There is a happy inn in the capital.

Chapter 422 Golden Camel Black

She was not aimless.

Based on Zoya's vague hints that night and her observations over the past few days...

She targeted a gemstone shop called "Old Nasser's Eye," which had the oldest sign, the fewest customers, but always had a few wary-looking homeless children squatting outside.

The shop owner was a thin, shrewd old man with keen eyes, and he wasn't particularly welcoming to Li Shuchen, who was clearly an outsider.

Li Shuchen wasn't in a hurry. He pretended to examine a few ordinary stones, lowered his voice, and used some half-baked jargon he had just learned from Ruan Jingshang.

"Old man, I heard that the 'pigeon blood' jade from the new mine in the west has a vibrant color, but it's full of impurities and difficult to cut? Do those with connections send it directly to the workshop behind the 'Golden Camel' trading company?"

The old man's droopy eyelids suddenly opened a crack, he gave her a sharp glance, then quickly closed them again, slowly exhaling smoke.

"Young lady, if you're buying stones, just look at the stones properly. Asking so many questions might just get sand in your eyes."

Li Shuchen smiled and placed a small piece of silver on the ground.

"I'm just curious. I heard that there are big shots in the palace behind the 'Golden Camel.' Even the little bit of 'water gallbladder' that the border people secretly dig out from the Wind-Eroded Valley has to go through their hands first, be skinned, before it's our turn to see it, right?"

The old man silently accepted the silver, no longer looking at her, only muttering something to the air.

"The wind-eroded valley... there's nothing decent left now. The good stuff was fenced off before it even came out of the ground. The scraps and leftovers had to be sifted through three times under the 'camel's hooves' to remove all the oil and grease."

Li Shuchen had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

She excused herself, saying she wanted to look around some more, and left the shop. She wandered through the maze-like alleyways, making sure no one was following her, before slipping into a dead-end alley piled high with discarded pottery jars.

A moment later, a figure dressed in an inconspicuous gray robe, with most of her face covered by a headscarf, nimbly vaulted over the low wall and landed in front of her. Pulling down the headscarf, it was Princess Zoya.

The emerald green eyes gleamed like a cat's in the dim alley.

"You actually dare to come to a place like this?" Zoya's tone was neither complimentary nor critical.

"Isn't Her Highness the Princess here too?" Li Shuchen patted the dust off his hands.

"The 'Golden Camel' trading company monopolizes new mines and the best artisans. Is it backed by the Minister of Finance or some prince? How will the ore illegally mined by border residents be confiscated?"

Zoya leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"The market's uncle, Azim, 'Golden Camel' is ostensibly his, but most of the profits each year go into the private coffers of the King and my several 'good brothers'."

"Border residents? Villages near the mining area have all been forcibly relocated. As for the rest, if they find any rough stones the size of a fingernail and don't report it, they'll be punished with whipping and confiscation of all their property at best, and thrown into an abandoned mine pit to die at worst."

"For ordinary people, seeing such exquisite pieces as 'water-bearing agate' and 'sunlight opal' is a sin, let alone selling them."

Li Shuchen gasped, "So ruthless? What about... your mother's tribe?"

Zoya's eyes darkened: "They're far from the main mining areas, but there are some scattered mineral veins in the desert. We used to be able to secretly mine some and exchange it for food."

"Now the 'Golden Camel' patrols are like locusts, with scouting shamans sweeping through every place where stones might be found. Many young men in the tribe have been captured and forced into mining slavery, toiling in the dark, sunless underground..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her clenched fists said it all.

"So, the key to trade lies not only in whether the king agrees, but also in breaking the 'Golden Camel's' monopoly?" Li Shuchen quickly grasped the core issue.

“That’s right. The king is happy to collect the money. Azim and Bashar reap huge profits through their monopoly, supporting their army and extravagant lifestyles. The common people and border residents are just expendable resources.”

Zoya's voice was icy, "You want to exchange grain and cloth for colored gems, that's a good idea, but how? If you buy them at the rock-bottom price set by 'Golden Camel,' you'll lose money hand over fist. You want to bypass them and go directly to the source? Unless you can conjure up an army and take over the mines and trade routes."

Li Shuchen was not frightened by this despairing scene; his eyes darted around.

“Direct confrontation is obviously not an option, but… what if ‘Golden Camel’ itself runs into problems? For example, the quality of the ore it collects keeps getting worse? Or, the finished products it processes keep having ‘accidents’? Or, what if a ‘new source’ of goods suddenly appears on the market that is no worse than theirs but much more reasonably priced?”

Zoya raised an eyebrow: "You want to cause trouble? They're heavily guarded, and the artisans' families are all under control."

"If the open approach doesn't work, let's try the covert one," Li Shuchen leaned closer and lowered his voice.

“Princess, since you were able to sneak out of the palace and find me, there must be some inconspicuous people in the palace who can still have a say in certain matters, right?”

"For example, could it be someone responsible for transporting certain 'waste' out of the palace? Or a low-ranking steward who is dissatisfied with the status quo? Or even... is it possible that messages could be passed out from among the mine slaves?"

Zoya's emerald green eyes stared intently at Li Shuchen, seemingly reassessing this girl who always seemed to be cracking jokes.

"You're quite bold. I do have some old servants in the palace who I can speak to, and the mining area... there might be a way, but the risks are extremely high."

"High risk, high reward," Li Shuchen said, his eyes gleaming.

"We don't need to overthrow them all at once. We just need to create enough trouble and doubt, to let cracks appear within them, so that the king feels that the 'Golden Camel' is not so reliable."

"Only through our collaboration with General Liang and his team was we able to propose an alternative plan."

"For example, establishing a fair market at the border, jointly supervised by both sides, allowing border residents and small and medium-sized vendors to participate directly, with taxes going into the national treasury rather than into the pockets of any one person."

"Doesn't this sound a little easier for the king to accept than touching someone's cake?"

Zoya pondered for a moment, as the cold desert night wind swept through the alleyways, stirring up grains of sand.

"What do you need me to do?"

"First, help me figure out the key links and responsible persons involved in the 'Golden Camel' ore production process, from the mining area to the workshop, then to warehousing and sales. The more detailed the better."

"Secondly, look for anyone who has grievances against Azim or the market, or whose family members have been harmed by them."

"Third, and most importantly..."

Li Shuchen looked at Zoya earnestly, "Protect yourself. You are our only possible internal eyes here. You cannot be exposed."

Zoya chuckled, a hint of arrogance in her voice.

"You don't need to worry about me. In their eyes, I'm no different from the weeds in the corner; no one will give me a second glance."

She paused, then said, "Give me three days. Three days from now, at this same time, still here. Don't bring anyone."

"Deal," Li Shuchen said, extending his hand to Princess Zoya.

Zoya glanced at her hand, didn't shake it, but simply nodded, pulled her headscarf back up, and nimbly vaulted over the low wall again, disappearing at the other end of the alley.

Li Shuchen stood alone in the abandoned alley, gripping the handle of the tourmaline leather whip in his arms.

The cold touch of the gemstone cleared her mind.

Fighting against a deeply entrenched interest group sounds like an ant trying to shake a tree.

But when I think of the numb stares outside the inn, the reluctance of the bandits returning the grain at the foot of the mountain threshold, and the pain in Zuoya's eyes when she spoke of her tribesmen, I remember...

Someone has to shake this tree.