IDWBE -Chapter 88 The Radiant Prince He

Take these old men for example—if they had even the slightest retreat left to them, they would never have chosen Prince He!

They were already at death’s door, without power or influence, and still bearing the stigma of past crimes. Though brimming with talent, they had nowhere to display it. Aside from the suddenly emerged Prince He, did they have any other choice?

Fortunately, this Prince He was nowhere near as unbearable as the rumors claimed.

In fact, the current situation was gradually giving them a faint sense of comfort.

Lin Yi snorted coldly.

“Let’s make this clear first—he can mess with whatever he likes, but the schools and orphanages must be funded by him. And as for salt profits and maritime trade, he’s not to touch my share. Sanhe is poor. I need to keep some private savings.”

Xie Zan replied, “Your Highness may rest assured. Lord Shan is not unreasonable.”

Lin Yi sighed. “Fine. You can all say whatever you want about him. I only care about results. If anything goes wrong, you’ll answer for it.”

The crowd smiled, unconcerned by his threats.

By now, they understood this Prince well. Though he barked fiercely, he was actually a kind-hearted man.

Under the blazing sun, the people of Baiyun City minded their own business. The imperial court a thousand miles away had nothing to do with them.

Traffic from north and south clogged the single main road.

After all, Baiyun City had only this one road.

An old man with white hair stood atop an ox cart, cracking his whip and shouting in a booming voice, “No virtue at all! Move to the right!”

The moment he opened his mouth, one could tell he was a local of Sanhe.

Opposite him was a line of merchant carriages. Seated at the front was a plump young man who was about to retort when a burly middle-aged man standing on the ground cut him off.

“Elder, please go ahead!”

The middle-aged man snatched the reins from the coachman and personally led the horse aside. Turning to shout behind him, he ordered, “Keep right! Don’t block the road!”

The caravan swiftly made way. The old man snorted and flicked his whip lightly as the ox cart rolled past them.

The plump young man complained, “I hired you to escort me, not to let me swallow insults!”

The middle-aged man cupped his fists with a wry smile. “Young Master, it’s your first time in Baiyun City. You likely don’t know the rules here. This isn’t like our Nan Province. The ‘black skins—that is, the militia—are fierce. If we stir up trouble, we’ll be in real danger. The Old Master entrusted you to me. I dare not let you fall into harm’s way.”

The strangest part was that in Baiyun City, from toddlers barely learning to walk to white-haired grandmothers, nearly everyone practiced martial arts.

That unassuming farmer just now—when his aura flared, damn it, he turned out to be a second-rank expert!

Stronger than him, a seasoned escort chief who had roamed the martial world for years!

Better not provoke anyone here.

If not for livelihood concerns, he himself would have loved to stay in Baiyun City and properly study the so-called “Royal Technique”—the Huiyuan Art.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have that opportunity.

At most, he could linger a little longer each visit and steal a glance or two at the school training grounds to learn a trick or two.

“If you want fish to come ashore, you’ve got to trade grain for them.”

Sitting by the riverbank, Lin Yi casually scattered a handful of corn kernels into the water.

Moments later, he slowly reeled in a crucian carp weighing over seven jin (about 3.5 kg), nearly snapping his bamboo fishing rod.

Nowadays, he rarely fished at home. Bamboo lattice screens had been installed at the inlet and outlet of Prince He’s residence, preventing outside fish from entering.

He had planted lotus flowers and raised goldfish. The grass carp from outside would devour anything green they saw.

Suddenly, he caught three bitterlings in succession, which left him stunned.

It was his first time ever catching such fish—he had never even seen them before.

“Did I hook an entire family at once?”

Carefully removing the hooks, he placed them into a wooden bucket and said to Bao Kui,
“Fetch a few river mussels and bring them home to raise together. Otherwise, these bitterlings won’t spawn.”

Bao Kui asked curiously, “Your Highness, what do river mussels have to do with whether the fish lay eggs?”

“You don’t know?” Lin Yi chuckled. “Bitterlings deposit their eggs inside mussels to hatch.”

“Ah?” Bao Kui looked incredulous. “Are those mussels fools?”

“Survival of the fittest—there’s no true fool in nature,” Lin Yi said, then frowned. “But the mussels can’t be kept in the main pond. When they spawn, their larvae attach to fish gills and eyes. That can cause infections and rotting scales. My goldfish can’t withstand that kind of damage.

“Take them back and keep them separately in a large vat.”

After saying that, he sighed.

If in his previous life his legs had been fine, even if he hadn’t become an online novelist, he could have raised fish and still been a champion.

After all, someone as outstanding as he was could never hide his brilliance—wherever he went.

Qin Hu came running in a hurry.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Bao Kui kicked him irritably. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out!”

Qin Hu grinned. “Your Highness, guess who I saw?”

Lin Yi replied flatly, “Believe it or not, I’ll toss you into the river.”

Qin Hu quickly said, “Your Highness, I saw Ge Laoshan!”

Lin Yi frowned. “That bandit chief from Fulong Mountain?”

Of all the people he had met, few had left a deep impression on him—but Ge Laoshan was one of them.

“Exactly!” Qin Hu thumped his chest. “Should I take men and arrest him?”

“Did he rob anyone in Sanhe?” Lin Yi asked.

Qin Hu shook his head. “No. He’s stopped being a bandit. He hauled several cartloads of tea here and started selling it. I personally saw him deliver it to the Wang family and exchange it for a lot of silver.”

“In that case,” Lin Yi said, “if he hasn’t committed crimes, we should give him a chance to reform. Still, to be safe, keep an eye on him. If anything goes wrong, I’ll hold you responsible.”

“Ah…” Qin Hu groaned inwardly. How had this landed on him?

He might be reckless, but this Prince—this Prince was chaotic in a different way.

There was no reasoning with him.

So he didn’t argue further and hurried off to tail Ge Laoshan.

If something truly happened, he’d have no way to explain it to the Prince.

Shops lined the roadside in neat rows, stretching nearly two li beyond the main road. Wealthy families had even built auxiliary roads wider than the main one. Many houses were still under construction.

The most luxurious restaurant in Baiyun City was called Golden Fortune Restaurant, the only two-story establishment in the city.

Back when it was first proposed to be built by the roadside, the application to the Military Commissioner’s Office was rejected outright.

Instead, they were assigned a plot over a hundred zhang away from the main road.

What once seemed like a disadvantage had now become a blessing. The land was spacious and open—no matter how many carriages arrived, there was never a shortage of parking space.