CHAPTER 307: CHAPTER 307: UNCLE ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER

After reading Zhao Ting’s letter, Zhao Dahe didn’t delay and headed straight to the Duke Qi Mansion after a word to Qin Zheng.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could stand against the Grand Princess now.

Though his mother was currently a County Princess, the granddaughter of the Duke of Qi, and wife of General Zhao.

But to the Grand Princess, or to people in these noble families of the Capital City, these identities combined weren’t intimidating. The reason being his mother appeared halfway, lacking solid foundations.

So, these people wouldn’t truly place his mother and them on an equal footing.

"Nephew, aren’t you a bit too weak?" Qi Yunye teased, "That’s not going to work! How will you protect your mother and Xiaohua?"

Zhao Dahe felt a bit ashamed. Before coming to the Capital City, he had planned well; he was going to build his own power base and become a support for his mother. But since arriving, apart from befriending a few street people, he had made no progress.

If anything, it was that his father gave him a few reliable people to command.

If something really happened, Zhao Dahe was very clear that relying on him, no one could be protected.

"Feeling powerless?" Qi Yunye asked him.

Zhao Dahe nodded.

"When my parents passed, I felt the same way," Qi Yunye said slowly, "Since then, I vowed in my heart to have the ability to protect those around me."

Zhao Dahe pressed his lips together, looking serious.

"Are you thinking I’m going to pass on my experiences on how to become capable?" Qi Yunye looked at Zhao Dahe with a half-smile.

Zhao Dahe was a bit dumbfounded, feeling that his uncle’s demeanor was a bit off.

Qi Yunye burst into laughter, "Looks like my acting skills have improved significantly! I say, if I joined an opera troupe, I’d surely be a renowned star throughout Zhou Country! Alas, the old man won’t allow it! He killed my chance to become a star!"

Zhao Dahe: ???

"When my mother was giving birth to me, she died in childbirth, exchanging her life for mine. My father was a lovesick fool, couldn’t bear my mother’s passing, saw through worldly affairs, and became a monk. I was just a newborn baby, how could I feel anything?" Qi Yunye laughed.

Zhao Dahe kept a straight face, "Uncle, this isn’t funny at all."

"Why so serious? I’m trying to make you laugh, let you relax a bit." Qi Yunye shrugged.

Back then, both Xiaohua and his mother said his uncle was a cold person.

Quirky by nature, doing things his own way.

Zhao Dahe thought maybe they had misunderstood the word ’cold.’ Quirky by nature, doing things his own way, was quite apt.

"Uncle, the Grand Princess is no easy opponent."

Ruthless, relying on her status to disregard others, acting all according to her own will. Last time, Xiaohua almost fell into her hands.

Later, his mother struck back, and someone close to the Grand Princess fell into her trap.

Zhao Dahe didn’t think the matter would be dismissed after it ended.

On the contrary, the Grand Princess would remember them doubly for it.

"Do you think the Duke Qi Mansion is easy to bully?" Qi Yunye wiped off the playful expression, his gaze sharp, giving Zhao Dahe the feeling he suddenly became another person.

A once carefree person suddenly turned reliable.

"Rest assured." Qi Yunye patted Zhao Dahe’s shoulder, "Your uncle can still protect you all."

"But—"

"Want to go for a walk with me?" Qi Yunye interrupted Zhao Dahe.

"Hm?"

"It’s time for you to understand your uncle, get to know the Duke Qi Mansion." Qi Yunye said earnestly, "Though now the Princely Heir of the Duke Qi Mansion is Dajiang, we all know that eventually, it will still depend on you."

Not that Dajiang was bad, but he wasn’t someone who could shield others from the wind and rain.

By midday, Zhao Dahe was astounded.

He never thought it could be like this.

Moreover, if Qi Yunye hadn’t actively shown him, he couldn’t have figured out Qi Yunye was such a Qi Yunye, even if he racked his brains.

Holding over a dozen business caravans.

And a fleet.

Not the kind of caravans that only traveled within the borders of Zhou Country.

The kind that trades with other dynasties.

The fleet was even more impressive, for it was his fleet that discovered the foreigners who looked different from the people of the Central Plains.

And they exchanged Zhou Country’s specialties for many gemstones and such from over there.

It’s safe to say, half of the abundant jewelry variety in Zhou Country now is thanks to Qi Yunye’s fleet.

Although Zhao Dahe had no business experience, he knew that in any business, monopoly makes the most money.

Several prominent business families in Zhou Country had fleets, but the Qi Family’s fleet traveled the farthest.

In this regard, no other family could compare.

Additionally, the Qi Family held several rich mineral resources.

Wealth rivaling kingdoms.

Only these four words were left in Zhao Dahe’s mind.

"With Qi Family controlling so much wealth, many are surely envious. Do you know why despite such circumstances, Qi Family remains standing firm, leading the way?" Qi Yunye asked Zhao Dahe.

Standing firm sounded serious.

Leading the way—in Qi Yunye’s words, for some reason, Zhao Dahe sensed a bit of irreverence.

Zhao Dahe honestly shook his head. He speculated it might be that Qi Yunye used this wealth to nourish some powerful servants, but he felt it wasn’t that simple.

"Because your uncle knows how to cozy up to influential people!" Qi Yunye said proudly.

Cozy up to influential people?

Zhao Dahe didn’t immediately grasp what it meant.

"Qi Family is the treasury of His Majesty, who’s going to have a good outcome coveting His Majesty’s treasury?" Qi Yunye said.

So, the influential person is Emperor Jing!

"My grandfather is old, with only a few years left. My father is wholeheartedly devoted to Buddhism, and I have no interest in officialdom. For Qi Family to remain not declining, other than relying on His Majesty, there is no other way. Now, in His Majesty’s eyes, Dajiang is merely someone who loves tending crops."

Such a family, Emperor Jing need not worry about in the slightest.

"Moreover, His Majesty is a smart man; he knows there’s probably no one in all of Great Zhou better at making money than me." Qi Yunye said with a hint of pride.

In business, ranking him second, probably no one could surpass him to claim first.

"The Grand Princess is His Majesty’s sister," Zhao Dahe said.

"In the Royal Family, relationships of blood..." Qi Yunye chuckled softly, "are the least reliable."

All people saw was Emperor Jing’s continuous favor for the Grand Princess.

Assuming the Emperor Jing and the Grand Princess shared deep blood ties.

Yet, who knew if this was merely what Emperor Jing wanted the world to see?

A means to demonstrate his benevolence, nothing more.

Zhao Dahe grew thoughtful.

Qi Yunye didn’t continue. After all, Dahe would embark on an official career path in the future. Some things needed him to experience, to discover.

If he told him everything, how could he grow?

Anyway, the Qi Family was not afraid of the Grand Princess.

If confrontation came, it would be a matter of skill.

At least, Qi Yunye was confident that Qi Family’s value to Emperor Jing far surpassed that of the Grand Princess’s.