Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 136: Japanese Satin Reveals Its Secret

Prince Ning’s temporary residence in Nanjing.

Qin Ye is informing King Ning about the current construction progress of Da Ci'en Temple.

We are currently in the early stages of the construction project, with preliminary processes such as tamping the foundation, cultivating the soil, erecting beams, and carving. There are very few external constraints, and the weather is good, so the progress has been very smooth in the past few days.

After listening to Qin Ye's report, King Ning naturally had no objection.

Jia Cong was only copying scriptures to pray for blessings. There was no key issue. He just said a few words. When it came to the progress of the construction, he, as the scripture copyist, was just a foil.

After finishing the business, the atmosphere became relaxed, and Qin Ye and Jia Cong stood up and left.

Prince Ning smiled and said, "Please stay, Mr. Fengyi. I also love calligraphy. I saw the Heart Sutra written by Mr. Fengyi in the Imperial Palace that day and was very impressed.

Today is a good opportunity, and I was just thinking of asking Fengyilang for a calligraphy work."

When Qin Ye heard this, envy showed on his face. A few days ago, Prince Ning personally gave Jia Cong an ivory plate, allowing him to come to the palace to drink tea and talk about books at any time.

Today I specially kept him here to ask for his calligraphy. We have only met a few times, but we feel so close to each other. This young man's destiny is really rare.

After Qin Ye left, King Ning ordered his maid to bring new tea and prepare writing brushes and ink, and was just about to ask Jia Cong to write.

Suddenly, an official accompanied by Prince Ning walked into the hall holding a piece of colorful pomegranate red brocade.

This man was Yang Hongbin, a judge at the Dali Temple who had accompanied Prince Ning to the south of the Yangtze River. Because he was good at investigating cases, he was specially transferred from the Dali Temple this time.

In fact, as a secondary capital, Nanjing also had a Dali Temple, but Emperor Jiazhao transferred personnel from the Dali Temple in the capital to the south of the Yangtze River.

The eunuch Wang En, who was in charge of the Maritime Customs, caused a disaster by accepting bribes. Emperor Jiazhao was furious and began to distrust all the government offices in the secondary capital.

Yang Hongbin was about to speak, but when he saw Jia Cong was present, he hesitated.

Prince Ning smiled and said, "It's okay. Lord Jia is a colleague in Shenjing, so there is no need to be shy."

Yang Hongbin then said, "Your Majesty, today I led people to investigate in the West Market and found this piece of pomegranate red Japanese satin in a shop.

Japanese satin is produced by improving the Western brocade weaving method according to the Japanese legal system. It has always been a tribute to the Japanese royal family and rarely flows out of foreign countries.

Among the documents seized from the Maritime Customs this time was a list of the goods on the Japanese merchant ship that caused the accident at Longtan Port, among which there were exactly ten rolls of precious Japanese satin.

Then he took out another document and handed it to King Yongning, saying:
“The inventory list contains records of the quantity of Japanese satin in this batch, and the pattern and color of the satin are exactly the same as what we found.

On that day, the Japanese ronin looted 200,000 strings of foreign goods and fled into the Yangtze River. The water supervision office of the garrison searched everywhere but could find no trace of them.

Now, the rare Japanese satin among this batch of foreign goods has suddenly appeared in the West Market. This is very strange, so I am reporting this to the prince."

Prince Ning took the Japanese satin from Yang Hongbin's hand and gently stroked the bright red brocade surface, seeming to be thinking about something.

"You mean the 200,000 kan of Japanese goods that disappeared without a trace have now surfaced, and someone is secretly dumping them?"

"That's exactly what I meant. Those Japanese wanderers who caused the incident and fled with the foreign goods must be hiding somewhere unknown. It has been a while since Wang En, the eunuch guarding the Maritime Customs, was arrested. And we have no other measures. These wanderers must have thought that the situation has gradually calmed down, so they secretly sold the foreign goods on hand and fled back to their country after clearing the goods and making a profit."

King Yongning asked again, "Did you interrogate the shop owner who found the Japanese silk and find out anything?"

"The shop owner's surname is Chen. He is a native of Jinling. Three generations of his family have run shops in Xishi for a living. The neighbors are very familiar with him. He has always behaved well and there is no suspicion after interrogation.

He said that this piece of Japanese satin was recommended to him by a middleman named Dong Laoer. He had heard of the reputation of Japanese satin and thought it could be profitable, so he bought it at a high price.

"Dong Laoer!" Jia Cong was shocked. Could it be such a coincidence? Could they have the same name?
Prince Ning saw Jia Cong staring at the Japanese silk in his hand with a look of surprise in his eyes, and couldn't help asking, "Counselor, is there anything strange about this Japanese silk?"

"Your Majesty, can you please let me take a look at the list of foreign goods on the Japanese merchant ship that caused the accident?"

Prince Ning was stunned, thinking that this Fengyilang was extremely talented and must be a very intelligent person. When he saw Jia Cong's serious expression, he wondered if he was thinking about some critical matter?
Besides, the list of foreign goods on the Japanese merchant ship was not confidential, so he just handed it to him.

Jia Cong quickly glanced through the list of foreign goods and saw the record of ten rolls of Japanese satin.

But when I looked down further, I saw the words "Iwate Sansui Jade Square Bottle" and the quantity was 710 pieces, which was almost the same number I bought.

Dong Laoer said that there is absolutely no other source of this kind of Iwate Mountains jade bottle in Jinling.

It turned out that the water jade bottle that I bought by accident was actually from the missing batch of Japanese goods!
"Your Highness, this Japanese satin is indeed a rare commodity. Apart from the foreign goods looted by the Japanese wanderers, could it come from other sources?"

Prince Yongning glanced at Yang Hongbin, who understood and said, "Japanese satin is a rare commodity. Since the establishment of the Maritime Customs Office in Nanjing, it has never been imported from overseas.

I can guarantee that this piece of Japanese silk came from that batch of foreign goods worth 200,000 strings of cash, and it could not have come from any other channel!"

Jia Cong said, "Your Highness, I have encountered a coincidence these days, and it sounds like it has a lot to do with the origin of this Japanese satin."

Prince Yongning's eyes lit up: "Please let the councillor tell us what he has to say."

"A few days ago, I adopted a girl. She was abducted by kidnappers when she was young and brought to Jinling to be raised. The girl had a headband that she said was made of a piece of Japanese satin.

According to her, the kidnapper had taken her to a foreign goods merchant named Zhou to take inventory, and she saw a piece of Japanese satin cloth there, so she asked for it to make this headband.

"And it's really a coincidence that the kidnapper is called Dong Lao Er, and he usually sells foreign goods."

Yang Hongbin said excitedly, "What Fengyilang meant is that Dong Laoer, as the middleman, should sell the Japanese silk in Zhou's hands to the shopkeeper Chen in the West Market."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Otherwise, how could my girl find the shredded Japanese satin at Zhou's place? As long as the prince catches Zhou, he may be able to find the whereabouts of the 200,000 strings of foreign goods.

As long as we find that batch of Japanese goods, we can naturally find the Japanese wanderers who killed people and robbed the goods!"

Prince Yongning saw that Jia Cong was able to identify the key points in a short time just by relying on the Japanese silk.

Although there was some coincidence, such quick reaction was no less than that of Yang Hongbin, who was good at detective techniques. No wonder he became famous at such a young age. It was indeed extraordinary.

Just now, Yang Hongbin wanted to talk about official business, and Prince Yongning did not avoid Jia Cong only for the sake of face. He did not expect that his unintentional action would unexpectedly bring such a reward.

(End of this chapter)