The prince is more stable

Chapter 319: Money Gone
It has to be said that his son opened the door to a new world for Zhao Hao.

It turns out that making money is so simple and easy. All you have to do is come up with some excuses and hold more weddings and funerals.

It’s not that Zhao Hao hadn’t thought about it before, but eating like that was too ugly and Zhao Hao couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Now that his son has taken the lead in doing this, Zhao Hao suddenly feels that the so-called moral bottom line can actually be lowered a little.

"Your birthday will be next month, and I will take a concubine the month after that. From now on, I will take a concubine every month, and hold a banquet every month. Wow!" Zhao Hao imagined with longing in his eyes.

Zhao Xiaoqian was speechless and sighed, "Father, we will plunder the entire powerful and influential people in Bianjing City. They may give us face once or twice, but will they still come after the fourth or fifth time?"

"Are the powerful people in Bian Jing so ignorant of the ways of the world?" Zhao Hao frowned.

"This is not social etiquette, this is robbing someone by putting a knife to their neck..." Zhao Xiaoqian sighed helplessly.

"So, our family's next income will have to wait until my birthday next year?"

Zhao Xiaoqian opened his mouth, wanting to tell him that birthday parties are not held every year. It’s not that they can’t be held, but that no one with a little shame would do it.

Zhao Hao's expression suddenly became very lost. The way to make money that came to his mind suddenly turned out to be impossible to realize.

Do I have to just sell snow salt and tea honestly?

Which honest person in this world can get rich?

Zhao Xiaoqian advised, "Father, our family is already very wealthy. Not to mention the palace's other industries, just the snow salt and tea alone bring in a large amount of income every year. There is no need to think about crooked ways."

Zhao Hao sighed, "What's the point of being rich? ... The royal palace has such huge expenses, but our family's income is still far from enough, and the palace treasury is almost empty."

Zhao Xiaoqian gasped and said in a lost voice, "The warehouse is almost empty again? Impossible!"

Zhao Xiaoqian remembered the money matter very clearly.

The profits of Snow Salt were settled on a quarterly basis, as was the case with Tea. He clearly remembered that just last month, Snow Salt received a net profit of 300,000 taels. The tea business had just begun, and the profit was not large, but it was still several tens of thousands taels.

The silver has only been in the warehouse for a month and it’s empty again?

"Father, more than 300,000 taels, spent in just one month? It must be that the accountant in the palace falsified the accounts and embezzled the money! I will ask the Imperial City Bureau to investigate!" Zhao Xiaoqian said angrily.

Zhao Hao grabbed him, looking a little embarrassed: "No, it has nothing to do with the accountant, I spent it."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him in shock: "Hundreds of thousands of taels, how did you spend it?"

"I gambled, went to brothels, knocked on widows' doors at night, and bought a few acres of good farmland... I guess that's how I spent it all."

Zhao Xiaoqian was still shocked. He didn't know what he was thinking about, so he said cautiously, "I have a few shares in the snow salt and tea. I have a few shares in the profits. You won't also..."

Zhao Hao said earnestly, "You and I are like father and son. Talking about money will hurt our relationship..."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked ashen.

He understood the meaning of the words. His father had indeed spent the money that belonged to him.

At this moment, Zhao Xiaoqian felt like the sky had collapsed.

Sitting opposite Zhao Hao in a daze, Zhao Xiaoqian had dull eyes, like a dead fish.

Zhao Hao patted his shoulder and tried to comfort him: "Money is something outside of your body. You should spend it while you are still alive. Otherwise, you may encounter an accident tomorrow and die, but your money is still there. Ah——"

God damn...

Zhao Xiaoqian gritted his teeth.

Really, you are my biological father. If it were someone else, he would have been beaten to death by now.

Now there is a question that I can’t figure out. How did Huo Di spend more than 300,000 taels of silver in just one month?

Visiting brothels? Even if you slept with all the top courtesans in Bianjing, it wouldn't cost that much.

A gift for a widow? No widow could afford such a large gift. Zhao Xiaoqian had only spent tens of thousands of taels to buy the five-story mansion in Fanglin Garden for his mother, Feng.

As for the gambling, it was even more ridiculous. No bastard in Bianjing City dared to let Zhao Hao lose so much. Even if we ignore his status as a prince, Zhao Xiaoqian, the head of the Imperial City Bureau, was not someone to be trifled with. Even the prime minister of the time was wary of him. Who in Bianjing City dared to set a trap for Zhao Hao?

Such a large sum of money was spent inexplicably. Zhao Hao obviously didn't want to tell the truth, and Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't send him to the ice well and torture him...

Zhao Xiaoqian felt very uncomfortable. He found that life was just like that and it was meaningless... "Child... I'm going back to my room to sleep." Zhao Xiaoqian stood up and said goodbye like a walking corpse.

Zhao Hao patted his shoulder kindly and said, "Go to sleep. When you wake up, you will find that life is still beautiful, but the money is gone."

Zhao Xiaoqian's cheek twitched slightly.

The person is alive but the money is gone...I can't see how life is beautiful at all!
The only consolation now is that the palace earned two hundred thousand taels from tonight’s birthday banquet.

Zhao Xiaoqian was cautious and decided not to let his father squander the money.

…It’s my turn to splurge!

…………

When I returned to the bedroom, it was almost Yin time.

Zhao Xiaoqian pushed the door open carefully, only to find Di Ying sitting alone under a solitary lamp, dozing off with one hand on her cheek.

Obviously, she was waiting for him.

Di Ying seemed to hear some noise in a trance. She opened her eyes and saw Zhao Xiaoqian entering the room. She quickly stood up and went forward to greet him.

"Master, you have worked hard. Are you tired? I will ask the maid to bring some hot water so that you can soak your feet and relax before going to sleep."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and shook his head: "I'm a little busy tonight and was delayed by something. You don't have to wait for me. It's easy to catch a cold if you fall asleep sitting at the table."

"My husband hasn't come home yet, and I can't sleep well..." Di Ying said as she took off his clothes and ordered the maid to bring hot water to wash his face and hands.

"Sir, tonight's birthday banquet is so lively. I haven't seen such a lively scene in a long time. I also got to know many women from powerful families."

The couple's quiet and calm conversation, their chatter about daily life, was filled with a warm and reassuring feeling.

After washing up, Di Ying pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed, and she knelt behind him to massage his shoulders.

"I also saw that graceful girl today. She is truly stunningly beautiful and her singing is also beautiful... Humph! My lord, you have good taste!" Di Ying couldn't help but increase the strength of the shoulder rubbing.

Zhao Xiaoqian grinned with pleasure, the force was just right.

"Don't be jealous of these nonsense. Niaoniao and I are innocent and there is no affair between us." Zhao Xiaoqian replied.

Di Ying was stunned: "Really? My husband has been to Zuihuayin so many times, didn't you treat her..."

"Superficial! Who says something has to happen when you go to a brothel? Can't I just drink and chat?"

Zhao Xiaoqian spoke righteously and sternly. His definition of "innocence" was that as long as one had not gone to jail, then one was innocent, even if one had been outside.

As for how Di Ying understands the word "innocence", that is her business.

"From now on, there will be no more Niao Niao in Bianjing City." Zhao Xiaoqian sighed.

Di Ying paused while rubbing his shoulders. "Why do you say that, sir?"

"Do you know there's a birthday party tonight and why I disappeared in the middle of it?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

"I don't know who I am."

Zhao Xiaoqian hesitated for a moment, thinking that Niao Niao had already fallen into the trap and the Liao Kingdom's spies had also been captured. Telling his wife about it would not be considered a leak.

So Zhao Xiaoqian told everything that happened tonight from beginning to end.

After hearing this, Di Ying opened her eyes wide in shock, covered her mouth with her slender hands, and looked incredulous.

"Miss Niaoniao is actually... a spy from the Liao Kingdom? Oh my God!"

Di Ying was stunned for a moment, then suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, grinning, "Master, you're even more formidable. Niao Niao hid so secretly, yet you found them all and caught them all in one fell swoop..."

"By the way, how did you discover Niao Niao's true identity?"

"It's very simple. She has a tattoo on the inside of her thigh with Khitan characters that says 'safe travel'..." Zhao Xiaoqian said nonsense without changing his expression.

(End of this chapter)