I am the champion of palace intrigue, and even the proud prince bows his head in submission.

Chapter 572 Xie Jue's Route: Cooking for the Jiang Family

"of course not."

Gao Wanzhi put down the pastries in her hand. "I only agreed to postpone it for a few days to save face for the Jiang family. This marriage will definitely be called off."

Xie Jue's lips immediately curved into a smile. He lowered his head and took out the hairpin from his sleeve. Just as he was about to speak, a series of light footsteps suddenly came from outside.

A maidservant hurriedly lifted the curtain and entered, slightly out of breath, and bowed: "Princess, someone from the palace has arrived. The Emperor has issued an edict summoning you to the palace immediately."

Xie Jue's hand froze in mid-air, his fingertips slowly tightening.

That's fine too. We can give her the things after the engagement is called off.

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

"Cousin!" Gao Che stood up immediately and hurried over to greet her as soon as he saw her come in.

"How are you? I heard there was a fire in the backyard of the Jiang residence yesterday. Were you frightened? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Gao Wanzhi felt much better after seeing him.

Her eyes crinkled into a smile, and she said in a light tone, "What could possibly happen to me? Look at me, I'm perfectly fine. I didn't get a speck of dust on me."

Gao Che, however, still frowned, his gaze sweeping over her, as if afraid of missing any details.

Seeing that she was not injured, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The main hall of the Jiang residence.

Jiang's father sat in the main seat, his brows furrowed.

Madam Jiang sat to one side, sighed, and said in a low voice.

"Since she personally said she didn't want to marry, and then knelt down in front of everyone to apologize, it seems this marriage really can't happen."

Mr. Jiang nodded. “Wanzhi is a princess. The current situation is already showing us considerable respect. To demand more would be truly unfair to the Jiang family…”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud "thump".

Jiang Huaiyu suddenly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Father, Mother! I don't want to break off the engagement!"

Madam Jiang quickly got up to help him, "What are you doing? Get up!"

Jiang Huaiyu, however, insisted on remaining kneeling and refused to move.

“I’ve liked her since I was a child, Mother, you know that.”

Madam Jiang's eyes reddened, and she gently wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Of course, Mother likes Wanzhi. She is a good girl, polite and intelligent. If our family can marry her, it will be a blessing from several lifetimes."

"But this is no longer something we can decide."

"You've seen Wanzhi's attitude too. If you force her to marry you, will she live a peaceful life with you, or will she treat you like an enemy? Can you handle that?"

Jiang Huaiyu remained silent, kneeling on the ground for a long time, her eyes filled with struggle and resentment.

He clenched his fists tightly and repeated in a low voice, "I don't want to break off the engagement, Mother, I really don't want to..."

Jiang's father looked at Jiang Huaiyu kneeling on the ground, his brows furrowed, but he ultimately couldn't speak.

Madam Jiang stepped forward and sighed heavily.

She only has one son, how could she not feel sorry for him?

Madam Jiang stepped forward, but in the end her heart softened. "If you don't want to back down, your mother will stand by you."

"Wanzhi is a good girl, we will not call off this marriage."

Prince's Mansion, Tinghe Pavilion.

Xie Jue leaned against the window as Chang Qing stepped in from outside, his footsteps extremely light. "Young Master, the situation of the Jiang family's shops has been investigated."

Xie Jue said calmly, "Speak."

Changqing walked to the table and presented the several thin books one by one.

"The Jiang family owns fourteen shops in the capital, as well as five in Jiangnan, three in Sichuan, and two in Luoyang. Most of these are old properties established in the early years. When Madam Jiang married, she brought not only fields and estates, but also her maternal clan, which was quite influential in Jiangnan at the time. Therefore, many of the shops were brought by Madam Jiang."

Xie Jue raised an eyebrow. "Who's in charge of these shops now?"

"Nominally, it was Jiang's father who was in charge, but in reality, most of the financial transactions were controlled by Jiang's wife."

"However, the Jiang family has been poorly managed in recent years, especially in several shops in Jiangnan and Beijing, which have suffered consecutive losses. In previous years, they were able to fill the gaps by selling land, but this year they have started to struggle financially. In particular, those spice shops and tea shops have taken out several high-interest loans in the last three months."

"High profit?" Xie Jue sneered, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Yes, my subordinates have had the lenders' backgrounds investigated. Many are street speculators, and some are even underground money lenders in the capital. Their conditions are harsh; if the Jiang family cannot recoup their investment in a short time, they will have to transfer their properties to pay off the debt."

Xie Jue opened the account books and tapped the table with his fingertips.

"The Jiang family's three most profitable shops in Beijing are a clothing store, a spice shop, and a tea shop. The first two are maintained by the circle of wealthy women, while the latter supplies several long-established tea houses."

"Have someone take action quietly," Xie Jue instructed. "Start with the supply channels, hold back the tea shop's inventory, don't openly confront them, let them think it's a competition among peers."

"There's some news spreading from the spice department, and the clothing workshops are getting people to raise prices to snatch up materials. If they can't supply the goods at the original price, their reputation will be ruined."

Changqing was shocked but also secretly impressed.

This set of moves, executed silently yet with ruthless precision.

"As for the raw silk and medicinal herb business in Jiangnan..." Xie Jue paused, his eyes sharp, "Let the old people in Chuzhou step forward and gradually take control of their raw material channels. We don't aim to take them all at once, but we want to cut off their supplies."

Changqing responded, "Yes."

Xie Jue composed himself and turned his gaze back to the hairpin on the table.

If they insist on climbing the social ladder, they will have to pay the price.

Evening, at the Princess's residence.

Inside the main room, Gao Wanzhi was leaning against the couch, flipping through books. She was wearing a thin fleece jacket and her hair was loosely tied behind her head.

A maid entered, bowed, and whispered, "Princess, the riding clothes you ordered a few days ago have just arrived."

Gao Wanzhi was slightly taken aback, then blinked.

Riding attire?

Because of Xie Jue, she hadn't gone horseback riding for a long time.

I'd almost forgotten about it.

She got up and walked over, and saw a neatly folded dark blue riding uniform on the tray. The material was soft yet resilient, and a pair of newly made boots were draped next to it.

She muttered to herself, "It's been a long time since I've been to the horse farm. That little steed has probably almost forgotten about me."

After saying that, she turned to her maid and instructed, "Go and prepare my clothes and equipment for the horse farm. Also, have someone send a letter to Vice General Li, saying that I will be going to the horse farm to practice riding tomorrow and asking if he is free. If he is, please ask him to come with me."

"Yes, slave, I'll do it now."

The next day, the morning mist had not yet dissipated at the horse farm, and several fine horses were pacing in the enclosure in the distance, occasionally exhaling hot air.

Gao Wanzhi changed into a newly tailored dark blue riding outfit and slowly led her horse into the arena.

Just as she was about to mount her horse, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure not far ahead.

Turning around, sure enough, it was Xie Jue.

Dressed casually, with a tall and straight figure, he stood beside another chestnut horse, gently stroking its neck.

When he saw her looking at him, he raised an eyebrow at her.

Gao Wanzhi was slightly surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I had nothing to do today, and I happened to be out for some fresh air, so I just stopped by."

Upon hearing this, Changqing, who was leading the horse, twitched at the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but purse his lips.

He had clearly sent people to keep an eye on Lieutenant General Li's messenger last night, and even found out exactly what time the princess would arrive at the horse farm...

And now they're pretending it was a chance encounter, tsk tsk...