Chapter 1469: The Clumsy Imitator

"Is he a martial artist?" Chen Chen Guanlou asked casually.

Wang Hai nodded. "But his aptitude is terrible. The best he can manage in this lifetime is Third Rank!"

Chen Chen Guanlou burst out laughing the moment he heard that. "He's risen in rank, made his fortune, struck it rich. But he will never become a strong cultivator. And you are a Ninth Rank martial artist — you still have a chance to charge at Grandmaster in the future. Look, you each have your own luck, and you will both have a bright future. You don't need to envy him. Who knows, behind closed doors he might be envying you!"

"Really?" At that moment Eunuch Wang Hai felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the bright moon — his mood instantly lit up, his eyes practically shining!

Chen Chen Guanlou kept spinning his yarn. "A martial artist with rotten aptitude ought to envy every martial artist blessed with outstanding talent. You're definitely on his envy list."

Hahaha…

Eunuch Wang Hai burst into loud laughter the moment he heard that.

What longing, what jealousy and hatred — at that moment they all dissolved into thin air, gone!

He only felt his mood soar.

The inner demon was gone too!

His whole body felt light and easy!

He drank his wine, looking thoroughly elated. "You're right, I don't need to envy him. He should be the one envying me! My talent is outstanding, my cultivation is Ninth Rank — he couldn't catch up to me on horseback. On the contrary, his position — if I put in some effort, spend a bit of money, there's still a chance for me. Haha… thank you, Brother Chen! I just knew you'd have a way to set my mind at ease. I was nearly stuck in a dead end earlier — how did I not think of crushing him with cultivation? Truly, a leaf before the eye!"

He rocked his head back and forth, emotions running high, threw an arm around Chen Chen Guanlou, and said he was going to go carouse at the pleasure quarters.

"Drink first! The pleasure quarters can wait till tonight. The girls are all sleeping right now. You should at least let them sleep their fill, restore their energy and spirits. Or do you like them with two great big dark circles under their eyes?"

"I'll do as you say, whatever you say."

At this moment Eunuch Wang Hai was in a good mood, very easy to talk to.

"The matter I had you investigate — any leads?"

Dragged from last year all the way to this year — efficiency is far too low.

"You mean that fellow surnamed Dou — there's already news. I sent people to investigate the Dou family's ancestral hometown, even tracked down the midwife who delivered Dou Anzhi at birth."

"Did you find anything?"

"His old hometown side doesn't have much of a problem. Just one strange thing. By all rights, after he passed the jinshi exam, their family feng shui should have been excellent, ancestors watching over them. But oddly, within a few years of Dou Anzhi passing the jinshi exam, the Dou family suffered death after death. You couldn't even guess how many died!"

"How many?" Chen Chen Guanlou was curious too. Back then Dou Shu hadn't been very clear about it, and he hadn't pressed for details.

Wang Hai thought it over. "Close to twenty. One family, the main branch — apart from Dou Anzhi himself, basically wiped out. The collateral branches didn't have much contact with the main branch, weren't that familiar with each other, and didn't really suffer deaths. Two died, both of natural old age.

I couldn't help suspecting the Dou family must have offended someone and been harmed. My people went to the yamen to investigate, and it turned out most of the deaths were accidental, no murderer! Strange indeed!

The locals are also buzzing about the Dou family's affairs. Some say the Dou ancestral graves were tampered with, ruining the feng shui. My people specially hired a yin-yang master — a very famous one — to go examine the Dou ancestral graves. He confirmed they hadn't been tampered with, but the fortune had vanished! Truly strange! That yin-yang master said, since the graves weren't disturbed, the problem likely lies with the people!"

Chen Chen Guanlou digested this for a moment, then continued, "Anything else? For instance, his studies?"

"All checked! The academy teachers and classmates all say Dou Anzhi was clever from childhood, quick-witted in his studies, very bright. Passing the jinshi was no surprise at all — he had the talent for it."

"So Dou Anzhi's learning is the real thing?"

"Indeed!"

"I've heard people say that when Dou Anzhi was studying, there was a servant boy by his side who looked a lot like him. He often impersonated Dou Anzhi to deal with various trivial matters."

"There is such a thing! I heard that servant boy studied alongside Dou Anzhi, and his brain wasn't bad either. Not only could he impersonate the person, he could also mimic his handwriting!"

"He really could mimic the handwriting?" Chen Chen Guanlou's eyes lit up at once.

He had been puzzling over this all along — if Dou Anzhi were an impersonation by the servant boy, the learning might be fudged, but how could the handwriting be fudged? One couldn't exactly say it was a freshly practiced script.

So that's how it was.

"He really could mimic it! The academy teacher still has Dou Anzhi's essays, as well as the servant boy's. My people compared them — not identical, but at least seventy percent of the spirit and flavor! The academy teacher also said the servant boy's aptitude was actually decent; he might not pass juren or jinshi, but passing xiucai was still possible. But he also said the servant boy had one big flaw — no self of his own, only good at mimicry!"

The difference between a craftsman and an artist!

If Dou Anzhi was the artist, the servant boy was only a clumsy imitator, forever unfit for the grand hall of elegance!

"Did you bring back their essays?"

"Knew you'd ask — brought them all back," Eunuch Wang Hai said.

Chen Chen Guanlou was overjoyed at once!

Eunuchs really are thorough in their work!

"Good brother, you've been a huge help! Go on, anything else?"

Wang Hai, being a eunuch, might be ordinary in other respects, but his memory was absolutely top-notch.

Any eunuch in the palace who can climb the ranks has a good memory. When the Emperor speaks a long passage just once, the eunuch can repeat it word for word.

This is not just a skill — it's a way to survive!

Eunuch Wang Hai had this quality too. He could flip through an investigation report once and remember the key contents.

"Still about that servant boy — my people found out that when Dou Anzhi came to Jingcheng to take the jinshi exam, that servant boy was still by his side, running errands. The innkeeper even remembered, saying he'd never seen a servant boy who looked so much like his master — people mistook them for two brothers. However, when Dou Anzhi returned to the capital after his mourning period ended, no one in Jingcheng ever saw that servant boy again.

The Dou ancestral hometown side also said that when Dou Anzhi returned home for mourning, the servant boy wasn't by his side. Things were chaotic at the time, so nobody asked. Later, with so many deaths, no one paid attention to a mere servant boy. If my people hadn't been experienced and sharp enough to ask a few extra questions, I reckon in a few more years no one would even remember there was once such a servant boy."

By this point, Chen Chen Guanlou was already seventy percent certain in his heart.

But he still couldn't confirm that Dou Anzhi was an impostor.

The most crucial evidence was lacking — identity verification!

"On the Jingcheng side, did you hear anything? For instance, Dou Anzhi's habits, preferences — any inconsistencies before and after?"

Eunuch Wang Hai took a bite of food and drink, thought carefully. "Back when you entrusted this matter, after a few days I found time to ask some officials at the Ministry of Revenue. Dou Anzhi was a very careful, thorough person, with a very good temper — a bit of a pushover, really. Not at all like an arrogant scholar; sometimes he even gave people the wrong impression that he came from a poor background! Rather than a young master from a wealthy family. The Dou family side — they're not poor, their ancestors were rich, very rich. Even now, with some decline, it wouldn't be enough to make people think he came from poverty. That point is rather strange!"

"Does the Dou family still have money?"