Chapter 7: Who Runs Faster

Consort Yun was taken aback, then she smiled.

"At yesterday's banquet, I tried to discuss marriage prospects for you while we watched the dancers, but you wouldn't take the bait. Why the sudden interest now?"

"Is it because the Second Prince failed to get his hands on Heyun and Lanzhi, and was showing off the concubines he married instead?"

Chai Xiao curled his lip.

"If his concubines were worth showing off, he wouldn't still be obsessing over Heyun and Lanzhi!"

"Besides, I've been wondering—is he so wealthy simply because he keeps getting married?"

Su Zhongjing, the Junior Tutor, finally caught on.

"My Lady, the Prince wishes to marry not for love, but to raise funds!"

"Xiao'er!"

Only then did Consort Yun truly feel that her son had grown up, and she could not help but tear up.

"I thought you had become cold-blooded and truly intended to sell Heyun and Lanzhi to the Second Prince. I never expected you to use a 'pillow' to swap people and save them."

"Since that is the case, how about I let you marry both of them at once?"

Chai Xiao opened his mouth, unable to say yes or no. The situation was changing too fast. An hour ago, he had nearly been stripped of his title by his mother for drunkenly molesting the two women. An hour later, she was offering to let him marry both of them simultaneously. It was incredible!

However, promiscuity never led to a good ending. Chai Xiao straightened his expression.

"Mother! I want a proper, formal marriage! That way, the guests will be more generous with their wedding gifts!"

"Mother agrees!"

Consort Yun longed to reach out and touch her son's face, but she restrained herself, mindful of the Junior Tutor's presence.

"I’ll raise the stakes! I’m betting two hundred taels! But let it be known, even if you lose, I will still find you a match!"

"Wonderful!"

Seeing Consort Yun produce two hundred taels in banknotes from her robes, Chai Xiao clapped his hands and jumped with joy—perhaps due to the lingering muscle memory of the foolish Ninth Prince who inhabited this body before him.

Nearby, Su Zhongjing looked troubled. Though reluctant, he also produced two hundred-tael banknotes.

"I shall raise the stakes as well! I am not one for money, nor do I save, but this is all I have managed to scrape together in a year!"

Chai Xiao snatched their banknotes with lightning speed, no different from how he had snatched the fifty thousand and five hundred taels from the Second Prince. He showed no favoritism.

"Mother, Teacher, tell me, who should we send to deliver the news?"

Consort Yun gestured behind her.

"Send Zhuque! She was sent from the Inner Palace specifically to protect me. Though she is a woman, her martial arts and horsemanship are excellent!"

A young woman with a trim figure and a heroic air stepped forward, hand on her sword.

"Young Master, I am ready to serve!"

She called him "Young Master" rather than "Your Highness" because she reported directly to the Inner Palace, acknowledging Consort Yun as her primary superior and Chai Xiao as the Young Master.

Unexpectedly, Chai Xiao shook his head.

"No! Your horse isn't fast enough!"

"I am not fast enough?"

The fierce female warrior, rarely hearing the word "no," turned cold.

"Young Master, call forth whoever you think is fast enough. We shall race, and then we will see."

"Exactly! As the saying goes, if you want to know if a horse is a stallion or a mule, take it out for a run!" Consort Yun chimed in, clearly siding with Zhuque.

"Very well! Let him show himself first; then we'll see if a race is necessary!"

Chai Xiao summoned Zhang Bao and whispered a few words. Zhang Bao nodded and hurried away. Before long, a man arrived on horseback, sitting lopsided in the saddle. He bowed his head and saluted: "Your Highness! My Lady!"

"This..." Consort Yun, Su Zhongjing, and Zhuque all widened their eyes in shock.

"Ha!" Chai Xiao laughed. "Well? Shall we still race?"

The three of them looked at each other, shaking their heads in disbelief. The man Chai Xiao had summoned was a postal courier wearing the robes of a relay station! Because they spent years delivering documents and had to eat, drink, and attend to nature's calls in the saddle during urgent dispatches, they habitually sat to one side. Anyone who knew the trade could tell at a glance that this man had at least ten years of "driving experience."

Zhuque conceded.

"If it were a race of several hundred meters, I would surely win. But when it comes to endurance over long distances, I am no match for him!"

With that, the warrior, having heard they were betting two hundred taels, prepared to reach into her own robes to pay the penalty.

"None of that! I have the funds here!" Consort Yun generously produced the banknotes to pay on Zhuque's behalf. "Xiao'er, tell me, how did you come up with the idea of using a courier to chase after them?"

"Ha!" Chai Xiao laughed. "It wasn't about chasing the Second Prince. I intended to have the courier deliver the message from the very start!"

"Why send a courier to deliver the message?" Consort Yun and Zhuque asked in unison.

Chai Xiao organized all the banknotes and glanced at Su Zhongjing.

"As the Teacher said, the first ten contributors get a twenty percent bonus. The key is to build momentum. If everyone were present, the effect would be best!"

Su Zhongjing nodded and spoke up.

"Correct! If we were back in the palace and the Second Prince donated first, everyone else—you donating ten thousand, me donating ten thousand—would compete, and the speed would be immense!"

Chai Xiao handed ten taels of silver to the courier.

"But since we are not in the palace, and it's impossible to teleport these wealthy nobles to Dahu, we must rely on the courier to gallop, closing the distance and shortening the time to simulate a live broadcast!"

"Teleport? Live broadcast?" Consort Yun, Su Zhongjing, and Zhuque were baffled, though they could grasp the general meaning.

Chai Xiao turned to the courier. "In your station, how many riders as skilled as you are there?"

The courier bowed. "Twenty!"

Chai Xiao handed over another ten taels. "It isn't much, consider it a bonus. You twenty men must speed the postal reports to all the dukedoms and the capital. See that they reach the hands of the wealthy."

"As for the list of the wealthy..." He left the sentence hanging, looking toward Su Zhongjing.

Su Zhongjing understood instantly and asked for paper and brush. "Very well! I shall compile the list!" As he wrote, the Junior Tutor asked, "By the way, Your Highness, the list is easy, but what shall we write on the postal reports?"

Chai Xiao grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Teacher, you know my handwriting is poor. So, I shall speak, and I leave the writing to you, if you don't mind?"

"Very well!" Su Zhongjing sighed, knowing exactly what his student's handwriting was like, and continued to write. Throughout the realm, perhaps only this Ninth Prince could make a Junior Tutor stoop to being a scribe.

Chai Xiao rattled off the content of the report, then called Zhang Bao over and gave him whispered instructions. Zhang Bao agreed and ran off.

Consort Yun watched her son's aggressive series of maneuvers, feeling dazed. How had his thoughts and methods suddenly become so elusive? Had he learned some sort of magic? Should she start calling him a "magician"? The more she thought about it, the more surreal it felt, and she couldn't help but point at Zhang Bao's retreating back.

"Xiao'er, what is this?"

Chai Xiao laughed and traced the shape of a seal with his hands. "I had him make copies of the agreement with the Second Prince's seal, to be attached to the courier reports and sent out!"

"And this is...?"

Su Zhongjing, who was still writing furiously, caught on. "My Lady, the Prince is worried that people won't believe us, so he is using the document sealed by the Second Prince as supporting evidence!"

Consort Yun realized the truth. "So that's it!"

Nearby, Zhuque nodded repeatedly, though she felt a sense of bewilderment. She had been protecting this Young Master for a long time; usually, he did nothing but play around. What had happened today? He was acting like a genius!