Chapter 89: First Volume_Chapter 89: The Shocked Sisters

First Volume_Chapter 89: The Shocked Sisters

Jing Qianying already knew very little about matters in the capital; not only did she fail to recognize the gold belt, she actually felt Qin Feng was being far too flashy, and couldn't help but look down on him.

It was Shen Qingci instead, upon seeing the character "Imperial" on the clasp, who couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath of cold air, her little face turning deathly pale in an instant.

"A gold belt?! Could this damned thing be a counterfeit of an imperial artifact?! That's a crime punishable by extermination of the entire clan—Qin Feng will get the whole Qin Family killed!"

Hearing this, even Jing Qianying, who was normally cold and aloof by nature, couldn't help but knit her brows slightly: "A gold belt? I've heard of it, though. It represents the supreme honor—even the current Prime Minister and Grand Commandant have never received such a distinction. Qin Feng is nothing but a commoner, yet he actually possesses a gold belt… Second Sister, this boy hasn't been parading it around in public, has he?"

Shen Qingci gave a string of wry smiles: "Do we even need to ask? Given Qin Feng's personality, he's definitely made it known all over the city. Our Qin Family is finished."

Qin Feng instantly felt terribly wronged—how could everyone believe this gold belt was fake?

He hurriedly defended himself loudly: "You all really look down on people too much. It's just a gold belt, isn't it? I'm a favored man trusted by His Majesty—granting a belt is nothing strange!"

Liu Hongyan pressed Qin Feng's perky little head back down, and hurriedly began explaining to Shen Qingci and Jing Qianying: "At first I didn't believe His Majesty would grant Qin Feng a gold belt either, but this was an Imperial Edict delivered by Eunuch Li in person, and it was done right in front of the Jingzhao Yin and Gao Song—we had no choice but to believe it."

As she spoke, Liu Hongyan also took out the Imperial Edict.

Shen Qingci and Jing Qianying exchanged a glance, instantly sucking in cold breaths, their eyes looking as if they'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.

This… how could it be possible?

How could His Majesty possibly bestow a gold belt upon Qin Feng?!

After a long while, the two finally recovered from their state of shock.

A flush of red gradually rose on Shen Qingci's face, and she forced herself to speak in a tsundere tone: "Hmph, I really never expected this stinky boy to earn such favor from His Majesty. Foolish people do have foolish luck, I suppose."

"It's more than just foolish luck."

Liu Hongyan looked at Qin Feng with eyes full of inexpressible doting affection, patted his sturdy shoulder, her face brimming with pride.

"The court has never yet bestowed a gold belt. If we're really counting, it wouldn't be wrong to say Qin Feng is the number-one favored man before His Majesty today. Our Qin Family, thanks to Qin Feng's fortune, has brought glory to our ancestral name."

The three sisters huddled together, chattering away, sizing up Qin Feng and commenting on him for a long time.

In the end, ignoring Qin Feng's protests and wails, they took the gold belt off, and along with the Imperial Edict, sent them all to the Ancestral Hall to be enshrined.

Qin Feng instantly felt like crying but had no tears.

After Shen Qingci and Jing Qianying left, Qin Feng hurriedly locked the Gate from inside, took Liu Hongyan's little hand, and led her to the pavilion.

Seeing Qin Feng's mysterious manner, Liu Hongyan couldn't help but feel puzzled: "What's wrong? You stinky boy—surely you're not brewing up some scheme again?"

Qin Feng didn't rush to explain. Recalling the scene of Liu Hongyan running breathlessly to the Jingzhao Yin to bail him out, his heart was filled with a wave of gratitude. He immediately buried himself in Liu Hongyan's embrace, hugged her, and began acting spoiled: "What good deeds did I accumulate in my past life to deserve such a wonderful sister in this one?"

Liu Hongyan had originally planned to push Qin Feng away, but upon hearing those words, she felt quite pleased. Blushing, she let Qin Feng fool around as he pleased, and scolded him with a smile: "Smooth talker—I wonder who you learned it from. Out with it, what are you up to now!"

Qin Feng, while holding Liu Hongyan's soft, supple body and taking the chance to take liberties, looked up at her with eager, pitiful eyes, appearing utterly harmless: "I'm just sincerely thanking Sister for caring about me—where would I have any ulterior motives?"

Liu Hongyan shot him a look: "Save that routine! Others may not understand you, but don't I know you well enough? We siblings don't need to beat around the bush—if you have something to say, just say it straight."

No one knows Qin Feng better than Liu Hongyan.

Since his elder sister had already put it that way, Qin Feng stopped beating around the bush. He glanced around, confirmed there were no outsiders, and only then asked mysteriously: "Have all the white sugar orders from Ji Wang Fu been converted into cash?"

Liu Hongyan sneered inwardly—she knew the moment this boy opened his mouth, it would be about money!

Although the Qin Family was not short on money, they were all loyal, upright, and principled people. Only Qin Feng had fallen headfirst into the money pit—day in and day out, apart from money, he had nothing else on his mind. It was truly both exasperating and amusing.

"Although quite a few people placed orders for white sugar at Ji Wang's birthday banquet, not many actually came to pick up the goods—counting it up, there were only fifteen people. However, since white sugar is precious, the income wasn't small either. All in all, it's roughly Eighty Thousand Liang of Silver."

Only Eighty Thousand Liang of Silver—far short of Qin Feng's expectations. Still, it wasn't hard to guess: the Pro-Peace Faction must have applied pressure, and some people who originally intended to purchase white sugar couldn't withstand the pressure and gave up.

Under layers upon layers of obstruction, still being able to sell Eighty Thousand Liang of Silver was actually already quite impressive.

Qin Feng's eyes gleamed. He felt the timing was about right to go all out and make a big move, and immediately began briefing Liu Hongyan:

"Sister, our inventory in the Back Courtyard isn't much—we need to figure out a way to bring in a batch of raw materials. Simply purchasing Red Sugar isn't safe.

"If every time Red Sugar comes in and white sugar goes out, it won't be long before the secret gets out. It's best to purchase cane sugar raw materials.

"When boiling down Red Sugar, the Sugar Frost produced can supply the low-end market, while the white sugar produced is exclusively for the high-end market—earning two Profit Margins."

"We're short on money right now, so we need to move as fast as possible!"