parents.

The blond young man was named John Pu; the curved blade he produced was pure black, with only the edge a flash of silvery white. The workmanship was exquisite, and even the scabbard looked antique—the Great King took a liking to it at first sight.

But the whole sword wasn't as heavy as the Great King imagined; a strong‑feeling kid found it light and airy—could it kill someone? Baiyang hefted it and said it was just right. He pulled out a luxury‑printed handkerchief from his pocket, tossed it up… and it came down unharmed.

"Isn't it supposed to cut hair on a blow?"

John Pu rolled his eyes, "My dear friend, achieving that level requires pure handcrafting, and the price would be several times higher. If you just want one, I can find the best artisan to make it for you, but this esteemed little customer wants five hundred, one thousand— that would be very expensive. The curved blades I brought today are historically researched, made to the golden ratio for cavalry. With these you need to exert a bit more force."

John Pu picked up the handkerchief, tossed it into the air, then lightly swung the curved blade—the handkerchief was neatly clipped at a corner.

After the demonstration he handed it to the Great King, "Give it a try yourself! As long as you buy the knife from me, if any quality issue arises within three years I'll repair it, and if I can't fix it I'll replace it with a new one."

The Great King's eyes lit up; waiting for the handkerchief to be tossed up again, he used little force, lightly waved the curved blade, and the handkerchief split into two halves.

"Can we chop something harder?"

"What is that? A human head?!"

John Pu hurriedly waved his hands, "Oh, no, no! There's no human head here for you to chop!"

Baiyang rummaged through his warehouse and pulled out the enormous horse mackerel the Great King had sent him—over 1.2 meters long, placed in a box like a little pig.

The Great King chopped twice at the bony part of the horse mackerel's head, with not a hint of resistance—overall very smooth.

Worried his strength was too great, he had Baiyang chop as well; in the end he sacrificed a super‑sturdy fish crate gifted by a treasure ship, and the result was—this is a good blade.

With Baiyang around, haggling is unnecessary for the Great King.

John Pu asked for 20 ingots; the Great King's eyes flashed a hint of joy—cheaper than he expected! Immediately he lowered his head to conceal his reaction.

Upon hearing the quote, Baiyang knew the other side's exchange rate couldn't be low, and he blurted out a waist‑level cut.

"This is too expensive, no way. This kid needs lots of weapons; they're in a chaotic era and can't afford this price. How about 8 ingots? We can start with an order of 1,000."

Great King: …Wow~

John Pu shook his head, "That price is crazy; for a thousand‑unit order I can go down to at most 18 ingots."

Baiyang: "No, I know you only need to open the mold once; this kind of fully mechanical‑hand‑produced assembly‑line blade really doesn't warrant such a high price. At most nine ingots."

"No, the steel and coating are the most advanced—16 ingots, can't go lower."

"Nonsense, in our interface this steel isn't worth anything—who in peacetime uses this steel to make lunchboxes? Higher‑grade weapons can't use them! Nine!"

"Fifteen!"

"Nine!"

"Twelve!"

"How about this: as long as you guarantee uniform quality and three‑year after‑sales, we'll write a contract and deposit it in the homestead—I'm willing to pay ten ingots per blade."

"Deal!"

The Great King jumped in, "Let's start with a thousand!"

Regarding the fish caught over three or four days, part of the haul was exchanged for a thousand curved blades, and the Great King was very pleased.

Baiyang witnessed both parties draft the contract and deposit it in the Myriad Worlds Homestead; the Great King then paid the deposit for a thousand blades, agreeing to pick up the goods in half a month and settle the balance.

Everything went smoothly; the Great King returned and counted his little treasury—aside from the blades he still had over 170,000. He boldly produced a round 100,000 and had Baiyang use it to buy and stockpile grain.

The homestead earns and spends within itself; not a cent is taken home.

The next day, after Wei Shen finished his boxing practice and roughly figured his cousin's lessons were also done, he went over—only to come up empty.

After he turned the familiar corner to the second‑floor terrace, sure enough the three little ones were there.

The Great King, with his two little pets, sat bottom‑up playing with a string of three or four crystal night lights. Lately it's not only cold, the sunshine isn't great either, and his night lights, left to bask on the windowsill, are no good anymore.

Looking at that little rear end before him, Wei Shen felt greatly rebellious and wanted to kick it, thought of "waist‑slash," but held back.

"Your Highness, what are you busy with? Didn't you say you'd look for me this afternoon over something?"

The Great King was reminded by him and came to mind; he sidled up mysteriously and said, "Cousin, do you want to go diving?"

Wei Shen: "…Whenever there's a good thing, you never forget your cousin!"

The Great King innocently said, "Chen Cang keeps saying to pick a nice‑weather noon to let me go in the water, but each day is colder than the last, and tomorrow will be even colder—I think we can't wait any longer! Today's noon is the warmest day of the coming ten‑odd days!"

Wei Shen lifted his leg to slip away, and the Great King yowled, lunging to grab him.

His poor cousin, if he hadn't trained in martial arts since childhood, would already have been knocked flat by the meatball onslaught.

He caught the Great King, resigned to fate, and said, "Speak your plan, cousin—let's see if you can bear it."

——————New Chapter——————

Great King grabbed his cousin and wouldn't let go, mysteriously telling him his plan.

"Soon, at noon, once the ship stops and hauls up the trawl net, my cousin will pretend to slip and fall into the water, and I'll go down to rescue him……" Then we'll have some fun……

Before he could finish, Wei Shen began to struggle, "I didn't hear anything, I'm leaving first……"

"Don't go~ Isn't the plan thorough? That's because I haven't finished speaking! Cousin, I know you can swim; you should warm up starting from lowering the net, otherwise falling into cold water could cause cramps. I've done a thorough~ investigation!"

"No no no, I didn't hear! How dare I let Your Highness save me? Let me drown!"

"Cousin, listen to me; actually, many people still swim in winter, and the sea isn't as cold as you imagine. Warm up, and once you fall in, a few paddles and you'll climb out. I myself can dive, and I'm super skilled! Humph~ Don't you believe me, Your Highness?"

His cousin shook his head quickly, "No, it's not that; mainly I don't trust my legs. However, mortal flesh and bone, your uncle could easily break them."

Great King: "……."

Great King wouldn't give up diving just out of pity for his cousin; he'd tested the water‑avoiding property of the shark‑pearl bracelet in the washbasin, but he wasn't sure whether his good health came from having a lord's heart or the bracelet truly kept water out. Either way, he was eager to try it in the sea.

Chen Cang also said the washbasin doesn't count as diving, and thinking about that, Great King still felt he had to give it a try.

This guy widened his round, glistening Phoenix eyes until they became perfectly round, then hung there on Wei Shen's thigh, looking at him pitifully.

Wei Shen's heart was hard as iron: "Don't play the victim! I'm still your close cousin—why would you pick me for this thankless role, afraid your uncle and maternal grandfather won't beat me to death?"

Great King pouted, "Cousin, just stay in Youzhou and don't go; they won't be able to reach you, and I'll uphold justice for you! There's plenty of fun here—what's the point of going back to the Southwest? At home you have an elder cousin to fulfill filial duties, and if you don't go home your legs will be safe~"

Wei Shen wore a tragic expression: "Does it have to be me? Can't you fall in yourself and I rescue you? Or Winnie and Bai Ze fall in?" He turned his gaze to the two innocent, fluffy creatures watching the show nearby.

Bai Ze, who could understand speech: ……

Great King: "Sigh~ I ask about this every day, and Zhang Tu and the Grand Tutor have warned me several times. Look, if I fell from this position I wouldn't land in the water, so no one follows me; but once I get near the rail, three to six personal guards are sure to pop out and block any chance of me accidentally falling overboard. That's why I want to stir up some chaos—then I'll take advantage of the confusion~"

Wei Shen was deeply impressed: "You've figured everything out—except you forgot to factor in your cousin's legs. In this freezing winter month, a little kid like you jumping into the sea to save me? What face would I have?"

Great King nodded, "Then you'll be so moved you'll have to stay in Youzhou for a while with me. When I'm excited, I'll give you a white‑gold wild horse, a saber that can cut hair, and a new‑model lance from the Prince You's personal guard battalion."

With each item he mentioned, the useless cousin blinked his eyes; after Great King finished, Wei Shen slapped his thigh and said, "Done!"

Those three things sounded well worth the risk.

"What kind of saber, what kind of lance?"

Great King spoke mysteriously, "Anyway, it's better than your Southwest border troops; I know a craftsman whose skill is unrivaled under heaven."

Being older, Wei Shen needed to confirm that Great King really could dive before agreeing.

Just like that, Great King was playing on the terrace of the second deck of the treasure ship when he tripped for no reason, scattering his hair, and then this guy started insisting on taking a bath.

He wouldn't bathe at just any time; he insisted on using a large washbasin luxuriously.

Zhao Bao couldn't dissuade him, so he went along anyway; after all, the itinerary was set to stop at Jiaodong Commandery for supplies, and Great King taking a bath would be fine.

Wei Shen was allowed to watch Great King bathe; the guy squatted into the washbasin wearing his inner robe. At first Wei Shen was calm, but after a while he grew surprised, and ten minutes later he panicked!

Wei Shen personally pulled Great King out, "……Are you okay? Ah? Can you breathe normally?"

Who among teenagers his age hasn't played in water? But how old is the king? Such a small child—how can he hold his breath that long…?

The king, after being fished out, was speechless. He patted his little chest and said, "Breathing well! Actually, actually… Cousin, let me tell you a secret: I feel I can breathe underwater, it's effortless. Don't tell anyone, or I'll be in trouble!" He looked mysterious, as if sharing a secret only because we're close.

Wei Shen exhaled, "... You want to tell me you're actually a fish?"

Hmph! My royal father is a dragon, so I'm at least a dragon's son—how could I be just a fish? I'm better than a fish! Come, let me demonstrate again how a dragon's son breathes underwater—don't interrupt me!

This time Wei Shen still couldn't resist pulling him out after just the time it takes to burn one incense stick, because he said if the king fell into the water and wasn't rescued within that time, everyone on the ship could go die.

So the matter was settled just like that, and Wei Shen again confirmed the preparations with the king, such as warming up.

The king comforted his cousin, "If your physique isn't up to it or you fall ill, I'll spend a fortune to buy effective medicine to save you."

Wei Shen: "... Thank you."

When it was almost noon, the treasure ship cast another net, and the king and Wei Shen hid on the second floor, secretly doing their warm-up exercises.

When the ship stopped and began to haul the net, the king and Wei Shen pretended to go watch, running all the way to the deck… and then Wei Shen nimbly lunged to the ship's side and dove headfirst.

Everyone reacted, "Oh no, Young Master Wei has fallen overboard!"

Quick, save Young Master Wei!

Taking advantage of the chaos, the king shouted loudly, "Ah! Cousin, you can't die!"

With a nimble movement that didn't quite match his build, he followed and flipped out…

Before Wei Shen fell, everyone on the deck had their eyes fixed on the fishing net hanging full in midair; as he fell, the scene became chaotic for a moment, and the king finished performing this eight-hundred-times-speed drama…

Only Chen Cang was not at all surprised; he calmly directed everyone not to panic.

Bai Ze, who had been watching the whole time: …Ah! Idiot.

Only Winnie was as anxious as the guards, pacing back and forth at the ship's rail—where is the person?

……………………

Dividing line…………………

These past few days it's been inconvenient being out; tomorrow I'll resume normal updates, and I'll add extra chapters!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone! ٩(●´৺`●)૭٩(●´৺`●)و