Chapter – 02
Pay-to-Win Gacha
On the bed, the frail young boy held back for a long moment, then clenched his fist and pounded the mattress with a gritted-teeth frustration.
Thump!
Where on earth was she supposed to scrape together five hundred thousand taels of silver?
Even if she were sold by the pound, she wouldn’t be worth that much!
ăDing! Golden Nanmu Lacquered Canopy Bed *1, value 3,000 taels of silver. Convert?ă
Xie Linchao: Startled?!
Her eyes fixed intently on the updated content on the panel.
If she understood correctly, the energy this gacha system needed could also be gathered from valuable items?
It didn’t necessarily have to be fifty thousand taels in cold, hard cash, right?
Xie Linchao felt her enthusiasm reignite.
But the bed couldn’t be converted for now. Such a large, conspicuous item suddenly disappearing would be hard to explain to her two maids afterwards.
Xie Linchao fished a few small pearls from the bedside cabinet and called up the system:
ăDing! Freshwater Pearls 5, value 50 taels of silver. Convert?ă
Convert!
Xie Linchao recited silently in her mind, and the five freshwater pearls in her hand vanished.
In their place, the activation progress bar on the system panel inched forward ever so slightly.
ă50/500000ă
Xie Linchao grinned.
It really worked!
And so, Xie Linchao looked around the room at the porcelain, paintings, gold, jade, and silk, her eyes gleaming.
The imperial decree ordering her to her fief had already been issued, and Xie Linchao had witnessed the fate of the original owner who had forcibly remained in the capital, refusing to go. Naturally, she wouldn’t repeat that mistake.
Moreover, going to the border fief wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Staying in the capital, as the eldest son of the late Empress, she would be the target of all the other princes’ joint attacks.
But leaving the capital, temporarily withdrawing from the maelstrom of the succession struggle, would buy her precious time to develop and prepare for the future invasion of the Xiongnu army.
Considering the long journey to her fief, fragile treasures could be directly converted into cash for travel expenses, and bulky furniture left in the prince’s mansion would only gather dustâshe could just feed it all to the system and convert it into energy.
Xie Linchao was quite curious about what this gacha system could actually produce.
Subjects?
That meant ministers loyal to her, right?
Could it really materialize people out of thin air?
Xie Linchao got so excited that she jostled the wound on her back and let out a sharp hiss.
Never mind.
She’d heal first.
Otherwise, with this sickly body, it would be too hard to clear out the prince’s mansion.
Xie Linchao’s spirits were lifting, and she felt reasonably good. Outside, however, the news of the decree sending a prince to his fief had thrown the entire capital into an uproar.
The imperial edict dealing with the Second Prince had been issued, and the imperial guards outside the prince’s mansion had been withdrawn, though the mansion itself remained closed to visitors.
Inside the Imperial Palace.
Yonghe Palace, the Noble Consort’s residence.
A beauty in a magnificent crimson palace robe leaned languidly on a couch. Her jade-like hand, nails dyed with impatiens juice, gently stroked the kitten in her lap. Her mood was visibly buoyant:
“Yang Mingshu, so what if you fought tooth and nail to bear a son and became Empress, outranking me?”
“Your son is a useless fool, the first prince to be kicked out of the game and sent to his fief, and only as a minor commandery prince at that. How utterly delightful!”
“Someone! Fetch my two treasured jars of peach blossom wine!”
—
**Kunning Palace, the Empress’s residence.**
A twelve-year-old boy, wearing the ceremonial robes signifying his status as a prince, rushed breathlessly into the room and excitedly addressed the Empress seated in the main seat, clad in her phoenix robes:
“Mother, have you heard? Father has decreed that Second Brother is to go to his fief! And he’s only been made Prince An!”
“It seems Father has completely forsaken Second Brother. Without him blocking the way, I’m the only legitimate imperial prince left!”
The Empress’s expression was calm and unhurried: “My son, don’t say such things outside.”
“You are still young. It will be a few more years before you can attend court and listen to state affairs. While the Second Prince’s elimination is a good thing for us, it’s also a good thing for the other princes, especially the First Prince. You must not be rash or impulsive. Let the elder princes fight among themselves for now, and we’ll reap the benefits later.”
The Sixth Prince waved his hand dismissively: “I know, I know, Mother. You’ve said it so many times. I’m not a child anymore!”
He was the legitimate son of the Central Palace!
His eldest brothers only had the advantage of being a few years older. Once he was old enough to attend court, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
—
Cuiwei Palace, Consort De’s residence.
A palace maid entered the hall and curtsied to the consort, who was arranging flowers: “Your Highness, His Highness the Third Prince has sent word from the Princes’ Residence. He will come to have lunch with you in an hour.”
Consort De fiddled with the fresh flowers the servants had picked that morning, her voice casual: “He’s calm enough. With all the chaos outside, he still managed to finish his lessons before coming to see me.”
The maid flattered: “His Highness is intelligent and studious. He has the best scholarship among all the princes and has been praised several times by the great scholars. Encouraged by that, he naturally won’t slacken in his studies.”
“My son is naturally the best. It’s just…”
*Snip.* Consort De cut off a branch with her scissors, her brow heavy: “The Second Prince was the only legitimate prince left by the late Empress. The Zhongyong Marquisate has been the pillar of the Great Qi Dynasty since its founding, a family of utmost loyalty. Logically, he should have a claim to the position of heir apparent. Yet His Majesty has so casually discarded the Second Prince…”
Truly, the imperial will is unfathomable…
In the past, the late Empress and the Zhongyong Marquisate sacrificed much for His Majesty’s succession plan. In the end, it all came to nothing, merely paving the way for others.
The maid walked to Consort De’s side, handing her flowers and arranging branches, lowering her voice: “The position of heir apparent has always belonged to the most capable. His Majesty must have his own considerations.”
Consort De smiled slowly, her hibiscus-like face breathtakingly beautiful: “Indeed.”
The heir’s position belongs to the most capable.
Her son, with his literary and governing skills surpassing all the other princes, was the one fit to sit on that throne and become the future sovereign of Great Qi.
—
The imperial palace was fraught with intrigue, each harboring their own schemes. No matter how the various factions reacted privately, at least on the surface, everything remained calm.
The gossip and rumors in the capital were all kept out by the tightly shut gates of the prince’s mansion. Not a whisper reached inside. Xie Linchao ate and drank as usual, showing none of the disappointment one might expect from a prince about to be sent to his fief, having lost his chance at the succession.
As soon as the imperial guards withdrew, Linlang, after consulting Xie Linchao, presented her credentials to the Imperial Medical Institute to invite an imperial physician to the mansion.
The precious medicines and prescriptions in the Imperial Medical Institute were naturally far superior to those in the prince’s mansion. With an imperial physician attending to her, Xie Linchao’s injuries would heal faster and wouldn’t delay her journey to the fief.
This time, the Imperial Medical Institute finally sent someone.
However, all the chief physicians were conveniently unable to leave the palace. The one who came was a relatively unknown physician named Zhang from the institute.
With Physician Zhang’s prescriptions, Xie Linchao’s injuries healed quickly. After another seven days, the whip wounds on her back had mostly scabbed over. Though they were itchy and a bit painful, she could at least get out of bed and walk.
Xie Linchao occasionally scratched at them, but each time, her two maids, Linlang and Bizhu, would stare at her with reproachful looks, as if she were committing some heinous act.
Helpless, Xie Linchao had to find other things to do to distract herself.
A prince going to his fief was no small matter. Every aspect had to be properly managed. One small slip-up, and Xie Linchao would be the one to suffer.
First, Xie Linchao wanted to understand her assets, so she summoned Steward Wu, who managed the front courtyard of the Second Prince’s mansion, and Linlang, who managed the rear courtyard.
Steward Wu stepped forward, holding the account books: “Your Highness, the public treasury of the Second Prince’s mansion currently has 12,200 taels on the books. The Ministry of Revenue has just allocated 30,000 taels as a relocation allowance for repairing the commandery prince’s mansion in your fief. Please review, Your Highness.”
Hearing that the Ministry of Revenue had only allocated 30,000 taels, Xie Linchao let out a cold chuckle.
According to the laws of Great Qi, when a prince went to his fief, if he held the rank of Imperial Prince, the Ministry of Revenue would allocate 100,000 to 200,000 taels as a relocation allowance; if he held the rank of Commandery Prince, they would allocate 30,000 to 100,000 taels.
Just how much did Emperor Xuanhe despise her, his legitimate Second Prince, that the Ministry of Revenue allocated the minimum of 30,000 taels? It was barely enough to repair a commandery prince’s mansion, with nothing left for luxury. And they hadn’t even provided travel expenses to the fief, expecting her to fend for herself.
Linlang stepped forward with two account books: “Your Highness, your private treasury currently has 30,800 taels on the books. Here is also the dowry inventory from when the late Empress married into the Prince of Ning’s household. There was originally 100,000 taels in liquid silver at the bottom of the chests; now 20,000 taels remain. Total: 50,800 taels. Please review, Your Highness.”
Linlang had been a trusted senior palace maid by the late Empress’s side, a household servant brought from the Zhongyong Marquisate into the palace. She was later assigned to Xie Linchao, in charge of the prince’s private treasury and the management of the rear courtyard staff.
Steward Wu was chosen by Xie Linchao’s maternal grandfather, the Marquis of Zhongyong, when the mansion was first established. He managed the public treasury and the front courtyard staff, occasionally liaising with the prince’s officials and outside bureaucrats. He had served diligently for many years without any major errors.
These two were the most trusted of Xie Linchao’s confidants.
After reviewing the account books, Xie Linchao said, “Uncle Wu, Auntie, allocate 2,200 taels from the public treasury and 800 taels from the private treasury, totaling 3,000 taels. After dismissing the prince’s mansion officials and all the servants, distribute this 3,000 taels as severance pay.”
“But… Your Highness, if you dismiss everyone, won’t you take anyone to your fief?” Steward Wu’s face showed his reluctance.
During the days of the prince’s convalescence, His Highness had instructed him to take stock of the household staff. He had assumed it was to choose whom to take to the fief, not to dismiss everyone.
Xie Linchao took a sip of tea offered by Bizhu: “No one stays. The staff here are a mixed lot, each with their own previous agendas, and we all know it. Now that I’ve fallen from favor, if I take them to the fief, they’ll only hold me back. It’s better to purchase new servants.”
Of course, she could also investigate everyone’s connections one by one; not everyone could be a spy or informant. There were surely loyal ones.
But she was still an invalid, after all.
Such a tedious and exhausting task was better handled with a clean sweep.
“Auntie, have you made contact with the people my grandfather left behind?”
Linlang nodded: “We’ve made contact and passed on Your Highness’s requirements. Steward Li sent word back yesterday that everything will be ready within half a month.”
Only then did Xie Linchao allow a faint smile: “That’s good.”
Though the Zhongyong Marquisate was no longer what it once was and had even moved its entire household out of the capital, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Her grandfather had left her some people and assets.
How to use them was entirely up to her.
Now, it was time to put them to use.
By entrusting the procurement of personnel and supplies for her fief journey to the people her grandfather had secretly left behind, she wouldn’t have to worry about any ill-intentioned individuals infiltrating her entourage.
Xie Linchao discussed more details with the two of them, and before they knew it, it was time for the midday meal.
Seeing that Xie Linchao had finished giving her instructions, Bizhu, who had been carrying a food box, mumbled softly: “Your Highness, can this servant come with you to the fief? This servant doesn’t want any severance pay.”
Xie Linchao reached out and pinched Bizhu’s round cheek, winking playfully: “Of course I have to take my little Bizhu with me. Right, Auntie?”
Linlang smiled knowingly: “Indeed, bringing this little ray of sunshine along will cheer His Highness up on the journey.”
Upon hearing she could go to the fief, Bizhu’s eyes lit up with joy: “Thank you, Your Highness! Your Highness is the best!”
Linlang feigned displeasure: “Bizhu, am I not good to you?”
“Auntie is good too, Steward Wu is good, everyone is good, hehe~”
“Haha, you little rascal…”
With Bizhu’s lighthearted interruption, the lingering gloom of their prince being forced to go to his fief was swept away. Linlang and Steward Wu regained their motivation and went off enthusiastically to carry out their duties.
