The thing Lin Zhaoye regretted most in his life wasn’t being falsely accused by Yang Wanli during the imperial examinations—he’d long since gotten over that. What he regretted most was that on his wedding day, Sixth Princess Xiao Mingyan had asked him: “Third Brother, what do you plan to do with your life?”
He’d had a bit too much to drink and, with a thick tongue, had declared: “Business! Make lots of money! Give the princess a good life!”
Xiao Mingyan swirled her wine cup, the corner of her mouth lifting: “Does this princess lack for money?”
Lin Zhaoye choked.
Xiao Mingyan set her cup down with a thud, stood up, and looked down at him: “Lin Zhaoye, listen carefully. This princess married you not because you’re poor, nor because you’ll be rich someday. This princess married you because she likes you as a person.”
The entire hall fell silent.
Lin Zhaoye’s face turned as red as a boiled shrimp.
“But—” Xiao Mingyan shifted gears, sitting back down and slowly swirling her cup, “since you said you’re going to make big money, go ahead and do it. If you don’t make it, that’s fine too—this princess will support you.”
Lin Zhaoye: “…Princess, could you not say that in front of everyone?”
“No.” Xiao Mingyan said matter-of-factly. “This princess never watches her words.”
After the wedding, the couple lived in the imperial-bestowed princess manor.
A sprawling three-courtyard estate with dozens of servants. Xiao Mingyan’s dowry filled three entire storehouses, and the Lin family’s dowry was no less impressive.
Lin Zhaoye felt awkward for the first few days—people following him everywhere, servants serving his meals, even a maid bringing his foot-washing water.
Xiao Mingyan noticed his discomfort and snorted: “Look at you. This princess hasn’t complained about you, yet you’re already uncomfortable with yourself.”
Lin Zhaoye took a deep breath: “Princess, I want to do something.”
“What?”
“Business.”
Xiao Mingyan, who had been munching on an apple, stopped and looked him up and down: “You? Business? Do you even know where the market is?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how much a catty of rice costs?”
“…No.”
“Do you know how to negotiate with merchants?”
“…No.”
“Then what kind of business are you going to do?” Xiao Mingyan tossed the apple core aside. “Isn’t this princess’s money enough for you?”
Lin Zhaoye held it in for a long moment, then said: “I don’t want people to say I’m living off a woman.”
Xiao Mingyan paused, then laughed. Not mockingly—she genuinely found it amusing.
“Lin Zhaoye,” she stood up, walked over to him, and patted his cheek, “do you think if you don’t do business, people won’t say you’re living off a woman? You’re a prince consort—that’s what a prince consort does. It’s fate—accept it.”
Lin Zhaoye: “…………”
“But—” Xiao Mingyan shifted gears again, “if you really want to try, this princess won’t stop you. Just don’t cry if you lose money.”
Lin Zhaoye went to see his eldest brother, Lin Moqian.
Lin Moqian was clicking his abacus in the accounting room. Without looking up, he said: “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know,” Lin Zhaoye admitted honestly.
Lin Moqian finally looked up: “You don’t know anything, and you came to me?”
“Brother, help me think.”
Lin Moqian set down his abacus, leaned back in his chair, and thought for a while: “You can’t do fresh produce. Little Sister’s Agricultural Institute has cornered the fruit and vegetable market. If you step in, you’ll either be competing with her or working under her. Are you willing?”
Lin Zhaoye shook his head.
“Then cloth? Tea? Porcelain?” Lin Moqian counted off one by one. “All those markets are dominated by established brands. You’re a prince consort—no one will dare cheat you openly, but they’ll undermine you quietly, and that’ll be just as uncomfortable.”
Lin Zhaoye frowned: “Then what can I do?”
Lin Moqian tapped his fingers on the table a few times, then suddenly smiled: “Didn’t you like tinkering with wood as a child? That curio shelf in Father’s study—didn’t you make it when you were ten?”
Lin Zhaoye was taken aback: “That was so many years ago…”
“Did you lose the skill?”
“No—no, I didn’t… but selling wooden wares as a business?”
“Not selling wooden wares.” Lin Moqian stood up and walked to the map on the wall. “Think about it—Great Liang’s canal transport, sea transport, and land transport—how much is lost each year? Porcelain breaks in transit; fruit rots. If you could make better packaging crates, sturdier shelves, more convenient handling equipment… wouldn’t that be a business?”
Lin Zhaoye’s eyes slowly lit up.
“And besides,” Lin Moqian turned around, “Little Sister can’t do this, and no one else wants to. You’re perfect for it.”
When Lin Zhaoye went home and told Xiao Mingyan, she was in the middle of applying a face mask—her face slathered in pearl powder, only her eyes and mouth visible.
“Packaging?” she mumbled. “So, making wooden boxes?”
“Not just boxes.” Lin Zhaoye grew animated. “Shelves, pallets, shock-absorbent padding… Eldest Brother calls it ‘logistics equipment.’”
Xiao Mingyan lifted a corner of her mask, revealing half her face: “Do you have capital?”
“Yes. Father’s dowry for me, and what I’ve saved… about five thousand taels.”
Xiao Mingyan tsked: “What can five thousand taels do? It’d be gone just buying a shopfront.” She reached under her pillow, pulled out a stack of banknotes, and slapped them on the table. “Here. Twenty thousand taels. If you lose it, it’s on me; if you profit, split it with me.”
Lin Zhaoye looked at the banknotes and didn’t take them.
“Princess, I can—”
“Can what?” Xiao Mingyan stuffed the banknotes into his hands. “This princess’s money—if I don’t spend it, it’s wasted. Besides, if your business takes off, the royal shipping could use your products too. That would reflect well on this princess.”
Lin Zhaoye held the banknotes, silent for a moment: “Then I’ll write you an IOU.”
“Write what IOU?” Xiao Mingyan lay back on the couch and smoothed her mask. “You’re this princess’s man now—what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours.”
Lin Zhaoye bought an old factory building west of the city and converted it into a woodworking workshop.
He hired the best carpenters from all over to research how to make packaging boxes that were light, sturdy, and cheap. They tried seven or eight types of wood and over a dozen joinery structures, wasting a whole roomful of timber before finally producing the first batch of samples.
Xiao Mingyan came to see it once. She picked up a box, hefted it, then threw it on the ground—it didn’t break.
“Decent,” she commented. “Just ugly.”
Lin Zhaoye nodded: “I think so too. I plan to have painters decorate the boxes with designs—both for aesthetics and branding.”
“What designs?”
“Peaches,” Lin Zhaoye said. “Since you love eating peaches.”
Xiao Mingyan looked at him, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, but said nothing.
The first order came from Lin Moqian. The Lin Trading Company shipped large quantities of porcelain north every year, with consistently high breakage rates. After using Lin Zhaoye’s shock-absorbent packaging, the damage rate dropped by thirty percent.
Word spread, and orders trickled in.
Lin Zhaoye’s workshop grew from twenty workers to a hundred, then from a hundred to three hundred. The factory west of the city wasn’t enough anymore, so he bought land north of the city and built a larger facility.
Xiao Mingyan sometimes came by, sat nearby, and watched him work. He didn’t talk to her, and she didn’t bother him—she just brought a book to read, occasionally looking up.
“Princess, you don’t need to keep me company here,” Lin Zhaoye said.
“Who says this princess is keeping you company?” Xiao Mingyan turned a page. “This princess is checking on her investment.”
In the third year, Lin Zhaoye landed a major contract—from the Ministry of Works.
The court needed large quantities of special shelving and reinforced sacks for transporting stone for water conservancy projects. The Vice Minister of Works came personally to negotiate, offering a substantial sum.
Lin Zhaoye’s hands trembled slightly as he signed the contract.
He told Xiao Mingyan about it when he got home. She was eating grapes, nodded, and said: “Mm, not bad. Add an extra dish tonight—have the kitchen stew a chicken.”
Lin Zhaoye: “That’s it?”
“What else?” Xiao Mingyan spat out the grape seeds. “Does this princess need to beat drums and gongs to celebrate for you?”
Lin Zhaoye thought about it—she had a point.
That evening, the kitchen stewed the chicken and made a couple of extra dishes. Xiao Mingyan broke her usual habit and poured him a cup of wine.
“Third Brother,” she said suddenly, “you’re not living off a woman anymore.”
Lin Zhaoye paused for a moment, then smiled.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“For what?”
“For giving me that money back then.” Lin Zhaoye said seriously. “Without those twenty thousand taels, I never could have gotten started.”
Xiao Mingyan snorted: “That was this princess making a savvy investment. If you’d lost it, I’d have skinned you alive.”
— —
In the fifth year, Lin Zhaoye had expanded his business nationwide.
His “Yong’an Equipment Company” had opened branches in over a dozen prefectures. The packaging crates, shelves, and pallets he produced became the top choice for merchants. He even developed a “foldable shelf” that could be collapsed when not in use, saving transport space—causing quite a stir in the industry.
That year, Xiao Mingyan gave birth to their first child—a daughter.
Lin Zhaoye paced anxiously outside the delivery room. When he heard the baby’s cry, his legs gave out and he sat down on the floor.
The midwife emerged with the baby, beaming: “Congratulations, Prince Consort—it’s a young princess.”
Lin Zhaoye looked at his daughter, then at Xiao Mingyan as she was wheeled out, his eyes reddening.
Xiao Mingyan gave him a weak glance: “What are you crying about?”
“I’m not crying.” Lin Zhaoye wiped his face. “It’s windy.”
“There’s no wind in the delivery room.” Xiao Mingyan rolled her eyes, but her lips curved upward.
— —
On the day of their daughter’s full-month celebration, the entire Lin family came.
Lin Shuying held her niece, studied her, and said: “She has Third Brother’s features.”
Xiao Shengrui added from the side: “And the princess’s temperament.”
Xiao Mingyan heard from across the yard and called out: “Seventh Brother, is that a compliment?”
Xiao Shengrui didn’t respond.
Lin Shuying laughed.
Lin Zhaoye carried his daughter around the courtyard, pacing back and forth. Xiao Mingyan leaned against a pillar, watching him, and suddenly said: “Third Brother, do you still think you’re not good enough for this princess?”
Lin Zhaoye stopped, thought carefully, and said: “I’m not good enough.”
Xiao Mingyan raised an eyebrow.
“But I’ll work to be.” Lin Zhaoye said. “For a lifetime.”
Xiao Mingyan looked at him for a long moment, then turned her face away: “Corny.”
But the tips of her ears were red.
— —
Later, their second and third children were born.
Lin Zhaoye’s business continued to grow, but he always came home for dinner. Xiao Mingyan complained about it, but she waited for him every day.
Someone once asked Xiao Mingyan: “Princess, your consort is away all day—aren’t you worried?”
Xiao Mingyan was drinking tea. She set down her cup: “Worried about what? If he dares to step out of line, this princess will make him pay back double with interest.”
The questioner dared not speak further.
But Xiao Mingyan smiled softly and added: “He won’t.”
Outside the window, the sunset was just right.
In the courtyard, three children chased each other. Lin Zhaoye had just returned, holding a newly made wooden toy, and was immediately surrounded by them.
Xiao Mingyan watched this scene, the corners of her mouth slowly lifting.
She thought: that bumbling fool who’d been falsely accused in the examination hall all those years ago—now he was someone of substance.
And her judgment had indeed been right.
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