Chapter 30: Fleecing the Sheep

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Seeing that Lin Pianran remained unmoved, she could only continue, “Let us quietly put this matter behind us. From now on, neither of us will mention it again. We can live in peace, and I will not trouble you anymore.”

“Under Heaven, there is no land that does not belong to the sovereign; within the borders, there are none who are not the sovereign’s subjects.”

“If you dare touch even a single strand of my hair, Father Emperor will certainly make sure you die without a burial place. And the Lin family will be destroyed in an instant because of your recklessness and insolence!”

“I am a princess of the empire. Whatever I do can be brushed aside—great matters reduced to small ones, and small matters to nothing. What can you possibly do to me?”

“Who can blame me for being born at the very pinnacle of imperial power? That is something ordinary people can never compare with—and you even less so!”

“Even if you had the courage to bring this before my father, he would certainly favor me, his princess. At most, he would give me a mild reprimand—something neither painful nor consequential.”

“Why put yourself through all that useless trouble?”

“It would be better for us to settle this privately. You would avoid a great deal of trouble, and you could walk away with a handsome sum of silver. Why not?”

“If you think five thousand taels is too little, I can give you more. How about ten thousand taels?”

“That is no small amount. If you opened a shop and did business, rising early and working late, you would have to labor for a very long time to earn that much. You should think carefully.”

At the mention of silver, Lin Pianran’s eyes instantly lit up.

She had not expected to gain an unexpected windfall before dying.

A fat sheep like this would be foolish not to fleece.

To receive such a handsome sum of money—

Wonderful!

Simply wonderful!

Lin Pianran thought it over. Ten thousand taels seemed a little too little.

This was a princess, after all!

She tentatively tilted her small head and softly said, “That is too little.”

She wanted to see whether the other woman would raise the offer.

She also wanted to find out just how much wool she could pluck from Princess Huai’an.

When Huai’an saw Lin Pianran reject her offer almost without hesitation, she immediately understood that her bargaining chip was insufficient.

As long as the other woman had demands, the matter could be resolved.

What would truly be troublesome was if she refused to accept anything at all.

After a brief moment of thought, Princess Huai’an held up two fingers. “Twenty thousand taels. That is the most I can give you. Do not be insatiable.”

Look at that—another ten thousand taels.

She really was a fat sheep.

There was still room to fleece her further.

Then she would simply continue.

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Lin Pianran looked much more cheerful now and said earnestly, “Princess, you are the emperor’s daughter. You possess both power and influence, and your status is incomparably noble.”

“Twenty thousand taels is nothing but a drop in the ocean to you.”

“Do you really have the nerve to offer such a paltry sum and expect the matter to disappear?”

“Do you think I am so easy to dismiss, that I will accept so readily?”

Princess Huai’an looked as though flames were about to shoot from her eyes.

But now that she was at someone else’s mercy, she did not dare oppose Lin Pianran.

Otherwise, if this wretched woman refused to let her leave, she would have no recourse.

She could only pay more silver to send her away.

That was Princess Huai’an’s plan.

She hesitated for a long while before finally raising five fingers, her reluctance plain.

When Lin Pianran saw those five fingers, the corners of her eyes and brows lifted, and her face filled with delight.

Suppressing her emotions, Lin Pianran pretended to be reluctant. “Very well. In view of the princess’s sincerity, I shall reluctantly accept.”

Wretched woman! Damnable wretch!

She had taken advantage of the situation and was still pretending to be gracious.

Even if she had the life to take so much silver, she would still need to live long enough to spend it.

Princess Huai’an’s face was filled with venom, and she nearly ground her teeth to pieces.

But when she saw the greed on Lin Pianran’s face, she finally let out a deep sigh of relief.

It seemed she would soon be free from this poisonous woman’s grasp.

Yet inwardly, she swore viciously: Wretched girl, just wait and see. I will never let you off! Hmph...

Lin Pianran saw straight through Princess Huai’an’s thoughts but did not reveal it.

She knew the princess had not truly admitted defeat. She was merely forced into submission by her present circumstances.

As for escaping her clutches—that was impossible.

Perhaps in her next life.

Lin Pianran took paper and a brush from her sleeve and held them out before Princess Huai’an. “Then write me an IOU first. What if I let you go and you turn around and deny the debt? What would I do then?”

A crack appeared in Princess Huai’an’s composure.

She truly had not imagined that Lin Pianran would be carrying paper and a brush with her.

At first, she had only intended to placate Lin Pianran temporarily.

Now she found herself in an impossible position.

Seeing Lin Pianran’s resolute expression and unwillingness to compromise, while desperate to escape her predicament, Princess Huai’an...

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In the end, she had no choice but to hesitantly write an IOU for fifty thousand taels of silver.

She then signed her name on it.

Under Lin Pianran’s coercion, she even bit her finger and pressed a bloody fingerprint onto the document.

Unexpectedly, Lin Pianran still refused to stop. She continued pressing her advantage. “Princess, I remember that you have a private purse you usually carry with you, as well as a jade pendant symbolizing your identity. You can temporarily entrust both to me for safekeeping, can’t you?”

This unreasonable demand nearly ignited a raging fire in her chest.

But when she saw the dagger in Lin Pianran’s hand, its blade gleaming with a chilling light, she could only surrender.

She forcibly suppressed all the fury burning within her.

Once everything had been completed as demanded, Princess Huai’an handed it all over to Lin Pianran.

Lin Pianran inspected everything carefully. Only after finding no omissions did she tuck it into her sleeve.

In reality, she put it into her personal storage space.

At that moment, Lin Pianran noticed the jewels adorning Princess Huai’an’s head, each one exquisite and luxurious.

Several valuable jade bangles encircled her wrists as well, their translucent quality clearly exceptional.

Lin Pianran’s gaze grew heated once more.

Princess Huai’an was so furious that smoke nearly poured from her ears.

She had never imagined that after paying such a heavy price, Lin Pianran would still set her sights on her jewelry.

How despicable!

Utterly despicable!

With no other choice, Princess Huai’an was inwardly filled with reluctance, yet outwardly she behaved with perfect cooperation. She removed every precious ornament she was wearing and handed them to Lin Pianran.

To save her life and secure her escape, she had truly paid an enormous price.

It was not that she was generous. Princess Huai’an had always believed that even if she gave these things away for the moment, she would still have a chance to reclaim them later.

Therefore, she was not worried.

She agreed readily to every condition Lin Pianran imposed.

But she could never have imagined that Lin Pianran had never intended to spare her life from the very beginning.

Those things would never belong to her again.

Lin Pianran had extracted quite a considerable benefit from Princess Huai’an.

Her heart was exceptionally pleased, and even her tone softened somewhat. “However, Princess, your status is so exalted that I fear if I let you go, endless trouble will follow, and I will never again have a peaceful day.”

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