Your Majesty said that my life is worthless, so why are you crying when I increase my troops?

"wrong?"

The cane that Sun Yaozu raised did not fall in the end.

"I ask you, what did you do wrong?"

Sun Wenju complained, "I shouldn't have been so impulsive as to bet with others, and I shouldn't have underestimated Xia Mingyuan's ability."

"That's more like it!" Sun Yaozu's expression softened a bit. "One hundred thousand taels of silver is worth it to teach you a lesson."

"You can earn money again if you lose it, but if you continue to be so foolish, I'm afraid that even if you have more money in the future, you, a rebellious son, will not be able to protect the family business."

"Do you know why your father spent all 100,000 taels of silver today, but was reluctant to spend the last 10,000 taels?" Sun Yaozu said lightly.

Sun Wenju was slightly startled and said weakly, "This... Dad thinks that 10,000 taels of silver is not worth it for one less kowtow?"

"Wrong!" Sun Yaozu frowned. "How can a mere ten thousand taels of silver compare to my son's face?"

"Your father wants you to remember the humiliation Xia Mingyuan inflicted on you. No matter what, you must avenge it in the future!"

Sun Wenju's face was filled with resentment, and he nodded heavily, "Dad, you're right. Xia Mingyuan, that bastard, is too much. Just wait, sooner or later, I will kill this guy and avenge my previous humiliation!"

"Well, you do have some ambition." Sun Yaozu nodded in satisfaction. "Then tell me how you plan to deal with him."

Sun Wenju pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Dad, Xia Mingyuan has always been surrounded by guards, and most of his men are quite powerful. It would be difficult to kill him with only the people from our county government."

"I'm going to offer a large reward. It would be best if I could find those killers from Fengyu Tower and have them kill Xia Mingyuan!"

Sun Yaozu's mouth twitched, and he suddenly raised the cane and hit Sun Wenju on the back.

"Asshole, is this your solution?"

"Xia Mingyuan is from the Princess's residence. You two are sworn enemies now. If he were assassinated, how could the Princess not suspect us?"

"This...what should we do, Dad?"

Sun Wenju grimaced in pain and couldn't help but ask.

"Hmph! You pig-brained person. Let me ask you, what is Xia Mingyuan's identity?" Sun Yaozu asked calmly.

"The guards of the Princess's residence." Sun Wenju spread his hands. "Didn't you say that before?"

"If it weren't for this identity, he would have died eight hundred times already."

Sun Yaozu glared at him. "Since he is the guard of the princess's residence, if something happens to Her Royal Highness the Princess, who will be most responsible?"

Sun Wenju's eyes lit up and he slapped his thigh excitedly, "Yes, Dad, why didn't I think of that!"

"If something happens to the princess, Xia Mingyuan's head will definitely be in danger!"

"Then we can frame this bastard and have the court bring him to justice. Once he's in jail, we can do whatever we want to him!"

"That's more like it!" Sun Yaozu dropped the cane in his hand and said calmly, "If Her Royal Highness the Princess dies, Hanyang will still belong to our Sun family, and no one will protect Xia Mingyuan anymore."

"When the time comes, he'll take the blame. If the higher-ups start investigating, we can just push it off. The most important thing is, I saw Xia Mingyuan's army today. They're all top-notch soldiers, even better than the Imperial Guards. If we let him continue like this, and if he wipes out all the bandits, not only will we lose 130,000 taels of silver, but we'll also lose all our future income. So Xia Mingyuan must die. If he dies, the bet will be void! This kills three birds with one stone."

"high!"

“It’s really high.”

Sun Wen smiled broadly, got up from the ground, and walked over to Sun Yaozu. "You are the one who did the evil. My two tricks are nothing compared to yours."

"Ahem!" Sun Yaozu coughed and glared at Sun Wenju fiercely, "How can you talk like that? This is called strategy!"

"I've taught you countless times, you should read more military books and use your brain more. The martial arts world isn't just about fighting and killing, it's about the ways of the world!"

"Let's contact Fengyulou and ask them to lower the price. We can pay afterward to avoid those idiots asking for exorbitant prices."

"Okay, Dad!"

"Please be kind, old man. This time, that bastard Xia Mingyuan is dead!"

Sun Wenju's eyes were filled with resentment. "He ate a hundred thousand taels of silver from our family. I want him to spit it out in the same way he ate it!"

……

Huang's Grain Store.

In just half a day, Huang Renji's hair turned a lot whiter, and he sat there sighing.

He would never have thought that Xia Mingyuan actually had two thousand elite soldiers.

Sun Wenju lost the bet, and as a result, he completely offended this ancestor.

Recalling the harsh words Xia Mingyuan had said that day, telling him to fend for himself, Huang Renji could easily predict that if Xia Mingyuan didn't give his approval in the future, not a single grain of food would be able to enter Hanyang for his own grain team.

"Alas! If we can't get the grain at a low price from Jiangnan and the Central Plains, I'm afraid our grain store will be closed within half a month."

"What can we do!"

Huang Renji sighed again and looked up at his sons.

"You're a bunch of gluttons! Why don't you think of a way? Can you get food just by sitting here with me?"

Huang Renji's eldest son, Huang Youde, stood up weakly and said, "Dad, I feel that at this point, the most appropriate thing to do is to submit to Commander Xia."

"We are different from Master Sun. The grain store is a business. In the business world, as long as you spend a little more money, there are no grudges that cannot be overcome. What's more, we just didn't reach an agreement with Commander Xia last time. This time, if we show a little more sincerity, maybe he will agree!"

"Big brother is right, Dad. Didn't you always teach us that there are no enemies in the business world? Let's go to his house and persuade Commander Xia to surrender. He has hired Kunlun Security, so why don't we just hire guards from him at Huang's Grain Store and let him help transport the grain." The youngest son Huang Youcai echoed.

"Alas! You two brothers are right. At this point, this is all we can do." Huang Renji sighed, "If I had known earlier and directly agreed to this Xia Ancestor, our Huangji could have paid less."

"Now it's good. I've lost the money I sent to Sun Wenju, but I haven't even seen a trace of the 100,000 kilograms of grain that was stolen. Now that I'm here in person, I'm afraid they'll ask for exorbitant prices."

Huang Youde said, "Dad, things are different now. They belong to the Princess's Mansion and have soldiers and generals at their disposal. We can't do anything to them. If we don't pay some money, Huang's Grain Store will be wiped out sooner or later!"

"Alright, you don't need to say any more. I'll sacrifice my dignity and go there myself."

After saying that, he stood up with a helpless look on his face and straightened his clothes.

"Boss, prepare a generous gift and go to the Princess's residence. Together, we, father and son, will go and submit to this Commander Xia!"