Chapter 101 Hairpin Party
These identities each have their own price range, with the price of the hidden identity exceeding the affordability of most players.
Players who bought the hidden identity are highly likely to not be able to recoup their investment in this instance; the money they earn over several months may not even be as much as the money they spent on the identity.
Coincidentally, Fang Zhuo never considers the price when buying things.
According to the rule of the dungeon world where ghost money is supreme, all goods here are always priced according to value. He hardly hesitated and directly checked the box to hide his identity.
The next moment, he noticed that the material of his clothes seemed to have changed.
Through the faint light filtering in from outside, he saw that he was wearing a bright yellow robe with a five-clawed golden dragon embroidered on the chest.
Who draped the yellow robe over my body?
Just as he was draped in the yellow robe, the floating screen in front of him changed again:
[Congratulations to player BF0188 for acquiring the hidden identity: The Young Emperor with Real Power]
[Welcome to the instance: The Great Yong Dynasty]
[Total number of players: 1300]
[On the second day of the ninth lunar month, young girls adorn themselves with flowers. Deep within the palace, Princess Yurong, the emperor's most beloved daughter, having somehow heard a rumor circulating among the common people, insists on holding a flower-adorning party in the palace on the second day of the ninth lunar month.]
[All players, please work together to help the princess fulfill her wish. The maximum reward for this instance is 800 Hell Coins. The final reward will be calculated based on each player's success in winning over the princess after the Flower-Hairing Festival ends.]
[While pursuing the princess, players should remember to strictly fulfill their assigned roles.]
[If a player's appearance does not match their actual identity, it will arouse the suspicion of the dungeon boss. Once the suspicion value is full, it will directly trigger the boss's attack mechanism.]
[Note: This dungeon has been opened less than ten times. Treasure chests of various qualities will randomly drop inside the Dayong Imperial Palace. Players are welcome to explore on their own!]
Fang Zhuo suddenly felt that the leaky coffin wasn't so unbearable after all.
This was a very comfortable start; by hiding his identity, he directly picked up a dungeon boss as his temporary daughter.
While other players were racking their brains to meet the princess, he could even idly summon the big boss for a chat.
The yellow robe almost shone brightly in the gradually brightening light. The rabbit-headed man's expression shifted from confusion to astonishment; he stood there stunned for a moment, then finally knelt on the ground in shock.
"Your Majesty, spare me! Forgive this humble subject for being blind and not recognizing Your Majesty! I kowtow to Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!"
Unexpectedly, he could experience what it's like to be a feudal emperor here. Fang Zhuo took out a few gold leaves from his bracelet and casually scattered them into the rabbit-headed man's palm.
"Reward me. Rise, and escort me back to the palace."
The rabbit-headed man picked up the gold leaf with trepidation, immediately took off his boots, and hid one of the leaves in his sock.
After putting his boots back on, the rabbit-headed man called over a few of his brothers and distributed the remaining gold leaves to them one by one.
They respectfully pulled His Majesty out of the coffin, dragged a carriage out of the woods, and carefully helped him into the carriage.
Logically speaking, these coffins were meant to contain the rebels who were to be buried alive, so it was rather strange that His Majesty would appear in one of them. However, the moment the rabbit-headed man saw the gold leaf, all his doubts vanished.
Aside from the incredibly wealthy Emperor Dayong, who else could be so generous with their rewards?
He should slap himself twice; of all people to suspect, he had to suspect the incomparably noble Emperor.
These gold leaves are worth a whole year's wages for the brothers. This is a windfall. Their primary task now is to serve His Majesty comfortably.
Lifting the curtain beside him, Fang Zhuo looked down at the scene outside—there was a huge mass grave next to him.
Looking around, there were at least fifty or sixty coffins in this small area alone, and they most likely contained players like him.
Most of them were left on this open ground, their coffin lids still sealed.
Only a few players dressed in coarse linen clothes were walking with difficulty towards the palace, occasionally casting envious glances in the direction of the carriage.
This seems to be the first challenging mechanic in the dungeon setup.
Even if they weren't in a coffin at the start, most of the more than a thousand people who were thrown in together were probably in similar predicaments.
To achieve better marketing results later, he did not reveal Yan Changyun's hidden bodyguard identity in advance. Although he did not directly give Yan Changyun any god-level weapons or props, he was not worried at all about the other party's ability to break the deadlock.
This level of minor problem is nothing to his chosen investment targets.
Sure enough, the carriage hadn't gone far when Fang Zhuo received a message from Yan Changyun in his bracelet:
[Boss, I'm out safely now. Do you need me to rescue you?]
"Private messages on the watch face won't be captured by the live stream camera," Fang Zhuo replied. "[No need, I'm the emperor now.]"
Yan Changyun sent a long string of shocked emojis, and after a long while, finally replied: [Your subject withdraws~~]
At this moment, the chat in Fang Zhuo's live stream was refreshing rapidly, with viewers interested in the Dayong Dynasty flooding in—
[Wait, Number 188 is already in a carriage? What identity did he choose? The red-eyed rabbit-headed man didn't even acknowledge the prefect, yet he gave Number 188 a carriage first?]
[Didn't we have real-name information when the guild was established? From now on, please address me respectfully as Brother Fang, okay?]
[The perspective from the Dragon Abyss Guild is hilarious. Their guild leader gritted his teeth and chose the Prefect, while the other members were still waiting for their leader to carry them out of the coffin. Unexpectedly, the Prefect didn't even get the treatment of riding in a sedan chair and could only travel through the mud of the mass grave. It felt like his eyes were spitting fire as he looked at the carriage.]
[A long-time fan who followed Fang Ge's live stream the whole time is here. He spent 1,000 ghost coins at the start to choose the most expensive hidden identity and immediately declared himself emperor.]
[Seriously, Emperor?! Holy crap, has anyone ever gotten the hidden identity in the Great Yong Dynasty instance before??]
[This option is clearly a losing proposition; you might lose both money and your life. Only crazy players would have chosen it. Of course, for a tycoon like Mr. Fang, feel free to choose whatever you want.]
[Make way, everyone! The only emperor of this dungeon world is here!]
[What a truly royal experience! (hands on hips) (leans back) (laughs heartily)]
[Some players from the same group are feeding pigs in the pigsty, while others are waiting to be beheaded at the execution ground. How come there's already a whole squad of Imperial Guards here? And they were even carried in through the main gate of the palace in royal palanquins?]
[I'm so envious, I'm practically drooling! Maybe this is one of the benefits of spending money on in-game purchases.]
[Stop jinxing us, please don't open the champagne halfway through. Several top guilds have sent skilled players this time, and many people want to kill Boss Fang and get the money.]
I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but having money can definitely bribe dungeon bosses, but it's unlikely to prevent player ambushes...
[Girls, China Telecom 3G is so fast! We finally got internet in the village? Brother Fang brought bodyguards into the village.]
The official casino is currently offering betting on who the hidden bodyguard is, and the betting pool has accumulated to over ten million ghost money. This is the biggest entertainment game the casino has launched this year! ^^
[I've already bet on number 72, Tyson. He looks like he could kill three of me with one punch. Don't let him down.]
After alighting from the bright yellow sedan chair, Fang Zhuo returned to his bedchamber surrounded by his entourage.
After dismissing everyone else, he took a book of folklore and anecdotes from the bookshelf and leaned back on the couch, idly flipping through the section about the Flower-Wearing Festival.
"Your Majesty, this is the dinner menu presented by the Imperial Kitchen for today. Please take a look."
A young eunuch walked in, bowing low, and handed a long menu to the low table.
Fang Zhuo glanced at it briefly.
The prices listed in red on these dishes are not very high, and there is an original price in parentheses.
It seems that he is not completely unrestricted in the palace. After all, the dungeon designers cannot let ordinary players run wild in the dungeon, so they set up a one percent consumption mechanism.
This also means that the dungeon can only reimburse 99% of all expenses, with the remaining 1% to be borne by the player personally.
The entire menu would cost him over thirty yuan in ghost money.
Such a meal is equivalent to at least two days' living expenses for players, which is bound to make ordinary players feel a bit of a pinch.
But for Fang Zhuo, thirty-odd ghost coins were no different from being free.
He pushed the menu towards the edge of the table with his index finger, his gaze still fixed on the book of folk anecdotes, not even lifting his eyes:
"Summon the head eunuch."
Just as the young eunuch received the order and withdrew, a series of delicate and frequent sounds of silver bells and jade ornaments suddenly rang out at the door, followed by a girl's clear voice:
"Father has not summoned his daughter for a long time. I recently heard about something interesting from outside the palace. Would you like to tell Father about it?"
Fang Zhuo placed the book in his hand on the table and looked at the "girl" in front of him.
The other party was just a clump of constantly twisting and wriggling plant stems and leaves, which shed long, pale green sap as it walked on the ground. Bells and countless jade and gold ornaments were adorned between the short stems, making a jingling sound as it moved.
No wonder he wanted to hold a flower-adorning party; it turns out his "daughter" was a clump of plants.
He had just read in a book that the festival was not very grand. The core cost was only transplanting magnolias, crabapples and other flowering trees. Only a few wealthy families would also set up a few tables for a feast. In general, it was a traditional festival with a touch of elegance, mainly about appreciating flowers, wearing hairpins, and composing poems.
Even if the event is held in the palace, a total budget of ten million should be more than enough.
The exchange rate between ghost money and real currency is roughly nine to one, so theoretically one hundred million should be enough to cover the cost of a small event.
Fang Zhuo didn't mind spending 100,000 ghost coins to appease the plant, and also to boost his strategy points.
Princess Yurong sat and chatted for a while, praising the Flower-Adorning Festival to the skies. She chattered on and on until dinner time, forcibly staying in the bedchamber to eat the entire meal before finally getting to the point:
"Father, I would like to recreate the Flower-Hairing Ceremony in the palace. This is a proposal drafted by the ladies-in-waiting in my palace. Please take a look."
"My daughter loves osmanthus and plans to transplant a hundred osmanthus trees here. She also wants to host a big banquet for guests..."
Her eyes grew brighter as she spoke, and she licked her lips with longing.
"It would be best to invite the second son of the Minister and the youngest son of the Grand Secretary. Actually, I want to use this opportunity to find a husband for myself."
"Your daughter knows that Father Emperor usually dislikes extravagance. Look at this page. This flower-adorning ceremony is expected to cost a total of 800,000 ghost coins."
After speaking, Princess Yu Rong's two round almond-shaped eyes peeked out from between the leaves and stems, blinking expectantly as she looked at Fang Zhuo.
Fang Zhuo: ...
Isn't his "daughter" a little too frugal?
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