Chapter 396: Losses

Chapter 396: Losses

The more Luo Junhe thought about it, the more his skin crawled.

To be fair, this scenario was actually quite possible.

Three days later, at the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Luo Jingshen lounged in his study with his legs crossed, a provocatively dressed woman sitting in his lap, feeding him cherries.

"Your Highness, this subordinate has urgent matters to report."

At that moment, a man's voice came from outside the door. Luo Jingshen raised his hand, and the woman feeding him cherries rose and withdrew.

Luo Jingshen sat up straight, adjusted his clothes, and said to the outside, "Enter."

A middle-aged man in green robes walked in—it was his advisor, Liu Qingya.

"Mr. Liu, how's the audit I asked you to do coming along?"

Liu Qingya clasped his hands and said, "To answer Your Highness, our businesses have been losing money nonstop since July. The Treasure Pavilion and Jade Lord Tower especially have lost at least two hundred thousand taels in half a year, and that's not even counting the servants' wages."

"And starting this month, Baixiang Tower has also taken a hit. This subordinate confirmed with the manager that customer traffic is now less than a tenth of what it used to be."

"If this continues, Baixiang Tower will start losing money too."

Luo Jingshen's face turned dark. He said incredulously, "How could this happen?"

"Did you figure out exactly what's going wrong?"

He had businesses in all sorts of industries.

But the most profitable ones were the Treasure Pavilion, Jade Lord Tower, and Baixiang Tower.

The Treasure Pavilion mainly sold antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, and had been consistently popular among dignitaries for years.

Jade Lord Tower sold cosmetics, perfumes, dresses, and fabrics, catering to the spending habits of rich young ladies.

Baixiang Tower was a restaurant that had been known as "the number one restaurant in the capital" for nearly fifty years since its opening.

Luo Jingshen had actually taken Baixiang Tower from another merchant by shady means, but he'd been dead set on getting it.

Afterwards, many restaurants opened in the capital one after another, yet none could dethrone it.

Baixiang Tower had heavy foot traffic and was the go-to place for banquets and dining. It was a genuine money-printing machine.

Even in the slow season, Baixiang Tower cleared a thousand taels a day.

That alone gave Luo Jingshen a huge sense of security.

But now Liu Qingya was telling him Baixiang Tower's traffic was less than a tenth of what it used to be?

The New Year period was peak season—less than a tenth meant daily net profit was under a hundred taels.

No wonder Luo Jingshen was panicking.

He pressed on, "Mr. Liu, have you found out the reason?"

Although Liu Qingya was an advisor, he basically ran all of Luo Jingshen's businesses.

He answered truthfully, "To answer Your Highness, according to this subordinate's investigation, over the past two years salaries have been cut and His Majesty has cracked down hard on corruption. Big shots prefer cold, hard cash, and fewer people are into antiques, so the Treasure Pavilion losing money is just the way things are going."

"As for Jade Lord Tower, it's been hit hard by both Peiyue Pavilion and Wanzhuang Tower. Ever since Wanzhuang Tower opened, its skincare sets and face masks have been a huge hit with young men and women alike. Even older ladies have gotten hooked on skincare."

"Not only that, even the imperial consorts all have Wanzhuang Tower skincare sets. Their business is absolutely booming."

"As for Peiyue Pavilion, with their new perfumes and a growing lineup of ready-made dresses and jewelry, their business has been skyrocketing, and it's become the go-to spot for young ladies."

Luo Jingshen's face darkened. "And Baixiang Tower? What's the story there?"

Liu Qingya asked, "Does Your Highness know that Princess Ye and the Duke of Rong's heir opened a barbecue restaurant together?"

Luo Jingshen turned his head, his gaze gloomy. "So what? Barbecue's just one thing—how can it compete with my Baixiang Tower?"

Liu Qingya shook his head and said, "Your Highness doesn't realize—their menu is huge. They've got over fifty meat dishes alone, and with veggies, fruit, and drinks, it's over a hundred items!"

"Not only that, they've also come up with barbecue combo deals. For just twenty taels, you get thirty to forty meat and veggie dishes, and you can mix and match however you want. That instantly stole most of the capital's diners."

Luo Jingshen was stunned, his face twisted with rage. "Are you telling me all our customers are going to Ji Yuntang's barbecue joint?"

Liu Qingya said, "Exactly. People love new stuff. It's the only barbecue place in the capital, it's fresh, and everyone from kids to grandparents can enjoy it."

"On top of that, the grilled meat is delicious, and you can smell it from miles away. Customers can grill it themselves and have fun doing it, so it's caught on big time."

"I hear that barbecue place clears at least five thousand taels a day. People even come from out of town just to eat there."

"Your Highness, you need to figure something out fast. If this keeps up, we won't have any business left. Jingge Camp costs a fortune—we can't afford to run out of money."

Luo Jingshen felt like the sky was caving in.

No one knew he'd secretly built an army of twenty thousand men, trained by his own officers for the past three years.

That's why he was desperate for cash—he had to send money to Jingge Camp every single month, no exceptions.

If his businesses went under, the camp's supplies would dry up, the soldiers would starve, and everything would fall apart.

Luo Jingshen took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He asked, "Mr. Liu, do you have any good ideas?"

"Your Highness, I do have an idea, though I'm not sure it'll work."

Luo Jingshen said hurriedly, "Speak freely, Mr. Liu."

Liu Qingya let out a low chuckle, his eyes swirling with an unreadable meaning.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

"I've noticed Wanzhuang Tower's stuff only comes from Princess Ye, so we can't easily copy that."

"But the barbecue place is different. If she can open one, so can we—and we can make ours even bigger."

"Doesn't Baixiang Tower already have top chefs? Send them to try the barbecue. I'm sure they can copy it within a day."

Luo Jingshen's eyes lit up. He thought Liu Qingya's idea was brilliant.

The only reason Ji Yuntang's barbecue place blew up was that it was the only one in the capital.

What if he opened three or four of his own?

Then why worry about customers or profits?

Ji Yuntang pulls in five thousand a day—if he opened five places, that's twenty-five thousand a day.

Just thinking about it made Luo Jingshen laugh out loud.

Liu Qingya chimed in to remind him, "Your Highness, don't celebrate just yet. If we're going to open a barbecue place, we should find a partner too, just like Princess Ye did."

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