Chapter 58: Dragging Both Herself and Her Daughter Down, The Prince of Qin's Mansion's New Commercial Direction

Shangguan Panshi smiled wryly and shook his head. "To be honest, your father does not possess the immense power you imagine. It is already no small feat that I can keep our Shangguan family safe in these troubled times. However, rest assured, provided it does not violate my principles, your father is willing to lend a helping hand."

The political situation in Great Xia was in grave crisis.

Even Shangguan Panshi, who had always advocated governing through non-action, could not stand aloof and stay out of trouble.

Judging by the current circumstances, if Shangguan Yunqing did not sever ties with Ye Xun, not a single prince would be willing to accept and genuinely trust him.

Moreover, he had no intention of pledging allegiance to any of the other princes.

Although Ye Xun was not his ideal choice either, how could he fail to perceive Shangguan Yunqing's true intentions?

Besides, for some unknown reason, he felt that this Prince Qin was becoming increasingly unfathomable.

Listening to Shangguan Panshi's words, Shangguan Yunqing felt a surge of secret joy. He then looked up and smiled, saying, "Father, I understand your meaning. Yunqing will go and inform His Highness Prince Qin right away."

"Hey, you..." Shangguan Panshi watched as Shangguan Yunqing strode hurriedly out of the hall, and sighed helplessly, "Truly, a grown daughter cannot be kept at home."

What on earth was going on?

Right now, the Prince Qin's Mansion was a place everyone avoided like the plague.

Yet this silly girl of his was acting as if she couldn't wait to move in there.

A young lady of noble birth...

And that wine...

Couldn't she have brought back a bit more?

Who was such a tiny jar supposed to be for?

And the old master had gone and hugged the whole thing away.

Resigned to his fate, Shangguan Panshi had no choice but to return to his chambers, change into his court robes, and head toward the imperial palace.

In these eventful times, it was better to do more work and speak less.

The battle for the succession had not yet officially begun.

When it truly erupted, the imperial court would inevitably undergo a massive reshuffle, and countless people would undoubtedly become stepping stones for these princes striving for the crown prince position.

Yet all of this was simply beyond the power of a lowly Minister of Revenue like him to change.

***

After seven days of intensive preparations, the large newly purchased mansion belonging to Wei Feng, located right next to the Prince Qin's Mansion, had been converted into a workshop.

The estate was vast; even the soap workshop and the distillery occupied only one-tenth or two-tenths of the total area.

Wei Feng had also deployed a large number of hired laborers and guards from the Duke of Zhenguo's estate.

The guards patrolled unceasingly around the clock, twelve hours a shift, without a single moment of relaxation.

This was one of their trump cards in the struggle for the succession, and no mistakes could be tolerated.

By now, Wei Feng had essentially established himself as the premier retainer of the Prince Qin's Mansion, handling all matters big and small.

Wei Feng had always been rigorous in his work.

Ye Xun felt completely at ease; mostly because he was naturally lazy. If not driven by circumstances, he reckoned he would have already filled up the entire West Twelve Courtyards.

As things stood, apart from Ling'er, Ye Xun hadn't even touched the hand of any other woman—a true tragedy for a Prince Qin.

Inside the main hall of the Prince Qin's Mansion, three distinguished guests had arrived today, all of them mega-merchants of Great Xia.

Two of the families were imperial merchants, while the third was not—though that was not due to a lack of capability.

After all, not every merchant desired to be an imperial merchant; supplying goods to the imperial court meant thin profits and high volume, leaving very little actual earnings.

Wei Feng led the three magnates into the hall.

Upon seeing Ye Xun, the men stepped forward one after another and bowed slightly.

"Zhao Qingfeng of the Zhao Family Firm greets Your Highness the Prince Qin."

"Chu Liuyun of the Liuyun Firm greets Your Highness the Prince Qin."

"Li Qingfeng of the Canglan Firm greets Your Highness the Prince Qin."

Ye Xun nodded slightly, waved his hand, and said, "There is no need for such formality, gentlemen. Please be seated. Cao An, serve tea."

Originally, the class restrictions dividing scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants were extremely strict.

However, once a certain scale was reached, class boundaries could be breached.

If they lent a helping hand when the imperial court was in need, the status of these mega-merchants would rise to an even higher level.

Initially, these men had come to the Prince Qin's Mansion purely out of regard for Wei Feng.

However, upon learning that the soap was produced right here in the Prince Qin's Mansion, they all grew deeply interested.

Though a small commodity, soap had a massive market and was a monopolized product.

The monopoly alone was enough to pique their utmost interest.

Meanwhile, Shangguan Yunqing hurried in from outside the hall.

Seeing the hall crowded with people, she paused slightly and was about to turn and leave.

Ye Xun waved at her with a smile and said, "Yunqing, I was just about to look for you. We have major business to discuss today."

"Yes, Your Highness," Shangguan Yunqing acknowledged, then walked over to the desk situated at the lower seat to Ye Xun's left.

She had not expected so many people to gather in the Prince Qin's Mansion today.

Indeed, this was the most crowded the main hall had ever been.

Cao An, Liu Jie, and Zheng Qian—the three core pillars of the Prince Qin's Mansion—were all present. 3

Along with them were Wei Feng and the three major merchants.

The topic of discussion today was the exclusive sales rights for soap and potent liquor.

Only through their distribution channels could Ye Xun rapidly complete his capital accumulation.

Shortly after, several attendants entered the hall, placing the products to be negotiated with the three merchants upon each person's desk.

There were five varieties of soap, three varieties of strong liquor, and three varieties of scented soap.

The scented soap was something Ye Xun had worked overtime to produce over the past few days, and its profit margin was even higher than that of regular soap.

Time was pressing, and having a greater variety of products was always advantageous.

In truth, Ye Xun wanted to create something even more explosive.

Yet presently, although the Prince Qin's Mansion enjoyed the protection of the Duke of Zhenguo and the backing of the Guanzxi faction, the Emperor of Xia remained unconscious. If he took too bold a step forward, he feared someone might be driven to desperate measures.

Thus, a product like scented soap—novel yet entirely acceptable to the public—was the most suitable choice.

Picking up a piece of scented soap, Ye Xun swept his gaze across the three magnates and said, "I believe all three of you have some understanding of soap, so I will not elaborate further. The retail prices for the three grades of soap are eight wen, fifty wen, and one hundred wen respectively. I hope we can all adhere to the pricing principle and refrain from maliciously inflating or undercutting prices."

At these words, the three men picked up the bars of soap to examine them closely, and all nodded in agreement.

Zhao Qingfeng, the proprietor of the Zhao Family Firm, looked at Ye Xun and asked, "Your Highness, what price will you charge us for these three grades of soap?"

Chu Liuyun and Li Qingfeng likewise looked toward Ye Xun with looks of anticipation in their eyes.

Merchants are driven by profit.

In truth, the actual retail price mattered little to them; how much money they could pocket was what truly concerned them.

Ye Xun replied calmly, "The prices for the three of you will be five wen, thirty wen, and fifty wen respectively."

Hearing these figures, a trace of shock flashed through the minds of the three men. Just as they had anticipated, the higher the retail price of the soap, the greater the profit margin.

They were all financial titans in the business world.

A glance at these three types of soap told them that the production costs did not vary drastically.

Yet the profit margins were undeniably substantial, amounting to roughly over thirty-five percent, forty percent, and fifty percent respectively.

When imperial merchants like themselves did business with the court, a profit margin of ten to fifteen percent was already considered extremely high.

Soap possessed immense practicality, and ordinary soap was priced affordably.

With exclusive distribution rights, they had no need to worry about competition whatsoever.

To put it bluntly, this was no different from picking up money off the ground.

However, what frustrated the three of them the most was their utter inability to deduce the production cost of the basic soap.

Consequently, they had no baseline from which to negotiate the wholesale price.

After all, shaving off even a single wen per piece would translate into a massive fortune given the sheer sales volume in the future.

Who would ever complain about having too much money, even if they were already guaranteed immense profits from the venture?