Chapter 487
Investigation
Chapter 487 Investigation
Jinse spoke earnestly, but unfortunately the twelfth prince listened casually.
While listening, he kept telling Jinse to eat well, as if in his opinion, Jinse eating well was not as important as whether the bookstore made money.
It wasn't until Jinse started talking about the things at the writing brush shop that the twelfth prince suddenly became serious.
He listened carefully to what Jinse said for a while, then frowned and asked, "Sister Jinse, are you sure you've never seen that person before?"
"Never seen it before."
Jinse thought about it carefully again, then shook her head: "That person looked quite striking. If I had seen him before, I shouldn't have no impression of him at all."
The twelfth prince was displeased upon hearing this: "How exactly did that person manage to deceive you?"
Jinse exclaimed, not knowing why the Twelfth Prince was asking this, but she still recalled and described what the person in the paper and ink shop looked like.
It's not entirely detailed, but it should be roughly correct.
As the twelfth prince listened, he turned to look at Lin Yi.
Lin Yi immediately nodded to the Twelfth Prince, clearly understanding his prince's meaning.
After listening, the twelfth prince asked Jinse, "How come you can observe people so carefully, Sister Jinse?"
His tone was a bit strange.
Unfortunately, Jinse didn't quite catch it.
Jinse simply said, "This servant always feels that the way that person looks at me is very strange. I will pay closer attention, and if I see him again next time, I will definitely stay far away from him."
Although the man's expression didn't seem particularly malicious, Jinse didn't want to have any further contact with him.
Who knows what the other party is up to?
The twelfth prince nodded, satisfied: "So that's how it is. Indeed, I don't know if that person had ill intentions. Sister Jinse should avoid him."
Jinse nodded in agreement.
Then she heard the twelfth prince say, "Speaking of which, the city has been quite chaotic lately, so it would be better for Sister Jinse to stay home as much as possible."
"Your Highness, there's no need for this."
Jinse refused without even thinking.
She had finally managed to buy those papers, and at such a high price, she was determined to recoup those costs as quickly as possible before she could feel at ease.
Therefore, she plans to visit the paper mill frequently these days.
With so many things to do, what kind of talk is it to always stay cooped up at home?
The twelfth prince paused for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat inscrutable.
Jinse felt a pang of unease upon seeing this, and a sense of oppression washed over her: "Your Highness... this servant, this servant only..."
For some reason, she felt that the twelfth prince seemed unhappy, perhaps because she had just rejected his suggestion?
Jinse pondered to herself.
Before he could figure it out, the twelfth prince laughed again, his expression returning to normal.
"It's alright. If Sister Jinse is really worried about the paper mill, then in the future, just have Lin Yi or Lin Fu accompany you when you go out. There are a lot of people in the city now, so it's always safer to have someone with you."
The twelfth prince explained to Jinse with a worried expression, "I heard from Lin Shun that some bad things have happened in the capital recently. Sister Jinse has been going out a lot lately, and now that Sister Jinse has encountered such a thing, I'm quite worried!"
Upon hearing this, Jinse breathed a sigh of relief; so that's how it is.
"It is this servant who has troubled Your Highness. This servant will listen to Your Highness. If we really have to go out in the future, I will take more people with me."
She was already quite busy, and going out alone was a real hassle. Having someone accompany her would help share some of the burden, which wasn't bad. Hearing this, the Twelfth Prince was somewhat satisfied.
After Jinse finished her meal with him, she went back to work. The Twelfth Prince then summoned Lin Yi and gave him a series of instructions.
Not only was Lin Yi instructed to have someone follow Jinse openly or secretly whenever she went out, but the person at the paper and ink shop today also needed to be investigated.
Hearing this instruction, Lin Yi secretly groaned inwardly.
There have been too many unfamiliar merchants coming and going in the capital lately, and the person the twelfth prince mentioned doesn't have any particularly special characteristics. How can he possibly investigate this person thoroughly in such a short time?
Perhaps sensing Lin Yi's predicament, the twelfth prince glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Yi immediately shook his head, indicating that he was fine. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he said with some hesitation, "There are too many outsiders in the city now. It's not difficult for our people to investigate the locals, but it may take some time to investigate those from other places..."
"Yes, find out as soon as possible what their intentions are in approaching Jinse."
As for the others, there's no rush.
The twelfth prince frowned and pondered.
Lin Yi responded and immediately went down to make the arrangements.
He first added two more people to secretly protect Jinse, and then found Lin Fu and He Lu and gave them a detailed explanation.
Lin Fu was still somewhat confused, wondering why Lin Yi had suddenly acted this way.
He Lu immediately became wary, secretly glancing at Lin Yi. Upon receiving a subtle nod from Lin Yi, she immediately understood.
Seeing that He Lu understood, Lin Yi felt much more at ease.
When his own prince asked him to help Jinse, he simply picked out Helu from among the prince's hidden hands and placed her next to Jinse.
Looking back now, he really was very farsighted.
After a moment of self-reflection, Lin Yi instructed the two to do their job well before immediately setting off to investigate another matter.
Jinse knew nothing about these things, only that Helu was sticking to her a little more than usual, but she didn't know why.
When asked, Helu said it was nothing, she just wanted to learn more from her...
What else can Jinse say about this?
The only thing I can do is have her come along.
We can't let our subordinates' desire to learn and improve be dampened, can we?
Moreover, perhaps because there were always people around her, it gave Jinse a little sense of security. When she went out to run errands, she felt that it was much quieter around her and she rarely encountered any unexpected situations.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jinse was unaware.
Lin Yi really put in a lot of effort and completed the task assigned to him by the twelfth prince.
"It is said that this Mr. Xiang was the number one wealthy merchant in Jiangnan. He was involved in many businesses such as paper, ink, jade and stones. Because his paper and ink shops were very honest in their business, and he often used his paper and ink shops to help students from poor families, he was very respected among the students."
Lin Yi presented everything he had found to the Twelfth Prince.
His expression still held a hint of amazement: "That's why Mr. Xiang has quite a few close friends in the court, and I've heard that he's very likely to be the one chosen for the imperial merchant position this time."
The twelfth prince skimmed through the basic introduction of this Mr. Xiang without even raising an eyebrow, showing a completely indifferent attitude.
"So, why would someone like this suddenly want to contact Jinse? Have you found out?"