Royal Gold Magistrate

Hearing this, Li Miaohan froze in place, her beautiful eyes blinking non-stop. For a moment, she hadn’t fully processed it.

This thing actually cost money? She had thought Fang Zheng was giving it to the palace for free. But if it cost money, how was she supposed to get people to willingly pay for it? The money she had on hand probably wasn’t enough either…

Li Miaohan lowered her head and began to ponder.

After thinking for a long time without coming up with a solution, she finally raised her head and asked timidly, “Lord Fang… If we want all the women in the palace to use this item, how much silver would it cost?”

Seeing this, Fang Zheng chuckled inwardly. It looked like she wanted to cover the whole thing with her own small treasury.

Simple girls really were the best. Not like that stupid maid Bai Yi, with her pretty face but always absentminded and dazed.

Fang Zheng put on a solemn expression. “Your Highness, don’t worry about the cost. Just ask His Majesty for it! Our wise emperor will surely agree once the pros and cons are made clear!”

“Besides, to be honest, I’m not trying to make money from this item. I hope the princess doesn’t misunderstand.”

“People have deep misunderstandings about this, especially men. If we build new factories to produce sanitary napkins, it would be extremely difficult to find workers.”

“Where are there women going out to work now? It’s all men running around outside. So I want to take this opportunity to use the money earned from this item to set up new factories specifically to hire female workers.”

“That way, as production capacity expands, the price of this item will get lower and lower. And women can work independently in the factories and earn some silver, no longer being subordinate to men!”

Although ancient people matured early, they still had rebellious phases. Fang Zheng’s shocking words were like a clap of thunder to Li Miaohan’s ears.

Her eyes were once again filled with little stars as she looked at Fang Zheng.

“Furthermore, I’ll use the money earned to subsidize the market and provide it to the people at extremely low prices or even for free. That way, more poor people can benefit too.”

Li Miaohan nodded in admiration, but then thought, with Fang Zheng working so hard, ignoring his reputation and sparing no effort to help women everywhere, he probably didn’t have much money on hand…

She turned to whisper to her maid beside her.

Before long, the maid brought over a small box. Li Miaohan opened it to reveal a few silver notes inside.

Pushing the box in front of Fang Zheng, she said shyly, “Lord Fang, this is some silver I’ve saved up. I hope it can be of help to you… You mustn’t refuse…”

Fang Zheng took the silver notes without any change in expression and said righteously, “The princess is so pure and kind, truly admirable! I thank Your Highness again on behalf of all the suffering women!”

“I’ll cover all the sanitary napkins the princess uses from now on!”

Hearing this, Li Miaohan’s cheeks instantly turned bright red, her eyes smiling into two crescent moons.

Li Yuanzhao stood to the side watching the two of them chatting and laughing, his eyes bulging!

Old Fang had come to his home to swindle money!? This couldn’t go on. If he kept spouting nonsense, the girl would be whisked away and the family wealth swindled dry. Wouldn’t that mean losing both the person and the money?!

Li Yuanzhao quietly tugged on Fang Zheng’s sleeve, drawing his attention. Fang Zheng turned to look at the prince.

He heard him whisper, “Old Fang, count me in!”

Fang Zheng smirked. This guy had just been dismantling his stage, and now he wanted to join?

So he said sarcastically, “What’s this? Didn’t Your Highness look down on it? Now you want to promote this item with me?”

Li Miaohan looked at Li Yuanzhao in confusion.

Li Yuanzhao’s face reddened slightly as he declared loudly, “That’s right! Old Fang, since you put it that way, how could I possibly refuse? I insist on taking part!”

“It all makes sense now! In the eyes of the emperor, all people are equal. As the crown prince, I must lead by example! This is what you call following the will of heaven and the desires of the people!”

“If I don’t get involved, were you planning to take this to Imperial Father? He would never agree, and you’d face endless obstacles.”

“Old Fang, give me a straight answer. Am I in or not?”

Fang Zheng stared, dumbfounded. Had the crown prince transformed in the few days he was gone? He had really figured this little scheme out thoroughly. His learning ability was quite impressive.

He quickly asked in a low voice, “Your Highness is short on money? Didn’t I give you a sizable sum recently?”

Li Yuanzhao nodded and gave an embarrassed laugh. “It’s all gone, every last coin… Silver truly slips through the fingers like water. Alas, how regrettable!”

“Only now do I understand the agony of lacking funds. I was too naive before! I must find ways to acquire more silver!”

“What in the world did you spend it on? Over ten thousand taels of silver, gone in mere days!”

Fang Zheng was shocked. He had originally thought the crown prince was sensible, but he didn’t expect him to be even more extravagant than he realized.

Li Yuanzhao waved his hand impatiently. “Never mind that. I didn’t squander it on anything wicked, if that’s what you’re implying! Enough of this tangent. I want a stake in selling these sanitary napkins. Are you going to let me in on it or not?”

Fang Zheng blinked, not fully grasping the situation, but still nodded.

Let him in on it? Of course! He had been waiting for him to say so.

With the crown prince involved, wouldn’t it be like adding wings to a tiger? It was only because Li Yuanzhao was young and his thinking hadn’t become rigid yet. If this matter was brought up in court, those old fossils would definitely unite in opposition.

Li Yuanzhao smiled proudly. “Excellent! Old Fang, I always knew you were a loyal friend!”

“I’ve thought this through carefully. Not only should the palace maids use this product, but the eunuchs as well! Furthermore, the family members of all the court officials should adopt it too!”

“I’ll even give them a special price, just 15 coins each! If any official’s family refuses to use it, well, that just shows they lack morality and civility. How could they have the gall to pretend to be virtuous gentlemen in the royal court?”

“I’ll be sure to treat them with the utmost disdain they deserve!”

“And another thing…”

Growing increasingly excited, Li Yuanzhao leapt to his feet, hands on his hips as he laughed wildly, as if he could already envision the money pouring in by the thousands.

Li Miaohan stared at him in utter disbelief. To think her own brother was such a shameless rogue… It was simply unthinkable!

She couldn’t help but pity Lord Fang for having to endure the company of such a man day in and day out… *sigh*

Fang Zheng watched Li Yuanzhao with growing approval, nodding along as he inwardly praised the prince.

Marvelous indeed! The crown prince’s cunning was developing rapidly, his talents shining brighter by the day.

It seemed that during Fang Zheng’s absence from the capital, the prince had taken it upon himself to learn and mature quite a bit.

It warmed his heart with pride to witness it. The prince’s enthusiasm was a bit over-the-top though, and could use some restraint.

He realized he needed to be more diligent with his self-reflection to improve his skills. Otherwise, this kid might surpass him one day!