"Um!"
Helian Jue coldly uttered a sound from his nose, thus accepting the Fourth Prince as his subordinate.
Fourth Prince: ...You think I'm stupid, but I think you have a sharp tongue and a bad temper.
Hmph, you're just lucky.
He was born as the eldest son of the emperor, and because the empress quarreled with the emperor, he was adopted by the empress and became a noble half-legitimate son.
He served as the crown prince for over twenty years, relying on the influence of Empress Ashina's family.
He was deposed and exiled to Lingnan, but by sheer luck, he married a wonderful princess.
The Fourth Prince hadn't forgotten that he actually lost to Princess Xie, not to this arrogant older brother!
"I, I'm willing to accept the consequences of my bet."
However, one of you shouldn't be too arrogant.
In the end, aren't you still relying on your wife?
Helian Jue glanced at the Fourth Prince: ...You little Fourth Prince, what kind of look is that?
Besides, so what if he's all alone and relies on his wife?
I'm so proud of my wife!
Xie Yuan and Princess Xu: ...
The two men stared speechlessly at the brothers exchanging barbs.
They really wanted to say: "Don't make fun of your younger brother, you're all the same. What makes someone fifty steps more noble than someone a hundred steps?"
Princess Xu was too lazy to waste words with her simple-minded husband, so she simply grabbed Xie Yuan's arm again and said, "Sister, although our prince lost, I'm still curious, what did you intend to use as a wager in the first place?"
Princess Xu could not inquire until the outcome of the bet was determined.
But now that the outcome is decided and the Fourth Prince has accepted his defeat, Princess Xu wants to ask him more questions.
Of course, she wasn't asking this out of any ulterior motive; she had a gut feeling—
Regardless of whether her lord wins or loses, she will keep the bet that Sister Yuan promised.
"Yes, what kind of secret recipe is it that can make you rich overnight? You said it's not a sugar-making recipe, so what is it?"
The fourth prince was also curious.
A few months ago, when the bet was made, the Fourth Prince had even guessed that it was a secret sugar-making recipe.
But Princess Xu rejected it on the spot.
Because apart from the fourth prince, everyone saw the "end of the road" for brown sugar.
Sure enough, not long after they made the bet, the imperial court issued a "sugar ban".
The sage decreed that, apart from the imperial estates and a few designated imperial merchants, no state or county was allowed to privately produce sugar, let alone encroach on fertile land to grow sugarcane.
The sugar ban is even stricter than the alcohol ban.
The toasting order at most prohibited workshops from brewing wine, while the sugar ban prohibited even the planting of sugarcane.
The once-popular brown sugar business was instantly cut in half, and countless wealthy merchants cried out in despair, yet dared not defy the imperial court's ban.
Sugar production is no longer a highly profitable industry for getting rich, and the secret recipe for sugar production does not seem to be a money-making machine.
"Salt!"
Xie Yuan knew many secrets to getting rich, such as salt production and pearl farming.
However, these must be done one by one.
Even with the help of the Fourth Prince, Xie Yuan didn't want to be too hasty.
Haste makes waste!
"Salt?"
The fourth prince was somewhat disappointed. "Who doesn't know how to boil salt? Do we need some secret recipe?"
It's just boiling seawater in an iron pot; fishermen on the coast know that.
"If you're ignorant, just admit it! Don't show it!"
Helian Jue glanced at the Fourth Prince with disdain, as if he were looking at a fool.
Fourth Prince: ...Helian Jue, are you calling me stupid?
Princess Xu wanted to rub her forehead.
Although she was slightly disappointed when she heard the word "salt".
Because she also knew how to boil salt.
However, she trusts Sister Yuan.
If it were just ordinary boiled salt, the older sister wouldn't have specifically used it as a bet.
She also said, "Making a fortune every day."
Salt may be extremely profitable, but it still requires costs.
Iron pots, firewood, and labor—which of these doesn't cost money?
"Your Highness, please don't speak yet, listen to what your elder sister has to say!"
Princess Xu glared at the Fourth Prince, and seeing his still resentful expression, reminded him, "Boiling salt isn't that simple; it also needs to be filtered!"
We need to remove all the toxins from it.
Unprocessed sea salt is coarse salt, and if not handled properly, it can cause illness.
After hearing what Princess Xu said, the Fourth Prince nodded thoughtfully. "So, sister-in-law, you're going to gamble with the filtration technology?"
But there were still no surprises.
It's not a unique new recipe.
The word "disappointment" was clearly written on the Fourth Prince's face.
Princess Xu's hands were a little itchy.
Xie Yuan laughed. Although the Fourth Prince was a bit slow-witted, his words were not very pleasing.
But he is an honest person.
What you're thinking will show on your face.
Isn't this better than a hypocrite who is all sweet on the outside but bitter on the inside?
"It's not about boiling salt, but about sun-drying it!"
"My recipe doesn't require an iron pot or wood; it only requires some manual labor."
Just as Princess Xu had guessed, Xie Yuan would tell Princess Xu the secret recipe for boiling salt, regardless of whether she won the bet or not.
Because this cannot be hidden.
Although Helian Jue had conquered most of Lingnan, he still couldn't achieve complete secrecy.
There are always people secretly infiltrating.
Even the emperor in the capital was not so well-informed, as he was far away.
The fourth prince and his wife lived in Yongzhou, which was next door.
If they want to uncover any secrets, they can always find out something by spending more time and manpower.
Since it's something that can't be kept secret forever, we might as well just take it out voluntarily.
This way, they could also bring the Prince of Yong's mansion into their camp, giving Helian Jue another ally.
Xie Yuan took out a piece of paper and started writing and drawing on it.
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