In the middle of the night, the carriage slowly left Tianning's capital city. Han Yunxi had been exhausted from the past few days. She was planning to take a nap, but Long Fei Ye ordered them to head southwest as soon as the carriage reached the outskirts of the city.
There were three major disaster areas in Tianning this time, all of them in the central regions. The capital was in the north, so they should've headed south. Why did Long Fei Ye want to head southwest?
Han Yunxi was puzzled. "Your Highness, could there be an ambush up ahead?"
Although news of Long Fei Ye's injuries had been kept secret, they still had to be on guard against that black-robed man spreading the news! There were plenty of people in Cloud Realm Continent who wanted Long Fei Ye's life, so they had to be extra careful.
"I'll take you somewhere."
Long Fei Ye was leaning lazily against a high pillow, his eyes closed as he took a nap. He didn't seem like a seriously injured man at all, nor did he seem to care about the disaster relief.
Where was he taking her at a time like this?
Han Yunxi guessed that it had something to do with disaster relief, but she couldn't figure out the specifics no matter how hard she racked her brains.
She leaned against the windowsill and stared curiously at the night sky outside. She'd never taken this route before.
Han Yunxi was so tired that she fell asleep as she stared and stared.
But when she woke up the next morning, the carriage was still moving. Long Fei Ye was already awake, reading a few secret missives in his right hand.
Han Yunxi scooted to his side and tugged at his sleeve. "Your Highness, where are we going? Just tell me! "
Long Fei Ye didn't even lift his eyes as he ignored her.
"Your Highness, just tell me."
"Your Highness, just tell me. I can't guess. It looks like we'll have to travel quite a distance. "
Han Yunxi wouldn't relent. Long Fei Ye didn't like to be disturbed when he was reading secret missives, but didn't lose his temper at all. He casually handed the missives over to Han Yunxi to read.
The three letters all reported the same thing: the imperial uncle's estate was in a hurry to get rid of the grain.
In three days, the Imperial Uncle's estate would have to hand over a million gold coins to the Ministry of Revenue. Over the past few days, the Imperial Uncle's estate had been in a hurry to sell off the grain in their possession. However, they had yet to sell a single grain.
It wasn't that no one wanted to buy the grain, but that the imperial uncle's price was too high.
The imperial uncle had embezzled the grain with the intention of selling it after the price of the grain had risen. However, he was forced to sell it ahead of time. The shrewd and greedy imperial uncle would definitely try to raise the price of the grain as high as possible.
Furthermore, the Imperial Uncle's estate was in dire need of a large sum of money! If they didn't sell for a good price, how could they have enough?
The imperial uncle's estate had to hand over 2,400,000 taels in cash to the Ministry of Revenue, and he had already handed over 1,200,000 taels a few days ago.
Some of the 1,200,000 taels in cash was the betrothal gift the crown prince had given to Mu Liuyue, some of it came from the imperial uncle's estate's treasury, and some of it came from the loan sharks that the imperial uncle's estate had borrowed.
Of course, the imperial uncle's estate's assets weren't limited to 1,200,000 taels. However, the imperial uncle was too shrewd. He had been exchanging the cash for land and collectibles all this time, waiting for the price to rise. As a result, the imperial uncle's estate didn't have much cash left.
Any random antique or piece of land would be worth a few hundred thousand taels, or even a few million taels. However, these things weren't cash, and they couldn't be casually auctioned or pawned off. If they were to be sold, the imperial uncle's estate would lose face as well.
There were quite a few rich people even among the royalists. However, the imperial uncle's estate was the wealthiest among them all. They were the royalists' biggest backer. The imperial uncle simply couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
Thus, the imperial uncle's only option was to borrow money from loan sharks on the black market and pay them a high interest rate in exchange for immediate cash. They had to keep it a secret.
Although there was no way to get an exact figure, it was still possible to estimate that the imperial uncle's debt to the loan sharks and the money he had to hand over to the Ministry of Revenue added up to 2,000,000 taels.
Under these circumstances, if the imperial uncle's grain couldn't be sold for a high price, it'd be hard for them to break even, much less make a profit.
Ordinary people wouldn't know such news. Even the noble circles in the capital who were used to eating imperial rations might not know. Instead, it was the merchants who traveled extensively and haggled over every penny who had sharp ears. They could hear the slightest rustle of grass in the wind.
News of everything that happened at Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet had long spread. The sharp-eyed merchants smelled a business opportunity and predicted that the imperial uncle's estate would sell off their grain.
There was no early riser without profit, and no crafty merchants without evil intentions!
At a time like this, no one was willing to be a philanthropist and help the imperial uncle's estate. They would only loot a burning house and lower the price with tacit understanding.
The secret missives were very clear. Someone had announced in Tianning's black markets that they were selling 30,000 dan of rice. The imperial uncle's estate had to be the mastermind behind such a large deal in times of famine. Everyone could guess, but they had no proof.
Similarly, news of the imperial uncle's embezzlement had spread like wildfire, but no one had any evidence to prove it. It remained a rumor until now.
After reading all three missives, Han Yunxi had a rough idea of the situation.
She smiled and said, "Your Highness is planning to sell grain to help the people while arresting corrupt officials to rid the people of evil?"
But Long Fei Ye only shook his head. "No, your lordship is going to sell grain as well."
This …
Han Yunxi was surprised. Is Long Fei Ye joking? He's going to sell grain when they're short on grain?
Although he had a large stockpile of grain in his Jiangnan estate, he'd already donated a lot of it. Where was he supposed to find grain to sell?!
Even if he did have grain, selling it would only boost the morale of the other merchants. If such a vicious cycle continued, it would be detrimental to the disaster relief efforts.
After all, the merchants' final goal was to sell the grain and get the silver from the imperial court.
"The imperial uncle still has three days. Your lordship wants him to lower the price by tomorrow!" Long Fei Ye said.
Han Yunxi came to a sudden realization at his words.
She couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Your Highness, so you're the craftiest one!"
"Craftiest?"
This was the first time someone had dared to curse Long Fei Ye in front of him. But he didn't get angry. Instead, he asked with amusement, "You understand?"
Compared to the young ladies of this era, Han Yunxi knew far, far more than the other young ladies of this era.
Of course she understood!
While the merchants were trying to lower the price of the imperial uncle's food, Long Fei Ye's interference by announcing that they were selling grain would undoubtedly cause the price of the imperial uncle's food to fall even further.
In three days, the imperial uncle's estate would have to pay the Ministry of Revenue. Even if the imperial uncle didn't want to sell the grain cheaply, he would have no choice but to do so.
A wise man would take advantage of the situation, while a capable man would create momentum. Long Fei Ye's actions were creating momentum. Presumably, the situation in the black market's grain market would change very soon!
Of course, all of this was secondary. Long Fei Ye had only one goal in mind after all of this, and that was to find evidence of the imperial uncle's corruption.
Only when the imperial uncle's estate really started selling grain would he have a chance to find witnesses and evidence.
Otherwise, all of this would remain as rumors and conjectures.
Long Fei Ye was quite surprised to hear Han Yunxi's explanation. He had to explain a bunch of things to Tang Li before Tang Li could understand, but Han Yunxi had understood everything from just one sentence!
Even now, he still felt like he had underestimated this woman.
Long Fei Ye didn't say anything, but he nodded as he listened. This was the greatest affirmation he could give to Han Yunxi.
Once Han Yunxi finished her explanation, she struck while the iron was hot. She whispered, "Your Highness, this concubine has a guess, but I'm not sure if it's correct."
"Speak," Long Fei Ye said indifferently.
Han Yunxi snickered. She leaned closer and whispered, "Your Highness, this concubine guesses that you're just bluffing. You won't be able to sell a single grain."
Long Fei Ye chuckled when he heard this. As he laughed, he lifted Han Yunxi's chin and reminded her with a mischievous expression, "Han Yunxi, being too smart isn't a good thing."
However, Han Yunxi wasn't afraid of him. She slowly lowered his hand and said seriously, "Your Highness, I already told you that you're not allowed to use your right hand! It'll affect your wound! "
On the way back to the Duke of Qin's estate from the Hidden Pavilion, she had almost quarreled with him. In the end, she had no choice but to compromise and only allowed him to use his left hand. His right hand was absolutely forbidden.
Although they were talking about serious matters, she was still constantly paying attention to his movements and his injury.
Seeing Han Yunxi's serious little face, Long Fei Ye suddenly felt a sense of closeness. For some strange reason, he replied with a single word, "Alright."
Naturally, Long Fei Ye was going to take Han Yunxi to the black market.
As the name implied, the black market was a secret marketplace.
Because it traded in items that the imperial court didn't approve of, or things that cost far more than the market price, as well as illegal methods of money transfer such as usury and money laundering, it was called "black."
There were two large black markets in Tianning. One was located southwest of the capital and was called the Sky Domain Black Market. The other was located at the Three-Way Battlefield between Tianning, Western Zhou, and Northern Li. It was called the Three-Way Black Market. The Three-Way Black Market was not only the largest in Tianning, but also the largest in Cloud Realm Continent.
Many major cases that affected Cloud Realm Continent's economy originated from the Three-Way Black Market.
If not for the fact that they were pressed for time, the imperial uncle's estate probably would have chosen the Three-Way Black Market instead of the Sky Domain Black Market. Because the Three-Way Black Market was located on the border, the Heavens were high and the Emperor was far away. Moreover, the various factions within the black market were complex and complicated, making it difficult to unearth evidence.
But this time, they were pressed for time, which gave Long Fei Ye the perfect opportunity.
Today at noon, Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi arrived at the Sky Domain Black Market.
The Sky Domain Black Market was located in a secret underground world. Its entrance was hidden in a barren mountain range.
Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi were both covered in face masks. Long Fei Ye held tightly onto Han Yunxi's hand as soon as they reached the top of the mountain.
They stopped in front of a black stele that was as tall as a man. Although it was broad daylight and the sun was high in the sky, the stele seemed exceptionally cold and gloomy.
"This is the entrance," Long Fei Ye said in a low voice.
Han Yunxi had heard of this black market before, but never expected it to be so secretive. She was still wondering when Long Fei Ye casually kicked the stele three times.
Behind the stele, a pitch-black entrance slowly opened up. Soon enough, a hunchbacked old man carrying a lantern walked out.
"Kicking the door with your feet, are you tired of living?" the old man scolded as he slowly raised his head …
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