Chapter 226 – The Foolish Prince Consort’s Farming Struggles – Good People Are Rewarded (09)
“Ninth Young Master.”
The attendant returned to Baili Bin’s side. Seeing that the commoner pushing the wooden cart hadn’t actually injured the Ninth Prince, he waved dismissively at the man who was about to kneel and kowtow in apology.
“You may go.”
“Thank you, Young Master! Thank you!” the man said gratefully. He had encountered a good person.
Baili Bin looked toward the horse-drawn carriage that was now barely visible in the distance and said to Tian Xiao, “Go find out who was inside that carriage.”
Hearing that Baili Bin was inquiring about someone, the owner of the wooden cart followed their line of sight. Although only the tail end of the carriage was still in view, he recognized it and said, “Sir, do you mean that cyan-colored carriage?”
At that, Baili Bin snapped his fan shut.
“Quick, tell me—who’s inside?”
“Oh, that one? I know it. That’s the carriage of the owner of the Drunken Immortal Tavern. If you want to know more, you can ask over there.”
Tian Xiao took out a piece of broken silver and tossed it to the man.
“A reward for you.”
Delighted, the man hadn’t expected a single sentence to earn him extra income—what a windfall!
“Let’s go to the Drunken Immortal Tavern,” Baili Bin said eagerly. He was impatient to investigate whether the person inside that carriage could truly be his Seventh Royal Brother.
Baili Luo and Baili Bin were full-blooded brothers born of the Empress, legitimate sons in every sense of the word.
Three years ago, Baili Luo had been sent on an imperial inspection tour, only to fall victim to a joint assassination attempt by the First and Third Princes.
Since then, he had vanished—neither his body nor any trace of him was ever found. Grief-stricken, the Empress fell seriously ill and never fully recovered.
Power in the harem shifted, and both the Empress and the then-underage Baili Bin struggled to survive in the palace. Baili Bin himself narrowly escaped several assassination attempts.
Fortunately, he had a strong will to live and managed to survive them all.
It wasn’t until he came of age and entered the court to serve the emperor—gradually building a network of connections and gaining the support of several ministers—that life began to improve for both him and the Empress. Even so, the Empress, still heartbroken over Baili Luo’s disappearance, remained frail and reliant on medicine, though her life was no longer in immediate danger.
This journey out of the capital had been carefully arranged, with trusted people left behind to protect the Empress. His true purpose was to find the long-lost Baili Luo—because he refused to believe his royal brother was dead.
And sure enough, Heaven rewards those who are determined. In this remote little town, he had actually discovered someone who resembled his brother. Whether it was truly him or not, he had to investigate in person.
Baili Bin and Tian Xiao arrived at the Drunken Immortal Tavern to inquire. The young owner matched the person they were looking for in appearance—but he was said to be a fool?
The shopkeeper told them, “The owner only comes by once a month, on the fifteenth. He’s already been here this month. If you wish to meet him, come early next month—on the same day.”
A whole month—he would have to wait an entire month. Baili Bin was unwilling to accept it. Was he really going to miss the person who might be his royal brother?
Tian Xiao asked, “Shopkeeper, do you happen to know where the owner lives?”
Baili Bin chimed in, “Yes, exactly. If you give us the address, we can go find him ourselves.”
The shopkeeper looked troubled. “It’s not that I’m unwilling to tell you, Young Masters, but I truly don’t know where he lives. The owner only comes to the Drunken Immortal Tavern once a month. We don’t know where to find him either.”
Tian Xiao continued, “Then what do you do if there’s an urgent matter and you need to reach him?”
The shopkeeper replied, “Each visit is arranged in advance by the owner. He makes sure nothing major will come up while he’s away. For minor issues, I have the authority to make decisions.”
Since Master Gao had hired a manager to run the tavern on his behalf, he had granted him considerable freedom. Even the monthly commission was generously based on the tavern’s revenue—there was no stinginess involved.
As a result, the shopkeeper treated the tavern as if it were his own, managing it with full dedication.
Baili Bin let out a sigh. Tian Xiao consoled him, “Heaven never seals off all paths. Since fate has brought you this close to the Seventh Prince, I believe you’ll encounter him again. If he opened a tavern in this town, he’s probably living far from the main area. Why don’t we search in the direction his carriage went? We might find him that way.”
Baili Bin nodded with resignation. “That’s all we can do.”
They visited several households near the outskirts of town, but none of them had seen the person they were looking for. Some even mistook them for lecherous scoundrels and threw out wash water to drive them away.
This approach clearly wasn’t working. Going door to door was far too time-consuming—especially without any leads. They were getting nowhere.
Suddenly, a delicate female voice cried out, “Ow—who are you people?”
Lin Xiaoshuang had been knocked off balance by Tian Xiao and fell, with the things she had just bought scattering across the ground.
“My apologies, miss.” Baili Bin quickly stepped forward to help her up when he realized they had bumped into a young lady.
“I mean, can’t you even watch where—”
The rest of Lin Xiaoshuang’s sentence trailed off the moment she saw Baili Bin’s face.
Oh heavens, what was going on today? Everywhere she went, she kept running into handsome men!
“Miss, are you all right?” Baili Bin asked with concern.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing… Actually, it is something. I twisted my ankle—I can’t walk home,” Lin Xiaoshuang said, glancing at the pile of things on the ground and suddenly changing her tone.
“How about we take you to see a doctor?” Tian Xiao offered.
“No need. Seeing a doctor costs a lot of silver, and besides, at this hour, all the clinics are closed,” Lin Xiaoshuang said, limping slightly.
“Miss, where do you live? Allow me to escort you home,” Baili Bin offered quickly—so quickly that Tian Xiao didn’t have time to stop him.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Young Master. May I ask for your esteemed name?” Lin Xiaoshuang switched into a demure and ladylike tone—quite convincingly, too.
At least, to someone as inexperienced in the ways of the world as Baili Bin, the act was convincing.
“Ninth Young Master, let me take her instead. You should return to the inn,” Tian Xiao said, pulling Baili Bin aside, staying one step behind Lin Xiaoshuang.
But Baili Bin replied, “It’s fine. That young lady looks dark-skinned and skinny, not very attractive. Judging by her clothes, she’s probably a farm girl. Rural folk are usually simple and honest—no need to be overly cautious.”
Tian Xiao couldn’t argue with him and had no choice but to help Lin Xiaoshuang pick up the scattered items on the ground.
As she crouched nearby collecting her things, Lin Xiaoshuang heard every word of their conversation—word for word. Her not-so-attractive face twisted slightly. Not very attractive? Go to hell. I haven’t even started my beauty treatments yet. Just wait—once I’m beautiful, you’ll be groveling like a lovesick dog, left with nothing.
Lin Xiaoshuang had taken some of the small, valuable trinkets from the betrothal gifts Gao Bo had given her and sold them in town to get some silver. She then reluctantly spent a portion of it on a donkey cart.
Of course, the donkey cart wasn’t nearly as elegant as the Gao family’s carriage—not because she didn’t want a nicer one, but because it was far too expensive. She just couldn’t bring herself to spend that much.
So, a basic cart made of wooden planks with a donkey harnessed to the front became her humble mode of transport.
Lin Xiaoshuang blushed with a hint of shame.
“I’m embarrassed. Please forgive me, Young Master.”
After all, having such a refined and elegant man sit on a crude wooden cart was indeed a bit… mismatched.
The two men helped her load all her belongings onto the donkey cart. Tian Xiao volunteered to take the reins.
He certainly wasn’t going to let the Ninth Prince drive a donkey cart.
Baili Bin sat in the back of the cart with Lin Xiaoshuang. His anger toward Tian Xiao had somewhat subsided—seeing that at least he had some awareness of the situation, Baili Bin decided to forgive his poor taste.
Lin Xiaoshuang racked her brains trying to start a conversation with Baili Bin. How could she speak in a way that seemed reserved and ladylike, yet still managed to get information from him?
She thought of the old tactic “cast a brick to attract jade” from the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
She began by sharing her own tragic background: her family was cruel and heartless and had tried to sell her to a fool as his wife. Then she told how she used her exceptional intelligence to escape, which led her family to disown her in a fit of rage.
In the story of how she bought a person to take her place in marriage, she also skillfully explained her helplessness: she had seen the boy and felt sorry for him, so she brought him home. Unexpectedly, the foolish young master of the Gao family fell for him. The boy, in gratitude for her saving his life, agreed to take her place and marry into the Gao family.
At first, Baili Bin wasn’t particularly interested. But when he heard about a foolish young master in the Gao family who had just married a male bride, something clicked. The details matched the person he was looking for—the family background and recent events lined up.
The shopkeeper at the Drunken Immortal Tavern had mentioned that around noon, the young master brought in a thin boy and introduced him to everyone as his wife, named Bai Tang.
“What’s the Gao family’s name?” Baili Bin asked.
Seeing that she had finally caught Baili Bin’s attention, Lin Xiaoshuang was overjoyed. Even if Baili Bin didn’t end up falling for her, he clearly came from a powerful family. Having a connection like him could prove useful in business—or open new doors in the future.
“There are no elders in the Gao family, just a steward and a foolish young master. Everyone calls the steward Uncle Gao, and the fool is named Gao Luo. They moved to our village three years ago…”
As Baili Bin listened, he mentally lined up the details with his missing royal brother. Everything matched—both the name Luo and the timeline. His Seventh Brother had gone missing three years ago, and the Gao family had moved into the village exactly three years ago. The pieces fit.
“Miss Lin, is this Gao Luo the owner of the Drunken Immortal Tavern in town?” Baili Bin asked.
“The Drunken Immortal Tavern? That I’m not sure of. But yes, they did take a carriage into town today…”
From Baili Bin’s reaction, it was obvious that he had some kind of connection to the Gao family—either a close acquaintance or an enemy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this emotional.
From his words, Lin Xiaoshuang also gathered that the Gao family ran the Drunken Immortal Tavern in town. She had heard of that tavern—it was the most successful one in the area. If that were true, and Gao Luo was still a fool…
Lin Xiaoshuang suddenly recalled Gao Luo’s appearance, then glanced at the striking Baili Bin before her. Both were exceptionally attractive men. So now… what should she do?
The mountain path was difficult to walk on—worse still at night due to the lack of lighting.
Fortunately, Lin Xiaoshuang had bought a donkey cart. Although the donkey swayed and stumbled along the way, after more than an hour, they finally returned to the village.
After sitting in the donkey cart for the entire ride, Baili Bin felt like his bones were about to fall apart.
“If Young Master doesn’t mind, please come in and have a drink of water,” Lin Xiaoshuang offered. “Mountain roads are hard to travel at night, and there are some empty houses nearby. They used to belong to villagers who went out to work and earn money, and never came back. No one wants those houses anymore, so there’s no need to worry.”
If not for the strict separation between men and women in this era, she would’ve really wanted to keep him around a little longer—to chat more and build a closer relationship.
After thanking Lin Xiaoshuang, Baili Bin and Tian Xiao found a nearby straw hut that still looked mostly intact. They cleaned it up a little—it would do for the night.
Tian Xiao said, “Master, I didn’t expect such a surprising gain from this trip. The owner of the Drunken Immortal Tavern, whom we’ve searched for all this time, is actually living in a remote mountain village. According to Miss Lin, the Gao family lives at the far end of the village. Should we pay them a visit?”
Baili Bin replied, “That’s why they say good deeds bring good rewards. But not tonight—it’s too late. We’d be disturbing them if they’re resting. Let’s wait until tomorrow morning. Once we’ve cleaned up and prepared, we’ll pay them a proper visit.”
Author’s Note:
Bonus update! (I’m exhausted… and my roommate next door hasn’t even started writing!)