Chapter Twenty-Two About Cigarettes

  "Haha, no need for formalities! I'm asking you, did you invent this wooden stake?"

  Yang Wenjin thought to herself: This is terrible, Yun Qi doesn't seem to understand etiquette at all. He didn't even kneel down when he saw the prince, and now that he's met him, he doesn't seem to care. She decided not to say anything for now and wait for an opportunity to teach Yun Qi a lesson about etiquette later.

  "Hmm!……" This wooden dummy has been in existence for a long time, and it is said that during the Song Dynasty, martial artists often injured their hands while practicing, so the first standing wooden dummy was created with wooden arms stretched out in a "one" shape. Over time, different schools and styles made changes to the simple wooden dummy to better practice their techniques, resulting in various wooden dummies today. Yun Qi couldn't explain it that way, so he said: "It's not my invention, but when I was young, my father taught me martial arts and made a wooden dummy for convenience, and then I learned how to make one."

  "Oh?" The prince listened and stepped forward, moving the wooden stake back and forth, clicking his tongue in amazement, saying: "Just now, Zi Lu (Yang Wenguang's courtesy name) said that the martial arts he practiced were taught by you?"

  Glancing at the two siblings standing beside him with an air of indifference, Yun Qi could only say: "Yes! However, Your Highness, when I taught martial arts to Young Master earlier, it wasn't from a martial arts perspective."

  "How is that?" The crown prince's response to Yun Qi was full of interest, and he asked further: "Tell me about it. I'm also hearing for the first time that someone says learning martial arts isn't for the sake of learning martial arts. How...can this be explained?"

  "Yes! Your Highness! At first, I thought the young master was tired from reading and writing, so to help him build a strong body for his future studies, I came up with this plan to teach him martial arts." Meanwhile, Yun Qi thought to himself: "You're a great god, but please don't go around gossiping like an old hen, or if it reaches the master's ears, I'll be in trouble and won't even be able to keep my job."

  "Haha, the purpose of learning martial arts is temporarily set aside and not pursued. I also learned a few moves from the palace guards when I was young, but I observed that the moves Zilong used earlier are somewhat different from what I've seen and learned. Not to mention the slow movements, the force is also lacking in many ways. You can explain it to me."

  Yun Qi saw the prince arrive with enthusiasm, and secretly thought that he was in trouble, but there was no way out. He led the prince to the stone table, asked him to sit down, and just as he was about to sit across from him to slowly explain, he heard Yang Wenxin cough twice beside him. He looked up to see the little girl making eyes at him, and then looked at the brother and sister standing respectfully on one side. Yun Qi had already bowed his head at this point, and it was neither sitting nor standing, feeling a bit suffocated in his heart. Having crossed over to this place, he hadn't fully understood the etiquette between monarchs and subjects, so naturally, he made mistake after mistake in other people's eyes. Take the salute just now, for example - commoners seeing the king should kneel with both knees and kowtow, but this guy simply cupped his hands together slightly. In this era, this was a great disrespect to the monarch. If the prince had wanted to, he could have beheaded Yun Qi just now.

  The prince smiled and said in a gentle voice, "This is not in the palace, everyone can speak freely, don't be too polite, please sit down and talk."

  When the prince said that, Yun Qi's butt was solid, and he looked at Yang Wenxin with a smug expression, implying: "Look, my face is still big, right? You always destroy my stage, and I'll get you back next time." Yang Wenxin pretended not to see him, looking away, refusing to look at him. Yun Qi also felt uninterested and thought of the host sitting across from him, hurriedly adjusting his attitude. He didn't know what was wrong with himself, whether he was being silly or following some habit, but he actually took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to the prince's curious face. He also lit one for himself, and before Yang Wenxin could stop him, he took out a lighter (because taking out an automatic ignition device would definitely cause everyone's shock, so it was placed under the pillow in the room for private use), blew the flame, and lit up on his own.

  "Hiss...... Puff......" Fortunately, this guy didn't dare to spit at the prince, but instead turned his head and spat in a deserted place. He then said: "Your Highness, actually... uh? Your Highness! Why are you staring at me?"

  At this time, the prince did not pick up the cigarette on the table, but instead looked at Yun Qi with a curious expression as he inhaled and exhaled smoke. He saw something like a paper stick, lit one end and put it in his mouth, and amazingly, it produced smoke, and Yun Qi still looked like he was enjoying himself. Having grown up in the imperial palace, what strange things hadn't he seen before? And yet, he had many things that others hadn't even laid eyes on, but he was attracted to the thing in front of him.

  Yang Wenjin was about to faint at this time, she really didn't want to look anymore, he was afraid that Yun Qi would finally provoke the prince and be killed directly, and then the Yang family would also be implicated.

  Yun Qi saw the prince holding a fragrant cigarette and was curious, suddenly realizing, oh! Buying cake! In this era there is no cigarette, this time... playing with eggs!

  The prince picked up the unlit cigarette on the table, looked around and asked: "What is this? Why can it produce smoke? And you look like you're enjoying it."

  "Uh... Your Highness, this is a specialty of my hometown. It's called incense, not only can it relieve pain, but also alleviate stress when one is mentally exhausted. This is really good stuff, unfortunately, I didn't bring much with me when I left, and now there isn't much left."

  "Oh? So effective? I don't know how many more you have here. I'll take some back to Father Emperor, he's always working late reviewing memorials and it's very tiring. I feel so sorry for him!" The crown prince's words were somewhat urgent, from both a self-interest and familial perspective, the crown prince was acting appropriately. Although he was the crown prince, until he ascended to the throne, he couldn't say that his position was completely secure. If he could gain Father Emperor's favor, then naturally his position would have an added guarantee. Moreover, he often saw Father Emperor working hard reviewing memorials and wanted to share some of the burden. This trip to Si Nan was something he had strongly requested from Father Emperor, no matter what, he had to be the most outstanding among his brothers.

  "Ah?" Yun Qi's brain went blank on the spot, and then he thought of an emperor with a stern face, wearing a dragon robe, facing his ministers in the grand hall, but with a cigarette in his mouth. If he also wore sunglasses, the effect... Just thinking about it made Yun Qi feel a chill.

  "What's wrong? Is there any inconvenience? Or do you want money? You tell me, Gu, and I'll help you solve it." The prince saw Yun Qi nodding slightly, then stopped talking, thinking that there was something difficult to say.

  "Uh, no, not that. Your Highness, there's still a bit left here, if you want to take it, just take it, but I must say something, this thing has both benefits and drawbacks." After finishing speaking, Yun Qi looked at the prince with a gloomy expression.

  "What else is wrong with this thing?"

  "Your Highness, you don't know that my hometown is 108,000 miles away from here. I'm not even sure how to describe the distance. When I first arrived here, I was also a bit bewildered. But wanting to go back is absolutely impossible now. That means all I have left are these few cigarettes in my hand, and once they're gone, they're gone forever." Yun Qi looked at the prince, hoping for some reaction.

  "Oh! I know, these things are very rare and once they're gone, they'll never be had again. I know, how much do you want for it? I'll give it to you."

  "Ah! My dear mother!" Yun Qi's brain was momentarily stunned, thinking to herself that this foolish prince just didn't understand. But she also blamed herself for not making it clear enough, so she continued: "Your Highness, this thing is addictive! If you smoke too much, you'll easily get hooked, and later on if you can't get any, you'll constantly crave it, like an itch in your heart that's hard to bear."

  The crown prince was silent for a moment before saying: "Oh, so that's how it is. Is there really nothing like this in the vastness of heaven and earth?"

  "No! Absolutely not!" Yun Qi's head shook like a rattle drum, and he also thought to himself: But whether or not there is tobacco, that's unknown. Maybe someday I'll have the chance to travel around the world and find out.

  This is how it's good now, the crown prince and Yun Qi are sitting there, staring at each other with big eyes, while the sister and brother stand aside, reacting a bit slowly.

  After a long time, Yun Qi finally spoke up: "Your Highness has such filial piety, I'm touched. If you only smoke one a day, I still have a hundred days' worth here, so it shouldn't be addictive." He didn't dare say he had ten packs of two hundred each, and in the past few days, he had only smoked seven or eight. Since the prince asked for them, he couldn't refuse, but he also couldn't give him all, so he said he still had a hundred days' worth, which was five packs, half a year's supply.

  "Is this for real?" The prince's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he thought to himself that it was just like a boat arriving at the bridgehead. When Cloud Seven said this, he didn't have any more worries either. Anyway, there were a hundred days, and letting his father, the emperor, take a break from his fatigue for a hundred days wasn't bad either. But the problem that followed was that this treasure, which was rarely found in the world, would be sold by that book boy for who knows how much money? However, after thinking about it again, he thought to himself that the imperial family had everything except for one thing - they had a lot of money, so he felt at ease. He asked again: "I wonder how many silver coins you are willing to sell this incense for?"

  Yun Qi didn't respond, only saying: "Crown Prince, wait a moment!" before turning around and walking towards his own hut. He glanced back to see if the Crown Prince and the others were following him, but seeing that they just sat there calmly, he felt relieved. However, he must not let them know that he had left half of it behind.

  Before long, Yun Qi walked back, holding five unopened packs of Zhonghua cigarettes in his hand and placing them on the stone table. "Your Highness," he said, "I only have this much stock left. Each pack has twenty sticks, so there are a hundred sticks in total."

  The prince picked up a package and saw the big red pattern on it, which was very exquisite, and there were also words that he couldn't understand printed on it. He still praised it: "I didn't expect that you would have a genius painter who could cheat the sky, this pattern is so vivid, it's really a treasure!"

  Cloud seven no words, this is a good print! However, you don't understand, and I don't want to explain.

  Next is the issue of price.

  ………………

  Seeing the book enter the top ten of the new book distribution list and rise to ninth place, I'm still a bit happy. After finishing business at 11 o'clock, I think it's better to update another chapter. Now, here is the third update of over 3000 words! No more words, just hope for everyone's support.