280 Echoing Each Other
The booksellers replied, “Take your time to consider. There’s no hurry.”
They had already calculated the score in their hearts.
A hundred taels of silver was indeed a very high fee, but this money was a fixed price. It was equivalent to a one-time pay off. As long as the Princess Consort of Lang County accepted the money, The Seven Treasures Record had nothing to do with her no matter how much they earned in the future.
They were all experienced booksellers. With their sharp sense of business, they could confirm that The Seven Treasures Record would definitely sell well in the future.
Compared to the huge profits, a hundred taels of silver was just a drop in the ocean.
They were already confident in this business and were very happy.
Yu Niaoniao felt that this was a good opportunity to educate Meng Xizhou.
Hence, she called Meng Xizhou over and said earnestly.
“I looked for these booksellers to ask them for help. They must feel uncomfortable that you captured them back like this. Look, they’re unwilling to help me publish books.”
Meng Xizhou placed one hand on the hilt of his saber and glanced coldly at the booksellers. His tone was filled with threat.
“It’s their honor to help. If they dare not agree, they can’t blame me for being rude to them with this knife in my hand!”
When the booksellers heard this, they immediately turned pale with fear and hurriedly defended themselves.
“We didn’t say no. We’re happy to help the County Princess publish the book!”
Meng Xizhou said, “Princess, look, they’ve already agreed.”
Yu Niaoniao was speechless.
Although she did not advocate using violence to solve the problem, this feeling of cutting the Gordian knot was really satisfying!
No, no, she could not fall out with them.
She pulled herself together. “They only agreed on the surface. They’re definitely still not convinced. We have to convince them.”
Meng Xizhou’s gaze lingered on the booksellers as he asked coldly, “Who’s unconvinced? Tell me!”
The booksellers trembled. “I’m convinced! We’re all convinced!”
Yu Niaoniao said, “Don’t scare them. What if they talk nonsense when they go back?”
Meng Xizhou said, “Our spies are everywhere in the Imperial Capital. If anyone dares to speak nonsense, I’ll invite them to the Justice Department for tea tomorrow!”
The booksellers shook their heads crazily. “We wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare talk nonsense!”
Seeing that they were so afraid that they were about to cry, Yu Niaoniao felt quite guilty. She was the one who had invited someone to help, but she had still frightened them to this extent.
She decided to find a way to make up for their losses.
“A hundred taels is indeed too much. Why don’t you give me fifty taels first?”
The booksellers were stunned. This was the first time they had seen someone bargain with them like that. Was there actually such a good thing?
Immediately after, they heard Yu Niaoniao continue.
“The remaining fifty taels will be counted as the printing and publication cost of the Seven Treasures Record. In the future, you’ll give me half of the profit for every Seven Treasures Record sold. This way, it can reduce your cost and your risk. How good is that?”
The booksellers felt bad! Half the profit was equivalent to cutting their flesh!
However, Yu Niaoniao was right. Every word was for their sake. They could not find a reason to refuse.
The fair and fat bookseller could not help but say.
“Isn’t that too disadvantageous for you? Do you want to think about it?”
They would rather pay a hundred taels of silver than give her half of the profits!
Yu Niaoniao smiled generously.
“It’s fine. It’s a blessing to suffer! I’m happy to help you. I hope you can take care of me in the future.”
She wrote the contract on the spot and was the first to sign and fingerprint it.
When it was the booksellers’ turn, they were very unwilling. However, Meng Xizhou stood at the side with a knife and glared at them. They were so afraid that they could only endure the pain and sign the contract.
When the booksellers walked out of the Langjun Imperial Palace with their contracts, they wanted to cry.
They had thought that the Princess Consort of Lang County was easy to manipulate. They did not expect her to pretend to be weak!
They could all tell that the Princess Consort of Lang County and Meng Xizhou had played along with each other just now.
Poor them. They had been smug and felt that victory was in their grasp.
Now it seemed they were really stupid.
But on second thought, how could a woman who could marry Duke Lang be a simple person?!
In Langjun Imperial Palace, Yu Niaoniao handed ten taels of silver to Meng Xizhou.
“This is your errand fee. It’s been hard on you today.”
Meng Xizhou declined. “It’s my honor to work for you. How can I take your money? I can’t accept this silver. If you really want to thank me, why don’t you cook some delicious food for me?”
With that, he smiled shyly.
When Yu Niaoniao was making the thousand-layer durian cake yesterday, she conveniently made the remaining durian into durian sugar.
She immediately said, “I have some durian candy here. Take it.”
Meng Xizhou had never eaten durian before and was very curious about the taste of durian candy.
Yu Niaoniao wrapped a large handful of durian candy in oil paper and handed it to Brother Meng Xizhou.
He pinched a candy into his mouth.
It tasted strange, but not bad.
In fact, after tasting it carefully, it had an unusual unique flavor.
Yu Niaoniao asked him how it tasted.
Meng Xizhou said without hesitation, “Delicious!”
Yu Niaoniao was very happy.
Finally, someone could appreciate the unique taste of durians like her!
She grabbed another handful of durian candy for him to take back and eat slowly.
Meng Xizhou returned to the Justice Department happily with the durian candy.
Lo Pingsha was the most sensitive to food. He was the first to notice the unique smell on Meng Xi and immediately asked.
“What did you just eat?”
Meng Xizhou adhered to the principle of sharing good things with his brothers. He took out the large bag of durian candy and said mysteriously.
“I just ate this durian candy. It was rewarded to me by the County Princess. Do you want to try it?”
Lo Pingsha immediately extended his hand. “Give me one.”
After taking the durian candy, he put it in his mouth without hesitation.
He frowned at first, then slowly relaxed his brows and nodded in praise.
“Sweet but not greasy. A very special taste. Give me more.”
At this moment, Yan Nanguan came over. “What are you guys eating? I want it too.”
The packet of durian candy was divided into three and they munched on their candies with relish.
When Xiao Juan called them over for a meeting, he immediately smelled the familiar stench coming from them.
That was the smell of last night’s durian cake!
Last night, Xiao Juan only took a bite of the cake, and the rest was eaten by Yu Niaoniao. This caused the smell of durian on Yu Niaoniao last night to linger for a long time. He was even surrounded by this strange smell when he slept.
He had thought that he would be free today after coming to the Justice Department. Unexpectedly, the smell surfaced again!
Xiao Juan felt suffocated.