Chapter 869: Fall Because of an Ant’s Nest

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

Not to mention, he had heard that Princess Shaoyi’s master was a very famous female teacher from the Ye family.

She had some ties with Lord Ye.

It was said that a person who regularly walked by the river could not avoid getting their shoes wet. The Bai family could control the origin of medicinal herbs in the northeast area and manage such a huge family business. They had countless wealth. How could their family a.s.sets be clean?

Without the protection of the land-owning cla.s.s, many things could not withstand a thorough investigation. Once a crime was confirmed, it would be a disaster for them.

As the chief official of the three provinces of Liaodong, it was impossible for Lord Ye to cover up for a guilty person.

Madam Bai’s throat was a little dry. “How— How dare they? Although the Bai Residence is only a merchant family, the Han family behind us is a n.o.ble family in Xi’an…”

Old Master Bai shook his head with a bitter smile. “Don’t you understand? This is a battle between the n.o.bles and the Xie family. Princess Shaoyi, the Yu Clan behind her, the royalists behind the Yu Clan, and King Yue Fei are all involved. They all have a tacit understanding with the n.o.ble families in the North and won’t easily get involved in the conflict between the merchants and n.o.bles.”

Everyone understood that once the aristocratic families were involved, it would affect the entire royal court, or even the Great Zhou. At that time, it would become a situation where the n.o.bles fought.

No one could bear the consequences.

The land-owning cla.s.s did not dare to act rashly.

Madam Bai couldn’t help but be stunned. For a moment, she didn’t understand what he meant. “Our family has been very filial to them. How can they remove their subordinates? If anything happens to our family, what good will it do to the Han family?”

Old Master Bai shook his head. “Not only is Princess Shaoyi a princess, but she’s also the only first-grade Saint Venerable Princess in our dynasty. Her status is comparable to that of a legitimate princess. Behind her is the Yu Clan, the royalist party led by the Empress Dowager, the imperial family led by King Yue Fei, and even tens of millions of commoners. She’s a princess who can control the structure of the court. It’s not easy for aristocratic families to pa.s.s down their inheritance. As long as they’re not mortal enemies, no one from the land-owning cla.s.s will threaten another behemoth. They would not make enemies, using a hundred-year-old family business as a bet.”

It was said that a wealthy family took three generations to build, while an aristocratic family took 100 years.

Wealthy families and aristocratic families had to go through generations of acc.u.mulated foundation and reputation to become truly powerful families. They would have a long history and prosperity.

Xu Jie wanted to defeat Yan Song and knew that the key was the emperor. Thus, he greeted the emperor and received his support. Only then did Xu Jie succeed.

Why were the n.o.bles so fearless and not afraid of King Li of Zhou’s might?

Wasn’t it because the Imperial Court was so suspicious of the va.s.sal lords that they were on the side of the land-owning cla.s.s?

However, the King Li of Zhou case had provoked the dignity of the royal family, and the emperor hated the n.o.bles of the North.

Just from this imperial examination, there were very few scholars on the rankings in the north, so it was obvious how the emperor treated the North.

Right now, the royalists in the court were very powerful.

The n.o.bles did not dare to fight Princess Shaoyi head-on. Ever since Princess Shaoyi came to the North, the n.o.bles did not act rashly. Everyone was watching the situation.

Old Master Bai said dejectedly, “We’ve already become abandoned p.a.w.ns of the land-owning cla.s.s.”

In Xiangping, they were more sensitive to the situation in Xiangping, so they understood it faster and more thoroughly. Looking at Princess Shaoyi’s actions in Liancheng, it was not difficult to deduce their current situation.

It was inevitable that they had to consider a way out.

There was dead silence in the room.

After a long time, Madam Bai said in a dry voice, “What should we do now?”

Old Master Bai sighed heavily. “The day after tomorrow, Princess Shaoyi will go to the Dragon Phoenix Temple and pay her respects to the Medicine Buddha to prevent the plague and pray for the refugees. On the surface, she only has an appointment with the General An Yuan’s Residence and the Huang Residence. I believe the families that are on good terms with King Yue Fei will also go over to greet Princess Shaoyi. At the same time, they will express their support for Princess Shaoyi’s att.i.tude towards preventing the plague. At that time, bring our daughter over and mix with them.”

When Madam Bai heard this, she understood that they were expressing their stance to Princess Shaoyi, indicating the Bai Residence’s strong support for preventing the plague.

Old Master Bai continued, “Didn’t the Xie Residence want to buy the medicinal herbs and donate them to the government? All the medicinal herbs related to preventing an epidemic will be sold to the Xie Residence at a 30% discount. I heard that Princess Shaoyi has established an incense shop and wants to make incense medicine to prevent an epidemic. Let’s mix a batch of medicinal herbs and spices needed to make incense medicine and donate them to Princess Shaoyi’s incense shop for free.”

Madam Bai was a little hesitant. “But in that case, the Han family…”

If the Bai Residence joined King Yue Fei, they would definitely offend the Han family.

Their family had worked with the Han family for many years, and both sides knew a lot about each other. The Han Residence did not dare to rashly offend Princess Shaoyi, but it was easy for them to make a move on the Bai family.

King Li of Zhou’s death was also related to the Bai Residence. If the Han family wanted to attack the Bai Residence, it was impossible for Princess Shaoyi to become enemies with the Han Residence for the Bai family.

Old Master Bai looked helpless. “Back then, when King Li of Zhou was avenged and the North fell into the hands of King Yue Fei, I should have known that such a day would come sooner or later. I should have made a decision back then.”

However, at that time, they were all scared out of their wits by the Imperial Court. They were worried that Yin Huaixi would hold a grudge against them, so they had no choice but to stand by and do nothing when they joined King Yue Fei.

In addition, at that time, Yin Huaixi’s body was crippled. The imperial physician had confirmed that he would not live past 20. They were not even afraid of King Li of Zhou, so why would they be afraid of a weak and sick cripple?

Due to their instinctive fear of the va.s.sal lords, even though they trusted Yin Huaixi, they still had a backup plan. They wanted to use the n.o.bles of the North to restrain the va.s.sal lords. Therefore, back then, the ones the emperor killed the most were n.o.bles. Meanwhile, relatively fewer people from the land-owning cla.s.s were killed.

They were still useful to the Imperial Court. As long as they did not commit a crime on the surface, Yin Huaixi could not touch them openly.

If they surrendered to Yin Huaixi, who knew what the consequences would be?

For all kinds of reasons, after weighing the pros and cons, it was best for them to maintain the current situation for the time being.

Old Master Bai shook his head. “Unfortunately, King Yue Fei isn’t King Li of Zhou after all.” He wouldn’t be easily controlled.

After Yin Huaixi guarded the North, his control over it deepened day by day, especially in the three provinces of Liaodong. They were almost all under his control.

Everyone believed that most of the resources and economy in the North were concentrated in the mountains, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai. The three provinces of Liaodong were vast and spa.r.s.ely populated, and there was a shortage of resources. In the short term, it could indeed alleviate the predicament of the You army being controlled by others. However, as time pa.s.sed and the supplies in the three provinces of Liaodong were consumed, King Yue Fei still had to “control” them.

However, she had never expected Princess Shaoyi to grow high-yielding sweet potatoes that were not picky with soil.

She did not expect that the Xie family, who was in charge of shipping, would come to the North.

The supplies that King Yue Fei lacked could be shipped to him by sea, and they would not be controlled by any n.o.bles. They would become the most powerful bargaining chip to deal with the n.o.bles.

Madam Bai understood what he meant, but she still had scruples. “I’m afraid that if I hadn’t made a decision back then, King Yue Fei wouldn’t have appreciated it now.”

Not only were they not getting along, but they were also in trouble.

At that time, the Bai Residence would really be finished.