What I Am Best At
Nathan Ye let out a snort, crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes, looking completely unimpressed.
Lily Evans glanced at Quentin Qian, a meaningful smile tugging at her lips. "Lord Qian, I went to great lengths to recruit Lord Nathan Ye from the capital. He was personally promoted by His Majesty... the former Minister of Works. Young, talented, and full of promise."
Quentin Qian's face turned green. "W-what, he—he was a capital official!?"
So he really was a capital official, and not just any official—the former Minister of Works!
Looks like I misjudged him. Turns out that 'blind as a bat' insult was spot on, wasn’t it?
"That's right! He made it to Minister at such a young age!" Lily Evans blinked playfully.
Nathan Ye looked even more smug, muttering, "See? I told you she was blind as a bat. I wasn’t wrong."
Quentin Qian felt a lump in his chest, unable to breathe smoothly. Not wanting to dwell on this, he quickly changed the subject, coughing lightly to mask his embarrassment.
"Ahem, Chancellor Lily, even with your academy budget cut by half, the treasury still can't come up with one million nine hundred thousand taels of silver," Quentin Qian steadied himself, determined to regain control of the conversation.
As soon as money was mentioned, Mia Qian perked up. "Grandpa's right! One million nine hundred thousand taels? Even the treasury of Qin couldn't cough up that much. So, either the academy doesn’t get built and Her Majesty admits defeat, or if Her Majesty doesn’t want to lose face in front of His Majesty, our Qian family might be able to help. Of course, the terms are clear to Her Majesty."
"Crystal clear. I know exactly what you mean," Lily Evans smiled faintly, looking up at Mia Qian. "You want to enter the Palace of Qin, and in exchange, the Qian family will provide the treasury with one million nine hundred thousand taels. Am I right?"
Lily’s bluntness made Mia Qian blush, but she quickly nodded. "Exactly. Her Majesty is clever; I’m sure you’ve weighed the pros and cons by now. As long as you agree to a marriage alliance with the Qian family, we’ll hand over the one million nine hundred thousand taels—no strings attached."
"Tsk tsk." Lily Evans rubbed her brow, then stood up and shook her head. "My answer hasn’t changed: absolutely not. You want to join the Palace of Qin? Not in this lifetime."
"You! You don’t want the money? Don’t want to build the academy!?" Mia Qian’s expression twisted with frustration. She stepped forward, gripping the edge of the table, eyes locked on Lily Evans.
Nathan Ye watched Mia Qian’s face change in an instant, and took a step back in fright, muttering to himself, "Women change faces faster than flipping a page!"
Lily Evans didn’t budge, meeting Mia Qian’s gaze calmly. "Just one million nine hundred taels, and you think you can threaten me into sharing my husband? Tsk tsk, ridiculous."
"Ridiculous? I think you’re the ridiculous one! You talk big, but without the Qian family, where will you get the silver?" Mia Qian retorted smugly.
"Where will I get the silver? Hahaha!" Lily Evans suddenly laughed, looking at Mia Qian as if she were watching a comedy. "Miss Qian, you really don’t know, do you? My greatest talent isn’t cooking or ruling a kingdom—it’s..."
Lily Evans deliberately paused, watching Mia Qian’s twisted expression, then smiled sweetly. "My greatest talent is... making money. Is your Qian family really so out of the loop? Don’t you know you’re standing before the richest woman in Jin? Honestly, your family’s silver doesn’t impress me. If I hadn’t just arrived in Qin and spent seven or eight million taels on military expenses and troop resettlement, I could easily pull out three hundred eighty taels for the academy budget. As for just one million nine hundred taels? I could produce that in a snap. I don’t need your Qian family’s threats."