The atmosphere froze, and the noise at the table abruptly stopped.

Xu An clenched his fists and glared angrily at Su Ye.

Su Ye glared at Xu An for a moment, then quickly regained his slightly tipsy smile and said, "If you think what I just said was a disparagement of your father, young marquis, I have no argument with you, because I was just telling the truth!"

"Young Prime Minister asked me why? Now I'll tell you why I'm so confident!"

Su Ye helped Xiao Luomu up and said, "Xiao Luomu, my brother Xiao! His family are wealthy merchants in Qingdong City. Although they are not the richest, their cosmetics, powders, and rouge are sold not only in Qingdong City, but also in the entire eastern part of Jing Kingdom!"

With that, Su Ye patted his chest and said, "I have reached an agreement with Brother Xiao. From now on, all my soap business in the eastern part of Jingguo will be handed over to Brother Xiao!"

Su Ye said smugly, "I don't have a father, what you said, young marquis, is true, I don't blame you. But I still have my uncles and my eldest uncle, and I have my own abilities! As long as the soap's sales channels are established in eastern Jingguo, I will be the richest person in the Su family besides my uncle, and probably among the top in the entire Yanchuan City. Do you think I can help you guys fly high?!"

"Look at you guys, what can you do besides eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring? So was I wrong? You need a boss to lead you to riches!!"

To be honest, if they hadn't come with a specific purpose, Zhao Cheng and the others would have thought that Su Ye's words made perfect sense.

What's the point of you all just eating and drinking all day?

Let's see who has the most style!

It's a competition to see who can pick up the prettiest girl!

Does it make sense?

We need to get some real work done!

Zhao Cheng was stunned. So Xiao Luomu's family was a cosmetics tycoon!

But what surprised him even more was not that, but...

Soap!!!

After transmigrating to Yanchuan, this was the first thing Zhao Cheng created. It sold like hotcakes in high society. It was Zhao Cheng who controlled production and regulated prices, preventing the price and market of soap from going crazy.

However, because Zhao Cheng didn't have enough trustworthy people and was also developing other businesses at the same time, he never increased the production of soap. He just let it be sold outwards from Yanchuan, and even the amount given to Changsui was small.

At that time, people came to the Changsui Palace to see the soap seller, but Zhao Cheng refused to reveal his identity and did not show up.

But now he suddenly heard Su Ye say that he was going to hand over the entire soap business in eastern Jingguo to Xiao Luomu!

He's going to give it to Xiao Luomu?

Zhao Cheng was both annoyed and amused!

Soap is the business that made my fortune!

Who do you think you are?

Zhao Chengqiang suppressed his anger and asked, "So the soap business belongs to Young Master Su? My apologies for not recognizing you!"

"In the past, only a portion belonged to the Su family, but after years of management by this young master, basically all the newly produced soaps in Yanchuan are mine!"

"But the eastern part of Jing Kingdom is so large, is Young Master Su really sure he can handle it all?" Zhao Cheng probed further.

"It's alright. Before long, not only will the eastern part of Jing Kingdom be under our control, but the entire Jing Kingdom will be no problem!"

Seeing Su Ye's confident demeanor, Zhao Cheng's heart sank, and he suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Young Prime Minister, please help me well, and I won't treat you unfairly!"

Su Ye picked up his wine glass and said seriously, "Now that I've become one of the Four Young Masters of Yanchuan, I plan to hold a grand investiture ceremony. I'll invite all the young masters and business elites from Yanchuan to come, which will also help build momentum for our future business!"

"Young Prime Minister, the plaques of your Elegant Manor were inscribed by Jin Yong and Mr. Pu, so you must have a good relationship with them. I hope you can invite them all to my investiture ceremony to show your support!"

Su Ye patted Zhao Cheng on the shoulder, just like an older brother would to a younger brother, and said, "From now on, we're brothers. If I have face, you have face. If this is done well, I'll give you a share of the profits from the soap business!"

Zhao Cheng felt increasingly uneasy, to the point that Su Ye's subsequent words to him seemed to be ringing in his ears.

He got up, kicked the chair, and turned to leave.

Everyone was stunned.

"Hmph, ungrateful!" Su Ye sneered.

Xu An watched Zhao Cheng's retreating figure and muttered to himself, "Who said I have the worst temper? Your temper is even uglier than mine!"

...

Dongji Trading Company.

Inside the hall, the merchant lord, Dong Shier, sat in the main seat, with a fat man in brocade robes kneeling in front of him. On either side stood four guards in plain clothes, two of whom held blunt knives.

The blade's edge was chilling!

The fat man hung his head, large beads of sweat streaming down his chin, and his clothes were torn in several places, revealing scarlet wounds.

Zhao Cheng and Zhao Wu, on the other side of the screen, listened to the fat man's explanation and learned the whole story.

Dong Shier had been dismissed from the imperial guards and was originally from Yanchuan, so he had always maintained contact with Zhao Huan and his son. After Zhao Cheng invented soap, he had Dong Shier set up this trading company to sell cosmetics, including the soap.

Zhao Cheng trusted Dong Shier implicitly, knowing his loyalty was beyond question, but Dong Shier's ability to manage a business was indeed questionable, so Zhao Cheng would often secretly come over to offer advice.

However, in order to conceal his identity, Zhao Cheng did not come very often. He was a hands-off manager, and Dong Shier was almost the same, which allowed the fat shop assistant to take advantage of the situation.

The fat man's name was Liu Song, and he was deeply trusted by Dong Shier.

Originally, Zhao Cheng told Dong Shier about the sales plan, and Dong Shier then told Liu Song. In recent years, Liu Song has implemented it well, consistently selling 40% of the soap production to the Su family in accordance with regulations.

However, he couldn't resist Su Ye's frequent bribes and gradually increased the amount he gave to the Su family, until now he has given almost all of it to Su Ye.

This wasn't what angered Zhao Cheng the most. The reason he was in a hurry to leave was because he was worried that the soap-making method would be leaked. Otherwise, Su Ye wouldn't have been so confident in her words at the banquet.

Sure enough, Liu Song had reached an agreement with Su Ye. He would find an opportunity to steal the soap-making method, and then Su Ye would give him more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes, so he could retire happily.

Zhao Cheng became increasingly alarmed. If it weren't for Chen Feier's involvement in getting close to Su Ye, he would still be completely in the dark!

They didn't even realize they'd been sold out!

The business has expanded too much, and there are too few people who can be trusted and relied upon...

Zhao Cheng has uttered this sigh more than once.

"Master, what should we do with Liu Song?"

Liu Song couldn't withstand the severe torture. The matter was already clear, and Zhao Wu approached Zhao Cheng to ask him questions.

Suppressing his anger, Zhao Cheng said, "Take away all his property, drive him out of Yanchuan, and make his family beg elsewhere!"

"yes!"

Zhao Wu went outside and whispered something to Dong Shier. Liu Song secretly looked up, saw Zhao Wu, and was stunned for a moment before asking, "You...you're from the Right Prime Minister's residence?"

"Enough with the talk!"

Dong Shier waved his hand and shouted, "Take him away!"

Liu Song was taken away by four guards. Zhao Cheng had just stepped out from behind the screen when he heard a scream from outside.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Taozhi walked in, holding a thin sword, with blood slowly flowing down the tip of the sword.

Zhao Cheng asked, "Sister, did you kill him?"

Yang Taozhi said coldly, "They've all recognized Zhao Wu. Why not kill him? Keep him around for the New Year?"