newbobooks Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Su Qin's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile as she said, "How could I blame the Marquis' wife? There's nothing wrong with her actions. After all, given the current situation, it's not appropriate for us to confront Prince Liang head-on. Therefore, we must not let Princess Liang spend too much money with us, lest he focus his attention on our auction. We should act with caution and keep a low profile."
Qi Lusheng, who was standing by, couldn't help but feel a bit amused when hearing this. He responded, "We've caused quite a stir today. I'm afraid the whole of Shangjing City will be buzzing about our auction tomorrow. Even if we want to keep a low profile, I'm afraid it won't be possible."
Su Qin shook her head slightly and said slowly, "There's a difference between the two. No matter how much sensation our auction caused today, or how much money we made, it all boils down to the fact that everyone had never seen an auction before, and they found it novel and interesting, so it was just an impulse move. This was purely a commercial operation."
When those who participated in the auction and won the products return home and calm down, most of them tend to regret and blame themselves for blindly following the crowd and raising the price.
Therefore, such an extremely popular scene usually only appears when the game is first launched. Later, as the novelty wears off and the public becomes accustomed to it, it will become extremely difficult to recreate such a hot atmosphere and earn their money.
The Prince of Liang naturally realized the truth behind this. At this moment, his entire attention must have been focused on the Emperor. A mere 300,000 taels of silver was nothing to the wealthy Prince of Liang's Mansion.
Therefore, he currently has no time to distract himself from our situation. However, if we act too ostentatiously and draw too much attention and discussion, then he will undoubtedly take the time and energy to pay special attention to our every move.
Qi Lusheng nodded. "But today, Princess Liang said she wanted to take pictures of all the headpieces for the Twelve Flower Gods. That way, there will inevitably be competition with others. My mother can't persuade others every time someone competes with her. Today, Master Qiao of the Duke of Lu agreed, but he gave my mother face. But not everyone will give my mother face. After all, there are many princesses and old ladies in the capital who are of higher status than Princess Liang. What if we can't stop her in the future and she raises the price too high? Should we charge her less money every time?"
Su Qin said comfortingly, "Don't worry, not every set of the Twelve Flower Gods' headpieces I designed will match Princess Liang's age and status.
For example, the next set, the apricot blossom-themed one, is specially prepared for young girls who are about to reach the age of marriage. Princess Liang is no longer suitable, and neither is her young daughter. When her daughter reaches the age of marriage, we will launch a new theme. So, even if she bought this set of headwear, it would be in vain.
She insisted on collecting all the twelve flower gods' headpieces, not out of genuine love, but simply for the sake of so-called face, to make others look at her differently and respect her more. As long as we frequently release a product that suits her, highlights her noble status, and others won't compete with her for it, that's all that's needed."
Qi Lusheng gave Su Qin a thumbs-up and praised her, "You've got a brilliant idea! You have no idea how worried my mother is. She gets terribly worried when she thinks about Prince Liang constantly raising the price and competing with other ladies for items. She also mentioned that Princess Liang's attitude towards her was very different today, unusually enthusiastic. I'm afraid Prince Liang is trying to win over my father. My mother asked me to ask you, if Prince Liang really does try to win over my father, what should we do?"
Su Qin frowned slightly and pondered for a long moment before speaking. "In my opinion, Prince Liang must be extremely anxious after failing to destroy the Emperor's reputation, so much so that he's considering resorting to force. Now that he's trying to win over the Marquis, don't panic. Just approach him as usual. Don't reject him outright, but don't be overly flattering either."
The Marquis resolutely resigned from office and retired for many years, strictly forbidding you from entering officialdom. King Liang was well aware of this, knowing that the Marquis was a timid person with no desire to get involved in the disputes of the court. If the Marquis had agreed without hesitation when he first tried to win you over, it would have seemed too false and contrived, and King Liang, with his shrewdness, would certainly not have believed it.
However, if you reject him forcefully and completely anger him, you will likely be in danger. Therefore, the best strategy is to maintain a neutral stance, neither siding with him nor explicitly rejecting him. When King Liang truly launches a military attack, you simply need to stay out of the situation and not get involved.
If the King of Liang pushes too hard, the Marquis can also express a degree of support at the right time, superficially agreeing to his demands. This will allow the King of Liang to relax his guard, and we can also use this opportunity to plant our own spies among his troops. When the day of the uprising arrives, he will be convinced that the troops he has recruited are all loyal to him, but he does not know who these troops actually obey!
Qi Lusheng's eyes widened as he looked at the person in front of him in disbelief, his voice unconsciously rising eight octaves: "What? You actually asked my father to pretend to obey but actually disobey! How can this be? What if his acting is not good and he messes things up?" After saying this, his face was full of worry.
Hearing this, Su Qin couldn't help but laugh out loud. Her clear, melodious laughter echoed through the room like a silver bell. "How can this be considered lip service? If the King of Liang instructed you to win over some generals, then you should do so. However, on a battlefield filled with smoke and the roar of killing, it's not uncommon for generals to defect in the middle of a battle. If they choose to rebel, it can only be blamed on the King of Liang's own inability to win over the people. How can you blame you?"
Qi Lusheng had a strange expression on his face, staring at Su Qin for a long moment. He then sighed deeply and said in a complicated tone, "I never thought a young girl like you could be so intelligent and yet so deep and sinister."
Su Qin slowly put away her smile upon hearing this and turned to look out the window. It was sunset, and the afterglow shone through the window onto her fair face, illuminating her clear and deep eyes. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her expression solemn, as if lost in deep thought.
After a long moment, she softly said, "These days, it's hard for people who aren't a little cunning to survive. Only by being more cunning can you live longer."
This sentence was like a thunderclap, exploding in Qi Lusheng's ears, making him tremble in his heart. He couldn't imagine what Su Qin had experienced that made such a sweet and thin woman say such deep and painful words.
After a long while, he took out all the banknotes and handed them to Su Qin: "This is all the banknotes I earned today. Father said that our mansion has no shortage of money. I'll give it all to you. You can use it to raise troops or do other things. It's better than leaving it useless in the mansion."
Su Qin took the banknotes, took out some from them and handed them back: "The costs we used before were all the inventory in the Marquis' Mansion and the Imperial Palace, but if we want to do this business for a long time, we can't always take things from home out to exchange.
Foreign merchants have no channels to find what they want, but I believe the Marquisate should have a way to find merchants to get the goods that foreigners like.
Even if the Marquisate can't find it, I'll have Liangchen go to the Emperor and ask him to instruct some imperial merchants to allocate some goods to us. When the time comes, the Marquisate will be responsible for purchasing the goods, and you can keep this money as capital."
Qi Lusheng originally wanted to say that the Marquis' Mansion had the silver as capital, but after thinking about the emperor's matter, he took the banknote.
"Oh, there's one more thing. My mother promised Mr. Qiao from the Duke of Lu's mansion that she would design a special headpiece for the Empress. He's a bit of a scoundrel, and if I can't do it after I promised him, he'll probably make a scene."
He looked at Su Qin apologetically: "So, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with this drawing."