Chapter 1038: I Want Everything

“What kind of way?” Sang Hong quickly asked.

“I’m not sure yet.” Zu An said in a low voice. “I need to make a trip right now.”

“Alright. I will stay here to oversee this place, or else those Cloudcenter Commandery people might come here and find out that something happened to Zuo Su.” Sang Hong harrumphed. “I want to see for myself who will immediately rush over now that Zuo Su has died.”

Even though he had given the order that no one who knew what happened was allowed to leave the official residence, that obviously didn’t include Zu An.

“I’ve troubled respected uncle.” Zu An cupped his hands, then secretly left through the back door. He made sure to shake off anyone trying to tail him as usual, then headed to the Civil Affairs Manor.

The Civil Affairs Manor had no leader, so it was quite the mess. Fortunately, Xu Yu was there to watch over things, thus barely maintaining the normal operations of Cloudcenter Commandery. When Xu Yu saw that Zu An had come to visit him, he quickly came out to greet him. Then, he indirectly tried to ask about how their investigation of Zuo Su was going.

Zu An obviously wouldn’t tell him the truth. He found some excuses to answer the questions with, then told Xu Yu why he had come.

“The commandery duke’s recorded materials? We do have some. When the commandery princess held the heaven offering ceremony, it was recorded with a recording stone. It should be at the government office right now. But why do you need something like that?” Xu Yu felt the request was a bit strange.

Zu An sighed in relief when he heard that. He replied with a smile, “It’s something Sir Sang needs. As for what it will be used for exactly, I don’t know.”

“Could it be related to Sir Zuo’s case?” Xu Yu still didn’t drop the matter and continued asking.

Zu An said with a smile, “Sir Xu worries too much. This is just about investigating the duke’s disappearance.”

“Oh.” Xu Yu nodded, but he was filled with emotions inside. The other party didn’t seem all that interested in Sir Zuo’s case. He was still in the mood to focus on the duke’s disappearance? Perhaps there had already been a conclusion in Sir Zuo’s case?

Those of the court excelled at reading facial expressions, and they often speculated about many things. When he saw Zu An’s mysterious expression, many possibilities appeared in Xu Yu’s mind. Every single one of those possibilities left him trembling in fear.

Fortunately, the recording stone arrived promptly. He collected his thoughts and handed the recording stone to Zu An, saying, “Even though this item is no great treasure, after the duke’s disappearance, this is the only thing left. I hope Sir Zu can let Sir Sang know to take good care of it. Once he is done with it, please return it to be stored away.”

Zu An received the recording stone and gave it a look. Sure enough, the duke’s image was recorded there. He was overjoyed and said, “Don’t worry, Sir Xu. The jade annulus will be returned to Zhao[1] after we’re finished.”

“Jade annulus to Zhao?” Xu Yu was a bit confused. He had never heard of that idiom before, but he could guess what Zu An meant.

…

After Zu An left the manor, he made a trip to Gao Ying’s place. He worried that Gao Ying wouldn’t be able to keep those wild troops under control. But when he arrived, he saw that Gao Ying was actually doing quite well for himself.

Gao Ying said with a smile, “It’s all thanks to Sir Xu. He came over several times to help me keep them under control. That’s how I was able to properly maintain this position.

“Of course, it was also thanks to those Armed Escort Guards of yours. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to convince all of these people through my own strength.”

“You’re being too humble. That’s all external help. The reason you were able to keep this position was completely because of your own ability.” Zu An thought, No wonder Xu Yu was able to become friends with Xiao Yao. He’s probably one of the rare members of Cloudcenter Commandery’s court faction.

The two of them chatted for a bit longer. Gao Ying asked about how things were back at the temporary residence. Zu An was worried about information leaking, so he didn’t reveal anything, instead saying. “You only need to worry about properly controlling the troops over here; leave the temporary residence to us. We might very well need your subordinates in the future!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely completely rope them in soon,” Gao Ying said with an upright expression.

Zu An nodded. After bidding him goodbye, he took the main street back. He thought about what he was going to do next. With Cloudcenter Duke’s recording, he now had an image of what the duke looked like. That way, if he had no choice, he could impersonate him to create a breakthrough in the case.

He suddenly smelled an aroma just then. When he raised his head, he saw a restaurant that was lively with business. Above the entrance was a placard with the words ‘Cassia Moon Restaurant’ written on it in fancy calligraphy.

Zu An suddenly recalled something. In the intelligence Xiao Jianren had given him, King Qi’s heir would often go to places like Cassia Moon Restaurant to buy things for Pei Mianman before he went to the Pei clan. He hadn’t thought much of it back then, but what if the purchasing of gifts was just a pretense, and he had actually gone to those places to meet with people? As such, he went straight in.

A waiter quickly greeted him. When he saw how impressive looking and well dressed Zu An was, his eyes lit up. He asked, “What does this guest wish to eat? Our Cassia Moon Restaurant is a famous restaurant in Cloudcenter Commandery. As long as there is anything you want to try, we can make it.”

“You guys are that great? Then I’ll have to have a taste,” Zu An replied. He hadn’t eaten anything since morning, so he could just settle that in the meantime.

The waiter guided him upstairs. Zu An chose a private room with a window that could oversee everything. After ordering a few signature dishes, he drank the restaurant’s special Honey Black Tea while secretly observing the people who came and went through the place.

Unfortunately, he didn’t see anyone suspicious even after doing so for a long time. When the waiter returned with the food, he casually asked, “Waiter, this place of yours isn’t bad. How much would it cost to buy this Cassia Moon Restaurant?”

The waiter was alarmed. He exclaimed, “The young master must be joking! Cassia Moon Restaurant has such good business; why would the owner want to sell it?”

“That may not be the case. Many times, the only reason something isn’t sold is because not enough money is offered.” Zu An chuckled. He tossed over a silver ingot and asked, “Who’s your boss? If I wanted to buy this place, who would I approach to ask something like that?”

The waiter had never expected to receive such a huge tip. He happily put it away, and an eager smile appeared on his face as he said, “The young master really is generous. I must secretly tell the young master that it is useless even if you talk to our boss. This is not something he can make a decision on.”

“Oh? Why?” Zu An asked, surprised. Looks like this money I spent was worth it.

“Please do not share what I am about to tell the young master with anyone else.” The waiter looked around. When he saw that there was no one, he then moved close to Zu An’s ear and said quietly, “The shopkeeper downstairs is only Cassia Moon Restaurant’s boss in name. The true boss is at thePegasus Merchant Group.”

“Pegasus Merchant Group?” Zu An exclaimed, shocked. Chen Zhou’s case involved the Zhenyuan Merchant Group. He had learned about the Pegasus Merchant Group during his investigation back then.

The Pegasus Merchant Group was a merchant group as famous as the Zhenyuan Merchant Group. Both sides were constantly competing with each other. But the Zhenyuan Merchant Group had a longer history, so it operated on a slightly larger scale.

The Pegasus Merchant Group was an up-and-coming power. However, recently, their momentum had been extremely strong, almost as if they were trying to take over the Zhenyuan Merchant Group’s top spot.

Zu An suddenly voiced his surprise. “How do you know something so classified?”

The waiter stuck out his chest. “Because the shopkeeper is the son of my grandfather’s second aunt’s niece’s great uncle’s nephew!”

Zu An was speechless. He couldn’t figure out what their relationship was even after thinking about it for a long time. Either way, it was some kind of distant relation.

He remarked, “This little brother seems to have boundless prospects here.”

“The young master overpraises me,” the waiter replied.

…

After he obtained the information he needed from Cassia Moon Restaurant, Zu An went to the next location. There, a sweet scent spread through the air. It was different from Cassia Moon Restaurant’s smell of food; instead, it was the smell of cosmetics.

Two graceful words, ‘Rouge Spice’, were inscribed onto the signboard.

King Qi’s heir often visited that store before going to the Pei clan as well. There were married women and young ladies coming in and out of the store, chatting about the newest products and colors of lipstick.

When he entered the store, Zu An felt as if he had entered a country of women. Compared to Jasper House, the clothing of the women present was clearly much more reserved.

The madams and young misses all frowned when they saw a man enter. They all wondered where this pervert had come from.

But when they saw Zu An’s appearance, they were all stunned, and light blushes appeared on their faces. The women who had been about to berate him instead revealed bashful appearances. All of them whispered among themselves, “Which young master is this? He really is handsome.”

“He’s probably here to purchase some products for his own woman.”

“Sigh, it really is a waste. She actually sent her own husband to buy products for her. Isn’t this kind of woman a bit too lazy?”

“Should we try and start a conversation with him? It’s been so long since I met someone this handsome.”

“Are you crazy? Won’t you be beaten if you’re caught by your man back home?”

“If this young master were the one hitting me, wouldn’t I be more than happy?”

…

Even though their voices were soft, Zu An’s senses were keen. None of their voices escaped his detection.

He immediately began to sweat buckets when he heard their discussions. He had heard beforehand that the citizens of Cloudcenter Commandery were fairly open-minded, but wasn’t this a bit too much?

No wonder the ones who had played around the most at the office in his previous world had been married young wives. It seemed things were the same no matter which world it was.

He coughed lightly and quickly sought out the shopkeeper. Even though the shopkeeper was a bit surprised to see a man enter, this wasn’t the first time. He asked, “What does the young master wish to buy?”

“Female makeup products and the like,” Zu An replied.

“We have a variety of products. We have facial cleansers, moisturizers, skincare serum, emulsion, skin repair foundation, concealer, face slimming creams…” the shopkeeper began.

Zu An was stunned. He was completely baffled by everything he heard. He had no idea what any of that stuff was. He just exclaimed, “I want everything!”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up. He asked, “May I ask what model number your respected self wants? We have…”

Zu An cut him off. He obviously didn’t have the time to think about all of that stuff. He replied, “The most expensive one of each type. Give me, uh… Ten of them.”

He obviously needed to display his wealth in order to discuss business with the other party. Otherwise, if he immediately said he wanted to purchase the store, who wouldn’t ignore him?

As for those things, they’d be quite useful. He had so many close female friends at his side. He’d at least have some gifts to give out.

The young ladies and madams all cried out in surprise. They immediately looked at him with strange expressions.

“A playboy! He actually bought so many.”

“What do you understand? This is called being charming, okay? Would it be that rare for a young master as wealthy as this to have ten concubines?”

“Exactly! Look at those rich and powerful figures in the city! Which one of them doesn’t have a hundred or so concubines? This young master having ten concubines is already being quite single-minded.”

“And he bought a gift for every one of them, treating all his girls nicely. I’m so jealous!”

“Sigh, unfortunately, I’ve already gotten married. Otherwise, I would even offer myself up.”

“Why don’t you go and give it a try? What if he doesn’t mind having more wives?”

…

Zu An’s expression darkened. Meanwhile, The shopkeeper put various kinds of skincare and makeup products into fine cases and handed them over, saying, “Young master, these belong to your respective self. May I ask where you live? We can have someone send them over.”

Zu An was about to reply, but a familiar voice spoke up nearby. “Tsk tsk, you really are a womanizer.”

1. An idiom originating in a story from the Qin Dynasty, which means ‘to return something intact to its rightful owner.’ ☜