Chapter 294 The Fleet Sets Sail Again

Chancellor Zhuge had always been Gao Yuan's idol, and he had often thought about one day being able to summon the Chancellor.

However, after today, Gao Yuan dismissed that idea.

If he did summon him, what would he say to the Chancellor? Could he really say, 'Kongming, although I admire you, I've stolen your wife'?

Even with the system's support, Mister Wolong would likely pack his bags and flee that very day to become his rival.

"Forget it, I won't think about it. Let's just enjoy the wine while we have it!"

Gao Yuan raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp before looking at the girl sitting there quietly.

Although she was already over twenty—which was considered an old maid in this era—in Gao Yuan's eyes, she was still a pure and innocent young woman.

At this moment, Princess Consort Huang Yueying sat by the edge of the bed. Her pretty face was no longer its usual snowy white, but instead showed a faint hint of pink.

"So she knows how to be shy too. I thought she was just an engineering girl who didn't understand anything... Tsk tsk, interesting, very interesting!"

Feeling slightly tipsy, the more Gao Yuan looked at this unique girl, the more he liked her.

This affection grew even stronger when he tilted up her delicate chin and met those eyes that were as brilliant as sapphires.

"Duke... State Duke, I... I..."

The girl felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest, and she desperately wanted to avoid the man's gaze.

But at this moment, she felt her whole body go stiff, unable to make any movement at all.

The corners of Gao Yuan's mouth curled into a wide Nike-swoosh shape, revealing the kind of wicked smile reserved only for protagonists.

"What did you call me?"

"Ah! Hus... Husband..."

"Eh, that's more like it!"

*Gurgle gurgle gurgle...*

Hearing the traitorous growl from her stomach, the girl hurriedly covered her flat belly with her hands, her pretty face instantly flushing red.

Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain as the gurgling sounds continued to ring out.

Gao Yuan let out a smile, scooped her up by the back of her knees, carried her to the dining table, and gently placed her on a stool.

As he lifted the covers from the dishes, the aroma of food accompanied by steam quickly wafted into the girl's nose.

Princess Consort Huang Yueying felt that today was the most embarrassing day of her life.

She hadn't expected herself to actually salivate from hunger on her wedding night, and in front of her husband no less.

Seeing her look like she was about to cry from hunger, Gao Yuan couldn't help but chuckle. He covered his mouth while laughing and placed a morsel of food into her bowl with his chopsticks.

"Quick, try it and see if it suits your taste. If you don't like it, I'll have the cook make something else."

The girl picked up a slice of meat, put it in her mouth, chewed gently, and swallowed slowly.

With a piece of meat in her stomach followed by a sip of hot porridge, Princess Consort Huang Yueying felt her stomach finally become much more comfortable.

With Gao Yuan's patient care, Princess Consort Huang Yueying finally shook off her nervousness, and a smile gradually appeared on her face.

However, she remained a woman of few words; rather than speaking herself, she seemed to prefer watching Gao Yuan talk eloquently.

After a long day of exhaustion, the girl eventually leaned over the dining table and fell asleep.

Gao Yuan gave a helpless smile, carried her to the bed, and called for the maidservants to help remove her jewelry and wedding robes.

Gao Yuan did nothing that night, simply sleeping while holding the girl.

The next day, when the women didn't see any bloodstains on the sheets, their expressions turned somewhat grim.

Gao Yuan quickly explained what had happened the previous night, which left the women looking incredulous.

"I didn't expect you to actually be able to restrain yourself, husband?"

Yang Xin in particular looked as if she had discovered a new continent, sizing Gao Yuan up from top to bottom, left to right, and front to back.

"Exactly, I didn't think you could resist 'devouring' such a great beauty."

Regarding Princess Consort Huang Yueying's appearance, in the entire Great Gan, only Gao Yuan and the Chu family thought she was beautiful; others simply couldn't appreciate it.

Relatively speaking, everyone still felt that the little girl Chu Yue was prettier.

Thinking of Chu Yue, Zhao Xiyao couldn't help but ask,

"By the way, where is that girl Chu Yue? She hasn't visited for a long time. Suddenly not having her chirping around me makes me feel a bit out of sorts."

Yang Xin curled her lip toward Gao Yuan.

"It's all because of him!"

The women all turned their gazes toward Gao Yuan, thinking that perhaps this fellow had done something beastly behind their backs that made the little girl afraid to come.

Gao Yuan raised his hands innocently, defending himself with a look of horror.

"I didn't do anything! Don't go wrongly accusing me!"

The women's eyes clearly said, 'I'll believe you when pigs fly, you wicked big pervert!'

"E-he-he-he..."

Seeing this, Yang Xin, who knew the truth, covered her mouth and laughed so hard she shook, even making a goose-like honking sound. This left Gao Yuan even more speechless, and he hurriedly pulled at her.

"Hurry up and explain for me!"

Seeing that a domestic violence tragedy was about to occur if she didn't explain, Yang Xin finally suppressed her laughter and helped Gao Yuan by explaining,

"Previously, husband forced Yueyue to go to the National Academy to study, even going so far as to have the Imperial Guard escort her there. The little girl had a falling out with him over this and refuses to come to the palace no matter what."

The women suddenly understood, and their gazes toward Gao Yuan finally softened a bit.

Gao Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and complained to Yang Xin,

"I say, Yang Xin, can't you finish what you're saying all at once next time? You almost got me killed!"

Yang Xin rolled her eyes at the man.

"Serves you right. Who told you to have such a bad track record? Otherwise, why would your sisters not believe you?"

Just as all the Powerful Families were building seagoing vessels at full throttle, preparing to join the search for Spice Island and the discovery of the New World, the Nanyue Kingdom's naval fleet, which had been resting for over two months, set sail once again.

The fleet's scale this time reached a hundred Treasure Ships. In addition to seventy heavy Treasure Ships, there were thirty newly launched fast Treasure Ships serving as escorts.

With these fast Treasure Ships, the heavy Treasure Ships no longer needed to be equipped with so many self-defense weapons, allowing them to carry more cargo.

This time they carried a large amount of cloth, tea, and other goods, planning to stop by places like Yaqi and Luzon along the way to see if they could open up markets and scout the path for southward expansion.

The naval soldiers who had gone out to sea last time had now all become officers. Thinking of the generous rewards each person had received last time, they were eager to go.

The new naval recruits were also full of expectations for the future, hoping to return as soon as possible with a full hold of spices and receive generous rewards to let their families live good lives.

With the experience and lessons from the previous voyage, the preparations this time were even more thorough. Cao Xing loaded as much fresh water, high-proof alcohol, soybeans, dried fruit, and dried vegetables as he could.

Based on descriptions from Gao Yuan and Yang Xin, Princess Consort Huang Yueying even equipped each ship with two distilled water collection devices.

When the weather was good, these two distillers could provide a barrel of fresh water for the ship every day. Although it wasn't much, it was still an additional source of supply.

In the third year of the Jian'an era of Great Gan, on the first day of the third month, as the horn sounded in Panyu Port, all the Treasure Ships set sail and left the harbor, quickly disappearing beyond the horizon.

Everyone knew that Gao Yuan was planning to make another fortune before everyone else set out to sea together.

Half of the dozen or so ships of spices brought back previously had already been sold. Because of the large supply, the price of spices on the Great Gan market had dropped by thirty percent.

Even so, the profits were still astonishing. After all, these were consumables and scarce goods; no matter how much the price dropped, it wouldn't go that low.

Therefore, the fleet setting sail again did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm; instead, it gave everyone a greater sense of urgency, as no one wanted to be left behind.