After returning to the capital to farm, the abandoned concubine made a comeback.

The thing writhing in the shadows was a long, thin, venomous snake!

It flicked its tongue and hissed, making a chilling sound.

Zhu Ling reacted quickly, stepping on the snake's vital spot. The snake twitched violently a few times and then stopped moving.

"It seems some people are already impatient to make their move." Lin Qin's face was gloomy and her tone was icy.

Inside the Prince's mansion, someone actually dared to so blatantly poison her; it was simply outrageous!

"Qin'er, don't be afraid, I will protect you." Zhu Ling shielded Lin Qin behind him.

Lin Qin took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Let's go back to our room first."

Upon returning to her room, Lin Qin immediately instructed her servants to inspect all the food.

Sure enough, a small packet of poison was found in the delivered snacks.

"What a vicious method!" Lin Qin clenched her fists. It seemed that this Prince's mansion was indeed fraught with danger.

She immediately strengthened her defenses and began a covert investigation into who was behind it all.

At the same time, the business competition intensified.

Manager Sun, in league with other merchants, suppressed Lin Qin's shop in an attempt to drive her out of the Beijing market.

Lin Qin did not sit idly by; she responded proactively, using her business acumen and modern marketing techniques to defuse crisis after crisis.

She launched new products to attract customers; held promotional events to stimulate consumption; and even integrated online and offline channels to make her business grow bigger and bigger, giving Manager Sun a good slap in the face.

"This woman is really hard to deal with!" Manager Sun gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.

Inside the Prince's mansion, Zhou, a maid, sneaked into Lin Qin's room and secretly poured a packet of medicine powder into the teapot.

"Hmph, let's see if you don't die this time!" Zhou, the maid, sneered and turned to leave.

Lin Qin returned to her room and felt thirsty, so she picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Your Highness, this tea..." a maidservant suddenly spoke up.

Lin Qin paused, her hand holding the teacup still, and looked sharply at the maid. "What's wrong?"

The maid hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered her courage and said, "I just saw that Zhou was acting suspiciously around the teapot..."

Lin Qin instantly understood. She calmly put down her teacup and said, "I understand. You may leave."

After the maid left, Lin Qin sneered and poured the tea into the flowerpot. Ha, a mere trick!

That evening, Lin Qin dressed up and attended a gathering of the Beijing Chamber of Commerce.

Upon seeing her, Manager Sun said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, isn't this our Boss Lin? Your business is so big, your methods are truly 'brilliant'!"

He deliberately emphasized the word "brilliant," drawing sidelong glances from the surrounding merchants.

"What do you mean by that, Manager Sun?" Lin Qin raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"What do you mean? Everyone knows!" Manager Sun sneered. "You're using unfair competition and disrupting market order. Do you really think we're all fools?"

Other merchants echoed this sentiment, accusing Lin Qin of disrupting the market and demanding an explanation from her.

For a moment, the party was filled with an atmosphere of arguing.

"Oh? Unfair means? I'd like to hear what kind of unfair means I used?" Lin Qin looked around at everyone, her tone calm but carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"You..." Manager Sun was speechless for a moment. He only wanted to take the opportunity to suppress Lin Qin, but he did not have any specific evidence.

Lin Qin sneered and began to fight back.

She analyzed the current market situation in a clear and logical manner, and listed her own business strategies to prove that her business model was completely legal and compliant.

"You are all business people, and you should understand that moderate competition is beneficial to market development. What I've done is simply to adapt to market demand and launch better products and services. How can that be considered unfair?"

She spoke eloquently, with clear logic and detailed data, which made some of the merchants present begin to waver.

They were simply incited by Manager Sun and hadn't seriously considered the issue.

“Manager Sun, you say I’m disrupting the market, but my shop is thriving and full of customers. Isn’t that the market’s recognition of me?” Lin Qin pressed on, her tone sharp. “On the contrary, you’re stuck in your ways, clinging to old ways, and your business is declining. Shouldn’t you reflect on your own problems?”

Manager Sun was speechless and his face turned ashen.

The atmosphere at the gathering gradually changed, and what was initially one-sided accusations turned into doubt and reflection.

Lin Qin smiled slightly, raised her glass, and said, "Gentlemen, the business world is like a battlefield, and victory and defeat are common occurrences. Instead of attacking each other, let's join hands and create greater value together."

She gracefully downed the wine in her glass, then turned and left, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment.

Upon returning to the Prince's residence, Lin Qin noticed that Zhu Ling's face was terribly gloomy.

He held an empty medicine packet in his hand, staring coldly at the maid Zhou, and asked, word by word, "What is this?"

The maid Zhou was so frightened that she trembled all over, her face turned pale, and she stammered, unable to speak.

She never expected that she would be caught red-handed by the prince.

"Your Highness, spare me! This servant...this servant was just confused for a moment..." Zhou, the maid, knelt on the ground, desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Zhu Ling's eyes were cold, devoid of any pity.

"A moment of confusion? You almost killed the princess, and you think you can shirk responsibility with just a 'moment of confusion'?"

He threw the medicine packet in front of Zhou, the maid, and demanded, "Speak! Who ordered you to do this?"

The maid Zhou trembled all over, her eyes darting around, and she dared not reveal the mastermind behind it all.

"Not going to talk?" Zhu Ling sneered. "Looks like you're going to have to suffer the consequences."

Just as he was about to order severe torture, Lin Qin suddenly spoke up: "Your Highness, wait."

Zhu Ling looked at Lin Qin,

Lin Qin walked up to Zhou, squatted down, and said gently, "I know you were also acting under someone's orders. If you're willing to reveal who's behind it all, I can spare your life."

The maid hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not resist the temptation to live, and tremblingly uttered a name: "It's...it's Madam Li..."

"Madam Li?" Lin Qin and Zhu Ling exchanged a glance, a knowing look flashing in their eyes.

Madam Li was Prince Zhao's concubine, and she always regarded Lin Qin as a thorn in her side, opposing her at every turn.

"Bring Madam Li here!" Zhu Ling ordered, and the guards immediately went to arrest Madam Li.

When Lin Qin returned to her room, Zhu Ling hugged her tightly, his voice filled with self-reproach: "Qin'er, I'm so sorry you had to suffer like this."

Lin Qin gently patted Zhu Ling's back and softly comforted him, "I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

Although she said she was fine, Lin Qin started to make plans in her mind.

This incident made her realize that in the capital city, kindness and compassion alone are not enough.

Manager Sun's relentless pressure and Madam Li's insidious ruthlessness made her feel a deep sense of malice.

She has to take some tough measures to protect herself and those around her.

"System, do you have any suggestions?" Lin Qin asked silently in her mind.

The system replied in a childish voice, "Host, we suggest you use the 'Business Sanctions' function to launch a precise strike against Manager Sun."

Lin Qin pondered for a moment. Although this method was effective, it might affect her business image in the capital.

She needs to find a balance that allows her to effectively strike at her opponents while maintaining her own image.

Even though it was late at night, the light was still on in Lin Qin's room.

She sat at the table, holding a document about merchants in the capital, her brow furrowed.

Suddenly, a cold smile appeared on her lips.

“Since you want to play, then I’ll play along…” She picked up a pen and signed her name on a document. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you what real business tactics are…”

She put down her pen, got up and walked to the window. Looking at the dark night sky outside, she murmured to herself, "The game has only just begun..."

The next morning, Lin Qin got up early, changed into a gorgeous dress, and prepared to go out.

"Your Highness, where are you going?" Butler Wang asked respectfully.

Lin Qin smiled slightly, her tone tinged with mystery: "Going to meet an old friend..."

Lin Qin's lips curled into a cold smile. What a perfect example of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind"!

That fool Zhou maid thinks that everything will be fine once she gets close to Madam Li?

Little did she know, Madam Li was merely a pawn in Prince Zhao's hands.

"Steward Wang, go and invite Madam Li and Prince Zhao to the front hall," Lin Qin instructed, her tone tinged with amusement.

Soon, people from all walks of life gathered in the front hall of the Prince's Mansion.

Prince Zhao remained arrogant, while Madam Li looked terrified, and the maid Zhou knelt on the ground, trembling.

Lin Qin slowly walked to the front of the crowd, cleared her throat, and said, "I invited you all here today because I want to show you a good show."

She pointed at the maid Zhou, "This maid was instructed by someone to poison my tea. Can you guess who instructed her?"

Madam Li lowered her head guiltily, while Prince Zhao looked disdainful. "What trouble can a mere maid cause? Lin Qin, stop pretending!"

"Is that so?" Lin Qin chuckled lightly, looking at the maid Zhou. "Tell me, who instructed you to frame me?"

The maidservant Zhou stammered, not daring to speak directly.

"It's alright, if you won't tell, I will." Lin Qin slammed her hand on the table, startling everyone. "The one who instigated her is Prince Zhao! Madam Li, you're nothing but a scapegoat pushed out by Prince Zhao!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

Prince Zhao's face instantly turned ashen, and he roared, "Lin Qin, you're talking nonsense! How could I, a prince, do such a despicable thing!"

Lin Qin shrugged, looking completely innocent. "Your Highness, I didn't say you personally poisoned the animals. I just said that someone instructed my maid to do it, and that person just happened to be one of your subordinates."

She took out a letter from her sleeve, which was evidence that Prince Zhao had secretly contacted Zhou's maid.

The moment Prince Zhao saw the letter, his face turned deathly pale.

He never expected that Lin Qin would see through his plan!

The people in the Prince's mansion were all talking about it, pointing and whispering about Prince Zhao.

Prince Zhao felt his face burning, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

Looking at Prince Zhao's disheveled appearance, Lin Qin sneered inwardly; this was just the beginning.

However, the commercial war did not stop because of the farce at the Prince's Mansion.

Manager Sun, still harboring wicked intentions, joined forces with other merchants to plan a major operation, aiming to completely squeeze Lin Qin out of the Beijing market.

Meanwhile, having suffered such a great loss, Prince Zhao would certainly not let it go easily and was already secretly plotting a new conspiracy to completely bring down Lin Qin and Zhu Ling.

It seems that the waters of the capital are becoming increasingly murky.

Zhu Ling returned to the room and looked at Lin Qin's profile, her eyes filled with worry. "Qin'er, what should we do next?"

Lin Qin smiled slightly. "Since they want to play, then we'll play along to the end!"

She picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and said, "The waters of the capital are about to get even more lively..."