Chapter Eighteen: A Scene Never Witnessed in a Lifetime

“Come, come, thirty taels each, pick whichever you like, but only one per person! First come, first served!”

In front of the stall, Li Chen shouted at the top of his lungs.

The common folk were dumbfounded.

Is this... the emperor of our great Zhou, renowned for both culture and military prowess?

Is this the Son of Heaven who rules the strongest empire under heaven?

“Oh my... this is ridiculous! The mighty emperor neglecting his duties, actually peddling goods on the street like a common vendor...”

“What’s that? Since this male emperor ascended the throne, hasn’t he done plenty of absurd things? First, driving the refugees of Yuzhou into the Tang Kingdom, then appointing mountain bandits as governors—how preposterous...”

“Haha, our emperor acts on whim, doing things purely for his own amusement. If this keeps up, heh, it won’t be long before the prestigious name of the First Empire of Great Zhou disappears altogether.”

“Shh! How dare you say such things? Do you want to lose your lives? The emperor is right here!”

At that moment, Li Chen suddenly glanced toward the group, catching their eyes.

“Uh... the emperor didn’t hear that, did he?”

“Impossible. We’re so far away, and it’s so noisy.”

What these commoners didn’t realize was that just five minutes ago...

[Congratulations, Your Majesty has received a reward: a Maybach has been placed into your ring and can be summoned at any time.]

What the—

There’s even such a reward?!

In my previous life, after thirty years of hard work, I only managed to drive a Mazda.

Now, after crossing over here, in just a few minutes, I have a luxury car that most men only dream of.

Though I haven’t seen the car yet, Li Chen already began to imagine... driving through the grand streets of Luodu with his beloved consort...

Hahaha, this is exhilarating!

But that’s not all.

There were two other rewards to choose from.

[One: A bountiful harvest; next year, the grain output of Great Zhou will increase tenfold.]

[Three: “Wind Listening” — enhances the host’s hearing, allowing detection of any movement within a 500-meter radius. (The host can control the detection range and toggle this ability on or off at will.)]

A tenfold increase in grain production?

If I choose that, wouldn’t I become a wise ruler overnight?

Of course not.

Though “Wind Listening” isn’t particularly useful, it’s at least better than the first option.

At least I could eavesdrop on what the officials say about me...

Ding dong!

[Reward completed.]

Good! Then I’ll give this “Wind Listening” a try first...

Huh?

I only planned to test it out, but unexpectedly, I accidentally overheard the commoners’ discussion...

---

Listening to myself being criticized as a negligent and foolish ruler, Li Chen felt quite delighted.

Instinctively, he wanted to see who those commoners were.

...

“Brothers, aren’t you coming to buy one?”

The commoners who had just been discussing the emperor exchanged glances.

“I... I’ll take one!”

“Me too!”

Before long, over a hundred imperial artifacts had been reduced by half.

Suddenly!

A large group of palace guards surged into the street.

In moments, the crowd parted to clear a path.

The situation was so sudden that the commoners didn’t have time to react before they saw a large group of officials hurrying toward where the emperor stood.

Sharp-eyed observers noticed that among them were not only the current prime minister and the six ministers, but almost all civil and military officials of the fourth rank or above had appeared...

A few minutes later...

The officials knelt before the emperor, pleading with His Majesty to return to the palace.

But Li Chen, the first male emperor of Great Zhou, behaved like a rogue, refusing to leave despite their earnest entreaties.

In the end, the prime minister ordered the guards to forcibly carry the emperor onto the dragon carriage.

Watching the officials and guards retreat like a receding tide and the emperor wailing atop the dragon carriage, the surrounding commoners were utterly bewildered.

They had never seen anything like this in their lives.

“My heavens! Am I really seeing this?”

“I, an old woman who has lived for over seventy years, have witnessed countless events, but a scene like this—I never even dared imagine it...”

“Alas... how could our Great Zhou’s emperor be like this? I always imagined the emperor as wise and mighty.”

“Heh, absurd, it’s nothing but a farce. Soon enough, this will spread to other countries and bring us shame, shame indeed!”

...

Not only the common people.

Even the court historians were at a loss on how to record today’s events.

After much thought, they hastily wrote a brief passage in the official records.

[In the first year of the Tianqi era, mid-autumn, the emperor suddenly took a fancy to selling imperial treasures from the inner court, causing uproar among the common people in the streets, their voices shaking the heavens.

Upon hearing this, the officials were all shocked and flustered, hastily going to escort His Majesty back. In total, the former emperor earned over 1,354 taels of silver.]

...

“Ouyang Yu, are you trying to rebel?”

“Quickly put me down! Don’t think that just because you take me back to the palace, you can keep an eye on me forever! I tell you, given the chance, I’ll be out again!”

Hearing the emperor’s shouts, Ouyang Yu wiped the sweat from his brow.

At last, they had arrived inside the palace.

“Your Majesty, please atone for your sins! We were forced into this desperate measure.”

“Your Majesty is the ruler of ten thousand reverences. How can you be wandering in the streets alone? If anything were to happen to you, we would never be able to bear the consequences!”

Once freed from the guards’ restraint, Li Chen suddenly stood and jumped down from the dragon carriage.

“Your Majesty, be careful!”

The officials were shocked and rushed forward in concern.

“Careful my foot! I wouldn’t be doing this if you hadn’t forced me!”

“The Moon Worship Festival is approaching, and the grand event I painstakingly planned is about to be canceled. The news is already out—how am I supposed to face the people of Great Zhou now?”

“Fine! The treasury is empty, right? Aren’t you all constantly complaining about poverty? I’ll find a way to raise the funds myself, no problem!”

Ouyang Yu glanced at Bailian.

His look seemed to say, “Look at what trouble you’ve caused!”

Bailian looked aggrieved. “Sir, this was all your idea.”

“Enough! Everyone disperse quickly. I have no time to entertain you. I must go back and think about the next money-making scheme.”

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Yu’s heart nearly leapt into his throat.

The emperor’s actions today were already shocking enough; if he continued, who knew what bizarre stunts he would pull next...

Worse still, Great Zhou could truly become the laughingstock of the world.

That would be one thing, but the greatest fear was that the emperor’s dignity—the Dragon’s authority of Great Zhou—would be utterly disgraced by this new ruler.

Just as Li Chen turned to leave,

Ouyang Yu gave Bailian a hard pinch on the arm.

Bailian winced in pain but understood the prime minister’s meaning.

With a trembling voice, she called out,

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I’ll pay, I’ll pay, isn’t that enough?”

Hearing this, Li Chen paused, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips as he slowly turned around.

“How much silver does Minister Bai intend to contribute?”

“Your Majesty, you need one million taels, right? I will do my best to gather it.”

Bailian said sorrowfully, looking utterly defeated.

However, Li Chen did not immediately agree, instead frowning slightly and replying calmly,

“One million taels? I seem to recall it was five million taels.”

Upon hearing this, Bailian’s legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

Oh, late emperor!

Please look down upon me! I, Bai Lian, Minister of Revenue all my life, have never seen such a profligate emperor!