Chapter 95

Zhu Ti now had an extra job, peeling pearls for the Great King.

The Great King wasn't idle either; whenever the daytime wasn't overcast with bad weather, he would go into the water at noon every day to pull the sea's wool.

Bai Yang said his supermarket had recently become famous in their city for its excellent seafood quality, spreading quickly, and its sales had shot up like a rocket. This was without even the top-grade goods; he had picked out the top-grade ones to sell to high-end restaurants and five-star hotels.

Great King was still surprised at first that people of later ages could really eat, but after learning that a certain city's resident population was twenty million, Great King became numb. No need to ask, they can support themselves, and they don't go hungry.

When the treasure ship caught good categories, the Great King would also smuggle to his warehouse, going back and forth like that for seven days, and the treasure ship's storage hold was still almost full.

Chen Huai ordered not to loiter in the deep sea anymore, and began full speed north back to Secluded Prefecture. On the twenty-eighth of the twelfth month, they hauled in the last net of spotted prawns, and the treasure ship was completely full.

Great King and Wei Shen sat by the rail, fishing up several groupers with nowhere to put them, and finally sent them to the kitchen.

Heaven also helped, with the wind always favorable, which saved the exhausted fishermen considerable effort, and that night they saw the lighthouse at the Secluded Prefecture ferry crossing.

Not to mention the fishermen who were away from home for the first time for so long, even Great King and Wei Shen were excited beyond measure.

Looking at the distant lone spark of light between heaven and earth, the whole ship boiled over.

"I finally understand why they built such a tall lighthouse at the ferry crossing; originally, from this far away you could see it."

"If I were a lost fisherman in the vast ocean, seeing this glimmer of light in the pitch darkness, I would be indescribably moved. Heading toward the light would get me home……"

Grand Tutor Xu praised Zhao Zhuge without cease, "Mr. Zhao is a genius! Such geniuses are rare in the world! Your Highness, you should do your best to keep him."

This is like touching a sore spot, isn't it? Is it that he doesn't want to stay? When there's no mission, nowadays I don't even know where Mr. Zhao is.

Mr. Zhao is erudite, versatile, and good at communication, unlike Zhu Ti, who is diligent but has strange hobbies. The other party's condition for pearl mother-of-pearl stripping is to produce a bottle of some nail polish each evening as wages, and also to open a rouge shop.

Great King had already asked Brother Bai to procure goods, heard that they'd need to specially order packaging, estimating it wouldn't open until after the new year. However, upon second thought, this is also a good thing; Great King gains another source of income, and right now he doesn't realize that this rouge shop could be worth ten or eight cloth shops and inns.

The treasure ship docked at the Secluded Prefecture ferry crossing at the Yin hour before dawn, and all of Secluded Prefecture was still asleep.

The fishermen still needed to unload the cargo, only Great King took his retinue and returned to the palace under the cover of night.

The next day, the families of the fishermen who had gone out to sea, worried, came again to the ferry crossing to watch, and only then discovered that the great ship had silently returned to Secluded Prefecture.

That morning, Secluded Prefecture boiled over.

The weather was freezing cold, water turned to ice; at this time the fish unloaded at the dock wouldn't melt, and crate after crate of large fish were hauled ashore.

There was also a mackerel scad over a meter long, the fish crates couldn't hold it, frozen solid, the large fish were dragged ashore one by one and piled up into a fish mountain.

Soldiers in black armor stood straight at the perimeter of the fish mountain, while the populace gathered around to watch, and the crowd grew larger and larger.

Great King returned late at night and unusually slept in; when he got up, he was informed that the entire populace of Secluded Prefecture had emptied the streets and gathered at the seaside to watch the unloading.

Overjoyed, Great King prepared to make good on his boast from when he left, adding a dish to the New Year's Eve feast of Secluded Prefecture.

"Issue the king's order: to celebrate the treasure ship's maiden voyage success, let us Secluded Prefecture folks all share in the king's joy; each household holding a household register can go to Lifetime Sea Goods to receive a three-jin fish."

The little eunuch in front saw the Great King happy, rushed out to deliver the edict, and the Suiyu Hall was filled with the Great King's laughter.

At this moment, the most crowded place was the Secluded Prefecture ferry crossing; the order-delivering clerk, holding the still-warm notice, first ran to the ferry crossing, struck the gong and announced the Great King's reward, and the whole ferry crossing boiled over.

Great King really is a great king; what merit does Secluded Prefecture have to enjoy such fortune as to have such a great king? A few months ago, who would have dared imagine they could get fish to eat from the emperor's son's hands!

Two sentimental old women wiped tears on the spot; don't look at them guarding the sea, but throughout the year, not every household in Secluded Prefecture city has eaten fish……

There was a clever one who bowed toward the direction of the Secluded Prince's mansion, then turned and ran home to fetch the household register to queue up.

The Front Court knew the Great King was handing out silver again, already accustomed to it; as long as the Great King returned safely, that was fine. Heaven knows how they got through this month, their hearts had been suspended in midair, and now they finally had a hint of upcoming New Year cheer. Only the Internal Affairs Office, in a panic, had the block-printing master stop his work to carve a few new seals for the Great King to stamp on the household registers.

When the Jin family's people got the news, half of Secluded Prefecture city was empty; those doing odd jobs at year's end were all idle, and they swarmed in a rush to Vermilion Bird Avenue, yet they couldn't squeeze in.

For the first time, Steward Jin felt that Secluded Prefecture, desolate and miserable, cold and quiet, with wind blowing all day, actually had quite a lot of people.

They were now standing at the old city gate, dumbfounded, because the stone-paved road leading to Vermilion Bird Avenue was already packed with people.

This group had nothing to do, loafing in the inn every day waiting for the Great King; today as usual they lingered until noon before leaving their rooms, who knew the outside would suddenly change.

"Steward Two, should we try to squeeze in, or what should we do?"

"We need to see the Secluded Prince; Steward Two's errand cannot be delayed, squeezing through this road seems difficult, so let's go around from the side……"

They walked from the dirt road toward the Secluded Prince's mansion; halfway, they met some citizens who had come back after receiving fish. Vermilion Bird Avenue was also implementing diversion, those who had received fish exited from the back door of Prosperous Peace Sea Goods.

Each of these people was holding a fairly large fish in hand; Steward Jin was quite puzzled, the Secluded Prefecture populace is this poor yet still willing to part with it. Then thinking that the day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve, he understood—over the year-end, one must eat something good.

Meeting him head-on, he nodded at the populace, then casually asked the old man cheerfully carrying a fish, "Old sir, is this fish cheap?"

The old man happily waved his hand, "No money spent, it's a reward from the Great King! Even in my old age, to encounter such a good master as our Great King is also a blessing. They said the reward is a three-jin fish, but look at mine—it's more than that. The officials said the Great King is kind-hearted, the minimum is three jin; larger is okay, smaller is not~"

This Steward Jin really hadn't expected it; he and his close aide exchanged a glance.

The Secluded Prince… though young, has a mature mind, and is quite good at winning people's hearts.

Soon they realized, the Great King's abilities go far beyond just this.

They held the Second Prince's command tablet; seeking an audience with the Secluded Prince was of course unimpeded. The guards brought them in through the side gate of the Southern Splendor Gate, and all along they could hardly believe their eyes.

Does the Second Prince really know or not know his younger brother's strength? Didn't he say it was pretty miserable before?

Under the gaze of all, they could only exchange looks with each other; a palace servant went to report, and they were led into a small reception hall below the battlement tower. After waiting about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a little eunuch came over to guide them, saying the Great King wanted to see them.