I became a prince in a martial arts world.

The three江湖 (jianghu) men coughed up blood and fainted, but it didn't cause much of a stir.

The feud between the martial arts world was obvious, but there was no one to retaliate, the imperial court didn't care, and the onlookers naturally didn't interfere.

The restaurant continued serving dishes, and the customers continued clinking glasses, but everyone unconsciously lowered their voices and stopped talking about the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion and the famous martial arts masters.

……

Upon returning to the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion, Wang Yu escorted Qianqian back to Hongyan Pavilion, gave her a bottle of lavender perfume, and then took a bottle of tulip perfume to the back hall of the mansion.

The Zhenxi Prince's Mansion is divided into two halls, front and back. The front hall serves as the formal reception area and is also responsible for receiving guests and hosting banquets, while the back hall is where the Prince's Mansion handles government affairs.

Li Yunxiu is currently working in the rear hall.

"Did you go out with Qianqian today?" Li Yunxiu asked.

"You've already planted an informant in the mansion so quickly?" Wang Yu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Speaking of this topic, Li Yunxiu was a little troubled. "I only found out because Ziling came to see you. I don't know what kind of bewitching potion that Qianqian gave to the servants in the mansion. All those servants and maids are on her side."

Wang Yu looked at Li Yunxiu's somewhat intimidating aura, and then thought of Qianqian's gentle and soft nature, and nodded in understanding.

"What kind of look is that?" Li Yunxiu knew this too, but since she was in charge of the affairs of the manor, she couldn't follow Qianqian's path.

The right way is to combine kindness and severity!

"I've brought you perfume, a new item from the Western Regions. Carry it with you and apply a couple of drops anytime; the fragrance will last for an hour." Wang Yu placed a bottle of tulip perfume on Li Yunxiu's desk.

Li Yunxiu picked up the small metal bottle and dripped two drops onto her sleeve, instantly filling the air with a rich fragrance.

"It's more fragrant than the sachet, thank you very much." Li Yunxiu took a deep breath and asked Wang Yu, "Just who is this Qianqian? Does Zhao Zheng have such an old friend?"

"I don't know," Wang Yu shook his head.

"What's her surname?" Li Yunxiu asked again. Knowing her surname would allow them to find out about her family background and other details.

"I don't know," Wang Yu shook his head again.

Li Yunxiu narrowed her eyes. "Then what do you know?"

Wang Yu smiled and said, "I know she's really beautiful."

Li Yunxiu gritted her teeth, "Men are all the same, once they become princes they just start indulging in lust."

Wang Yu said helplessly, "I'm a normal man. You won't give it to me, and you're stopping me from finding someone else? It's the emperor and you who want to control the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion, not me. If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it some grass."

Li Yunxiu was speechless. Inheriting the throne of Zhenxi King, and he still expects the horse to eat grass?

But seeing Wang Yu spending all his time with Qianqian except for practicing martial arts, Li Yunxiu felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

Logically speaking, she had absolutely no romantic feelings for Wang Yu; she was only loyal to the emperor and hoped for peace in the world. To her, Wang Yu was just a stranger she was working with, and the two were only husband and wife in name only.

But along the way, Wang Yu has repeatedly stepped up in times of crisis, outsmarting the men in black. His words and actions are always calm and composed, whether he is talking about swords or wine, which makes him stand out from the crowd.

Back at the Prince of Zhenxi's mansion, although Wang Yu did not imitate Zhao Yu's eccentric and arrogant personality, he remained calm in the face of danger, demonstrating a wise, decisive, and domineering character.

Leaving aside his persuasion of Zhao Rong to continue employing him after learning that Zhao Zheng had died at the hands of the late emperor, his act of intimidating the powerful general of the Prince's mansion in the reception hall the next day and stripping Zhao Siqi of his military power was something that even Li Yunxiu had to admire.

That was only his second day at the Prince's residence!

He had been away from the Prince's Mansion for ten years. Under such circumstances, a normal person would not confront a grandfather-generation general who was also a commander of an army and the most senior general in the Prince's Mansion.

But Wang Yu not only did it, he also succeeded. The handover of the Xionglue Army went smoothly. Even after Peng Hu and Lu Yunzhou left, they still said in public that he had the style and aura of a king.

One was a formidable general, and the other a renowned strategist; both pledged their loyalty to Wang Yu, allowing him to quickly establish himself in the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion and even making his rule much smoother.

No outsiders were present when the conflict occurred in the meeting room that day, but Peng Hu later hinted at it while drinking, and Li Yunxiu easily guessed the specific situation by connecting the preceding and following remarks.

Although saving yourself is also saving him, it's still quite touching to think that a man would relinquish his military command for your sake.

Of course, this does not mean that Li Yunxiu will repay him with her body. She just admires Wang Yu and regards him as an excellent partner.

If Wang Yu was just casually playing around with the maids and servants in the mansion, Li Yunxiu might not have cared much.

But Qianqian's appearance was indeed unexpected by Li Yunxiu.

She herself was a princess bestowed by the emperor, but Qianqian was also the fiancée betrothed to her son by the former Prince of Zhenxi, so their statuses were equal.

Therefore, Wang Yu and Qianqian being together gave Li Yunxiu a feeling that something that belonged to her had been taken away.

Although Li Yunxiu rationally knew that this feeling was ridiculous, she still couldn't help it, especially when Wang Yu showed great interest in Qianqian.

"She agreed to give it to you?" Li Yunxiu glanced at Wang Yu.

"No," Wang Yu replied honestly.

Li Yunxiu's lips curled up slightly. Although she didn't know Qianqian's background, she knew that this woman was not simple. She wouldn't act without seeing the benefits and would never easily lose her virginity to Wang Yu.

"So how do you plan to solve this?" Li Yunxiu teased.

"I'm planning to buy a male prostitute," Wang Yu honestly stated his intentions once again.

"You!" Li Yunxiu's eyes widened in surprise, but Wang Yu interrupted her, "I went shopping today and ran into three people. Do you know them?"

"Who is it?"

"A couple, and a young woman."

Wang Yu described the appearance of the middle-aged couple and the girl in green he had encountered that day, and how the other party had only snorted once in the restaurant, yet it had caused the three martial arts men to cough up blood and wail in pain.

Li Yunxiu raised an eyebrow. "The man was carrying a four-foot-long wooden box, and the woman was carrying a purple bamboo flute?"

"good."

"Such an obvious characteristic, and Zhao Yingjie didn't even know it." Li Yunxiu shook his head with a smile. "He's still too young. He focuses too much on the experts among the various forces and ignores the wandering heroes in the martial arts world."

"Do you know them?"

"Of course I know them," Li Yunxiu chuckled. "There probably aren't many people in the martial arts world who don't know them."

"who are they?"

"There are many famous couples in the martial arts world, but only four are the most famous, and they are one of them," Li Yunxiu said quietly. "The lone paulownia tree plays three tunes in the spring breeze, and the purple jade sings a clear song in the autumn moon."

"Wei Gutong is skilled in playing the qin, and Yan Ziyu is skilled in playing the xiao. The two travel the world freely and unrestrained. Their qin and xiao duets are a great honor for the listeners."

Li Yunxiu paused here, then added with some doubt, "But Mr. Gutong and Madam Ziyu have always traveled the world together, and I've never heard of them having children. Besides, the age of that girl in green doesn't match up."

Wang Yu shrugged. "So you don't know either, so what right do you have to laugh at Zhao Yingjie?"

Li Yunxiu was so angry she almost picked up a paperweight and threw it at Wang Yu. "That girl in green was standing at the back; she was clearly just an extra. It's enough that I know Mr. and Mrs. Gutong have come to Longshan Prefecture!"

At this point, Li Yunxiu paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What are they doing in Longshan Prefecture? Could it be targeting the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion?"

"No," Wang Yu shook his head.

"How did you know?" Li Yunxiu asked back.

"Because if it's targeting the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion, they won't let me leave Wanghailou," Wang Yu said.

Li Yunxiu, "..."

Makes sense!

"Then it's alright." Li Yunxiu waved to Wang Yu. "Go on, go on, don't bother me while I'm working. One last thing, Qianqian is no pushover. Keep your distance from her, or she might find out your secrets."

This time it was Wang Yu's turn to be speechless. What kind of strong woman is this!

Seeing that Li Yunxiu had put the perfume aside, Wang Yu didn't continue Qianqian's topic. Instead, he stated his second purpose for coming: "How are the Wang Mansion's accounts? How much surplus do they have each year?"

"Why are you suddenly interested in this?" Li Yunxiu asked in surprise. "Don't worry, it's enough for you to buy prostitutes!"

Wang Yu sighed. "Can I ask about our future living conditions?"

"Alright!" Li Yunxiu laughed. "The Prince of Zhenxi's mansion supports 50,000 soldiers, 3,000 cavalry, and 30,000 warhorses. In addition to paying their salaries, we also have to take care of their food and clothing, as well as the damage and replacement of their weapons every year. This alone costs more than two million taels of silver every year."

"In addition to these, there are laborers, servants, craftsmen, and so on, with annual expenses amounting to about 2.8 million taels."

Li Yunxiu looked at Wang Yu with a smile in her eyes, "But the advantage is that the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion occupies a key position on the northwest trade route, and with the addition of the three prefectures under its jurisdiction, the annual tax revenue is over three million taels."

"They can still save 200,000 taels of silver every year?"

"To be precise, it was 270,000 taels last year."

"That's very good."

"But this money is more than enough to preserve what we have, but not enough to expand our territory," Li Yunxiu shook his head. "A few years ago, the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion went to the northern desert again, and now the mansion's treasury has less than one million taels of silver left."

"Once the imperial court issues an order and the army sets out, this amount of money will be completely insufficient."

Wang Yu pointed eastward, "But shouldn't the imperial court be the one to provide funding for the army's march?"

Li Yunxiu smiled and said, "What you said makes sense."

The Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion can fight for the imperial court, but it would be unreasonable for them to pay for it themselves.

……

Wang Yu came out from the back hall, took out the remaining two bottles of perfume, and commented, "The alcohol purity is not high, and it should be made by soaking flower petals rather than extracting plant essential oils."

"Although the fragrance is stronger than that of a sachet, it is still far inferior to modern perfumes, and it lasts for less than an hour, at most an hour and a half."

"Ten taels of silver for such a small bottle of perfume? That's outrageous profiteering!"

Wang Yu's eyes flickered. No matter what world you're in, you can't do anything without money. Should he do something that people in the historical district would do?

Upon returning to Dehexuan, they saw Zhao Yingjie, now dressed in a slightly flamboyant royal blue long gown, waiting at the door with a grin. He asked with a mischievous glint in his eye, "When are we leaving?"

"The plans have changed!" Wang Yu waved his hand. "Go and buy me a batch of flower petals, and the strongest liquor!"

DIY crafts are much more fun than hiring a prostitute!

Zhao Yingjie: ? ? ?