Although it was said that he was selling glass, in fact, Wei Yu was not just selling glass.

After all, glass wasn’t a necessity. It could only be considered a consumable item. Someone might buy it once out of curiosity, but once the item was placed there, as long as it didn’t break, most people wouldn’t buy a second one.

You could say that if this thing really became a state monopoly, it might start to make a little profit at first, but later on… it would probably become a joke.

Wei Yu taking glass to Jiaozhou was really just about doing a bit of business, testing the waters.

As for what he truly intended to do, that would have to wait until they arrived in Jiaozhou and he saw the situation there before making a decision.

Wei Yu, being lazy, hadn’t clearly explained all this to his Eighth Brother. He had just thought he would explain it later. But the Eighth Prince believed that Wei Yu really planned to make glass into a state monopoly.

Thus, on the day the caravan set out, the Eighth Prince actually had people wrap those ten glass bottles in layers and layers of silk!

Seeing that, even Wei Yu found it a bit frightening.

They weren’t rich yet, and they were already starting to squander like that.

Truly, it was his Eighth Brother who was extravagant.

For this trip to Jiaozhou, Wei Yu brought all his one hundred guards along. Besides the guards, he also brought Xiao Anzi, and Hong Zhong and Bai Ban.

After all, they were comrades who had once gnawed on coarse buns together. How could he go traveling and not bring them along?

A dozen or so carriages made up the convoy. Yi Shisan led a few men ahead to scout the road, Fang Sheng rode at the very front, and Ding Facai acted as Wei Yu’s coachman.

Inside an unremarkable blue carriage without any special insignia, Wei Yu, dressed in white brocade, lounged lazily against a pillow eating snacks, fully looking the part of a wealthy young master.

Xiao Anzi shared the carriage with him, currently pouring tea for Wei Yu.

“Your Highness, you said we’re going to Jiaozhou to have some fun. What’s fun in Jiaozhou?”

After pouring the tea, Xiao Anzi handed the cup to Wei Yu.

“Eh? We agreed before we left, didn’t we? Your young master’s current identity is that of a rich family’s young son. Stop calling me ‘Your Highness’ all the time.”

Wei Yu criticized Xiao Anzi for being careless. “If you slip up and ruin my plans, I’ll dock your monthly allowance.”

Xiao Anzi meekly mumbled an acknowledgment.

Wei Yu was satisfied. “As for what’s fun in Jiaozhou… well, I’ve never been there. How would I know?”

Although he said that, after thinking for a moment, Wei Yu added, “But I do know that Jiaozhou is famous for its poetry gatherings and temple fairs. If we get the chance when we’re there, maybe we can check them out.”

Wei Yu wasn’t interested in poetry gatherings — those were clearly for refined scholars, not someone like him.

But temple fairs? He was definitely interested!

Temple fairs in these times were bustling, even livelier than street markets. Perfect for someone like him who wanted to experience local culture as a carefree tourist.

After listening to Wei Yu, Xiao Anzi thought seriously for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, “Young Master, if you’ve never been to Jiaozhou, how do you know all this?”

Wei Yu paused mid-bite and gave him a sidelong glance. “Haven’t you heard the saying ‘within books, there are houses of gold’? Your young master here knows all this from reading, alright?”

Xiao Anzi: “Can your servant read them too?”

Wei Yu: “…No.”

All the books were locked in a chest under his bed. Now that they were out traveling, how could he possibly find books for him to read!

Besides, a pure and innocent kid like Xiao Anzi shouldn’t be reading those slightly risqué books…

Thinking of this, Wei Yu tilted his head back in thought.

Speaking of which, his Eighth Brother had also borrowed a few of his books before, looking for information on the southern Miao tribes. It had been quite a while — he wondered if his Eighth Brother had found anything yet.

If not, could he please return the books?

They had cost quite a bit of silver!

—

Jiaozhou was far from the capital, and just a one-way trip would take over half a month.

For safety reasons, the caravan disguised themselves as a merchant convoy and only traveled official roads.

For the first two days, sitting in the carriage, Wei Yu found everything outside fresh and new — even an ordinary tree by the roadside looked more elegant and charming than those in the capital.

But after two or three days of bumping along, he was miserable.

Sitting in a carriage was torture!

From morning till night, the constant jolting had made his backside numb!

Eating and using the bathroom were inconvenient on the road, and even playing cards for too long made him dizzy and nauseous.

Wei Yu now understood why so many people in these times were reluctant to travel far.

Damn it, if sitting in a carriage was this exhausting, imagine those who had to walk the whole way!

On the seventh day of travel, the group finally reached Pingnan Prefecture from Xijing.

Pingnan was the neighboring prefecture to Jiaozhou; once they passed through it, they would enter Jiaozhou territory.

Outside Pingnan City, Fang Sheng glanced at the distant city gates, then turned his horse and rode up to Wei Yu’s carriage.

“Young Master, we’ve reached Pingnan Prefecture. Shall we enter the city?”

Wei Yu was currently watching Legend of Zhen Huan.

With nothing else to do these days, he had suddenly gotten hooked on palace dramas.

And honestly, it was pretty good — the imperial concubines’ tea-serving techniques were so refined, worth learning from!

Hearing Fang Sheng’s voice, Wei Yu closed the drama and lifted the curtain.

The convoy had stopped outside the city. From Wei Yu’s angle, he could just see the busy city gates.

“Let’s go in. I happen to want to look around too.”

After days on the road, aside from lodging in inns at night, Wei Yu had hardly had any fun!

This was supposed to be a sightseeing trip — so far, it had completely failed to meet his expectations.

The convoy headed toward the city gate.

After being inspected by the gate guards, they entered Pingnan City.

Wei Yu, a country bumpkin who had never traveled far before, leaned against the carriage window, finding everything fascinating.

“Wow, is that a handmade lantern? It’s shaped like a tiger, how cool!”

“Huh? So the men of Pingnan Prefecture wear flowers in their hair? That’s unique.”

“That young lady over there is really pretty. Not bad.”

“…”

As he spoke, Wei Yu suddenly caught a familiar smell.

The scent was both alluring and nostalgic!

Those who liked it loved it; those who didn’t even hated to smell it.

“Stinky tofu!”

Wei Yu’s eyes lit up immediately. He banged on the partition and called out to Ding Facai, “Facai, quick, quick, quick! Can’t you smell that? Stop the carriage — your young master is hungry! Hurry and find where that smell is coming from!”

What else could the guards do when their young master, who only cared about eating, drinking, and having fun, was hungry?

Of course, they stopped the carriage, found a restaurant, and fulfilled his request.

The guards were all capable people; it only took them a few minutes to locate the source of the smell.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of a small, secluded alley, where a small food stall was set up. An elderly woman sat behind the stall.

Once they found it, Wei Yu jumped out of the carriage himself.

He looked over the stall — it was clean and simple, with two large wooden barrels being the most eye-catching feature.

Wei Yu looked at the elderly woman and asked, “What are you selling here?”