CHAPTER 528: GENEROSITY AND SECRETS OF THE EIGHTH PRINCE

The eighth prince looked at Zhao Yao with helpless indulgence: "Go ahead, what do you need from me?"

Zhao Yao smiled sheepishly: "Eighth brother, can you lend me some money?"

The eighth prince thought Zhao Yao was going to ask for something significant, but it turned out to be borrowing money, which surprised him a little. He then laughed and said, "How much do you want to borrow?"

Borrowing money was a spur-of-the-moment excuse Zhao Yao thought of; he hadn’t decided how much he needed to borrow.

"Eighth brother, I also don’t know how much would be enough."

The eighth prince was amused by Zhao Yao’s words and said with a face full of helplessness, "You don’t even know how much you need? Are you borrowing money to buy something?"

"Eighth brother, I do want to buy something, but I can’t tell you what it is for now," Zhao Yao thought for a moment and said, "Eighth brother, lend me two coins first." Two coins was neither too much nor too little.

"What can you buy with two coins?" The eighth prince laughed, "I’ll give you a gold ingot; it should be enough for you to buy something."

"A gold ingot?" Zhao Yao was shocked by the eighth prince’s generosity.

The eighth prince glanced at Yu Hai, who understood immediately. A moment later, he took out a gold ingot and handed it to Zhao Yao.

"Your Highness, please accept this."

"Eighth brother, this... is too much, I wouldn’t need gold to buy things." When did the eighth brother become so generous, giving out a gold ingot just like that? "Eighth brother, I can’t repay you."

"No need to repay, this gold ingot is yours." The eighth prince smiled, "If you’re ever short on cash, just let me know."

"Eighth brother, since when did you become so wealthy?" It seemed the eighth brother had been doing quite a bit of business on the side and earned quite a lot of money.

Keeping a straight face, the eighth prince said, "Given by the Crown Prince."

Zhao Yao feigned a very surprised expression: "Is the Crown Prince really that generous?"

"I help manage some of the Crown Prince’s enterprises privately, so he gives me some money in return," the eighth prince laughed and said, "this is considered my pay from the Crown Prince."

Zhao Yao nodded as if he understood, "So that’s it, then you must be helping the Crown Prince manage things very well." With the eighth brother’s skills and methods, he must have been managing quite a few enterprises for the Crown Prince. It’s likely that some of the profits from these enterprises have ended up in the eighth brother’s pocket.

"I haven’t let the Crown Prince down." The eighth prince, fearing Zhao Yao might buy unnecessary things, warned him, "I’ve given you money; don’t buy any weird stuff."

"Weird stuff?" Zhao Yao blinked in confusion, "Eighth brother, what do you mean by weird stuff?" He felt there was some hidden meaning in the eighth brother’s words.

The eighth prince saw Zhao Yao’s bewildered expression and was slightly stunned, then shook his head and said, "Nothing, just buy whatever you want."

"Eighth brother, then I’ll accept it unceremoniously." Zhao Yao stood up and, in jest, bowed deeply to the eighth prince, "Thank you for the gold, eighth brother."

The eighth prince watched Zhao Yao hurriedly pocket the gold with eyes full of amusement.

"Don’t worry, the gold is yours, and I won’t take it back."

Zhao Yao’s little thoughts were seen through, and he grinned at the eighth prince, "Eighth brother, I know you have more things to attend to, I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll head back now." With that, he bowed again to the eighth prince, then cheerfully left the eighth prince’s house.

"Your Highness, why did you suddenly ask the eighth prince for money when you’re not short of it?" Tong Xi asked puzzledly, "Doesn’t the second master give you a lot of money every time, which you haven’t even spent all?" These past years, the second master has indeed given His Highness quite a sum.

"I feared the eighth brother might suspect something, so I randomly came up with the excuse to borrow money." Zhao Yao took out the gold ingot the eighth prince had just given him from his pocket, tossed it lightly into the air, then caught it again. "I didn’t expect the eighth brother to be so generous." He needed to think of what to buy with it. If he didn’t buy something, the eighth brother would surely be suspicious.

"Your Highness, it seems the eighth prince is quite wealthy now."

"I’ll buy a parrot for the eighth brother." To learn about Southern Wei affairs, no one knew better than the eighth brother. However, getting information from the eighth brother directly was impossible. He had to find other ways to learn from him.

"Your Highness, do you want to give a parrot to the eighth prince?" Tong Xi disapprovingly said, "Your Highness, parrots are noisy, and the eighth prince surely wouldn’t like them. You’re better off giving him an eagle."

"Then I’ll buy an eagle for the eighth brother, so it will be convenient to send messages to him in the future." In the future, he could also learn about the eighth brother’s actions through the eagle and help him if there’s any danger. But most importantly, he needed to figure out what Southern Wei’s intentions were.

He really didn’t want to use birds to spy on the eighth brother, but Southern Wei was too mysterious and powerful, so he had to ascertain their intentions to prevent any harm from coming to the eighth brother.

"Your Highness, as the eighth prince is about to come of age, where do you think his fiefdom will be?" Tong Xi was somewhat worried, "The emperor does not favor the eighth prince, so he might give him a barren land."

"Father doesn’t like the eighth brother and wouldn’t grant him any good place. However, with the eighth brother’s capabilities, he would surely have the Crown Prince plead with Father to keep him in the capital." The eighth brother, wanting to vie for the throne, wouldn’t easily leave the capital or the Crown Prince. Moreover, given the Crown Prince’s trust and reliance on him, he wouldn’t let the eighth brother leave his side."

"Your Highness, it would be advantageous for the eighth prince to stay by the Crown Prince’s side."

Zhao Yao did not discuss this matter further. Returning to his room, he wrote a letter to his uncle, asking him to buy an eagle from the Western Regions.

A moment later, Tong Xi came in and respectfully said to Zhao Yao, "Your Highness, the hot water is ready. Please go bathe."

"Alright, going to bathe." Zhao Yao went to the adjacent antechamber. When he was undressing, the gold given by the eighth prince fell from his pocket.

Tong Xi bent down to pick up the gold given to Zhao Yao by the eighth prince.

"Your Highness, shall I hold onto this for you?"

"Wait." Zhao Yao quickly extended his hand to Tong Xi, "Hand over the gold to me."

Tong Xi placed the gold into Zhao Yao’s palm.

Zhao Yao lowered his head and stared at the gold in his hand.

Tong Xi, seeing Zhao Yao’s fixed gaze on the gold, curiously asked, "Your Highness, why are you staring at the gold? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Tong Xi, don’t you think the gold given to me by the eighth brother looks a bit different?"

Tong Xi carefully examined the gold in Zhao Yao’s hand but didn’t notice anything unusual.

"Your Highness, my eyes are not sharp enough."

"Go fetch the gold that Father previously gave me."

"Right away." Tong Xi quickly brought back a piece of the gold previously gifted to Zhao Yao by the emperor, "Your Highness, here’s the gold you asked for."

The gold gifted to Zhao Yao by the Emperor of Great Zhou was minted by the national treasury of Great Zhou, with "Great Zhou Gold Ingot" engraved on the bottom.

Zhao Yao compared the gold ingot from Great Zhou with the one given by the eighth prince, then asked Tong Xi to shine candlelight on them.

"See, the gold ingot from Great Zhou is brighter than the gold given by the eighth brother, while the latter has a more muted sheen."

Upon hearing Zhao Yao’s observation, Tong Xi realized it was indeed the case.

"Your Highness, why is the gold given to you by the eighth prince dimmer? Could it be fake?"

"No, the gold from the eighth brother is genuine." Zhao Yao instructed Tong Xi, "Go fetch a piece of the gold previously gifted to me by Uncle."

"Certainly."

He Lianfang had previously given Zhao Yao quite a bit of gold.

Zhao Yao compared He Lianfang’s gold with the one from the eighth prince, confirming his suspicions.

Tong Xi noticed as well and asked incredulously, "Your Highness, the gold from your uncle is just as dim as that from the eighth prince."

"The gold from Uncle is from Annan, while the one the Emperor gifted me is from Great Zhou," Zhao Yao said with a serious expression, "Gold from Annan is dimmer than that from Great Zhou."

"Your Highness, why is that?" Tong Xi asked, bewildered, "Shouldn’t gold be the same?"

"The techniques are different; the craftsmanship in Great Zhou is superior to that in Annan, so the gold from Great Zhou is brighter." Zhao Yao, not knowing much about refining gold, speculated, "The artisans in Great Zhou probably add something during the process, making their gold brighter."

"That’s how it is." Tong Xi flattered Zhao Yao, "Your Highness, you certainly know a lot."

"Eighth brother has gold from Annan," Zhao Yao said, narrowing his eyes slightly, "The eighth brother said the gold was from the Crown Prince, meaning the Crown Prince has gold from Annan." It’s not unusual for the eighth brother to have gold from Annan, but the Crown Prince having it is intriguing.

"Your Highness, is it odd for the Crown Prince to have gold from Annan?" Tong Xi didn’t quite grasp Zhao Yao’s meaning, "Don’t you also have gold from Annan?"

"It’s not strange that I have it, but it’s peculiar for the Crown Prince to," Zhao Yao said thoughtfully, "It seems over these years, the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen have become quite close with the royal family of Annan." Zhao Yao emphasized the word "close."

Zhao Yao had a bold hypothesis. The eldest prince of Annan, in pursuit of the throne, secretly colluded with the Crown Prince. To gain the Crown Prince’s assistance, the eldest prince had privately gifted numerous things, gold being one of them.

Although Zhao Yao and He Lianfang had long suspected that both the Crown Prince and Prince Dai were secretly in contact with the princes of Annan, they had not investigated or deployed people to monitor the situation deeply.

Setting up surveillance on the Crown Prince and Prince Dai would be easily noticed, which would expose their informants in Annan.

Tong Xi’s expression instantly turned gossipy, eyes sparkling, "Your Highness, are you implying that the Crown Prince has a secretive relationship with Annan?"

"Not just one," Zhao Yao said. Given Duke Zhen’s ambition and methods, he likely had deeper motives, like using Annan’s gold to build an army or forge weapons, or to buy allegiances. "As for the eighth brother, he must also have some undisclosed relationship with the Annan royal family."