If I let you stay in Lingnan, how could you become the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty?

Chapter 18 Our slogan is: Not the best, but the most expensive!
Feng Lang gritted his teeth and walked to the gate of the palace.

But he saw Li Shimin and Yuchi Gong standing outside the door.

"Two brothers, is there anything wrong?"

Feng Lang had no choice but to walk over, clasp his fists towards Li Shimin and the other man, and then pretend to be confused.

Li Shimin smiled faintly:
"I want to see your Lord."

He had been cheated by Li An before, and then he heard all kinds of rumors on the streets. He was so angry that he almost arrested Li An and brought him back to Chang'an to be punished.

At this time, he already knew the truth about Lingnan, and he was very fond of his Sixth Prince.

Just now, I heard the sad music coming from the palace, and I felt even more compassionate and wanted to meet Li An.
Even if he didn't reveal his identity, it would be nice to have a chat with his son and hear if he had any unique insights into state affairs.

Feng Lang scratched his head:

"Our prince is reviewing official documents and has no time..."

Li Shimin frowned:

"I just heard some music coming from the mansion, it seemed quite sad..."

Feng Lang was stunned.

Since there is music in the house, he is definitely not reviewing official documents.

I have never seen anyone listening to music while reading official documents.

He was a loyal and honest man who was not good at lying. After hearing what Li Shimin said, he suddenly had an idea:
"Ah... it's like this, our prince has been overworked recently and has fallen ill due to missing the emperor!"

"what!"

When Li Shimin heard this, his heart immediately tightened.

My son is sick!
Such sad music came out of the palace. Could it be that he...

Thinking of this, he no longer cared about anything else and rushed into the palace.

"My Lord, wait for me!"

Seeing this, Yuchi Gong hurriedly followed.

When Feng Lang saw it, he was dumbfounded.

Why is this merchant from Chang'an so excited when he hears that the prince is ill?

Are you afraid that the prince will die of illness and not pay you back?
"Brother, don't worry, the money issue is easy to deal with..."

Having said that, he quickly chased after him.

Li Shimin broke into the palace and went straight to the main hall.

There were no guards in the palace except for the two sentries guarding the door.
It was also because Li An governed Lingnan so well.

Although we cannot say that people leave their doors unlocked at night and do not steal lost items on the road, there are almost no thefts or robberies.

He had a very high prestige among the people, so naturally he was not worried about anyone assassinating him.

Of course, at this time, apart from Feng Lang, no one else could stop Li Shimin.

Even if Feng Lang wanted to stop Li Shimin, there was an invincible Yuchi Gong behind him!

Besides, Li Shimin himself was a military general with extraordinary martial arts skills. Although he had not been on the front line for a long time as emperor, his speed and strength were still very strong.

After a while, he rushed into the hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, Li Shimin was stunned.

But Li An was seen leaning crookedly on a chair with his clothes disheveled, holding a wine glass in one hand and a chicken wing in the other, eating and drinking heartily.

When their eyes met, both father and son were stunned.

"you……"

"you!"

Li Shimin saw that his son did not look seriously ill at all, and stamped his feet in anger:

"Just now Captain Feng said that Your Majesty is seriously ill. Why are you still eating chicken wings here?"

Li An still had a chicken wing in his mouth. After hearing what Li Shimin said, his eyes turned and he smiled:

"Because...I like braised chicken wings!"

"But Captain Feng said you were going to ascend to heaven!"

"The closer you are to heaven, the more you have to eat. If you don't eat now, you won't have the chance to eat later."

What Li An said made so much sense that Li Shimin was speechless.

After thinking about it, he decided to give up the chicken wings issue and focus on his son's health:

"Your Majesty, are you really ill?"

Li An waved his hand and said, "Captain Feng is exaggerating. I am just a little tired from overwork. Let's not talk about this anymore. What do you two want to do?"

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, but he felt relieved.

He had just heard that Li An was ill, and remembered the sad music in the palace, so he rushed in excitedly.

Seeing that Li An was fine, he was completely relieved, but then he changed his mind and didn't want to reveal his identity at this time.

After all, Li An didn't recognize him anyway, so only by hiding his identity and visiting Lingnan could he get to know the Sixth Prince more deeply.

Thinking of this, he smiled slightly:
"To be honest, the two of us are imperial merchants from Chang'an. Not only do we have to bring local specialties from Lingnan to Chang'an for sale, but we also have the mission of finding out the truth about Lingnan for the emperor."

"This time we saw that the people of Lingnan were at peace and the country was peaceful under the Prince's governance. I will definitely report this to the court when I return..."

Upon hearing this, Li An immediately jumped up from his chair and interrupted Li Shimin:

"No!"

Li Shimin was startled:
“Why not?”

Li An chuckled:
"Although the people in Lingnan are living well at the moment, there are still many things to be done. You two don't need to report to the court for the time being, so as not to worry father!"

After hearing this, Li Shimin actually felt relieved.

It seems that this bastard really doesn't want to know about Lingnan's affairs, so as to prevent the court from increasing Lingnan's taxes.

Li An's eyes turned, and he thought that these two guys must have said this because they had been severely ripped off.

After thinking for a while, he said:

"Are you two worried that the mirrors you bought are too expensive and you won't be able to sell them when you get back?"

It would be fine if we didn't mention the 250 mirrors. Once this was mentioned, Li Shimin became a little annoyed. He glanced at Li An and said:
"I wonder if Your Majesty has any good ideas to sell these mirrors as soon as possible?"

Li An laughed and said:

"That's easy. How much do you plan to sell each mirror for when you get back?"

Yuchi Gong thought for a moment and said:

"We bought it for twenty taels of silver. Adding the expenses along the way, it should cost at least twenty-five taels of silver..."

When Li An heard this, he immediately widened his eyes:

"Nonsense!"

Yuchi Gong was stunned:
“Is it too expensive?”

Li An shook his head:

“You’re selling it too cheap!”

As he spoke, he walked up to Li Shimin and the other man with his hands behind his back and said:

"The capital is the best place, with rich and powerful families everywhere, and high-ranking officials and nobles are as numerous as dogs. If you go back and sell a mirror for twenty-five taels, people can't afford to lose that man!"

After hearing this, Yuchi Gong and Li Shimin couldn't help but look at each other.

Well, isn’t twenty-five taels of silver for a mirror expensive?
"If you want to sell mirrors at a higher price, you have to learn how to package them!"

Li An said confidently.

Package?

Li Shimin and Yuchi Gong heard a new word again, and they all stood aside and listened attentively.

"When this mirror arrives in Chang'an, we must choose the best sandalwood frame and hire a Jiangnan designer to install the highest-quality dressing mirror!"

"Inlay gold directly on the edge of the mirror, and inlay pearls, agates, jade, and everything else that can be inlaid on it. Ask an artist to paint a beauty on the back, and decorate the front with silk!"

"Put two Kunlun slaves standing next to the mirror. They must be genuine, imported ones offered by the Arab Empire. They must be very black!"

"No matter how old someone is, when they look in the mirror, you should always tell them: You look so beautiful in the mirror!"

"Speaking in an authentically Turkish accent is very impressive!"

"Put it in a brocade box, using the finest Jiangnan brocade. The box alone is worth ten taels!"

Yuchi Gong opened his mouth wide when he heard this. After Li An stopped, he couldn't help but ask:
"A mirror like this should cost at least forty taels of silver, right?"

"Forty taels?"

Li An had a look of disdain on his face:
"Starting from one hundred taels! Don't complain it's too expensive, there's no discount!"

"You have to study the psychology of customers. Customers who can afford 40 taels of silver don't care about spending 100. Do you know what a successful person is? A successful person doesn't buy good things, but only expensive things! So..."

He widened his eyes and said loudly:

"Our slogan is: not the best, but the most expensive!"

(End of this chapter)