Chapter 78 The situation with the Second Prince progressed rapidly…
Unlike the Second Prince, who quickly summoned his trusted advisors to devise a plan, and then proceeded to calculate ambush locations and arrange manpower, the Fifth Prince, Li Sheng, seemed much more composed.
Instead of engaging in any secret talks in his study, he instead spent his time leisurely enjoying spring outings and flower viewing with a few close friends.
However, no matter how calm and collected he appeared on the surface, he couldn't really do nothing when it came to matters of great importance. To put it bluntly, it was just a matter of holding a secret meeting in a different location.
In a spacious pavilion in the mountains, a pale-faced, refined man was brewing wine. He used a small silver knife to slice two pieces of ginger, neither too thick nor too thin, and then finely shredded them. A small handful of golden ginger shreds was added to the amber-colored wine. He then put down the silver knife and replaced it with wooden tongs, taking a plum from a white porcelain jar and adding it to the wine. Then he waited patiently.
Although it was just a simple matter of brewing wine, the way he performed it exuded an extremely refined and elegant demeanor. This person was Xue Shiqi, the second son of the Xue family and the elder brother of the Fifth Prince's wife.
Sitting opposite him was none other than the Fifth Prince, Li Sheng.
Li Sheng wasn't waiting for him to warm the wine; instead, he was leisurely sipping his fragrant tea. Neither of them spoke, and for a moment, the only sounds in the pavilion were the occasional mountain breeze, birdsong, and the crackling of charcoal.
"What do you think about the situation in Jiangzuo?" Li Sheng finally spoke first.
"Your Highness, would you like to try my wine?" Xue Shiqi invited, as the wine on the small red clay stove began to emit wisps of steam.
Li Sheng waved his hand in refusal: "Li Hui has already set off from Jiangzuo. I suppose Second Brother must be getting restless too, right?" He took another sip of tea, his voice gentle and his expression calm, but a hint of anxiety deep in his eyes betrayed his true emotions.
Seeing that he refused, Xue Shiqi did not insist. He poured himself a cup, smelled it, and sighed with slight regret: "Inferior wine, far inferior to the wine of Jiangzuo."
"The Second Prince has always been impatient. I imagine he's not only restless, but he's probably already mobilized his men, just waiting to give Prince Cheng a surprise on his way."
"He's always so impatient." Li Sheng shook his head slightly, as if blaming his immature brother, completely unaware that he himself wasn't much better.
"But it's good to let him test the waters first. Li Hui managed to wrestle out of that mess in Yunzhou, so he must have some skills. It's good to let Second Brother make a move first, so we can see what they're really made of."
Xue Shiqi nodded: "Your Highness is wise. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; we certainly don't need to rush into action. Moreover..."
He toyed with the wine cup in his hand: "I think what Your Highness should be most wary of is not the Sixth Prince's imminent return to the capital, nor his imminent conferment of the title of Prince, nor even the manpower of the Yunzhou border troops that are beyond the reach of the emperor, but rather—money."
"They say even a clever housewife can't cook without rice, but if she has rice, it's hard to say what she'll end up with." Xue Shiqi's tone carried a dangerous undertone.
Hearing him mention Jiangzuo's wine, the Fifth Prince's eyes darkened further. That was another money bag for Li Hui. Who wouldn't want a piece of the pie in such a lucrative business as salt and wine? Did they not want to? No, they couldn't.
“Over the years, whether it’s snowflake salt or those fine brews, the sixth prince has always refused the Ministry of Revenue’s involvement, citing the difficulty of production and the inability to promote them for the time being. His Majesty has been pouring large sums of money into the Imperial Treasury, thus indulging him. As far as I know, the second prince has intervened more than once, but…” Li Sheng shrugged: “It’s all in vain. The most crucial secret recipe should be held only by the sixth prince himself.”
"His Majesty might have tolerated these assets being temporarily held by the Sixth Prince for the sake of the large sums of money entering the Imperial Treasury, but that may not be the case now." Xue Shiqi looked south and finished the wine he called inferior, feeling its warmth as it went down his throat. "I still prefer the wine from Jiangzuo. What a pity..."
With a soft sigh, Xue Shiqi put on an elegant, perfect, almost fake smile: "Your Highness could perhaps arrange for someone to impeach the Sixth Prince. After all, his large-scale brewing of wine is tantamount to taking grain from the people, and his private expansion of salt production is also an act of competing with the court for profits."
"Will this work? These were all special orders given to him by Father. If we investigate the Sixth Prince now..." That would be tantamount to Father contradicting himself. The Fifth Prince hesitated to say the last part of the sentence.
"Everyone knows the situation in Yunzhou. It's chaotic for a while, then calm, then chaotic again. Those natives are all rebellious by nature. One wave is suppressed, and another rises up. Why is it that only the Sixth Prince can stabilize the situation? Are all the officials in the court less capable than him?"
Your Highness should know that this stability was built on mountains of silver and seas of silver. Previously, His Majesty loosened control over the Sixth Prince's businesses to replenish the imperial treasury, but the profits from these trades have been so enormous that even His Majesty probably didn't expect it. Such huge profits should rightfully be returned to the national treasury; I believe His Majesty understands this.”
Xue Shiqi spoke with an air of concern for the country and its people, but who didn't know that once the refined salt and wine were handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, they would immediately end up in the hands of their powerful families? Whether the national treasury would profit from it was unknown, but those who already controlled the trading channels would certainly profit.
Upon hearing Xue Shiqi's words, Li Sheng's eyes immediately lit up and he clapped his hands in praise: "Shiqi's move to cut off the enemy's supply is absolutely brilliant. The Second Brother has been infiltrating and stealing from the Second Brother for years, but it's nothing compared to Shiqi's one word."
Xue Shiqi smiled and said with a hint of explanation, "It's just that the timing is right now. If this plan had been implemented before the chaos in Yunzhou, it would most likely have failed."
“That’s true. So, all we did on the way here was to get rid of Lao Liu?” Li Sheng’s words carried a hint of regret. He actually really wanted to do something. If he could have dealt with the man halfway through the journey, wouldn’t that have been a perfect solution?
"If Your Highness is interested, you may have a go." Xue Shiqi naturally understood the Fifth Prince's unspoken meaning. Since this person wanted to play, let him have a go.
Although Xue Shiqi didn't think such a crude and mindless act as assassination would succeed, failure would only waste some assassins and wouldn't matter much.
Just as the conversation was about to end, Xue Shiqi suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "I've heard that the Sixth Prince is very fond of the lady he married in Jiangzuo. Perhaps we can make some other arrangements..."
Xue Shiqi whispered something, and Li Sheng nodded repeatedly as he listened.
The more he listened, the more he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Sixth Prince, why didn't you just stay in Jiangzuo and be the Prince of Cheng? Why did you have to stir up this mess... The capital is not so easy to enter, and some positions are not for lowly people to covet."
The undercurrents in the capital began to surge and stir beneath the calm surface with the return of Prince Cheng.
The Prince Cheng's convoy, which had been proceeding at a leisurely pace, was now completely different from when it set out. The largest and most luxurious carriage had been stripped of its superfluous exterior decorations, and the bright, spirited horses pulling it had been replaced with more enduring but plain-looking steeds. Moreover, it was no longer the only one; three more identical large carriages had joined the convoy.
Besides the carriages, all the accompanying supplies and personnel had also been changed, and the group now looked exactly like a caravan heading north.
"How effective will this disguise be?" Xiao Yan asked Qin Ji as she lowered the carriage curtain.
"It will probably only make the first half of our journey less troublesome," Qin Ji admitted frankly.
"Sigh!" Xiao Yan sighed loudly on purpose, propping her chin up with her hand and looking regretful. "I've really gotten myself on the wrong boat."
Upon hearing this, Qin Ji couldn't help but reveal a hint of smugness: "You finally admit that you've boarded my pirate ship."
"Shameless." Xiao Yan rolled her eyes at him and stopped arguing. She took a piece of paper and spread it on the small square table in the carriage, then took out a specially made charcoal pencil: "Since the second half of the journey may be unsettled, let's finish these plans as soon as possible."
The charcoal pencil slid rapidly under her hand as she murmured, "After arriving in the capital, I can finally go all out with my full range of cleansing, skincare, and perfume products. Back in Jiangzuo City, I didn't even have soap or skincare products."
He then asked Qin Ji, "Do you have any large tracts of land suitable for building workshops?"
"Yes, but let's focus on building the glass workshop for the next two years. If you really want to mass-produce the rest, you should do it in Jiangzuo. The various factions in the capital are intertwined, so it's not advisable to make any big moves here," Qin Ji said frankly.
He could ensure the safety of a small, exquisite glass workshop in the capital, but if he were to expand his beauty and skincare production operations, given his current manpower and influence in the capital, he might not be able to protect it.
Xiao Yan paused, her charcoal pencil in hand. "Oh right, I almost forgot this isn't where we live."
Qin Ji reached out and took the charcoal pencil from her hand: "Yan Hui, there's no need to rush business matters. Besides, you're too used to doing everything yourself. There's no way you can finish everything. You should get used to delegating tasks."
After thinking about it, Xiao Yan didn't wait to admit that Qin Ji was right.
Before she transmigrated, she was just a working-class person who had only worked for a few years. Even though she could surpass the ancients of this era in many technical aspects thanks to her years of education and the vast amount of information available in modern times, she lacked experience in personnel management and team leadership, and was still used to doing many things herself.
Although the situation has improved somewhat in the past two years, she has not yet truly mastered the art of managing people.
"You still have too few capable people under you. The ones who can handle things are already in Jiangzuo helping you manage the business. Once you get to the capital, you can use my people temporarily, but you should still build your own team. Not only will you need a team to handle your external business, but you'll also need people for the internal affairs of the Prince's residence and interpersonal relationships with various parties. You'll need to choose the leaders of these people yourself, so that you can have complete control over the team. Rather than hiring, my suggestion is to buy people directly."
Perhaps fearing that Xiao Yan Hui might be uncomfortable with your statement, Qin Ji lingered on her face for a while, trying to decipher her thoughts through her expression.
Seeing his expression, Xiao Yan laughed: "What kind of expression is that? I'm not some moral saint, I won't condemn you just because you mentioned buying people. Besides, the people I buy can eat well, dress warmly, and earn a little money with me. In modern times, being a capitalist's slave isn't much easier." Even though she had been in the world for two or three years, she still spoke with a lot of resentment.
"Yes, you're right." Qin Ji looked at her with such a pained expression about the past, and tried his best to suppress the smile that came over him. He agreed while casually playing with her hand.
"What are you doing? Just talk. Qin Ji, I've noticed you've been particularly handsy lately. What's wrong with you?" Xiao Yan patted the back of his hand lightly with her other hand, and then both of his hands were pulled away.
"Speaking of which, Yan Hui, isn't your birthday coming up soon?" Qin Ji suddenly asked, feeling the soft and warm skin in his palm.
"There's still more than a month left. Why did you suddenly switch the topic to birthdays?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. I just wanted to ask if there's any gift you'd like?" Qin Ji gave the person who hadn't yet reacted a meaningful look, deliberately diverting her attention instead of revealing his true thoughts.
"A gift? If you just ask for a gift, where's the sincerity? You figure it out yourself."
Xiao Yanhui indeed focused on the gifts.
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