Chapter 81

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"Has it only been this long, how could the Academy of Natural Studies possibly spend so much money?" In the room originally belonging to Zhao Chen, a young man dressed in a bright yellow robe was now seriously flipping through Hu Lu's account book, frowning as he read.

However, despite his serious expression, the seriousness on his still childlike face made him look rather strange no matter how one looked at him.

This young man was the mysterious dean of the Academy of Natural Studies, and in another identity, he was Li Chengqian, who had just been appointed as the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty by Emperor Li Er.

Zhao Chen's lips twitched hard; he never expected that the long-awaited dean of the Academy of Natural Studies would be Li Chengqian. This was too absurd!

Although having the Crown Prince as the dean of the Academy of Natural Studies seemed to be a matter of great prestige, the problem was that Zhao Chen, looking through the window at Li Chengqian's still very young face, trying to look serious, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Li Chengqian is still a little kid!

It turned out that they had been led by a little kid all this time!

Inside the room, Li Chengqian was diligently reviewing the Academy of Natural Studies' account book for the past period, fully demonstrating his role as the head of the academy, being conscientious and striving for perfection.

Whenever he didn't understand something, he would humbly ask Hu Lu for advice, and if he felt something was excessive, such as a large expense, he would immediately frown.

Hu Lu had already noticed Zhao Chen outside the window. Taking advantage of Li Chengqian's moment of concentration on the account book, he secretly gave Zhao Chen a bitter smile, indicating that he hadn't handed over the account book voluntarily.

Seeing this, Zhao Chen smiled indifferently. The account book was prepared for this mysterious dean, and now that the dean had appeared and was so focused on it, he couldn't blame him for being harsh!

With this thought, Zhao Chen suddenly coughed lightly at the door, pushed it open, and walked in leisurely.

"The Emperor has already said that no one can leave their post without permission!" After a brief greeting, Li Chengqian immediately frowned and questioned Zhao Chen, "Why did you leave your post without permission, Dean Zhao?"

Hearing Li Chengqian's words, Hu Lu sighed inwardly. He realized that the Crown Prince had come to the Academy of Natural Studies this morning to establish his authority. Ever since he entered the academy, there had been no peace.

Three unfortunate souls had already fallen victim, and now the Crown Prince had set his sights on Zhao Chen. However, Hu Lu felt that while the previous three couldn't do much against the Crown Prince, this one wasn't someone the Crown Prince could easily dismiss with a few words.

Thinking this, Hu Lu looked at Zhao Chen with earnest eyes, as if entrusting him with the task of saving the world.

"Why does His Highness say such things?" Indeed, upon hearing Li Chengqian's words, Zhao Chen's face immediately changed, and he asked in confusion, "I haven't even had breakfast this early morning, and I've been running around for the future of the Academy of Natural Studies. How could it be seen as leaving my post without permission in the eyes of His Highness?"

Lying through his teeth! Hearing Zhao Chen's words, Hu Lu's eyes widened in surprise, and he stared at Zhao Chen, thinking, "Brother, the Crown Prince has been here for a while. Are you rubbing sand in his eyes?"

Li Chengqian's eyes also widened, and his mouth opened as if to refute, but before he could speak, Zhao Chen continued, "Did you see that you were reviewing those account books just now?"

Li Chengqian nodded, and Zhao Chen continued, "Did you notice anything wrong with the account books?"

"I saw a few places that didn't make sense!" Li Chengqian, upon hearing this, looked down at the account book and prepared to point out the places he had found unreasonable.

However, before he could do so, Zhao Chen preemptively said, "Your Highness is right; there are indeed several places in this account book that don't make sense. But in my opinion, not just a few places, but the entire book is unreasonable!"

Upon hearing Zhao Chen's words, Hu Lu's face immediately turned pale. The account book of the Academy of Natural Studies had always been under his care and responsibility. If the entire book was unreasonable, the responsibility would fall entirely on him.

"I only saw a few places!" Li Chengqian, upon hearing this, frowned and immediately picked up the account book, flipping through it from the beginning.

"Did you not notice that this account book only records expenses and not income from start to finish?" Zhao Chen, watching Li Chengqian flip through the book, smiled slightly and asked.

"This... I haven't noticed that!" Li Chengqian, upon hearing this, looked somewhat embarrassed, flipped through the book, and indeed found, as Zhao Chen said, that there were only records of expenses and no records of income.

"Your Highness, that's why I said this account book is fundamentally unreasonable!" Zhao Chen suddenly sighed deeply and then looked at Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness should also know that our Academy of Natural Studies has just been established. We don't even have public land, and when I and Cheng Chumu went to the Ministry of Works to ask for money, we almost got beaten out!"

Seeing Li Chengqian's mouth open wide in surprise, Zhao Chen's face became even more aggrieved, "Does Your Highness know what the Academy of Natural Studies was like at the beginning?"

Li Chengqian's face turned red, and he shook his head vigorously at Zhao Chen.

"A pile of weeds and a thatched hut!" Zhao Chen looked at Li Chengqian and said, "No money, no food. In the end, it was Cheng Chumu who had to swallow his pride and beg Changsun Chong, Li Jingheng, and others for money, and only then did we manage to build the Academy of Natural Studies. To this day, we still owe them money!"

Beside him, Hu Lu's eyes widened, and his mouth twitched as if he had epilepsy, his face full of disbelief.

At the beginning, he was the first to arrive at the Academy of Natural Studies, even earlier than Zhao Chen. Indeed, as Zhao Chen said, the Academy of Natural Studies was a pile of weeds and a thatched hut, but to say that Cheng Chumu had to beg people was an exaggeration.

Who was the one standing at the door, coldly collecting money from everyone, not letting them into the Academy of Natural Studies if they didn't pay? Now, how did it become that Cheng Chumu had begged people for money?

"Your Highness asked me why I left my post without permission, right?" Zhao Chen looked at Li Chengqian, whose face was already red, and asked.

Seeing Li Chengqian's stammering, Zhao Chen didn't wait for him to speak and continued, "To be honest, I was just out raising money! The festival is coming up, but the Academy of Natural Studies has no money at all. Even if Cheng Chumu and the others can understand the difficulties of the Academy of Natural Studies and don't need benefits, what about the people below?"

Zhao Chen suddenly turned to Hu Lu and asked, "Brother Hu, you have a family to support. Don't you need to buy things for your family during the festival?"

Hu Lu looked at Zhao Chen and nodded vigorously. His view of Zhao Chen suddenly changed. Look at this, a dean! Distributing benefits during the festival, he did it quietly, and even he didn't know. He had misunderstood, thinking that the dean was slacking off, but it turned out he was raising money!

"Your Highness heard that, right!" Zhao Chen was satisfied with Hu Lu's response, gave him an approving look, and then continued, "There are many people like Hu Lu in the Academy of Natural Studies. We don't have public land, so we can't let them go hungry during the festival, can we?"

"Also!" Zhao Chen didn't give Li Chengqian a chance to speak and continued, "Even after the festival, even if the Academy of Natural Studies gets public land, it won't be until next autumn before we have a harvest. What about the time in between? Should everyone in the Academy of Natural Studies go hungry?"

"How much money is needed?" Li Chengqian's forehead was already sweating. He hadn't set up his own household yet, and the affairs of the Eastern Palace were still managed by Changsun. He didn't understand these things at all.

Today, he had come to the Academy of Natural Studies on a whim, wanting to experience the role of a manager. Who knew that he would actually encounter a big hole that needed to be filled.

"Brother Hu, please calculate it for His Highness!" Zhao Chen, upon hearing this, turned to Hu Lu, who was already as stunned as Li Chengqian, and said expressionlessly.

Seeing Hu Lu come to his senses and run to get the abacus to calculate, Zhao Chen went to make himself a cup of hot tea, sipping it while secretly observing Li Chengqian's expression.

Little kid, I can't do anything about your father because he's ruthless, but you're just a little kid. Can't I handle you?

Hu Lu calculated quickly and soon had the future income and expenses of the Academy of Natural Studies all figured out. Li Chengqian, seeing the large sum of money Hu Lu had just calculated, turned pale and looked pitifully at Zhao Chen, saying, "So much money, I can't come up with it!"

"Your Highness, you are the dean of the Academy of Natural Studies!" Zhao Chen, looking at the worried Li Chengqian, said earnestly, "You can't just watch as the people under you starve to death, can you?"

"But I really can't come up with that much money!" Li Chengqian, with a pained expression, looked pitifully at Zhao Chen and said repeatedly, "Mother can't provide the money, and I don't dare to ask Father!"

Seeing Li Chengqian on the verge of tears, Zhao Chen immediately felt a sense of satisfaction. After all, he was the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, the future heir to the empire, and he couldn't be too harsh.

So, he paused for a moment and said to Li Chengqian, "Actually, it's not a problem if Your Highness doesn't have the money!"

Upon hearing Zhao Chen's words, Li Chengqian, who had been worried, immediately looked up hopefully and asked, "Does Dean Zhao have a way to make money?"

"Yes!" Zhao Chen, smiling, said to Li Chengqian, "Your Highness, think about it. What is the Academy of Natural Studies for? A little bit of money, as long as we use our brains a bit, we can earn it back!"

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