Chapter 75: 75 This Is Clearly Extortion! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

"Distribute porridge for disaster relief?"

He Daqian was stunned, looking at the other party with a blank expression.

Who was he?

A Grain Merchant! How could he still make money if he took his grain to provide disaster relief?

Besides, once those wretches filled their bellies with porridge, who would he sell his marked-up grain to? If no one bought the grain, wouldn't it just sit in the warehouse and rot?

He Daqian raised his eyebrows, staring at Ning Mu with a fake smile, and said, "Young Master Li is certainly generous and open-handed, wanting to make me open my granaries with just a word. But does Young Master Li know what the current price of grain is, or how much it cost me to acquire this grain?"

"Giving it away for nothing to that group of refugees is not the way of business."

He Daqian sneered.

Despite being wary of the other party's background in the Fengmo Sword Sect.

But in this bright and clear world, he was, after all, a well-known and reputable wealthy gentleman in Yonghang City. Even the Prefect dared not directly order him to release grain for disaster relief; what was a mere Young Master Li? "If Young Master Li has nothing else, then I shall take my leave."

"Today's expenses for Young Master Li will be put on my account. Furthermore, the Fengmo Sword Sect and I have never had any dealings; the heavens are high and the earth is far, and their reach is limited. Young Master Li is only accompanied by one maidservant, which I fear is not very safe in this city. I do not know how you heard about the matter of Pi Kang, but that is mere hearsay and gossip, so I ask Young Master Li to be careful with his words!"

He Daqian stood up directly.

Supporting himself on the edge of the table with both hands, he stared coldly at Ning Mu, his calculating eyes filled with a thick sense of threat.

The implication was that he was not afraid of Ning Mu leaking the fact that Pi Kang died at Qi Niang Mountain.

Or rather, even if it were leaked, he had ways to deal with the wrath of Pi Taiyu!

But if Ning Mu truly dared to do so, the Fengmo Sword Sect had no foundation here in Yonghang! The threat was almost entirely superficial.

After speaking, He Daqian snorted coldly and turned to leave.

"Many years ago, in Jiazi Village, there was a pair of childhood sweethearts. The girl, Yu Ji, in order to help her beloved get ahead, willingly debased herself, sleeping her way from Jiazi Village all the way to Yonghang City. Finally, after a manufactured coincidence, her beloved married into a certain Grain Merchant's household as a Matrimonial Son-in-law. Alas, the good times did not last; the Grain Merchant thought he had found a good son-in-law, not knowing he had welcomed the Grim Reaper. Over the course of more than ten years, he and his wife died in succession... As for the reason behind this, I fear only Yu Ji would know."

"And in order to ensure her beloved's smooth sailing in Yonghang, Yu Ji did not hesitate to be taken in by the Prefectural Office as a concubine. On the surface, she acted as a prostitute-concubine, but behind the scenes, she manipulated the Prefect of the office for her beloved. I must say, this woman's devotion is as firm as gold; it is quite a story. But this man..."

"Sigh!"

Ning Mu sighed, picked up his teacup of his own accord, and took a light sip.

Hiss...

Almost the instant Ning Mu spoke the name Yu Ji, He Daqian's heart jolted violently, and his footsteps came to a dead halt.

He wanted to leave.

And then have Wu Lao'er bring men to cripple this master and servant! But his legs felt as if they were filled with lead, unable to move even a fraction.

Sweat poured down his forehead.

His pupils were filled with unprecedented panic.

These secrets, no one knew.

Not even Yu Ji was aware of them.

Especially the death of the Tan Family parents; absolutely no one knew the inside story.

Yet the things this fellow said were as if he had witnessed them with his own eyes! "Who exactly are you!"

"What exactly do you intend to do!"

He Daqian turned back, staring fixedly at Ning Mu, and roared in a fierce but cowardly manner.

His body could not stop trembling.

This feeling of being completely held by his fatal weakness made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Seeing his reaction, Ning Mu could not help but smile slightly.

He knew he had guessed correctly! After reading the intelligence provided by Ji Siniang, he had specifically made inquiries. The Tan Family was one of the top families in Yonghang and controlled almost all the grain trade in the entire prefecture; it was not difficult to dig up some information.

Combining the intelligence with the analytical methods from the information-explosion era of his past life, it was not hard to guess that He Daqian had killed the Tan Family parents! There was simply no evidence. Watching He Daqian fly into a rage yet not dare to make a move, Ning Mu shrugged and said to himself, "There is an art to disaster relief, you know. You don't need to stand chopsticks in the porridge, but it's just watery soup—at least it shouldn't let people starve to death, right? Sometimes, secrets are always secrets, but once a secret is made public, it is no different from a storm capable of stirring up buried pasts."

"Master He, would you say that is true or not?"

Ning Mu looked up, watching He Daqian with composure.

He Daqian's face was pale, and his eyes, filled with both sharpness and guilt, shifted constantly, showing the extent of his inner conflict at this moment.

"I will open the granaries to distribute porridge tomorrow, providing three thousand catties of grain daily, enough to keep ten thousand people from starving!"

Finally.

He Daqian compromised.

His clenched fists relaxed, and he stared fixedly at Ning Mu.

"Is Young Master Li satisfied with this?"

Ning Mu smiled and said calmly, "I would also like to purchase a batch of grain from Master He. I wonder, what is the price of grain now?"

He Daqian was stunned upon hearing this, his facial muscles twitching.

This was not purchasing grain at all!

It was clearly extortion! Yet he had no choice but to sell!

"I wonder how much grain Young Master Li wishes to purchase?"

Ning Mu smiled and said, "Thirty thousand catties of fine rice, fifty thousand catties of Coarse Grain, totaling eighty thousand catties."

"Six qian of silver per catty for fine rice, three qian of silver per catty for Coarse Grain, totaling thirty-three thousand taels."

One had to admit that He Daqian was a businessman; he calculated the price directly without a moment's thought.

Ning Mu shook his head.

"That is too expensive!"

"Young Master Li, this is already a discounted price I am giving you. You must know that the current market price for a catty of fine rice has risen to nearly eight qian of silver, and the price of Coarse Grain has reached nearly five qian. One thing is one thing; not to mention my daily contribution of three thousand catties, this small amount of money is likely not worth mentioning to your Fengmo Sword Sect, right?"

He Daqian narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Ning Mu with caution.

Clearly, he was somewhat suspicious of his identity as a member of the Fengmo Sword Sect.

"Two qian of silver per catty for fine rice, one qian of silver per catty for Coarse Grain, totaling eleven thousand taels."

Ning Mu spoke directly.

He Daqian's expression immediately turned as gloomy as water, and he said with an unwilling face, "Young Master Li, this price couldn't even be bought in a bountiful year with favorable weather; you might as well just have me give you the eighty thousand catties of grain for free!"

Ning Mu shrugged and smiled.

"Master He, you must understand, I could have taken it for free, but I still gave you eleven thousand taels; this is the foundation of our cooperation, do you not understand?"

"Moreover, for a period of time in the future, I will be staying in Yonghang; perhaps who knows, we might have other opportunities for cooperation?"

Ning Mu looked at the charcoal-faced He Daqian with a beaming smile.

The corners of He Daqian's eyes twitched instantly.

Still cooperating? If he kept cooperating like this, he feared that before he even lost his trousers, he would be kicked out of the house by his wife! "It's settled, just eighty thousand catties; send someone to haul it away tomorrow!"

He Daqian looked chilled to the bone, threw down that sentence, and turned around, leaving without looking back.

This time, Ning Mu did not speak to ask him to stay.

His goal had already been achieved.

Thirty thousand catties of polished rice would be used to brew liquor for sale, and as for the remaining fifty thousand catties of Coarse Grain, he would hand them to Liu Qingmei to use for disaster relief and to set up a Charity Porridge Shop.

(End of this chapter)