"Lady Ganyu, some merchants from the Millelith Trading Company are here to see you!"
As Feng Yi was enjoying the gentle massage of Ganyu's smooth jade fingers on his shoulders and neck, a notification came from outside the study.
"Please have them wait in the reception hall!"
Ganyu frowned, guessing the purpose of the Millelith Trading Company's visit. Although she found it a bit troublesome, she couldn't neglect the proper arrangements.
"Understood!"
The guard acknowledged and left.
"Feng Yi, we have some guests! I need to go and attend to them!"
Ganyu stopped massaging, tidied her attire, and prepared to head to the reception hall to deal with these unwelcome visitors who were ruining the mood.
"How about I come along as well?"
Feng Yi looked at Ganyu's furrowed brow, sensing her trouble, and offered to accompany her to assess the situation, perhaps offering some advice.
"Oh? This doesn't require your trouble!"
Ganyu smiled and shook her head. She could feel Feng Yi's concern, but handling such trivial matters was her responsibility, and there was no need to trouble him.
Ganyu had a rough idea. These merchants from the Millelith Trading Company had previously requested a reduction in trade tariffs, but she had refused. They were likely here again for the same reason!
"Honestly!"
Liyue's tariffs were crucial for its economic development and couldn't be easily changed. She had rejected them multiple times, yet how could those merchants still be so persistent?
The thought of having to haggle again made Ganyu's head ache.
"Merchants pursue profit! It is the nature of merchants to chase greater profits!"
As long as the profit outweighs the risk, merchants will give it a try.
Moreover, requesting a reduction in tariffs posed almost no threat to their lives. Even if refused, there was no significant loss, but if successful, it would yield immense profits!
So why not try?
"If this involves sensitive confidential information that you cannot disclose, then please disregard what I said!"
Feng Yi assumed Ganyu was refusing him because it pertained to Liyue's confidential decisions, so he smiled nonchalantly, indicating he had no intention of prying into Liyue's secrets.
"There's nothing inconvenient about it! If you wish to listen, then by all means, come and listen!"
Ganyu knew Feng Yi had misunderstood, so she no longer refused.
Since Feng Yi wanted to listen, she might as well let him. Such trivial matters were not worth keeping secret!
Meanwhile, in the reception hall.
Two wealthy merchants, adorned in gold and silver, sat on their chairs, sipping tea provided by the Yuehai Pavilion, conversing in low tones.
"Boss Li, what do you think are the chances of success this time?"
The one speaking, surnamed Wang, was a portly man with small, darting eyes that made him appear quite shrewd.
The Boss Li, whom the胖子 (fatty) addressed, appeared refined and scholarly, more like a scholar than a merchant.
"Brother Wang, you already have your own answer, so why ask me? If this matter can be resolved, what does it matter if the profits are slightly less?"
Boss Li blew away the foam on his tea, sighing.
Since ancient times, the status of merchants has always been in the lower to middle strata of society.
Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, they, these wealthy merchants, wore gold and silver daily, enjoyed delicacies, and savored the world's prosperity.
But in the eyes of the ruling class, they were nothing!
At best, they were just fatter pigs, destined to be slaughtered when the nation was in need of money.
Only by entering officialdom could they escape the brand of a pig.
But the path of an official, for these merchants, was as difficult as ascending to heaven!
Whether in Liyue or their respective hometowns, it was incredibly difficult for them to touch upon official positions as merchants.
They had indeed heard that Liyue's Tianquan Star was a great merchant.
However, if someone told them that the Tianquan Star Ningguang held great power in Liyue solely through her merchant identity, they would have scoffed!
In their opinion, Ningguang was a merchant, yes, but that was just one of her identities. To manage Liyue efficiently, shrewdness as a merchant alone was insufficient!
Perhaps Ningguang was born into an official family.
Perhaps Ningguang learned how to handle political affairs from a young age.
Perhaps doing business was merely Ningguang's hobby.
It was just that no one mentioned these things!
"My apologies, some matters delayed me, causing you both to wait!"
Ganyu, accompanied by Feng Yi, entered the reception hall. Regardless of what transpired next, proper etiquette had to be observed.
"Lady Ganyu is too kind! We are the ones intruding!"
Ganyu's voice brought the two merchants back from their thoughts, and they quickly responded.
Their visit this time was not about tariffs; they had a request for Ganyu, so they had to maintain a more humble attitude!
Ganyu sat down in the main seat, observing the uncharacteristically agreeable demeanor of the two merchants, a hint of suspicion rising in her heart.
She had never seen them so easy to talk to before.
"Why don't you two get straight to the point? What brings you here today?"
Although Ganyu had her suspicions, the proper protocol had to be followed.
"To be frank, Lady Ganyu, we wish to sell 'A Detailed Explanation of How to Correctly View and Handle Menstruation' to other nations. We request Lady Ganyu's approval!"
Ganyu: "Huh?! It's not about tariffs?"
She had prepared an entire speech for that, and now it was all for naught.
Of course, Ganyu was happy to avoid the hassle.
Upon hearing their request, Ganyu did not immediately reply.
She first considered the consequences of selling this book to other nations.
The most immediate consequence would be accelerating its exposure to the spies of the Sumeru Akademiya.
Ganyu could foresee that once the book was sold abroad, the retaliation from the Sumeru Akademiya would be swift.
However, Ganyu was not concerned about the retaliation from the Sumeru Akademiya; she was already prepared.
Besides the aforementioned drawbacks, there were also benefits. Girls in other countries would be able to escape their fear of menstruation. Ganyu recalled that this was Feng Yi's original intention in writing this book!
With this in mind, Ganyu shifted her gaze to Feng Yi. Feng Yi was the true author of this book, and she respected his decision.
Feng Yi, receiving the inquiry in Ganyu's eyes, nodded and smiled gently.
He wrote this book to popularize knowledge about menstruation. Popularizing it among Liyue's girls was one thing; popularizing it among girls in other countries was equally important.
If it could help more people, Feng Yi would be the first to support it, so why would he refuse?
With Feng Yi's assent, Ganyu then agreed to the merchants' request.
"I agree to this matter! However, the selling price shall not exceed 1.5 times that of Liyue. Do you accept this?"
Ganyu, considering the merchants' tendency to inflate prices, added a condition.
However, it was clearly unrealistic to expect merchants to make no profit or even incur a loss. The 1.5 times price was a decision Ganyu had carefully considered.
It allowed merchants to earn some profit without making the book's price excessively high.
"We accept! We accept! Thank you, Lady Ganyu!"
The two merchants were overjoyed. Let alone making a profit, they would have done it even at a loss!
Spreading knowledge about menstruation and improving the living standards of women in their countries would, in turn, enhance their national strength.
With such merit, it was akin to acquiring a golden exemption from being a mere pig, and they might even have a chance to touch upon the path of officialdom.
How could they not be happy?