Chapter 143 No merchant is honest.
In a corner of the carriage, the children had already fallen asleep after eating their snacks.
The cat in Xue Nanzhi's arms was startled by the sudden tension. It meowed and jumped off the car seat, shrinking to the children's feet.
The last trace of a smile vanished from her face, replaced by a completely cold expression. She demanded, "Miss Li, I kindly invited you to ride with me, saving you the trouble of your journey. Yet now you turn against me with a knife. Isn't this repaying kindness with enmity?"
Li Yuanzhao put down his teacup, looked up at her, and said, "Miss Xue, can someone like you, who only thinks about profiting from the national crisis, really be considered kind-hearted?"
Xue Nanzhi's face was so dark it could drip water. She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm just doing business honestly, making money with my own skills. How can I be accused of profiting from the national crisis? Weizhou is short of grain, so I transported grain to sell. Although the price is a bit higher than usual, it's in accordance with market rules. It's better than them starving to death! Is that wrong?"
"Be honest?" A cold sneer flashed across Li Yuanzhao's lips. "You're just a merchant, with neither the right to mint coins nor the power to mine. How come you've become so wealthy in just a few years, monopolizing the grain and silk trade routes from Lingnan to the north?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Nanzhi's face flushed red and then turned pale.
She is a profit-driven businesswoman, and besides, how can one be clean in the business world?
She has certainly done all sorts of things, including bribing officials to facilitate trade routes, suppressing small businesses to seize market share, and even colluding with local forces to inflate prices. She certainly wouldn't dare say that she earned her money "cleanly and honestly."
But she still stubbornly retorted, "What businessman in this world doesn't pursue profit? Whether the money I earn is clean or tainted with the stench of money, it's all part of the Xue family's business. What does it have to do with Miss Li? I haven't stolen your money or interfered with your business, so why do you point fingers at me or even try to take my hand?"
"On what grounds?" Li Yuanzhao leaned back lazily on the cushion, his fingertips lightly tapping his knees, speaking slowly, word by word, "On what grounds you disregard the lives of the disaster victims, on what grounds you want to take advantage of the chaos in Weizhou for your own selfish gain, on what grounds you... dare to try to curry favor with the royal family."
Xue Nanzhi never expected that the person in front of her knew her purpose so clearly.
Who exactly is this person?
Before she could think it through, she was shocked by the undisguised killing intent in Li Yuanzhao's eyes, which made her heart clench and she finally felt a genuine sense of fear.
"You...you want to kill me?!"
Li Yuanzhao retorted, "Shouldn't you, a treacherous merchant who exploits the people and squeezes their wealth, be killed?"
"But there are plenty of corrupt officials in this world!" Xue Nanzhi struggled to argue. "The disaster relief funds they embezzled and the wealth they plundered from the people are hundreds or thousands of times more than the money I earn. Why don't you kill them instead of targeting a merchant like me?"
Li Yuanzhao's gaze fell on Xue Nanzhi's pale face. "They should naturally be killed, but how does that conflict with killing you?"
Despite saying that, Chen Yanqing sensed that Li Yuanzhao did not want to kill Xue Nanzhi.
Because when she wants to kill someone, she is always swift and decisive, never saying much.
But he remained calm and pressed the blade against Xue Nanzhi's neck even closer.
Xue Nanzhi trembled at the cold touch, finally unable to maintain her composure, and asked in a trembling voice, "Who... who are you?"
Li Yuanzhao did not answer, but simply picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.
With a sharp dagger hanging from her neck, Xue Nanzhi's mind raced.
The woman in front of me is definitely in a high position; she even dares to say "kill all corrupt officials" and that she shouldn't get involved in the royal family.
She was an extremely intelligent person. She was able to monopolize the Lingnan trade routes and become the richest woman in the region in her twenties. This was not only due to her shrewdness, but also to her accurate judgment of people's hearts and the situation.
Then, considering the surname "Li," that innate air of nobility, and the understanding of the chaos in Weizhou...
Could it be... that she is...?
At that moment, a thought exploded in her mind like a thunderclap.
Having made her guess, she no longer hesitated. She took Chen Yanqing's dagger, knelt down, and kowtowed deeply to Li Yuanzhao.
This sudden action left Xiaochun and the driver completely bewildered.
One moment our young lady was arguing with the other party, how come she's kneeling and kowtowing the next?
The two men's hands, gripping their weapons, froze in mid-air, completely bewildered by the current situation.
Xue Nanzhi respectfully said, "This humble woman, Xue Nanzhi, greets Your Highness! Just now, I was blind and did not recognize Your Highness's identity. I have been negligent and offensive. Please forgive me!"
Li Yuanzhao looked at Xue Nanzhi kneeling on the ground, without the slightest surprise in his eyes, as if he had already expected her to recognize him.
She spoke slowly, her voice still calm, "You are quite clever."
Xue Nanzhi slowly stood up, but kept her head down, not daring to look Li Yuanzhao in the eye.
The previous sophistry had vanished without a trace, leaving only a deep sense of awe and lingering fear.
Unbeknownst to her, she shared a carriage with the current eldest princess and even dared to boast about her "business acumen" in front of her. The princess even discovered her desire to curry favor with the second prince. Thinking about it now, it's truly chilling.
"This humble woman...this humble woman did not know that you were Your Highness before, and my words were quite offensive. I hope Your Highness will forgive me." She hurriedly tried to make amends, "If Your Highness has any requests, this humble woman will do her best even at the cost of her life."
Chen Yanqing looked at the change before him and understood.
His Highness's reluctance to kill Xue Nanzhi is indeed for the sake of the wealth and business opportunities behind her.
Now that Xue Nanzhi has recognized His Highness's identity and has voluntarily submitted, the next step is to figure out how to utilize her resources to resolve the predicament of Weizhou.
But Li Yuanzhao had no intention of letting her go: "Since you know my identity, you should understand that your attempt to profit from the chaos in Weizhou, or even to curry favor with the prince, is a capital offense."
Xue Nanzhi's heart leaped into her throat, and she hurriedly said, "I know I was wrong! I would never dare to have such a thought again! In Weizhou City, I have three grain shops with nearly a thousand shi of grain stored up. If Your Highness needs it, I am willing to offer it all up, only begging Your Highness to spare my life!"
Seeing that Li Yuanzhao's expression remained indifferent and showed no sign of wavering, Xue Nanzhi gritted her teeth and threw out an even bigger bargaining chip.
"If Your Highness has any other needs, please do not hesitate to give the order! I have several trading posts in Lingnan, which can be used to transport supplies for disaster relief and relieve Weizhou's predicament at any time. I am also familiar with all the trade routes between the north and the south. There is no obstacle that I cannot overcome in the freight channels from Lingnan to the north! As long as Your Highness spares my life, all these resources are at Your Highness's disposal!"
Li Yuanzhao said calmly, "Just now you were reluctant to part with even three shops, but now you're willing to give up your entire fortune. Miss Xue is quite generous."
These words struck a nerve with Xue Nanzhi, and her face flushed, but she could only force a smile.
"Your Highness is too kind. I was short-sighted before, only seeing the small gains in front of me; now, it is my honor to serve Your Highness and share the burdens of the court. What do a little wealth matter?"
She spoke eloquently, but her heart was bleeding.
Those grains and shops represent nearly ten years of her hard work.
But she knew even better that in the face of absolute power, these things were utterly insignificant.
The only way to save their lives now is to completely surrender and hand over all their bargaining chips. Perhaps they can even win a chance for the Xue family to "become a successor to the dragon."
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