Li Cheng stepped forward with his men and blocked the three princes.

After greeting them with proper courtesies, he turned to Wei Yu and said, “Your Highness Ninth Prince, His Majesty asks that you come to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.”

Being summoned right in front of Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother made Wei Yu a little uncomfortable. “Right now?”

Li Cheng smiled. “Yes. His Majesty is already waiting for you there.”

No way around it. Who knew if this was about those formulas he hadn’t finished yet?

Wei Yu’s scalp tingled—he hadn’t even finished writing them!

Xiao Anzi wrote so slowly. Once he heard it was for His Majesty, he insisted on writing every stroke carefully and neatly, and if there was even the slightest mistake, he would scrap the entire page.

Even Wei Yu himself wasn’t that extravagant!

When he heard that Royal Father wanted to see Wei Yu, the Fourth Prince was momentarily stunned before he quickly recovered.

He assumed their father was calling Wei Yu over to praise him for the glass presented in the morning court, so he congratulated him on the spot.

“Ninth Brother, well done. At today’s morning court, the glass formula you submitted to the kilns was successfully brought to life by the craftsmen. Father’s calling you over—most likely to reward you. Go on, hurry up. Don’t keep him waiting.”

Both Wei Yu and the Eighth Prince were stunned.

Wei Yu: Huh? He’s not summoning me just to rush me for the formulas?

Eighth Prince: Glass? What even is glass?

There was no way to explain it in just a few sentences, and with Li Cheng still waiting nearby, it wouldn’t be right to delay any longer.

Wei Yu could only apologize to his two older brothers.

“Fourth Brother, Eighth Brother, I’ll go see Royal Father first. Let’s talk later, yeah?”

The Eighth Prince didn’t mind, while the Fourth Prince smiled and responded.

“All right, go ahead.”

And so Wei Yu followed Li Cheng to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

On the way, unsure if his father really had called him over for the reason the Fourth Prince had said, Wei Yu asked Li Cheng about it.

Li Cheng replied, “Your Highness, how could a servant like me possibly know?”

Wei Yu felt a bit disappointed.

“But His Majesty was indeed very pleased with the glass during morning court,” Li Cheng added. “He also said Your Highness is clever and that he’s quite happy with you. I suppose being summoned right now shouldn’t be a bad thing.”

As someone who had the most frequent contact with the Emperor, Li Cheng could clearly read Emperor Wei’s attitude.

In the past, His Majesty favored the older princes and was distant toward the younger princes and princesses. But ever since he was struck by lightning and woke up again, he grew more distant from the Eldest Prince and others, no longer valuing them as he once did. Instead, he took a liking to the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Princes.

As for the reason behind this change?

Li Cheng could understand.

After all, as an emperor and a father, who would be happy to see his courtiers show no concern for his well-being when something happened to him, and instead worry only about the throne he sat on?

Li Cheng regretted it, too.

He had been loyal to His Majesty for years. Why had he lost his mind in that moment and rashly accepted Consort Xian’s bag of gold and told her about the Emperor’s condition?

Even though he returned the gold intact the moment the Emperor woke up, betrayal was still betrayal. A servant who betrays his master deserves death!

Li Cheng was deeply grateful that the Emperor hadn’t held it against him. That was the only reason he was still able to serve at His Majesty’s side. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even still be alive.

Now that His Majesty favored the Ninth Prince, as someone loyal to the Emperor, Li Cheng naturally didn’t mind saying a few more good words to Wei Yu and giving him some reminders.

Knowing this visit likely had little risk, Wei Yu felt relieved.

He had thought he might really be rewarded or praised, but it turned out he’d overestimated.

A reward? What reward?

His dad called him over—to ask if he had any ways to sell the glass?!

Standing in the center of the hall, Wei Yu stared blankly at his father.

[I was already thinking about how to express my gratitude, and you’re hitting me with this?!]

Emperor Wei paused and gave Wei Yu a glance.

Then he acted like he hadn’t heard anything.

As for rewards, they could come later. What if this brat used it as an excuse to ask for leave again? Should he approve it or not?

Emperor Wei urged him, “Enough with the act. Just tell me—how did merchants in the future sell things? Any ideas to make more money?”

Wei Yu was speechless.

How else do merchants sell things?

Isn’t it just a simple exchange—money for goods?

Want to sell at a higher price?

Well, first your product has to be worth the price!

Oh—unless you have good marketing strategies.

Wei Yu thought for a moment and asked his father, “How do you plan to position the glass? Are you aiming for an affordable product for commoners, or a high-end luxury good—rare and pricey, sold to the wealthy?”

Emperor Wei replied, “Naturally, both.”

Wei Yu gave a thumbs-up at his father’s ambition, not even needing to think. “Well said. I knew you were made for big things, Dad.”

Clearly, he had it all planned out.

“You mentioned the commoner-friendly approach—I’ve already thought about that. We’ll sell to the public at an affordable price. But that won’t bring in much profit,” said Emperor Wei, frowning as he got straight to the point. “I’m not greedy for the people’s money. What troubles me is how to get the nobles and officials of Great Wei and Great Liang to cough up theirs!”

Wei Yu: …

Well damn, only Dad would dare fleece them like that.

However, Wei Yu also knew that in ancient times, once established, aristocratic families were obscenely wealthy—some of their sons even lived more comfortably than the Emperor himself.

And where did all that money come from?

Without exception, it was extracted from the common people.

The land deeds held by these noble families often covered tens of thousands of mu. And how did they acquire so much land? It was either bought at dirt-cheap prices from people in distress, annexed from others, or taken from undeclared lands newly cultivated.

As for their servants and slaves, many of them numbered in the thousands or even tens of thousands. Besides those purchased, the majority were refugees taken in during times of disaster and famine—persuaded to sell themselves into servitude.

Land, labor, lending… these aristocrats only grew richer. And the commoners, who had neither land nor contracts of their own, could only pay their debts with their bodies—generation after generation, never ending.

Wei Yu had no sympathy when it came to squeezing money out of these families, and Emperor Wei cared even less.

Emperor Wei only wished he could confiscate all the assets of every noble family in Great Wei, dump their fortunes into the national treasury, and return it all to the people!

Once Wei Yu realized his father wanted to fleece the aristocracy, ideas began to form in his head.

Noble families had money, but they weren’t fools.

If you wanted them to pay big bucks for something, it couldn’t be some ordinary thing. It had to be exquisite, rare, and one-of-a-kind!

If you aggressively tried to sell them something, they wouldn’t care. You had to make them itch with desire—so much so they’d come begging to buy. Only then could you hike up the price and set a high benchmark!

Luxury goods, after all…

Had to come with prestige.

And behind every luxury brand, there had to be a powerful “bodyguard” to back it up and give it face!

After explaining modern luxury marketing strategies to his father, Wei Yu finally offered a recommendation for that “prestige.”

“Dad, let Fourth Brother handle this—he’ll absolutely get it done right. Trust him!”

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