Chapter 36: How About a Bet?

Chapter 36: How About a Bet?

Outside the city, Xiao Ce personally handed out porridge to the disaster victims.

While distributing the porridge, he also cheered them on.

“Do not worry! Since This Prince has seen your plight, This Prince will not stand by idly! I will not let you starve or freeze again. This Prince is already thinking of ways!”

The disaster victims, who had been like walking corpses, saw a glimmer of hope return to their eyes.

…

Yin Pan’er and Nie Bing finished the tasks Xiao Ce had assigned them.

Before entering the city earlier, Nie Bing noticed that many people were not just hungry, but also sick.

She suggested finding some physicians to go out and treat those disaster victims for free.

Of course, the money for this came from Nie Bing herself.

And so, outside the city gate, some handed out porridge, others treated the sick, and others boiled medicine.

There were also some who voluntarily joined in to help, assisting with cooking the porridge and medicine.

These people looked at Xiao Ce as if he were their savior.

Xiao Ce realized that his plan to take these people to the Four Northern Desert Prefectures was half complete.

…

At that moment, in a dense forest some distance from Xiao Ce, over a hundred people were hiding.

These people were all dressed in black night-clothes.

“Branch Leader, do we attack?”

“Attack my foot! Can’t you see he’s doing a good deed?”

“Who the hell said this prince was a waste? Dammit, if the Great Xiao Kingdom had a few more wastes like him, we wouldn’t have been driven to this point!”

“Might he be putting on an act?”

“Damn it, you pig-brain! Even if it’s an act, being able to keep it up like this makes him a good man! Aren’t those disaster victims actually getting help?”

“That’s right. This waste guaranteed he wouldn’t abandon these disaster victims… If he goes back on his word, we kill him then!”

“So what do we do now? If we don’t kill him, we can’t report back to the Cult Leader!”

The lead black-clad man gave another hard slap to the head of the person beside him. “You pig-brain! The Cult Leader told us to kill that incompetent and foolish Eldest Prince. The one before us is the benevolent King of Northern Desert!”

“Besides, in the eyes of these disaster victims, the King of Northern Desert is a savior. If we go out to assassinate him now, believe me, those victims would drown us in spit before we even got close!”

Another black-clad person on the side nodded repeatedly. “Right, Branch Leader, let’s just watch for now. The Cult Leader told us to kill him, but didn’t say when! Let’s see how things go. If he’s truly helping the victims, who the hell would provide disaster relief if we kill him?”

…

Xu Zhiyuan, the county magistrate of Anhua City, sent the merchants away.

He heard that Xiao Ce was still outside distributing porridge.

So, he called a few yamen guards and went out of the city.

It was already the middle of the night. Xu Zhiyuan saw Xiao Ce still busy personally helping with the porridge distribution.

He was somewhat surprised and quickly hurried forward with small, quick steps.

Xiao Ce also saw Xu Zhiyuan approaching from a distance.

Rolling up his sleeves, he greeted him. “Minister Xu, why have you come at such a late hour?”

Xu Zhiyuan bowed with hands clasped. “Prince, why are you still doing this yourself? If you lack people, you could ask me, your subordinate. Although I cannot offer money or grain, I can provide some manpower!”

“Minister Xu, it’s no trouble. Seeing the people suffer so, how could This Prince simply watch? Doing what I can makes me feel better inside.” Xiao Ce raised his voice slightly, his intention clearly for the disaster victims to hear.

A flash of guilt crossed Xu Zhiyuan’s face.

“Minister Xu, do you have something to discuss with me?”

Xu Zhiyuan nodded awkwardly. “There is indeed a matter. I wonder if Prince could step aside for a word?”

Xiao Ce wiped his hands and nodded, having already guessed Xu Zhiyuan’s purpose.

They walked to the side. As Xiao Ce expected, Xu Zhiwan relayed the merchants’ requests.

Xiao Ce was overjoyed inside; the trap he set, and these people had obediently walked right into it.

He put on an expression of extreme difficulty.

“This Prince does indeed have some connection with that Immortal. That Immortal did give me some of those treasures! However, This Prince originally prepared those things for my own use and never thought of selling them.”

Xu Zhiyuan nodded. “Alright! I also thought such treasures would not be easily sold by the Prince.”

Saying this, Xu Zhiyuan took out from his pocket what Xiao Ce had gifted him.

“Prince, this is what you gave me, your subordinate. I didn’t know its worth before, but now that I know the price, I absolutely cannot accept it! My Madam has already used some of that Snowflake Frost Sugar. I will later compensate according to…”

Xiao Ce’s face darkened. “What? You want to give This Prince money? If we speak of value, these things can be priceless! They can also be worthless. If you insist on returning them to me, This Prince will not consider you a friend!”

Seeing Xu Zhiyuan’s distress, Xiao Ce said, “Have you already sent the memorial to the Capital?”

Xu Zhiyuan bowed. “I report to the Prince, it has been sent. The disaster is like a fire; there’s not a moment to lose. I used both Pigeon Post and fast horses. If the Pigeon Post goes smoothly, His Majesty should know by the morning court tomorrow.”

Xiao Ce nodded. “Minister Xu, go notify those merchants. This Prince can sell some Tianshan Snow Salt and Tianshan Snow Sugar!”

Xu Zhiyuan looked utterly astonished. “Prince, you will sell them?”

Xiao Ce found the phrasing odd and added, “Sell that snow sugar and snow salt.”

“Although I was previously the Crown Prince, I did not have much savings. Before, my Imperial Father ordered me to recruit soldiers myself but gave no funds! I had to manage everything myself. I am indeed short of money, and now with so many disaster victims… Since I promised to take care of them, I need a large amount of money to buy provisions.”

“Although that snow sugar and snow salt are items from an Immortal, even if I ate these things and lived a thousand years, ten thousand years! If the people of our Great Xiao Kingdom cannot even fill their bellies, what meaning would it have? I said these things, in the end, are just salt and sugar. They can be worthless, or they can be priceless!”

“This Prince believes that if they can be used to save countless lives, they are priceless!”

Xiao Ce spoke with a grave expression.

He knew very well what to say to whom, and even more what kind of talk certain people liked to hear.

Xu Zhiyuan gazed at Xiao Ce with fervent admiration in his eyes and quickly bowed again. “Prince, your righteousness is great!”

Xiao Ce nodded. “Very well, you go make the arrangements! This Prince wishes to sell this salt and sugar through an auction. Moreover, the proceeds from the auction will be used for disaster relief in the joint name of This Prince and the successful bidders, as a way for those business owners to accumulate some merit!”

Xu Zhiyuan bowed. “Good, Prince. I will go and arrange it immediately.”

Xu Zhiyuan finished speaking, bowed, and prepared to leave. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

Xiao Ce looked at him. “Minister Xu, is there another problem?”

Xu Zhiyuan spoke with a solemn face. “Your Highness the Prince, you should not have resigned from the position of Crown Prince!”

“If I were trapped in that cage, I couldn’t even protect myself. As long as I can do things for the people, what status I hold is unimportant!” Xiao Ce replied.

Xu Zhiyuan’s expression shifted slightly. He gave Xiao Ce another respectful bow with hands clasped. “Heaven has eyes, to let our Great Xiao have someone like you, Prince.”

…

After Xu Zhiyuan left, Yin Pan’er and Nie Bing approached.

“Prince, did it work?”

Xiao Ce laughed. “Yes, it worked! You two have contributed greatly this time! Just wait to collect the money tomorrow.”

“Will it really sell at the price you mentioned tomorrow, Prince?”

Xiao Ce said, “One thousand taels per jin, that’s the minimum. You must understand, Anhua City is the most prosperous city in the entire Great Xiao Kingdom. It gathers the largest merchants from all over Great Xiao.”

“Will there really be big fools willing to buy it? They have money, but they’re not stupid!” Nie Bing said.

Xiao Ce responded to Nie Bing. “You are right. I underestimated the poverty of the common people. And you have indeed underestimated the wealth of the wealthy! What do wealthy people fear most? They fear illness, they fear death. If they could exchange money for life, they would pay any amount…”

Xiao Ce was speaking from the experience of a past life.

Before he crossed over, if he had just taken good care of his health, he would probably be lying around with fancy cars and beauties now, not crossing over to live such a miserable life.

Wealthy people understand wealthy people best.

Seeing the skeptical looks on the two girls’ faces, Xiao Ce flashed his trademark sly, charming smile. “How about… a bet?”

The two girls’ expressions changed dramatically, and they spoke in unison, “No bet!”

…