594 Working together to dig a hole

A few days later, Prince Yi brought Shi Qingluo and a few others to the casino opened by Prince Jin’s son to redeem the silver they had won.

This was the gambling den opened by Prince Jin’s fourth son, who also liked to eat, drink, and play.

With so many people placing large sums of money on Shi Qingluo’s victory with such high odds, his heart ache when he knew that he had to pay a million taels.

He even had the urge to renege on his debt.

However, before he could do that, his subordinates reported that Prince Yi and Princess Fubao had come.

Liang Mingwen could only brace himself and go downstairs to welcome them.

When he saw the elegant and refined Prince Yi, he found it difficult to associate him with the black-hearted, ruthless, and shameless image that his father had described.

However, their father had directly emphasized how shameless and difficult Prince Yi was over multiple occasions and told them not to provoke him if they met him.

Therefore, he was on guard and walked up with a smile.

He first bowed to Prince Yi. “Greetings, imperial uncle!”

Liang Yulin smiled and nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Liang Mingwen then greeted the fifth prince and the others, and finally, his gaze fell on Shi Qingluo. “Greetings, Princess Fubao!”

He had heard a lot about Shi Qingluo, but this was the first time he had seen her in person.

Like what the rumors said, Shi Qingluo did not look like a village woman based on her appearance, temperament and looks.

Instead, she looked more like a noble lady.

Normally, he would also admire women who were also filled with mystery.

But now, he was in no mood to appreciate it because his heart ached terribly.

This gambling house was not a property of Prince Jin’s residence but his own.

Because of Shi Qingluo, he was forced to fork out a million taels of silver.

At the same time, he chastised the Tu family for being too useless, causing him to be implicated for the payments.

Shi Qingluo smiled at him. “Hello, fourth young master!”

Liang Yulin led the group in and looked around. “Your place looks pretty good.”

Liang Mingwen forced a smile. “It’s just a small casino. It doesn’t deserve your praise.”

Seeing him like this, Liang Yulin knew that his heart was aching for the silver.

However, the more distressed Prince Jin’s son was, the better his mood became.

Seeing that there was an area for playing mahjong and cards, he smiled and said, “You should thank my daughter-in-law for your good business here.”

Liang Mingwen was speechless.

You’re not even married yet, how did you have a daughter-in-law?

“Your daughter-in-law?” he asked despite knowing the answer.

“Princess Fubao!” Liang Yulin laughed openly.

He and Yuelan were engaged, and marriage was a matter that had been nailed into an iron plate, so there was nothing wrong with announcing that Shi Qingluo was his daughter-in-law.

Liang Mingwen was speechless.

Sure enough, it was just as his father had said.

His imperial uncle was too thick-skinned.

“Does my gambling den’s business have anything to do with Princess Fubao?” He asked, puzzled.

He really wanted to say that he had to pay a million taels of silver, so it was already good enough that he didn’t scold Princess Fubao, not to mention thanking her.

Liang Yulin said matter-of-factly, “The Mahjong and cards you have here are created by my daughter-in-law. Shouldn’t you be thanking her?”

Liang Mingwen was speechless.

In that case, it seemed that Princess Fubao had contributed to it.

After all, the Mahjong and card business in his gambling den was better than playing dice for placing big and small bets.

In the entire Northern City, only the few gambling dens he opened had Mahjong and cards, and he had sent people to learn them in the capital.

If other gambling establishments wanted to follow suit, he would teach them a lesson in the name of Prince Jin’s residence.

So he owed Shi Qingluo this and had to pay so much for it?

But his heart still ached!

However, since Prince Yi had already said so, he had to express his gratitude.

“Thank you, Princess Fubao,” he expressed gratitude to Shi Qingluo.

Shi Qingluo smiled. “You can’t just express your gratitude verbally only.”

Her future father-in-law had already built a platform for her to escape, so of course, she had to follow him and trap Prince Jin’s son.

Liang Mingwen was speechless.

This was the first time he had seen someone climb up the tree like this.

No wonder she could be in the same family as his imperial uncle.

They were both so shameless.

If it were someone else who dared to dig a hole for him like this, he would have long humiliated him and asked him to get lost.

However, he couldn’t do that to his imperial uncle, whom even his own father was afraid of, and to Princess Fubao, whom he wanted to win over with all his might.

“Then how do you want me to thank you, Princess Fubao?” he asked.

“My husband wants to open a craftsman academy in Northern City, but he lacks a big venue.” Shi Qingluo said with a smile.

“I heard that you have the habit of buying land for enclosure purposes, fourth young master. So why don’t you do a good deed and give up a piece of land?

“When the time is right, we’ll also announce to the public that you’ve donated a plot of land to build an academy. Everyone will come forward to thank you, and it’ll be good for the reputation of you and Prince Jin’s residence.”

Many craftsmen were concerned that they would lose their jobs when their students master the skills, so they rarely taught their skills to outsiders.

This also resulted in a shortage of craftsmen.

Shi Qingluo felt that if she wanted to increase the current level of production, she had to improve their labor capacity.

She would set up a specialized blacksmith school and recruit students for selective training.

After they graduated, they would be sent to specialized industries.

Not only could it solve the lack of talents in this region of Daliang, but it could also continuously unearth technical talents.

The ancient people were so smart.

After they learned it systematically, she believed that they could also invent steam engines and so on.

She didn’t want to use everything that was already available, such as steam engines and gunpowder in weapons.

She wanted to guide those in this era to explore new knowledge and then create it.

It was better to teach a man how to fish than giving a fish to a man.

She supported this idea very much.

There might even be additional benefits that weren’t part of the plan.

If such knowledge could continue to pass down to future generations, our technology might surpass the world in a few hundred years.

She felt that this was more interesting and meaningful.

However, the government in Northern City did not have that much money, nor did they have land on which to build an academy.

They didn’t want to look for Prince Jin directly and let him build it.

In this case, it might be controlled by Prince Jin in the future, and the academy would become the back garden of Prince Jin’s residence.

Prince Yi knew about their plan.

Hence, he brought her here today to collect the debt, and at the same time, he also took the opportunity to dig a hole for Prince Jin’s son.

After all, they would not have to owe Prince Jin a favor and would not be controlled by Prince Jin’s residence.

At the same time, she also understood why Prince Jin was so afraid of Prince Yi.

It was because he was really good at tricking others.

She had been thinking about what method Prince Yi would use to dig a hole for Liang Mingwen.

Now that she heard him say that he wanted Liang Mingwen to thank her for the Mahjong and cards she had made, she finally understood.

No wonder Prince Yi had emphasized that she was his daughter-in-law.

This entry point was too good.

Because of his identity restriction, Liang Mingwen had no choice but to follow Prince Yi’s lead, and he was not far from falling into the trap.

Upon hearing Shi Qingluo’s words, Liang Mingwen suddenly didn’t know what to say.

He had already reacted.

The two of them had worked together to dig a hole for him to jump into.

He laughed awkwardly and found an excuse to decline. “I’m afraid that’s not a good idea. I don’t want to steal a magistrate’s political achievements.”

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