"With so many people crowding over, I hope it doesn’t get chaotic." Seeing this for the first time, Shan Ke’an grew anxious. Although his cousin hadn’t invested much money, there was still a profit share to consider.

"Don’t worry, it won’t get out of hand." Bai Jinglie also walked over, staring into the distance. "I’ve put Ye Yi and his men in charge over there. If anyone gets out of line, they’ll be thrown into the sea to feed the fish."

"Everyone, stop pushing! This shipment has already been claimed by us, so disperse immediately!" Ye Yi stood on the deck with his men, his face expressionless. Many people still recognized him; after all, he was always by Bai Jinglie’s side, and quite a few had seen him before.

"My good sir," someone who wasn’t in the know naturally stepped forward to be the sacrificial lamb, "that’s not how things are done here. The ship’s owner hasn’t even spoken, so how can you claim everything for yourself?"

"Besides, with a ship this big, you can’t possibly take all the goods inside for yourself, can you?"

"Exactly! You can’t just gorge yourself and not even leave a sip of soup for the rest of us. And these things haven’t even been displayed yet, so how have they all become yours?"

Even those who knew Ye Yi’s identity remained silent. Since some hothead was leading the charge, they might as well wait and see what happened.

"But we were ordered to transport these goods from the lands of the barbarians. Even if we wanted to sell them, we would still need our Young Master’s approval."

"But that’s not the information we received!" someone shouted from the back. "We were told this shipment was full of novelties and to come wait early. We’ve been waiting for half the day! You can’t just intercept the goods. That’s not fair to us!"

"Right, it’s unfair! Just because you have some power, you won’t let anyone else make a living!"

Ancient Wenheng nearly choked on his water, letting out two dry coughs. ’We’re just selling goods, when did it escalate to something so serious?’

Seeing that everyone’s emotions were stirred up, he couldn’t help but silently give himself a thumbs-up. ’The instigator I hired might be a bit dramatic, but at least he’s successfully hyped up the atmosphere.’

Outside, one person after another could be heard accusing Ye Yi. Everything they said, both directly and indirectly, implied that Ye Yi was using his position to bully them.

As for the "owners" of the goods, the foreigners could only stand awkwardly on the ship, listening to the two sides bicker back and forth. The translator standing nearby was too busy enjoying the spectacle to notice the pleas for help in their eyes.

Seeing that the atmosphere was sufficiently hyped, Bai Jinglie straightened his robes. "Since you all love watching a good show so much, I’ll take you for a closer look."

Lu Ping and Shan Ke’an quickly stopped him. "You can’t go out there now! If you’re recognized, these people will block your way and not let you leave."

"That’s right! Cousin, look, Ye Yi is completely surrounded. Why don’t you give them some of the goods? Otherwise, this will be hard to resolve."

Two fists are no match for four hands, let alone so many people. Shan Ke’an didn’t think his small frame could withstand more than a few blows.

Ancient Wenheng was speechless. ’I can’t believe these two fell for the act as well.’

Bai Jinglie said, "If we don’t go out soon, Ye Yi is going to lose his patience. If someone actually gets killed, then things will really get out of hand."

After speaking, he turned to Ancient Wenheng. "Brother Wen Heng, if you would."

Ancient Wenheng smiled. "After you."

The atmosphere had been built up to this point; it was time for the key players to make their entrance.

Seeing the two of them walking toward the crowd, Lu Ping and Shan Ke’an gritted their teeth and hurried after them.

&

"Prince Bai is here!" someone shouted, and all eyes turned toward them.

"The Heir of Marquis Wu’an? What’s he doing here?"

"You fools. The man standing on the deck just now is this Heir of Marquis Wu’an’s personal guard. He’s with him every day, so most people recognize him."

"Then why didn’t you warn us earlier?" The faces of those who had been shouting the loudest turned pale. They were merely merchants, nothing in the eyes of these high-ranking officials and nobles.

"Everyone was so worked up just now. Didn’t you see that the other old foxes kept their mouths shut? And those shopkeepers from the noble houses all shrank to the back."

Taking a closer look, they saw it was true. Even the shopkeeper who worked for the local Magistrate was standing at the back of the crowd, looking left and right as if just passing by.

"Why are so many people gathered here?" Wherever Bai Jinglie went, the crowd automatically parted to make way for him.

"My Lord, these people also want to purchase goods, but this shipment has already been contracted by our people. I don’t know where they got their information." Ye San pointed at the crowd with a resentful expression. "I’ve already explained to them that this shipment is spoken for, but they won’t believe me."

Bai Jinglie was silent for a moment. "I was preparing to ship these goods to Shangjing. I was already worried this shipment wouldn’t be enough to go around. Tell them to disperse."

As soon as they heard the goods were bound for Shangjing, even the shopkeepers from the official families grew antsy. They stood on their tiptoes, their eyes constantly scanning the cargo ship.

"You can’t do this! They say everyone who’s here gets a share! You can’t just use your power to bully people!" someone shouted from the crowd. Bai Jinglie’s brow furrowed. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Business has its own rules. Everything is first come, first served. I can’t be expected to portion out the goods just because you’ve surrounded the place, can I?"

"But we’ve been waiting for so long! You have to at least let us see what the goods are, right?" The voice came from a corner again, and the person was quickly swallowed by the crowd. Ye Yi and his men looked around but couldn’t find them.

"Fine. Ye Er, go get a few samples for everyone to see." Bai Jinglie was growing more and more impressed with Ancient Wenheng. ’Everything is unfolding exactly as he predicted.’

As the samples were laid out, many people were baffled. Were these square-shaped things really worth waiting here for?

"What is this?"

"Is that glass next to it?"

"Such a large piece? What’s it used for?"

Ye San then took on the role of demonstrator, even showing how to use the regular and scented soaps. He then pointed to the panes of glass. "If you set these into your doors and windows, the entire room will be brighter. It can also block wind and rain, making it much more reliable than the paper windows we used before."

"With things this good, you can’t take them all for yourselves!" Before seeing the actual products, people were just complaining. Now, they crowded in even tighter.

"Young Master, look, with such rare items, don’t ship them all to Shangjing. At least leave some for us locals."

"Yes, yes! We are all subjects of His Majesty. Does it matter where you sell them?"

Many of them scented a business opportunity. Any one of these items would be enough to make wealthy families willing to spend a fortune.

Everyone’s hearts were now burning with excitement. They didn’t dare hope to keep the entire shipment, but if they could just get some, then their trip today would not have been in vain.