"To be honest, I always feel like this matter is not simple, as if there is an invisible hand behind pushing everything, playing us like pawns. It’s a pity these are just my speculations..."
As he spoke, He Lian Duo Cai felt increasingly frustrated, unable to resist taking another gulp of wine.
Yao Xingshu listened to him but suddenly seed thoughtful: "Brother He Lian, do you have any theories? Could you share them with ?"
"Brother Yao, since you’re not involved in this area, you might not have noticed."
He Lian Duo Cai, probably distressed for a long ti, now rarely had a chance to vent, pouring out the feelings he had suppressed for so long.
"You see, every ti I try to make so moves here to salvage the situation, sothing always cos up, diverting His Highness’s attention to other matters, never focusing on dealing with the Spirit Rice issue. Do you think this is really just a coincidence?"
"Moreover... it was only after investigation that I found out those Prominent Families who used to plant Spirit Rice in their Spirit Field switched to planting Spiritual dicine, leading to a sharp decrease in Spirit Rice production. This was because an unknown force has been bulk-purchasing low-grade Spiritual dicine, offering prices much higher than the market rate."
"Later, when I realized things were amiss, I purposely brought several major grain rchants together for discussions and offered profit concessions to make those rchants raise their grain purchase prices to increase the profit for those families growing Spirit Rice. But with the long cultivation cycle of Spiritual dicine, once planted, it can’t be uprooted, so ultimately, it was just a temporary stabilization of the situation."
"Over the years, quite a few grain rchants beca envious of this profit and started secretly manipulating things. On paper, they buy grain at our set prices, but they actually exploit regional advantages to buy grain cheaply, using the price difference to amass wealth, forcing many small families to switch to planting Spiritual dicine."
"And that’s not all. In the last couple of years, I realized grain prices started to rebound. When I tried to stabilize the prices, I discovered the major rchants didn’t have much grain left. After sending soone to investigate, it turns out soone has been secretly purchasing grain over the years at a price above market rates, doing it so covertly that not only did I miss it, but even those rchants mistakenly thought only their family was doing it. Over these years, the stored grain unknowingly has been almost depleted."
"Now, we can’t gather grains, and the major rchants are running out too. My resources are almost depleted, and the upward trend of grain prices is irreversible. If not properly resolved, I fear I’ll have to step down..."
Yao Xingshu’s expression grew more severe as he listened, but he beca confused as he heard further: "Bulk-purchasing low-grade Spiritual dicine... I rember you reporting it. But that was many years ago, right? Why is this still ongoing now? What’s the use of so much low-grade Spiritual dicine? Just stored away?"
What he and He Lian Duo Cai handle is different, and their matters seldom coincide during reports. If He Lian Duo Cai hadn’t ntioned it now, he would indeed be unaware of many things.
"Who knows~" He Lian Duo Cai sighed, "I really can’t figure out what so many low-grade Spiritual dicines are for. Even if they’re just low-grade, to keep buying them for years requires a terrifying amount of funding. I secretly calculated, just the annual input for purchasing so much Spiritual dicine is nearly a Chaos Spirit Stone. Over these years, probably eight or nine Chaos Spirit Stones have been spent."
"Then there’s the force secretly buying grain, if it’s the sa group, they spend about one Chaos Spirit Stone each year. Combined, over the past decade, about twenty Chaos Spirit Stones have been spent."
"What massive financial resources must be behind such expenditure?"
Yao Xingshu took a deep breath.
No wonder He Lian Duo Cai is so worried.
Even though Prince Wen Yu has support from several Immortal Kings and so powerful Immortal Clans, gathering substantial funds yearly, he can’t withstand such consumption~
If it’s truly the sa force behind all these actions, it’s terrifying~
"Brother Yao, these burdens have weighed on for so long, and you’re the only one willing to listen to my troubles." He Lian Duo Cai said while drinking his sorrow away, now showing a bit of a drunken face, his tone even more lancholic, "I know it’s a difficult situation, if there were any other way, I wouldn’t drag you into this. If you really find it hard, I won’t insist. But for the sake of Spirit Rice, Prince’s Mansion has already poured massive funds, and now the money is about to go down the drain, His Highness certainly won’t spare lightly."
"Then, I can only go before His Highness to take responsibility. If sothing unexpected happens, I beg you to say a few words to protect my family. It’s ultimately my incompetence, and I ask for nothing but to avoid implicating my family."
"Brother He Lian, don’t say that..."
Yao Xingshu’s expression conflicted, hesitating for a long while, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded: "Alright. This is a major issue, if I find a suitable opportunity, I will try to ntion it to His Highness. If there’s really a force behind this, it’s not entirely Brother He Lian’s fault the situation has reached this point."
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