Villain Alliance
Yue Jia didn't stop. Seeing his figure being blocked by the guards, Jin Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and shouted, "Young Master, please wait!"
Yue Jia stopped in her tracks.
Jin Xiaoxiao jogged to get in front of Yue Jia, but as soon as she reached the end of the line, the guard at the back suddenly turned around and blocked her way with his sword.
Jin Xiaoxiao couldn't stop and almost fell.
Ji Jun stretched out his long arm and embraced her.
After regaining her footing, Jin Xiaoxiao looked at the guard with bright, sparkling eyes, but the guard remained unmoved, his face cold. Her little face fell, and she inwardly groaned, "How outrageous! He actually stopped a little child like me!"
Jin Xiaoxiao stood on tiptoe and called out loudly to the person in charge, "Your Highness, could you please ask the guard to step aside? I have a business matter to discuss with you in person."
"Oh?" Yue Jia finally turned around. "You want to talk business with me?"
Jin Xiaoxiao looked at the long distance between the two of them and felt very annoyed. "Young Master, could you let me take a couple of steps forward? My throat hurts from talking to you like this."
Yue Jia smiled and walked towards her, "Miss Xiaoxiao, is this alright?"
Jin Xiaoxiao looked up at him and asked, "Huh? The young master knows me?"
Yue Jia lowered his eyes to meet her gaze, "You've caused my second brother to suffer three times, how could I not know?"
Jin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Your Highness. I don't aspire to be your friend, but I would like to become your ally and fight our common enemy together!"
A strange light flashed in Yue Jia's eyes. "How does Miss Xiaoxiao plan to deal with the enemy?"
"His most profitable business is the cloth shop." Jin Xiaoxiao's eyes shone brightly as she held up five fingers. "Young Master, if I could increase the efficiency of every spinning and weaving machine by five times, and then sell the woven cloth to the cloth shop at a low price, wouldn't that cut off his source of income?"
Yue Jia's pupils contracted. "Is this really true?"
Jin Xiaoxiao nodded solemnly, "Really."
Yue Jia knelt down to meet Jin Xiaoxiao's gaze. "Miss Xiaoxiao, if you can truly accomplish this, I, the young master, will not only become your ally but also recognize you as my sworn sister. What do you say?"
Jin Xiaoxiao opened her mouth wide in surprise. The young master actually hated the male lead that much? But for her, this was a good thing.
Jin Xiaoxiao's eyes immediately curved into crescents. "It's a deal. Please wait for my good news, Your Highness."
Yue Jia took off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Jin Xiaoxiao, saying, "Miss Xiaoxiao, you can enter the palace to see me with this jade pendant."
Jin Xiaoxiao happily accepted the jade pendant, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Yue Jia stood up. "Miss Xiaoxiao, farewell."
"Goodbye, Your Highness!"
Jin Minzhi walked over, squatted down and looked at her, "Xiaoxiao, you shouldn't have exposed yourself."
Jin Xiaoxiao pressed her hand to his temples. "Brother, don't worry. The young master has a good attitude towards our Jin family. If you don't believe me, ask your aunt. The young master's people didn't harm her."
Reminded by Jin Xiaoxiao, Jin Yuanyuan couldn't help but recall the thrilling assassination attempt just now. Judging from the losses suffered by Yue Xiao's men, the assassins were all highly skilled. If the assassins hadn't been instructed by someone, they would never have survived unscathed.
Jin Yuanyuan suddenly realized, "Indeed, as Xiaoxiao said, the young master has no ill intentions towards me."
Jin Minzhi sighed softly, "It's because my elder brother is incompetent."
Jin Xiaoxiao suddenly hugged Jin Minzhi, "To me, my brother is the best brother in the world."
Kim Min-ji's body stiffened, and her ears turned bright red.
Jin Xiaoxiao comforted Jin Minzhi, then began to worry.
In her haste to curry favor with Yue Jia, she boasted that she could increase the efficiency of textile and spinning machines by five times. However, she had only visited a silk museum and knew a little about the improvement theories of spinning and textiles. She couldn't guarantee whether she could actually replicate it.
Ji Jun seemed to sense her troubles and offered simple and direct words of comfort: "Give me the jade pendant back to him."
Jin Xiaoxiao stared at his hand, a brilliant idea flashing through her mind. The income from perfume and soap would be enough to support her and the male lead in a price war. She could also make lipstick and other cosmetics to earn money.
After figuring it out, Jin Xiaoxiao grabbed Ji Yun and said, "You're so smart."
After returning home, Jin Xiaoxiao collected all the textile and spinning machines on the market, left the lipstick recipe for Jin Minzhi to replicate, and then buried herself in research on improving the machines.
At first, she would occasionally keep an eye on Jin Yuanyuan and Yue Xiao's situation, but Yue Xiao, whether because he was being held back by Yue Jia or because he felt guilty, never came to see Jin Yuanyuan again.
Jin Xiaoxiao then focused wholeheartedly on her research.
A month later, Bai Guo came to find Jin Xiaoxiao.
"Xiaoxiao, there's news from the palace."
Jin Xiaoxiao's eyes were lifeless. "I don't want to eat. I feel like throwing up."
Baiguo bent down closer to her, looking at her haggard appearance, deep worry appearing in her eyes, "Xiaoxiao? Are you alright?"
Jin Xiaoxiao snapped out of her daze. "Sister Baiguo, what do you want to see me about?"
Ginkgo seemed to want to say something but then stopped.
Jin Xiaoxiao realized Bai Guo was worried about her condition. She patted her face and cheered herself up, "I'm fine. Did Senior Sister send me a message? Give it to me."
Bai Guo handed her a note.
Jin Xiaoxiao unfolded it, and frowned after reading it.
"Xiaoxiao, what happened?"
Jin Xiaoxiao silently handed her the note and told her to read it herself.
After reading it, Bai Guo also fell silent.
Jin Xiaoxiao rested her chin on her hand, feeling that things had been going badly for her lately. Her research on the textile machine had hit a bottleneck, her senior sister's path to advancement had also encountered a major crisis, and she had been imprisoned in the Cold Palace before even seeing the Emperor, due to the jealousy of Consort Sun.
In the book, the senior sister appears as a concubine, but unexpectedly, her entry into the palace is a hellish start.
"Sister Baiguo, could you go and find out which concubine was most at odds with Consort Sun?"
Bai Guo left after receiving the instructions.
After she left, Jin Xiaoxiao also came out of the room. She decided to help her senior sister first, as her situation was more urgent.
Bai Guo quickly gathered the good news and reported it to her.
"Besides the Empress, Consort Qi was another high-ranking concubine who was at odds with Consort Sun."
What grudge do they hold against each other?
"Xiaoxiao, do you know why His Majesty has never had a child?"
Upon hearing the words "the emperor has no son," Jin Xiaoxiao recalled that Yue Xiao was able to rightfully ascend the throne because the emperor had no son. Later, when the emperor fell seriously ill, the ministers, for the sake of national stability, suggested that he choose an heir from among the legitimate sons of several princes. Yue Xiao was fortunate enough to be changed from a son of a concubine to a legitimate son, thus gaining entry into the struggle for the throne.
However, judging from Bai Guo's tone at this moment, it seems that there is another reason why the emperor has no son.
Why?
Bai Guo lowered her voice and said, "I heard that Consort Sun is infertile. She is jealous of the concubines in the harem who can have children, so whenever a concubine becomes pregnant, she plots to have her aborted. The Empress and Consort Qi's child was killed by her."
Jin Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled, "Isn't Consort Sun afraid of being punished by the Emperor?"
Bai Guo shook his head. "Consort Sun was the emperor's wife when he was a prince, but he did not make her empress after he ascended the throne. Perhaps His Majesty felt indebted to her, so even if she plotted against the prince, His Majesty turned a blind eye."
The emperor truly loves her; this is not a good situation.
"What are the family backgrounds of the Empress and Consort Qi?"
"The Empress's maternal family is Minister Meng, who assisted His Majesty in ascending the throne, while Consort Qi's maternal family is the Wenchang Earl's Mansion."
Jin Xiaoxiao fell silent after hearing this. They were either high-ranking officials or noble families, neither of which were classes she could come into contact with.
Bai Guo then added, "Qi Fei's elder brother serves as a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat."
The Imperial Secretary is a close advisor to the Emperor. If we can establish a connection with him, my senior sister can escape danger.
"Sister Baiguo, we need to find a way to send gifts to the women of the Wenchang Marquis's family."
"That's not difficult. The ladies of the Wenchang Marquis's family are regulars at Rongguang Perfume Shop. If we send an invitation in the name of Rongguang Perfume Shop, the ladies of the Wenchang Marquis's family will surely do us the honor of making a visit."
Jin Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow. As expected of the person she had chosen, her progress in just one month was clearly visible, and she had already grown into an excellent secretary.
"Okay, Sister Baiguo can arrange it."
The following day, three young women visited the Rongguang store, which was not open to the public on the second floor.
Bai Guo greeted the three with a friendly smile, "The three ladies are truly radiant. Your presence has made my humble abode shine even brighter."
The three ladies all smiled and said, "Manager Bai has such a sweet tongue."
“I’m just stating the facts, please have a seat, madam.”
The three sat down in turn, and Madam Qi spoke first, "I wonder what brings Manager Bai to meet us?"
Bai Guo smiled and brought out a mahogany box, then approached them. "Ladies, you are honored guests of our shop. We have developed a new lip balm and would like to invite you to try it out."
Bai Guo opened the box and took out the lipstick.
"Huh, why aren't these lip balms in small round boxes? Why are they made into tubes instead?"
Bai Guo chuckled and said, "If this weren't special, how could I dare invite the ladies here?" As she spoke, she casually picked up a tube of lipstick, lifted the cap, pinched the tube and gently turned it, revealing the brightly colored lipstick inside.
Seeing the three of them looking at the lipsticks with surprise, Baiguo handed one to each of them.
The three of them opened the lipstick following Bai Guo's demonstration. "It's amazing."
Seeing their interest, Bai Guo knew that things were already halfway done.
While the three of them were enthusiastically applying lipstick, Bai Guo came to Lady Qi's side and whispered, "Madam, may I speak to you in private?"
Madam Qi glanced at Bai Guo, put down her lipstick, and followed her into the inner room.
A moment later, Madam Qi came out, holding Bai Guo's hand affectionately.
After seeing off the three satisfied individuals, Bai Guo went directly back to the Jin family.
Jin Xiaoxiao looked up at Bai Guo in surprise, "Madam Qi agreed?"
Bai Guo didn't understand why Jin Xiaoxiao was so surprised. "Madam Qi can get six hundred taels of silver for free and all the new products in Rongguang Store just by talking. Of course, Madam Qi will agree."
Jin Xiaoxiao thought about it and realized it made sense. She only asked Lord Qi to say a few words to the Emperor; anyone who refused would be a fool.
When Madam Qi was helping her husband Qi Yan return home, she casually mentioned the silver that Bai Guo had given her that day while she was undressing him.
Qi Yan opened his arms and looked at her. "What did she ask you to do?"
Lady Qi continued working, "She begged her husband to say a few words to His Majesty."
"Um?"
Madam Qi straightened his clothes one last time, saying, "Zhao Wan Niang has received a fortune telling from a hermit, who says she is destined to have many children."
"Is it the one who was locked in the Cold Palace by Consort Sun a few days ago?"
"It was only when I learned it was her that I accepted her money."
“Heh, Consort Sun is becoming increasingly reckless with the Emperor’s favor. If someone in the harem can share the Emperor’s favor…” Qi Yan’s eyes darkened. “I will mention this to the Emperor when I see him tomorrow.”
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