Lory quickly peeked from the window. She could see Zhao Mu Fan with Lao Fei Yan below with the Crown Prince's bodyguard and Lao Fei Yan's personal maid standing behind them. Zhao Mu Fan looked angry as he scowled at the male servant who had served them before. The man who had kowtowed before Zhao Li Xin with a pale face was now facing the Crown Prince with a calm face. You couldn't have said he was the same man.
"How dare you cancel my reservation?! This is outrageous!" Zhao Mu Fan banged the table loudly and the table broke in two.
?
"I'm terribly sorry, Your Highness. The owner asked us to cancel today's reservations and I'm just following orders," The male servant bowed slightly but he didn't look sorry and didn't budge either. Throughout the conversation, he remained calm and polite.
"Humph… A restaurant manager dares to refute me! Do you know who I am?" Zhao Mu Fan talked with arrogance. Although the Phoenix Hall was famous, they were just a mere restaurant. He didn't believe they had the guts to go against the royal family.
"Of course, Your Highness is the Crown Prince." The servant cupped his hands respectfully but his tone sounds like he mocked Zhao Mu Fan.
Zhao Mu Fan's face turned crimson, anger welled up in his chest. Never in a million years would he imagine a lowly servant would dare to mock him.
People who watched the spectacle could only hide their smiles. It was no secret that Zhao Mu Fan was known for his pompous and lecherous behavior. He liked to use his title to intimidate his opponents. No one dared to go against him before and today was the first time.
"This is the Phoenix Hall. We are bound to follow the owner's instructions. As a servant, we can only listen to our master," The servant said solemnly. There was no fear in his eyes. Why would he be afraid when he was under the Black Turtle Palace and a member of the Hei Shen Sect. Everyone knew the power Hei Shen Sect held. The servant could even go against the emperor himself. The only person he feared was the 'Demon Lord' upstairs.
"But you are a Jiang Wei citizen. You all need to follow the kingdom's rules. If not, you will be considered a rebel and be treated as one. Do you want to go against the Jiang Wei Kingdom?" Zhao Mu Fan sneered. He wanted to see what the servant would do. He already decided to cut the servant's body into pieces even if he apologized or kneeled before him.
Those who heard Zhao Mu Fan's threat held their breath and shivered. No matter how strong the Phoenix hall was, they couldn't dare offended Jiang Wei's, Crown Prince. It was like challenging the kingdom. Many people shook their heads with pity. It was possible both the owner and the Phoenix Hall may soon cease to exist.
"Sir, you are the one on the wrong. How could you treat your kingdom's Crown Prince like this?" Lao Fei Yan moved forward to show her prestige as the Crown Prince's fiancée.
"Why not call the owner and ask him to apologize to the Crown Prince? Our Prince is magnanimous, perhaps he would lighten your punishment," Lao Fei Yan smiled arrogantly.
The manager paled. The owner they were talking of was upstairs and definitely heard the stupid conversation. The man's temperament was fickle. No one knew what he would do. The manager petrified he suddenly wanted to cry. He just got off the hook minutes ago and now this happening. What kind of day was this? Why was he so unlucky today?
Lory also glanced at Zhao Li Xin. She wondered what he would do but Zhao Li Xin leisurely sipped his wine with an expressionless face. It was like he hadn't heard anything. He only beckoned at Lory, who was peeking like a thief, to sit beside him.
He tapped the leftover bowl as a gesture for her to continue her lunch. Lory pouted. She still wanted to watch the show. She missed having a reality show and there was no television or internet in this world. Such 'live entertainment' didn't happen often.
Zhao Li Xin raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes to threaten her. Lory couldn't dare to against him for some reason. It was not like she feared him. It was just that he had a similar bearing as her father which made it hard for her to blatantly go against him. She slightly opened the window and reluctantly went back to her lunch. She still wanted to hear what was happening downstairs.
Zhao Li Xin could only sigh at his savior's behavior. She liked to sneak around and watch people fighting when she could. She was really quite mischievous. He didn't hate what she did, but she needed to learn to take care of herself more.
She couldn't run around without eating as she wasn't a cultivator. What if she got a stomachache from hunger? Lory, on the other hand, didn't realize what was going around her worrywart 'boss' head. She munched her food while keeping her ears opens.
Zhao Mu Fan was gloating downstairs when he saw the manager's anxious face. He thought the manager was scared of his threat. Zhao Mu Fan smiled with victory while Lao Fei Yan also thought the same. She was proud because she could represent the Crown Prince. She could imagine the jealousy of the other women.
The manager, however, was waiting to see what his lord would choose to do. Would he kick the door, killed them all and punish him or will he do something else? His lord was unpredictable and was known to be lazy at times.
He was thankful that his lord chose to not do anything as he didn't feel his dreadful aura. He was stunned by the turn of events but was also glad that nothing bad happened. He sighed with relief and shifted his attention back to the stupid duo. He gave Zhao Mu Fan a meaningful gaze, "This... Your Highness, are you familiar with Jiang Wei's exclusive contract?"
Zhao Mu Fan felt like lightning had struck his head. His expression became stiff. However, Lao Fei Yan didn't know what's the manager meant. Her reaction was not weird as most people didn't know what the exclusive contract was, but judging by Zhao Mu Fan's reaction, everyone could guess it wasn't something trivial.
"Your Highness, what is an exclusive contract?" Lao Fei Yan asked with a quiet voice.
"That..." Zhao Mu Fan couldn't explain as it was an embarrassing matter.
The exclusive contract was made five years ago when the kingdom was going through a financial crisis. The crisis happened because of the combination of the government's corruption and the emperor's hobbies which included parties and harem expansion.
These long-term activities finally dry up the treasury funds. Things worsened when the border was attacked by barbarian tribes. It was one of the reasons why Zhao Yi Chen, the Third Prince was sent to the border to counter the attack. However, more problems arose when robbers and pirates made the road and seas unsafe for merchants and travelers, soon Jiang Wei's economy took a high dive.
It was in the midst of all this that the idea of an exclusive contract was proposed. Only a person who had the ability to pay double taxes had the advantage of proposing conditions favorable to them. The Phoenix Hall restaurant was the only business that agreed to pay double taxes at the time.
Their condition was anything and everything that happened in Phoenix Hall stayed there. Outsiders couldn't interfere with the business inside the Phoenix Hall as it was a law on itself. Anyone who visited the Phoenix Hall, no matter who they were, were bound to Phoenix Hall's rules. There was no exception, not even royalty.
The Emperor agreed to these terms, perhaps he thought 'So what?' is not like he would dine there, and what could a restaurant do anyway?
As a result, the Phoenix Hall was allowed to do anything inside their premises as long as they were not a threat to the kingdom. At that time, later on not only the Phoenix Hall restaurant that would ask for such terms. Other business owners would ask for the same terms, in exchange they must pay double tax.
The government and the emperor thought they strike gold with this new tax policy, they thought the only reason why many businessmen request the terms because they want to protect their business from being taken over by high officials and royal family which is happened quite often.
What they didn't know was all the businesses that fulfilled the new policy were owned by the same person, and that person is Zhao Li Xin, who was using his King's Palace to do his bidding. No one knows about this, not the official or the Emperor.
The Kingdom's economy was stabilized because of this contract and more businesses come up. However, no one could get an exclusive contract anymore. This did matter to Zhao Li Xin because he managed to spread his business throughout the Jiang Wei Kingdom. No one knew Zhao Li Xin was given trade monopoly in Jiang Wei kingdom with an under the table deal.
Zhao Li Xin had influenced every business sector in Jiang Wei for years. If he chose to ruin Jiang Wei's kingdom one day, all he needed to do was to pull out his business investments from the kingdom crushing Jiang Wei's economy. The kingdom might have the chance to withstand the blow if the politics within the kingdom was stable. However, there were many princes' factions fighting for the throne. Chaos was the most certain guarantee.
Once the economy went down, the first thing the government would do is raise the tax which will, in turn, raise the value of other commodities, causing inflation. People would gradually lose the ability to fulfill their needs as poverty set in.
Poverty would then lead to a rebellion. Zhao Li Xin wouldn't be surprised that the first person to act when such a scenario happens would be Zhao Yi Chen. Zhao Yi Chen was already a hero who protected the border. People would naturally look up to him when things got tough.
It would then not be surprising to then see Zhao Mu Fan and Zhao Qin Feng, the Fifth Prince and Zhao Li Xin's older brother, join forces to fight Zhao Yi Chen. The outcome for this was for either Zhao Yi Chen to kill both princes, or for both princes to kill Zhao Yi Chen before killing each other for the throne as only one could be emperor. However, It wouldn't matter who would take the throne in the end as the Jiang Wei Kingdom would be ruined by the princes' war.
Zhao Li Xin didn't need to dirty his hands on this. He didn't need to go to the palace to kill them with his own hands like a savage. He didn't need to gather his army and march to the palace like a vengeful warrior. All he needed to do was to sit back, drink his favorite wine and watched the princes cause chaos and damage the kingdom on theirsown.