Chapter 194: A Little Stage‑Sabotage

"Li Lizhi, what are you doing…?"

Li Chengqian looked at the person outside the carriage, wrapped tightly and wearing a veil, and it took him a good while to recognize that it was his own sister.

Li Lizhi heard his words, was startled, quickly turned her head to look around, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the guards hadn't noticed her.

Then she leaned close to the carriage window, lowered her voice and said, "Crown Prince, are you heading to Weinan County?"

"How did you know?" Li Chengqian was first surprised, then asked with interest.

Getting a definite answer, Li Lizhi's eyes twinkled, and she seemed much more cheerful.

She said bluntly, "That's easy. Crown Prince basically has no friends; aside from sneaking out of the palace, the previous outings were all to look for Mr. Chen."

"Furthermore, you took the Crown Princess with you this time; it can't be for official business. Apart from going to Weinan County, I can't think of any other reason you'd bring the Crown Princess along."

Li Chengqian: "......"

He wasn't surprised that Li Lizhi could guess his trip to Weinan County; after all, his sister had been clever since childhood.

However, the remark "Crown Prince basically has no friends" actually hurt him quite a bit.

Do the fox‑and‑dog companions who frequent brothels not count as friends?

Sitting silently in the carriage, Su Shi couldn't help but say, "Li Lizhi, do you want to go with us?"

Fortunately, Li Lizhi was still wearing a veil; otherwise, Li Chengqian and his wife would have seen a flush of pink rise on her face.

Li Lizhi gave no reply, only gently nodded.

Li Chengqian teased, "Li Lizhi, next time you can just tell me directly. At worst I can give you a heads‑up beforehand; having someone keep tabs on me isn't good."

Being able to block him so quickly and dressed like this, Li Lizhi clearly had received word.

Claiming no one was following him would be hard to believe.

But Li Chengqian didn't mind; after all, he is the Crown Prince, and countless people keep an eye on him daily.

Li Lizhi's motive—just to get a glimpse of Chen Yan—wasn't a big deal at all.

"Crown Prince, I have no other intention; I just want to see when you go out." Fearing Li Chengqian would misunderstand, Li Lizhi hurriedly explained.

"I understand, I understand." Li Chengqian waved his hand, "Come up, we'll leave early and return early."

"Alright, thank you, Crown Prince." Li Lizhi said gratefully.

"......."

At the Wei He dock, atop the adjacent tavern on the familiar terrace, Chen Yan sat opposite Du Gou.

The vessels on the river, under Chen Yan's strict orders, now appear overly regulated; although still a bit chaotic, they're undeniably far better than at the beginning.

Moreover, half of the dock's lower roads were under construction, with countless laborers rebuilding the uneven pathways.

The clanging and tinkling of hammering rang continuously.

Du Gou turned his head and asked, "You're rushing the road construction; could it be too hasty?"

"We could actually earn more money first and then rebuild,"

"No." Chen Yan, looking at the construction scene below and the many vessels on the river, explained, "I don't know if you've heard the saying: to become rich, first build roads."

"Wei He dock, being a major anchorage, can't have poor roads."

"Don't forget, this dock is a major source of revenue for Weinan County."

"Besides grain transport boats and military vessels delivering disaster relief, all other ships are taxed."

"A smooth road, whether for goods, grain, or any other items, greatly boosts transport efficiency; sometimes a road can generate wealth beyond imagination."

"Fine." Du Gou smiled, "Anyway, I'll follow your lead; just tell me what to do."

"But why did you have me gather that group of displaced people from last year?"

Last year's severe drought had such a huge impact that countless commoners fled to Chang'an seeking a way to survive.

After the disaster, some of those displaced had no means to return home; Li Shimin was helpless and had to settle them in a few counties near Chang'an.

Most of them were women who had lost all relatives, or people with disabilities.

They had no support here, no houses or land, and lived in great hardship.

A few days ago, Chen Yan suddenly ordered him to gather information on these people, intending to assemble them.

At the time, Chen Yan didn't explain why, just said they'd understand later.

Du Gou had been curious about this ever since.

"......"

"Brother Du, in today's world, whose money is the easiest to earn?" Chen Yan didn't answer immediately; instead, he posed a question.

"Whose money is the easiest to earn?" Du Gou was startled, then a bit helpless.

Sometimes he felt Chen Yan didn't seem like a county magistrate at all, but rather a merchant.

Which county magistrate talks about making money all day?

After a moment's thought, Du Gou mused, "It should be the common people's money, right?"

"After all, most commoners are poor, but they are the most numerous; aren't wealthy merchants' fortunes all squeezed from the common folk?"

Chen Yan choked a bit, thought carefully, and found Du Gou's point quite reasonable.

Isn't the world just about making easy money from the common people?

Everyone squeezes a bit, extracting countless wealthy merchants and noble families.

Not only is the money squeezed out, but the land is gradually marked with their names.

"Maybe… that's how it is for others," Chen Yan took a deep breath, then said, "But for me, the money of scholars and women across the world is the easiest to earn."

"... uh." Du Gou hadn't expected Chen Yan to give such an answer; choosing his words, he said, "Brother Zi An, women's money is easy to earn; I can understand."

"But how can the scholars' money be called easy to earn?"

"Besides, you yourself seem to be a scholar, right?"

"Yes, that's why I know scholars' money is easy to earn." Speaking of that, Chen Yan became angry and retorted, "Back then I casually bought a book, remember, I just bought any book."

Even the cheapest ones cost seven hundred wen, and that's already the cheapest.

If it's a slightly more precious book, it often costs several strings of cash, making my heart ache.

Not to mention brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Chen Yan paused, then continued: "Most importantly, these things are absolutely indispensable; if you want to study, you must buy them."

So I say, scholars' money is the easiest to earn.

"Not......" Du Gou was about to speak, wanting to argue with Chen Yan.

Because books have always been precious items since ancient times, their high price is due to their high cost.

Therefore saying scholars' money is easy to earn, he doesn't really agree.

However, he had just uttered two words when he heard a familiar voice.

"Zi Anxiong, stop bragging; the books you read back then were all sent by the Mother Empress, even the paper was wrapped by her."

"As for brushes and such, they were also personally bestowed by the Mother Empress."

"At most you bought a few ink sticks; what money did you spend?"

The two turned their heads and saw Li Chengqian leading the Crown Princess, Li Lizhi, as well as Gao Yang and Xiao Sizi walking over here.

Li Chengqian gave him a teasing look.

Chen Yan's face darkened.

"Damn it, who came to ruin the show."

"......"