Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Back in the room, Wan Shu whispered to Qin Ming:

"The court has arrived?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. It's just some mild punishment."

Through his relationship with Chen Shimao and Qian Cai, Qin Ming had already known about the court's punishment on him.

It's nothing more than paying compensation and being fined for three years.

Qin Ming doesn't take punishment seriously at all.

But the compensation money is a bit troublesome.

Because this time the people in the court learned their lesson and did not ask him to pay compensation to the Xiao family directly. Instead, they charged him with disrupting local commerce and made him pay compensation to the court.

He had to pay three hundred thousand taels of silver in one go.

"What are you going to do? I heard the court is asking you for three hundred thousand taels of silver."

Wan Shu was well-informed. It had been several days since Qin Ming's punishment was handed down.

She was already very concerned about Qin Ming's affairs, so naturally she knew about these things.

"Three hundred thousand taels is not a small amount."

While toasting with a few merchants, Qin Ming chatted in a low voice with Wan Shu.

"Yes, the business in Jiangnan hasn't started yet, and you don't have much money. If you hand it over to the court, our business will be ruined."

Wan Shu was helpless, as people in the court never stopped targeting Qin Ming.

Despite being protected by high-ranking officials like Chen Shimao.

But it only temporarily relieves Qin Ming's pressure.

As long as Concubine Xiao Shufei and Prince Jin sit in that position, Qin Ming will definitely feel a lot of pressure.

"Of course it has to be paid, but how and when to pay it still needs to be discussed."

Qin Ming looked at Wan Shu, who was graceful and peaceful beside him, and spoke with a smile.

If he tried hard enough, he could come up with 300,000 taels of silver.

There must be many knowledgeable people in the court who gave advice to Concubine Xiao Shufei.

Otherwise, these guys wouldn't have calculated so accurately and given Qin Ming the maximum punishment.

Sadly, this is of no use.

Any rules must be based on the strong deterrence of force.

If Qin Ming cheated with them, they actually had no way to stop him.

"Do you really want to hand it over? No, absolutely not!"

Wan Shu didn't understand what he meant and just thought that Qin Ming had to pay 300,000 taels.

She even raised her voice a bit.

Several merchants who were toasting each other around also cast doubtful glances at him at this moment.

This made Wan Shu, who was always dignified, blush slightly.

In front of so many people, the two of them were talking in low voices.

It always looks a bit bad.

However, Qin Ming didn't care about these things. Seeing Wan Shu's embarrassment, he stood up and said:

"Everyone, I'll leave the rest of the matter to you."

"No, no, Your Highness, you should also take care of our business."

Everyone laughed and immediately boasted about their business with him.

Only then did he finally leave.

After they left, Qin Ming and Wan Shu returned to the courtyard where they lived.

When Shi Yujin's men who were guarding the door saw Qin Ming coming back, they immediately ran to report.

Soon, Shi Yujin came to the door angrily.

"Your Highness is such a busy man! Even the imperial court has a hard time finding you!"

As soon as he entered the front hall, he spoke in a sarcastic tone, expressing his dissatisfaction with Qin Ming for leaving him aside.

Qin Ming did not indulge him and said calmly:

"This king is usually very busy, so it is indeed difficult to find ordinary people."

When Shi Yujin heard that Qin Ming classified him as a random person, he was immediately furious.

He sneered and took out the court documents.

"Your Highness, you've been causing chaos in Jiangnan recently. This is the punishment the court has imposed on you. It was jointly decided by the Imperial Clan Court and the Ministry of Rites. Do you have any objections?"

Snap!

Shi Yujin acted like a victor and slammed the court documents directly on the table in front of him.

In his opinion, no matter how much Qin Ming escapes, it will only be temporary.

This is of no use at all and cannot prevent the court from punishing him.

So in the end, Qin Ming was the one who suffered the loss!

However, after Shi Yujin placed the things in front of Qin Ming with great satisfaction.

After waiting for a long time, I found that Qin Ming did not move.

"Would you like to take a look?"

Shi Yujin knocked on the document in front of him.

Qin Ming pushed it aside.

"I know everything. Don't waste your time looking."

The court's punishment at this stage was nothing, and he had no interest in seeing it.

Because after this, there will be even more important news coming out.

He asked Chang Baishan to kill someone.

Judging from the time, the two brothers of the Xiao family should die in the next two days.

That was when the imperial court was truly shaken.

"I will give you three hundred thousand taels of silver, but I don't have the money right now. I hope the court can deduct it from my salary first. When I have money in the future, I will definitely pay it back as soon as possible."

Qin Ming spread his hands and acted like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.

"That won't work!"

Shi Yujin immediately and firmly refused.

There is no such thing as deduction or grace period.

It's obvious that he doesn't want to pay!

"Then there's nothing we can do. Go talk to the court and ask them to send some people over to sell off my property."

"But my fortune is estimated to be only a few thousand taels of silver, which is definitely not enough to fill this hole..."

Qin Ming sighed and looked heartbroken.

"Your business is so big, how could you not have money in your account?"

Shi Yujin immediately retorted.

Qin Ming stretched out a finger and shook it, explaining earnestly:

"Business is business, and cash is cash. Which businessman would keep so much money on hand?"

"Once you have money, everyone will choose to continue investing it and expand the business. I wonder if Lord Shi can understand this?"

Shi Yujin was speechless after hearing his set of fallacies and heresies.

But he still said firmly:

"Impossible! I can't go back and report to the court like this. You must pay me!"

No matter what, Shi Yujin came here this time with a mission from Concubine Xiao Shufei.

The purpose is to make Qin Ming pay the price.

It would be best to curb Qin Ming's development in Jiangnan.

This will give the Xiao family some breathing space.

But unfortunately, an official like him from the Ministry of Clan Affairs is not even as good as the person who came from the Censorate last time.

Qin Ming could easily deal with it with just a few words.

"Okay, if you give it to me, the textile and salt industries in Jiangnan, including Lingnan, will be paralyzed, and chaos will break out everywhere. If Lord Shi can take responsibility, I will sell all the goods I have now to raise money for the court."

"you……!"

Shi Yujin was extremely angry, but didn't know how to refute.

Qin Ming is now deeply bound to these two places and has even become the president of the textile industry associations of the two places.

Anyone who dares to touch him will have the industry here paralyzed.

Especially Jiangnan, which has been a prosperous place since ancient times, contributing huge amounts of silver and supplies to the imperial court every year.

This feels a bit like using the emperor to control the princes.

Putting down the teacup in his hand, Qin Ming stood up and slowly walked to Shi Yujin.

He patted his shoulder as if he were a younger brother.

"Master Shi, Jiangnan has been in turmoil recently. Your mission has ended. Why don't you go back early?"

As he finished speaking, several guards armed with swords slowly walked out of the yard.

At this moment, Shi Yujin was finally a little scared.