Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 582: The eyes do resemble the third brother
Chapter 582: Chapter 582: The eyes do resemble the third brother
He shook his head and chuckled as he spoke, finding the whole thing utterly absurd.
The Emperor paused and for some reason, the conversation reminded him of his Little Concubine, who loved to use rattan to scare people, didn’t she?
"The Autumn Pear Paste vendor kept urging, saying the rope wrapped around the handle is even more expensive than rattan and there’s no need to make such a thing. Guess what the man said?" Zhang Qing chuckled, feigning a cliffhanger, yet not daring to wait for His Majesty’s question and quickly went on, "The man said he made it because his sister liked such imposing objects, and that it was for his sister’s sake he weaved them."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor was suddenly jolted, "Speak quickly, what else did that man say?"
His heart began to race, could it be that his Little Concubine was actually right?
Zhang Qing was startled by His Majesty’s strong reaction.
He wiped the smile off his face and spoke with a solemn expression, "Yes. The Autumn Pear Paste vendor couldn’t remember the exact words, but he thought it odd someone would conduct business based solely on personal preference, and that’s why he remembered it. In the end, the vendor expressed remorse, saying he had actually misjudged the man. The reason for selling rattan was because the man’s sister had gone missing since childhood, and he set up shop there hoping the large crowds might bring him luck in finding her."
This excuse sounded like a blatant fabrication, offered to appease the Autumn Pear Paste vendor; hence, he felt it was ridiculous and initially did not mention it.
But unexpectedly, His Majesty was interested in this.
The Emperor’s mind was greatly shaken, his thoughts churning like boiling water, and he immediately ordered, "Zhang Qing, go to the Internal Guard Bureau at once, have someone in the Capital secretly search for that man, and do not stop until he is found. As for the Autumn Pear Paste vendor, give him some compensation and take the rattan from him. Also, have him carefully recall his conversation with that man, not missing a single word. See to this at once."
There was an urgency in his voice.
"This servant obeys," Zhang Qing acknowledged the command, a nervousness rising within him.
He had a vague sense that there might be something complicated about Lian Hua’s background, yet he was not privy to the details of Lian Hua’s family.
The records of palace maids entered into the palace, those had been handled by him initially; later, one of the registers was taken by the Emperor, who even tore out a page from it.
Therefore, at this moment, he could only guess why they needed to find someone who weaved rattan, sensing that it was more than trivial.
He was about to take his leave to carry out the orders when he thought of the current situation and hesitated, "Your Majesty, as for the Internal Guard Bureau, I fear they currently may not have enough manpower to spare..."
He asked this to gauge the urgency of the task at hand so he could properly instruct the Internal Guard Bureau on how to allocate their resources, considering that they were at a crucial point in their operation and diverting too many forces might lead to complications.
The turbulent thoughts within the Emperor started to settle.
At this moment, the Internal Guard Bureau indeed could not afford any distractions.
After a moment’s contemplation, he said, "In that case, hand over this matter to the Li Family Firm. Send word to Li Ang, telling him to secretly find this person without causing any alarm. Also, arrange for someone to sketch the design of the rattan and give it to him. In the Capital, as well as in every provincial capital, if such a design is spotted, it must be reported at once." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
The Li Family Firm was under the Emperor’s control, and Li Ang, whom he had selected, was specifically in charge as the Store Manager of the firm.
Since ancient times, the sovereign has not competed with the folks for profit. The Li Family Firm was not led by the pursuit of earnings but was rather established to control crucial commodities such as food, to stabilize market prices and livelihood, and also for the Emperor to observe and monitor the common people’s sentiments and movements.
This approach had proven effective. Ever since the rise of the Li Family Firm, even during natural disasters or calamities, merchants did not dare to hoard goods or inflate prices, because once a famous wealthy merchant did so, the Li Family Firm intervened, resulting in the merchant losing all his wealth and meeting a tragic fate.
Therefore, among the merchants, there was an unspoken rule: do not provoke the Li Family Firm. Those wishing to make a fortune were advised not to deal in food commodities, and anyone looking to profit from calamities had to first seek the approval of the Li Family Firm.
The Li Family Firm dealt with ordinary people, covering a wide range, with extensive connections, and operated discreetly, all while not being part of the government, thus unlikely to scare anyone away, making it more suitable for this task than the Internal Guard Bureau.
Zhang Qing was astounded, that a simple rattan weaver could cause His Majesty to mobilize such a significant effort and issue such commands.
The Li Family Firm, that is His Majesty’s eyes and ears spread across the world.
"Yes, servant will go handle it immediately," Zhang Qing respectfully withdrew.
It was only after he left the Canglan Court that his mood still struggled to calm down.
The Emperor unfolded the portrait in his hand and looked at it again, filled with hope in his heart.
As long as Little Concubine’s relatives were still alive, he would search the ends of the earth to find them for her.
A heavy stone in the depths of his heart fell away, and he felt much more at ease.
After the dark willows and the bright flowers, there’s a new village; his Little Concubine and her family were people of deep fortune and grace.
Once Hu Miaomiao had brought the person back, that would be the time to clear her family of their false charges.
He knew some things still made no sense, like why that person had to change their appearance, why they happened to be away when he arrived, and why they had to stay in that particular place.
But what of that?
As long as the person was found, everything would be easily resolved.
There are no such coincidences in the world; that person must be closely related to his Little Concubine.
No matter if that person truly sought the Little Concubine for her sake, or for some other purpose, now that they had appeared, the matters of the Little Concubine’s family would be settled.
With his emotions stirred, he stepped into the Side Hall to see his Little Concubine peering out towards him, her eyes lighting up, clearly harboring some sly scheme.
His lips curled upward: "Nannan, your family is still here." At least her third brother was still alive.
"Ah? Where are they?" Lian Hua didn’t understand why His Majesty suddenly came out with such an abrupt statement, but she found the comment somewhat odd.
She swayed the rattan she had been holding all day with a smile: "Your Majesty, look at this rattan weave; it’s done so well, they must be living quite well, hehe."
She had studied it and found that the workmanship was excellent, which suggested her third brother had plenty of leisure while making it, not just to scrape by, so indirectly, it meant they were living not too badly, right?
The Emperor held back his words with a smile, only now daring to confirm that her family hadn’t suffered as much as he had initially thought, and in his excitement, he couldn’t help but share it with her.
Moving to her side, he handed her the portrait: "Take a look at the person in the painting; do you recognize them?"
"Hmm?" Lian Hua, puzzled, took the portrait and spread it out, glanced at it, and shook her head: "Don’t recognize them. Your Majesty, who is this?"
The Emperor answered, "The message from the one I sent to search for people has just come back. The person who wove the rattan hasn’t been found, and this portrait was drawn by someone who has seen him."
"Eh?" Lian Hua looked carefully again: "This... the eyes do resemble my third brother’s a bit, but it’s strange, why doesn’t the overall image look like him?"
She couldn’t help but try to recall her third brother’s appearance, while recalling she said: "My third brother looks like a girl, and the person in this portrayal doesn’t resemble that, could it be that my third brother disguised himself as ugly because he was afraid of being laughed at for looking like a girl?"
Or had he changed over time?
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