Chapter 25: Mao Sui

  Zhao Xiaocheng Wang originally thought that Qin Yiren was going to say something big, but unexpectedly, he actually mentioned profit and money, just like a lowly, status-less, and identity-less merchant. What kind of prince is this?

  "Benefit... benefit... money?" Zhao Xiao Cheng stared blankly for half a moment before he finally believed that he hadn't misheard.

  "That's right, it's interest." Qin Yiren nodded heavily and began to count on his fingers: "In the past three years, how much of my goods have you detained? If I had used these goods for trade, I would have made a lot of money. Can't that be considered interest?"

  "What's this, a noble son doing business? It's beneath someone of your standing, Zhao Xiaocheng is just trying to remind you kindly."

  "Who says princes can't do business? Which law stipulates that princes can't do business?" Qin Yiren was reasonable and wouldn't let others off easily.

  "Hmm!" Zhao Xiaocheng King made a grinding sound with his teeth, but he had no words to answer. The prince cannot do business, it is an unwritten rule, and it has not been written into the law, Zhao Xiaocheng King was speechless.

  "Are you really stupid or just pretending to be?" Qin Yiren glared and pointed at Pingyuan Jun, saying: "Zhao Sheng is also a prince of the royal family, considered a royal grandson. His business has become so big."

  "What does this have to do with me?" Ping Yuan Jun was puzzled, wondering how he had been dragged into this.

  "I asked you, you have thousands of guests, relying on your meager salary and taxes, is it enough to support them? If you don't do business, where does the money come from to feed thousands of guests?" Qin Yiren exposed Pingyuan Jun's scars.

  The Plain Master entertained thousands of guests, spending hundreds of kilograms of gold daily. If he didn't do business, no matter what, he couldn't afford it. He was immediately left speechless, slapping his own mouth, and secretly blaming himself: "What's the use of having a big mouth? Isn't this self-inflicted?"

  The clever Plain Lord quickly shut his mouth and stopped speaking.

  Not only Pingyuan Jun made a big deal, but also Xinling Jun, Chunshen Jun and Mengchang Jun, which one of them did not make a big deal?

  "How much silver does the young master want?" Zhao Xiaocheng was speechless and had to take a step back.

  "Ten thousand gold!" Qin Yiren only replied with two words, but it stunned the king and his ministers of Zhao, filling the entire hall with silence.

  The three battles of Changping had exhausted Zhao's treasury, and it was questionable whether the entire state still had 10,000 taels of gold left. Qin's demand was truly audacious, demanding a sum of 10,000 taels; why not just go rob?

  "What's wrong? Is it not enough? You're so generous, I don't want to decline your kindness, let's just... " Qin Yiren smiled warmly, but was as cunning as a fox.

  "Prince, isn't this too much?" Zhao Xiaocheng hastily cried out in distress.

  Even if Zhao sold his king, he couldn't get a sum of ten thousand gold, how could he not be worried?

  "Your Highness, a hundred pieces of gold." Zhao Xiaocheng Wang gritted his teeth, his voice very low, almost inaudible.

  Considering the current state of Zhao, it's not just a matter of 100 gold coins, even 10 gold coins are important. Who would have thought that the great King of Zhao would use 100 gold coins to buy someone off? He himself felt embarrassed and his face turned red with shame.

  "How dare you utter such words!" Qin Yiren rebuked sternly and righteously.

  "Gentlemen, to be honest with you, the entire Zhao state treasury doesn't even have 10,000 left, and there are many places where money is needed." King Xiang of Zhao was really pressed for an answer, and actually revealed such a secret.

  "How much did you give?" Qin Yiren was shocked for a moment, Zhao Guo had been consumed so badly, then how about Qin Guo?

  There is a saying that "killing one thousand enemies, losing eight hundred of our own", after three years of the Changping Great War, Zhao State, a first-rate warring state, was consumed to such an extent, Qin State should not be much better off either.

  Two hundred.

  "No way!"

  "Three hundred!"

  "Four hundred!"

  "Five hundred!"

  "Deal!"

  King Zhao of Chu haggled with Qin's envoy over the price, just like a farmer selling cabbages, without any dignity befitting a king.

  All the officials present looked on with a bitter smile, shaking their heads. This is the imperial court, not a marketplace, and certainly not a place for haggling over prices, let alone with Zhao Xiao Cheng Wang.

  What's most ridiculous is that Zhao Xiaocheng actually added 100 gold, 100 gold, and still has the demeanor of a king?

  Qin Yiren saw that Zhao Xiaocheng Wang was a tough nut to crack, and knew he had no other choice, so he settled for 500 pieces of gold.

  "It's finally over." Zhao Xiaocheng Wang secretly congratulated himself. Qin Yiren wasn't too greedy after all, and 500 gold was enough to settle the matter.

  "It's time for the plague god to leave!" The Earl of Pingyuan also secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  However, Pingyuan Jun had not yet let out a breath of relief when he saw Qin Yiren staring at him like a hunter eyeing his prey. Pingyuan Jun felt a sense of foreboding and hastily asked, "What do you want to do?"

  "Let's settle the account." Qin Yiren stretched out his dry right hand, holding Pingyuan Jun's hand, as if seeing an old friend, and smiled extremely happily: "Three years have passed, you've tormented this young master so many times, tell me, how should we calculate this debt?"

  Qin Yiren was imprisoned for three years and served as a punching bag for Pingyuan Jun for three years, and the accounts in between were too numerous to count.

  The Pingyuan Jun hastily sought help from Zhao Xiaocheng, but saw that Zhao Xiaocheng's eyes were fixed on the top of the hall, as if there was a beautiful woman dancing on the top of the hall, he was very focused and immersed.

  Kidding aside, Qin Yi is a jinx now, whoever messes with him will be unlucky.

  "My lord, I am willing to pay a hundred pieces of gold." The Marquis of Pingyuan knew that he could no longer avoid it.

  "Pah!" Qin Yiren spat, cursing: "Is the eldest son of the first great warring state really so worthless? I don't want your gold, just torment me for three years and that's enough. Whatever way you choose to torment me, I'll repay it to you, not a single thread more." Qin Yiren's face turned stern, like a thousand-year-old ice.

  When torturing Qin Yiren, Pingyuan Jun was delighted. If he were to return it to him, he would be extremely dissatisfied and dare not agree. He hastily added: "Three hundred gold!"

  "Four hundred gold!"

  "Five hundred gold!"

  "Eight hundred gold!"

  "A thousand pieces of gold!"

  "Deal!"

  A sum of a thousand taels is no small amount, and Qin Yi was satisfied, finally ceasing to extort money from Ping Yuan Jun.

  Pingyuan Jun's face twitched with pain, and he muttered to himself: "This tiger-like Qin person is really ruthless!"

  "You are indeed a wealthy person, and it's no wonder that you were once a merchant king. " In the end, Qin Yiren still managed to insult Ping Yuanjun with a casual remark, emphasizing the two words "Wang Sun" heavily.

  One sentence made the king and ministers of Zhao state blush all over their faces. The princes doing business is very shameful, shamefulness has reached home!

  This matter is finally settled, and the king and ministers of Zhao secretly let out a sigh of relief. They didn't dare to keep the Qin stranger any longer, so King Xiaocheng of Zhao and Pingyuan Jun hastily ordered people to bring over wealth and goods, and instructed the red-robed swordsmen to escort him.

  "Don't be polite, no need to see me off!" Qin Yiren waved goodbye to Zhao Xiaocheng and Pingyuan with a familiar air of parting ways with old friends.

  Zhao Xiaocheng Wang and Pingyuan Jun looked at each other, hatred in their hearts, yet they couldn't help but wave goodbye, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for decades.

  "Prince, you're absolutely right! Absolutely right!" As soon as they left the imperial court, Meng Zhao and his four companions surrounded Qin Yiren and loudly praised him.

  They thought they would surely die, but unexpectedly, it ended like this. Not only did they not die, but they also got back the goods that Qin sent and lifted their house arrest.

  These were certainly delightful to them, but not the most delightful thing. What delighted them the most was that they found Qin Yiren to be exceptionally astute and had actually gained the upper hand in his exchanges with the ruler and ministers of Zhao, which was more important than anything else.

  "Tigers and wolves of Qin, halt!" Suddenly, a thunder-like voice rang out.

  Qin Yiren was shocked, they hadn't even left the palace of the King of Zhao yet, who was so bold as to block their way in front of the palace. Upon closer inspection, he saw a middle-aged man leading seven men with fierce momentum to come and block them.

  "Who are you?" Qin Yiren asked in a low and stern voice.

  "In the lower plains, a humble guest at your gate, Mao Sui!" The middle-aged man replied loudly, his eyebrows standing upright like a sharp sword out of its scabbard.