Five days later, the imperial convoy set out from the palace, heading toward the countryside estate for smallpox inoculation.
Amid the forced smiles and pretended enthusiasm of the group, only Yun Chuhuan's joy was genuine. Not a hint of it was feigned.
He chattered incessantly at Yun Shu's side, bombarding her with questions.
"Fifth Elder Sister, how's the food over there? Do you think it'll be as good as Tian Waitian Restaurant?"
"Fifth Elder Sister, how long are we staying at the estate exactly? I brought playing cards and over a dozen storybooks. Should be enough, right?"
"Hahaha, Fifth Elder Sister, let me tell you a secret! Before leaving this morning, I tossed out all the assignments Grand Preceptor Ye gave me. Later I'll just say I forgot to bring them!"
"Fifth Elder Sister, once we arrive, does that mean I can visit you every day again?"
"That won't be possible."
Yun Shu finally answered, choosing one of his many questions to respond to with a sigh.
"After we arrive and receive the vaccine, everyone will be housed in their own rooms. We're to avoid contact with others as much as possible."
"Why?" Yun Chuhuan froze in confusion. "Then doesn't that mean I can't even use the playing cards I brought?"
"You can, if you feel like playing with yourself."
The realities of the time were harsh. Unlike modern vaccines, this one couldn't provide immediate immunity. If that were the case, they wouldn't need to travel all the way to the estate. The officials could have simply gone door to door to administer it.
"But…"
Yun Chuhuan frowned. Something felt off. He turned and pointed discreetly toward the two people at the back of the convoy — Zheng Qiaozhang and Jiang Yuanbao.
"Those two aren't part of the imperial clan. They have no reason to be here, right? Fifth Elder Sister, aren't you bringing them along so you can tinker with some new invention together?"
"Collaborating on new inventions doesn't require everyone to be in the same room," Yun Shu said casually, lifting an eyebrow.
"We can communicate through blueprints."
"Oh…"
Just as the thought of sneaking from room to room began to spark in Yun Chuhuan's mind, it was swiftly extinguished.
He slumped for a moment but quickly perked up again.
"Then what are you planning to make this time, Fifth Elder Sister?"
"A very fine thing," Yun Shu replied with a cryptic smile. "It will serve both as Father Emperor's birthday tribute this year and as the secret key to sudden fortune for the merchant guild that tops this year's tax contributions."
"But Father Emperor's birthday is in the twelfth lunar month. The merchant tax reports from across the realm are submitted to the capital by the end of the eleventh, aren't they?"
Yun Chuhuan frowned, recalling last year's timeline.
"If the goal is to motivate merchant guilds to pay more taxes, don't they have to see the object first? But if everyone already knows what it is, how would it still count as a surprise birthday tribute?"
"Who says they need to know exactly what it is?"
"…?"
…
With the Crown Princess leading the charge and the younger generation of the imperial clan personally receiving the vaccine, the effect was undeniable.
On the very day they left the city, the appointment slots at the registration sites were fully booked into next spring.
Inside the imperial study, Emperor Xuanwu sighed as he flipped through reports.
So Sixth Child had indeed failed to escape the fate predicted by the Simulation Life Selection System. Just as it had said, he had ended up being dragged to the estate by Xiao Wu to "test medicine."
With one hand still holding the report, Emperor Xuanwu opened another memorial — this one sent from the far south, by none other than the heir of Marquis Wu'an and father of Cen Yiyi, General Wei Hai. It reported that naval training in Qiongzhou had concluded and formally requested imperial permission to lead an expedition to punish the Wa Kingdom pirates who had been burning, pillaging, and killing along the coastal regions.
Without a moment's hesitation, Emperor Xuanwu dipped his brush and wrote a single character across the page: "Approved."
Even as the decree was dispatched by fast rider toward Qiongzhou, another wave had already begun spreading across the realm.
A new article, penned by Yun Shu herself, had just been published in the latest issue of the Tian Sheng Weekly and swiftly ignited every corner of the empire.
"A Fortune-Making Secret You'll Regret Missing for the Rest of Your Life!"
Who could resist the lure of wealth?
Perhaps a few, but at least in Yun Shu's experience — whether in the modern world or this one — she had never met such a person.
On the day the article was released, it wasn't only the usual merchants who obsessed daily over making money who took notice. Even ordinary folk with no understanding of business began to gossip out of sheer curiosity.
"I heard Her Highness the Crown Princess has prepared an extraordinary gift for His Majesty's birthday — something truly ahead of its time!"
"Not only that. Whichever merchant guild tops the tax contributions this year will be given the method to produce it."
"They say Her Highness guaranteed that whoever holds that method will become rich overnight!"
"To make Her Highness actually utter the words 'get rich overnight'… it must be worth a fortune!"
Among the crowd, one commoner who spent all year barely saving three or five taels sighed in envy.
"But wait, what exactly does 'ahead of its time' mean?"
"I think it means it's something revolutionary, something we've never seen before — maybe not even imagined!"
The first speaker scratched his head, clearly uncertain.
"I don't know the details. But I have a cousin's uncle who works for a wealthy merchant, and from what I heard, every merchant guild across the provinces is going mad. They're all scrambling to pay their taxes early, hoping to win first place!"
"That really is madness!"
The other man stared, dumbfounded.
"They don't even know what it is, yet they're throwing out silver like water. These wealthy merchants think so differently from us common folk."
If you had that much silver, wouldn't you keep it in your pocket? Why spend it on something completely unknown?
The common people remained skeptical, voicing all manner of doubts and debates. Meanwhile, the merchants could hardly restrain themselves — eyes gleaming, pockets opening.
Even Emperor Xuanwu grew curious upon hearing the news.
Coincidentally, the Dragon Shadow Guard he had assigned to monitor the estate had just returned, bearing the latest letters written by that little rascal.
While receiving the messages, Emperor Xuanwu casually asked, "Do you know what fresh tricks Her Highness the Crown Princess is concocting at the estate?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty," the Dragon Shadow Guard replied, "This subordinate has only observed Her Highness drawing diagrams daily in her chamber and passing them along to either Zheng Qiaozhang Daren or Jiang Yuanbao Daren."
He paused, then added, "Zheng Daren does the same. It is only Jiang Daren who gathers craftsmen to build various strange devices. However, they all appear to be failures."
Emperor Xuanwu: "…"
So the so-called world-shaking, fortune-making marvel that had stirred up the entire empire…
Had not even been successfully built yet?
This little brat hadn't even finished the thing, and she already had the whole nation singing her praises in the papers?