Chapter 178

Chapter 178: That Was Simple Enough

Qi Shu Xian only read a few lines before the smug look on Qi Shu Xian’s face stiffened bit by bit.

Qi Shu Xian stood there in a daze, staring at the letter.

Meng Yang couldn’t see Qi Shu Xian’s expression clearly. Meng Yang only thought Qi Shu Xian was happy to the point of foolishness, so Meng Yang laughed softly. “Was Heir Apparent so happy that Heir Apparent went silly?”

“By my estimate, Master Lin should have earned more than three hundred thousand taels. If my Precognitive Dream had come earlier, we could have stocked even more cotton…”

Meng Yang regretted it a little. If Meng Yang had known Meng Yang would transmigrate, Meng Yang would have studied more history from this era.

Still, at least this time they gained something.

“Heir Apparent?” When Meng Yang still didn’t get an answer, Meng Yang finally sensed something was wrong.

Qi Shu Xian tugged the corner of Qi Shu Xian’s dry mouth and handed the letter to Meng Yang.

Meng Yang didn’t understand why, but Meng Yang took it anyway. As Meng Yang read what was written, Meng Yang’s eyes widened little by little.

How could this be…

It wasn’t only Meng Yang and the Heir Apparent who stocked cotton.

Sheng Zhi Wan actually had that much cotton too. Sheng Zhi Wan even sold it at such a low price.

What was Sheng Zhi Wan trying to do? Fame?

Hypocrite.

If Sheng Zhi Wan was truly kind and truly pitied the commoner, Sheng Zhi Wan should have spoken up the moment Sheng Zhi Wan learned about the cold disaster, not do this now…

No, no.

Meng Yang shook Meng Yang’s head.

Meng Yang only knew Mo Bei would have a cold disaster because Meng Yang transmigrated here and stocked cotton early.

But what about Sheng Zhi Wan? How did Sheng Zhi Wan know?

Could it be… Sheng Zhi Wan transmigrated too?

No. Impossible.

Meng Yang was the Heaven’s Chosen Woman. Since Meng Yang transmigrated here, this world was waiting for Meng Yang to change it. There couldn’t be anyone else like Meng Yang.

Meng Yang’s mind was a mess, and Meng Yang kept staring at the letter. Only then did Meng Yang notice it said the cotton was purchased under the name of donating supplies to the Mo Bei army.

So that was it.

Meng Yang finally let out a breath.

Then Meng Yang belatedly realized something else. With Sheng Zhi Wan involved, Ji Zhou’s cotton price never skyrocketed, so Lin Yi and the others still hadn’t sold the cotton.

This…

Meng Yang bit Meng Yang’s lip and looked at Qi Shu Xian. “What did Heir Apparent plan to do? I used fifty thousand taels to buy this batch of cotton. With the transport back and forth, it was nearly fifty-four thousand taels…”

When Meng Yang first remembered to stock cotton, it was already close to when the cold disaster would break out. To buy a huge amount in a short time, almost all of that fifty thousand taels went into buying at an inflated price.

If they sold at Ji Zhou’s current cotton price, a bit over three hundred and thirty wen per jin, they would lose silver.

The thought made Meng Yang unwilling to accept it.

Sheng Zhi Wan was a Princess. Why did Sheng Zhi Wan have to donate grain and cotton to Mo Bei?

What use was a good reputation?

In Sheng Kingdom, women had low status. Even if Sheng Zhi Wan was a Princess, Sheng Zhi Wan could never sit in that seat.

It would be better for Sheng Zhi Wan to live safely as a wealthy Princess.

Or maybe Sheng Zhi Wan was opposing Meng Yang and the Heir Apparent on purpose.

“Heir Apparent,” Meng Yang grabbed Qi Shu Xian’s sleeve, “could it be that the Princess knew you were buying cotton, so the Princess did this?”

“Impossible!” Qi Shu Xian denied it bluntly.

Meng Yang’s chest tightened.

“Heir Apparent trusted the Princess that much?” Meng Yang asked.

Qi Shu Xian pressed Qi Shu Xian’s lips together.

Actually, the moment Qi Shu Xian read the letter, Qi Shu Xian also thought Sheng Zhi Wan did it on purpose to oppose him.

But before Qi Shu Xian could even get angry, Qi Shu Xian saw Lin Yi mention in the letter that when Lin Yi and the others bought cotton in places like Yuan Zhou, someone had already bought up a batch. Back then, those people used the name of donating military supplies.

Now that Qi Shu Xian thought about it, that batch must have been bought by Sheng Zhi Wan’s people.

So Sheng Zhi Wan stocked cotton earlier than Qi Shu Xian did.

So Sheng Zhi Wan releasing cotton in Mo Bei wasn’t aimed at him at all.

For some reason, once Qi Shu Xian understood that, Qi Shu Xian’s anger turned into a faint, hidden disappointment.

Qi Shu Xian didn’t want to talk about that with Meng Yang. Qi Shu Xian only asked, “Did you have any countermeasure?”

Meng Yang: “…”

What countermeasure could Meng Yang have? Meng Yang was just a woman with no power and no backing.

When Meng Yang saw Qi Shu Xian also had no good idea, Meng Yang’s eyes flickered. “Heir Apparent, we might have to ask for Third Prince’s opinion.”

That made sense.

Qi Shu Xian thought for a moment, then quickly sent an invitation to Third Prince, asking Third Prince to come taste the fine wine Meng Yang just brewed.

Tasting wine was only a pretense. Talking business was the real reason.

Meng Yang had a miscarriage and couldn’t take cold wind. Qing Liu wanted to dress Meng Yang more warmly, but Meng Yang cared about appearance and only wore a cloak outside Meng Yang’s dress.

Qi Shu Xian saw Meng Yang shivering with cold. Qi Shu Xian frowned and took off Qi Shu Xian’s own outer cloak to drape over Meng Yang.

When Meng Yang felt the warmth, Meng Yang felt everything Meng Yang did was worth it.

But Meng Yang never thought about it.

If Qi Shu Xian truly felt sorry for Meng Yang, how could Qi Shu Xian let Meng Yang drag a body weakened by miscarriage through winter weather, just to come meet Third Prince in person?

Third Prince’s people guarded the outside.

Meng Yang explained how Meng Yang used the Mo Bei cold disaster to stock cotton and sell cotton.

Third Prince raised his brows. Third Prince didn’t expect a woman like Meng Yang to have that kind of foresight.

“How was it?” Third Prince took a sip of wine.

Meng Yang bit Meng Yang’s lip. “It was going smoothly at first. Ji Zhou’s cotton price rose sharply, and we were about to make a fortune. Who knew… the Princess got involved too.”

Princess?

Which Princess?

Sheng Yuan Hao looked at Qi Shu Xian. The moment Sheng Yuan Hao saw Qi Shu Xian’s expression, Sheng Yuan Hao understood.

But Sheng Yuan Hao didn’t understand how Princess Qing Ning could be involved at all, until Sheng Yuan Hao took the letter Meng Yang offered and read it.

After reading, Sheng Yuan Hao’s brows drew tight.

Meng Yang spoke at the right moment. “If the Princess only had a little cotton, it would be fine. But based on what the letter said, the Princess’s people were moving frequently. The Princess probably still had a huge amount of cotton. If the Princess kept using cotton to stabilize the market, my plan probably won’t work…”

“Did Miss Meng have any way to deal with it?” Third Prince casually pushed the letter aside.

Meng Yang lowered Meng Yang’s eyes. “If… if the Princess’s cotton was gone, or if something happened, then it wouldn’t affect the cotton price rising.”

“Yang’er! What nonsense was that!” Qi Shu Xian frowned.

Third Prince chuckled. “An accident… that was simple enough.”

Qi Shu Xian looked over.

Meng Yang’s eyes filled with anticipation.

Third Prince continued, “The Ji Zhou Du Clan once wanted to use my second uncle to cling to my side. I’ll leave this matter to them.”

“But since they do this,” Third Prince’s gaze deepened, “then what I want won’t be just three hundred thousand taels. One million taels. Miss Meng – could Miss Meng find a way to earn that for me?”

One million taels?

Meng Yang’s heart trembled.

Facing Third Prince’s half-smiling gaze, Meng Yang felt a little scared, but Meng Yang still thought quickly. “It isn’t impossible. One way was to find a way to get more cheap cotton and transport it to Ji Zhou, but the news of the cold disaster was already known across the country, so we won’t be able to get much cheap cotton. The second way was to reach an agreement with the major cotton merchants. We stock and don’t sell, until the cotton price rises to a very high level, then we release our cotton little by little. But if we do that…”

Meng Yang hesitated and looked at Third Prince.

Obviously, if they did the second way, Mo Bei would have to die in large numbers before the cotton price could be pushed that high.

Qi Shu Xian also frowned tightly and did not agree.

But Third Prince only smiled. Third Prince tapped the rim of the wine cup again and again with Third Prince’s fingers. “Qi Shi Zi, Miss Meng, did you know why I wanted silver?”