jdhmnovel Chapter 506 The Tan Family
Chapter 506 The Tan Family
Jiang Xiaoqi finished a pot of tea in a private room at Liuxiang Pavilion, but no one came.
As dusk settled and night enveloped Liuxiang Pavilion, Li Mo finally spotted a dark shadow not far from the pavilion.
The shadow moved closer and closer, stopping in front of the Liuxiang Pavilion.
Liuxiang Pavilion does not have the habit of driving away beggars, and will occasionally give them some copper coins.
So when a dirty, disheveled man stood in front of Liuxiang Pavilion, Wenbin still told Wangchuan to take ten copper coins out.
However, before Wangchuan could emerge, Li Mo came out first and took him directly to a private room on the second floor.
"Hey! Brother Li!"
Wangchuan was a little confused. What kind of move was Brother Li making?
The young master is still drinking tea up there, why did you drag a beggar up with you?
Li Mo was very fast, and the person being pulled seemed to float away easily, without any resistance.
When Li Mo led the person into the private room, Jiang Xiaoqi immediately recognized the figure.
"Tan Hao? How could it be you?"
The person who was called froze, clearly having been very confident in their disguise.
"How did you recognize me?! I'm dressed like this!"
Tan Hao wiped his face, haphazardly brushed the hair covering his face back, and stared at Jiang Xiaoqi in shock.
"Your clothing, walking habits, and body shape won't change in a short time unless you deliberately correct and change them over a long period of time."
However, it's obvious that your outfit was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and you haven't observed how real beggars walk.
That's normal. With your family being so wealthy, how would you have come into contact with people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and you wouldn't have many opportunities to observe, learn from, or imitate them over a long period of time.
"What do you mean by being rich? I also had a tough childhood..."
Tan Hao's voice wasn't loud, and Jiang Xiaoqi just smiled when she heard it.
Perhaps Tan Hao, who grew up with no shortage of books, food, or clothing, but without being surrounded by admirers, felt that he had suffered.
But compared to ordinary people who are truly struggling to survive, wasn't he also living a life of luxury during his childhood?
Even for Jiang Xiaoqi herself, who was born into a landlord's family, the greatest suffering she had ever endured was probably the pain of being squeezed during childbirth.
However, there's no need to say any of this; he's not here to educate people.
Since the person who came today is Tan Hao, it proves that the Tan family of Huangshang are also on the side of the Second Prince.
Jiang Xiaoqi was simply curious as to why the Second Prince wanted her to come into contact with the Tan family. Was it because she and Tan Hao had once been classmates for a short time?
However, with the support of Huang Shang behind him, the Second Prince doesn't need to worry too much about financial issues. After all, the struggle for the throne is not child's play; it requires real money everywhere.
Seeing that Jiang Xiaoqi was no longer speaking, Tan Hao sat down and went to pour himself a cup of tea.
He was a little embarrassed, however, because he hadn't expected the teapot to be empty.
"Li Mo, bring another pot of tea."
"Yes, my lord!"
Tan Hao was surprised that Jiang Xiaoqi's attendant was so formal, calling his young master "Master".
"You're not familiar with your servant? I remember this is someone you've had since you were a child, why does he still call you 'Master'?"
"It has nothing to do with those things. When he was at home, he was a guard, and when he was on duty with me, he was a subordinate."
Although Tan Hao didn't understand, he nodded nonetheless, lest he appear ignorant.
Perhaps this is a new rule for the families of officials in the capital? It's normal that they don't know this since no one in their family is an official.
"This is a batch of goods that will arrive at the dock in a few days. You wouldn't normally need to bother with this, as our family are imperial merchants and the dock inspections aren't too thorough."
However, this batch of goods was ordered by that person, and they were worried about potential problems, so they wanted to ask Lord Jiang for help in getting these ships of goods safely ashore.
"How many days exactly? What time will the ship dock? What is its carrying capacity? How many people are on board as escorts? What exactly is the cargo?"
Jiang Xiaoqi threw out a series of questions, and Tan Hao didn't know which one to answer first. He could only answer what he could and remain silent about what he couldn't.
"About three days later, we docked at night, around 1-3 AM."
The cargo weighed approximately 10,000 kilograms, transported by three large cargo ships, each with over twenty crew members, totaling sixty or seventy people responsible for escorting it.
Tan Hao didn't say what the item was, presumably because it was a secret.
Jiang Xiaoqi didn't press for details, but instead recalled the message the cat group had given her.
It seems that a new batch of gunpowder has arrived at the port in the last few days. Could we use the Third Prince's batch of gunpowder to divert attention?
Both are illicit goods, so surely the Second Prince's goods couldn't be more illicit than gunpowder, right?
Tonight, I'll contact the cat gang to get a more precise estimate of when the black powder will arrive.
"Okay, I understand. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."
"Just, is it that simple?"
Tan Hao thought Jiang Xiaoqi would make excuses, after all, this was not an easy task, even though Jiang Xiaoqi's father was the magistrate of Tongzhou County.
However, water transport is managed by a separate Water Transport Office, which is not directly under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate.
Little did he know that Jiang Xiaoqi had never intended to ask his "fisherman" father for help, but rather wanted to use a diversionary tactic, covering up something more sensitive with something more serious.
Li Mo silently placed the tea on the table, first pouring a cup for his young master, and then pouring a cup for Tan Hao as well.
Tan Hao didn't mind, after all, the other party was an official and he was a commoner, and according to the hierarchy, Li Mo did the right thing.
Jiang Xiaoqi took a sip of tea. "Yes, it's that simple. You just need to make sure that the time you just mentioned is accurate."
"I can assure you that. I confirmed it several times before coming here, just so I could cooperate with you to help them get through the checkpoint smoothly."
"Okay, that's fine then. You can go back now, it's getting late."
The moon, leading a vast army of stars, has conquered the night sky, its twinkling light reflecting off the lights on the ground.
It was indeed very late, but Tan Hao had no choice. He only dared to act after dark, and it was always better to be cautious. It was just that he had kept Lord Jiang waiting for a long time.
Ever since Jiang Xiaoqi became an official, Tan Hao felt that he could no longer address him by his given name.
Master Tan also felt that his son was right to think that there was a difference between officials and commoners, and that his family's status as imperial merchants was insignificant in front of officials.
Only when a member of the Tan family also holds an official position will this natural inferiority complex be alleviated.
After Tan Hao left, Jiang Xiaoqi immediately summoned the Fur Ball System and instructed him to contact the Cat Clan to find out the more precise arrival time of the Third Prince's batch of gunpowder.
Before long, Xiao Hei brought news that the gunpowder was expected to arrive at the port at midnight three days later, an hour earlier than the Second Prince's shipment. What a coincidence!
The timing is perfect.
After an anonymous letter was delivered to the Water Transport Office, Tan Hao also received a notice that he should rush through the gate and enter the city to unload the goods three days later at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM).
Although Tan Hao had some doubts about this approach, he ultimately chose to believe Jiang Xiaoqi.