When Zhong Xingxiao heard about this, his legs nearly gave out from under him. First, his sister Empress Dowager Yan had betrayed their allied nation, giving Great Zhou an excuse to station troops at Yan’s borders. Then, just when he thought the gamble-the-nation proposal, made with the world’s common people and soldiers in mind, had temporarily stabilized Great Zhou, now his guard had assassinated an important minister of Great Zhou’s court—this was like personally handing Great Zhou the blade to kill Yan!

A hundred years from now, he and his sister from the Zhong family would probably be drowned in spittle, and the entire Zhong clan would never be able to hold their heads up again.

Collapsing into his chair, Zhong Xingxiao’s heart trembled. As he thought about it more, he realized he shouldn’t be worrying about whether the Zhong clan could hold their heads up—he should first worry about whether he would survive.

Just as Zhong Xingxiao was worrying about his fate, another message arrived. In the great prison, Zhong Xingxiao’s guard had confessed in Lu Jin’s hands within half an hour, saying that Zhong Xingxiao had instructed him to assassinate this Liu Rushi, because he knew Liu Rushi was Great Zhou’s eloquent spokesman. He wanted to eliminate this stumbling block before the peace negotiations to ensure the success of the two nations’ gambling agreement.

Zhong Xingxiao immediately collapsed back into his chair, his heart crying out that all was lost. With trembling hands, he picked up his brush to arrange his final affairs.

At the same time, Lu Jin changed out of his blood-stained clothes, put on his official robes properly, and entered the palace to report back to Bai Qingyan.

“He’s a tough man with a hard mouth. When I first laid eyes on him, I knew he was a ruthless person who would probably endure all manner of torture without spitting out anything. I didn’t expect him to finally give in.” Lu Jin stood in the center of the great hall, furrowing his brow as he spoke earnestly to Bai Qingyan. “This matter feels strange to me, but I still sent someone to deliver a message to that Master Zhong.”

During this period, it was Lu Jin’s people who had been guarding Zhong Xingxiao’s door, not allowing outsiders to see him. Lu Jin naturally knew how restless this Yan nation’s national uncle had been.

This Empress Dowager Yan had nearly prevented their Prince Zhenguo from returning from Yun Capital. Lu Jin couldn’t torment the Empress Dowager Yan herself, but couldn’t he torment the empress dowager’s elder brother, who had delivered himself to their door? Naturally, he had to have someone pass a message to Zhong Xingxiao, saying the assassin had confessed that Zhong Xingxiao had ordered the assassination of Liu Rushi. If this scared the national uncle to death, it would have nothing to do with their Great Zhou.

Bai Qingyan looked at the confession Lu Jin had brought, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk. After a long while, she raised her head to look at Lu Jin: “This assassin… bring him here. I want to see him personally.”

As she spoke, Bai Qingyan’s gaze turned to Weizhong: “Go invite Great Yan’s Ninth Prince to come and see this Yan guard together. This way we can show that our Great Zhou hasn’t wronged their Yan nation.”

“Yes!” Weizhong placed the tea cup in front of Bai Qingyan and added, “Your Majesty, Minister Shen from the Ministry of Works has been waiting outside for quite some time after receiving Your Majesty’s summons.”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Please let him in…”

It was Bai Qingyan who had summoned Shen Tianzhi. This time, Bai Jinse had sent back three letters in succession.

The first letter contained information about Wang Hanbing’s background from the Yan delegation.

The second letter detailed the personalities, family backgrounds, and weaknesses of the officials in the delegation.

The third letter that came back was written in secret code. It appeared to be an extremely ordinary family letter, but when the paper was placed in a medicinal solution, the secret symbols would appear. Only after Bai Qingyan decoded the cipher did she know what Bai Jinse had written.

At the same time, a letter from Bai Qingyun at Yecheng Pass had also arrived, and the content of Bai Qingyun’s letter was precisely the papermaking method written in Bai Jinse’s third letter.

Calculating the timing, Bai Qingyan knew that Bai Jinse’s letter back must have taken quite a circuitous route. She had sent letters to both Bai Qingyun and herself simultaneously. After Bai Qingyun read Bai Jinse’s letter, she sent back the papermaking method, and only then did Bai Jinse’s letter arrive, which showed that Bai Jinse was probably already under surveillance by Murong Li in Yan.

In the third family letter, Bai Jinse said that she had now established a foothold in Yan using this papermaking method. She had drastically reduced the cost of paper production. Previously, only imperial relatives, nobles, and officials could afford paper, but now even ordinary scholarly, wealthy families could afford it.

Because of paper, the Cui Trading Company had made a name for itself in Yan all at once. Bai Jinse was clever—she didn’t simply lower paper prices across the board, but instead divided paper into different grades. The most expensive paper was even more costly than before, and the papermaking method was more complex. Bai Jinse said this was taught by Bai Qingyun.

The most expensive paper from Cui Trading Company was called the “Four Gentlemen of Paper,” known as Gentleman Paper.

Gentleman Paper had subtle fragrances—plum fragrance, clear bamboo scent, chrysanthemum fragrance, and orchid fragrance. Moreover, when this paper was paired with Cui Trading Company’s exclusive inks named after the four plants—plum, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and orchid—the fragrance would last for a long time. Therefore, it was highly sought after by Yan’s nobles, scholars, and ladies of the inner quarters.

In Yan, there were even nobles who specifically bought plum-scented paper to pair with orchid ink, creating artwork that emitted different fragrances.

Recently, Cui Trading Company’s paper, more precious than gold, was often completely sold out, with pre-orders extending to next year, and supply couldn’t meet demand.

The reason Bai Jinse wrote this letter was because she, a lowly merchant, had been granted an audience with Yan Emperor Murong Li. During their conversation, she felt that this Murong Li was not as the outside rumors suggested—a young ruler being bullied by others. Instead, she felt Murong Li had very strong opinions and didn’t seem like an incompetent person. She warned her elder sister to be extremely careful.

She also said that Murong Li hadn’t spoken with Bai Jinse in detail, only asking questions about papermaking and such. He also didn’t forcefully demand that “Cui Fengnian” hand over the papermaking formula, only jokingly asking if “Cui Fengnian” would become a Yan citizen. After she refused, Murong Li had her escorted out of the palace.

But within a few days, Second Prince Murong Ping sought her out, saying he wanted to give Cui Fengnian a wealthy opportunity. He said he would find ways to promote paper throughout Yan’s territory and could even arrange to exempt Cui Fengnian from taxes and fees.

But he had only one requirement: Cui Fengnian must manufacture paper in Yan and was not allowed to privately sell paper to the Great Zhou, because he planned to open paper shops in the Great Zhou under the name of Cui Trading Company. Naturally, in the future, all the paper sold in his shops in Great Zhou would be purchased entirely from Cui Fengnian.

During this period, “Cui Fengnian” could not leave Yan. Second Prince Murong Ping said this was an opportunity for everyone to get rich together. He had fought wars for so many years and hadn’t even been granted a princely title, so now he just wanted to make more money.

Cui Fengnian was a merchant pursuing profit, and he too was pursuing profit—they should hit it off immediately. He also wanted to cooperate more with Cui Fengnian, so he would give Cui Fengnian benefits in Yan, while Cui Fengnian would give him the benefits in Great Zhou—a mutual benefit for both.

To test the second prince, Bai Jinse told Second Prince Murong Ping about Murong Li’s audience, where he inquired about paper.