Chapter 142: Courting Death

Chi Nan Yi walked out without hesitation, but kept a sidelong eye on Meng Qinghe's movements.

Before she even reached the doorway, Meng Qinghe called out, "Wait."

"Anything else?"

"I don't have sixty thousand taels, but I can produce fifty thousand. If you nod, I can give you the fifty thousand right now."

The shopkeeper's eyes widened instantly at the words—sixty thousand taels, fifty thousand taels…

What have I missed?

"Sixty thousand taels, non‑negotiable," Chi Nan Yi said coolly. "I hadn't intended to sell, but I heard the grain supplies in Jingcheng are nearly bought out. I'm worried my household will run out; after all, I feed hundreds and can't let them starve to death, right?"

Meng Qinghe grew even more anxious upon hearing this.

She was right; Jingcheng's grain indeed vanished in a very short time.

At present, this is the last grain she can obtain.

"But I only have fifty thousand taels. Our Minister's Residence is still distributing porridge outside the city. I buy this much grain to prevent the wandering refugees beyond the walls from starving." Her voice choked slightly. "Fifty thousand taels is all I can muster, and all the silver the Minister's Residence can spare. If you, young master, are kind‑hearted, sell me this grain!"

If brute force fails, she pretends weakness—does Meng Qinghe really resort to such tactics?

Chi Nan Yi pretended reluctance, then begrudgingly nodded, "Fine, since that's the case, I'll sell you the grain."

Meng Qinghe produced a silver note from her bosom and handed it to Chi Nan Yi. "Thank you, young master." She thought victory was assured; even though she added silver, when a real famine struck, the grain she held could multiply four or five times, perhaps even more, in a short span.

That fool only got a twenty‑thousand‑tael discount; I want to see how they'll survive without grain. When they come to buy grain from me again, I'll not only recoup the twenty thousand taels but also humiliate her properly and sell the grain at ten times the price.

Looking at the expression on her face, Chi Nan Yi could guess what she was thinking.

Heh, the calculations were good, but everything will fall through.

The grain shop manager stared at the thick silver note, his eyes full of regret.

In such a short time, I ended up earning so much less silver!

What a sin!

Chi Nan Yi left the grain shop in high spirits, then, a bit puzzled, said, "Miss, what are you…"

"You just don't get it, do you? In a few days you'll understand." Chi Nan Yi patted his shoulder. "Come! This Young Master will take you somewhere dashing!"

Meng Qinghe hauled all the grain into the storage of Wei Mei Zhai, waiting for the snow disaster to arrive.

That night, the Five Grains Workshop was robbed; the silver notes obtained from selling grain during the day vanished, and ordinary townsfolk found a few taels of silver left outside their doors.

Five days later, the heavy snow arrived as scheduled.

Chi Nan Yi looked out the window; the snowflakes were truly like goose feathers.

"I used to see the goose‑feather snow metaphor only in writings, assuming it was an ancient exaggeration. Now I see I was simply uninformed."

At that moment, a knock sounded: "Miss."

Is that Yun Shan?

Why has he returned again?

"Come in."

"Please, miss, be at ease."

"No need for that. Why did you come? Is there something the Prince needs?"

"Nothing much; the Prince asked his subordinate to come and ask if the miss needs anything, such as food or firewood."

"No need, I have everything here. Thank the Prince for his kindness."

Yun Shan relayed Chi Nan Yi's words verbatim to Mo Junyan.

"She didn't say anything else?"

Yun Shan shook his head: "No, the miss finished speaking and sent the subordinate back, also mentioning that the snowy roads are slippery and to be extra careful."

Hearing that, Mo Junyan's face grew somewhat gloomy.

After sending Yun Shan away, Mo Junyan gritted his teeth and said, "That ungrateful little one—I've even sent someone to ask her, and she wouldn't even ask This Prince a single word."

After a few days, the snow finally stopped, and the streets were a blanket of white.

The heavy snow sealed the doors; to go out one could only dig a hole through the snow, but even that was useless because the street's drifts were extremely deep.

Every household was shoveling, but with little effect; the deepest drifts were even taller than a person.

Even with a coal brazier lit at home, it was as cold as an ice cellar.

Just as people fell into despair, someone shouted, "Black Feather Guard! It's Prince Li's Black Feather Guard!"

Thousands of Black Feather Guard, each wielding iron spades, spread across several streets to start shoveling snow.

Soon a gap was torn in the drifts, allowing people to leave their ice‑cellar‑like houses; the citizens, usually terrified of the Black Feather Guard, now joined the shoveling effort.

If Chi Nan Yi saw this scene, she would sigh, "The army and the people are one family!"

With the snow problem solved, the next headache is grain.

Snow in Jingcheng can still be cleared, but the drifts on the official roads outside the city are impossible to remove.

One can only wait for the ice to melt before horse‑drawn carts can pass.

Without carts, grain can't be transported; with so many citizens in the city, lacking grain they couldn't survive long.

Just when people were at a loss, a rumor spread.

"Wei Mei Zhai has grain for sale!"

"Really? Is there actually grain for sale?"

"Indeed, I just heard the shop's boy hawking there; apparently there's plenty of grain. Let's all go take a look!"

The city's residents, hearing about the grain, became excited and trembled as they ran toward Wei Mei Zhai.

"Come take a look! Wei Mei Zhai has grain for sale; fine rice is only two hundred wen per jin!" the shop boy shouted loudly, "The grain is limited; first come, first served!"

"What? Two hundred wen per jin? Why aren't you at Wei Mei Zhai rushing to buy?"

"Exactly! Two hundred wen can buy five jin of pork."

Hah, since you think you can buy five catties of pork, go ahead and buy it. The servant snorted coldly: "Nowadays it's freezing cold; having grain to eat is already not bad. We, at Delicious Flavor House, also spent a lot of money to buy this grain; we can't possibly let ourselves lose money, can we?"

Then your two hundred cash is too expensive.

Make it cheaper!

Our master wants twenty catties! A servant stepped forward, handing over four taels of silver: "Hurry up, hurry up, our master is waiting!"

Once someone buys it, the people behind will start to panic, afraid they'll miss this opportunity.

Thus, the townspeople surrounded Delicious Flavor House outside, all clamoring to buy grain.

Meng Qinghe heard the news, smiling as she said: "Pass the word down—starting now, two hundred fifty cash."

Yes.

What? Two hundred fifty cash? It was just two hundred cash a moment ago!

Our boss said that if we don't buy now, it'll be three hundred cash in a moment.

Left with no choice, those who could afford it fished out silver, fortunately earlier some unknown hero had placed some silver outside their homes; otherwise, they'd be afraid they couldn't even buy a few catties of rice and flour.

Chi Nan Yi stood in the opposite restaurant watching this scene, a smile on his face: "Meng Qinghe, you're really asking for death, Ji Bai."

Your subordinate is here.

Tell them to get ready to work.