Chapter 21
As the autumn winds began to blow away the last of the summer heat in the capital, they could not dispel the gloomy atmosphere that hung over the major business guilds.
After Prince Tang Pu of the Prince of An's Mansion stood up for "Yun Jian Ge" and intimidated the Jingzhao Prefecture and local thugs, the Second Prince's faction's direct harassment of Cui Yunshu's business empire ceased. However, everyone knew that this was merely the calm before the storm. A more intense and insidious business machinations had quietly begun in the shadows.
Just as Tang Pu had reported, after the Second Prince's trusted advisor, Master Zhang, went south, a silent war broke out in Jiangnan, thousands of miles away.
“Mother, this is the news that Tongyuan Money Shop has compiled today.”
Inside Qing Shu's courtyard, Cui Yun Shu handed a secret report to her mother, Madam Song. Her expression was calm and composed, as if she were discussing something completely unrelated to herself.
Song received the secret report, quickly scanned it, and her expression gradually became serious.
The secret report clearly recorded that, starting half a month ago, a massive, unexplained influx of funds began to flood the raw material market in Jiangnan. Centered on the weaving bureaus of Suzhou and Hangzhou, this capital was purchasing large quantities of top-grade raw silk, Nanjing brocade, and Sichuan brocade at prices 20% to 30% higher than market value. Simultaneously, luxury goods such as Western spices and South China Sea pearls, transported by sea to Quanzhou Port, were also subject to the same frenzied buying spree.
“They’re trying to buy out all our supplies.” There was a chill in Song’s voice. “Not only that, look here.”
She pointed to the end of the secret report: "In the capital, rumors have begun to circulate that 'Jiangnan silk production has decreased due to floods' and 'the South China Sea trade routes are being harassed by pirates.' The price of raw materials on the market is rising three times a day, and people are panicking. This is clearly an attempt to create panic, force us to buy at high prices, or... leave us without rice to cook."
This is indeed a vicious plan to undermine the enemy's foundation.
The "Yunjian Pavilion" industry chain, including desserts, cosmetics, and the upcoming high-end clothing, is extremely reliant on these high-quality raw materials from the south. Once the supply chain is cut off, it will be like having one's throat choked; even if one doesn't die, one will be severely injured.
“Many of the shopkeepers who are familiar with us have sent people to subtly inquire whether we should stockpile goods in advance.” Madam Song frowned. “The Second Prince’s move is almost an open conspiracy. If we don’t follow suit, we can only sit and wait for our doom; but if we do follow suit, we will be throwing a large amount of real money into this bottomless pit that they have maliciously inflated, which is exactly what they want.”
However, to her surprise, Cui Yunshu showed no anxiety at all after hearing these words; instead, she smiled gently.
"Mother, isn't this exactly what I wanted?" She picked up a white chess piece from the chess box and gently placed it on the chessboard, cutting off a piece of the black pieces' territory. "How can the fish willingly take the bait if it doesn't take enough of the bait?"
"You mean..." Song looked into her daughter's unfathomable eyes and a thought struck her.
"Pass down the order," Cui Yunshu's voice was soft, but filled with undeniable decisiveness, "Starting tomorrow, all 'Yunjian Pavilion' branches in the capital will be temporarily closed. The supply of ice cream at the main store will be reduced by 70%. Announce to the public... that there is a shortage of raw materials and it is unsustainable."
"What?!" Madam Song was shocked. "Shu'er, you're... cutting off your own arm! All the hard work we put into creating this exciting situation, won't it all be for nothing? This is also showing weakness to our opponents, which will only make them more arrogant!"
"We need to let them get carried away." Cui Yunshu's lips curled into a sly smile, like a clever little fox. "Mother, what do you think a hungry wolf will do when it thinks it has cornered a sheep?"
"It will... exert all its strength to launch a final attack," Song said thoughtfully.
“That’s right.” Cui Yunshu nodded. “The Second Prince has invested a huge amount of money to stockpile raw materials. His ultimate goal is to sell these raw materials at an astronomical price, not only to make us suffer heavy losses, but also to make a fortune from this high-stakes gamble. What we need to do now is to feign weakness, create the illusion that our cash flow has dried up and our business has suffered setbacks, and lure them… to invest more money, raising the stakes of this gamble to the highest possible level!”
Looking at her daughter, at the composure and confidence on her face that belied her age, Song's worries were gradually replaced by a strange anticipation. She knew that her daughter was about to embark on another momentous and ambitious plan.
For the next ten days or so, the entire business community in the capital was shrouded in a climate of fear and unease.
Just as Cui Yunshu had predicted, the news of "Yunjian Pavilion" closing its branches and reducing supplies was immediately interpreted as a signal of its broken capital chain and inability to sustain operations. The price of raw materials, like a runaway horse, spiraled completely out of control. The price of raw silk soared from ten taels per bolt to thirty taels, yet there was still no market for it.
At the Second Prince's residence, Zhang, the clerk, reported the battle results to Tang Jingming with a radiant face.
"Your Highness, mission accomplished! That Cui family girl is still too inexperienced! We now have over 90% of the top-quality raw materials on the market. The Cui family's shops have already closed down, and those that remain are barely surviving. According to our informants, the Cui family's matriarch, Madam Song, has been frantic these past few days, running around trying to raise funds, but she's been met with setbacks everywhere!"
"Hahaha! Good! Well done!" Tang Jingming swept away his previous gloom and laughed loudly. "I want to see what that 'Ice Princess' will do business with without raw materials! Send down the order to have the people in Jiangnan raise the price again! Tell them that I want the Cui family to... return all the profits they made before, with interest!"
The major trading companies controlled by the Second Prince's cronies began to publicize their stockpiled "sky-high" priced raw materials, creating an atmosphere of "rare commodities available," just waiting for the Cui family, the biggest buyer, to come to them for slaughter.
Throughout the capital, all eyes were on the Cui family. Everyone wanted to know how this once-glorious "Ice Princess" would cope with such a desperate situation.
Is it to humiliatingly bow down, take over at a high price, and try to prolong its existence? Or... to give up and watch helplessly as the business empire it built collapses?
However, just as the Second Prince's faction was confident of victory and preparing to reap the rewards, a piece of news that would shake the entire business community of the capital spread without warning one morning.
"Yun Jian Ge" has reopened!
Not only the main store on Zhuque Avenue, but also all the previously closed branches, all put their signs back on at the same time!
Even more shockingly, a notice at the entrance of "Yun Jian Ge" boldly proclaimed in black ink: "To celebrate our reopening, all our ice cream and tea snacks are 20% off! At the same time, our silk shop 'Jinxiu Fang' is now open, offering all silk fabrics at 10% below market price! Welcome to visit!"
The news caused an uproar throughout the city!
Priced 10% below market value?!
With raw material prices skyrocketing these days, where does "Yunjian Pavilion" get the confidence to offer such a price reduction? Are they crazy?
Countless people flocked there hoping to see a spectacle and get a bargain. However, when they saw the mountains of top-quality silk of all colors being continuously transported out of the "Jinxiufang" warehouse, they were all dumbfounded.
The quality, color, and variety of that silk far surpassed, if not surpassed, those hoarded by the Second Prince's cronies!
At the entrance of the "Yunjian Pavilion" flagship store, the Cui family's manager publicly announced: The Cui family not only has ample raw materials, but is also willing to share the burdens of their business associates in the capital. From this day forward, the Cui family will open its warehouses to all merchants, supplying unlimited quantities of raw silk, spices, and other raw materials at prices 20% lower than the current market price!
"boom--"
If the previous news was like a thunderclap, then this one is a bolt of lightning that could shatter the entire sky!
The market collapsed instantly.
Those merchants who were gloating over their high-priced stockpiling just days before are now ashen-faced. The raw materials they bought at exorbitant prices have, in an instant, become worthless, undesirable commodities!
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" At the Second Prince's residence, Tang Jingming stared at the urgent secret report in his hand, his eyes bloodshot, looking like a madman. "Where did she get so many goods?! Where did she get so much money?!"
Master Zhang, his earlier smugness long gone, slumped to the ground, his face deathly pale, muttering, "A trap...it's a trap...from the very beginning, we...fell into her trap..."
Yes, it's a trap.
Cui Yunshu spent more than a month meticulously weaving a huge trap.
Her so-called "broken cash flow" was nothing more than a smokescreen to lure her enemies into betting everything. Her real killer move had always been hidden in the shadows, in her vast, secret warehouses!
When the Second Prince's cronies thought they had victory in their grasp and turned all their funds into the "sky-high" priced goods in the warehouse, Cui Yunshu suddenly opened her own warehouse and launched a devastating attack on the market with a massive amount of low-priced inventory.
Prices collapsed instantly. The goods that the Second Prince's cronies had hoarded at high prices would have to be sold off at a loss if they wanted to get rid of them. The more they sold, the more they lost. But if they didn't sell, the mountains of goods would generate a bottomless pit of daily storage and maintenance costs, enough to bankrupt them.
They're trapped.
According to the preliminary estimate of the Cui family's accountant, the Second Prince's faction invested no less than three million taels of silver in this commercial battle. After this defeat, at least 70% of that money was lost. They were severely weakened and never recovered!
Cui Yunshu, by selling off the inventory she had hoarded at low prices in her early years, not only shattered the enemy's economic blockade, but also made a fortune in this game, completing the most primitive and bloody accumulation of capital.
[Male protagonist's perspective]
The study of the Prince An's residence.
Tang Pu listened quietly to the report from his personal guard Tie Niu, his face expressionless, but his deep eyes were churning with turbulent emotions.
"...According to reports from our people planted in the Cui family's caravan, the goods the Cui family is using for this counterattack were not recently purchased, but rather...allocated from several secret warehouses located on the outskirts of Beijing. The quantity is enormous, far exceeding market expectations. Some say that Miss Cui the Fourth...seems to have started stockpiling these raw materials at low prices across the country a year ago, or even earlier."
A year ago?
Tang Pu's heart clenched.
A year ago, he was still fighting a bloody battle on the battlefields of the Western Frontier. And at that time, that girl, only twelve years old, had already begun to plot and lay the groundwork for today's earth-shattering commercial counterattack?
How...how is this possible?!
Can a person's foresight and strategy really be so profound?
“Young Prince,” Tie Niu’s voice was also filled with disbelief, “your subordinate…your subordinate has discovered something even stranger. Our men have found that the Cui family’s secret warehouses seem to be…used for storing more than just silk and spices.”
"What do you mean?" Tang Pu frowned.
“Those warehouses were heavily guarded, even more so than the armory of our royal palace. Our men risked their lives to infiltrate one of them and discovered…discovered in the deepest part of the warehouse…” Tie Niu swallowed hard, his voice trembling, “that what was piled up…wasn’t some fine silks and satins, but…mountains of grain, iron ore, and…and a large quantity of dried, top-quality hardwood, perfect for shipbuilding!”
"What did you say?!" Tang Pu stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with shock.
Grain, iron ore, high-quality timber...
Each and every one of these things far exceeds the scope of normal business needs!
These are clearly military strategic materials that are only stockpiled on a large scale during wartime!
Tang Pu felt a chill run down his spine and spread throughout his body.
In his mind, all the scattered, seemingly unrelated fragments about Cui Yunshu were frantically connected by an invisible force at this moment!
That mysterious girl who whispered "Three years later, it will be too late" at the spring banquet...
That "Ice Princess" who astonished everyone at the Emperor's birthday banquet by demonstrating the art of turning water into ice...
The mastermind behind the meticulously planned business scheme of "Cloud Pavilion"...
That "prophet" who could foresee the corruption scandal in the Jiangnan canal transport system and help his elder brother achieve extraordinary merit in the Eastern Palace...
And then there's that ambitious "dreamer" who wanted to build an ocean-going fleet and open up overseas shipping routes...
And now, this "merchant" has stockpiled enough strategic materials in a secret warehouse to support a local war!
A terrifying yet perfectly logical conjecture, like the most frenzied vine, instantly took over his entire brain!
He understood.
He finally understood!
Cui Yunshu... everything she did was not for any "escape plan" at all!
She hoarded money and grain in order to recruit soldiers!
She weaves an intelligence network in order to control the world's affairs!
She built the fleet to open up a second front, to leave herself a way out that she could advance or retreat at any time!
And the "three years later" she mentioned is very likely... the date she and the person behind her have planned to "launch an uprising"!
A terrifying thought came to mind: Was Cui Yunshu... preparing for a war?
Tang Pu's heart trembled violently.
He looked out the window at the area that belonged to the Cui family, his expression extremely complicated.
It turned out that what he thought was "cooperation," what he thought was "testing," was utterly laughable in her eyes. She wasn't some business prodigy who needed his protection; she was clearly... the sharpest, most deeply hidden knife in Crown Prince Tang Jingcheng's hand! The behind-the-scenes chess player, silently preparing everything for that impending "great undertaking"!
A strange feeling, a mixture of shock, admiration, and even... excitement, welled up in his heart.
Instead of feeling angry at being deceived, he felt a sense of relief and excitement at finding kindred spirits and worthy opponents.
It turns out that she and he were kindred spirits.
"Pass down the order," he said to Tie Niu, his voice deep and powerful, "From today onwards, raise the level of surveillance on Miss Cui to the highest level. But... do not interfere with any of her actions. I not only want to know what she did, but I also want to know why she did it."
He wanted to see with his own eyes how she would play this grand, earth-shattering game step by step until the very end.
And it was time for him, Tang Pu of the Prince of An's Mansion, to choose his own position and place his piece.
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