The Art of Putting in a Bad Word

She smiled brightly at Wu Zong: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Wu Zong waved his hand. "Don't Gao Xing yet. There's something else. We're late; Lord Zhang and houses are all gone. But don't worry, I've already spoken to him, and he'll reserve one for you if there's any left."

Zhao Ruxi bought the estate and shops to make money. Now that she sees a large income coming her way, why would she care about that?

"It's alright, we'll buy it if there is, and it's fine if there isn't," she said. "If Lord Zhang has a large shop in the future, I'd be interested. If not, it's not a big deal; I'll have someone look for one. As for estates and houses, I don't want to buy them for now."

She looked at Wu Zong: "Senior brother, when you have time, I'll tell you and Master about the business I'm going to do. If you're interested, let's do it together."

Wu Zong's interests lie in painting and solving crimes; he has little interest in doing business.

But he was curious. "What kind of business is Junior Sister planning to do?"

"Jade, a type of jade from the south. Unlike white jade, it comes in various colors, is crystal clear, and is very beautiful. I plan to have someone go south to find some and then bring a batch back."

Her expression suddenly turned serious. "Senior brother, don't blame me for not reminding you, this is a chance to make a fortune, you must seize it. Although you don't lack money, no one ever thinks they have too much, right?"

Seeing the little girl's puffed-up, fair cheeks, Wu Zong almost couldn't help but laugh. Why did he find his junior sister's serious expression so amusing?

"Okay, okay, I'll take a share then," he said dismissively, as if coaxing a child.

He didn't doubt how his junior sister knew about this kind of jade. She worked in a jewelry shop, drawing jewelry designs, so she must have come into contact with countless jade and gemstones. It was understandable that she wanted to work in this line of work.

He himself had never understood the dazzling array of jade and gemstones.

Seeing that her senior brother readily agreed, Zhao Ruxi was Gao Xing: "Alright, when are you, Master, Eldest Senior Brother, and Second Senior Brother free? Let's discuss it together."

Wu Zong chuckled, "You're planning to turn this into a family business transaction between the Kang family and their disciples?"

"That's right, we shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders," Zhao Ruxi said.

Before entering the palace, Zhang Changshen went to Zhao Ruxi's place and took away a painting she had finished. After bowing upon entering the palace, he unfolded the painting and handed it to the imperial eunuch. "Your Majesty, please take a look at this painting."

When Xiao Ge saw the painting the eunuch handed him, he was almost startled by the lifelike portrait and the bandit's fierce eyes.

"This..." he feigned composure, "Who is this?"

"This is a serial killer. This painting was commissioned. Your Majesty, look at the style of the painting; it's extremely lifelike, completely different from our traditional painting methods."

Xiao Ge composed himself before turning his gaze to the painting.

But when they met, he still felt that the person in the painting was staring at him with fierce eyes, which made him feel inexplicably uneasy, as if this person was about to assassinate him.

He quickly looked away and said, "It is indeed different." He had also studied painting, so he could naturally tell the difference in the painting at a glance.

It's so realistic, isn't it? Nightmarishly realistic. Especially those eyes, they look so real, as if they move with him, constantly staring at him fiercely.

"I wish to have officials from the Court of Court of Judicial Review and painters from various local government offices learn this painting technique. Once mastered, if bandits commit further crimes, eyewitnesses will be able to bring them to justice."

Xiao Ge was taken aback, and then he began to examine the painting carefully.

"Who painted this?" he asked. "The style is quite peculiar."

"Zhao Ruxi, the girl from the Wei Qiu's Earl of Suiping's Residence who was switched at birth by Wei Liniang."

Xiao Ge was taken aback and looked at Zhang Changshen: "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" As soon as he said that, he knew that his question was unnecessary.

Putting aside Zhang Changshen's cautious nature, he would never report anything to him that hadn't been thoroughly investigated.

"I personally watched her paint it," Zhang Changshen said. "Mister Kumu was amazed by her talent and has already taken this young girl as his apprentice."

Xiao Ge paused again, examining the painting once more, his attitude now much more serious than before.

"Truly amazing, quite rare," he exclaimed.

He raised his head. "Alright, I grant your permission."

"But..." Zhang Changshen hesitated, "I'm worried that Miss Zhao might not be willing. So I would like to request Your Majesty to issue an imperial decree allowing her to teach this painting technique to everyone."

Xiao Ge's gaze towards Zhang Changshen was somewhat subtle.

I never expected you to be like this, Lord Zhang.

"Although all land under heaven belongs to the king, and all people within the realm are his subjects, I cannot do such a thing as seizing by trickery and force. Believe me or not, once this imperial edict is issued, my desk will be flooded with impeachment memorials by tomorrow morning," Xiao Ge said, pointing to his imperial desk.

Although he was the emperor, he couldn't do whatever he wanted. If he took a fancy to someone's things and seized them, or abducted someone's women and brought them to the palace, the Xiao Family's empire would have been overthrown eight hundred years ago.

Do they really think the court officials are just sitting around doing nothing?

Zhang Changshen looked somewhat dejected. "Mister Kumu and the others are already learning painting from Miss Zhao. I heard they gave her three thousand taels of silver as tuition, but there's no formal master-disciple relationship, and they won't need to exchange gifts on holidays. They'll part ways after the course is over. I'm actually quite tempted. Can all the painters in our Court of Judicial Review and various prefectural and county offices be Miss Zhao's students and grand-students? If that's the case, what about His Majesty? It would be best if the money and the painting were mutually agreed upon."

He shrugged. "It's just that our yamen is short of money. It's three thousand taels each. If we send too many to learn painting, our Court of Judicial Review staff will starve when they go out to handle cases."

Xiao Ge didn't speak, she just looked at him quietly.

This guy, he knew he was here to play the victim.

The corrupt official's property was all sold off by the Court of Judicial Review of Judicial Review, which greatly angered the Ministry of Revenue. This guy still dared to complain about being poor; his skin was incredibly thick.

Three thousand taels is indeed a bit expensive. It would be fine if only one official was sent to learn, but a whole group has to be sent.

Zhang Changshen: "Your Majesty, you don't know, when I came here, I wanted to win over Miss Zhao so that she would give us a 50% discount on our tribute. I felt that 1,500 taels would be acceptable. So I wanted to sell the remaining estate in Wei Qiu to Miss Zhao, and I even told Wu Zong Miss Zhao put in a good word for her. Unexpectedly, the second young master of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence's family came and insisted that I give him the estate, saying that the Earl of Suiping's Residence was not the victim, but deserved it, and implying that I was showing favoritism. I had no choice, afraid that people would say that I was not good to the soldiers on the border, which would arouse the public anger of the military officers, so I had to give the estate to the Fu Family in front of Wu Zong."