Chapter 51: Zhao Pu's Efficiency

Page 1 of 3

At those words, Shen Jifeng’s face turned deathly pale. She sprang to her feet and anxiously examined him from head to toe, even spinning Zhao Pu around once.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see!” Shen Jifeng deeply regretted not having held back just now.

Her sudden movements left Zhao Pu momentarily stunned. Then a warm smile appeared in his eyes. “Sister, if you keep spinning me around like that, I’ll feel dizzy even if I’m not hurt.”

Only then did Shen Jifeng realize how flustered she had become. She quickly released him, yet still looked him over from top to bottom. “Stop joking around! Where exactly are you hurt?”

A shadow crossed Zhao Pu’s eyes. “It isn’t me who was injured. It was Lu Ming.”

Lu Ming was Zhao Pu’s guard, and his build resembled Zhao Pu’s by nearly eighty percent.

On their way back from the southern inspection tour, Lu Ming discovered halfway through the journey that someone was following them. To ensure Zhao Pu’s safety, they split into two groups. Lu Ming disguised himself as Zhao Pu and traveled openly along the main road, while Zhao Pu was escorted by two personal guards and set out two days later.

Outside Jizhou City, a group of men in black intercepted Lu Ming’s party. Every move they made was vicious, and they showed no intention of leaving anyone alive. Fortunately, Lu Ming had prepared in advance. Though he was shot in the leg, he managed to survive.

Shen Jifeng recalled Lu Ming’s ever-present, good-natured smile. He was the loyal guard who bowed respectfully whenever he saw her, only to be teased by Zhao Pu for being “more attentive to Elder Sister than to me.”

“How is Lu Ming now?” Her voice tightened slightly.

Zhao Pu’s gaze darkened. “The arrow was poisoned, but fortunately he had an antidote with him. He’s recovering at the prince’s residence now, and his life is no longer in danger. It’s just…” He paused. “His right leg will probably be disabled.”

Shen Jifeng’s heart twisted painfully. If Lu Ming had not been so vigilant, the one lying injured now would have been A-Pu.

“Are you certain the men were sent by Second Uncle? Do you have evidence?”

“How could there possibly be evidence for something like this?” Zhao Pu shook his head with a smile.

That was true. Shen Jifeng understood at once. If they had evidence, they would have taken it before Grandfather the Emperor and argued the matter openly, instead of silently swallowing this loss as they were doing now.

“What are we supposed to do from now on?” For ten years, she had been a commandery princess. During the first seven, she had remained in the imperial palace, indifferent to worldly affairs. Over the past three, she had devoted herself entirely to the Shen Trading Company. Born into the imperial family, she could not simply hide from such matters even if she wished to.

Once she understood that, Shen Jifeng found herself no longer so afraid.

Zhao Pu saw the change in her expression. When he had been young, weak, and helpless, Shen Jifeng—just as weak and helpless herself—had used her slender shoulders to shelter him beneath a piece of sky. From that moment, he had resolved to protect her beneath his wings for the rest of his life.

“Sister, just focus on the mine. Leave these matters to me.”

Page 2 of 3

“Yes.” At the mention of the mine, Shen Jifeng remembered Zhao Pu’s mission in Western Capital. “Hurry up and have the craftsmen released. The mine can do without me, but it absolutely cannot do without its craftsmen.”

Zhao Pu nodded. “Give me three days.”

With perfect understanding, neither of them mentioned the Shen Trading Company again. It was only when Shen Jifeng returned to the estate that she lifted her chin with great dignity.

“Uncle Li is my man from now on. Don’t even think about punishing him again.”

“All right.” Zhao Pu was the very picture of an easygoing gentleman.

Zhao Pu’s efficiency left Cai Xin, who proudly called himself the Ministry of Justice’s most tireless worker, utterly outclassed. After arriving in Western Capital, he completed the examination of all the craftsmen within two days.

Huang Bai was equally shocked. On the surface, he appeared to stand apart from the interrogations, but in truth he had been watching from the shadows all along. In the end, he reached one conclusion: neither the commandery princess nor the little commandery prince was someone to be trifled with.

After finishing the case, Zhao Pu prepared to return to the capital. Before leaving, he sought out Huang Bai.

“My sister caused Lord Huang no small amount of trouble. Thank you for looking after her.”

Huang Bai returned the salute. “The little commandery prince is too kind. I merely did my duty.”

Zhao Pu leisurely smoothed the edge of his sleeve. “Lord Huang’s ‘duty’ is rather interesting. You were the one who switched the lead ore at the mine, weren’t you?”

Huang Bai’s heart shook violently. His face froze in an expression that was neither quite a smile nor quite a grimace. “I… I do not understand what the commandery prince means.”

“My second uncle promised you something. I can fulfill that promise as well—indeed, I can offer you even more than he did.” A smile played across Zhao Pu’s features, yet his eyes were cold as ice.

Huang Bai cursed inwardly. If he accepted the offer, he could at least claim he had died beneath peony blossoms and gone to the grave content. But now? He had failed to catch the fox and instead ended up covered in its stench.

At the time, the silver mine had been abandoned. When Zhao Jian ordered him to replace the lead ore, Huang Bai had thought it would be nothing more than a small favor, and a chance to form ties with the Prince of He. Why would he refuse? Who could have guessed that less than half a month later, the commandery princess would take control of the silver mine?

When powerful men fought, it was the lesser creatures who suffered. Now that the deed was done, he could hardly shamelessly tell Shen Jifeng that the lead ore was in his possession.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Huang Bai’s forehead. The little commandery prince was young, but the pressure he exerted was no less formidable than that of the man seated securely upon the Dragon Throne.

“Lord Huang, do not panic,” Zhao Pu said softly. “I do not need you to choose sides, nor do I require you to do anything. My sister is in Western Capital. I only ask that you stop scheming against her. If my second uncle asks you to do anything detrimental to her, inform me at once.”

Zhao Pu took a step closer.

“I will reward you handsomely.”

Page 3 of 3

“Otherwise…” Zhao Pu smiled as gently as a spring breeze. “I truly have no example to offer you, my lord. But you are welcome to try—and become a warning to everyone else.”

Every word was soft and mild, yet carried the force of thunder.

Huang Bai’s legs went weak, and he nearly fell to his knees. “I understand! I will do everything in my power to assist the commandery princess in refining the silver. I would never dare harbor a second thought!”

At the next morning’s court session, the results of the interrogation were presented before Emperor Yuanchang.

Kong Sheng cursed inwardly. Were they racing to be reborn? How had they investigated everything so quickly? This was an outright slap in the face to the Ministry of Justice!

Zhao Pu explained that he had wanted to find clues about the remnants of the former dynasty as quickly as possible. He did not mention the matter of his sister’s silver mine at all.

Emperor Yuanchang praised Zhao Jun lavishly and ordered the Ministry of Justice to learn from him. Kong Sheng could do nothing but nod.

Zhao Jian returned to his residence with an ashen face. Using the remnants of the former dynasty as an excuse to involve the craftsmen had merely been a convenient move. Whether it succeeded or failed, he had not cared much. The silver mine was already there. Accomplishing something required endless effort, but ruining it was far easier. As a last resort, he could always set it ablaze.

What infuriated him was that both his sister and his younger brother had undone the obstacles he had placed in their path. First, Shen Jifeng had broken into the palace in the middle of the night and forced the craftsmen, who were supposed to be sent back to the capital, to remain in the Western Capital authorities’ custody. Then Zhao Pu had snatched the interrogation from the Ministry of Justice.

Zhao Jian’s fist slammed into a small rosewood table. What he found most intolerable was that even his carefully woven trap had failed to ensnare Zhao Pu.

The Prince of Qi’s residence truly kept no idle people, Zhao Jian thought through clenched teeth, consumed by resentment. They were both sons—why did their father dote on his elder brother and refuse to see him? They were both grandsons—why did he have eyes only for Zhao Pu and treat his own son as though he were invisible?

He was plainly the most suitable candidate for Crown Prince, yet despite the opposition of the assembled ministers, the emperor remained evasive whenever the question of naming an heir was raised.

No. He could not wait any longer.

On the twenty-second day of the sixth month, the mine was a hive of activity. All the detained craftsmen had returned, and the entrance buried in the earlier landslide had been cleared.

There were forty-seven days left until the ninth day of the eighth month. Turning the ore powder into kiln cakes required fifteen days of shade-drying, followed by another ten days for silver refining. By the fifteenth day of the seventh month at the latest, they had to excavate ore of real value.

That left only twenty-three days.