Chapter 100 - Negotiation

"So, how should we negotiate this?" Qing Shan asked, she had no idea what to do. All her life she was taught to be a brave warrior, things like this weren't her strong suit.

"I'm not sure either, I'm not good with business stuff. I'm only good at architecture and designing," Yu Yingyi said.

Qing Shan stared at Yu Yingyi in disbelief, "There's something the princess is bad at?!"

"Stop it," Yu Yingyi said while cringing before turning to Mei Xiang. "I'm sure you heard our conversation, can you come up with something?"

Mei Xiang smirked, "I thought you would never ask, let me show you how a true businesswoman does it."

Yu Yingyi deadpanned Mei Xiang, she had never seen this side of Mei Xiang before. She found it funny since Mei Xiang seemed funny, arrogant too. It was as if she was the main character in some novel.

"Princess, are you sure about this? I haven't seen Mei Xiang make deals with anymore since the beginning of our friendship," Nian Zhen said in a monotonic voice.

"Yes, I'm sure it'll be fine. Even if she never displayed real trading, I'm sure she's learned a lot of stuff from Wang Shu," Yu Yingyi said confidently.

But she was worried about something else. Yu Yingyi mentally sighed to herself, she needed to teach Nian Zhen about emotions and how to express them before it's too late. Yu Yingyi didn't want want to hear the robotic tone any further.

"Alright, let's negotiate!" Mei Xiang exclaimed.

Yu Yingyi and Qing Shan followed behind to make sure Mei Xiang was going to be safe. The three bandits also stepped forward, both groups stopped a few feet away from each other. Not too far away, not too close.

Although they weren't fighting, Yu Yingyi could sense hostility from the bandits. What confused her was why the Zhu empire was even doing this, there were no particular grudges the empire held against each other. Yu Yingyi started to think they sent the group of bandits because of their obsessiveness over culture.

"People of the Zhu empire, you want the scroll, correct?" Mei Xiang asked.

"That's the only reason we came here."

"I see, but before we start negotiations, let's introduce each other. How about it?"

"Fine."

Yu Yingyi smiled, at least they were willing to share their names, that way they had more specific information about them other than the fact that they were from the Zhu empire.

The female bandit went first, then the masked bandit who was also a female went second, and the male bandit went last.

"I'm Ah Chun..."

"I'm Ah Lam..."

"I'm Ah Wang..."

While Mei Xiang and the others were introducing themselves, Yu Yingyi stared at the group of three. She was surprised they were bandits, although they looked nothing alike, they did similar things.

"And last, this is the princess Yu Yingyi, though you probably already know of her," Mei Xiang said.

"Of course we do, how could we forget the woman who took away our prince's consort!" Ah Wang spouted in anger.

Yu Yingyi stared at Ah Wang in disbelief, was that the reason they held a grudge against her? For such a trivial matter...Yu Yingyi could sense a headache coming.

From what Yu Yingyi could decipher from the attitudes of the three siblings, the masked one, Ah Lam, seemed to be the smartest one of the three. Ah Chun was average while Ah Wang was an airhead. Therefore, Yu Yingyi decided to call the masked one out.

"Ah Lam, why don't you speak with Mei Xiang. I could see cleverness in your eyes, surely you won't propose a bad deal right?" Yu Yingyi asked.

Ah Lam glared at Yu Yingyi but complied since she didn't want to be looked down upon. Yu Yingyi smiled, now that she had put more pressure on Ah Lam, Mei Xiang would have the advantage, not that she didn't have it before.

Yu Yingyi transformed a violent battle into a battle of negotiation. It was simple, the one who made the other party into thinking they had the better deal was the winner.

Yu Yingyi was confident Mei Xiang was going to win, after all, she knew how Mei Xiang did things. Every deal she proposed would be advantageous towards the three siblings, however, the three siblings never accepted since they were too cautious and wanted to avoid anything risky.

Just like that, Yu Yingyi knew Mei Xiang was going to win. Over time, Ah Lam's mind started to slow down, she wasn't properly thinking due to the pressure on her.

The words Yu Yingyi said to her, -Surely you won't propose a bad deal right?- rang throughout her mind causing her to lose focus.

That was when she made the mistake of tricking herself, she proposed a deal she thought was an advantage towards her. Naturally, Mei Xiang caught this and instantly accepted.

When Ah Lam realized her mistake, she wanted to take it back, but it was already too late. She knew they lost the battle. Since they lost fair and square, they didn't complain and simply left with five jades in their hands.

"That was an entertaining battle," Yu Yingyi said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, princess, though I felt like it was a bit too easy," Mei Xiang said as she suspiciously looked at Yu Yingyi. "Yingyi, why did you put pressure on her? You knew they weren't experienced in negotiation."

"Ah, you got me," Yu Yingyi said as she laughed sheepishly. "I helped her though, if she comes across a similar situation, she can figure out how to get rid of the pressure," Yu Yingyi said.

Mei Xiang shook her head, "Things don't work like that, but I guess it's fine."

Yu Yingyi smiled and walked towards Nian Zhen. "Nian Zhen, thanks for your help and for giving us the information."

Nian Zhen felt her heart shudder for a moment before the sensation disappeared. "No problem."

Yu Yingyi widened her eyes, for the first time, she heard a crack in Nian Zhen's tone. It sounded as if she was shy and embarrassed, it made Nian Zhen look cute. Yu Yingyi couldn't resist the urge any longer and patted Nian Zhen's head.

"Look how cute you are."

"S-stop."

Mei Xiang and Qing Shan stared at the two, they weren't paying attention so they had no idea what happened. They were watching Yu Yingyi pamper Nian Zhen without context.

"Do you know what's happening?"

"No, I don't."