Chapter 499: Mature Intelligence Network

"The wine can wait." Zhu Youxiao waved a hand and headed straight up to the second floor.

Led by the woman, the group arrived at the private room Tian-zi Number Two and walked straight in.

The decor and furnishings inside were excellent, clearly the result of real care. Even the paintings hanging on the walls were obviously the work of master artists.

Two of them were ancient calligraphy and paintings, showing just how much effort this brothel had put in. Those who could come here were naturally either wealthy or noble.

Everyone wore probing expressions, and the guards naturally conducted a careful search.

Duke Wei's expression turned rather unpleasant.

Just now His Majesty had asked him a question—did he know who the owner of this Lichun Court was?

In truth, Duke Wei had not lied, because he genuinely did not know who owned this brothel.

But he did know something else—that four out of every ten brothels on this street belonged to his family, and most of them were on the higher end.

Beyond that, nearly half of the pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River were also his family's, likewise the higher-end sort. It could be said they monopolized the entire high-end market of consumption in Jinling.

This kind of thing didn't even require careful investigation to know it was certainly a place that brought in a huge income every year.

Even in later generations, high-end business clubs brought in very considerable revenue—let alone a brothel, and in Nanjing at that. Naturally, it could earn a great deal of money.

Duke Wei did not believe the Emperor's words just now were spoken casually. No emperor spoke casually—even he, a duke, would not speak idly.

Anyone who had business in Nanjing, and especially this kind of business, naturally had backing.

Duke Wei's family could not be counted as the most powerful of the time, but they had existed for a long time—as many years as the Great Ming itself. Though they had weathered some storms in between, things had only gotten better afterward.

Every family had its period of decline. When your family had someone in power, your family was strong; but once your people fell from power, your family was no longer strong.

Only Duke Wei's family—every generation guarded Nanjing. Whenever some family here declined, they bought up the shops those families sold off. Over so many years, that was enough to amass an enormous fortune.

Throughout the entire city of Nanjing, Duke Wei's family owned many properties. Beyond their holdings on the Qinhuai River, they were involved in all sorts of other trades as well.

When power and capital joined together, they became all the more unstoppable.

His Majesty's words certainly were not said idly—there was meaning beneath them. As for this establishment, Duke Wei had investigated it too, but had found nothing.

Duke Wei had also sent people to make trouble, but to no avail—one could tell this place had very deep foundations.

After all, some of the officials Duke Wei sent to harass this establishment had been arrested outright, while others had inexplicably lost their nerve.

In short, for reasons unknown, this place simply could not be touched. Moreover, it had only been here five years, yet had poured in enormous sums of money—not only fixing up the premises beautifully but also poaching many people. One could say they were extremely, extremely capable.

Zhu Youxiao did not look at Duke Wei. Whatever Duke Wei was thinking, Zhu Youxiao did not care.

After sitting down, he turned to glance at Chen Hong beside him and said, "Where is he? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

"Reporting to the young master, he will be here shortly." Chen Hong said hurriedly.

Duke Wei's heart stirred.

So His Majesty had indeed not come here for a casual stroll. He was meeting someone?

He just wondered who exactly His Majesty was meeting.

Before long, word came from outside, and then someone was brought in.

He was a man in his fifties, portly in build, and clearly wealthy from his dress. His eyes were slightly narrowed, as if he wore a smile at all times.

Duke Wei actually did recognize this man. He was known as Third Master Qian, a person with very deep backing who had also risen to prominence only in recent years, wielding considerable influence on the streets of Nanjing.

It was said there was rarely anything Third Master Qian could not resolve. Whenever someone came to him with a problem, he could always find a solution. Thus he had many friends, many intertwined interests, and moved smoothly in both public and private spheres.

When he first entered Nanjing, Third Master Qian had been a man who made money selling information.

Whether it was news from officialdom or the business world, whether finding a person or smoothing over an affair—as long as you found Third Master Qian and paid enough money, he could handle it.

In less than a year, Third Master Qian had already made a name for himself and was riding high.

And by now, Third Master Qian had built up great influence on the ground in Nanjing, and even across all of Jiangnan he carried considerable weight.

Duke Wei had never imagined that the person His Majesty wanted to meet was actually Third Master Qian.

Third Master Qian walked in deferentially, and upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, knelt straight to the ground.

Before Third Master Qian could speak, Zhu Youxiao raised a hand to signal him to rise, saying, "No need for that outside. This place is your establishment too. It seems your business has grown quite large."

Upon hearing these words, Third Master Qian, who had just risen from the ground, nearly knelt down again.

Duke Wei, watching from the side, understood in an instant—this famous figure of Nanjing, Third Master Qian, was plainly one of the palace's people. To put it bluntly, he was an agent the Emperor had planted in Nanjing.

This made Duke Wei's expression very ugly.

On the ground in Nanjing, many things could be hidden from people, but many things could not. The saying "deceive those above, bully those below" referred precisely to this principle.

This Third Master Qian before him surely knew many things about Duke Wei's household. After all, his business in Nanjing was information. If anyone had the most up-to-date intelligence, it was this man before him.

Duke Wei's household might not have been stripped bare by Third Master Qian's investigations, but it was probably close enough. Which meant—whatever this man knew, the Emperor certainly knew as well.

His Majesty had summoned him here today—indeed, there was nothing good in store. Or rather, this was something very bad indeed.

"Reporting to the young master," Third Master Qian said in a very hesitant tone, "this has already been registered, and the accounts are audited every year—there will never be the slightest omission."

That was right—this Third Master Qian was Chen Hong's man. In his early years he had been a scholar who came to the capital for the examinations, but he failed three times. Later, living miserably in the capital, he was taken under Chen Hong's wing to handle matters of spreading information.

This man had brains and many ideas. He gathered a dozen or twenty men under him to work exclusively for him. In less than a year, he had built the operation up.

This man caught Chen Hong's eye and was promoted. A little over a year later, he was sent to Nanjing to establish an intelligence network there.

As for his information business—it was backed by cooperation from the Imperial Household Department, plus intelligence provided by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So whether in official circles or private matters, this man could obtain a great deal of intelligence.

As for the business of smoothing over affairs, that posed even less difficulty for him.

In a short time, he had not only amassed large sums of money but also come to know many people. These people were outwardly friendly with him, but privately he held leverage over all of them—basically, whatever he said, they had to do, or they would be ruined.

But his power and influence were all given by Zhu Youxiao, so naturally he had little confidence when facing Zhu Youxiao.

Or rather, in the Great Ming, no one had confidence when facing Zhu Youxiao.

If the Emperor let you live, you lived; if the Emperor wanted you dead, you died. No one had any leeway.

People like them were nothing more than a single word from the Emperor away from life or death. After all, in secret, they were all hidden agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"No need to be nervous." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile. "You've done well. I was only asking casually—don't take it too much to heart. Yesterday you reported that there would be a meeting here today. Have their people arrived yet?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, not yet." Third Master Qian said quickly. "But they should be here soon."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Then let's wait until they arrive and go listen, see what these people have to say. By the way, can you hear their conversations from here?"

"Of course we can." Qian San hurriedly said, "When this place was decorated, we made some modifications. The wall between Room Tian No. 1 and Room Tian No. 2 is hollow, so we can clearly hear what's being said on the other side."

"The wall between Room Tian No. 2 and Room Tian No. 3 is solid. If someone speaks in Room Tian No. 2, Room No. 3 can't hear a thing. So every time we arrange people, we always put them in odd-numbered rooms. The even-numbered rooms are our own people. We never let them hear each other's conversations, and no one knows we've made such modifications."

"In addition, inside the odd-numbered rooms, we've also built a hidden compartment. A person can hide inside the compartment, listen to what they say, and even watch what they do. Your servant has already arranged people — everything they discuss will be recorded."

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said, "That couldn't be better."

Ever since Zhu Youxiao arrived in Nanjing, the entire city of Nanjing could be said to be seething beneath the surface.

In fact, even before Zhu Youxiao reached Nanjing — when only the news of his coming had arrived — things had already started stirring here.

It was only after Zhu Youxiao entered Nanjing that things suddenly settled down, though that was merely on the surface.

The Duke of Wei listened on the side, his heart pounding with alarm. He was extremely frightened right now, terrified that the people coming later might have some connection to his family.

If they did have some connection to his family, then he would probably be finished.

But the Duke of Wei didn't dare ask. If he asked, wouldn't that just prove he had a guilty conscience?

At that moment, someone happened to arrive outside bearing a message.

Qian San turned back around and directly said to Zhu Youxiao, "Your Majesty, those people have arrived. Someone has led them into Room Tian No. 1."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said approvingly, "That they would come here to discuss matters shows you've put real effort in over the years. Well done."