“Bang! Bang!”
Two dull thuds echoed from deep inside the passage. The copy of “Emperor Xiyan’s Secret Beauty Art” in Feng Zeyan’s hand almost fell to the ground.
【Who is it? Don’t tell me the emperor sent people to check on this place?】
Her figure flashed, slipping out of the “Prosperous Beauty Palace.”
At the far end of the tunnel, two dusty figures were groaning as they crawled out of a pile of soft soil.
【System, who are these two?】
【Host, it’s the Crown Prince and the Third Princess! They just fell down from above!】
The system’s voice was full of excited “watching-the-show” energy.
Feng Zeyan hurried over and hauled both of them out of the mud—one in each hand.
Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan’s crown was crooked. His usually refined, jade-like face was now covered in dirt as he coughed miserably.
The Third Princess Xiao Mingyue was even worse—her hair was loose, her luxurious palace dress torn in several places, looking like a mud-covered stray cat.
“Zhen… General Feng?”
Xiao Mingxuan recognized her, shock flashing in his eyes.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
Feng Zeyan stared at them expressionlessly.
“I should be the one asking that. Your Highness, Your Highness… why are you here too?”
【Don’t tell me these two are trying to take a share of the treasure?】
“We… we…” Xiao Mingxuan stammered, unable to form a sentence.
Xiao Mingyue quickly explained, “We couldn’t sleep and were worried about Father Emperor’s treasure excavation plan, so we came to check the progress!”
She brushed the dirt off her clothes.
“We didn’t expect it to be so dark and… we stepped wrong and fell!”
【If it weren’t for me operating the excavator all night, you two would still be waiting for centuries to reach here.】
Excavator?
The Crown Prince and Princess exchanged confused looks.
What was that?
It sounded very powerful.
“Since you’re already here, come along.”
Feng Zeyan turned and walked forward.
“There are mechanisms inside. More people means more ideas.”
【And with two royals here, it’ll be easier to explain to the emperor later.】
She led them into a tunnel lined with glowing night pearls.
When the Crown Prince and Third Princess stepped into the “Prosperous Beauty Palace,” they were completely stunned.
Walls full of self-portraits. All kinds of shameless praise. Exaggerated sculptures beyond belief…
Xiao Mingyue pointed at a painting that read “My beauty makes the sun and moon lose their light.” Her whole expression twisted.
“This man is way too narcissistic!”
Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan was too embarrassed by the explicit praise to even know where to look.
“This predecessor… truly… an extraordinary personality.”
【Hahaha! The Crown Prince’s expression is priceless! He’s probably never seen such a shameless emperor in his life!】
When they saw the box of white silver, both of them froze.
“General Feng, you found the treasure so easily?”
Xiao Mingxuan asked in disbelief.
“There must be at least a hundred thousand taels here, right?”
Xiao Mingyue’s eyes were glued to it.
As a princess, she had seen wealth before, but never silver stacked so neatly.
Feng Zeyan pointed at a question carved on the wall:
“Is Zhu Xi the most handsome emperor in history?”
Xiao Mingyue read the question and answers, then burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! This is too funny! Does this even need thinking?”
【Exactly. An obvious free point.】
Feng Zeyan didn’t linger and led them toward the second door—“Prosperous Wealth Palace.”
The door was made of pure gold. The plaque reading “Prosperous Wealth Palace” carried an arrogant “I’m rich” aura.
In the center was a giant golden compass engraved with words:
“To obtain my wealth, first understand the way of wealth accumulation. Question: What is the most crucial factor in accumulating wealth?”
Below were three buttons:
A: Hardworking hands
B: Frugal habits
C: Having a handsome, generous, magnanimous ruler (like me) who constantly inspires you to strive harder!
Xiao Mingxuan’s mouth twitched when he saw option C.
“…Isn’t this a bit too shameless?”
He analyzed seriously: “As the saying goes, diligence and thrift are virtues of the people. In my opinion, both A and B make sense, but diligence is fundamental—so A.”
Xiao Mingyue shook her head.
“No, no, no. What’s the use of working hard if you can’t save money? You’ll still end up broke. It must be B!”
“Yue’er, think about it—without hard work, where does wealth come from? Saving alone won’t generate capital!”
“Brother, if you can only earn but not save, it all ends up meaningless!”
Feng Zeyan watched the royal siblings seriously debating and almost laughed out loud.
【Naive. Arguing logic with a narcissist?】
【The correct answer to this question is obvious even with your toes.】
The Crown Prince stood closest and pressed A.
“Don’t—!”
Feng Zeyan tried to stop him, but it was too late.
The moment the button was pressed, the entire chamber shook violently!
“Rumble…”
Mechanisms activated overhead. But instead of boulders or poison arrows, giant sieves fell from above.
“Whoosh—!”
A huge amount of white powder rained down, burying all three of them instantly.
Feng Zeyan reacted quickly and covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve, but still got covered.
The Crown Prince and Princess weren’t so lucky—they were turned into two snowmen on the spot, even eyebrows and hair coated white.
“Cough cough! What is this stuff?!”
Xiao Mingyue stomped angrily while brushing it off.
Feng Zeyan pinched a bit and sniffed.
Familiar wheat smell.
【Flour? So the punishment for wrong answers is flour dumping?】
A golden line appeared on the wall:
“Fools! The true wealth code is me! If you can’t even understand this, you deserve poverty!”
“Punishment: experience the ‘dust of poverty’!”
Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan wiped his face, laughing and crying at the same time.
“This Emperor Xiyan… really is…”
He wanted to curse, but felt it was inappropriate to insult a dead emperor.
Xiao Mingyue, however, exploded.
“This Emperor Xiyan! Even dead, he still torments people!”
She angrily slapped the white powder off her clothes.
“What do you mean wealth code is him? He’s been dead for hundreds of years!”
Seeing the two royals covered in flour like snow ghosts, Feng Zeyan couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
“Hahaha… ‘dust of poverty’… what kind of nonsense is that!”
Looking at each other’s ridiculous appearance, the Crown Prince and Princess finally couldn’t help but laugh as well.
Feng Zeyan calmly stepped into the second chamber.
This room was even larger.
Gold and silver treasures were piled like mountains, dazzling to the eyes.
The walls were no longer portraits, but golden artworks—all themed around Emperor Xiyan.
At the center stood the second challenge.
Question: “If you have 100 taels of gold, how can you turn it into 1,000 taels within a year?”
Still three options:
A: Buy farmland, farm diligently, sell grain during good harvests
B: Open a pawnshop, buy low sell high, make money work for you
C: Spend everything on the most luxurious clothes and paintings, display them daily at the palace gate to gain my favor. When I am pleased, I will reward you a hundredfold!
After the previous lesson, the Crown Prince and Princess had learned.
“No need to think—definitely flattering again!”
Xiao Mingyue reached for C and pressed it.
“Rumble!”
The golden door slowly opened.
A golden light flashed, revealing new words:
“Kindred spirit! Absolutely kindred spirit! Reward: 300,000 taels!”
“To recognize my importance shows great potential!”
“Remember: investing in me is investing in the future!”
Xiao Mingxuan: “……”
Xiao Mingyue: “……”
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