Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

The next morning.

The Dragon Scale Guards, with their black iron cavalry, escorted three spacious and unassuming carriages as they drove away from Ji Province in a grand procession.

They continued their journey towards Kyoto.

It was midday, and the sun was scorching. Gu Mingyue was leaning against the inner wall of the carriage, which was covered with ice bamboo mats, and was resting with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, a crisp notification sound rang in my mind.

[Miscellaneous Completion of the Extravagant Spending Mission: Two hundred thousand taels of stolen silver spent within one month, mission perfectly accomplished!]

[Reward: 1 copy of "Future Headlines" newsletter]

Gu Mingyue suddenly opened her eyes.

He immediately opened the tabloid to check the news.

In the void, a translucent, ice-blue newspaper that only she could see slowly unfolded.

She only glanced at the first line of bold, black-lettered headings.

His relaxed expression froze instantly, and his brows furrowed.

After finally enduring the long wait, the group stopped to rest in a shady grove of trees, and Gu Mingyue couldn't wait to call her brother.

"Peach branch." Gu Mingyue lowered her voice.

Taozhi was sitting opposite, dozing off like a chick pecking at rice.

Startled by the sound, I quickly sat up straight.

"What's wrong, Miss?"

Gu Mingyue said, "Go to the front and call my brother over. Tell him I have something extremely urgent to discuss and ask him to come into the car to talk to me."

"Okay, sure."

Seeing that her mistress looked serious, Taozhi dared not delay.

He quickly lifted the carriage curtain and got out of the car.

Before long, a series of slightly hurried footsteps could be heard outside the carriage.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Gu Mingli bent down and crawled into his sister's car.

As soon as she entered, she nervously looked at Gu Mingyue and touched her sister's forehead with the back of her hand to check her temperature.

"Mingyue, are you alright? You're not suffering from heatstroke, are you? Why did you call me over so urgently? What's wrong?"

Gu Mingyue pulled his hand down and shook her head with a solemn expression.

"Brother, I'm fine. Don't bother with anything, go take a look at this 'Future Headlines'."

"Another new message?"

Gu Mingli sat down next to his sister.

Focus your gaze, and an ice-blue system interface appears in the air.

One month later, a mysterious force appeared in Kyoto. They employed numerous thugs and storytellers in teahouses, spreading gossip in taverns…

The same message was spreading like wildfire throughout the city: the national treasury was empty, with only a paltry 300,000 taels of silver remaining in the Ministry of Revenue's accounts! The imperial court couldn't even afford disaster relief funds, let alone stabilize the impending surge in grain prices!

The news spread rapidly, plunging the capital city into panic. People began scrambling to buy and hoard food, causing grain prices in the capital to skyrocket.

Even more seriously, people in the various prefectures of Jiangnan, fearing famine, began panic-selling their ancestral property at rock-bottom prices, and some even signed indenture contracts to obtain life-saving grain.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Cui family and other powerful nobles seized tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and tens of thousands of people by taking in desperate tenant farmers.

Other powerful clans followed suit, expanding their retinues. Six months later, the registered population of the Great Yong Dynasty had sharply decreased.

Powerful aristocratic clans rivaled the imperial court, plunging the Great Yong Dynasty into an era of division and war.

Gu Mingli stared at those few lines of text, his eyes widening slightly.

"So it turns out that old fox Cui Yuan wasn't just trying to control grain prices and profit from the national crisis. He also wanted to use public opinion to completely undermine the court's credibility among the people!"

Gu Mingyue nodded and gave a serious summary.

"They are exploiting information asymmetry to create panic and plunder population and land without bloodshed."

"Land and population were the two most important things for people's livelihood in ancient times. When tenant farmers had no other choice, they could only move to the manors of powerful families, sign indentures, and become their servants and retainers. Their status disappeared from the official household register."

"Over time, these people stopped recognizing the emperor and only recognized their master, becoming the private soldiers of powerful clans!"

"With this shift in power, the imperial court's military manpower was depleted, while powerful clans became militarily strong."

Gu Mingli became increasingly alarmed as he spoke, and he suddenly turned to look at Gu Mingyue.

"Mingyue, this isn't an ordinary business war. This is a powerful clan preparing to seize power!"

"They're forcing Huang Jiaojiao to give in!"

The carriage fell silent instantly.

Gu Mingyue took a deep breath and analyzed the situation calmly.

"In this era of extreme information isolation, debunking rumors is always the most difficult task."

"A rumor can spread from a teahouse to a restaurant, and then from a restaurant to a market, and can spread throughout the entire city of Kyoto in just three days."

"The people simply couldn't understand the traditional imperial proclamations for reassuring the public, and the speed at which the government refuted rumors could never keep up with the mouths of these people who spread them."

"but,"

Gu Mingyue changed the subject, her aura becoming assertive.

"Pujitang's network of shops now covers the north and south. Our channels can sell goods, collect grain, and naturally we can also hire people to publish public opinion."

"When it comes to grassroots infiltration, we are better suited than those powerful clans to spread information on a large scale."

"That's right!"

Gu Mingli sat up straight and slapped his hand.

"We must strike first! We must not let them lead us by the nose."

"We must use a faster, wider, and more credible method to deliver the truth!"

The brother and sister exchanged a glance, and as if on cue, blurted out in unison:

"Start a newspaper!"

Excitement shone in Gu Mingyue's eyes.

"To create a newspaper for all people in the world!"

Having said that, the brother and sister exchanged a glance.

Okay, here's the question.

Although paper existed in this era, there was no efficient papermaking technology at all. Not only was paper expensive, but there was also no technology for mass printing!

Relying on manual copying? Even if you found ten poor, pedantic scholars who dislocated their wrists from copying, they still couldn't produce a hundred copies in a day.

Unless... he can come up with modern printing equipment and pair it with a professional publicity team.

Gu Mingli was frowning, rapidly calculating in his mind the materials needed to improve papermaking and the procedures for a simple movable type printing press.

Suddenly, the system notification sounded in his ear, causing his blood pressure to spike.

[Ding! The host's strong desire to protect the client has been detected. Palace Intrigue Mission - Tender Affection]

Gu Mingli: "..."

What the hell is this?! So incredibly sweet!

What does this palace intrigue have to do with protecting the client?!

The system automatically ignored Gu Mingli's protests and continued to issue tasks.

The higher one climbs, the colder it gets. As a close confidant to a client, one must understand their needs and share their concerns.

[Task Requirements: Please imitate Xiao Ye's every move for five consecutive hours to experience the hardships and loneliness of an emperor.]

[Rewards upon completion: 1 complete papermaking process manual, 1 printing press design drawing (including detailed drawings of rotary typesetting plates and hand-cranked/foot-operated printing presses)]

[Punishment for failure: Change into a pink imperial concubine's dress, dance the "Dance of the Startled Swan" before the emperor, and shout three times with deep emotion, "Your Majesty, please treat all your favors equally!"]

Gu Mingli: (╬￣俣)=○

You big jerk!

Also, how long is five hours?

Ten whole hours!!

This means that from now until late at night, he has to stick to Xiao Ye like a leech, never leaving his side.

He imitated his every move like a pervert.

Gu Mingyue was picking up her teacup to drink water.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his own brother's once spirited face, which instantly turned into a wooden stake that had been struck by lightning.

Out of curiosity, I leaned over.

"Brother? What's wrong? What kind of trouble is your system causing this time?"

Gu Mingli looked at his sister with a sense of utter despair.

"The system told me to imitate Xiao Ye's every move for ten hours."

"puff--!"

Gu Mingyue had just picked up her teacup and taken a sip of water to calm her nerves when she heard this, and immediately spat the water all over the car floor.

Gu Mingli stared resentfully at the back of her head: "...What are you laughing at?"

"I didn't, cough."

Gu Mingyue covered her lips with the back of her hand and coughed, trying to cover up her misunderstanding.

"That insane mission must have really generous rewards, right?"

Gu Mingli gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "A complete papermaking process manual, and printing press design drawings."

Upon hearing about these two crucial items that were vital to the newspaper's survival, Gu Mingyue's smile vanished instantly.

She gazed intently into Gu Mingli's almond-shaped eyes.

"Brother, for the sake of all living beings, for the sake of fighting against powerful clans, for the sake of protecting our clients. Brother, I believe in you!"

Even if you're seen as a pervert, you're still the greatest pervert!

"Go, Pikachu!"