The Fourth Prince's Heart Was a Needle at the Bottom of the Sea

Jian Ruonan pushed Dantai Mo leisurely along the covered veranda, with maids, matrons, and eunuchs trailing a short distance behind.

The eunuchs were well trained, keeping a suitable distance so as not to disturb their master.

Jian Ruonan felt a little nervous. This was her first time alone with Dantai Mo. With such a golden opportunity, perhaps she should try winning him over.

Sensing her thoughts, the system nearly fainted with happiness. [Nan Nan, remember to call me when you need Multiple-Birth Pills!]

Jian Ruonan had only pushed Dantai Mo a couple of steps, and the system had already picked out names for their children.

Jian Ruonan: "..."

[You can't eat hot dry noodles in a hurry.]

Dantai Mo: "..."

The Fifth Miss really was... incapable of forgetting about food, no matter the occasion.

The Fourth Prince sat in a wooden wheelchair. Both its frame and wheels were wooden, heavy and unlubricated, making it rather hard to push. After just a couple of steps, a faint sheen of sweat appeared on the tip of Jian Ruonan's nose.

Pushing the Fourth Prince around the covered veranda for a little while amounted to a whole week's exercise for her.

"Fifth Miss, I would like to purchase some pain-relief pills. I am willing to pay ten taels of gold per pill. Would you be willing to sell them?"

After the last flower banquet, Dantai Mo had specifically sent someone to keep an eye on Madam Wang's condition.

After taking the medicine, Madam Wang had gone several days without another migraine.

But a few days later, Madam Wang had caught a cold, developing a fever, a headache, and aches all over her body.

To relieve the pain, Madam Wang had taken another of the pills Jian Ruonan had given her. About an hour after taking it, not only had her headache and body aches disappeared, but her fever had broken as well.

Madam Wang also intended to seek out Jian Ruonan for more medicine today.

Dantai Mo commanded an elite force. If he could obtain this miraculous medicine, his men would have another way to save their lives when they encountered danger on a mission.

At the mention of ten taels of gold per pill, a sharp gleam flashed through Jian Ruonan's eyes.

As expected of Prince Rui. He really was rich!

Ten taels of gold, just like that.

She had won two boxes of Ibuprofen in her last draw and given Madam Wang three capsules. How many did that leave?

[Twenty-four capsules per box. Forty-five left.]

[Forty-five capsules-wouldn't that fetch four hundred and fifty taels of gold?]

[Dinosaur, kang-lang kang-lang kang! Dinosaur, kang-lang kang-lang kang~~~ I didn't K, I didn't K...]

Dantai Mo: "..."

This was his first time encountering a woman whose outward appearance differed so wildly from her inner self... He would just have to get used to it.

While wild waves surged inside Jian Ruonan, she remained demure and reserved on the surface. Knitting her brows, she said with great reluctance, "I still have ten pills."

Dantai Mo: "..."

??

Didn't she have forty-five left?

The Black Tortoise System: [The Fifth Miss isn't just lazy. She lies, too!]

Dantai Mo: *[...]*

The system: [Nan Nan, it's ten taels of gold per pill! You love money so much, why aren't you selling more?!]

[Oh, oh! Are you planning to sell some and give some away to win the Fourth Prince's favor?]

Hearing the system's speculation, Dantai Mo's mood eased a little.

The next instant, Jian Ruonan's inner voice reached him. [Idiot. Haven't you heard of hoarding rare goods to drive up the price? If I produce forty-five pills at once, what if he thinks I have plenty and decides the price is too high?!]

[If I make the medicine seem scarce, he'll pay me and thank me for it.]

[I'll sell them to him for ten taels of gold apiece this time. Next time, I might get twenty per pill.]

The system: [Nan Nan, you're so clever! You'll make money and win the Fourth Prince's favor at the same time.]

Jian Ruonan: [I could even sweet-talk a cripple into standing up!]

The system: [Then the Fourth Prince will be in a wonderful mood, the points will roll in, and you can draw cards again!]

[Ding-]

[The target's mood has been detected as low. Points -2.]

Jian Ruonan: "..."

[Has the Fourth Prince gone nuts again? I'm willing to sell him medicine, and he's still unhappy?! Could it be... that he's actually a stingy bastard? Was the ten taels of gold just empty talk, and he really wanted to use his status as a prince to make me give him the medicine for free?!]

[Despicable! Shameless!]

[Hah. I'm not selling it to him. I'll just say my master forbids it.]

[Boohoo, my hundred taels of gold that were almost in my hands!!!]

Dantai Mo: "..."

He had nearly forgotten that the Fifth Miss was trying to win him over and could sense changes in his mood.

His eyes darkened, and he took a deep breath to suppress his irritation.

Losing the chance to make a fortune hurt Jian Ruonan so much that she could barely breathe. She was about to politely turn the Fourth Prince down when the familiar mechanical voice sounded again.

[Ding-]

[The target's mood has been detected as happy. Points +2.]

This back-and-forth left Jian Ruonan utterly bewildered.

??

[This cripple really does swing between sunshine and storms!]

Dantai Mo: "..."

The Black Tortoise System advised him, [Your Highness, bear with it. Anyone who seeks to accomplish great things must first learn forbearance. If you get angry again, the Fifth Miss won't sell you the medicine! Her medicine really works wonders. You can take it, too.]

Ever since his fall from a horse, Dantai Mo had suffered excruciating pain in his hip whenever the weather turned rainy and overcast. Neither acupuncture nor medicine helped much. Every flare-up left him in agony for most of the night.

Dantai Mo took another deep breath. "In that case, I will have someone send a hundred taels of gold to the Marquis's Estate immediately. Thank you, Fifth Miss."

!!

The money was hers?!!

Happiness had come so suddenly!!

Dantai Mo instructed a eunuch to deliver the gold to the Marquis's Estate. Jian Ruonan took the medicine out of her pouch, counted out ten capsules, and explained in detail how to take them, repeatedly stressing that he must not drink alcohol after taking the medicine.

At a glance from Dantai Mo, a eunuch immediately stepped forward to collect the medicine. Once he had put it away, he withdrew again to let the two converse.

The guards and eunuchs attending Dantai Mo were profoundly shocked.

This was the first time His Highness Prince Rui had shown so much interest in a woman.

Not only had he spoken to her for so long, but he had even let her push his wheelchair around the gardens.

In the past, he had not bothered to spare so much as a glance for any woman who approached him.

With the medicine sold, Jian Ruonan was in such a good mood that even pushing Dantai Mo no longer felt tiring.

[Dinosaur, kang-lang kang-lang lang~~~ Gossip, gossip~~~ The rockery, where's the rockery?!]

Dantai Mo: "..."

Since the Fourth Prince wanted to tour Jingxiang Garden, the servants dared not stop him. They could only watch from afar.

Fortunately, the path leading to the rockery was rough and uneven. Amid the garden's dense flowers and trees, there was only a stone-paved path wide enough for one person. Jian Ruonan could not get the wheelchair through at all.

[The greatest pain in the world is having juicy gossip right before your eyes but being unable to feast on it.]

[So mad.]

Dantai Mo: "..."

Standing at the entrance to the path, Jian Ruonan could only gaze toward it and sigh. [An iron wheelchair would be lighter and more convenient. If I had one, I could push the Fourth Prince around the Princess's Residence five times!]

Dantai Mo: ??

An iron wheelchair?

Did such a wondrous thing really exist?

Just how many more surprises could the Fifth Miss offer him?!

[Ding-]

[An emotional fluctuation has been detected in the target. Points +5.]

Jian Ruonan: ??

There was nothing in front of them. Why had the Fourth Prince's emotions fluctuated?!

The Fourth Prince's heart was a needle at the bottom of the sea.