17. The Gift
Her words immediately caused a subtle shift in the atmosphere.
These wealthy pharmaceutical merchants were not tools to be controlled by the Emperor. They were smart people who had temporarily bowed to the pressure of the Youcang Court to seek a moment of peace.
And being smart, they naturally understood the meaning behind the Emperor’s words.
He wasn’t fond of the so-called “old sect master” behind this girl, but wanted to win her over, to cultivate his own pharmaceutical merchants.
It was rumored that His Majesty had been preparing for a large-scale war, and both the Youcang Court and other organizations had been making small moves recently.
If it really came to that, he would surely move against these wealthy merchants, transferring most of their resources into the hands of those he trusted.
This was an open scheme. His Majesty had summoned them all here as a show of force.
This battle was unavoidable.
However, Miss Gong and Yan Chuyue were not fools, especially Gong Yiling. Such a king’s balancing act, with such a clear purpose, she would not be fooled by this sugar-coated bullet.
“My young lady has no intention of participating in any meaningless disputes. She only wants to promote Senior Lü’s medical skills and pills. If Your Majesty has other ideas, please find someone else.”
Yan Chuyue, hearing her words, immediately understood what this girl was trying to do and turned to her, scolding sternly, “Little Hua Hua, don’t be rude.”
“But miss, Senior Gong clearly said your medical skills cannot be used by others…”
“Alright, I have my own judgment.” Yan Chuyue directly shut her up, then turned and smiled sheepishly. “I’m so sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of Your Majesty. A child’s words are without restraint. Your Majesty won’t mind, will you?”
Murong Jing immediately said, “Your medicine boy is intelligent and thoughtful, always thinking of her master. Why should I blame her?”
“But please rest assured, Miss Yan. I am sincere in my intentions towards you. I will naturally not put you in an awkward position.” Although his words tried to deny it, everyone present knew that a ruler’s words were like a liar’s ghost.
As long as he stabilized you now, you would have to endure whatever he did later.
“How about this? To show my sincerity, I don’t need you to do anything. Just the merit of curing my royal sister is an impressive achievement that will convince everyone. In that case, I will give you one of the Youcang Court’s commercial districts. What do you think?”
Oh ho.
This open scheme was practically plastered on her forehead. It was a clear attempt to win her over.
And this, on the contrary, was exactly what Gong Yiling and Yan Chuyue wanted.
They had already prepared to consolidate the chambers of commerce. No matter what this emperor was thinking, they just had to act according to their own pace.
The reason they had put on this show was to see how many benefits they could get from this guy without firing a single shot.
—Besides the territory Elder Zhao had helped them find before, they had just added another large piece of land. This would be a great help in building their chamber of commerce later.
Miss Gong even wanted to blurt out—”Thank you, big fat sheep.”
Of course, after receiving such a favor, they still had to continue their act.
“This young lady has not really cured Her Highness. I just have a direction for treatment. Isn’t this an unearned reward?”
Murong Jing immediately shook his head and laughed heartily. “How can you say it’s an unearned reward? I’m just giving you the reward in advance, as an encouragement. If you don’t accept, it will make me seem ungrateful and rude.”
This back and forth, they had to put on a good show. And in the end, Yan Chuyue very “unhappily” accepted this favor, struggling to suppress her smile.
This was Murong Jing’s only purpose for this banquet. So, during the meal, they just made some small talk. A few of the wealthy pharmaceutical merchants even left early, citing illness. They must have gone home to discuss their countermeasures.
In the end, only Murong Jing, Yan Chuyue, and Gong Yiling were left at the large, square table.
When they were alone, Murong Jing suddenly opened up to them.
“Potions and pills are the foundation of the people’s livelihood, the lifeblood of the country. I’ve tried to use the Youcang Court to balance these monopolistic pharmaceutical merchants, but it’s either a lose-lose situation, or I can only temporarily make peace with them. But that’s not what I want.”
“Miss Yan, I won’t force you to do anything. But if you can see my sincerity, you will understand that I also want to use other means besides the Youcang Court to balance them.”
“The result of this balance, I don’t want it to be to strangle their source of wealth. I hope to give the pills to my people, to nourish them.”
These words, spoken from the heart, were quite reasonable.
Although Yan Chuyue and Gong Yiling now knew he probably wasn’t sincere with his sister, they couldn’t see through his true intentions.
If this person really thought so, then they could help him with a pharmaceutical revolution. But it was more likely that, because of the war, he wanted to firmly control the more important things.
“If Your Majesty has such a heart to save the world, then in the future, if there’s anything this young lady can do, I will definitely not refuse.”
Yan Chuyue, after hearing these words, couldn’t remain indifferent. She immediately stood up and toasted him with a cup of clear tea.
“You’re too kind.” Murong Jing smiled. “After dinner, I would also like to invite you to enjoy the night view of the palace. What do you think, Miss Yan?”
“Huh?”
This handsome Emperor’s invitation really made Yan Chuyue pause for a moment.
Of course, she would definitely not agree to such a request. But before she could refuse, Gong Yiling stood on her chair and said, “Senior Lü said that if you want to privately invite our young lady, you have to get past me… ahem, Little Hua Hua first.”
Damn it, calling myself Little Hua Hua is really an unpleasant feeling.
However, this guy’s little scheme was quite clever.
This was not just a simple favor. This Emperor probably wanted to make Yan Chuyue his in the true sense.
Heh, since coming to this world, this was the first time someone had made a move on her person, and it was the ruler of the richest country.
Although she knew Yan Chuyue knew a part of this guy’s true face, but no matter what, the things that needed to be declared could not be left out.
