lcionline Chapter 531 The Idea of Three People
Chapter 531 The Idea of Three People
After listening outside the hall for a while, Chen Lin left with a frown.
He did not return to Chen's Dim Sum Shop, but went straight back to the palace.
After hearing the bandits' description outside the capital city, he realized who that person was.
It was Eunuch Liu De, who served Consort Liu and was one of her confidants.
It is highly likely that Liu De did this on the orders of Consort Liu.
But Lord Jiang and Consort Liu had no grudge against each other, so why did they smash up Lord Jiang's Liuxiang Pavilion?
Furthermore, as far as he knew, the Jiang family and the Liu family had intermarried. Didn't Consort Liu know this?
Even if you don't respect the monk, you should at least respect the Buddha. The Liu family is really being unreasonable by smashing up the shop of their in-laws.
Chen Lin didn't know if there was any misunderstanding, but he just didn't want Jiang Xiaoqi to suffer.
So after briefly hearing some news at the Jingzhao Prefecture, he hurried back to the palace, as he needed to inform the Second Prince of this matter as soon as possible.
If the Second Prince knew that his master had suffered such injustice, he certainly wouldn't stand idly by.
Chen Lin hurried along, fearing that the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture would hesitate to act if he knew who was truly behind the bandits.
After all, when faced with the matter of the Third Prince's black powder, that official had hesitated before.
Chen Lin jogged all the way to the Second Prince's residence, panting as he recounted in detail how Liuxiang Pavilion had been vandalized and how it was likely orchestrated by Consort Liu.
Upon hearing this, the Second Prince frowned, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes: "How could this happen! Sir is an upright man, and he has suffered such a calamity for no reason. I cannot stand idly by."
Having said that, the Second Prince stood up. "Let's go! We're going to Mother's!"
When it comes to dealing with the women in the harem, it's best for the harem's mistress to take action.
He was a prince, and Consort Liu was a palace concubine and also an elder, so it was not appropriate to directly confront her.
In the Empress's Palace—
"I have a rough idea of what you're talking about."
The second prince went to the empress's palace and recounted the events. The empress listened as if she was not particularly surprised and remained calm.
Perhaps the Empress herself didn't think that having a small shop vandalized was such a serious matter, after all, it really was just a small shop.
"Whoever damaged the shop should pay for it. Are you worried they can't afford to?"
"Mother, you know that's not what I meant. It's about smashing the shop. It's just that it's utterly shameful for us."
Consort Liu is not unaware that Lord Jiang is now the tutor of the princes. She's not just smashing up the shop; she's blatantly slapping my son and me in the face.
The second prince spoke while observing the empress's reaction, but the empress remained calm and continued drinking her tea.
"Queen mother?"
"Alright, stop trying to provoke me. Your mother isn't so easily angered. I've seen through everything over the years. Do you really think this was orchestrated by Consort Liu?"
"If it wasn't her, then who else could it be? Liu De is her confidant; he even changed his surname to Liu with hers. Could what Liu De did not have been authorized by Consort Liu?"
The second prince was very certain that his mother simply didn't want any trouble or to confront Consort Liu.
"Do you know what Liu De did before he smashed the shop?"
"What did you do?"
The Empress did not speak again; instead, her trusted nanny spoke on her behalf.
"Your Highness, before instructing people to smash the shop, Eunuch Liu also sent others to buy up all the goods in Liuxiang Pavilion, leaving not even a feather behind."
Four or five cartloads of goods were emptied from the storeroom of Liuxiang Pavilion. In the end, all four or five cartloads of goods went into the palace and into Consort Liu's private treasury.
Yes, if you're going to cause trouble and vandalize a store, why not buy everything in it first?
Are they worried about the shop owners suffering too much loss? That's so thoughtful!
"What? Consort Liu also bought things from Liuxiang Pavilion?"
The second prince turned to Chen Lin with a questioning look. Chen Lin genuinely didn't know; he arrived late, and by the time he got there, Liuxiang Pavilion had already been completely vandalized.
"What kind of crazy move is this?! First, she bought out all the goods in Liuxiang Pavilion, and then she smashed Liuxiang Pavilion to pieces."
The second prince felt he couldn't quite understand it, and so did Chen Lin.
The Empress laughed out loud, "Heh heh, you're so well-educated, yet you can't see through something this simple?"
The second prince bowed deeply and paid his respects sincerely. "I hope Your Majesty will not hesitate to offer you your guidance!"
The Empress sighed helplessly; her son was still a bit too green!
He shook his head inwardly, but still managed to clear up the confusion for his foolish son.
"Didn't you ever consider that this was the work of three people?"
The second prince pricked up his ears, eager to hear the details.
"One person wanted to buy the good stuff from Liuxiang Pavilion, another person bought out all the good stuff from Liuxiang Pavilion, and yet another person ordered Liuxiang Pavilion to be smashed."
The second prince took a moment to process it, and indeed he realized it.
"The Empress Dowager said that Consort Liu wanted to buy some fine items from Liuxiang Pavilion, and the person in charge of purchasing directly bought up all of Liuxiang Pavilion's inventory. Liu De then ordered Liuxiang Pavilion to be smashed."
The Empress nodded slightly, finding it not difficult to guess at all.
It's alright, my son isn't too stupid.
"Furthermore, these three people did not communicate with each other at all. It is very likely that Consort Liu simply ordered some things to be bought back."
The person in charge of purchasing was worried about missing something, and since they had enough money, they decided to buy everything from Liuxiang Pavilion.
Liu De, however, may have misunderstood his master's intentions at some point, believing that Consort Liu wanted him to target Liuxiang Pavilion.
This led to the bizarre scene that followed: they bought all the goods from the store one day, and then smashed it up the next.
Because Liu De hired people instead of acting personally, he was unaware that the people he had hired for several hundred taels of silver had smashed up an empty shop.
The shop's losses were even less than the money he spent hiring people.
The second prince suddenly felt like laughing. Yes, he was extremely angry when he arrived, but after his mother's analysis, he just wanted to laugh now.
However, if the Second Prince knew about Wenbin's subsequent outrageous actions, he would probably burst into laughter even more.
Turning a Liuxiang Pavilion that had lost less than a hundred taels of silver into a Liuxiang Pavilion that had lost tens of thousands of taels of silver, it has to be said that Manager Wen is becoming more and more like a businessman.
How can this be called "extortion"? It's clearly "going with the flow," "going with the tide," and "following the will of heaven"!
The Second Prince has temporarily calmed down and wants to wait for the verdict from the Jingzhao Prefecture.
But at this moment, someone couldn't sit still anymore. When Consort Liu learned of Liu De's bizarre actions, she was completely dumbfounded.
Did she order anyone to smash up the shop? Didn't she buy the goods successfully? She's having her trusted maid read the instructions, planning to start using them tonight.
Smash a shop? What shop? Who gave them permission to smash it?
"Liu De! What kind of work are you doing?!"
Liu De's knee made intimate contact with the floor again, this time avoiding a carpeted spot, and with a loud "thud!", it sounded painful.