In the end, Ji Xiu naturally still did not accept the Crown Prince’s goodwill.
Not to mention that he already had Xie Rouniang by his side, with two children. At present, the most important thing was to preserve the lives of the original body’s family of four and to contend with Princess Dongzhu.
Even if none of that were the case, a woman like Consort Lin, whose acting skills were astonishing, was not something he could handle. He might as well leave her to the Crown Prince to enjoy.
Seeing Ji Xiu refuse, the Crown Prince sighed regretfully. “Could it be that Sir was embarrassed because I exposed you? There is really no need for that. Sir possesses great talent. Having a few unusual hobbies is also only human nature.”
“Your Highness!” Ji Xiu raised his voice to interrupt him, lest he continue rambling and further damage his reputation. “Today’s matter has already been settled. This minister will take his leave!”
The Crown Prince burst out laughing, casually pushing away Consort Lin, who was stiff as a block of wood in his arms. “I’ll see Sir off.”
Ji Xiu glanced at the Crown Prince, seeing that he was deliberately laughing at him and intending to secretly tease him once. However, thinking of the young man’s usual maintenance and admiration, he sighed and ultimately let him off.
He had only just entered officialdom and had yet to gain a firm foothold at court. He needed the Crown Prince, this convenient tool, to stand in front and block arrows.
The Crown Prince had no idea that he had just brushed past danger. After seeing Ji Xiu out, he watched the carefree figure leaving, his hands clasped behind his back. The admiration in his eyes gradually turned complicated.
Setting other things aside, just today’s incident alone showed Ji Xiu’s ability to plan one step ahead and see three steps further. It was truly unfathomable.
If he had not known that Ji Xiu had openly offended the Emperor in the Golden Hall and been exiled to the Ministry of Works, and thus could absolutely not be the Emperor’s man, the Crown Prince would not even dare to heavily employ him.
Still, with Ji Xiu, he was like a tiger given wings.
Precisely because of this, with his future appearing smooth and bright, he would not allow anyone to destroy the powerful alliance between himself and Ji Xiu.
Thinking of this, the Crown Prince turned his head toward the direction of the rear hall. After pondering for a long while, he did not think of going to comfort the frightened favored consort at all. He calmly tossed out a sentence, “Consort Lin behaved improperly. Order her to remain confined behind closed doors to reflect for half a year.”
After that, he turned around and went to the Zhan Affairs Office, leaving Consort Lin completely behind.
The personal eunuch quickly acknowledged the order. After seeing the Crown Prince off, he turned back to announce this “good news” to Consort Lin.
Consort Lin’s whole body stiffened, as if struck by a bolt from a clear sky.
Back when she saw the Crown Prince chatting and laughing with that sixth rank minor official, she already had a bad premonition. But hearing it with her own ears still made it impossible to accept.
“No, His Highness would not be so heartless…”
Consort Lin’s mentality collapsed. She only wanted to teach a lesson to a mere sixth rank official. Why had she ended up paying the price of the favor and status she had worked so hard to obtain?
She refused to go back and be confined. With an anxious expression, she lifted her skirt and hurried to chase after the Crown Prince.
The eunuch sighed and waved his hand. “Escort Consort Lin back to her courtyard!”
The small eunuchs behind him swarmed forward, seized Consort Lin, and roughly sent her away.
Consort Lin was on the verge of madness. Half a year of confinement. With His Highness being so amorous, by then he would have long forgotten her…
She regretted it. She really should not have stirred up trouble. Would it not have been good to obediently play the little white flower before?
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
……
When Ji Xiu returned to the Ministry of Works, he did not rest either.
He had said before that after returning to the capital, he would write storybooks. On one hand, to support his family, and on the other, to manipulate public opinion and subtly control the direction of popular discourse.
Therefore, as early as his first day entering the Ministry of Works, upon discovering how idle it was, he had already begun writing storybooks.
After several days, the first volume of five thousand characters was nearly complete. He planned to revise and polish it again today, then send it to a bookshop.
It was his first time writing, so he kept it simple, writing a tale of a talented scholar and a beautiful lady.
However, unlike the storybooks of this era, which were monotonous and uniform, all indulging in the fantasies of poor scholars about wealthy young ladies marrying down to them, sending money, people, and resources, and helping them succeed in the imperial examinations, Ji Xiu’s storybook adopted the perspective of the female protagonist.
In modern times, this kind of storybook with a female protagonist as the main viewpoint would be called a female audience novel. But in this world, such a style was rare.
Because this world was still an era where men held power.
As for women, those of high status were busy learning rules and etiquette, hoping to marry a good man in the future, and disdained writing storybooks. Those of low status were illiterate, so relying on writing storybooks was impossible. This resulted in all storybooks in this world being written by men, with perspectives naturally also mostly male.
Even if there were occasionally a few scholars who took a different path and wrote storybooks from a female perspective, due to their crude thinking and one sided impressions of women, the plots they depicted still served the tastes of the male public, rather than what women wished to see.
As a result, most storybooks in this world were harem novels, with every male protagonist having three wives and four concubines.
And because it was legally sanctioned by the era, no one even felt that this was wrong.
For such storybooks, the number of female readers was sparse. Bookshops did not care either, because from the birth of storybooks until now, the mainstream customers had never been women.
What Ji Xiu was about to do now was to spread the belief of one life, one love, one partner, to the women of the capital.
He took out paper and brush and began grinding ink and writing in his small office cubicle.
Two hours later, it was time to leave work. Colleagues around him stood up and left one after another. Ji Xiu organized the manuscript, tucked it against his chest, and prepared to leave the palace to head to the bookshop on Vermilion Bird Street that he had long had his eye on.
This bookshop was called Zhu Family Bookshop. Among the many bookshops in the capital famous for storybooks, it had unique vision and was always able to discover outstanding storybook authors and innovate continuously. For several consecutive years, its storybook sales ranked first.
Ji Xiu had previously bought some storybooks for research and discovered that half of them came from Zhu Family Bookshop.
Moreover, Zhu Family Bookshop not only had keen vision, but also a mysterious background. No one knew what kind of power protected it behind the scenes. Each year, among the red permits issued by the Ministry of Rites, they always obtained the most.
Red permits were equivalent to modern publishing licenses. Only storybooks with red permits could be printed and published. Otherwise, they were illicit books.
Privately printing, collecting, reading, or selling illicit books were all serious crimes. Once discovered, the light punishment was imprisonment and fines, while the heavy punishment was confiscation of property and extermination of the clan. It was even harsher than modern times. Therefore, in this era, red permits were the foundation of every bookshop’s survival.
Since he was going to seriously write storybooks, Ji Xiu would naturally choose the bookshop with the greatest power and deepest background to cooperate with.
With a big tree at one’s back, it was easier to enjoy the shade. This was just like entering the entertainment industry in modern times. If one could have an agency with abundant resources and high status, very few newcomers would want to go to a half dead small company.
Ji Xiu was the same.
He left the Ministry of Works, crossed the bustling streets, and arrived at the bookshop.
At first, the shop assistant thought he had come to buy storybooks and enthusiastically went up to recommend newly released ones.
Later, upon learning that Ji Xiu was not there to buy storybooks but to publish one, the assistant did not turn hostile. He joked a few words and, with a full smile, led Ji Xiu to the back courtyard to see the shopkeeper.
Setting other things aside, just this assistant’s manner of dealing with people already made Ji Xiu very satisfied with this bookshop.
After meeting the shopkeeper, he was even more satisfied.
The shopkeeper was also someone well versed in literature. After reading the storybook Ji Xiu brought, although he felt that the first draft was somewhat uninteresting, he did not reject it outright. After pondering for a moment, he spoke. “This kind of style is rather rare. Let us print one thousand copies first and see.”
For most men, this sort of romantic love story was not particularly eye catching.
Ji Xiu understood the shopkeeper’s thinking. He nodded and agreed.
An initial print of one thousand copies, with a twenty percent cut. For every storybook sold, Ji Xiu would receive twenty percent of the sale price. This was already extremely generous compensation, after all, paper and printing in this era were still underdeveloped.
However, in order to release the new storybook on schedule, the shopkeeper required Ji Xiu to submit the manuscript on time within ten days, and before the red permit came through, hand over the complete manuscript to their proofreading team.
Ji Xiu weighed his time and found it somewhat difficult, but he still agreed.
At worst, he simply would not go to the Eastern Palace to see the Crown Prince.
Far away in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince, handling government affairs, yawned and rubbed his brow, puzzled. “Who is thinking about me?”
The Crown Prince, who had been favored since childhood and entered the Eastern Palace slightly before coming of age, probably could never imagine in his life that he would be less important than writing storybooks.
……
After finishing discussions with the shopkeeper, Ji Xiu left the bookshop. As he walked, his thoughts kept turning, considering what gifts to bring home for his family.
Back and forth, he delayed his return.
When he was halfway home, Princess Dongzhu’s carriage was blocking the alley entrance.
A small eunuch ran over from beside the carriage, saying ingratiatingly, “Top Scholar, the Princess invites you.”