How I Pampered the Tyrant Into Devotion With My Space-Chapter 676: Checkmated

Tang Chong struggled in Shen Wanqing’s arms for a moment, seeing his mother watching him with a smile and not intending to take him back, he puckered his lips and started to cry.

Pei Shu’er, amused yet exasperated, took him over and said, "Do you not want grandma to hold you either?"

Tang Chong clutched tightly onto Pei Shu’er’s collar with his little hands, even burying his head into Pei Shu’er’s shoulder in a display of cuteness.

Pei Shu’er really had no resistance against Tang Chong, seeing his pitiful appearance, there was no way she could bear to let him feel aggrieved.

When they reached the Imperial Palace, everyone else looked weary and dusty, only Pei Shu’er and Tang Chong appeared well-rested and healthy.

When Pei Shu’er met the Emperor of Great Shang, she found him to be a man even younger than Baili Kong, with a somewhat majestic demeanor, but overall still gentle and accommodating.

Thanks to Baili Kong’s proactive efforts, this meeting was very successful.

A third of the silk brought was absorbed by the Royal Family, and the remaining two-thirds were taken to the Business Capital to sell.

Because the quantity was large, a third was sold off in the end.

The silk sold in Great Shang earned a substantial amount of two hundred thousand tons of grain.

Two hundred thousand tons of grain seemed like a lot, but Dayan currently has a population of ten million, with five million being refugees, and the number in need of aid reaching over nine million due to the prolonged lack of farming.

Calculating one kilogram of grain per person per day, it’s actually not enough for even one day’s supply.

At such a time of transition between seasons, relief would only come after the autumn harvest at the earliest.

That is to say, at least 60 days need to be sustained.

So the required amount of grain would be 5.4 billion tons just to suffice.

But even with just this amount, it was enough to bring joy to everyone.

This also allowed everyone to see hope.

Meanwhile, Pei Shu’er also opened Pei’s Restaurant and Pei’s Trading House in the Business Capital, which were naturally welcomed in Great Shang.

After all, restaurants and shops opened in the Business Capital contribute to the tax revenue in Great Shang.

Moreover, these shops frequently hold events and have good relations with Great Shang.

Pei’s made profitable returns and locally purchased a batch of grain, approximately fifty thousand tons, to be transported back to Dayan together.

Some business owners altered their attitude from initially making a quick buck to donating a portion of grain within their means.

Thus, the grain convoy managed to transport close to four hundred thousand tons, with one hundred thousand tons donated, and a portion from the merchants’ profits.

After staying for another half a month, these fabrics were sold out entirely.

Because these fabrics were not only cheap but more appealing in design compared to those woven by local Great Shang merchants.

The next destination they aimed for was Da Zheng, where they needed to establish this trade route.

As for Great Shang, they had already established sales channels in every city as they journeyed through.

Pei Shu’er opened Pei’s Trading Houses everywhere she went, and in the future, Pei’s Trading Houses in Great Shang would even sell fabrics.

By then, as long as the fabrics arrived in Great Shang, they could be sent directly to Pei’s Trading House.

Some businesses didn’t have Pei Shu’er’s magnanimity but also opened small stores to sell these fabrics.

At the appointed location, they didn’t see the fabric escorts.

Xuan Liu inquired and then learned that those people had already been arrested by government office officials.

Xuan Liu said, "Why don’t we negotiate with the government office?"

Pei Shu’er shook her head, "Bring the previous witnesses here to inquire further, with a good attitude, and make sure to clarify all the details."

After questioning, Pei Shu’er fell into silence.

"So, even though our people showed the Token and letters, they were still arrested by the government office?"

Xuan Liu nodded.

The reason for choosing Da Zheng and Great Shang was that Tang Zan had previously communicated through letters and received consent from these two countries, which prompted their journey to Da Zheng; otherwise, neighboring countries were not limited to just these two.

Now, with Da Zheng’s disposition, arresting people even upon presenting the Token seems deliberately targeted.

Pei Shu’er said, "Xuan Liu, take a team to rescue our people."

Once the people were rescued, they discovered that the goods had long been confiscated by Da Zheng’s government office.

Everyone based on the people’s descriptions searched the government office’s warehouse and found a portion.

As for the rest, it was already being sold in various cloth shops in Da Zheng.

Pei Shu’er laughed, "They dared to cheat the cheater, even targeting me, they’re simply overreaching."

After figuring out that the fabrics were in those cloth shops, Pei Shu’er led people to transport all the fabrics away.

Sure, some losses were unavoidable.

Fortunately, they had predicted this situation beforehand, so they took a batch of grain from the government office’s warehouse.

Not much, just about a hundred tons.

To avoid suspicion that it was Dayan’s people, they didn’t just take grain but also took gold, silver, and jewels.

It can be said that Pei Shu’er emptied the entire government office’s warehouse.

Other shops colluding with the government office were also looted clean.

As for the people previously imprisoned, they all died due to "unbearable torture."

Thus, no one linked it to Dayan’s people.

What enraged Pei Shu’er the most was that these people had previously agreed, yet now pulled this backhanded trick.

Pei Shu’er speculated there might be two possibilities: the first being that this was their initial intention. But Pei Shu’er had occasionally seen the Emperor of Zheng at a state banquet before; he was a chubby man.

He seemed somewhat shrewd but unlikely to do such a thing.

Of course, another explanation was that the Emperor of Zheng had been persuaded and decided to break relations with Dayan.

Thinking about this, Pei Shu’er’s eyes carried a hint of mocking light.

Pei Shu’er said, "Let’s go back, Xuan Liu, assemble a team from the Xuan Department and thoroughly investigate the Zheng’s Imperial Palace."

The people now were Pei Shu’er and Tang Zan’s confidants.

After the curfew, early in the morning, they prepared to set off. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

But when they reached the city gates, they saw soldiers inspecting and screening those trying to enter the city.

The soldiers held several portraits, and notice boards displayed some; they were portraits of Pei Shu’er and her confidants.

Yinxing tried to keep her tone calm.

"Empress, what should we do?"

Pei Shu’er scanned the thick stack of portraits, which even included some merchant faces, ensuring no fish could slip through the net.

More crucially, these portraits were drawn quite accurately, at least by someone familiar with them.

The most urgent task now was to leave here group by group.

Pei Shu’er had already taught Yinxing how to help others disguise, and the two together worked quickly.

Once they disguised everyone, Pei Shu’er added a few strokes to make the makeup look more natural.

Then, she instructed everyone to depart in batches.