My Emperor Father Can Read Minds

Chapter 158

The next day, Wei Yu was quite surprised when he heard that those two aristocratic families had agreed to cooperate.

Why did they agree so quickly?

Such a big matter, and they’re not going to think it through a bit more?

If they thought too much, there’d be no need. Sun Xizhao was actually quite worried that the court might grow impatient and take action against the Yizhou clans.

Anyway, they were cooperating with the Merchants’ Alliance to do business in Great Liang. What they valued was nothing more than the deterrent power of the court.

Wei Yu didn’t care what they were really thinking. As far as he was concerned, as long as some noble families in Yizhou were willing to cooperate with the Guild and send people and supplies to Great Liang to do business, that was good enough.

As for whether they’d end up making money in Great Liang—well, that was up to their own abilities.

The two sides had a pleasant discussion about the cooperation. All the hypocrisy of adulthood was fully on display at the tea table.

But when it came to signing the contract, Wei Yu didn’t sign it with the two of them. Instead, he told them to first go to Ziyang County and find someone named Deng Zhengde at the County Magistrate’s office.

Who was Deng Zhengde? Sun and Xie family heads had no idea. But if the Wise King said so, then it must be. In any case, even if the Wise King hadn’t mentioned it, they’d have gone to Ziyang County to conduct a field visit.

After all, the Merchants’ Alliance would be established in Ziyang County, and there were even said to be some local specialties there. Just hearing the name “Ziyang” made it sound quite impressive—worth a visit.

After discussing the cooperation with the Yizhou clans, Wei Yu didn’t stay long in Yuanyang. He chose to take Fang Sheng straight back to Ziyang County, preparing to meet up with his Eighth Brother.

It was fun to travel around, yes, but time was really something they couldn’t afford to delay.

If they delayed any longer, he suspected his father might actually explode in anger!

—

In the capital city.

Recently, life had changed quite a bit for the common people in the capital.

One change was that more merchants had come to the city. Most were asking where to buy glass, while a smaller number were inquiring about cultural clubs.

Another change was that eyeglasses had started to become popular in the capital.

Chang Ning was a student of White Horse Academy. His father was the jiu (chief) of the Directorate of Education. He was your typical second-generation official born into a scholarly family. He could’ve just studied at home with his father, but Chang Ning was deliberately rebellious.

He liked lively scenes. He chose to study at White Horse Academy because he enjoyed the feeling of being followed by a group of rich, idle young men. Every day was a mix of fun, pleasure, and chasing cats and dogs—what could be better?

Today, White Horse Academy was on holiday. As usual, Chang Ning was strolling the streets with his three sidekicks.

All along the way, thanks to the newest red-jade-framed glasses from the eyeglasses shop, Chang Ning attracted quite a bit of attention.

But a pampered dandy like him wouldn’t feel awkward being stared at—in fact, he felt quite pleased with himself.

Yes, let everyone look at him! Look at how great these glasses were, which he had snatched up for three hundred taels of silver!

As for the glasses shop in the capital—anyone with some connections knew that the store belonged to the Fourth Prince.

It was a luxurious three-story building: spacious, bright, and grand. The counters and furniture were all made of glass and redwood. Even the exterior windows and doors were made of glass. Passersby didn’t even have to go inside; they could see the whole layout just by standing on the street.

Basically, no one dared to make trouble inside that shop.

And because of the unique nature of eyeglasses, as soon as the shop opened a month ago, it was flooded with people—those trying to curry favor with the Fourth Prince, those needing glasses, and those simply curious. Since then, the place had been packed non-stop.

When it came to buying glasses, money wasn’t even the main issue. The real question was: could you even squeeze your way in?

For the powerful and wealthy, buying something was all about exclusivity.

Money wasn’t the point. The more expensive, the better it showed off one’s status.

But the Fourth Prince’s glasses shop wasn’t so rigid. The glasses ranged from expensive to affordable. Prescription and non-prescription glasses had different prices. Frames came in jade or wood, with many subtypes of each. Customers could choose whatever they liked.

Thanks to the Fourth Prince’s business savvy, he made a batch of glasses to give out to officials for free publicity. So when the shop opened, there were already plenty of eager buyers.

The families of officials felt the product was good and worth buying—plus, it was a way to flatter the Fourth Prince.

As for the common folk, once they saw that even government officials were wearing them and nobles were scrambling to buy them, they figured glasses must be a great thing!

That’s the power of advertising. With everyone scrambling to get them, eyeglasses became a trendy item in the capital.

Whoever managed to buy a pair could walk around in public and instantly collect a crowd of admiring, envious stares—a symbol of status and class.

As for Chang Ning, it had taken him and his crew three full days of squeezing through the crowds to finally get this pair of non-prescription red-jade-framed glasses.

Chin held high, Chang Ning strutted down the street showing off his glasses like he didn’t recognize anyone. As he walked, he spotted someone.

That person stood under a tree by the bridge, dressed in a long cyan robe, hands clasped behind his back, facing the canal—no one knew what he was looking at.

Chang Ning frowned and squinted through his glasses for a better look. “Hey, you guys—look over there. Isn’t that Liu Huaiyuan?”

The three sidekicks looked over.

“Looks like him, right?”

“Kind of… but would Liu Huaiyuan have money to wear something like that?”

Chang Ning agreed completely.

The robe that back figure wore was clearly made of silk. Considering the current state of the Liu family, and how little his father cared about him, there was no way Liu Huaiyuan could afford silk clothes.

Still, better to check and be sure than to miss a chance.

Chang Ning hadn’t forgotten the massive embarrassment he’d suffered in front of Liu Huaiyuan more than half a year ago.

Staring at that back, Chang Ning sneered. “Who cares if it’s him or not? Let’s go take a look!”

The four of them stormed over, full of momentum.

Speaking of that humiliation half a year ago—Chang Ning remembered it clearly. Back then, he’d just mocked Liu Huaiyuan a bit while the guy was down on his luck. But suddenly, two people claiming to be relatives of Commander Huo had come out of nowhere to rescue him.

That had scared the crap out of Chang Ning, who didn’t want any trouble and backed off. But later, he asked around and found out—Huo Tingyu had no such relatives visiting at all!

He’d been played!

He, a high-and-mighty rich boy, had actually been tricked by two random people!

And in front of the person he looked down on the most—Liu Huaiyuan!

How could he stand that?

He couldn’t.

But he’d held it in for half a year.

Because during that half year, he hadn’t been able to find Liu Huaiyuan anywhere!

Now that he finally saw a glimmer of hope, Chang Ning wasn’t going to miss this chance to get even.

Liu Huaiyuan was currently standing there in a daze, gazing at the canal.

Lately, he had been mentally exhausted from debating educational issues with Zhang Qingsheng about their two disciples.

Both were teachers—Liu taught cultural and legal subjects, while Zhang taught mathematics. Their focuses were different, and the two disciples had different interests as well.

But both kids preferred math and showed less interest in culture. So during Liu Huaiyuan’s classes, they often zoned out, thinking about math. This made Liu Huaiyuan understandably upset.

He wanted to educate his students properly and make them understand that culture shouldn’t be neglected. But Zhang Qingsheng opposed this, thinking there wasn’t much value in studying culture at all…

In short, the conflict between humanities and science had driven Liu Huaiyuan to the point where he couldn’t stay at home anymore.