Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

"As long as the quantity is small, and we send different people to buy it in batches, it shouldn't arouse suspicion. It's just a matter of transportation..."

"Don't worry about that, I have my own connections."

Lin Yu had been dealing with these things since childhood, and she knew everything about the canal transport. Through her connections, even if the shipment was transported in small batches, a large portion of it could still be transported. As for the rest, he could cooperate with the merchants under the guise of buying and selling jewelry and fabrics, and jointly rent boats. With other people as a cover, he could also avoid a lot of trouble.

The plan has been initially agreed upon.

Xiao Lie summoned the steward and instructed him to secretly open the storeroom and smuggle out two boxes of silver.

The steward summoned two loyal and reliable old servants to carry out the task quietly, but the commotion was still accidentally witnessed by someone.

Chunxue ran back to the room and whispered a few words in Lin Wan'er's ear, which surprised the woman.

Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?

"Absolutely right, there are two large chests full of silver inside."

Chunxue twisted her handkerchief, pouted, and said angrily.

"Why would the young master send out so much silver out of the blue? In my opinion, there must be some vixen outside trying to seduce him and trick him into sending her money."

Chunxue became more and more unwilling. "With so much money, let alone buying clothes and jewelry, it would be more than enough to buy a large mansion with three courtyards. Miss, you can't let your guard down and let other women take advantage of the situation."

Although the two no longer have much contact, Lin Wan'er still holds the title of the Crown Prince's wife. In Chunxue's eyes, the money naturally belongs to her young mistress, the head of the household. The money sent out is not the Duke's mansion's money, but her young mistress's money.

Lin Wan'er's eyes darted around, her expression a mixture of belief and doubt.

Has Xiao Lie really found a new love so quickly?

Thinking of this, Lin Wan'er felt inexplicably uncomfortable. She exhaled, suppressed her panic, and calmly gave the order.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

But she wasn't sure she could find out the truth. After much thought, she wrote a letter to Jiang Heng, asking him to investigate the possibility that Xiao Lie was keeping a mistress. If the allegations were true, she thought she could use them to her advantage.

Jiang Heng received the letter but didn't pay it any mind; he simply tossed it aside with disgust.

"What time is it? This woman is still thinking about those things in the inner quarters."

The thought of that day, when he was intimate with Lin Wan'er and she didn't bleed, filled Jiang Heng with extreme disgust. He burned it without uttering a single word.

This, in turn, gave Xiao Lie an excellent opportunity.

Over the course of half a month, under Lin Yu's management, batches of grain were loaded onto various ordinary merchant ships and shipped downstream.

……

"That bastard Jiang Heng!"

"What's wrong? You look so angry. Did he do something to you?"

Lin Yu, unusually, came to the door and sat down in the hall, looking like a pufferfish that had been puffed up with anger. Xiao Lie personally poured her a cup of tea, which the woman gulped down, then gave Xiao Lie a cold, dismissive look.

"Isn't it all because of you?"

For this reason, Lin Yu also loaded a lot of goods onto those merchant ships. However, these small cargo ships, which had been concealed, seemed to be considered weak and easy to bully by the canal transport gang, and they were seized by the gang several times.

Lin Yu went to great lengths to find out that Jiang Heng had been taking advantage of the situation to extort and exploit her.

She put down her cup and started cursing.

"What, you're even taking these things? Is the Kang Prince's Mansion so poor it's about to go bankrupt?"

Xiao Lie recalled the exorbitant IOU he had forced the Kang Prince's Mansion to sign, and guiltily touched his nose, thinking that it might really be true.

"Don't panic. Let's discuss this matter and find a solution. The Prince Kang's family also engages in trade; their ships may not be innocent."

"you mean?"

Xiao Lie smiled slightly, his expression suggestive, "I heard you know people from the Canal Gang?"

Lin Yu's pupils contracted in disbelief. "You want to hijack the ship? Are you crazy?"

"Hmph, King Kang is ruthless himself, so don't blame me for being unjust."

If Jiang Heng hadn't interfered, he wouldn't have had to come up with this plan.

Three days later, the smuggling ship belonging to the Kang Prince's residence was secretly intercepted just before entering the capital. Jiang Heng was furious and went mad. His subordinates advised him to report it to the authorities, but he slapped them across the face.

"Reporting to the authorities, do you think I haven't fallen fast enough?"

He was recently impeached by his ministers for being falsely accused of selling smuggled salt, which caused him to lose the emperor's favor. If the matter is blown up again, he will lose his position.

Jiang Heng clenched his fists so tightly they cracked, gritting his teeth inwardly.

"Investigate for me! Which scoundrel dares to cause trouble behind my back?"

The subordinate hesitated for a moment, then reminded him, "Your Highness, what if we can't find out?"

Jiang Heng stared at him darkly, "If we can't find out, what use are you? If you can't find out, then you can all die."

The man trembled and immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

But two days later, their subordinates brought back news that made them even more silent.

"Your Highness, it's...it's the Grand Canal Gang."

While the Grand Canal Gang appeared to be working for the imperial court and handling all major canal transport affairs, it was ultimately just a loosely organized civilian group, a motley crew of all sorts of people.

Once something enters the canal gang's hands, it's like entering a bottomless pit.

The subordinate hesitantly reminded him, "Those unruly fellows from the Grand Canal Gang, if we don't let the government arrest them, we probably can't deal with them. But if the government gets involved, it might cause a huge uproar, and then the whole capital might know about it..."

The government's search was too large-scale. Even if Jiang Heng had given them the orders in a very secretive manner, it would be difficult to prevent the news from leaking out. If that were the case...

Jiang Heng gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Send a few people to infiltrate the canal gang and investigate quietly."

"But with only a few people, their strength is weak and their chances of success are probably not very good."

Jiang Heng gave a cold smile and stared at him.

The subordinate was sweating profusely and dared not say another word.

Jiang Heng's heart was already filled with gloom. In fact, he knew very well that the outcome of this matter would probably not be satisfactory. If that were the case, he could simply abandon this batch of goods... and there would be a long road ahead with the canal gang.

When the news reached the Duke's mansion, Xiao Lie happily drank several bowls of wine.

"Your Highness, Prince Kang is currently extremely busy and has no time to cause us any trouble."

This move not only quelled the trouble but also earned them a sum of money. If their merchant ships attracted any attention, they could use Prince Kang as a scapegoat. Imagine, once news of Prince Kang's smuggling spread, those remonstrating officials would have no time to care about anyone else; they would probably be spitting everywhere, trying to drown Prince Kang.

This move achieves multiple benefits and can be described as perfect.

"It's the canal transport gang area..."

"It's alright. Lin Yu has already sent the group that made the move away beforehand. Even if Prince Kang wants to investigate, he won't find anything."

Sure enough, two days later, Xiao Lie heard the news again that the Prince of Kang was throwing a tantrum at his residence.