Jing Zhe listened outside and thought to himself that although he had never met this Prince Yu, he was definitely not a good person and was probably not much different from Su Xinping!
"However, Your Highness is mistaken this time. Young Master Yu was not imprisoned for harassing a lady!"
"Oh? Why is that?"
The crown prince of Yu asked curiously.
"I heard that Yu Haixing went to Jingzhou and offended an official named Jing Zhe—apparently a fifth-rank official and the head of the Da'an Daily. Somehow, Governor Yu found out about it after he returned and imprisoned him!"
Judging from what this person said, he was clearly not familiar with Jing Zhe.
Then the man continued, "It's strange, he's just a lowly fifth-rank official. Let alone Young Master Yu's uncle, the Duke of Protectorate, even his father, Governor Yu, wouldn't be afraid of a mere fifth-rank official!"
"Later I tried to find out more, but there were very few people from Ruzhou who went to Jingzhou. I only heard that this Jing Zhe was the son of Jing Wenmao, the former Minister of Revenue, and then it dawned on me. Perhaps when Jing Wenmao was an official in Jingzhou, he had a past relationship with the Yu family, which is why Governor Yu acted this way! But thinking about it, that Jing Zhe is only an eighteen-year-old boy, yet he is already a fifth-rank official. He is indeed quite remarkable!"
"Pah! Impressive my foot!"
The Crown Prince of Yu spat, "If it weren't for His Majesty's protection back then, my royal uncle would have wiped out their entire family long ago! Now he's just a lowly fifth-rank official, and he's already acting all high and mighty? He's only in Jingzhou. If he were in Ruzhou, I would definitely teach him a lesson! What a piece of trash!"
"Yes, yes, what is that!"
"That's right, how can he compare to the Crown Prince?"
"With the Crown Prince around, he certainly wouldn't dare come to Ruzhou!"
"..."
Next, another group of people frantically flattered him, while Jing Zhe, standing outside the door, frowned.
Then, the Crown Prince of Yu asked, "Master Qu, how is business at the cloth shop these days?"
"Thanks to the Crown Prince, the cloth shop is doing very well right now!"
A slightly rough voice rang out: "The cotton-padded clothes that the people in the city wear now are all produced by our Qu Family Cloth Shop. Although the Zhou Family Cloth Shop also makes cotton-padded clothes now, and the styles and quality are better than ours, their prices are three times that of ours, so they can't sell them at all!"
I sent people to inquire, and now the Zhou family's cloth workshop warehouse is completely filled with unsold cotton-padded clothes and cotton. This huge backlog of goods is affecting the Zhou family's other business; currently, apart from Huanhua Jade Brocade, nothing else is selling!
"That's perfect! Just as I expected!"
Upon hearing this, the crown prince of Yu burst into laughter.
“My uncle told me back then that, apart from Jinxi, no other city in Anguo could produce cotton. As the largest cloth workshop in Anguo, Zhou Family Cloth Workshop had everything, from coarse cloth and silk to fine brocade, but it lacked cotton clothing. They definitely wanted to get into this field.”
"The Imperial Uncle saw right through them and deliberately raised the price to sell the cotton to them. The Zhou family basically tied up all their working capital for this cotton and hired so many people to work as fast as they could to finally make the cotton-padded clothes."
As soon as the Crown Prince of Yu finished speaking, the owner of the Qu family, who had spoken earlier, chimed in with a smile: "But they never dreamed that after spending so much manpower and resources to finally make the cotton-padded clothes, before they could even sell them, our Qu family cloth shop sold them first, and at more than twice the price of their cotton-padded clothes!"
Another person chimed in, "The Zhou family is in a bit of a bind right now. All their funds are tied up in cotton-padded clothing. Every day they keep these clothes in stock, they lose money. Moreover, the cotton-padded clothing is severely squeezing out the market for their other products. If this continues, the Zhou family's cloth workshop won't be far from its downfall!"
Master Qu agreed, saying, "Yes, and Zhou Gui is definitely unwilling to lower the price, because they have already spent a lot of money on cotton and so much manpower. If they lower the price, they will lose money!"
"He'll lower his price? Does he dare? Can he afford to pay the compensation?"
The Crown Prince of Yu sneered, "When our royal uncle gave us these cotton-padded coats, the cost price wasn't much. As long as he lowers the price, we'll follow suit and always be cheaper than them. Let's see who buys theirs then."
"Your Highness, you have quite the methods!"
The other two continued to flatter and fawn.
At this moment, the Crown Prince of Yu said again, "However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. If we let the Zhou family rely on us like this, it will take a lot of time, and I don't want to wait!"
So he asked, "Manager Hu, have you made all the arrangements for tomorrow?"
"Your Highness, everything has been arranged!"
"Won't Zhou Ziqiong become suspicious?"
"Don't worry, it won't happen!"
The man said confidently, "The Zhou family is in chaos right now. Although Zhou Ziqiong is capable, she must be panicking. At this moment, she's grasping at straws. She'll seize any opportunity to promote their cotton-padded clothes, no matter what. How could she possibly think about our relationship? She would never dream that after tomorrow, their Zhou family's cloth shop will be completely finished!"
"Okay, okay, okay!"
The Crown Prince of Yu said "Good" three times in a row, and then said, "After the Zhou family's cloth shop falls, I want to see if this number one female merchant of Anguo will still be so strong? Hehe, if she's strong in bed, I won't object, haha!"
"Ha ha…"
"The Crown Prince of Yu is about to enjoy a life of luxury!"
"Then congratulations in advance to Prince Yu for taking over the Zhou family and Zhou Ziqiong soon!"
After saying all that, the Crown Prince of Yu began to give instructions for tomorrow, and finally asked, "By the way, will the people from Wuxian Pavilion be coming tomorrow?"
The shopkeeper said, "Young Master, this is Mu Qingren's first Lantern Festival since she became the head of Wuxian Pavilion. Wuxian Pavilion is also the largest sect in Ruzhou City. I sent out invitations a few days ago. I thought they would refuse as before, but I didn't expect Mu Qingren to agree for the first time. She said she would come with her disciple Wang Yingqiu tomorrow."
"Mu Qingren is coming..."
King Yu pondered for a moment, then asked worriedly, "She's here. Will there be any problems?"
Shopkeeper Hu laughed and said, "Young Master, don't worry! Wuxian Pavilion has never interfered in worldly affairs. Besides, we have signed an agreement with the Zhou family, and Zhou Ziqiong herself has agreed. Even if Zhou Ziqiong loses everything tomorrow, she will have to accept it. Even the people from Wuxian Pavilion can't say anything!"
"I hope so..."
After finishing his sentence, the Crown Prince of Yu added wistfully, "However, Mu Qingren and her apprentice are no less capable than Zhou Ziqiong. If only we could recruit them as well..."
"..."
————
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