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At that moment, Song Qingying was accompanying Consort Xu on a stroll through a jewelry shop.

Consort Xu was none other than the Prince of Huai’an’s favored consort, and also the birth mother of the Prince’s eldest son whom Song Qingying had previously saved.

As though catching sight of something, Consort Xu’s eyes lit up. She stepped forward, picked up a red hairpin, and without trying it on herself, turned and slipped it into Song Qingying’s hair.

She then stepped back, looked Song Qingying up and down, and smiled.

“Truly beautiful.”

“This hairpin suits you perfectly.”

“Don’t take it off. Consider it a gift from me, since I’ve taken up another full day of your time.”

Hearing this, Song Qingying rolled her eyes inwardly.

You drag me out to keep you company every few days, and isn’t it just so I’ll pay for everything?

So you use my money to buy a hairpin and give it back to me, and have the nerve to call it a thank-you gift?

Shameless, truly shameless.

But Song Qingying showed none of this on her face.

She even put on an expression of delight: “Your Ladyship has such wonderful taste.”

“Many thanks to Your Ladyship.”

But Consort Xu was still not satisfied.

She looked Song Qingying up and down once more and said with a teasing smile: “If our Ruiming could marry a wife as beautiful and clever as you in the future, I would die without regret even now.”

Hearing this, Song Qingying’s face stiffened at once.

Because what Consort Xu had just said was unmistakably hinting that she wanted Song Qingying to marry Zhou Ruiming.

She had not expected that Consort Xu, not content with scheming after her money, would be so greedy as to set her sights on Song Qingying herself.

But did Consort Xu even stop to think? Zhou Ruiming was a son born of a concubine. And he thought he was worthy of marrying her?

Even if she herself had only been an illegitimate daughter in her previous life.

And most critically, Zhou Ruiming spent his days haunting brothels and pleasure houses. There was no telling how many diseases he had picked up by now.

The reason she had become Zhou Ruiming’s savior in the first place was that he had suffered a fatal episode of excessive indulgence in a brothel, and when his servants rushed him to a medical hall in a panic, they accidentally collided with an oncoming carriage, wrecking it. She happened to be passing by at the time, recognized the Prince of Huai’an’s crest on the carriage, and immediately helped get him to the medical hall. She then obtained a rare thousand-year ginseng root from her useless father, had it sliced and administered, and pulled him back from the brink.

But as she had always reminded herself, they still needed the Prince of Huai’an’s household to back them up for now. They could not afford to fall out with them.

As for Consort Xu setting her sights on her, that was something to be dealt with gradually.

So in the next instant, Song Qingying let a flush of shy demureness show on her face.

She didn’t directly respond to Consort Xu’s words, but everything about her manner conveyed one message: that she harbored affection for Zhou Ruiming and would be willing to enter the Prince of Huai’an’s household as his wife.

Seeing her like this, Consort Xu was even more pleased.

But just as they finished paying and had barely walked a short distance from the jewelry shop, someone from the Song household came looking for them.

He drew close to Song Qingying and murmured a few words in a low voice, and Song Qingying’s expression changed on the spot.

She immediately turned around, her face a picture of distress: “Your Ladyship, something urgent has come up on my end that I must attend to. I’m afraid I can no longer keep you company. Please forgive me.”

Consort Xu was immediately all understanding and warmth: “Think nothing of it. I still have Nanny Chen with me. Go and take care of your matters.”

“Many thanks to Your Ladyship.”

Song Qingying turned and left.

So she did not see that in the very next moment, the smile on Consort Xu’s face vanished without a trace.

Nanny Chen beside her couldn’t hold back: “A lowly girl born of a concubine raised to the status of principal wife, and she dares to look down on our young master?”

At the very least, their young master was a true-blooded member of the imperial family.

She then turned to look at Consort Xu: “Your Ladyship, what do we do now?”

Judging from Song Qingying’s reaction just now, she clearly had no desire to marry into the Prince of Huai’an’s household at all.

Consort Xu toyed with the jade bracelet worth a hundred taels of gold that she had just purchased, and said with a cold smile: “This is not for her to decide.”

Song Qingying might look down on her son, but she looked down on Song Qingying too, a minor official’s daughter who hadn’t even left home yet and was already out running a merchant business.

But the fact remained that Song Qingying had money.

And if her son could marry Song Qingying, with her help, he might truly one day surpass the two brats born of the Princess of Huai’an and inherit the Prince’s household.

When that day came, she could easily dispose of Song Qingying, marry her son to a virtuous and well-bred young lady of a distinguished family, and absorb all of Song Qingying’s personal assets in the process.

And even in the worst case, if her son ultimately failed to inherit the Prince of Huai’an’s household, having Song Qingying the money magnet at his side would still be more than enough to ensure a life of wealth and comfort for both mother and son, surpassing even the Prince of Huai’an’s household.

So whether Song Qingying wanted to marry or not, she was going to marry.

But what she hadn’t anticipated was that before long, Song Qingying’s maidservant suddenly came hurrying back.

The moment she saw Consort Xu, she dropped straight to her knees: “Please, Your Ladyship, please save our young miss.”

Consort Xu was immediately taken aback: “What has happened?”

The maidservant gritted her teeth and said: “Reporting to Your Ladyship, somehow the formulas for glass and soap have been leaked.”

Consort Xu’s expression froze instantly.

Her mind was racing with one thought: now that the glass and soap formulas had leaked, could Song Qingying still generate that much money? Could her son still use her connections to become the Prince of Huai’an?

But the maidservant was not finished: “And most critically, the managers of the glass workshop and the soap workshop have apparently been deceiving our young miss all along.”

“They kept telling our young miss that the cost of producing glass and soap was seventy percent of the selling price. But the actual cost is less than five percent.”

“And yet the Prince has clearly decided that it was our young miss who deliberately deceived him. He is now preparing to call her to account.”

“Please, Your Ladyship, please help save our young miss.”

With that, she pressed her forehead to the ground and kowtowed.

But Consort Xu’s expression had gone completely rigid.

The true cost of producing glass and soap was less than five percent?

Before this, the Song family had promised the Prince of Huai’an’s household thirty percent of the profits from the glass and soap shops.

But as it now appeared, the Song family had been keeping ninety-one percent of the profits for themselves, leaving the Prince’s household with less than ten percent.

Less than ten percent was all it had taken to keep the Prince of Huai’an’s household in their pocket all this time?

The Song family, Song Qingying. What a fine scheme they had been running.

Because she absolutely did not believe the maidservant’s claim that Song Qingying had been deceived by the managers of the glass and soap workshops.

Song Qingying was one thing, but if Song Jiyang was so easily fooled by a few servants, he had no business being a prefect.

But none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered now was whether to go before the Prince of Huai’an and plead on Song Qingying’s behalf.

Because if she went to plead for Song Qingying, the Prince might well let the matter pass lightly.

After all, she was still the Prince of Huai’an’s most favored consort, whatever else could be said.

That was likely the main reason Song Qingying had suddenly sent her maidservant back to ask for her help.

But was Song Qingying worth the risk of the Prince making a mental note against her?

Clearly, Song Qingying in her current state was no longer worth that.

Consort Xu made up her mind in an instant.

Because now that both the glass and soap formulas had leaked, Song Qingying could no longer provide them with a steady stream of wealth the way she once had.

Song Qingying had always claimed that the glass and soap formulas were her own inventions.

But who believed that?

Setting aside how young Song Qingying was, just look at her, the kind of person who would rather be carried everywhere than walk, who couldn’t even be bothered to lift a finger. Did she look like someone who would spend her days rubbing shoulders with sand artisans in the name of researching glass and soap?

So those formulas were almost certainly something she had stumbled upon by sheer blind luck.

Without those two formulas, she was nothing more than an ordinary minor official’s daughter.

Which made her even less worthy of her son.

Consort Xu said immediately: “But I have to call on Madam Qin shortly and really cannot get away.”

“Don’t worry. The Prince is so fond of Miss Song, he surely won’t make things too difficult for her.”

Hearing this, the maidservant’s expression froze.

She never could have imagined that Consort Xu, who just moments ago had been speaking so warmly of hoping Song Qingying would marry her son, would turn around in the next breath and wash her hands completely of her young miss.

But in the end, the Prince of Huai’an did let Song Jiyang and Song Qingying off.

Because Song Jiyang and Song Qingying handed over every last tael of silver they had earned from the glass and soap operations to the Prince.

“One million nine hundred thousand taels of silver, just gone like that.”

Back at the prefectural residence, Song Jiyang didn’t even have time to breathe a sigh of relief before he erupted in furious cursing.

“I said from the start, we should never have tampered with the accounts. You refused to listen, and look where we are now. Not only have we lost everything, we’ve also given the Prince a reason to hold a grudge against us.”

Because to smooth things over, they had also had the two managers of the glass and soap workshops beaten to death.

Thinking of this, Song Jiyang came close to wanting to beat Song Qingying to death as well.

He had conveniently forgotten that it was also he who had agreed to Song Qingying’s proposal to conceal the true production costs of the glass and soap in the first place.

Song Qingying’s expression was no better.

“Find out, find out exactly who leaked the formula and who sold it.”

She still assumed that the formulas circulating on the market had been leaked from their own glass and soap workshops.

Song Qingying’s eyes were blazing: “When I find out who did this, I will make them wish they had never been born.”

And then there was the Prince of Huai’an and Consort Xu, especially Consort Xu.

She would make them regret this too.

“But if they think one little setback like this is enough to keep me down permanently, they are far underestimating me.”

Hearing this, Song Jiyang’s eyes lit up immediately: “You mean you still have other formulas in hand?”

Song Qingying: “That’s right.”

The glass and soap formulas might be gone, but she still knew the method for refining white sugar, for firing cement, for preventing and treating smallpox, and even for producing gunpowder.

Any one of these formulas, brought out on its own, would be more than enough for her to make a full comeback.

“It’s just a pity that our foundations are still far too thin right now. We still have to keep relying on the Prince of Huai’an.”

And so half a month later, a confectionery product called “white sugar” suddenly appeared on the market in Yangzhou. It was purer than malt sugar, and sweeter. On top of that, the people selling it claimed it was a tribute product from the royal family of an overseas nation called Yingli. Before long, this white sugar, priced at twenty times the cost of ordinary malt sugar, had taken all of Jiangnan by storm.

“Excellent.”

Song Jiyang burst out laughing.

And no wonder they said Jiangnan was the wealthiest region under heaven. In barely half a month, they had already earned over a hundred thousand taels of silver.

His earlier fury swept clean away: “My dear daughter, you truly are my lucky star.”

Hearing this, Song Qingying couldn’t help letting a trace of smugness show.

She had said it. She would make the Prince of Huai’an and Consort Xu regret this.

At the Prince of Huai’an’s temporary residence.

Upon hearing the news, the Prince, while pleased, did indeed feel regret, just as she had predicted.

Because Song Qingying had proven herself to be a money magnet in every sense of the word.

What a pity that after what had happened before, a rift had already formed between them.

Consort Xu was even more vexed.

Because now that the Prince could see Song Qingying’s value, he would certainly be even less willing to make an enemy of her.

Any thought of pressuring Song Qingying into marrying her son was now out of the question.

But what none of them knew was that on the other side, upon hearing this news, the middle-aged man, who had just about burned through the previous two million taels of silver, said with complete satisfaction: “Understood. I’ll have someone go out and sell the formula for refined white sugar right away.”

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