Jin Wang manor was in chaos, and when Duan Mingxi heard about it, she was speechless for a long time. That Jin Wang probably had a hole in his brain.
No matter which woman he encountered, he somehow always messed things up.
However, Side Consort Chen was behaving with remarkable restraint, not fighting or contending for anything, acting as if she desperately wanted to keep Jin Wang at arm’s length. Mingxi truly didn’t understand her.
Over in the Eastern Palace, the Liangdis were fighting like mad. Qi Wangfei and Side Consort Ming were going head-to-head, while Yu Wangfei had long given up on Yu Wang. When Side Consort An entered the manor, Yu Wangfei never made things difficult for her. Side Consort An was smart, knew her place, reciprocated goodwill, and got along well with Yu Wangfei.
But someone like Side Consort Chen was truly rare. Mingxi had never seen the like before, and when Duan Huirou came to complain, even she couldn’t tell whether Side Consort Chen was genuinely sincere or just faking it.
The whole situation at Jin Wang’s manor had taken on a strange tone. Consort Zhang suspected Duan Huirou and summoned Side Consort Chen alone for questioning.
But not only did Side Consort Chen say nothing bad about Jin Wangfei, she even praised her in front of Consort Zhang. This left Consort Zhang speechless. She began to suspect that Side Consort Chen wasn’t too bright and started to regret not choosing a sharper girl.
After leaving the palace, Side Consort Chen let out a huge sigh of relief. She just wanted to live peacefully—why would she be foolish enough to provoke Jin Wangfei? That one was terrifying enough by herself, and behind her stood Duan Wangfei and the Dingyuan Marquis.
In the past, maybe Dingyuan Marquis wasn’t that frightening, but now things were different. They had a geishizhong whose official rank wasn’t high, but his reputation was stellar.
So—let me ask you—are you scared or not?
She cherished her life—and was very, very scared.
Other people just saw Jin Wang’s manor as a joke. The real focus was still on Donggang—especially with Ning Qin Wang heading out to sea to join forces with Zhenhai Marquis in mining operations, which drew a great deal of attention.
After all—this was a silver mine.
Just at that moment, Xiao Muchen made a move—he petitioned the court to establish a Maritime Bureau in Donggang, placing the port directly under imperial control.
That one memorial stirred up a storm. On the court, the officials were so shocked by Duan Wang’s move that they couldn’t even speak. When word spread outside the palace, curses erupted nonstop. They had just invested their silver into Donggang—if it were to be taken back by the court, what would happen to their money?
At this time, the gates of Duan Wang’s residence were nearly pounded down. Everyone who had invested silver wanted to get information from Duan Mingxi.
The Duan family had thrown in hundreds of thousands of taels at Donggang. If Duan Wang said it would be handed over to the court, then it would be. But what about the Duan family’s silver?
They had just hoped to get a share of the pie—yet before they could even lift the bowl, it was about to be smashed?
Who could be happy with that?
Not only Duan Wang’s residence, but the Xie family was also in turmoil. However, their situation was clearly worse. After all, the Xies were mere merchants. Even though their daughter had entered the Eastern Palace as a Liangdi, she was still just that—a Liangdi. So when questioned, they didn’t even have the status to hold their ground.
After Xiao Muchen’s move, Duan Mingxi immediately followed with one of her own. She publicly declared that the Duan family supported bringing Donggang under imperial control. At the same time, she joined forces with the other investors to submit a memorial, petitioning His Majesty to allow them to sell off one final shipment of maritime goods before the port was officially taken back.
After that, any trade through Donggang would follow imperial regulations and pay taxes accordingly.
Duan Wang had acted out of loyalty to the court, and taking back Donggang was not wrong—but it had touched the interests of many. Yet Mingxi turned around and fought to win them the maximum grace period, giving them a chance to recoup some of their capital and even earn a modest profit. In doing so, she discreetly cleaned up the aftermath for Xiao Muchen.
This husband and wife pair—one sang the official tune in front of the emperor, loyally acting in the name of the nation, while the other swayed the noble families and court officials, striving to preserve their investments.
The emperor delayed in issuing the final decree. The capital was restless. Many had already started preparing to cut their losses—they no longer hoped for profits, only to recover their initial capital.
Once the imperial decree came down, and if Donggang was officially placed under court control, all that silver might vanish like smoke.
For a time, Mingxi received a flood of invitation cards from noble ladies—not a single one mentioned profits. All they asked for was to get their principal back as soon as possible.
Xiao Muchen returned from court and saw Mingxi writing rapidly at her desk. He asked, “How’s it going?”
“Almost done,” Mingxi replied. “These people’s silver did help us get through Donggang’s first crisis. We can’t burn the bridge after crossing it. I’m planning to allocate some of our funds to repay them.”
Xiao Muchen frowned. “There may be a change.”
Mingxi paused, putting down her brush. “What? Does Royal Father want to seize all the investors’ silver for Donggang? That’s outrageous!”
That would offend everyone completely.
Xiao Muchen shook his head. “No. The Eastern Palace rushed to reclaim its capital and put pressure on Donggang. They pulled all the liquid funds from the port’s accounts.”
Even Mingxi, usually calm and composed, couldn’t help but curse, “B*stards!” Then she laughed coldly. “There was a clear path to heaven, but they insisted on barging into h*ll. They can’t blame me for being ruthless now.”
Xiao Muchen looked at her. “If that’s the case, I’m afraid your plan to return the capital to the aristocratic families in the capital may no longer be feasible.”
Mingxi immediately grabbed her abacus and began calculating. With the Eastern Palace yanking out all the funds, the shortfall was not small. Her resources were fixed—plugging this gap would be difficult.
Xiao Muchen pulled out a few silver notes from his sleeve and handed them to her. Mingxi glanced at them—50,000 taels. “Where did this come from? Wait—don’t tell me you still have private savings?”
Didn’t he already give her his entire stash?
Xiao Muchen gave her a look before replying, “It’s from Eighth Brother. He’s handed all his silver over to you.”
“Eighth Brother has secret savings? Sister-in-law is not doing her job.”
Xiao Muchen: …
Meeting his gaze, Mingxi suddenly burst into laughter. “I’m just joking. You think everyone’s like you?”
These days, married women managed their dowries, and husbands had their own private assets. Each handled their own wealth—this was the norm in every family and clan.
No man would hand over his personal vault to his wife.
“Exactly. In this world, I’m probably the only one who treats his wife with such sincerity,” Xiao Muchen said with a straight face.
Mingxi couldn’t help but laugh. Still, Xiao Muchen had truly handed over everything to her and never even checked the accounts.
Perhaps there really was no one else like him in the world.
Mingxi looked at Xiao Muchen and said, “Then let the Xie family make their move.”
They had dragged it out with the Eastern Palace long enough. It was time to bring it to an end.
“Before I came back, I already sent Qi He,” Xiao Muchen said as he sat beside her. This time, they had to make sure the crown prince would never rise again.
Mingxi’s expression turned serious. “The crown prince drained Donggang’s funds. Let that news out.”
Once that was made public, anyone who had invested in Donggang would surely start to resent the Eastern Palace.
The crown prince had pulled out all the silver from Donggang just to protect the interests of his supporters. But what about everyone else?
What about their money?
This move by the crown prince was terrible—he gained silver but lost the people’s hearts.
And yet, this very move was exactly the trap that Xiao Muchen and Mingxi had spent so long laying.
