"Your Highness was ordered to oversee the Siamese envoy's visit to pay homage. What brings you here today?"
Shangguan Ming looked bitter. Prime Minister Mu gave him two days to gather 20,000 taels of gold, or else it would delay military operations.
Delaying military intelligence is a capital offense punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family!
Fortunately, the virtuous and benevolent Prince Qi stepped forward in time, expressing his willingness to make up for all the remaining deficiencies.
Such a generous and noble spirit is truly admirable!
The supplement that Prince Qi made up should have been raised by the officials, but now that Prince Qi has generously donated, there's nothing for them to do, so they're naturally happy to praise Prince Qi to the skies.
This effortlessly earned King Qi another wave of goodwill.
As for Shangguan Ming, who contributed the majority of the funds, he was taken for granted and no one paid him any attention.
Xiao Ziwu lowered his eyes apologetically and said, "The matter of the grain supplies in the western border was actually caused by me. It was the trouble caused by my son's submission to the examination that led to the mistaken belief that it was done by you, sir."
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Ming suddenly realized why the amount seemed so familiar; the problem lay there.
"I have already sent men to the southern part of the Gobi Desert to investigate the whereabouts of the Turks who intercepted the grain supplies. Rest assured, sir, we will have results soon."
Several thousand bushels of grain—such a large quantity of food—could not possibly be completely lost.
All the search teams sent by the imperial court returned empty-handed. Xiao Ziwu suspected that there must have been an inside traitor secretly assisting them, otherwise, every time they found some clues, they would be instantly destroyed.
"This matter cannot be blamed on Your Highness." Shangguan Ming shook his head with a wry smile.
If someone genuinely wants to frame him, even without this incident, there will be other reasons.
"I'm just afraid... by the time Your Highness finds out where we are, there won't be many people left in the manor."
Even a god couldn't do that in two days!
Xiao Ziwu said, "My lord, there is no need to worry. I will cover the 20,000 taels of gold myself."
He didn't even flinch when he talked about such a large sum of money.
Shangguan Ming was secretly alarmed and said, "This...this...is putting Your Highness in a very difficult position."
Xiao Ziwu did not want to tell anyone about his control over the previous dynasty's treasury, so he could only change the subject.
"Does Your Excellency know who informed His Majesty about the Hundred Flowers Ranking?"
Shangguan Ming shook his head blankly.
He really couldn't understand this.
Who could a nobody like him have offended to be targeted to this extent?
Xiao Ziwu told the truth, "It was Mu Chengye and Liao Ming."
Yuwen Yi spoke with him last night.
In the imperial court, the two of them exaggerated the profits from the Hundred Flowers Ranking and hand warmers, which made the officials quite critical of Shangguan Ming and strongly urged the matter to be carried out.
Prime Minister Mu and Councilor Liao!
He had never met these two people before, so how could he have offended these two important figures?
Mu Chengye holds a very high position in the court and is the most prominent prime minister in the Great Liang Dynasty! If you offend him, do you have any chance of survival?
Shangguan Ming's legs went weak and he almost slipped off the armchair. "But... but I've never offended either of them."
Tianyun brought in two cups of tea, frowned, and continued, "If I'm not mistaken, it was their doing that my brother was imprisoned earlier."
The fact that they made such a big deal out of using heat packs and medicated plasters in front of the emperor shows that they had always had this kind of thing on their minds.
The brother was tortured in prison to extract the prescription and promise to stop selling the medicine. He also admitted that his own danger was caused by the other party, who wanted the prescription for the hand warmers.
Tianyun said helplessly, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. What they wanted from beginning to end was just the prescription!"
Xiao Ziran smiled slightly and nodded gently as he looked at her.
That's what he was about to talk about, but he didn't expect his little darling to be so clever and guess it before he could even speak.
Tianyun handed a cup of tea to His Highness and then sat down next to him.
"The current situation is very unfavorable to us. If it happens once, it will happen twice, and then it will happen three times. This time it's food and fodder expenses, and next time it will be disaster relief funds. As long as we sell hand warmers, the prejudices of the civil and military officials against us will never be eliminated."
Tianyun sighed softly.
I underestimated the wickedness of human nature.
The youngest daughter is right. As long as this business is in his hands, countless people will covet it.
Shangguan Ming asked anxiously, "What should we do now? Should we stop this business?"
Xiao Ziwu immediately rejected Shangguan Ming's words.
"No, wouldn't that play right into their hands? Besides, they're after the prescription. Even if you stop selling it, they'll come up with even more insidious ways to get you to hand it over."
Tianyun said in a low voice, "Your Highness is right. People are never satisfied. Their endless schemes and tricks are all for obtaining this prescription. How could they possibly give up halfway?"
Shangguan Ming sighed with a bitter face, "Alas..." He had been cautious his whole life, but he never expected that he would still be unable to escape the fate of being murdered.
As expected, some calamities are destined in one's life, and ultimately, there's no escaping them.
"Father, don't look so worried. I have a good idea that will satisfy both of us."
Tianyun moved gracefully behind Master Shangguan and gave him a couple of mock punches.
He then slowly said, "Since the Emperor has already taken notice, and the hand warmer business is in Father's hands, why doesn't Father use this as an opportunity to apply to the Emperor for the title of Imperial Merchant, and register the business under the Emperor's name? Then the profits can be split 30/70 with His Majesty."
"Let the emperor take the lion's share, and we'll just collect a small royalty fee for the invention patent!"
Although we earn less money, at least His Majesty knows the specific amount of profit, so he won't think my father is deceiving him; nor will the officials speculate wildly that our Shangguan family is richer than a country.
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