Chapter 41: Buy It, Your Majesty
His Majesty wanted to establish an Amnesty Mission to sweep away bandit troubles.
As soon as this decision was made, it set off quite a wave in the Imperial Court.
If the bandit troubles in the northern borders were resolved, it meant the situation would develop even more favorably: a unified and stable northern environment would provide a constant stream of soldiers and grain. Afterward, the great army could march south, and recovering the lost territories in Jiangnan would be just around the corner.
There was hope for the restoration of Great Qin!
The confirmed Deputy Envoy of the Amnesty Mission was the Duke of Ying, Xie Qianli, leading the Longwu Army to accompany and hold the fort.
The eyes of the court and the public gathered on the position of the Chief Envoy.
It was just persuading bandits. Even if persuasion was useless and the other party resisted stubbornly, there was the army to fall back on. In the future, if their names were left in history and their fragrance lasted for a hundred generations, later generations would first remember this Chief Envoy.
Once the news was passed down, the memorials on Ying Xi’s desk multiplied, with countless officials recommending themselves.
But, with too many people applying for the task, Ying Xi was dissatisfied instead. They thought this matter was too simple.
Ying Xi didn’t intend to let the Longwu Army fight hard against all the mountaintops. The Amnesty Mission must play a role, representing the image of the Imperial Court, prioritizing attacking the heart, making attacking the city secondary, propagating policies, and reducing losses.
Otherwise, why establish an Amnesty Mission?
Might as well let the Longwu Army struggle to bulldoze them one by one!
Today, because Su Xueyi asked for leave, Ying Xi spent twice as long as usual handling official duties.
Only in the afternoon did he rise from the Dragon Chair, stretch his waist, and stand behind the window looking up at the palace halls outside.
Those palace chambers were scattered like a painting.
Ying Xi took a gentle breath. The warm spring light poured into the window. His dragon-patterned robes were bright and beautiful, his porcelain-white skin glowing. Clearly stunningly beautiful, yet making people dare not look directly even more.
Tiantong suddenly exclaimed: “The Imperial Palace is so beautiful.”
Ying Xi nodded slightly.
But considering everything before him would soon turn to ashes, Ying Xi closed his eyes.
Wanting to counter this sense of crisis, he said: “Open the Mall, let Zhen take a look.”
Tiantong obediently did so.
Thus, the system interface presented a dazzling array of icons.
Fans, umbrellas, ornaments, teacups…
Another page of the interface displayed items that looked like clothing sets, such as Gala Banquet, Simple and Fresh, Lantern Festival Theme…
This Dating System was magical, actually able to purchase items without leaving the house; he was long accustomed to it.
The only thing that made him click his tongue was their prices.
Ying Xi’s fingertip touched a small folding fan. The folding fan magnified in front of him, flashed, and the price tag underneath was impressively five thousand taels of silver!
Even holding the wealth of the world like an Emperor, he couldn’t help but issue a soul-searching question:
“Did Wang Xizhi inscribe this fan?”
Tiantong answered sheepishly: “N-No.”
The following topic involved business, so Tiantong was very active: “All items in the Mall have additional attributes. Buying it and giving it to a target adds favorability, giving it to yourself adds charm.”
“Would Your Majesty buy something to give to someone? or pamper yourself?”
That tone during the sales pitch was exactly like the barbarian merchants paying respects to him, begging for profit concessions and protection for smooth trade routes.
Emotional value was Tiantong’s kinetic energy. They were scattered by the Main Brain into various space-times and implanted into hosts to collect currency, bringing in wealth.
Tiantong giggled and said: “No need for face scanning or fingerprint authentication. As long as Your Majesty wants to buy, money will be withdrawn directly from the private treasury. If the private treasury is not enough, you can also link the national treasury oh~”
Ying Xi: “…”
The Dating System revealed its true colors.
Previously, Ying Xi often thought that even matchmakers required a finder’s fee, so why would anyone help people fall in love for free?
Now it seemed that selling items for profit was the Dating System’s important means of generating wealth.
Tiantong enthusiastically recommended again: “Look at how exquisite this comb is. Is it not suitable for your soft, dense, seaweed-like hair?”
“Look again at this thumb ring. Does the style match Xie Qianli? Can the fan be given to Su Xueyi?”
The more Tiantong spoke, the happier it got: “Purchasing now not only gets 50% off the first order, but there’s also a chance to get the legendary gift ‘Xu Fangxin Gift Box’ oh!”
It started chattering about that gift box again, talking about the benefits of the gift box.
“Your Majesty, you don’t know. Ordinary gifts only increase stats by one or two points, but that one can customize the gift according to the target’s preferences. It increases real stats and won’t decrease your favorability due to various situations.”
Ying Xi suddenly remembered Su Xueyi acting up.
In his mind, a wisp of flowing light flashed.
He quickly captured that trace of consciousness, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, appearing calm and composed.
Tiantong mistook his light chuckle for an intent to spend money: “—Buy it, Your Majesty!!!”
Ying Xi: “No.”
“What rare treasures does Zhen’s national treasury not have? Zhen doesn’t need to spend money to give gifts at all.”
“…” Tiantong was dumbfounded.
Then, a long silence.
When calculating the host’s potential back then, the Main Brain only detected that the host was an Emperor, surrounded by high-quality NPCs, the general environment was suitable for developing romantic relationships, and he also had absolutely dominant economic conditions.
But it actually hadn’t considered another situation!
That was, the host himself had already seen all the treasures under heaven. No matter how exquisite the items were, he didn’t care for them; he wouldn’t spend money.
As for those few stat points attached to the items…
Ying Xi gently smoothed a crease on his cuff, asking leisurely: “Zhen is the Emperor; wouldn’t they be grateful to tears for whatever Zhen gives?”
Tiantong’s sales pitch failed completely. As a last resort, it had to bring up the “Xu Fangxin Gift Box” again.
“But Your Majesty’s national treasury doesn’t have this. You can’t buy it anywhere except the Mall. Does Your Majesty know that increasing real stats means the official system is giving you a cheat? Your romantic future will be smooth and bright!”
But after Tiantong finished speaking, it felt a bit unsure.
Because this host had absolutely no interest in romance, what temptation would the Xu Fangxin Gift Box have for him?
In an instant, Tiantong’s tone lowered by many degrees, the enthusiasm for sales clearly diminishing.
However, this time Ying Xi was different. Distinct from his usual resistance to romance, he actually showed a clear interest in the Xu Fangxin Gift Box.
“This real stat is actually quite useful.” Ying Xi smiled.
Tiantong was slightly surprised. It quickly ignited with anticipation, its voice trembling with excitement: “After all, it is a legendary item. Your Majesty won’t lose out at all with the 50% off first top-up probability to get the gift box~~”
Ying Xi: “Open the Lucky Bag.”
“Eh?” Tiantong froze.
Suddenly, it remembered that due to the grape incident, the host had over-fulfilled the mission dozens of times over. After reporting to the Dating System, combining mission drops and rewards, he received a total of Legendary Lucky Bags (Mall Trial Version) x 51.
Tiantong wasn’t aware, but Ying Xi, seeing the “Legendary” prefix on both sides, had long logically deduced that the Legendary Lucky Bag could open the Xu Fangxin Gift Box.
Ying Xi leisurely held the window frame.
Those dark gray eyes naturally carried a depth and haziness, making it hard for people to pry into his true thoughts even face-to-face, let alone if there were some things he didn’t tell you, hidden deep in his heart.
Tiantong obediently opened it: “Okay.”
Opening the first Lucky Bag, the bag shook, golden light spilled out, and then fireworks exploded. A small wooden box with interlaced gold and red appeared before the eyes, clearly written with the seal script characters “Xu Fangxin” (Promise of a Heart) on the lid.
Tiantong shouted in surprise:
“Oh my… ac-actually opened a Xu Fangxin Gift Box!!!”
A little bit of reward couldn’t make Ying Xi joyous.
The Emperor’s voice remained calm: “Open again.”
After the second Legendary Lucky Bag was used, following the same light, what appeared before Ying Xi was yet another gold and red interlaced gift box. The Xu Fangxin Gift Box actually appeared a second time.
Legendary Lucky Bags were rare, but opening rare gift boxes twice in a row could only be explained as a coincidence.
The system offered dry congratulations from the side.
The second Xu Fangxin Gift Box dropped, so Ying Xi faintly felt that something else would happen. Only then did a streak of joy cross his heart, his eyebrows raising slightly.
According to his observation, the Dating System was not very smart.
“Open the rest,” Ying Xi said.
Forty-nine lucky bags flashed, and impressively, forty-nine identical gift boxes appeared in front of Ying Xi!
Tiantong was already shocked into incoherence: “This… lazy, losing money… copy and paste…”
The latter fifty rewards were distributed simultaneously, with completely identical data.
Therefore, after the coincidence of opening the second Xu Fangxin Gift Box, the back copied the front, and in the end, it was all gift boxes. This was a huge error of the Dating System, and also a tremendous fortune Ying Xi obtained by stumbling blindly.
Legendary sky-high priced gift boxes—the Emperor didn’t spend a penny, yet actually got fifty-one for free!
Tiantong’s crying was incessant: “Woo woo woo woo!”
The Dating System assistant’s voice was that of a little girl, trembling. It couldn’t blame Ying Xi, but appeared somewhat lost.
This reminded Ying Xi of his sister, Princess Huachao.
Bloody storms, intrigue, racking one’s brains to seek more benefits—that was the unavoidable daily life of an Emperor.
But Ying Xi was not Su Xueyi; he had no heart to suppress others to show off his own ability. He was actually more willing to protect them.
Ying Xi asked: “Will Zhen getting these gift boxes make you bear responsibility?”
Tiantong fell silent for a moment, sniffing before answering: “Mm, that won’t happen. This is the Main Brain’s oversight; we sink or swim together, that’s all.”
“So that’s how it is,” Ying Xi said faintly. “Zhen does not refuse to spend money forever, just temporarily has no need.”
The Emperor was the number one person in Great Qin; willing to explain to it, Tiantong was already very gratified.
Tiantong whispered: “Okay.”
“Arrange a mission for Zhen,” Ying Xi said gently. He had no experience coaxing little girls, but he knew Tiantong liked watching him have strange and ambiguous interactions with the people around him.
Tiantong was stunned: “Eh? I can?”
“Don’t make it too difficult for Zhen.” Ying Xi nodded.
Even a fool could hear that the host was comforting it again. Using his voice rich in texture, he made Tiantong compute a feeling named excitement, the interface lights flickering.
Tiantong dragged out the ending sound a lot, saying: “Your Majesty! I like you so much~~~”
System Mission: Pinky swear with any character (0/1)
No specified person, no countdown, small scale, loose completion conditions.
This was all gained from Ying Xi being reasonable and Tiantong returning the favor.
Tiantong hummed a little tune waiting for someone to come to the door.
After waiting for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, outside Yu Jing reported: “Your Majesty, the Duke of Ying requests an audience—”
Ying Xi turned from the window. When he looked back, the light in his eyes flickered uncertainly within his sockets.
He forcefully suppressed the strange feeling of that instant, his heart beating like a drum.
Tiantong, however, rippled in his ear: “Big~ Wolf~ Dog~ Oh~”
Ying Xi: “What does he come for?”
Yu Jing gasped for breath and said: “There was no movement in the study for a long time; this servant thought you were taking a nap. Just after reporting to the Lord Duke, he left.”
The heartbeat slowly calmed down, gradually turning into Ying Xi slightly lowering his eyes, his crow-wing-like eyelashes lifting. He pursed his lips: “If he’s gone, he’s gone. If there is important business, he will come again.”
“Yes,” Yu Jing answered. “However, Mister Zhu is outside. He just finished hosting the Barbarian King’s envoy and has situations to report to Your Majesty.”
Ying Xi nodded: “See him.”
As the voice fell, the warm afternoon light poured in from outside the doors and windows simultaneously, plating the Imperial Tutor with a layer of golden outline.
Zhu Zhao wore the official robes with the crane pattern of the first rank today. He walked with a lingering fragrance, the jade pendant at his waist chiming exquisitely.
Zhu Zhao’s bearing was impeccable. Approaching the Emperor, he said: “Ten thousand peace to Your Majesty. This subject did not disgrace the mission and has met with the Barbarian King’s envoy.”
Ying Xi made a gesture of helping Zhu Zhao up and answered: “Teacher has worked hard. Provide a seat.”
Teacher and student, monarch and subject—the meeting was as intimate as a textbook.
But in reality, it was Ying Xi bending his eyes slightly, unwilling to touch even a corner of Zhu Zhao’s clothes. The distance between his palm and the clothes was grasped just right, yet triggered the Imperial Tutor’s sensitive thoughts to guess back and forth.
The Imperial Tutor sat in the seat.
Since parting at the Secret Archives, the teacher and student had never been alone again. The inspection system of the Secret Archives had become extremely strict; He Xuan kept watch over the storehouse with full attention, preferring not to allow inspection rather than letting information leak.
The changes in the Secret Archives were extremely likely targeted at him. Zhu Zhao was even more terrified, hence contacting Li Yilong’s side less and less.
And recently, Ying Xi had completed many major events inside and outside the court: reorganizing the army, opposing corruption, rectifying court discipline, reclaiming the people’s hearts…
In a short time, Ying Xi seemed to have prescribed many strong medicines for the terminally ill Great Qin.
After his medication, the chronically ill Great Qin truly hurt for a while, then tremblingly radiated vitality.
Now the people’s hearts were aligned, and the rules of the court and field were strict.
That young man who once said he would lead Great Qin out of the long night was realizing his promises step by step.
Zhu Zhao sized up Ying Xi again: He’s thinner. It was said he was ill a while ago.
Even though he had just recovered from illness, Ying Xi still personally inspected the fire relief situation in Jude Ward, an act still praised by the commoners today.
Not to mention his broad-mindedness; he didn’t pursue the rumors framing him for assassinating Xie Ji, and even took in the heavily injured Xie Qianli for treatment in Weiyang Palace.
His thin appearance did not limit Ying Xi’s aura; instead, because of the contrast, it amplified his charm and imperial demeanor.
Zhu Zhao’s heart was complex and ashamed.
If in the past, he could still use thinking for the common people of the world as a belief to support himself being a spy.
Now that the common people of the world were gradually improving because of Ying Xi, should he continue being a spy? Wouldn’t that instead become adding chaos to the world?
Threads of thoughts tangled into a mess!
Zhu Zhao could only disguise himself decently, trying his best to pretend to be calm.
He exchanged pleasantries, genuinely expressing concern for Ying Xi with a few sentences, asking about the Emperor’s health condition, then asking what books he was reading recently.
Ying Xi naturally kept his superficial efforts thorough, answering everything according to the rules, and then asked about business: “Mister, the Barbarian King wouldn’t visit the Three Treasures Hall without a cause. He sent an envoy to the capital; what demands does he wish to make of Zhen?”
Guessing based on the past life’s events, the Barbarian King should be forcing a marriage with Princess Huachao to demand a dowry.
In this life, Ying Xi had money and power; he had long thought of the rhetoric for refusal.
Zhu Zhao came back to his senses and responded: “The Barbarian King claims his territory has suffered a disaster. He is borrowing one thousand bolts of silk, one hundred thousand taels of silver, and two hundred thousand shi of grain from Your Majesty. The disaster situation is as urgent as a star fire; he wants Great Qin to issue them immediately.”
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