Chapter 48: Nan’s Identity!

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Nan’s Identity!

The night was deep.

But tonight in Liangjiang Commandery was destined to be a sleepless one.

His old man always acted with such lightning speed. As soon as the large ship docked, Fengqi Road Governor Zeng Shilin returned to the County Government Office and issued an order: Liangjiang Commandery Garrison Qi Linrong would lead three thousand infantrymen to surround the entire Prince Jiang’s Mansion, while Wang Deli led five hundred Red-clothed Guards directly inside. Without much effort, they brought the entire mansion under control.

At the same time, Zeng Shilin wrote furiously, compiling all the evidence and testimonies of King Jiang’s rebellion. He sent the documents to the capital via express horse, waiting only for the Saint to issue a decree on how exactly to deal with the king. For a time, any Liangjiang Commandery officials who had dealings with King Jiang laid low. The entire officialdom of Liangjiang Commandery was in a state of panic, everyone fearing for their own safety.

With Prince Jiang’s Mansion under control, some of the small fry in the Observation Department naturally could not escape the purge. Among them was the Right Chief Clerk Xu Yunfeng. When he was apprehended by the Red-clothed Guards, he still tried to resist, but after Zeng Anmin gave him a punch, he became much more cooperative. With the thorn that was Prince Jiang’s Mansion neutralized, the entirety of Fengqi Road was thoroughly rid of any dissenting voices.

The days passed ordinarily.

"PHEW." Zeng Anmin looked at the granules gradually forming inside the stove before him as a rich fragrance wafted from them.

He thought, "Excellent!" His eyes gleamed brightly as he hurriedly took a porcelain bottle from his chest pocket and poured all the granules from the stove into it. Today was his day off, and he was invited by Shen Jun to a meal.

"Dachun, prepare the horse!"

"Right away!"

Jin Taiping was the largest shipping merchant in all of Liangjiang Commandery. It was impossible for Zeng Anmin not to have some ulterior motives, but he didn’t expect to pocket Jin Taiping directly; being too greedy would look bad and tarnish his father’s reputation. His father was someone who deeply cherished his public image. Striking a compromise, he figured that if he could establish a line of cooperation with Jin Taiping under his own name, he naturally wouldn’t lack silver in the future.

Of course, the most important thing was that he... he was short on money. After returning from the Confucian Dao Academy, he thought his old man would loosen the grip on his financial resources. However, things went contrary to his wishes. Ever since he bumped into his father at the Imperial Music Bureau while investigating Shen Jun’s case, his funds had been completely cut off. The reason given was that his breakthrough in the Confucian Dao was imminent, so he should focus on his studies.

He thought, "Fine, but what about after I break through to the Sixth Grade right in front of you?"

His old man’s response was that he needed to stabilize his Realm, and they would talk about it later. He sneered, thinking, "It just means the affection has faded."

Furthermore, Zeng Anmin was unwilling to accept bribes from others, so this current financial shortage at hand was viewed by him as his most pressing matter. However, there was a very practical problem here. Although this world was also a feudal dynasty, its industrial development was much better than the feudal dynasties of his past life. Glass, soap, distilled liquor... the three major paths to wealth for transmigrators had already been invented. Therefore, last night, he racked his brains at home, pondering hard over the web novels he had read. He had to admit, reading a lot of web novels was beneficial. At the very least, it allowed him to know more good things than other transmigrators—like this secret weapon he had just placed into the porcelain bottle in his chest pocket.

At Wangxian Restaurant.

Today, Zeng Anmin arrived in his capacity as the Governor’s eldest son. The current major owner of Jin Taiping, Shen Jun, was treating. The last time he came here, Shen Jun gave him an important clue, which he followed to uncover the evidence of Prince Jiang’s Mansion’s crimes. Zeng Anmin had no aversion to this place.

"Lord Zeng..." Upon meeting, Shen Jun immediately offered an exceptionally formal bow.

"We are not discussing official business today, so just calling me Young Master will suffice." Zeng Anmin smiled and helped Shen Jun up, heading into the restaurant. As he spoke, he lacked the bureaucratic air of being in office, entirely displaying an amiable and gentle demeanor.

"Yes." Shen Jun was not a pedantic person either. His slightly thick eyebrows relaxed, and he stood up with a smile, extending his hand. "Please." ℴℴ𝘮

"Mhm."

Following Shen Jun to a private room inside the pavilion, as soon as they sat down, Shen Jun raised his cup to him with a face full of respect. "Thank you, Mr. Zeng, for your life-saving grace and for helping clear my suspicions. Although my uncle has not yet been found, the crisis surrounding Jin Taiping has been resolved. I have no way to repay this great kindness, so I will drink to you."

With that said, he threw his head back and downed the wine in his cup.

"Hehe, it was just my duty," Zeng Anmin said, not minding it much. He also noticed a detail in Shen Jun’s words and gently raised an eyebrow, asking, "Your uncle hasn’t been found?"

Yesterday, after collecting all the evidence of King Jiang’s crimes on the small island, he had followed his father onto the ship and hadn’t paid much attention to Shen Liu.

"No." Shen Jun looked a bit bitter, though he wasn’t overly burdened by it. He smiled and said, "However, once King Jiang is executed and confesses his crimes, we will naturally know where my uncle is."

"Mhm." Zeng Anmin nodded slowly. This statement was quite right. Currently, the imperial decree had not arrived, so even the Liangjiang Governor couldn’t rashly arrest King Jiang like a common criminal; he could only send troops to bring him under control for now. After all, it involved the royal family’s dignity.

"Actually, coming here today, I have a partnership I’d like to discuss with you." Zeng Anmin cleared his throat, his gaze turning serious.

Shen Jun thought, "Here it comes!" Upon hearing this, his face grew serious. As a merchant, he had actually long been prepared to be exploited by Zeng Anmin. Moreover, after Lord Xiao Zeng helped clear his suspicions and assisted him in finding clues about his uncle, he had even considered offering thirty percent of Jin Taiping’s profits as a token of gratitude. However, he felt that if he rashly brought it up, Lord Xiao Zeng might look down on him with disdain and mistake him for a sycophant.

"Lord Xiao Zeng, please feel free to speak your mind." Shen Jun took a deep breath.

"There’s no need to be nervous; it’s just a small matter." Zeng Anmin saw Shen Jun’s solemnity and chuckled softly to ease the atmosphere.

However, before he could say anything more, he was interrupted by a loud exclamation of amazement from outside the private room. The sound was sudden and brief.

"Is that really true?!" The voice outside the private room was like muffled thunder.

Zeng Anmin frowned and looked toward the door.

Shen Jun immediately understood. He called over a waiter and said, "Ask the people next door to keep their voices down."

"Yes, sir."

As the waiter opened the door, the voices outside the private room became even clearer.

"Why would I lie to you? Jiang Country even claims that this single poem can suppress all the Great Confucian Scholars of our Great Saint Dynasty!"

"Does Princess Wencheng truly possess such poetic talent?!"

"No need to boost others’ prestige! Princess Wencheng is the only legitimate younger sister of the Empress of Jiang Country, so people naturally flatter her. Just recite the poem she wrote. I want to see how good she actually is!"

"Listen closely, then." The person cleared his throat and began, "When the sea reaches its end, the sky serves as the shore; when I climb to the highest peak, I become the summit!"

With just this one line, it seemed the entire Wangxian Restaurant fell silent. The atmosphere became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

"Like the sun rising from the eastern mountains, the great roc spreads its wings and resents the sky for being too low!" the person’s voice rang out again.

Silence.

Deathly silence.

"HISS—"

Aside from the sound of sharp intakes of breath, everyone remained completely silent.

In the entirety of Wangxian Restaurant, only Zeng Anmin bore a strange expression.

He thought, "Princess Wencheng of Jiang Country? Absolute bullshit! Wasn’t this the poem I gave to Nan? Wait a minute! The Phoenix Strategy Map?! The royal family of Jiang Country?! Princess Wencheng? So Nan’s identity is..."

Zeng Anmin’s eyes lit up slightly as a bizarre smirk slowly stretched across the corners of his mouth.

He thought, "I haven’t even played the plagiarist yet, but you beat me to it?! Great, just great! Just wait and see if I don’t extort eight or ten thousand out of you!"