Chapter 627: Who Outwitted Whom?

Wei Chao and Liu Xian both wore somewhat odd expressions.

The two of them looked together at the shopkeeper before them, the meaning plain to see—you know this much, you know this clearly, are you sure you're just a shopkeeper?

Zhu Youxiao, for his part, didn't have such thoughts. He simply looked at the shopkeeper and asked with a smile: "Who told you this? Why does it sound so far-fetched? Doesn't seem very believable."

Hearing this, the shopkeeper was taken aback, then smiled and said: "Look at how you talk, sir. People like us, we're here all day—what wouldn't we know?"

"That's not right." Liu Xian on the side hurriedly said: "This sounds like classified information at first listen—not something just anyone could know."

When Liu Xian said this, his attitude was a bit strange—he pursed his lips with a look of contempt, as if looking down on the other.

Zhu Youxiao cast a glance at Liu Xian without changing his expression.

He hadn't expected Liu Xian to have this side to him. This was a classic provocation—a double provocation through both words and expression.

Sure enough, this move worked.

Seeing Liu Xian's disdain, the shopkeeper immediately got worked up and said directly to Liu Xian: "This is where you don't understand. Ours is the place with the most reliable information. Besides, even in a place like this, we have our wise men."

"No, who is this wise man you speak of?" Liu Xian looked at the shopkeeper and asked again.

Hearing this question, Zhu Youxiao turned his head to look over.

He was also curious. This story had been woven a bit too perfectly—it looked like the handiwork of someone on his own side.

The matter was described so clearly that it was obviously someone who knew the inside story. Moreover, the shopkeeper's words were full of praise for him—which showed how the person who told him all this must have talked, surely full of flattery toward him as well.

That was enough to prove it was very likely someone on his own side stirring things up.

"Let me tell you, we have an Old Man Liu here, nicknamed Know-It-All." The shopkeeper said with a somewhat proud smile: "When it comes to matters on Xianghe turf, there's nothing he doesn't know."

"In this place, no matter what you want to know, you can go ask Old Man Liu; his information has never been wrong, and it's all true. All our news comes from him—people have gone to ask before. So just think about it—it must be true."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up, and he asked the shopkeeper: "Where is this Old Man Liu? We'd really like to meet him—we actually have some things we want to ask him."

Hearing this, the shopkeeper glanced at Zhu Youxiao and vouched with confidence: "That's no problem. I can introduce you. Old Man Liu has a very good reputation in this regard."

"Does he charge?" Liu Xian on the side hurriedly asked.

Liu Xian had already realized that this Old Man Liu's identity was probably far from simple. After all, there weren't many people in the whole Great Ming who could pull off something like this, and with His Majesty present here, this matter was even less simple.

The man had been found only after His Majesty arrived here, and Liu Xian believed this matter was very likely connected to His Majesty's side—which was why he asked that question.

"It depends." The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Depends on the old man's mood. If he's in a good mood, he won't charge—might even give it to you for free."

"Sometimes he also wants you to trade information. Old Man Liu is very interested in all kinds of news. If your information is good, he might even pay you extra."

"Is that so? How interesting." Zhu Youxiao smiled and said: "Then let's go over and take a look."

"Then what about your meal, sir?" the shopkeeper asked, a hint of hesitation on his face.

"No matter—give it to my men to eat." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, looking as if it were only natural.

"The young master is generous." The shopkeeper praised.

This young master before him had indeed spent a lot of money—those dishes were hardly cheap. Now that he couldn't eat them, he was willing to give them straight to his men. There weren't many young masters like this.

The shopkeeper had met many rich men in this place, and most of them were stingier the richer they got, treating their subordinates terribly. Someone as generous as this young master today was rare.

This proved one thing—the identities of these people before him were far from ordinary.

The group left the inn, and after turning a few corners, they arrived at another shop across the street.

There weren't many people at the shop's entrance.

Zhu Youxiao raised his head to look at the sign:

Old Man Liu's Fortune-Telling Hall.

At the door hung fortune-telling couplets and a bagua banner.

Zhu Youxiao turned to glance at the shopkeeper, his expression somewhat odd.

Zhu Youxiao still had some understanding of the forces on his own side. Originally, to control public opinion, he had set up those people under Chen Hong—their core members were all scholars, and most of them used their scholar identities to drum up public discourse.

But what was this before him?

This was a fortune-teller—no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like one of his own people.

If Chen Hong had newly come up with this, then it would be an interesting matter. If Chen Hong hadn't come up with it, then this matter was even more interesting.

With a "swish," he snapped open the folding fan in his hand, and Zhu Youxiao said: "We're already at the door—no need to wait. Let's go in and take a look."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao took the lead and stepped inside.

The whole group walked straight into the fortune-telling shop.

Once inside, everyone discovered that this shop was actually not very large. There was one room on each side, left and right, with only a counter in the middle, behind which stood a young man.

Seeing the group arrive, the young man quickly put on a smiling face and said: "Welcome, everyone. What might you wish to inquire about?"

"We want to see Old Man Liu." The shopkeeper hurriedly sidled up to the young man and said: "These people might be big shots from outside—you must not be remiss."

As he spoke, the shopkeeper also secretly shot the young man a wink.

The young man nodded knowingly, then came out from behind the counter and walked straight up to them, smiling as he said: "Please, follow me."

The little exchange between the two naturally couldn't escape Zhu Youxiao and the others. What kind of people were present?

Besides the clever, there were the observant—every single one was no simple character.

Liu Xian stood beside Zhu Youxiao and said with a smile: "Why does it feel like we've run into swindlers?"

"It's rather amusing too, isn't it?" Zhu Youxiao said.

The Emperor wore an expression of great interest, so Liu Xian said no more.

Even if the man here was a swindler, so what?

At most, it would just give His Majesty some amusement.

Liu Xian followed them inside without saying anything further.

The group was led into the room on the left.

Zhu Youxiao found the room quite spacious, with simple decor that carried a fresh and elegant ambiance—it looked rather nice.

On a rocking chair nearby, an old man was lying back and rocking.

Next to the rocking chair sat a table, upon which were arranged all sorts of teapots and tea utensils, looking nothing out of the ordinary.

This was an old man who knew how to enjoy life.

The young man who had brought Zhu Youxiao and the others approached the old man and whispered a single sentence into his ear.

The old man opened his eyes, then suddenly sprang to his feet. Seeing Zhu Youxiao and the others, his pupils contracted.

He waved a hand at the young man standing beside him and said, "You may go down first."

Glancing again at the shop attendant who still stood rooted to the spot, the old man said to the young man, "Take him along as well, and treat him well."

The young man hadn't expected the old man to dismiss him so quickly, but he dared not be slow, and hastily replied, "Yes, Master."

With that, the young man went over to the attendant's side and led him out as well.

Once the two had left, the old man dropped to his knees with a thud and said respectfully, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

This scene caught everyone by surprise—even Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected it.

"I never thought someone in a place like this would recognize me." Zhu Youxiao looked at the old man kneeling on the ground and said with a smile, "At this point, there's no need to keep up pretenses."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant did not recognize Your Majesty." The old man hastily said, "Your servant merely recognized Eunuch Wei at Your Majesty's side. Your servant knew that Your Majesty had left the capital, with Eunuch Wei attending upon you. After seeing Eunuch Wei, your servant naturally knew that the one who had come was Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, found a chair and sat down. Looking at the old man prostrate on the ground, he said, "Alright, get up and introduce yourself. You know me, but I don't yet know you."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant is Zhao Changgeng, serving in the Imperial Household Department." After climbing up from the ground, the old man hastily said, "I have been active around the Shuntian Prefecture area all these years. This time, when something happened in Xianghe, your servant came over."

"That attendant called you Old Man Liu, acting as if he knew you well. What, have you only just arrived in Xianghe recently?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Changgeng and asked.

"He is also my subordinate. He must have found Your Majesty somewhat suspicious, and so led Your Majesty here." Zhao Changgeng said with some embarrassment.

Zhu Youxiao turned his head to glance at Liu Xian, then burst out laughing.

Beside him, Liu Xian also wore an embarrassed expression.

He had just used a goading tactic on that shop attendant, which had seemed quite successful—but who would have thought the situation was actually like this.

Who exactly had outwitted whom?

There was no need to say it aloud.

Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected it either, because he hadn't sensed anything unusual about that place, and hadn't even harbored the slightest suspicion.

It seemed these people were indeed masters in this field.

"Tell me about your mission this time." Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Changgeng and said.

"This time we received orders from above to conduct inspections here. First, to gather intelligence; second, to see how the Embroidered Uniform Guard handles matters; and also, how the Office of Transmission handles theirs. Our Imperial Household Department has many hands and many businesses, so we are fairly adept at such matters."

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

In truth, over the years he had also invested some manpower in this area. The Imperial Household Department had wanted to organize its own intelligence apparatus for some time now, but he simply had never given his approval.

The Imperial Household Department indeed needed an intelligence apparatus—but not for internal affairs, rather for external ones.