Chapter Ninety-One: Exhausted to the Brink

I am exhausted... In just half a day, Li Zhi had already come to understand how difficult it was to run a business. Customers came and went in endless streams, shoulder to shoulder, never ceasing.

They arrived, then left.

They left, then came again.

There was never a moment’s rest.

Li Zhi directed the chefs in the back kitchen, busying himself all morning until he was nearly flat on the floor with fatigue.

“Master, I’m back!” Cheng Chubi came into the kitchen with Cheng Chuliang and Cheng Chumo.

“Good heavens... you’re finally back. I’ll leave the kitchen to you. Chuliang, Chumo, come with me!” Li Zhi took them to the trade guild.

The two brothers were full of questions.

Hadn’t they come to learn cooking? Why were they being taken elsewhere?

On the ground floor of the guild, Luo Tong had just finished serving two merchant guests and collected three thousand coins, which he was counting with great satisfaction.

Seeing Li Zhi return, he hurried over and said, “Your Highness, I’ve only just realized that doing business is truly wonderful! In just this morning, I’ve taken in several tens of thousands of coins. What a thrill!”

“Haha...”

“Take your time and enjoy it,” Li Zhi replied without much interest.

He led the Cheng brothers to the second floor.

Inside a private room, Li Zhi got straight to the point. “You want to take me as your master and learn culinary skills?”

“Yes!”

“Learning to cook will be very hard. Do you know that? Don’t be fooled by how glorious Chubi looks now. When he is cooking, he is often drenched in sweat, his back aching, his legs sore...”

Since they had already come here, the two brothers were prepared in their hearts.

As the elder brother, Cheng Chumo said, “Your Highness, just command us as you please. No matter how bitter or tiring it gets, we are not afraid!”

“That’s right! If even that brat Cheng Chubi can do it, then we can certainly do even better than him!” Cheng Chuliang thumped his chest and vowed that his future achievements would surely surpass his younger brother’s.

“Good.”

Li Zhi nodded casually, then changed the subject. “For now, put the matter of learning cooking aside. The reason I called you here is because I have something enormous to tell you. But first, you must swear that you will tell no one, not even your father, Cheng Yaojin. Of course, you won’t have a chance to see him either.”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t we have a chance?” The brothers were startled.

For a moment, they thought their days were numbered.

Because Cheng Shuming had promised me that for the next three years, he would not meet you. From now on, everything about you will be decided by me.

“So that’s it!”

The two brothers breathed a sigh of relief.

Not going home or seeing Cheng Yaojin for three years was no great matter to them.

Even when they did not come to the tavern, they rarely returned home anyway.

“Your Highness, you just said... you had something huge to tell us?”

“Yes.”

Li Zhi did not immediately speak of the aristocratic clans.

First he had them perform the apprentice ceremony, establishing the master-disciple bond, and afterward they burned incense and swore an oath never to let a single word leak outside.

“Your Highness...” Luo Tong called from outside, knocking at the door.

“Come in!”

Luo Tong pushed the door open and entered, then cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, officials from the Ministry of Revenue are here to visit! They say they have urgent matters to discuss!”

Li Zhi frowned slightly. “Not good... that fellow Changsun Wuji must have found out something and wants to stop me from opening the trade guild. Or perhaps he wants to reap the benefits without lifting a finger?”

Luo Tong said, “Your Highness guessed correctly. What they want to discuss is using the trade guild to remotely control merchants in all regions...”

“Haha... He certainly dreams nicely! I’ve worked so hard for this. How could I let him profit from it?” Li Zhi waved a hand. “Go tell the Ministry of Revenue that I will not see them!”

“And inform Changsun Wuji as well: if he has the ability, let him go build his own connections. Don’t think of making a move on my people, or he won’t come to a good end!”

“Yes!”

Luo Tong held the same view.

The trade guild was the foundation of their campaign against the aristocratic clans; it could not be used as wedding clothes for someone else.

...

This exchange reached Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang, leaving them quite puzzled.

“Why won’t Your Highness help the Ministry of Revenue? If he could lend a hand, the emperor would surely be pleased,” Cheng Chumo said.

“You have no ambition at all, do you?” Li Zhi snorted. “I’ll tell you the truth: not only will I not help the Ministry of Revenue, I’ll use every possible means to stop them. This war without smoke or fire—I must win it!”

Li Zhi laid bare everything about the aristocratic clans, including the scheme he had devised with Luo Tong and Cheng Chubi.

The matter was grave.

The brothers were utterly stunned.

“What? Frightened you, have I? Let me make this clear: if either of you dares to leak even a single word, I will strike first and report later!” Li Zhi drew his short sword and drove it into the table with a sharp clang.

“We would never dare...”

“Master, we will absolutely not reveal a single word!” Cheng Chumo promised.

“That’s best.”

Li Zhi assigned them their tasks. “Before this, I looked into it a bit. The two of you are about equal in learning. But Chumo is better at handling affairs with tact, so you will stay at the trade guild and assist Luo Tong in managing things here. Chuliang will go with Chubi to learn cooking and quickly master the skill of stir-frying. After that, I’ll hand the tavern over to you.”

“Yes!”

Cheng Chuliang was overjoyed.

But Cheng Chumo was not having it. “Master, you’re being far too biased! Why does he get to learn cooking while I’m left at the trade guild?”

“Do you think anyone is qualified to manage the trade guild? It has to be someone I trust, someone calm and tactful, someone who knows how to maneuver among the great clans! I’m cultivating that talent in you, and you still don’t appreciate it?”

“Sigh... your disciple obeys,” Cheng Chumo said.

Luo Tong drove away the Ministry of Revenue officials, standing in open opposition to Changsun Wuji.

This matter was quickly reported to Li Shimin.

“Your Majesty, the capital’s first trade guild, though newly established, has already formed cooperative ties with merchants from all over through the immortal wine of the first tavern. This will help control prices and influence market conditions. In our struggle against the aristocratic clans, it can play a decisive role. I ask Your Majesty to issue an edict and requisition the first trade guild...”

Changsun Wuji had truly lost all shame and was even setting his sights on the trade guild.

Li Shimin sneered. “Changsun Qing, you have disappointed me far too much. How can you not even outmatch a three-year-old child? That aside, you still want to use me to forcibly requisition the trade guild? Isn’t that a bit too despicable?”

“This...”

Changsun Wuji’s old face reddened.

Back then he had vowed with confidence to deal with the aristocratic clans.

He had even berated Li Zhi, not putting him in his eyes at all.

Yet in less than half a month, he had already fallen into the losing position.

“If you truly are no match for Zhi’er, then I shall hand the matter of dealing with the aristocratic clans over to him in full, so you won’t embarrass yourself any further!” Li Shimin provoked him deliberately.

“Your Majesty, that would be absolutely impossible! The aristocratic clans are entangled in intricate relations. How could the little prince possibly handle them? If anything goes wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable!”

“Then show me some results. Prove that you are stronger than Zhi’er, instead of turning green with envy over another man’s achievements and scheming in secret to seize them. I despise that shameless behavior most of all!” Not only did Li Shimin refuse to help Changsun Wuji, he even scolded him soundly.

“Yes, this subject will return at once and think of another way.”

Changsun Wuji, his face burning with embarrassment, hastily withdrew from the imperial study.

From this moment on...

The struggle and contest between him and Li Zhi officially began.