The Lucky Farmgirl

The three only rarely have the chance to stroll around on non-holidays or non-festival days, mainly because they didn’t live in the palace before, where there wasn’t a dedicated time for leaving school. After school or work there were still many things to do, still in a state of overtime, with no free time to go out.

Imperial Doctor Lu and Imperial Doctor Liu are still confined at the imperial estate, so Manbao doesn’t have many things to handle. Usually, in the morning she manages official duties at the Imperial Hospital, occasionally taking cases to see patients, and in the afternoon she goes to the Chongwen Pavilion to edit books, so she now has time to enjoy after work.

Bai Shan’s schedule is more flexible; at the Hanlin Academy, he can be busy if he’s busy, or leisurely if he’s not busy.

The three had a meal outside, looked around, and decided to casually stroll to the bookstore.

Bai Erlang and his companions were quite familiar with the shop, as soon as they reached the entrance, the owner recognized them and immediately greeted them with a smile, "Oh, it’s Young Master Bai Er, and also Editor Bai and Lord Zhou, please come in."

The owner asked with a smile, "What would the three of you like to buy? We have new Duan inkstones in stock."

Bai Shan smiled and asked, "Any new books recently?"

The owner asked with a smile, "Not sure what kind of books Editor Bai is looking for. We’ve just released a travelogue, and a couple of collections have been published, though none authored by court officials. As you know, the collections by court officials are first published by the government publishing house, and we bookstores are lucky to even get a share of them. However, there are quite a few storybooks, but..."

He glanced at Bai Erlang and sighed, "But none compare to those written by Young Master Bai Er. Currently, the best-selling book in our bookstore is still the biography of Young Master Xiang written by Young Master Bai Er."

For so many years, Bai Erlang’s book remains the best seller, which shows its popularity.

Of course, its consistent presence on the bestseller list is for a reason. Firstly, the author had a decent level of literacy; Bai Erlang was a student at the Imperial Academy then, having studied for over ten years, his literacy was quite sufficient, not to mention Bai Shan and Zhou Man advised alongside;

Secondly, it’s a biographical novel based on a true story, Xiang Ming was a real person, and the Prince of Yizhou was famous nation-wide, involving themes of commoners rebelling against the gentry and topics of rebellion, familial and national enmity, and even common folk couldn’t resist such stories;

Lastly, it also artistically processed the real story, otherwise, Xiang Ming wouldn’t have read it only as someone else’s story, just because the story was five parts fictional, part true and part fake, with the fake being particularly thrilling.

The capital is a big city, with new people coming every year, a significant portion being students on study tours or taking the imperial exam, making the book sell exceptionally well, regardless of how new the storybooks are, they can’t beat it.

There were also those with sudden inspirations who fabricated a character based on Xiang Ming, with deep-seated vengeance, various oddities, ultimately seeking revenge successfully.

The sales were decent but still couldn’t match this biography.

The bookstore owner believes the fundamental reasons are still the first and second reasons: the book was written by someone as cultured as Bai Erlang, and the story truly existed.

He very much wanted Bai Erlang to write a continuation, "I heard Young Master Xiang has now achieved some success in business, why not write about his business revival?"

Bai Erlang: "... Can’t keep milking the same cow, right? No, no."

Bai Shan asked him, "Do you have time to write storybooks now?"

Bai Erlang, feeling a bit nostalgic, responded, "I’ve already passed the imperial exam, I just need to pass the Ministry of Personnel’s exam next year, I think given my status passing should not be difficult."

By then, he would already be married to Mingda, being an Emperor’s son-in-law after all, even without passing the Ministry of Personnel’s exam, becoming an official wouldn’t be hard.

Bai Shan said, "If you perform poorly in the exam, wouldn’t it be an embarrassment to the Emperor and Mingda?"

Bai Erlang felt a sudden jolt in his heart, "You make a good point, I’d better continue studying for now then."

After passing the imperial exam he had slacked off quite a bit, choosing to write instead of doing coursework if he could, reading if he didn’t have to write, extremely nonchalant. Strangely, his teacher hadn’t scolded him recently, perhaps collecting all his errors secretly for a big scolding session later.

Bai Erlang shook himself, immediately saying, "I’ll take out those books you studied for the Ministry of Personnel’s exam once I get back, but I still itch to write a storybook."

He said, "If I joined the Hanlin Academy, do you think I could compile history books, or annotate classics, or compile calendars and agriculture books?"

Bai Shan remained silent.

Bai Erlang said, "See, see, you also think I can’t do those things, right? I’ll probably end up assisting Hanlin editors with research, which sounds boring, so why not write a storybook to pass the time during tedious moments."

The owner on the side nodded repeatedly, eyes shining, "Yes, yes, storybooks are for passing the time, the writers pass their time, and readers do too. Isn’t it more convenient now than when you were studying before? You were so busy yet could still write quite a few within ten days back then."

Bai Erlang got excited, feeling even more confident, discussing with Bai Shan and Zhou Man, "Should I make up a story randomly, or write about something else?"

Manbao said, "Our life is too peaceful, what’s there to write about? Hmm, why not write about last year’s journey westward."

Manbao’s spirits rose, "Isn’t the most thrilling experience the journey we took? After all, we fought a battle and brought back the cowpox recipe."

Bai Shan also nodded, "That’s a good idea, you can start writing from the smallpox outbreak in Xiazhou, and our mission to treat smallpox there, then going to the Western Regions to find the recipe."

The owner’s eyes lit up, nodding incessantly, "Yes, yes, write that, write that."

Then he can put up a sign about how the renowned female doctor discovered the cowpox recipe; how Bai Jinshi repelled enemies and seized cities, earning a baron title from the Emperor eventually...

Excited, the owner said to Bai Erlang, "If you can write it, I’ll still split fifty-fifty with you."

"That’s not possible," Bai Shan interjected before Bai Erlang could speak, "Today’s Bai Er is not the Bai Er of the past, his writing and status have changed, besides, this time he’s writing about us, so it can’t be the same split as before."

Thus the three, originally just there to browse, ended up negotiating back and forth with the bookstore owner and eventually left with a mutually signed contract.

Bai Shan and his companions were in high spirits, feeling joyful with another income gain, the influx of money was indeed delightful.

Zhou Lixue and his three companions, who came to submit copied books, witnessed the whole process at the entrance, stunned.

Manbao saw them as she turned around and casually greeted, "Here to hand over the books, right? Go ahead, go ahead, we’ll wait for you and head home together later."

Silently, the three moved forward and handed their copied books to the owner.

After flipping through to ensure no obvious errors, the owner handed them sixty coins, twenty each, the price for copying one book.

The owner beamed at them, "What book will you choose to copy next?"

The three responded solemnly, "Still ’Strategies of the Warring States: Eastern Zhou’."

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