Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 95 How much does Imperial Grace cost per kilogram?
When Sister Hua chased after him, Wang Xi had already gone to the back hall to have breakfast with Princess Xue.

"puff!"

As he ate, Wang Xi thought of Daiyu and Baoyu and realized that this could really be considered a prank version of Dream of the Red Chamber. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Princess Xue asked curiously, "Que'er, what are you laughing at?"

"what?"

Wang Xi glanced at Princess Xue and chuckled, "Replying to Mother, I was thinking that now there's another Hua Daiyu in the family."

"Hua Daiyu?"

Princess Xue was taken aback for a moment before realizing what she meant, then shook her head and laughed, "This Sister Hua is really something!"

Wang Xi suddenly turned his eyes and asked, "Mother, where is Sister Hua from? I've never seen her before."

Actually, he had wanted to ask this question for a long time, because even a fool could tell that Sister Hua was no ordinary maid, but he just hadn't found the right opportunity.

Princess Xue smiled and said, "Your sister Hua is my wet nurse's daughter and also my mother's childhood playmate. Later, when my mother married into the Wang family, she went to live in the temple with my wet nurse."

At this point, she sighed softly, "Until recently, my wet nurse passed away. Seeing that she was all alone, my mother invited her to come to our house to take care of you."

So she's Mom's best friend. I can't afford to offend her. Wang Xi nodded thoughtfully.

Princess Xue added, "Que'er, if you don't like Sister Hua, just tell your mother. Don't hold a grudge against her; your mother will handle it."

"How can it be!"

Wang Xi immediately said, "I really like Sister Hua. She takes such good care of me."

He is now gradually understanding the character of the Xue princess. She is always so understanding and reasonable. She will not force you to do anything, but you will always know that you cannot refuse.

"That's good!"

Princess Xue smiled and nodded.

Wang Xi then asked, "What about Wang Facai?"

Princess Xue said, "He used to be a palace guard. He was supposed to be exiled for committing a crime, but it was my mother who pleaded for him, so he was only expelled from the palace. Later, I arranged for him to go to the temple to protect my wet nurse and Sister Hua. This time he came with Sister Hua."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "So he used to be a palace guard. No wonder he doesn't talk much."

Princess Xue asked with a smile, "They've been by your side for some time now, what's your impression of them?"

"pretty good."

Wang Xi smiled and said, "It's just like being part of a family."

Princess Xue nodded and smiled, "That's good! That's good!"

After having breakfast with Princess Xue, Wang Xi went off to school.

When they arrived at the academy, they saw Cui Gu'er and the others standing in the front yard.

"Huh? Why are you all standing here?"

"Brother Que, you've finally arrived."

When Cui Gu'er saw Wang Xi, he immediately went over, glanced at the front hall, and said excitedly, "We have quite a few guests in our courtyard today."

"guest?"

Wang Xi immediately looked up and saw that there were indeed many people standing in the front hall. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were all owners of various restaurants. He thought to himself, "They have arrived earlier than I expected!"

Linghu Baodi chuckled and said, "Sir, you are truly a master strategist. These people really are coming to us with money in hand, begging for our help."

Xue Jun said, "Brother Que, the master just said that you have been in charge of this matter, so he wants you to talk to them."

Yang Hun immediately said, "Brother Que, you have to help us get revenge. They looked down on us back then."

"Is that even a question?"

Wang Xi nodded. "We must vent our anger. Just wait and see. I'll make them suffer in silence and have them obediently hand over the money."

"Then you should go quickly."

"Then I'll go over and talk to them first."

Upon entering the hall, Zhang Huai, the owner of the white-handed shop, was the first to step forward and ingratiate himself, saying, "Zhang Huai greets Young Master Wang."

"Yo!"

Wang Xi glanced at him sideways and said sarcastically, "Isn't this Old Zhang from Zhang Baishou Shop? What strange wind blew you here today?"

Zhang Huai looked slightly embarrassed.

This is truly a case of offering a warm welcome only to be met with a cold shoulder.

Chen Haihong of Baihualou did not notice anything amiss and, fearing he would fall behind, quickly stepped forward and said, "Chen Haihong of Baihualou greets Young Master Wang."

Wang Xi glanced at him and pretended to be puzzled, saying, "Where did the sun rise today? What are you merchants doing here? You reek of money; don't pollute this sacred academy."

Chen Haihong said with a fawning smile, "We have learned that you are a man of great righteousness and sympathize with the poor and needy. Therefore, you have encouraged your students to go out and perform charity shows. I am not talented enough to do so, but I am willing to follow you and do good deeds together. I wonder if I have the honor of doing so."

"What do you mean?" Wang Xi asked, looking bewildered.

"Uh."

Chen Haihong was also dumbfounded.

Haven't I made myself clear enough?
Zhang Huai gave Chen Haihong a disdainful look. "Do you even know how to deal with these spoiled brats? What's with all this talk about doing good deeds and righteousness? You have to say nice things." He immediately put on a fawning expression and said, "It's like this, the Dream of the Red Chamber that you young gentlemen have mentioned is truly wonderful. Nowadays, everyone is talking about it on the streets and alleys."

We wonder if our small shop has the honor of inviting you all to a benefit performance. Rest assured, the amount will be substantial; after all, this is a charitable act, and we're willing to donate more than we can.

"Is that so?" Wang Xi chuckled twice and said, "But I've heard that your shop doesn't really welcome students from Wuming Academy."

Instantly, everyone distanced themselves from Zhang Huai.

"Misunderstand!"

Zhang Huai immediately exclaimed excitedly, "This is absolutely a misunderstanding! Which scoundrel spread this rumor in front of you young masters? When have I ever disliked you young masters? Young Master Wang, you must be the judge for me!"

Wang Xi said, "Oh, it's that Zhang who's talking about Master Zhang."

"Master Zhang?" Zhang Huai couldn't catch his breath and collapsed to the ground.

"Ouch!"

Zhang Huai quickly got up, stomped his foot hard, and went to Wang Xi's side, crying and whining, "Young Master Wang, I've always been very good to you. You forgot to pay at my shop, but I never said a word. Please, please don't make things difficult for me."

"Stay away from me, don't smear your snot on me."

Wang Xi sat down in the middle and said, "Our performance here is entirely to repay His Majesty's grace."

Therefore, we don't actually object to performing at other restaurants for charity; as you said, it's ultimately doing good deeds and relieving your burdens. By the way, do you know how we collaborate with Yi Xian Jue?

“No problem, no problem,” Chen Haihong said quickly. “How much? Young master, name your price.”

He had already found out that it cost 1,000 coins per game, which was five times the original price, but it still wasn't much money.

Wang Xi frowned: "Money? This is doing good deeds, repaying the Emperor's grace, not doing business. Talking about money would damage this righteousness. You merchants are really only interested in profit and forget righteousness for profit. Hmm, that's about it."

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Chen Haihong nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, secretly groaning that doing business with this group of spoiled brats was going to be the death of him!
This time, no one dared to speak.

The more you say, the more mistakes you'll make!

Wang Xifeng said calmly, "How about this, you can just give us your numbers, and we will make an assessment to see if you are truly doing good and how much respect you have for His Majesty."

"???"

Upon hearing this, all the merchants present were dumbfounded.

Yes. How much respect do you have for His Majesty?

Isn't your ascent a bit exaggerated?

Seeing that they remained silent, Wang Xi asked, "Do you all understand?"

The crowd remained silent.

Do you understand? Do you dare to understand? How much money is needed to express respect for the Emperor? You tell us a number, we dare not!

Is this a business transaction? This is outright robbery!
"I can't help you if you don't understand. We still have to go to the Yixian Jue charity performance. Please go ahead."

Wang Xi directly ordered them to leave.

These merchants seemed unwilling to linger; they bowed respectfully and hurriedly departed.

After they left, Cui Gu'er and the others immediately filed in.

"Brother Que, your move was absolutely brilliant!" Linghu Baodi exclaimed excitedly. "How much money could express respect for His Majesty? It would skin them alive!"

Yang Hun snorted, "Skinning them alive isn't enough; we need to make them bleed and look down on us."

"That's almost it."

Wang Xi laughed and said, "You all need to practice harder, because you'll be going out for charity performances soon."

“We can’t wait any longer,” Li Tong said immediately.

The popularity of "Dream of the Red Chamber" these days is such that anyone who owns it gains prestige, and dreams of performing at a charity event in a restaurant and stealing the spotlight.

After leaving the nameless academy, the group of restaurant owners did not rush to disperse, but instead gathered together and began to complain.

"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have come."

"That's right, who knew that Mr. Nameless would let that gull-headed vulture talk to us."

"This talk has really caused trouble."

"Oh dear! Let's not talk about that now. We're already here, so let's think about what to do. We've gone this far, and if we don't support this, it won't be a business deal; it'll be a matter of life and death!"

"That's right, it's just a storyteller, how did it get involved in respecting His Majesty? This is really going to be a disaster."

As they talked, everyone couldn't help but look at Zhang Huai.

“Brother Zhang, you’ve seen a lot in the East Market and are quite familiar with them. What do you think we should do about this?” a merchant asked.

Zhang Huai frowned and said, "Since we've come this far, we should at least give you a number, otherwise we might get ourselves into trouble. As for how much to give?"

He put his hands into his sleeves, pondered for a moment, and said, “Let’s do it according to our own abilities. Let’s double the amount we usually spend on performances and then report it.”

In this way, they can't find anything wrong with it.

"double?"

One shop owner seemed to think it was a bit too much.

Even a single performance of "A Fresh Delight" only costs a thousand coins. Normally, the courtesans they hire cost far more than that, and the price is double that.

Zhang Huai said, "You can't calculate it like that. In the current situation, if it weren't for Dream of the Red Chamber, it's not that the income would be the same, but it might be lower. In addition, there's the respect for His Majesty, so this money isn't wasted."

Chen Haihong nodded and said, "Brother Zhang is right. We should pay for it. As long as those spoiled brats don't cause any trouble, we won't lose out."

(End of this chapter)