The feast was called off just like that. None of them had the appetite to eat. They all stayed by Li Ke's side.
Li You was playing with an exquisite ruby ring. Suddenly, he remembered something and said, "Third brother, should we tell Father and Mother about this? Or should we keep it a secret?"
"How can we keep it from them? Let's just tell them the truth honestly." Li Ke sighed helplessly. This younger brother obviously hadn't experienced being grilled yet.
The moment something happened here, it might have already reached Father in Taihe Hall.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, Li Tai came with the young disciple of the Taoist priest Sun Simiao. After entering the room, Li Tai glanced around and said straightforwardly, "Third brother, fifth brother, sixth brother, and Hong Xuan, you all have quite a nerve. When Father heard about the accident, he quickly sent me here with someone. How's the situation?"
"I'm fine. I'm still holding up." Li Ke waved his hand. "Thank you, fourth brother, for your concern. When I'm fully recovered, I'll go and thank Father in person."
The young doctor Ye Zan came over to feel Li Ke's pulse. After a moment, he said, "There's no major problem with your body. Just take good care of yourself."
"Thank you, Doctor Ye."
Li Ke still felt a bit dizzy. "I'm a bit sleepy. Can I take a rest?"
"No, you can't just lie in bed all the time. You need to get up and move around."
"Okay! Then third brother, I'll accompany you for a stroll in the yard." Li Jingyun seized the opportunity and helped Li Ke up. The two of them walked into the yard together.
The light snow was drifting down. The whole yard was covered in white. From time to time, servants and maids were sweeping the snow. The temperature wasn't too low. Walking around like this, it wasn't cold.
Li Yin was worried about his elder brother, so he pulled Li You along to come and check on them. Li Tai wrapped his clothes tightly and followed them from afar. There hadn't even been a charcoal brazier in that room just now. It was freezing cold and felt so lifeless. These younger brothers and sisters were still young. They always did things that made their parents worry.
Li Jingyun acted cute and coquettishly coaxed Li Ke into laughing all the time. After being blown by the cold wind, his mind became much clearer.
"Third brother, I have a business opportunity. Do you want to get involved?"
Finally, they got to the main point.
Li Ke's gaze faltered for a moment. His intuition told him that this must be a big business. If done well, he wouldn't have to do anything in the future and could just lie at home counting money until his hands cramped.
Just like Gao Yang's ice house, the newly - opened warm building, and Hong Xuan's own sweater shop.
"What are we going to sell this time?"
"Coal."
Li Jingyun said, "This stuff is perfect for heating. It's more common and cheaper than charcoal."
"Cheap? That's true. But coal is also poisonous. Carbon monoxide poisoning is no joke." Li Ke was amazed.
What on earth was going on in his younger sister's head?
She was getting bolder and bolder. She even dared to get involved with coal.
It wasn't that no one had ever burned coal before, but...
Suddenly, Li Ke thought of something. "Hong Xuan, did you rush to Luzhou just for the coal there?"
"Right. The immortal master instructed me. There's a way to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Having coal to burn is better than burning firewood and dry branches and leaves in winter, isn't it?" Li Jingyun nodded seriously.
Li You and the others who were following behind overheard their conversation.
Li You and Li Yin didn't show much reaction, but Li Tai was extremely surprised. Such an important matter was being discussed casually during a stroll?
He had heard a lot of details about Li Jingyun's various industries from Wang De. Almost everything was either due to the guidance of the immortal master or Li Jingyun's sudden ingenious ideas. Then Father and Mother would support her, and she could do whatever she wanted.
At first, when she made a bet with Cui Tian from the Boling Cui family that she would build a library and make the royal family the one with the most books, no one was optimistic about her. They thought it was just a child's nonsense. Who would have thought that she would actually succeed?
No one cared much about the latter part, but the library had really worried many court officials at that time.
The underhanded dealings involved were not for outsiders to know.
Hong Xuan was still young and might not have any ambition to fight for the throne. But as the years passed, no one could say for sure what would happen.
Just thinking that in the future, the elder brother who doted on Hong Xuan so much might fight with her for the throne made Li Tai find it laughable.
After hearing what his younger sister said, Li Ke frowned tightly. "Let me think about it carefully. After all, this is a very important matter."
"Okay."
Don't think that Li Jingyun agreed so readily. She was also worried.
What if third brother really didn't agree? Should she handle it herself? She was too lazy to do so. Wasn't the sweater shop a good example?
The night before the sweater shop opened, she hadn't slept well at all. She had been in a daze all day.
She had to think of a way to get third brother to agree.
So, two days later, when the heavy snow had just stopped and the temperature dropped suddenly, Li Jingyun invited Li Ke to meet at the warm building in Anyi Fang.
In the middle of the afternoon, Li Ke was still sleepy. He was holding Li Jingyun's hand and strolling slowly on the street. The snow crunched under their feet.
Last night, he had been summoned by Father and scolded for two whole hours. He hadn't slept well at all.
As soon as they entered the warm building, Li Ke's eyes widened instantly. "Why are there so many people?"
The shopkeeper of the Anyi Fang branch had been idly looking through the ledger. As soon as he saw Li Jingyun and Li Ke, he quickly welcomed them. At the same time, he was a bit worried that these common people who had come to the warm building to keep warm might disturb the two high - ranking guests.
"Your humble servant pays respects to the Prince of Wu and the Princess."
"Get up, get up. What's going on with all these people? Why aren't they going home? Why are they all gathered here?" Li Ke looked around. The floor was full of people, especially around the heating stoves.
Most of these people were dressed in ordinary, even shabby clothes. It had already snowed, but some of them were still wearing single - layer clothes.
Those sitting at the tables drinking milk tea weren't dressed much better. When they saw the siblings, they panicked and got up to pay their respects.
"Everyone, there's no need for such formalities. Drink your milk tea and rest as you like." After Li Jingyun said that, she looked at Li Ke. "Brother, let's go upstairs. I remember Sister Xinxing left a room for us, right?"
"That's right. Please follow me, Your Highnesses." The shopkeeper led them to the innermost room on the second floor. He closed the door tightly, and immediately someone lit the stove. The room gradually warmed up.
Before Li Jingyun could ask, the shopkeeper explained, "Please forgive us, Your Highnesses. Those people came here because their homes are too cold. Other shops and taverns don't allow them to come in to keep warm. Only our boss is willing to let them in, so more and more people have come."
"Was this Xinxing's order?" Li Ke asked.
"Yes. Our boss said that since we have a big business, we're not short of this little bit of money. We might as well do a good deed."
The shopkeeper was completely confused. Why did these two noble Highnesses come to the warm building in Anyi Fang? They should be in Pingkang Fang, right? This place was out - of - the - way, and usually no such important people would come here.
The last time a prince and a princess had come was on the day of the grand opening when the Prince of Shu had come.
"Okay, you can go. Just make two cups of milk tea." When Li Jingyun thought the time was right, she sent the shopkeeper away. Her big eyes blinked as she looked at Li Ke. "Third brother, what do you think now?"