"How dare I deceive Your Majesty," Chu Chen smiled faintly. "Everything is true, absolutely no falsehoods!"
"Good, good, good!" the Empress Emperor said three times, slapping the table.
"You have done very well, and I shall reward you handsomely!" the Empress Emperor laughed heartily. "Speak, what reward do you desire, and I shall grant it!"
Chu Chen lowered his head and bowed. "This is merely my duty, I dare not ask for a reward."
"My only hope is that Your Majesty will allow me to act with discretion and earn more wealth, so as not to disappoint Your Majesty's expectations."
The Empress Emperor remained silent for a long time.
Chu Chen secretly looked up and met her gaze, which seemed to be a smile.
"So this is what you were waiting for me with."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Chu Chen's temple.
In fact, both the milk tea and the collaboration with Shao Lili were Chu Chen's tests for the Empress Emperor.
He wanted to use this method of acting first and reporting later to gauge his importance in the Empress Emperor's heart.
If the other party could tolerate him acting first and reporting later, then he could be bolder in his actions in the future.
Often, what an emperor needed was not a capable subordinate, but an absolutely loyal one.
He could be mediocre, even make mistakes, but he absolutely could not do anything outside of what the emperor commanded.
It was clear that the Empress Emperor had also seen through Chu Chen's attempt to test her.
"I have never been jealous of talent, so you need not test me like this," the Empress Emperor said lightly.
"I admit my crime!"
While saying he admitted his crime, Chu Chen felt relieved.
Since the Empress Emperor did not fly into a rage on the spot, this matter was considered passed.
And he also knew the Empress Emperor's bottom line and his importance in her heart.
This was undoubtedly very important to Chu Chen.
As expected, the Empress Emperor easily forgave Chu Chen's mistake.
"However, the reward I had prepared for you is now gone, as a punishment for your disrespect towards me. Do you have any objections?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace," Chu Chen said quickly.
"Furthermore, there is one matter I need to report to Your Majesty," Chu Chen said. "I have entrusted the matter of selling soap to foreign countries and purchasing grain to Shao Lili."
"This person is a friend of Princess Xin Yue, and comes from a merchant family. Her character and ability are trustworthy. I believe this is a wise plan."
Entrusting the soap matter to Shao Lili had another layer of intention.
Whether it was selling soap or buying grain, as long as the royal family did not personally appear, it would be considered a spontaneous act of private merchants, unrelated to the Yun Yue Kingdom.
This way, if the matter were exposed, with this excuse, it could buy the Yun Yue Kingdom a considerable amount of time for negotiation.
With this time, the Yun Yue Kingdom could quickly prepare for war.
Clearly, the Empress Emperor had also realized this.
She nodded with great appreciation. "Good, good. You are meticulous and handle matters decisively."
"If Xin Yue had half your quick wit, I would not be so worried."
"In that case, let it be as you said," the Empress Emperor said, lowering her head to attend to official business.
"As long as you submit the silver on time, no matter what you do, you only need to report it to me afterward."
"I permit you to use thirty percent of the profit to establish new industries."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After leaving the palace, Chu Chen let out a long sigh of relief.
This trip to the palace had been very smooth, and both he and the Empress Emperor had obtained what they wanted.
Most importantly, the Empress Emperor had granted him thirty percent of the profit to establish new industries.
This was a considerable degree of trust.
In fact, if the Empress Emperor had wished, Chu Chen would not have complained even if all the profits were submitted.
This was because these profits were net profits after deducting all costs.
Furthermore, the Empress Emperor's attitude towards Chu Chen was very lenient, giving him great freedom of action.
In important commercial decisions, Chu Chen could make his own choices without needing the Empress Emperor's approval before taking action.
This right was very important for both the specialty store and Chu Chen.
Of course, the most crucial thing was that Chu Chen had confirmed his position in the Empress Emperor's heart.
If it were not for a highly trusted subordinate, the Empress Emperor would never have granted him such great power.
From now on, Chu Chen could act without being so cautious.
Because now, he had the Empress Emperor standing behind him.
Previously, during the life simulation, Chu Chen reporting Xue Yun and the other two would have been considered a false accusation.
But if it were the current Chu Chen reporting those three, the Empress Emperor would definitely lean more towards Chu Chen!
...
When Chu Chen returned, Shao Lili felt extremely guilty upon learning that although Chu Chen was not punished, he had lost his deserved reward.
In response, Chu Chen smiled and showed his magnanimity.
"It's fine, your happiness is what matters most!"
Shao Lili was deeply moved and felt a strange feeling towards Chu Chen.
Logically speaking, the business world was like a battlefield.
After spending a long time in the business world, it was generally difficult to trust one's partners.
What was said might be about friendship, but in reality, it was all about business.
Shao Lili's true friends were actually only Xin Yue and Chen Sheng Nan.
But now, Chu Chen might be added to that list.
However, soon Shao Lili no longer had time to continue socializing with them.
The cooperation method agreed upon by her and Chu Chen was that Chu Chen would teach her the formula and operational methods, and Shao Lili would personally go to neighboring countries to sell the soap.
The profits obtained would be split between them, two parts for Chu Chen and eight parts for Shao Lili.
At the same time, Shao Lili had to use thirty percent of her profits to purchase grain from other countries and directly give it to Chu Chen.
This seemed a bit unfair, with Chu Chen only providing some technical guidance and taking half of the profits.
But this was unavoidable.
The soap business, after all, was a royal monopoly, and authorizing it to a small merchant was already an act of grace.
Moreover, without the backing of the country, doing such a large business, were they not afraid of being targeted by others?
This could be considered a form of disguised protection money.
When selling soap in neighboring countries, the workshop for making soap could no longer be set up in Shuang Yue City, as it was too far from the border.
And this matter was of great importance, so Shao Lili had to personally oversee it. Therefore, for a long time to come, they would not be able to see each other again.
On the day of farewell, Xin Yue and Chen Sheng Nan personally saw her off.
"Don't you dare die out there," Chen Sheng Nan snorted. "Otherwise, I'll have to collect your corpse, how troublesome!"
"Don't worry, I'll definitely die after you!" Shao Lili said the most vicious words in the gentlest tone.
"Alright, alright, you two are still like this even when you're about to part," Princess Xin Yue said helplessly.
"Have a safe journey!"