Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Lord Zhenguo, please calm down. Yang Song is merely a clerk in charge of the weaving workshop. There are many things he cannot decide. Why bother arguing with him?"

Fa Xiaozhi smiled and tried to smooth things over for Yang Song, gesturing with his eyes for Yang Song to quickly say a few nice words.

Yang Song immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Duke Zhenguo, I am but a lowly eighth-rank official. How could I possibly oppose you?"

I hope that you, Duke Zhenguo, will be magnanimous and not hold it against me.

"Did I say I wanted to stoop to your level?" Shen Lang asked with a half-smile. "Lord Yang, aren't you being a bit too suspicious?"

From the beginning until now, I haven't said or done anything, so why are you making it seem like I'm the one making things difficult for you? I'm not taking the blame for this.

Yang Song's face twitched violently: "The Duke of Zhenguo's lack of anger and punishment only makes this humble servant more fearful and uneasy. Regarding the silk inventory..."

However, this matter concerns my life. If the Duke of Zhenguo insists on pursuing this matter, then I will have no choice but to atone with my death.

Shen Lang hurriedly waved his hand: "No, please don't die in front of me. It'll make it seem like I forced you to your death. If you really want to die, go home and find a rope to hang yourself."

Seeing that Shen Lang wouldn't budge regardless of persuasion or coercion, and maintained a strictly businesslike attitude, Yang Song became completely anxious.

"Lord Zhenguo, please spare my life! I know I have made a grave mistake, and I am afraid I will not survive this time. Please, Lord Zhenguo, show mercy."

"What exactly are you trying to do? This Duke of Guo is truly puzzled." Shen Lang flicked his sleeve and looked at Fa Xiaozhi, saying, "Xiaozhi, what exactly is going on with Lord Yang?"

Fa Xiaozhi smiled slightly and returned the greeting, saying, "The Duke of Zhenguo discovered something amiss during his inspection of the inventory today. Brother Yang is in charge of the weaving workshop's operations."

If investigated afterward, he would be the first to be punished. Even if the Duke of Zhenguo is merciful and doesn't hold it against him, the Prince of Shu's mansion would likely not tolerate him if they found out.

"Lord Zhenguo, you are a magnanimous man with a compassionate heart; please give him some advice."

"A heart of a bodhisattva? Hahaha"

Shen Lang chuckled and couldn't help but point at Fa Xiaozhi and laugh.

"I've heard plenty of flattery, but only you, Fa Xiaozhi, dare to so blatantly lie."

This flattery is so blatant, even I wouldn't believe it, let alone outsiders. Hahaha.

"Haha, there's no such thing as too many nice words. As long as it can amuse the Duke of Zhenguo, what's wrong with that?"

"Come in and talk."

Shen Lang waved his hand, signaling everyone to come inside.

After entering the main hall, Shen Lang pointed to Zhen Yi and said to Fa Xiaozhi, "This is Zhen Yi, the president of the Jiangnan Silk Association. His ancestors have been merchants for generations and are extremely wealthy. You can visit each other more often in the future."

Fa Xiaozhi immediately bowed to Zhen Yi and said, "Manager Zhen, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zhen Yi immediately replied, "The law official is indeed dignified; it is truly an honor to meet him today."

"Manager Zhen, you're too kind. Once I'm done with my business, I'll do my best to be a good host and invite you to try my Sichuan Mapo Soup."

"Okay, sure."

After the two quickly became acquainted, Shen Lang was already sitting at the desk, leaning back in his chair, and said, "Alright, you two can talk again later. Since you, Fa Xiaozhi, have spoken up..."

"Then, Your Excellency, please grant us the honor and let us discuss how to resolve this issue."

Seeing that Shen Lang had agreed, Yang Song's hope was rekindled, and he hurriedly thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Duke Zhenguo, for giving me this opportunity."

"Don't thank me yet," Shen Lang stopped him. "The problem isn't solved yet. Have you thought of a solution?"

Yang Song replied, "Duke Zhenguo, this is what I'm thinking: the inferior fabrics should be reworked immediately, and those with uneven dyeing and prone to fading should be re-sized by the dye house."

As for those raw silk materials with problems, we'll first transfer them from other warehouses to make up the difference, aiming to gather 30,000 bolts of silk by the end of the month, with the remainder to be supplied after the new silk is produced.

Do you think it's feasible to process and repair them all at once?

Shen Lang picked up the teacup, glanced at it, but did not react immediately.

Zhen Yi immediately said, "Then where does Lord Yang plan to source the cloth? There are nearly four thousand bolts of substandard cloth alone, which is no small number."

Furthermore, the 58,000 bolts of Shu brocade you told the Duke of Zhenguo were more than half the actual amount delivered. Even the 30,000 bolts delivered at the end of the month were still half the expected amount.

"Aren't you putting the Duke of Zhenguo in a difficult position? How is he going to explain this to His Majesty when he returns to the palace?"

"This……"

"Lord Yang, although I come from a merchant family, I believe in integrity above all else in business."

Let alone someone of Duke Zhenguo's status, even ordinary people who come to my shop to do business...

The principle of trust is paramount. If a customer's conditions are truly impossible to fulfill, prior notification is required so that a suitable solution can be discussed.

Instead of resorting to underhanded tactics at this critical juncture, Lord Yang, the weaving workshop is, after all, a government-run silk workshop.

"By doing this, you'll only tarnish the reputation of merchants from Sichuan."

Yang Song felt extremely ashamed after being lectured by a merchant.

How could he not know such a simple truth? But after all, he was working for the King of Shu, and many times he really had no choice in the matter.

Fa Xiaozhi, standing nearby, also advised, "Brother Yang, what Manager Zhen said makes sense. It's the way of the merchant..."

Trust should be the priority. How can the Duke of Zhenguo help you with such underhanded methods?

"I……"

"Alright, Lord Yang," Shen Lang interrupted Yang Song, "You can listen to those inspirational quotes if you want, or you can skip them."

"Since it's already happened, let's deal with it one step at a time. First, let's talk about where to get the irreparable silk."

Yang Song hurriedly replied, "This subordinate will take some from the Guanzhong Chamber of Commerce's inventory to replenish it later."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang turned his gaze back to Zhen Yi.

Zhen Yi asked, "May I ask, Lord Yang, how many bolts of horsemanship do the powerful clans of Guanzhong possess?"

"More than 45,000 horses."

"Oh, so you mean the silk prepared for the powerful clans in Guanzhong was more than that prepared for the imperial court, and the quality was better?"

Zhen Yi's questioning was tantamount to putting Yang Song in a difficult position once again.

Only then did he realize that working in the weaving workshop was truly difficult, especially when dealing with someone like Shen Lang who was always asking probing questions.

But then Shen Lang added, "Using cloth from Guanzhong merchants to make up for the shortage here, if word gets out..."

Won't people think His Majesty is too autocratic? To actually compete with local powerful clans for Shu brocade?

These words frightened Yang Song so much that he immediately knelt down.

He never expected that his idea would not only fail to solve the problem, but would create an even bigger one.

Now that things have come to this, he has no choice but to bite the bullet and face the consequences.

"Duke Zhenguo, this really has nothing to do with me!"

Yang Song simply told everyone he knew.

"Although I am in charge of the weaving workshop, everyone in the workshop obeys the Prince's orders."

"Actually, the silk prepared for merchants in Guanzhong was originally intended to be supplied to the imperial court first."

However, at the prince's command, the newly produced silk brocade was immediately prioritized for supply to merchants in Guanzhong.

As for the problematic Shu brocades in the palace, many were collected from small workshops in the countryside to make up the numbers, hence their extremely poor quality.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang couldn't help but ask, "Why prioritize supplying raw silk to the powerful clans of Guanzhong?"

"Isn't the Prince doing this to cultivate relationships with the prominent families of Guanzhong?" Yang Song sighed. "And what the Duke of Zhenguo doesn't know is..."

The Shu brocade that the prince provided to Guanzhong was not only of superior quality, but also priced a full tael of gold lower than that supplied to the imperial court.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yi's expression immediately changed: "This prince is going too far. His Majesty kindly sent him such a large business deal..."

How could he treat His Majesty like that? Isn't this deliberately trying to embarrass His Majesty and the Duke of Zhenguo?

Shen Lang smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Since the agreement has been signed, it should be paid the agreed amount."

"My lord is not such a petty person, but the provisions of this contract must be strictly observed."