Chapter 157 Booklet as a Gift
"Song'etu?" The Ninth Prince was both surprised and not so surprised. His brows furrowed, and his tone was full of confusion. "He's still watching you."
Yin'e nodded helplessly. Indeed, Suo'etu still pays excessive attention to him.
Yin'e truly didn't understand. With such a senior prince standing there, practically vying for the throne, why was Suo'etu keeping an eye on him, a junior prince who was just lazing around in the Imperial Study, instead of keeping an eye on the senior prince and Mingzhu?
Does he have an overly shrewd and ambitious face? Or has Suo'etu discovered a fierce competitiveness and drive in him that even he himself is unaware of? Why keep such a close eye on him? He really has no interest in vying for the throne!
Sometimes Yin'e couldn't help but wonder what kind of image he had in Suo'etu's eyes. Was his excellence so obvious that it was as dazzling as a firefly in the dark, impossible to hide? But no matter how narcissistic Yin'e was, he didn't think he was better than the Crown Prince.
Of course, if Suo'etu told Yin'e that he was actually wary of Niohuru, then Yin'e could still accept this reason—after Aling'a obtained the title of First-Class Earl and moved out of the Guoyi Duke's Mansion to establish his own household, the Guoyi Duke's Mansion's strength was nominally reduced but actually increased, which would allow it to more firmly support the Consort and her son.
Although the loss of Aling'a meant that Ebilun's sons had essentially divided the family property, inevitably weakening the overall strength of the Guoyi Duke's Mansion, this was actually a good thing for Faka and Consort Niohuru.
Aling'a and the current Duke Guoyi, Faka, and Consort Niohuru are not born of the same mother. They were never of one mind with each other. Staying in the Duke Guoyi's mansion would only be a hindrance to them. It would be better for them to be separated.
The Ninth Prince sighed sympathetically, and this time he patted Yin'e on the shoulder and said seriously, "Tenth Brother, I'm sorry to have wronged you."
Blinking, Yin'e looked at the Ninth Prince blankly, somewhat confused: "I don't feel wronged."
It's just a bit annoying. The First Prince is already drawing attention away from him, so why won't Songgotu let him go? Even the Crown Prince doesn't see him as a threat, so why is Songgotu meddling in his affairs?
Soetu had just been punished by Emperor Kangxi a few years ago. Now, instead of keeping his head down and acting like a quail, he dares to show off. Does he really think Emperor Kangxi is a good-tempered person?
"No need to say anything, I understand you." The Ninth Prince patted Yin'e's shoulder with more force. He knew how unpleasant it was to suppress one's talents and abilities and have to pretend to be stupid.
Yin'e: No, you don't understand...
Yin'e's stance was firm, and he didn't budge even when the Ninth Prince patted his shoulder several times. He turned his head and continued to gaze longingly at his dream horse, his eyes overflowing with affection.
At this moment, the Ninth Prince asked Yin'e again, "What did Suo'etu do? Did he dare to interfere in the affairs of the Third Palace?"
"Have you forgotten that not long ago the Khan suddenly asked us why we were interested in spinning and weaving?" Yin'e replied in a low voice. "I didn't find it strange at first, thinking that the Khan was keeping an eye on the princes in his spare time, but later I found out that Lingpu had made a special trip to the Emperor's residence."
The Ninth Prince clicked his tongue in annoyance, his lips pursed in a way that couldn't hide his disgust: "Why is Lingpu making so many troubles? Does he think that with the Crown Prince as his backer, he can even bully us?"
Although Yin'e also found Lingpu's tattling annoying, he still spoke up fairly: "It must be that Lingpu acted on his own initiative, and the Crown Prince probably didn't know about his little tricks."
Yin'e was quite self-aware; he knew that the Crown Prince had never taken him seriously or considered him a threat. Given the Crown Prince's arrogance, he wouldn't deliberately target him before Yin'e grew up and showed any inclination to compete with him.
The Ninth Prince's anger did not subside, and he angrily cursed, "The Crown Prince should control his own dog. The vicious dog's bullying is all because he spoiled it."
Yin'e also agreed with this point, but unfortunately, Kangxi spoiled the crown prince and acted as his backer. It's no wonder that the crown prince's followers were all arrogant and domineering, and didn't take others seriously. But when it comes to Kangxi, this truth can only be thought about and cannot be said, otherwise it would be a great disrespect.
Yin'e didn't want to discuss too much about the Crown Prince, so he said instead, "Ninth Brother, come back to the Third Palace with me later. I have something to show you."
"Okay!" The Ninth Prince agreed without hesitation, then asked, "What is it?"
Yin'e blinked, not answering directly, but just smiled mysteriously: "I won't tell you now, you'll see when you come back to the Third Institute with me—anyway, it's a good thing."
"So mysterious." The Ninth Prince muttered, his curiosity completely piqued. He found the riding and archery class, which he didn't like, even more unbearable, and wished he could immediately get out of class, sprout wings, and fly back to the Third Academy of Ganxi.
After enduring the difficult riding and archery lesson, as soon as Wai Anda said, "That's all for today," the Ninth Prince pulled Yin'e out of the training ground, not giving Yin'e a chance to go to the stable to see his dream horse again, and immediately transformed into a hasty king.
Ganxi Sansuo, study.
The Ninth Prince glanced at the manual that Yin'e had taken out, and a series of question marks appeared above his head: "This is the good stuff you were talking about?"
Yin'e smiled slightly at the Ninth Prince's obvious disappointment, placed the booklet on the desk and pushed it in front of the Ninth Prince: "Ninth Brother, take a look and you'll see that I'm not lying. This is indeed a good thing, and it won't disappoint you."
Trusting Yin'e, the Ninth Prince picked up the small booklet, which was two sizes smaller than ordinary books and had neatly sewn edges.
Turning to the first page, after only reading the beginning, the previously nonchalant Ninth Prince subconsciously straightened his back and began to read the contents of the booklet with focused attention.
Although Yin'e's booklet recording money-making ideas and production formulas was only half completed due to Kangxi's interruption, it was already ready to be shown to the Ninth Prince so that he could see his achievements.
After a while, the Ninth Prince breathed a sigh of relief after reading all the contents of the booklet. He closed the booklet, which was made of sturdy, thick paper and not easily damaged: "The recipes, production steps, and sales methods recorded in this booklet are detailed and clear. Anyone who is not too stupid can follow the instructions and start a business."
Yin'e nodded, his tone somewhat helpless: "After all, we haven't established our own residence and are still living in the palace, so we can only arrange for people to start the business outside the palace."
"We can't leave the palace to oversee the overall situation. If something really happens, we can only rely on the managers to adapt to the situation. They can't wait for us to give instructions before taking action. That's why I wrote this manual in great detail, so that if something really happens, the managers won't be at a loss."
The Ninth Prince nodded subconsciously, then gripped the booklet tightly in his hand and glanced down at it: "...This booklet is very important. The contents recorded in it are confidential and must be kept safe. It cannot be lost."
It must not fall into the hands of others, otherwise, given the detailed and clear contents of the manual, if it were obtained by someone else, it would be a waste of their time and effort.
Yin'e knew this, of course: "After discovering that Lingpu was paying extra attention to my three schools, I kept this manual safe. Apart from you, Ninth Brother, only Xiao Linzi knows where it is."
Xiao Linzi only knew where Yin E had locked the manual, but he didn't have the key to unlock it, nor did he know what was recorded in the manual.
In fact, when Yin'e first started writing the manual, he considered using encrypted text. If he was too lazy to develop an encrypted system, he could at least use pinyin instead. However, after thinking it over, Yin'e abandoned the idea, feeling that it would be too troublesome.
Although Lingpu was the head of the Imperial Household Department and kept a close eye on the Three Palaces at Songgotu's behest, he only dared to do some covert tricks in private, such as infiltrating a few spies among the palace servants assigned to the Three Palaces and reporting to Emperor Kangxi. He dared not do anything too obvious or outrageous.
The Ninth Prince held the booklet in one hand and unconsciously stroked its smooth surface with the other: "To make the business a success, we still lack two conditions: one is a trustworthy person who can handle things, and the other is sufficient capital."
After calculating his private savings, the Ninth Prince was somewhat discouraged: "I've searched through the four treasuries, and not counting the rewards that can't be sold or moved, I can only scrape together a thousand taels at most."
Before a prince comes of age and begins performing official duties and receiving a title, his only sources of income are his annual allowance, rewards from his elders, and private subsidies from his mother.
The princes lived in the palace, ate and drank what Emperor Kangxi provided. Their rations were mostly for food and daily necessities, including many rare and precious items, but they didn't receive much silver, only about a hundred taels a year. The Imperial Household Department provided everything, so there was really no need to spend silver in the palace.
When the Ninth Prince moved out of Yikun Palace, Consort Yi didn't secretly give him much financial assistance, but she also didn't deduct any of his previous years' allowances. She gave him all six hundred taels of silver to take to the Prince's Residence. The remaining three hundred taels were collected from the gold and silver coins that the Ninth Prince received as annual rewards.
—It's not that Consort Yi didn't provide for the Ninth Prince; in fact, Consort Yi wasn't wealthy either.
The annual allowance for a concubine is three hundred taels of silver. Consort Yi's family was not a noble or powerful clan. Consort Yi was able to get to where she is today entirely because she was favored by Emperor Kangxi. Her family did not provide much assistance. Not only did they not give her any money, but they also had to give her rewards.
Consort Yi had three sons. The eleventh prince was sickly from birth, and taking care of him cost a lot. In addition, Consort Yi felt guilty towards the fifth prince, who was adopted by the Empress Dowager, so she could give less attention to the ninth prince.
The Ninth Prince was able to come up with a thousand taels of silver, which was not a small amount. However, he was now facing a problem: after moving to the Princes' Residence and establishing himself independently, it was much more difficult for him to save money than before.
Although the food, drink and other necessities were still provided by the Imperial Household Department and the princes did not have to pay for them, after moving to the Princes' Residence and establishing their own households, they had to reward their servants and maintain social relationships, and the expenses became uncontrollable. The little silver in the princes' allowance was simply not enough.
The expenses of rewarding palace servants were manageable, as the rewards were fixed, ranging from one to ten taels per servant, so they weren't too high. However, the expenses for social interactions were not only high, but the gifts that had to be given throughout the year were also too numerous to keep up with.
Leaving aside the distant future, let's just talk about next month: February 10th is the Eighth Prince's birthday, February 14th is the First Prince's birthday, February 19th is the Third Prince's birthday, and February 26th is the Tenth Princess's birthday. Just among the siblings, there will be four birthday gifts to be exchanged.
"With mine included, that's enough to get started." Yin'e smiled. "There's no need to expand too much in the first year. Let's take it one step at a time and not try to get rich overnight."
The Ninth Prince gently scratched his face with his fingers and smiled sheepishly. He really wanted to make a fortune overnight, to make a fortune in the first year...
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