Chapter 122: Hitting the Target
Xiao Zirui frowned at what she said:
"What do you mean by that? Do you still think I'll cheat you out of money?"
Yun Qingqing didn't respond at all and said directly to the emperor:
"Anyway, as long as I can confirm that the Crown Prince has purchased the grain in both quantity and quality, any amount of silver is negotiable. But before you see the grain, Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, please find a way to cover the cost first."
"If that doesn't work, then forget it. I can just donate a thousand taels of silver."
The emperor's eyes jumped, and he immediately made the decision:
"It's rare that the princess is willing to share the country's worries. I'll do as you say!"
Are you kidding? The national treasury is empty and we finally found a rich man who is willing to take care of the grain purchase money. What if the bargaining makes the sponsor angry and runs away? Where can we find the next one?
Xiao Zirui glanced at the Queen and saw her nod imperceptibly, so he didn't say anything else.
The meeting finally ended, and Xiao Zirui followed the queen directly to Fengqi Palace.
After sending the outsiders away, Xiao Zirui immediately frowned and asked:
"Why did Queen Mother support the Regent today?"
Although the Queen later found ways to arrange for him to do the job of purchasing grain, he was originally responsible for all the grain supplies for the Northwest Army, but now it has been reduced by two-thirds.
Seeing that he was obviously a little angry, the queen shook her head and sighed:
"My dear, you are still too young."
Xiao Zirui became more and more puzzled:
"I would like to know what exactly the Queen Mother meant."
The Queen's red lips curled up coldly:
"The wealthy merchants in Langqu and Quzhou can indeed provide grain, but even with my old friend as a middleman, the price will be twice the market price. The highest price we can offer to the court is three times that. Otherwise, the emperor will definitely not agree, and it will be even more difficult to solicit donations."
"I've known this for a long time!" Xiao Zirui said impatiently, "But what does this have to do with the Regent transferring grain from Jing Kingdom? Now we can buy less grain, but the price difference hasn't changed. Isn't that a huge loss?"
"Who said that?" The queen smiled indifferently.
"Xiao Changheng insisted on going to the southern border to collect grain. The mountains are high and the road is long and dangerous. Who knows what might happen along the way..."
Xiao Zirui looked at her meaningful gaze and suddenly understood.
"That's right!" He slammed the table and said happily, "As long as..."
After receiving the queen's gaze, he immediately fell silent and looked around carefully.
"As long as we can rob him of all the food he's transporting along the way..."
The queen glared at him:
"What nonsense are you talking about? You bought it from a wealthy businessman!"
Xiao Zirui nodded repeatedly, his heart still filled with excitement, and sneered:
"Xiao Changheng would never have imagined that all his hard work and efforts in collecting food from such a long distance would only serve to benefit me!"
…
On the way back to the palace.
A certain prince was sitting in a carriage, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could kill a fly.
Yun Qingqing took a few glances, then leaned back, closed her eyes and rested, as if she was completely unaware of the cold air emanating from that person.
Finally, Xiao Changheng couldn't help but speak:
"Why did you agree to such unreasonable conditions? You knew the Queen had bad intentions."
Yun Qingqing opened her eyes, sat up straight and looked at him. Xiao Changheng was stunned.
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but why did he feel that the little girl's eyes were shining... and she seemed to be in a particularly good mood?
Before he could think more, Yun Qingqing spoke.
"I understand the Queen's intentions. She just wants her scumbag son to make a fortune by raising grain."
"If they only had this little thought, it would be fine. But they still wanted to drag me into this and use this opportunity to make me suffer a great loss. You can't blame me then."
"If I hadn't said I was willing to reimburse all the money for the food, that bastard might not have let go of his trouble. Now that I've said that... hehe..."
Yun Qingqing didn’t say the rest.
She had already noticed that the prince was under a dark cloud today, and the evil deeds he had done over a long period of time had almost paid off.
There is a 99% chance that he will be in big trouble this time because of buying grain.
There was only a tiny possibility left. Even if he really brought the food back as scheduled and asked her to reimburse him in cash, it wouldn't matter. It would only be a few hundred thousand taels.
Is Yun Qingqing, the only granddaughter of the richest man in Jiangbei, someone who is short of money?
What she lacks is spiritual power!
Paying out of one's own pocket to help the army with its urgent need for food and fodder would not only build reputation but also increase merit. If she could get the job done by spending this little money and having Xiao Zirui run errands, she would be overjoyed.
Yun Qingqing counted happily on her fingers.
Xiao Changheng rubbed his brows silently and coughed lightly:
"Those words you just used to scold the Crown Prince, it's fine if you say them in front of me, but be careful when outsiders are around, don't give them a chance to talk about you."
Yun Qingqing's mind was not on this, and she said blankly:
"What did I scold him for?"
Xiao Changheng looked at her silently: "..."
Yun Qingqing: "...Oh, a scumbag?"
Xiao Changheng: "..."
Yun Qingqing curled her lips:
"You're not wrong, the dog even feels that he's been wronged."
"Cough..." Xiao Changheng couldn't help but coughed twice with his jaw lowered.
"Your Highness, are you alright? If you've caught a cold, you need to see a doctor right away."
Yun Qingqing asked in a fake manner of concern.
Xiao Changheng silently turned his head to the car window and ignored her.
The man's usually cold eyebrows curved unconsciously.
…
The matter of transferring grain was urgent, so the two men had to make preparations immediately after returning home and lead the team to set off the next day.
That night.
A burst of ghostly howling was heard in Yun Qingqing's yard.
"Don't abandon me! Sister Qingqing, don't you care about me anymore? Even if you don't care about me anymore, you can't abandon these two innocent children..."
Yun Qingqing: ???
She looked at the man with fox eyes who was pulling Ye Xingyu with his left hand and holding Xiao Yiyan with his right hand, her face full of black lines.
She was just out doing something and would be back in a few days. What was this guy yelling about?
He even abandoned two children... How could this person speak so provocatively?
She raised her hand and touched the hairpin, then looked at Qingjue with a smile:
"Ajue, if you feel lonely, I can leave Poxiao to accompany you."
Qingjue shut up instantly and looked at her resentfully.
Xiao Yiyan finally took the opportunity to break free from his grip, dragged Ye Xingyu to Yun Qingqing and complained:
"Sister Qingqing is a bully! Ah Yan doesn't want to play with him anymore. Can you take us away and leave him at home?"
Qingjue widened his eyes:
"You kid actually want to leave me here to die? Why didn't I see that you were such a bad-hearted kid before?"
"Hmph!" Xiao Yiyan made a face at him.
Ye Xingyu pulled at Yun Qingqing's sleeve, tilted her little face up and said in a baby voice:
"Sister Qingqing, are you never coming back? Don't you want Xiaoyu'er anymore? Don't leave. Take Xiaoyu'er with you, okay?"
Yun Qingqing held her forehead: ...
She should just leave Poxiao behind to accompany that idiot Qingjue.
What has he instilled in these little kids?
Yun Qingqing finally explained to the two little kids that she was just on a business trip and would be back in a few days, so she asked them to stay at home to gather their spirits and build up their soul power.
Fortunately, the two kids were not so stubborn and soon calmed down and went out to play hand in hand.
Yun Qingqing folded her arms and looked at Qingjue:
"Tell me, have you thought about how you're going to die?"
Qing Jue slid down to his knees and fell to her feet, starting to act miserable:
"Sister Qingqing! Actually, I have my own difficulties..."
Yun Qingqing listened to him talking in confusion for a long time and finally understood.
To put it simply, this guy is bored of staying in this small yard and wants to go out and have fun, but he can't.
Originally, she said that she wanted him to stay in Tianming Pavilion, and he was quite happy at that time, because there were many young ladies in Tianming Pavilion. Maybe one of them would fall in love with him after spending a long time together and would be willing to go into the ancient jade with him to become a twin spirit.
As a result, even after she brought him back for so long, she never mentioned taking him to Tianming Pavilion again.
But she suddenly wanted to leave him again, and she didn't know how long she would be gone. So could she let him go to Tianming Pavilion first?
He missed the young ladies in Tianming Pavilion.
"You stay in the yard and practice!"
Yun Qingqing slapped him on the head, feeling both angry and amused.
But she also had some doubts:
"Why are you always thinking about tricking a little girl into becoming a twin spirit? Is this matter so important to you?"
"It's important!" Qingjue covered his head and looked at her pitifully.
"Sister Qingqing, didn't you notice that my ancient jade is only half a piece? My true form is a jade jue, a double jade jue!"
"It's only half a piece of jade. Doesn't that mean it's completely incomplete? I'm an incomplete spirit..."
"Ever since I became conscious, I've had a feeling that this void in my heart can only be filled if I find my twin spirit!"
Yun Qingqing held her forehead again and looked at him dimly:
"Then have you ever considered that even if you seduce the soul of an ordinary person as a twin spirit, the other half of the jade will be found by itself?"
Qing Jue's eyes suddenly became dull: "..."
"Have you ever considered that since you were born from this half of the jade, shouldn't your twin spirits be born from the lost other half?"
Qing Jue: “…”
He stood up silently, walked to the corner and squatted down facing the wall.
Autistic.
Yun Qingqing shook her head, too lazy to pay attention to him, and continued to be busy.
…
…
Tianming Pavilion will be closed for a few days.
Yun Qingqing gave everyone a holiday and allocated some money for Mu Hongling to distribute. Everyone was delighted.
On the second day, the Regent and the Princess left the capital with a group of people.
The spies from the Prince's Mansion followed the team all the way out of the capital, watched the team go away, and then returned to report.
Here, Xiao Zirui listened to his subordinates' report and smiled with determination:
"Such an important escort team only has 500 people? Uncle, you are really confident."
"It seems that this time, God is helping me!"
Yun Bailian stood beside him and suddenly said softly:
"Brother Crown Prince, since it's still early for them to come back, can you wait a couple of days to borrow the grain? Bai Lian will definitely be able to help Brother Crown Prince this time!"
"Oh? You are so confident?" Xiao Zirui said in surprise.
Yun Bailian nodded and said:
"In recent days, I've felt more and more that my luck is on the rise. I think it's because Tianfeng hadn't woken up for some reason before, but now there are signs of it waking up."
"If you don't believe me, you can give it a try."
Xiao Zirui asked curiously:
"How do you try this?"
Yun Bailian took out a copper coin and handed it to him with a smile:
"Prince, you can flip this coin at will. Bai Lian will guess whether it lands heads or tails. If you guess wrong, Bai Lian will admit defeat!"
Seeing her confident tone, Xiao Zirui also became interested:
"Okay, let's try it."
He casually tossed the copper coin, caught it in his hand, and covered it with his other hand.
Yun Bailian blinked and said without much thought:
"The other side."
Xiao Zirui took his hand away and looked at it, then raised his eyebrows.
Yun Bailian smiled and said:
"Well, I was right!"
Xiao Zirui glanced at her and threw the coin again.
"front."
Right again.
Xiao Zirui's expression became a little formal. He looked at Yun Bailian and said:
"I'll roll the dice three times in a row. If you can guess correctly every time, I'll do as you say."
Yun Bailian smiled and nodded:
"Don't even mention three times, I wouldn't be afraid even if it's five or ten times!"
She was indeed confident in her heart, after all, she had already tried it privately after doing that thing.
Just letting her guess at something as simple as flipping a coin, she always gets it right!
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