You Are Too Devious

Mrs. Penny, who was sketching nearby, looked up and smiled, "I've already asked the workshop staff to work overtime and make more. I just finished a new set of illustrations—once they're ready, I'll send them to the workshop."

Su Li sipped her tea beside her and asked, "Any news from Charles Chu's side?"

Lola replied, "Charles Chu's men are buying up these books at high prices everywhere. He probably doesn't want them spreading too widely."

Su Li burst out laughing and shook her head. "That Crown Prince of Chu has been in power so long, he doesn't understand how common folks think. Tsk, with him doing this, we don't even need to lift a finger. Mrs. Penny, have the workshop work overtime and print more illustrations. Sell all of them near the Chu envoy's palace—and remember, set the price high!"

Mrs. Penny's eyes lit up. "Oh, if we sell the illustrations, Charles Chu will definitely try to buy them up and destroy them. We might make a quick buck!"

Lola hurried out to relay Su Li's instructions. In the workshop, over a hundred artists got to work, churning out the racy booklets at full speed. Many people disguised themselves as peddlers and deliberately went to sell near Charles Chu's residence.

This was all happening within the borders of Jin. Even as Crown Prince, Charles Chu couldn't just do as he pleased; after all, you can't just rob every peddler selling their wares.

So the Chu envoys, desperate, bought up every racy booklet they saw. Before long, every book that came out of Su Li's workshop was snatched up.

But Su Li was ready for this—the next batch rolled out even faster. The Chu people barely had time to catch their breath before a fresh supply arrived.

Wave after wave of racy booklets were hauled into the Chu envoy's palace to be destroyed, and wave after wave of silver flowed out of Charles Chu's hands. Watching it all, Charles Chu was so angry he nearly fainted.

That scheming Su Li—she wasn't just out to get his people, now she was draining his money too!

They kept buying and buying until dusk. The Chu guards were practically selling the shirts off their backs, but finally, they'd bought up the whole pile of racy books.

Charles Chu finally breathed a sigh of relief. But that night, when news spread through the capital that the Chu envoys were buying the books at sky-high prices, more speculators jumped in, making bootleg copies overnight to cash in.

So the next morning, just when Charles Chu thought things were finally over, his men opened the doors—and were stunned!

Outside, a huge crowd had gathered—ordinary folks from Jin, each carrying stacks of racy booklets. As soon as the palace doors opened, everyone started hawking their wares.

The Chu envoys were dumbfounded. Charles Chu nearly spat blood—he'd just finished buying up the last batch, and now there was a whole new mountain to deal with!

But the people of Jin didn't care about the Chu envoys' headaches. They saw a chance to make money and seized it—who cared about politics?

Charles Chu gritted his teeth and ordered his men to buy up all the booklets again. By noon, the Chu palace was stuffed to the rafters with racy books.

But the flow of racy booklets was endless. Charles Chu’s men were exhausted, their wallets empty, their spirits crushed.

Su Li’s scheme was so ruthless, even Mrs. Penny couldn’t help but marvel at her cunning.

If they refuse to buy, the common folk will spread the racy books far and wide, and the Crown Prince of Chu will lose all face.

If they do buy, when will this ever end?

Helpless, Zhao Yanchuan could only order his men to start buying up the books brought by the commoners.

As it turned out, the power of the masses was like a boundless ocean—unstoppable. The money Zhao Yanchuan brought was quickly drained to the very bottom.

Buying up the books from the commoners was no different than drinking poison to quench thirst.

Once the news got out, everyone knew they could sell racy books for a high price here. More and more people joined in copying and selling the books. From the gates of the Chu palace all the way into the night, the crowds were endless, the place was ablaze with lights, and the line of sellers stretched as far as the eye could see.

Zhao Yanchuan stared at the accounts handed up by his men, his hand trembling as he looked over the mounting expenses.

Su Li, you’re just too ruthless!