Chapter 171: Bet

Su Yan said, “I already know who it is. There’s only one person who can do it even threaten him if he can’t enter the imperial court as an official.”

Zhang Sheng frowned and said, “The Imperial Pawnshop.”

Su Yan nodded in appreciation.

Zhang sheng asked again, “Then how should we deal with this woman?”

Su Yan shook her head and said, “Forget it. They’re all pitiful people.”

They had already found out that this woman’s son had just passed the examination for a high scholar, but his title had been suppressed.

This must have been the Imperial Pawnshop playing tricks behind the scenes.

After the two auctions ended, Qicao Pawnshop fell silent.

It was not that there was no movement, but compared to the storm that had caused a great commotion in the city previously, it was much more low-key.

The eight shopkeepers of the Su family once again gathered at Guang Residence.

That day was the one-month bet that they had set.

Su Yan looked at the few people who were still very arrogant and knew that she did not make them lower their heads this time.

She placed the one-month bill on the table and pushed it over. She was the first to open her mouth and say, “These are the accounts. You can take a look.”

After a few of them finished looking through the accounts, they realized that the revenue was even higher than they had imagined.

When Mother Fei saw that the old clothes at the first auction were sold for 10,000 taels of silver, she was so regretful that her intestines turned green.

She could not help but grumble in her heart that Su Yan really did not give her any of it.

She had completely forgotten that she had chosen it herself. Moreover, without Su Yan, these clothes were the inventory that she could not sell.

Su Yan sipped her tea and waited patiently for them to finish reading.

Niu Sheng smiled and said, “Princess Consort’s ingenious idea this time was able to create so much revenue by relying on the whim of the citizens of the capital. I am truly impressed.”

When Su Yan heard these words, it was obvious that he was saying that this business could not last long.

She did not deny it and openly admitted, “Indeed, this business will not last long.”

Niu Sheng and the others were pleased with themselves.

Su Yan continued, “However, the result is that you have lost. I also support your opinion. This time, I am prepared to do a joint business. Whoever wants to join will have to do so of their own free will.”

Niu Sheng once again asked on behalf of everyone, “I wonder what Princess Consort means by a joint business?”

Su Yan said, “Connect all of your shops and form a closed loop.”

This was the method she had thought of after combining the terrain of the few shops. By this, they could monopolize half of the national capital’s economy.

This method sounded like wishful thinking to them.

Niu Sheng and the others did not object, but their actions were their own attitude.

Su Yan was not surprised. After the people left, she heard Chu Tao complaining that they did not know what was good for them.

Su Yan smiled and said, “Some old people have to show them some respect. Otherwise, those who are disappointed will be truly loyal people.”

Chu Tao did not understand, but Su Yan did not explain. She only said, “You will understand in the future.”

After Qicao Pawnshop fell silent, the Imperial Pawnshop suddenly announced that they had also built an auction house.

They spent a lot of money to rent a three-story shop next to the pawnshop.

Even the publicity was exactly the same as Su Yan’s. They were both selling tickets, but they were selling for five cents each.

This price could be said to be cheap compared to what Su Yan had previously received. The auction atmosphere in the capital had not gone through yet, and they had really attracted some business.

Having tasted the sweetness, they increased the publicity. For a time, the entire city was filled with news of the Imperial Pawnshop.

Elder Wang’s decision was praised by everyone in the pawnshop.

Zhang Sheng could not take it anymore and ran to reason with them.

However, he was kicked out by Elder Wang arrogantly. He even said, “So what if I learned it? What can you do to me?”

It was unknown when it had started, but there was news in the capital that the auction of Qicao Pawnshop plagiarized the Imperial Pawnshop.

At that time, Imperial Pawnshop was the first to start preparing for the auction. It was unknown how Qicao Pawnshop found out about it and beat them to it.

Zhang Sheng was so angry that his heart hurt. He wanted to go and argue with them, but he was stopped by Su Yan.