novel-bin Chapter 299 The most difficult to guard against is the scheming from one's own family!
Chapter 299 The most difficult to guard against is the scheming from one's own family!
The aristocratic family would not allow its heritage to be destroyed. The destruction of the world would also mean the destruction of its heritage. After Xia Mo presented evidence to further prove that the alien invaders residing in their son's home were indeed there to destroy the world, the two had already made their choice, but they still hesitated to agree.
After Huangfu Qian offered the rights to operate and sell cement in several regions, the two agreed.
All that's needed is to ruin the reputations of both sons.
The most difficult thing to guard against is being plotted against by your own family!
The news that Young Master Zheng had slept with a married woman spread quickly throughout the capital.
At the end of summer, I will stand up for justice and seek justice for the poor woman.
Zheng Gongzi's main quest progress has dropped by two points.
Not long after Young Master Zheng's misfortune struck, the eldest son of the Chen family also fell into misfortune.
The news that Young Master Chen had been tricked out of 200,000 taels of silver by a honey trap spread.
News of the capture of the human traffickers at the end of summer and the subsequent reward from the imperial court spread at the same time.
Young Master Chen, the fox, was far more successful in the late summer. According to the rules of plundering fortune, the late summer side had the upper hand.
Young Master Chen's main quest progress has dropped by two points!
The two, both in a bad mood, agreed to meet at a restaurant.
As a result, she was drugged and stripped down to only her underwear, which was then left on the street where she was surrounded by onlookers!
The two woke up to the sound of onlookers discussing the situation!
Upon realizing they were shirtless, the two hurriedly covered their faces and rushed into a nearby shop.
But it was too late; someone had already recognized the two of them.
This time, the two of them lost face again.
The two may have embarrassed themselves, but their main quest progress won't drop.
While they were losing face, the cement plant that Xia Mo had partnered with Huangfu Qian to produce started to produce good cement!
The cement road was smooth and waterproof, so the carriages traveled on it with minimal bumps. Even people who get motion sickness could ride in a carriage on the cement road!
The cement road made the late summer scenery look rather dull in comparison to the "thieves".
The main quests for Young Master Zheng and Young Master Chen have dropped another layer!
In just five days, both of them lost ten points in their main quests.
This aroused their suspicion, and they dared not go out easily.
They suspected that the person who drugged them was someone from the restaurant, but none of them suspected their followers who had been with them since childhood.
The two men felt they were being targeted, so they simply stayed home and didn't go out, but they still made sure their subordinates and confidants kept in touch.
Their conspiracy was aimed at the Xia family's cloth shop.
Xia Family Cloth Shop received a large order; the customer wanted to order 10,000 bolts of cloth, and a contract had already been signed and a deposit paid.
Similarly, the contract also stipulates a high penalty for breach of contract; if the Xia family cloth shop fails to complete the transaction, it will have to compensate the customer at a rate of one hundred times the market price.
Brother Xia noticed something was wrong with the contract, but Xia Mo telepathically told him to sign it, so he did.
The contract had just been signed when problems arose!
Cargo ships carrying cotton and hemp raw materials to the capital city were robbed!
When the news reached Brother Xia, he was startled. Fortunately, there were enough raw materials prepared in the capital, and the weaving in the embroidery workshop continued.
Just as one matter was resolved, another arose!
The next day—
The upstream channel of the river flowing past Xiajia Embroidery Village was blocked, slowing the water flow. The water-powered looms, driven by the water's current, were then used for weaving.
Brother Xia can simply lead his men to dredge the river!
Young Master Zheng and Young Master Chen had long ago bribed the officials in charge of water conservancy.
When Brother Xia was about to lead his men to dredge the river, the government intervened, saying that they would divert the river and forbade Brother Xia from dredging it!
Officials couldn't actually change the river's course directly, but they could easily have their underlings pretend to dig a few holes.
Regarding this issue, Brother Xia and Xia Mo could actually seek help from Huangfu Qian to resolve it.
but……
Summer deliberately dragged its feet and didn't move.
One month later—
The agreed delivery time has arrived.
Outside the Xia Family Cloth Shop, merchants who had placed orders surrounded the shop with a group of people.
Brother Xia had been in the shop for a long time, his heart pounding.
"These ten thousand bolts of cloth of mine are worth ten thousand taels of silver. Since you can't deliver them, you must compensate us one million taels of silver, based on a hundredfold compensation!" said the Wen merchant.
“We’re not afraid of you having powerful backers. If you’re not afraid, we’ll dare to cause trouble at the government office.”
"Is today the final delivery date?" Brother Xia reminded him, frowning.
Knowing it was a trap, yet still stepping into it, Brother Xia couldn't quite understand it, but since his younger sister told him to do it, he did it.
Outside the Xia family's cloth shop, a crowd of people curiously peered out.
"If you can't hand it over today, do you think you can hand it over tomorrow?" the Wen merchant mocked.
"The person behind you who orchestrated this scheme is the eldest son of the Zheng family and the eldest son of the Chen family, isn't it?"
Xia Mo's voice broke in.
Even though Xia Mo was wearing a face mask that covered half of her face, her appearance still made everyone present take notice.
The businessman instinctively wanted to deny it, but strangely enough... while he was thinking of denying it, he actually said the truth.
"Yes! So what?! We used an open strategy. It's your own stupidity that led you to jump into the trap for the ten thousand taels of profit!" The Wen merchant covered his mouth with his hand.
"Bribing the government officials and saying they wanted to renovate the river was also done by the eldest sons of the Zheng and Chen families, right?" Xia Mo pressed.
The Wen merchant covered his mouth tightly with his hand, but still said, "So what if it is? You, a country bumpkin, actually want to be enemies with the powerful Zheng and Chen families. You're just asking for trouble!"
"Did everyone present hear what this person just said?" Brother Xia was still puzzled, but since his younger sister was doing this, he cooperated and immediately looked around at the people.
The area outside Xia Family Cloth Shop was packed with onlookers.
Brother Xia asked, and they responded loudly.
"We can make decisions for you!"
"Tch, so what if there's a conspiracy behind this?!" Seeing that he couldn't hide the truth, the Wen merchant simply stopped covering his mouth and sneered.
The Wen merchant said, "I signed a purchase contract with you, it's in black and white! Is your Xia Family Cloth Shop trying to renege on your agreement?!"
“Who said our cloth shop can’t provide those ten thousand bolts of cloth?” Xia Mo smiled.
Brother Xia understood and immediately went to one of the rooms in the backyard of the Xia family's cloth shop.
Brother Xia watched as the cloth appeared out of thin air in the room, from nothing to something.
Brother Xia knew this was one of his younger sister's tricks, but he still watched in amazement without blinking, admiring her in his heart.
These 10,000 bolts of silk were produced by the Xia family embroidery workshop in Lingzhou Prefecture. Xia Mo simply stored them in his soul space and brought them back to the capital. The matter was completed in just one hour.
In front of Xia Family Cloth Shop—
Brother Xia had people bring out bolts of cloth.
“Here are ten thousand horses,” Brother Xia said, looking at the Wen merchant. “Settle the balance.”
The Wen merchant only paid one thousand taels, leaving a balance of nine thousand taels, which he had neither prepared nor had! He came with his men to collect one million taels!
"You...how could you..."