“Greetings to Princess Zhenguo, what a coincidence… His Highness the Crown Prince was just about to send this servant to invite Princess Zhenguo, and the Princess has arrived.” Quan Yu said with a smile.

Bai Qingyan dismounted, tossed her black gold riding whip to the Bai family guard behind her, straightened her sleeves, and asked: “Does His Highness the Crown Prince have any instructions?”

“Not exactly. Master Xiao just arrived at the Crown Prince’s mansion, so His Highness sent this servant to invite Princess Zhenguo to the mansion.” Quan Yu bowed respectfully and made a welcoming gesture to Bai Qingyan. “Princess Zhenguo, please…”

With Xiao Rongyan’s sudden arrival in the capital, Bai Qingyan could roughly guess… it was because of the matter of Great Yan and the Rong barbarians jointly attacking Nanrong.

Xiao Rongyan was Great Yan’s Ninth Prince, so naturally, everything would prioritize Great Yan’s interests. His purpose in visiting the Crown Prince’s mansion was not hard to guess—he hoped that the Crown Prince, who currently governed Jin, would remain neutral and not interfere in the matter of Great Yan and the Rong barbarians attacking Nanrong, so that Great Yan could smoothly capture Nanrong, encircle Jin within, and prepare for swallowing Jin in the future.

But unfortunately, Bai Qingyan’s uncle Dong Qingyue had plans and arrangements in Nanrong, not to mention A’Yu was still in Nanrong. This time… Bai Qingyan probably couldn’t let Xiao Rongyan have his way.

The two of them had agreed beforehand, so today’s confrontation… Bai Qingyan would show no mercy.

The Crown Prince and Xiao Rongyan were chatting pleasantly in the main hall, completely unprepared for Bai Qingyan’s quick arrival. When they heard Quan Yu report Bai Qingyan’s arrival, the Crown Prince was full of surprise… and quickly ordered Bai Qingyan to be brought in immediately.

Today, as soon as Xiao Rongyan arrived, the Crown Prince had Quan Yu go invite Bai Qingyan, intending for Xiao Rongyan and Bai Qingyan to meet. After dinner later, he could also entrust Xiao Rongyan to escort Bai Qingyan home.

With such back-and-forth interactions, as Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan had more contact, feelings between men and women would naturally develop.

Moreover, although Xiao Rongyan had the identity of a merchant, he was the world’s richest merchant and could be said to be brilliantly talented and dashingly elegant. He had already expressed his feelings for Bai Qingyan—how could Bai Qingyan remain unmoved?

The Crown Prince always felt that if things continued this way, the matter between Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan would surely succeed. Then Xiao Rongyan could become his proper moneybag, rather than today’s negotiation where he only gave half the profits.

Xiao Rongyan wore a jade crown, dressed in an ivory-colored narrow-sleeved long robe, with a warm jade belt around his waist. His exquisite deer-skin boots had some dust on them. His figure was tall and upright, standing there with the scholarly elegance and refinement of a learned man, with extraordinary bearing.

Hearing that Bai Qingyan had arrived, Xiao Rongyan was slightly surprised. He smiled and stood up, bowing deeply to Bai Qingyan, who was entering: “Yan pays respects to Princess Zhenguo!”

Bai Qingyan nodded slightly and bowed to the Crown Prince: “Greetings to Your Highness.”

“I just sent Quan Yu to summon you, and you’ve arrived…” The Crown Prince gestured for Bai Qingyan to sit.

After Bai Qingyan sat down, she said: “I came to the Crown Prince’s mansion because I heard that yesterday, Minister Lu of the Court of Judicial Review failed to obtain a confession from Fu Ruoxi. I’ve come today to request Your Highness’s permission to let me meet with General Fu once. If this matter can be resolved quickly, I… can also return to Shuoyang with peace of mind.”

Bai Qingyan’s words were reasonable and well-founded. After speaking, she looked up and added: “Moreover, the secondary daughter of my uncle’s family is already engaged to the legitimate son of the Fu family’s main branch. If this matter isn’t resolved, the Fu family’s main branch remains in constant anxiety.”

This meant that Bai Qingyan’s visit to see Fu Ruoxi also had personal motives—wanting to resolve this matter quickly so as not to implicate the Fu family’s main branch… her future cousin-in-law by marriage.

The Crown Prince nodded, and after telling Bai Qingyan about how Old Madam Fu had died by hitting her head against the wall in prison yesterday, he sighed: “Old Madam Fu was a heroine among women. To prevent the Empress from using her life to threaten her son, she killed herself by hitting the wall. The coroner also examined Old Madam Fu’s body and confirmed she had indeed been poisoned with chronic poison.”

“Later, after I left, Minister Lu originally wanted to strike while the iron was hot to obtain testimony from Fu Ruoxi, but Fu Ruoxi, whether from excessive grief or deliberately protecting the Empress, refused to speak. If Princess Zhenguo can make Fu Ruoxi talk, that would be excellent. I’ll have Quan Yu accompany you later.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!” Bai Qingyan stood and bowed, then, after sitting down, she took the initiative to look at Xiao Rongyan. “Did Master Xiao just arrive in the capital?”

Xiao Rongyan smiled at Bai Qingyan and nodded: “Indeed…”

“Oh?” Bai Qingyan looked directly at Xiao Rongyan, her eyes smiling. She nodded in thanks to Quan Yu, who brought her tea, picked up the teacup, and said, “Does Master Xiao have some urgent matter? Arriving in the capital covered in travel dust and coming straight to the Crown Prince’s place.”

As she spoke, Bai Qingyan’s gaze moved to Xiao Rongyan’s deer-skin boots.

The Crown Prince followed Bai Qingyan’s gaze and indeed saw that Xiao Rongyan’s deer-skin boots were dusty, quite different from his usual immaculate appearance.

Xiao Rongyan had received Ren Shijie’s message and rushed back to the capital without stopping, hoping to use substantial profits to prevent the Crown Prince from sending envoys to the Rong barbarians. Even if he couldn’t stop Great Jin from sending envoys, delaying for half a month would be good.

In half a month… he didn’t dare say he was confident that Xie Xun could take Nanrong, but they could capture most of it.

The Crown Prince couldn’t help but laugh out loud, teasing Xiao Rongyan: “Just for some business matters, are you so anxious? Could my Crown Prince’s mansion run away?”

Out of trust in Bai Qingyan, the Crown Prince wasn’t particularly guarded in front of her, blurting out business matters.

“Business?” Bai Qingyan put down her teacup, appearing very interested as she looked at Xiao Rongyan. “I wonder what business Master Xiao wants to discuss with His Highness? Could you give Bai Qingyan an opportunity? Right now, Shuoyang is training troops and suppressing bandits, and money is tight. If I could do business with the world’s richest merchant, it should be enough to pay the new soldiers in Shuoyang for quite a while.”

The smile in Xiao Rongyan’s eyes disappeared. He knew well that Bai Qingyan wasn’t someone who cared about business. Her sudden aggressive approach probably meant she already knew his purpose—she was here to stop him.

Indeed, that Ghost-faced General might be a son of the Bai family. Bai Qingyan wanted the Bai family’s son to control Nanrong, using this to oppose Great Yan. With Bai Qingyan’s intelligence, she certainly wouldn’t let Jin be surrounded by Great Yan.

For today’s matter to succeed, Xiao Rongyan needed to be fully alert to achieve his goal. After all, they had agreed beforehand that, when opposing each other, personal feelings wouldn’t matter.

“It’s not big business. If Princess Zhenguo lacks silver, just name an amount… Yan will certainly provide it in full.” Xiao Rongyan smiled at Bai Qingyan, his tone very sincere.

The Crown Prince, who was drinking tea, felt his heart skip a beat, increasingly convinced that if he could match Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan together, his money source would be secure.

“I dare not accept rewards without merit, and absolutely cannot accept Master Xiao’s generous gift! I am quite interested in Master Xiao’s business… If Master Xiao doesn’t consider me an outsider, why not tell me about it…” Bai Qingyan smiled slightly, but her eyes showed unwavering determination.