My Emperor Father Can Read Minds

As for the hard-earned three-day vacation he managed to get, Wei Yu arranged it like this—

Day one: lying in bed playing on his tablet.

Day two: lying on the couch playing on his tablet.

Day three: lying in a rocking chair playing on his tablet.

In those three days, Wei Yu lived quite the comfortable life.

But after wasting three days like that, he got scolded by his dad.

The reason Eunuch Li Cheng gave was: “Why hasn’t the formula you promised been written yet?!”

Wei Yu was shocked by this reason.

Wait—wasn’t this supposed to be a vacation?!

He earned that time off fair and square, so why did he still have to write some stupid formula?? And it wasn’t even paid… Granted, he wouldn’t do it even if it was paid.

But that was just something he kept to himself. After being prodded by Eunuch Li Cheng, whom his father had sent, he sulkily set aside his tablet and went to write the formula.

But Wei Yu was a lazy person. Expecting him to sit down and carefully write out a long and detailed formula was worse than sending him to a full day of lectures with the Grand Tutor.

At least he could slack off during lectures. Writing a formula? That was just writing.

It’d break his hand.

Seriously!

So, being lazy, Wei Yu handed the task over to Xiao Anzi.

Xiao Anzi could read and write. Don’t ask why a poor young eunuch like Xiao Anzi was literate—ultimately, it was because of Wei Yu.

After all, did anyone really expect a lazy guy like Wei Yu to personally do all the homework the Grand Tutor assigned back in the day?

Of course not—it was always Xiao Anzi’s job!

Xiao Anzi was still young, in the prime of his youth. How could he not be educated?

That’d be such a waste! Wei Yu was handsome and kind-hearted—of course he had to raise the boy into a proper talent!

In short, the reason Xiao Anzi could read and write was because of Wei Yu. The one who suffered for it was Wei Yu, and the one who benefited was… also Wei Yu.

So the task of writing the formula was entirely handed over to Xiao Anzi. Wei Yu just had to sit to the side and dictate.

That said, once it was all done, Wei Yu did promise to give Xiao Anzi a tael of silver as compensation…

One tael of silver for three days off—not a bad deal.

–

And on the second day that Wei Yu was dictating the formula, glass was successfully produced.

It was the Ministry of Works who presented the item. That very morning, during court, all the civil and military officials saw it.

Minister Pei Zhi of the Ministry of Works, together with his Left and Right Vice Ministers, stood in the grand hall holding up the clear, sparkling glass bottles, all three of them wearing nearly identical expressions of excitement.

“Your Majesty! Just yesterday evening, the imperial kilns successfully refined a batch of colorless glazed material. The craftsmen are calling it ‘glass.’ These two pieces are part of that batch. I have brought them specifically for Your Majesty to examine.”

The two clear and sparkling glass bottles were held, one in each hand, by the two Vice Ministers.

Bright and translucent, finely crafted in structure, simple yet elegant—one look gave off a refreshing and beautiful impression.

Even from afar, the Emperor thought the bottles looked exceptionally exquisite—so much so that he found them captivating!

“Quick, bring them here. Let us have a proper look.”

A nearby attendant carried the items forward.

The bottles weren’t large—about the size of an ordinary vase, with a similar shape. Yet when the Emperor held one in his hand, the longer he looked, the more beautiful he found it.

He had already started thinking about what uses this colorless… no, “glass”—that was what Wei Yu called it—could have.

The palace windows were all made from mica. When the sky dimmed outside, the rooms still stayed bright.

But for common households that couldn’t afford mica windows, even the slightest dimming of daylight turned their homes pitch black—there was no choice but to light candles!

This glass—wouldn’t it be perfect for windows?

The Emperor was very pleased. Holding the glass bottle, he nodded repeatedly. “Not bad. This glass is quite beautiful—no less impressive than the tribute we receive from Xiqi. Very good! Reward them—the craftsmen from the imperial kilns who helped produce this batch of glass, each shall receive one hundred taels of silver…”

The Emperor repeated the reward that Wei Yu had promised last time.

This wasn’t just him being a stingy emperor. That brat had publicly made the promise himself—if he went back on it now, it’d embarrass the kid, wouldn’t it?

Pei Zhi accepted the decree. “Your Majesty’s reward is most generous. This minister thanks you on behalf of the imperial kiln.”

It was the craftsmen of the imperial kiln who received the reward, but truthfully, the bulk of the credit belonged to Wei Yu.

Pei Zhi knew this perfectly well. He had already read through the formula the night before, and had even heard from Liu Chun about how the whole thing had happened.

Pei Zhi was an upright man—he didn’t steal credit from his subordinates, much less from a prince.

So after accepting the reward, he continued, “Your Majesty, the successful production of this glass is thanks to the Ninth Prince. His Highness is immensely talented. He wrote a very detailed formula, and it was only by following it that the craftsmen were able to produce the glass.”

Everyone: …!

Some officials from the Ministry of Works already knew and weren’t too surprised, but the Eldest Prince and a few others were deeply shocked upon hearing this.

Especially when the Emperor turned to the ministers and said, “The Ninth Prince is clever and capable. We are most pleased with him.”

The few princes standing in court were clearly uncomfortable.

It wasn’t like the Emperor had never praised his sons’ intelligence before—he had praised the Fourth and Seventh Princes in the past.

But to say, in front of the entire court, that he was pleased because a son was clever—the Emperor had never done that before!

Didn’t he realize what the ministers below would think the moment those words were spoken?

This left the older princes wondering how they were supposed to maintain their footing in court in the future!

As for what the officials were thinking, Emperor Wei could only hear thoughts from the first three rows.

Gongsun Tai: [Ninth Prince… I haven’t paid him much attention. Looks like I should remind the Second Prince to be cautious.]

Pei Zhi: [A glass formula and now a steelmaking method… I wonder where the Ninth Prince could have possibly learned all this… If only I could see that ancient book with my own eyes.]

Qi Tishou: [Oh dear, this is serious. His Majesty actually likes the Ninth Prince this much? What a misstep… It was too early to pick a side!]

Eldest Prince: [Damn it, Wei Yu really does know how to make glass. I underestimated him before.]

Second Prince: [Ninth Younger Brother is a true talent. Looks like I’ll need to win him over.]

Third Prince: [So it’s thanks to a glass formula… I wonder how he came up with it. I’ll ask Lord Pei after court, see if I can borrow the formula to take a look. I’m really curious.]

Fourth Prince: [I’ve gotta get the glass formula from Little Ninth and turn it into a business! This stuff will make a fortune on the market!]

Fifth Prince: [Ugh, I’m so hungry. When will this end? I just want to go home and sleep.]

…

As many people stood there, that’s how many thoughts filled the room.

All sorts of thoughts from all sorts of people.

Emperor Wei, seated on high, stroked the glass bottle beside him, paying no mind to the others’ thoughts—except for what the Fourth Prince was thinking.

Selling glass. Making a fortune.

Feasible.

But who to sell it to?

After pondering for two seconds, Emperor Wei’s eyes lit up.

Of course—Great Liang!