The wooden door finally closed, shutting out the heavy scent of Xue Hong's cosmetics.
In the dimly lit workshop, only the lingering dust danced in the shafts of light.
Jenny Huang let out a long breath, her small face, smudged with machine oil, finally showing a look of relief.
For someone who didn't like to talk, the negotiation just now, reeking of money and calculation, had almost killed her.
She grabbed a greasy rag, climbed onto the spinning jenny, and began to carefully wipe the transmission shaft.
Her movements were incredibly gentle.
"County Princess."
Jenny Huang asked through the cotton fluff as she wiped.
"How could you be so sure she would agree? That's a business deal that requires throwing who knows how much silver into it."
In her eyes, this kind of investment had high risks and low returns; any normal person would hesitate for days.
Xu Qinghuan leaned against the unfinished Machine Number Two, her fingers flicking the spindles on it, making crisp clicking sounds.
"Because she is a royal merchant."
A mocking smile hung on Xu Qinghuan's lips, her tone lazy.
"The title sounds nice. She can wear gold and silver and enter the palace, looking infinitely glamorous."
"But in reality? She's nothing more than the Emperor's purse kept among the commoners."
Xu Qinghuan blew the wood shavings off her fingertips.
"Usually used to fetch money, once the state treasury is empty, or some lord above gets unhappy, she becomes a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered."
"Xue Hong is a smart person; she smelled that bloody scent."
"Too many people are eyeing her position. Her current situation is very dangerous. If she doesn't find a new backer and a new path, she'll be swallowed up by others without even a crumb left before next year."
Jenny Huang nodded, half-understanding.
Although she didn't understand political games, she could still grasp the metaphor of a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.
However, while Xu Qinghuan was smiling on the outside, she was frantically complaining in her heart.
This was just rhetoric to trick children.
The real trump card wasn't some royal merchant identity!
Xu Qinghuan's gaze passed through the sealed window of the workshop, as if seeing the distant capital.
This woman Xue Hong appeared to be a pitiful, lonely woman on the surface, but she was actually the white glove of the Xu family in the capital!
Who were they? They were a great family in the original book that even the Emperor had to fear somewhat, a true behemoth!
That pretentious jerk Xu Pingwen gave me attitude at the Splendid Banquet last time. I've been keeping score!
Dragging Xue Hong down into the water meant tying the Xu family to my chariot as well.
This was called letting their own people fight their own people!
At the thought that the snobby Xu Pingwen would have to respectfully call her "Great Aunt" when he saw her in the future, Xu Qinghuan felt this business deal was absolutely worth it!
So satisfying!
Even more satisfying than the system suddenly giving her a million!
Just as Xu Qinghuan was immersed in the beautiful fantasy of stepping on a wealthy young master, a voice interrupted her daydreaming.
"County Princess, although we've secured sponsorship, I have to remind you of a very realistic problem."
Jenny Huang jumped down from the machine, still gripping the greasy rag in her hand, her brows tightly furrowed.
"This spinning jenny is a cotton-eating machine."
"Our efficiency has indeed increased now, but the little raw cotton we have in stock will, at best, only be enough for this... 'Unit-01' as you call it, to run for three days."
Jenny Huang pointed to the pile of seed cotton in the corner that was already bottoming out, her tone full of rigor and anxiety.
"Furthermore, County Princess, the cotton in Jiangnan is currently all held in the hands of the Wang family and the Weaving Bureau."
"You can't even buy a single cotton seed on the market."
"Without cotton, no matter how fast this machine spins, it's just a pile of scrap wood."
"Without raw materials, we can't make anything."
This was a very fatal problem.
However, there was not a hint of panic on Xu Qinghuan's face—because she had long since bought a lot from the north.
"As for this problem..."
"It should be resolvable."
Jenny Huang looked at her boss's "mysterious" (but actually just brushing it off) appearance and decided to shut up and go wipe the machine.
She didn't know exactly how much cotton the Xu family had. Anyway, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up.
As long as they didn't owe her monthly wages, it was fine. But as far as County Princess Xu was concerned.
Owning money was impossible, absolutely impossible.
It was already good enough if she wasn't scolded by Magistrate Xu for handing out too much money.
...
Thousands of miles away, in the capital.
It had been snowing here for three days, and the entire imperial city was a ghastly white.
The First Prince's mansion.
There was no underfloor heating in the study; instead, a chill permeated the room.
A massive map of the Great Qian territory hung on the wall, marked with red cinnabar circles and dots, looking startling.
The First Prince, Xiao Jingxing, draped in a black cloak, stood tall before the map.
He was toying with an ink-jade thumb ring in his hand, which gleamed with a cold light under the dim candlelight.
"Still no news?"
Xiao Jingxing's voice was deep, carrying a sense of oppression.
In the shadows behind him stood a man, bowing low.
The Junior Supervisor of the Household Administration, who was also the First Prince's chief strategist, Wei Zhong.
Wei Zhong had a gloomy face. At this moment, his waist was bent extremely low, his forehead almost touching the floor tiles.
"To answer Your Highness..."
Wei Zhong's voice trembled slightly, clearly trying hard to suppress his fear.
"Prime Minister Xie's side... still hasn't relented."
Xiao Jingxing paused in rotating the thumb ring in his hand.
"What did he say?"
"Prime Minister Xie said that the accounts of the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau are complicated and involve a wide range of matters."
Wei Zhong swallowed hard, carefully repeating the words of that old fox.
"Especially those few key ledgers, which are said to have been taken into the coffin by the former head of the Weaving Bureau."
"Prime Minister Xie said that this matter is of great consequence; pulling one hair moves the whole body."
"If we rashly audit the accounts, he fears it will cause turmoil in the Jiangnan business world and even affect next year's annual tribute."
"Therefore... it still requires deliberation."
"He said that the literary circles in Jiangnan are currently in full swing, and that County Princess Xu from the Hundred Flowers Pavilion has stirred up quite a commotion. It is not suitable to make more waves at this time."
The study fell into a dead silence.
Only the snapping sound of tree branches breaking under the heavy snow outside the window could be heard.
"Deliberation?"
Xiao Jingxing suddenly let out a laugh.
The laugh was very cold.
"Deliberate my ass!"
Bang!
A sharp crack.
Xiao Jingxing slammed the ink-jade thumb ring in his hand heavily onto the mahogany desk.
The thumb ring shattered instantly. Flying shards of jade cut the back of Wei Zhong's hand, but he didn't even dare to flinch.
"These old foxes!"
Xiao Jingxing's eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving violently.
"What literary turmoil, what unstable annual tribute!"
"They just want to use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate with me!"
"They want to keep their good reputation as noble scholars, yet they refuse to spit out the fat meat in their mouths."
Xiao Jingxing smashed his fist against the map, landing exactly on the location of Jiangnan.
"Xie An is watching!"
"Watching to see if I truly dare to tear off all pretenses, if I truly dare to take a knife and cut their flesh!"
Wei Zhong knelt on the ground, shivering.
"Please calm your anger, Your Highness... The Xie family has deep roots and a massive canopy; it's indeed hard to make a forceful move against them."
"Hard to move against?"
Xiao Jingxing took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the raging fury in his heart.
His eyes stared coldly at the small dot on the map named Jiangning.
"Since they refuse to act with dignity, they cannot blame this prince for stripping them of it."
Meanwhile, after taking her leave, County Princess Xu happened upon her father, who was currently fretting over how to get his second son a serving of braised pork.
Upon seeing this, Xu Qinghuan seemed to think of something, and her eyes darted with a mischievous glint.
"Aha! I have an idea!"
Dear brother, your little sister is coming to treat you right. I will definitely make sure you get a taste of home!
