Fu Xuechen was puzzled. "How much money can selling storybooks earn? Could you really be short of that little pocket money? Didn't Father and Mother give you enough monthly allowance?""This isn't just about money!" Fu Yuchen said urgently. "Such marvelous stories—how can we keep them to ourselves? They must be spread far and wide, so that everyone knows them, and every household across the empire sings their praises!"Fu Xuechen still didn't understand. "Is this about seeking fame? Do you want to put your real name on it, so everyone knows you're the author? That's truly bold—aren't you afraid Father will find out and spank you?"Fu Yuchen rolled his eyes. "Have you ever seen a storybook that openly uses the author's real name? Of course, I'll use a pen name. Keep it a secret, and only heaven, earth, you, and I will know. How would Father and Mother find out? Alright! Don't worry about my reasons. Just think of it as me wanting to earn some extra pocket money. Hand this storybook over to Guan Enming and Zhang Chuyang for me. Let them help sell it—they can take a ten percent cut for every ten copies sold. You don't need to worry about the rest!"Fu Xuechen thought it over. She had only provided the story, while Fu Yuchen had written it down. His friends would handle the selling, and if anything went wrong, Fu Yuchen would bear the responsibility himself three months later. She could easily share in the profits—it seemed like a great deal no matter how she looked at it. So, she agreed.The two immediately discussed the pricing of the storybook and the profit-sharing arrangement between them: Fu Yuchen would take forty percent, Fu Xuechen fifty percent, and Guan Enming, Zhang Chuyang, and other distributors would negotiate their share. They also decided on the author's pen name: "Liaozhai Xiansheng."Once everything was settled, Fu Xuechen finished the pastries on the table, tucked the new storybook into her robe, and, carrying the grand plan to earn pocket money through the storybook business, ended their meeting for the day under Fu Yuchen's hopeful gaze.The next day, Fu Xuechen tucked the Liaozhai storybook into her robe and went to the Mingde Hall in the palace as usual. She planned to visit the Imperial College after school in the afternoon to find Zhang Chuyang or Guan Enming and discuss the matter of distributing and selling the storybook for profit.In truth, handing the storybook over to an external printing house for publication was also a way to make money. However, that would only earn ordinary silver. Printing houses would offer authors a one-time payment of a few dozen to over a hundred taels based on the quality of the storybook, with no publishing house willing to share profits through royalties.Due to the lack of copyright awareness, piracy was rampant these days. Legitimate copies received no protection, and even the most exceptional new storybooks could only allow printing houses to profit from the initial wave. Soon, various pirated versions would flood the market.Thus, for a newly emerging author, even if the storybook was of high quality, it was merely a one-time transaction with the printing house.Even for very famous storybook authors who had established long-term relationships with printing houses, they only received a fixed monthly writing fee, similar to an allowance.The private channels within the Imperial College were different.The scholars gathered here numbered one to two thousand, most of whom enjoyed reading storybooks. Moreover, those who could study at the Imperial College were mostly wealthy. Even if it was understood that each additional copy transcribed would cost the author one tael of silver, few would complain about the price being unaffordable.Everyone was conscientious about paying, and shameless freeloaders were rare—such behavior was both disgraceful and embarrassing.Overall, this revenue far exceeds what could be earned from printing storybooks at a bookshop. It also builds reputation and prestige simultaneously, and won’t hinder earning a second round of profits by selling to bookshops later. This is the proper way for students of the Imperial College to earn money by writing stories.Today in Mingde Hall, it was still Hanlin Li Tao teaching, as Grand Academician Ji did not come.Hanlin Li was a gentle, earnest, and good-natured man, extremely patient with his students. He meticulously followed the curriculum set by Grand Academician Ji, supervising the students in reviewing texts, reciting, and explaining new lessons to those who had passed their assignments, yet he never strictly enforced classroom discipline.This was just perfect!Fu Xuechen easily passed the checkpoint and received the new passage of text circled by Hanlin Li. After going over it just a couple of times, she confidently tossed aside her textbook, pulled out the Liaozhai storybook from her sleeve, and pretended to review her studies as she opened it. She was very curious about how Fu Yuchen had written the story of Judge Lu."What are you reading…?"Sixth Prince Yunzuo returned from reciting his passage to Hanlin Li and immediately noticed his desk-mate’s trickery, his expression turning odd."Shh!" Fu Xuechen quickly made a silencing gesture at him. Although Hanlin Li was a gentleman who could be taken advantage of, surface-level respect still had to be maintained."…" Yunzuo was speechless. He had discovered that his study companion was naturally brilliant and found studying extremely easy. What others had to work hard to grasp, this person could basically master in just a moment, almost as if possessing a photographic memory and astonishing comprehension.Yet, this person actually didn’t enjoy studying. In front of the teacher, she always pretended to have barely passed, not caring whether the teacher was pleased or praised her, nor striving to excel among her peers—only fearing that the teacher might assign her extra coursework.Now it was even better: she had disguised a storybook to look like a textbook and was openly reading it right under the teacher’s nose in class.Yunzuo couldn’t help but lean in and read a few passages along with Fu Xuechen. Unexpectedly, once he started reading, he became captivated.The passages he read happened to describe the scholar Zhu Erdan complaining about his wife’s ugliness, and Judge Lu boasting that he could make his wife as beautiful as a fairy, telling him to wait at home until he came in the dead of night…"Ah, this… what kind of story is this?" Yunzuo became instantly intrigued and quickly whispered his question.Fu Xuechen, uncomfortable with him leaning so close, simply shoved the entire storybook into his hands. "You read it yourself! I’ve already finished it."Yunzuo wanted to remind himself not to get distracted, to focus on studying and improving, but this story fragment was truly gripping. Not knowing what happened next felt like a nagging worry, making it harder to concentrate on his studies. He consoled himself by thinking the storybook wasn’t too thick; he could finish it quickly and then be done with it, so it wouldn’t interfere with his studies later.So he took the storybook, quickly flipped back to the beginning, and started reading from the title and author’s name all the way through.Most Liaozhai stories aren’t very long, and "Judge Lu" is only a medium-length tale among them. By the time classes ended at noon, Yunzuo had just finished reading the ending."What a wonderful story!" Yunzuo exclaimed in admiration. "Who is Liaozhai Xiansheng? I’ve never heard of this person. Could they be a new author who recently emerged? With 'Liaozhai' as the main title, it seems there’s more than just 'Judge Lu.' Do you have any other works by them?"Fu Xuechen smiled: "Of course there is! But it hasn't been written yet. Liaozhai Xiansheng is me… well, my pen name."She almost said "my brother," but caught herself just in time. Right now, she was playing the role of Fu Yuchen. When the two siblings eventually swapped back their identities, the person appearing before the Sixth Prince would indeed be the author herself.Yunzuo was astonished: "You? You wrote it?!"Fu Xuechen nodded and quickly added, "Don't tell anyone. It wouldn't be good if others found out. If word got to my father, I'd get a beating."Yunzuo broke into a cold sweat but still chivalrously agreed to keep the secret for this person. Though still reeling from the shock that his study companion could write novels—and such captivating ones at that—upon recalling the astonishing exam paper this person had submitted during the literary test, it suddenly felt perfectly reasonable.
Chapter 19
The Prince Does Not Compete for the Throne