Su Xinping's face turned bright red, but he remained silent.
It wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but rather that he simply couldn't think of anything to say, and he was so excited that his limbs were trembling, his mouth was shaking, and he couldn't utter a word!
That bastard... damn it!
It was originally just a small matter of owing money, but Jing Zhe managed to escalate it to the level of rebellion!
He was already starting to regret it; he should have returned the thousand taels of silver yesterday, otherwise he would have ended up with four thousand taels more!
"The persimmon's silence means it agrees?"
Jing Zhe always believed in striking a fallen dog while it was down and taking advantage of its weakness, so he had no pity for Su Xinping.
"When...when did I agree to that? You're talking complete nonsense!"
Su Xinping stubbornly refused to back down.
"It's written clearly in black and white, how could it be fake?"
"..."
Su Xinping wanted to say a few more words in rebuttal, but after opening his mouth, he ultimately didn't say anything.
Now that things have come to this, he understands that Emperor An is also on Jing Zhe's side, and with the account book in hand, he can't renege on his debts. The matter is already settled, and saying more would only make more mistakes, so it's better to say nothing.
Five thousand taels... While that's not a small amount—it's not just a small amount, it's fucking a lot!
Since meeting Jing Zhe, how much silver has he spent in total? Another five thousand taels…
I feel like my heart is bleeding.
He glared at Jing Zhe fiercely, but said nothing.
Go ahead and take it, but I'm afraid you won't live to enjoy it!
When I return to Jinxi and my father succeeds, all this silver will be mine, not a penny less!
After some self-consolation, Su Xinping finally felt better.
"President Jing, something's fishy about this!"
At this moment, Xiang Wang Su Mowu, who never spoke, suddenly stood up. Logically speaking, he and Su Xinping had already fallen out, so he shouldn't have spoken up for him. Therefore, Su Xinping was somewhat moved.
"Oh? What's strange, Your Highness?"
"Everyone should have no doubt that the Prince of Jin's heir is in debt, but even if he eats at Wenxiangju every day, can he really afford to eat five thousand taels of silver worth of food?"
"..."
Su Xinping was overjoyed after hearing this.
He was so caught up in the moment that he didn't even think of refuting Jing Zhe from this angle!
Looking at Su Mowu, she was even more moved!
This was, in retrospect, Su Mowu's first direct confrontation with Jing Zhe. He wasn't doing it to help Su Xinping—since the last time, he had completely given up on Su Xinping and was prepared to let him fend for himself.
He did this to make a statement.
Among the Xiang King's camp, Bai Qingyuan was the most trusted confidant, followed by Song Baiyun, Wu Xianyong, and others. Now that Wu Xianyong has been completely eliminated by Jing Zhe, and Bai Qingyuan has been repeatedly attacked by Jing Zhe, if he doesn't come out and make a statement and confront Jing Zhe, who will be willing to follow him in the future?
"Your Highness is right, a meal certainly cannot cost five thousand taels!"
But then he changed the subject: "However, if you want to drink strong liquor, that's fine! A jar of strong liquor costs five taels of silver, so a thousand jars would be five thousand taels!"
"hehe…"
Su Mowu chuckled twice: "President Jing, this strong liquor has only been around for a little over half a month. How much alcohol can the Prince of Jin's heir drink? Can he really drink a thousand jars? If the Prince of Jin's heir can drink that much, then when foreign tribes come to pay tribute in the future, we can just send the Prince of Jin's heir alone, and he can drink those barbarians under the table. What do you all think?"
"Ha ha…"
After all, he was the Prince of Xiang, so everyone gave him face and smiled. However, just as he said, everyone was equally puzzled about Su Xinping owing five thousand taels of silver.
"Your Highness, even if it's a hundred jars of strong liquor, let alone a thousand jars, it would take a long time for one person to finish it! However, the Prince of Jin's heir has bought more than just one person to drink!"
"Nonsense! If I don't drink it myself, who else would I give it to?"
Su Xinping roared.
"Send them away, or perhaps, send them back to the Jin Prince's Mansion in Jinxi?"
Jing Zhe glanced at him, then looked at Su Xinping and asked, "Persimmon, did you take some strong liquor from Wenxiangju, put it on a carriage, and transport it back to Jinxi?"
Hearing this, Su Xinping felt a chill run down his spine.
A few days ago, he had already planned to plead with Emperor An to allow him to return to Jinxi. He had taken dozens of jars of strong liquor from Wenxiangju in advance, along with the luggage he had brought when he moved from the East Palace. The whole carriage was full and he transported it back to Jinxi.
Actually, at that time he had already taken over the distillery with Zhang Xuehou. The reason he didn't get the liquor from his own distillery was firstly because the taste of their liquor was indeed not as good as Zhang Xuexian's, and secondly because he wanted to get a bargain, since getting it from Wenxiangju was free...
But who could have known that he would be caught red-handed by Jing Zhe because of this small gain!
Just as Su Xinping was considering whether to deny it, Jing Zhe said again, "When Shizi took the strong liquor from Wenxiangju, not only did the staff at Wenxiangju know about it, but many passersby on the street also saw it. If Your Highness Xiang doesn't believe it, just send someone to ask!"
"..."
Su Xinping was somewhat frustrated.
Everyone knew that Wenxiangju belonged to Jing Zhe, and the staff were his cronies, so naturally they spoke on his behalf. And he had indeed taken strong liquor that day; the people on the street had seen it…
However, he still retorted, "This young master did take some strong liquor from Wenxiangju, but only a few dozen jars. How could I owe five thousand taels? You're just ripping me off!"
Jing Zhe shrugged, somewhat helplessly, and said, "Shizi's skill in sophistry is admirable, but everyone here isn't stupid. By now, everyone can see who's right and who's wrong! At first, I said I owed five thousand taels, and Shizi said he couldn't afford that much for a meal, never mentioning the liquor. But after I brought it up, he said he didn't take that much. Is it going to wait until the staff at Wenxiangju and the people on the street confirm it before Shizi says that person wasn't you?"
Jing Zhe's words were reasonable and well-founded, and at this point, everyone began to believe him. Even Su Mowu, who had "helped" Su Xinping, had a dark expression on his face and glared fiercely at Su Xinping.
That good-for-nothing bastard!
"Does Your Highness, the Prince of Xiang, find my words reasonable?"
"Um, this..."
Su Mowu, who was called out by Jing Zhe, was a little uncomfortable: "What President Jing said... makes sense... I was just curious just now, but after hearing what you said, I understand. It must be that the Prince of Jin's heir is going to renege on his debt!"
After saying that, Su Mowu glared fiercely at Su Xinping again, then retreated.
Su Xinping smiled bitterly to himself.
The little boat of friendship capsized before it even set sail...
Seeing this, Jing Zhe raised his head and straightened his chest.
Emperor An also breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, it was ultimately a close call. He didn't have to get involved, and Su Xinping couldn't return to Jinxi. That was great!
At this point, Jing Zhe asked one last time, "Persimmon, should we send someone to ask the staff and residents of Wenxiangju?"
Su Xinping shook his head, "No need, I, the young master, will accept it. Isn't that enough?"
After saying that, he gave Jing Zhe a sinister look.
————
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