All the men were covered in dust and looked gloomy.
“Master, there is no saltpeter in the east of the city.”
“Eastern neighbor, there is no saltpeter in the western part of the city.”
“Master, there is no saltpeter in the south of the city.”
“Master, there is no saltpeter in the nearby cities.”
"There is no saltpeter in the nearby county town either."
...
Surprisingly, there was no saltpeter even within three hundred li of the capital.
Someone knocked on the shop door, calling out, "Buying ice? Why aren't you open yet?"
Guan Yingying took a deep breath and asked Wei Bufan, "How much saltpeter is still stockpiled in the warehouse?"
"Where is there any stockpiled goods? We've received a lot of orders these past two days, and people can't buy them. As instructed by the boss, we've raised the price of individual items by 30%, but we still can't meet the demand."
A large order, due tomorrow!
She still can't buy a single pound of saltpeter.
Without saltpeter, making ice in ancient times was just a pipe dream.
Guan Yingying was in a state of utter confusion. She squatted on the ground, holding her head, her mind completely blank.
Wei Bufan and his partner also looked ashen-faced.
The shop assistant couldn't help but complain, "It's not like we're short of buyers. Boss, you're being too greedy and reckless. Why did you sign such a big order?"
Guan Yingying retorted angrily, "Didn't you say I was unparalleled the day after we signed the contract? What's the point of saying that now? Anyone can be a Monday morning quarterback."
The waiter, humiliated by the insults, angrily turned and left, saying, "Fine, I'm an idiot, get out of here."
Wei Bufan was only twenty years old and a failed scholar. He originally disdained doing business, but that day he and his mother were robbed by street bullies in the south of the city, and Guan Yingying helped him.
He was promoted to manager and promised to receive ten taels of silver per month.
Not only that, but she also told him many principles of self-reliance and self-improvement that he had never heard before.
In all his life, he had never met a woman so generous and knowledgeable.
She needs him to be the manager, so he should be. He can help her get the shop up and running, and then focus on preparing for the next imperial examination to achieve official rank and be able to help her in the future.
Seeing that Yingying was already flustered, Wei Bufan said, "Miss Tu, I've been thinking about something. You signed the contract that day, and the next day, you couldn't buy saltpeter anywhere in the city, or even within hundreds of miles. Isn't that too strange? Are the two things related?"
Guan Yingying has been so focused on finding saltpeter these past two days that she hasn't really thought about this possibility.
It's not her fault; she had never run a business in the 21st century and had never experienced any major ups and downs. The cutthroat world of business has always been a battlefield without gunpowder, yet it is incredibly cruel.
The ancients had a backward economy and backward systems, but they were not backward in intelligence.
This Ni Keng must be related to the disappearance of the saltpeter. Maybe he bought it all up and hid it, which caused her to breach the contract.
In other words, Ni Keng came for the breach of contract penalty from the very beginning.
Gu Chengyan also entered her shop through the back door at this moment, his face pale.
There is no saltpeter in the entire city, nor within a radius of three hundred miles. This is definitely a setup.
He wasn't present when Guan Yingying signed the contract. It wasn't until three days after the contract was signed that he learned he couldn't buy saltpeter anymore.
The order was too large, and the compensation was too high. He never imagined that someone would forgo such a lucrative profit and instead cut off his own resources to pocket the compensation payments.
These past two days, he's been asking Zhang Qing, the steward of the manor, to help him inquire in the surrounding cities where there is saltpeter.
Zhang Qing knew nothing about his relationship with Guan Yingying, nor did he know why the young master wanted to buy saltpeter. Seeing the young master's extreme anxiety, he didn't say a word, but instead found a few people in the manor and rode to various cities to inquire.
No saltpeter!
There was no saltpeter anywhere!
Guan Yingying was trembling with anxiety. She said to Gu Chengyan, "We must report to His Highness the Crown Prince. He can make the other party cancel the contract with just one word."
Gu Chengyan firmly objected: "If he finds out that we signed such a foolish order and incurred such a huge debt, he will never trust me again."
“But if we don’t tell him, we’ll only have to pay 300,000 taels of silver!” Guan Yingying said desperately. “Chengyan, 300,000 taels of silver? Our lives aren’t even worth that much.”
"I'll think of something else. Don't go looking for him."
What can you do?
Gu Chengyan stood by the window, looking at the dark street outside, as if he couldn't see the road ahead. After a long while, he said slowly, "Yingying, don't worry about it."
The sudden surge of murderous intent emanating from him startled Guan Yingying.
"Chengyan, don't do anything foolish." She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. "We can just pay compensation. I don't believe they can keep the saltpeter hidden forever. They'll definitely spit it out eventually. When that happens, we'll catch them red-handed. I'll continue making ice and selling it at a high price. We'll make the money back very quickly."
Gu Chengyan was going to arrange the assassination for tomorrow. He wanted to stop Ni Keng and the person picking up the goods on the way. If they were stopped for a day, the contract would be voided because they had not picked up the goods on time.
If all else fails, kill him.
Guan Yingying grabbed him, crying, "Chengyan, if he's deliberately trying to collect the breach of contract penalty, you won't be able to find him. If you kill him, your whole life will be over."
That Ni Keng is no ordinary person; he can spend 30,000 taels of silver in one go. He might just be from one of the four great families or some other powerful family.
Money can be earned slowly, but if someone is killed, even Grand Secretary Gu cannot protect him.
"I miss you..."
Her hand was already inside his clothes.
Gu Chengyan is in a bad mood right now, he has no mind to do this!
But Guan Yingying said through tears, "I want it."
Gu Chengyan was panicked. Why was she crying?
"Yingying, don't cry, don't overthink things, I'll handle everything..."
Perhaps it was mutual worry and a search for security that drove them to dispel their fears through their entanglement; they became intensely entangled with each other.
Everything on the table was swept to the floor, and not all of their clothes were removed.
They tangled together again and again, their sweat mixing together, indistinguishable from one another.
until--
"Hmm~"
A strange sound came from outside the window, and the two of them froze. Gu Chengyan then blew out the candle with a "poof".
A dark figure stumbled and fell by the window, followed by the sound of unsteady footsteps running away.
It's Wei Bufan!
He ran awkwardly with a strange, duck-like gait, overwhelmed with shame, and ran back to his room.
Guan Yingying thought of Wei Bufan's handsome face and suddenly found it very interesting.
Peeking into their little theater, the person there was probably even more shy and awkward than she was.
These simple ancient people!
She wasn't ashamed, but that initial bravado was gone. The sense of superiority she felt in front of the ancients inexplicably lessened her fear.
After dressing him, she helped Gu Chengyan put on his clothes.
"Chengyan, there are no secrets in this world. Once something is done, there will be traces. You can't kill anyone. Shall we go and beg the Crown Prince?"
Gu Chengyan shook his head: "Yingying, you don't understand. The Crown Prince will take all the benefits, but he'll wash his hands of this kind of thing cleanly. You must stay away from the royal family, otherwise, I can't protect you, and I can't protect the Marquis's mansion either."
Speaking of the Marquis's mansion, he suddenly thought of his third uncle. Oh right, how could he have forgotten his third uncle!
"Yingying, I'm going to ask my third uncle for help."
Upon hearing this, Guan Yingying exclaimed, "That's right! The Marquis's mansion has a Grand Secretary Gu, such a high-ranking official. He could kill Ni Keng with just a word."
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