…
Two more days passed.
The grain prices in Jiangnan had risen to their highest point in nearly half a year.
Xiao Jingyuan looked over the accounts and finally gave the order: “Sell. Dump all the grain we have into the market.”
“Yes!”
His subordinates immediately took action. A massive amount of grain continuously flooded the grain market, causing the supply to skyrocket instantly.
Xiao Jingyuan sat in his study, waiting for the grain prices to drop slightly, waiting to make a huge profit, waiting for the Jiangnan grain market to fall into chaos.
But in less than half an hour, Ah Er rushed in, his face deathly pale.
“Marquis! Something terrible has happened!”
Xiao Jingyuan’s eyes darkened. “What’s all the panic about?”
“The grain… the grain prices have crashed!” Ah Er’s voice trembled. “All the merchant houses in the city suddenly stopped buying grain at the same time. Not a single grain can be sold on the market now, and the price has plummeted to rock bottom!”
Xiao Jingyuan shot to his feet. “What did you say?!”
“All the grain we sold… it’s all stuck in our hands now!” Ah Er was almost in tears. “We’ve calculated the accounts. This time… including the principal and interest, we’ve lost another two hundred and fifty thousand taels!”
Two hundred and fifty thousand taels.
Added to the three hundred thousand taels from the cotton market earlier.
In just a few days, Xiao Jingyuan had incurred a total loss of five hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver in Jiangnan.
Xiao Jingyuan stood frozen in place, his chest heaving violently. A surge of blood rushed to his head, making his vision darken in waves.
The trap he had meticulously laid—to frame Shen Miao, to seize the grain market, to destroy her support among the people…
In the end, from start to finish, he had been playing right into the other party’s calculations.
However much he sold, the other party bought, and then simply shut their doors and stopped buying.
He didn’t even have a chance to fight back.
“Shen… Gong… zi…”
With the cotton cloth, he could only suspect it was Shen Gongzi.
But with this grain, he was certain it was Shen Gongzi.
He spoke each word through gritted teeth, his body trembling with rage, yet he couldn’t utter a single curse.
Pushed to the extreme of fury, he instead became terrifyingly calm.
He finally recognized a fact—in Jiangnan, in commerce, he was no match for Shen Miao at all.
The other party had anticipated his every move, striking precisely at his vital points with each step.
He had schemed in the shadows, thinking himself clever.
In the end, he had only delivered a second payment of compensation to Shen Gongzi.
Seeing his livid expression, Ah Er asked in a trembling voice, “Marquis, what… what do we do next?”
Xiao Jingyuan slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his dark pupils held only an unfathomable, sinister gloom.
Just then, hurried footsteps rushed in from outside.
A personal guard entered, respectfully bowing as he held a sealed letter with a wax seal, his tone solemn. “Marquis! An urgent imperial decree from the capital, delivered by babaoli jiaji, has arrived!”
Xiao Jingyuan’s eyes darkened further. “Read it.”
The guard unrolled the imperial decree and read it aloud, word by word, clearly:
“Fengtian Chengyun, Huangdi Zhaoyue—”
“Jing’an Hou, Xiao Jingyuan, having been dispatched by imperial decree to inspect Jiangnan, has completed the assigned period.”
“Currently, the Northern Frontier faces a shortage of military provisions, the caoyun xinzheng remains unsettled, and the yantie gaizhi in Jiangnan requires the principal official to personally attend court for deliberation.”
“Jing’an Hou is hereby ordered to return to the capital immediately to report on his duties. He must set out within three days without delay.”
“Qinci.”
Each word was forceful and resounding, the imperial command as weighty as a mountain.
Ah Er looked up in shock, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Xiao Jingyuan’s fingers tightened around the imperial decree, his knuckles turning white.
He had originally intended to stay in Jiangnan, to continue contending with Shen Gongzi, to investigate his identity, to try and turn the tables.
But now, with the imperial decree arrived and the Emperor’s command as weighty as a mountain, he dared not delay for a moment.
He was Jing’an Hou, a high-ranking official of the court.
When the Emperor summoned, state affairs took precedence.
To defy the imperial decree would be the crime of treason.
Ah Er whispered, “Marquis, this…”
Xiao Jingyuan took a deep breath, suppressing all emotions as he spoke in a cold, stern, and solemn tone: “Prepare the carriage. We return to the capital immediately.”
“Marquis, what about the matters in Jiangnan…”
“Jiangnan affairs are to be set aside for now.” Xiao Jingyuan’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light as he looked toward the direction of Nianqing Ge: “But the lead on Shen Gongzi must not be dropped.”
He turned to Ah Er, enunciating each word deliberately: “You stay behind. Continue to closely monitor his background, movements, gait, habits, handwriting, and relationship with Zhao Chengyu.”
“Every day, every move—report it all in secret to the capital.”
“I will personally investigate his origins in the capital.”
“If he truly is that person…” Xiao Jingyuan gritted out the words through clenched teeth: “I will make him pay the price.”
From the moment Shen Gongzi began targeting him, Xiao Jingyuan’s suspicions toward Shen Gongzi had grown increasingly stronger.
He grew more and more convinced that she was Shen Miao, his Marquis’s Mansion wife who had jumped into the lake.
“If he is not…” A flicker of ruthlessness passed through his eyes: “Then I will devise another strategy, return to Jiangnan, and face him in a decisive battle once more.”
Ah Er bowed: “Your subordinate obeys!”
Xiao Jingyuan turned, his dark robes fluttering sharply in the wind.
Shen Gongzi.
Enjoy your moment of glory in Jiangnan for a few more days.
…
Nianqing Ge.
After the carriage had departed into the distance, the atmosphere in the private room completely relaxed.
Zhao Chengyu, having just heard about the extent of Xiao Jingyuan’s losses this time, sprawled across the table with a roguish grin: “Well done, Ah Shen. He’s lost both face and substance now.”
Shen Miao removed her silver mask, raising a hand to rub her temples, her tone also easing: “If he hadn’t fled, he would only have continued to fall into my hands. With the imperial decree urgent, it just gave him a way out.”
“But…” She lifted her gaze to Zhao Chengyu, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes: “Before leaving, he still didn’t forget to have someone keep an eye on me.”
Zhao Chengyu raised an eyebrow, his mischievous smile deepening: “That’s perfect. We’ll lay down some smokescreens for him, so he can investigate all he wants but won’t find anything.”
“When he returns for another round, I’ll join you in playing another good game with him.”
Seeing his unrestrained yet reliable demeanor, warmth spread through Shen Miao’s heart, and the corners of her lips curved slightly: “Alright.”
“With you here, I feel at ease playing this game in Jiangnan.”
Zhao Chengyu reached out and gently flicked her forehead, his expression both tender and roguish: “Of course. When have I ever failed to back you up in what you want to do?”
“I know, that’s why I said having you really saves me a lot of trouble.”
“Look at you, being polite with me again.” Zhao Chengyu leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table with a grin that was both mischievous and teasing:
“But this time, bringing his mistress along to Jiangnan was a total bloodbath for him.”
Shen Miao looked up at him, a faint trace of amusement coloring her eyes.
Zhao Chengyu counted on his fingers for her, his tone as lighthearted as if tallying pocket money:
“First, Su Manrou’s share—three hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver, obediently thrown into the cotton cloth business, all gone down the drain.”
“Then Xiao Jingyuan himself dived into the cotton market, losing three hundred thousand taels.”
“And now, he just had to compete with you in the grain market, throwing in another two hundred and fifty thousand taels.”
He clicked his tongue twice, looking at Shen Miao with eyes full of teasing: “Husband and wife traveling thousands of miles just to deliver silver to you in Jiangnan—such treatment, you’re the only one in the whole world.”
Shen Miao smiled faintly, her fingertips tracing the rim of her cup: “Since they’re willing to give, I’ll naturally accept.”
“It’s just a pity they got off so easily, leaving with such dignity thanks to a Shengzhi.”
Zhao Chengyu sneered, “Dignity? He was fleeing in defeat. If he had stayed any longer, I fear the entire fortune of the Jing’an Marquisate would have been drained by you.”