Chapter 14: This tea, is the skill of ten years of Little Red Book!
This is blatant poaching.
Only the shameless Princess Jin could do such a thing. Su Yuzhou felt quite unhappy in her heart. Wasn’t this ignoring her existence?
Fortunately, Lu Cheng’an resisted the pressure.
Princess Jin left without staying at the Han Princess’s mansion. If forcibly snatching someone doesn’t work, then take it slow. Winning over his heart is the priority. There’s still a long time ahead, with plenty of opportunities.
Inside the mansion, as Princess Jin’s figure gradually disappeared.
“Han Princess,” Lu Cheng’an pondered for a moment and asked, “Is it improper for me to stay in the side chamber?”
Su Yuzhou remained silent for a few seconds. Of course, she knew that this was improper, and there were many hidden rules involved.
“What’s improper about it? I let you stay, so you stay. Where does all this unnecessary talk come from?” Su Yuzhou didn’t want to argue.
“Wait, go to the market later and buy some servants for me,” Su Yuzhou said coldly. “I kicked out some freeloaders before.”
Lu Cheng’an reached out.
Su Yuzhou narrowed her eyes.
She reached into the pouch containing silver.
She looked embarrassed. Some time ago, the Han Princess’s mansion had many useless servants, and although they were dismissed later, they still had to give them a dismissal fee. Otherwise, it would greatly affect her reputation. The silver in the Han Princess’s mansion, which was already scarce, had been used up almost entirely.
Could Lu Cheng’an not understand the meaning behind the Han Princess’s expression? It was obvious. The Han Princess wasn’t wealthy, and Lu Cheng’an knew this from the beginning. It was almost the same as the start of the game. The initial silver in the Han Princess’s treasury was the poorest among all the Princesss. Because the Han Princess’s mother had died early from illness, and her maternal family didn’t have many relatives, only an uncle who was a county magistrate. Compared to the influence of other people’s maternal families, where did the Han Princess get her silver from? So, making money was the first thing Lu Cheng’an needed to do.
The problem was, should he start with refining salt, making soap, or making perfume, or making glass? Sorry, Lu Cheng’an was a liberal arts student, he didn’t understand any of it. He really couldn’t figure out why so many senior transmigrators had so much knowledge.
The only thing Lu Cheng’an currently has the highest chance of success with is refining salt because the process of making refined salt is the simplest among them all. Although Lu Cheng’an can only recall one filtering process, at least he has a general idea about refining salt, while he may not have any clue about the others.
“I’ve made a decision,” Su Yuzhou suddenly exclaimed, “Since there are only the two of us living in the Han Princess’s mansion now, I’ll sell all the furniture from the other rooms on the street.”
The things in the Han Princess’s mansion are theoretically property of the court, but now Su Yuzhou is the Han Princess, and she has the right to sell the furniture in the Han Princess’s mansion. However, if Su Yuzhou does this, it would be blatantly humiliating her own father. She, a legitimate Princess and the eldest daughter of the emperor, has fallen to the point where she needs to sell the mansion’s furniture to maintain her livelihood. Meanwhile, her father, the emperor, is still busy building the imperial palace. What kind of logic is this?
Lu Cheng’an quickly understood Su Yuzhou’s intention. This move, this move is called crying poverty. If you don’t cry, who knows you’re poor? Su Yuzhou has completely grasped Emperor Zhengying’s mentality because he’s a person who values face.
The eldest Princess has become so poor that she has to sell the furniture from her mansion. If Emperor Zhengying hears about this, how could he tolerate it? It would be a blow to the entire royal family’s reputation.
It’s certain that some silver will be allocated to the Han Princess’s mansion, at least to prevent the Han Princess from selling royal property to the commoners.
The Han Princess, who often made foolish decisions due to his principles in the game, now shows such flexibility. Lu Cheng’an was amazed. However, after pondering for a moment, Lu Cheng’an felt that this matter needed further consideration.
You have to analyze the situation. Crying poverty and selling yourself out is acceptable, but publicly humiliating someone is not. You know that Emperor Zhengying values his reputation, yet you’re crying poverty and selling yourself out using your own identity. What kind of behavior is this? This is exhausting his trust. This time he might give you face, but next time he might not.
You have to learn to preserve your dignity while seeking help. Su Yuzhou smiled, “But if the Han Princess’s mansion is so poor, it will indeed embarrass Emperor Zhengying, and he will likely allocate some silver to me.”
Lu Cheng’an smiled, “But don’t you know, Your Highness, that you’re killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? You’re consuming Emperor Zhengying’s trust.”
Then Lu Cheng’an analyzed the situation and explained it slowly.
Su Yuzhou listened and felt that Lu Cheng’an’s words made sense. If she really takes the Han Princess’s identity to sell things, the royal family’s dignity will indeed be swept away by her, which is a heavy blow to her father’s face.
After all, it is now the ‘golden age’ of Emperor Zhengying, with peace and prosperity within the country. And she, the eldest Princess, has fallen to such a point. Wouldn’t it be a challenge to her father’s authority?
Lu Cheng’an continued, “Your Highness, later, go to the palace and linger in front of the hall, you don’t need to go in, just walk back and forth a few times before returning to the mansion.”
“When you get back, let’s pretend to dress up and go to the streets to sell the calligraphy and paintings from the mansion.”
“By doing this, Emperor Zhengying’s silver will soon be allocated to us.” Lu Cheng’an said confidently.
In terms of tea art, Lu Cheng’an is very confident. After all, he has learned some tricks and skills from the stories on Little Red Book and various forums.
As for green tea, who doesn’t understand it? I even know more than you. Su Yuzhou thought for a moment and immediately understood Lu Cheng’an’s meaning. First of all, the emperor has special intelligence agencies operating in the capital city.
One is the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the other is the Jinlin Guard. The former operates undercover, usually wearing ordinary people’s clothes during peacetime, so it’s hard to tell what they’re up to. The latter is more imposing, often seen when raiding homes or issuing decrees.
Lu Cheng’an asked her to walk back and forth in front of the imperial palace gates, which would alert the spies under her father’s command about the unusual behavior of the Han Princess outside the imperial palace gates. At this point, the Emperor would definitely be puzzled as to why the Han Princess was pacing back and forth in front of the imperial palace gates without entering. When the Emperor becomes suspicious, he will undoubtedly order his spies to follow and investigate the situation. By that time, the Han Princess and Lu Cheng’an, dressed up in disguise, would go to the streets to sell items from the mansion, appearing to be in disguise but actually playing their cards in front of the Emperor.
To put it simply, the emotional journey is: “I’m very poor, but I’m stubborn. I don’t want my father to know about my difficulties. I have no choice but to quietly sell the mansion’s items without embarrassing the royal family.”
In the end, the Emperor is highly likely to feel ashamed and allocate some silver to them again. This tactic is truly profound. However, Su Yuzhou couldn’t help but wonder if she was being shameless by using such tactics.
“Is it… not quite right to do this?” Su Yuzhou hesitated.
Lu Cheng’an sighed. Ancient people are still too naive. This kind of operation, in terms of tea art, is at most the level of a beginner in green tea culture. He could push the boundaries further, but Lu Cheng’an didn’t want to do that. The intensity of manipulation was too high, and he was afraid it might not work in the future.
