Chapter 261: Sending Good Tea
Prince Zhao had drunk with several colleagues at dinner and returned to his mansion with a slight intoxication.
The butler was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth at the second gate, almost wearing down the threshold.
When Prince Zhao entered the mansion, he hurriedly went to greet him.
“Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Someone reported as soon as it got dark that our treasury in Dai Shan has been stolen!” Although the butler’s voice was low, Prince Zhao’s drunkenness vanished as soon as he heard him.
“What did you say?! Someone raided the gambling house in Dai Shan?!” Prince Zhao said incredulously, “How much was lost? Have the thieves been caught?”
“Your Highness, our place has been emptied out, and all the important people have been captured.” Cold sweat dripped from the butler’s head. He wiped his sweat with his sleeve and said, “The one who came to report this escaped in the chaos.”
“Who has such courage? Do you know who did it?” Prince Zhao felt like thunderbolts were striking him one after another.
“I don’t know, those people were all masked and extremely agile. The important thing is that they seemed very familiar with our layout. They didn’t touch anything or anyone unimportant, only going for what was crucial.” The butler naturally knew how important the gambling house in Dai Shan was.
After hearing this, Prince Zhao felt stars dancing before his eyes, and his body swayed involuntarily. The butler quickly stepped forward to support him.
“Something is wrong with this matter, it must have been planned in advance!” Prince Zhao gritted his teeth and said, “The Princess Consort doesn’t know yet, right?”
“How would I dare to say? With such a big matter, what if the Princess Consort gets too anxious and something happens?” The butler naturally knew the gravity of the situation.
“Good, good, don’t tell her for now. She has a quick temper and is prone to causing trouble.” Prince Zhao calmed himself slightly and said, “Help me to the study room. Later, tell the Princess Consort that I drank too much and won’t bother her, and that she should rest early.”
Prince Zhao arrived at the study room and sat down. The servants who were serving him quickly stepped forward.
A young servant from the second gate found the butler and said, “Someone from Prince Chu’s mansion has come, saying they are delivering tea to Your Highness.”
“Why would anyone send gifts at this late hour?” The butler was already annoyed and found the people from Prince Chu’s mansion to be acting absurdly.
“It’s their mansion’s butler who came personally, saying he was ordered by Prince Chu and must deliver it,” the young servant said.
The butler of Prince Zhao’s mansion realized something was amiss at this point and said, “I’ll go with you to the gate to see what’s going on.”
They arrived at the gate and indeed saw the butler from Prince Chu’s mansion leading two young servants, waiting at the gate.
It was already very dark and very cold. The lanterns hanging at the mansion gate swayed in the wind, casting flickering shadows.
The butler of Prince Zhao’s mansion quickly stepped forward with a smile and said, “These servants of ours are truly incompetent. How could they let you wait here? Please come in and sit!”
“Old brother, why are you being so polite? I was merely ordered by my Prince to deliver some things. Once the items are delivered and the message is conveyed, I will return. I won’t disturb you this late at night,” the butler of Prince Chu’s mansion said with a smile.
“May I ask what important item it is?” Although the butler of Prince Zhao’s mansion had already been told by the messenger that it was tea, he still had to ask again at this point.
“Our Prince has recently acquired some excellent tea leaves and couldn’t bear to drink them alone, so he sent me to deliver them to Prince Zhao.” As the butler spoke, he held out a box and handed it to the butler of Prince Zhao’s mansion. “These are things that cannot be bought with any amount of silver, and they are specifically for calming the inner fire. Whenever you feel anxious or agitated, just drink a little, and your inner fire will be completely extinguished.”
The butler of Prince Zhao’s mansion clearly heard the hidden meaning in his words, but it was inconvenient to ask further in this situation.
“Thank you to Prince Chu for thinking of our Prince. I came out in a hurry and did not prepare a return gift. I will personally present one tomorrow.” As a butler of a prince’s mansion, he naturally could not let anyone find fault with his propriety, so this point had to be clarified.
“No rush, no rush, there’s no need for a return gift. Our Prince said that if Prince Zhao finds the tea to his liking, he only needs to say the word, and we will send someone to deliver more.” After saying this, the butler of Prince Chu’s mansion turned and got into his carriage and left.
“Butler, what kind of good tea is this? To deliver it so late at night,” the servants guarding the gate couldn’t help but crowd around and ask.
“Go away! Go back to what you should be doing. Why are you asking so many questions?” The butler had no time to chat with them and directly took the box into the mansion.
“Where have you been, sir? The Prince is looking for you!” Several people in the mansion were looking for the butler and said so as soon as they saw him.
“I’ll go see the Prince now. You all can disperse!” The butler said as he walked to the study room and saw that Prince Zhao’s complexion was very grim.
He then stepped forward and said, “Just now, someone from Prince Chu’s mansion came to deliver something. I felt it was unusual and went out to see for myself.”
“What did Prince Chu’s mansion send?” Prince Zhao frowned. He had originally planned to go all out and teach Prince Chu a lesson, but he never expected his own backyard to be on fire.
“It was Prince Chu’s mansion’s butler who brought people to deliver it, repeatedly saying that this tea could calm the inner fire. Please have Your Highness taste it, and if it’s good, they will send more.” The butler said as he placed the box on the table.
“What good tea do I not have in my mansion? I think what he wants to send is not tea. Let’s open it and see.” Prince Zhao naturally understood that Prince Chu’s so-called delivery of tea was just an excuse, but he didn’t know what he was trying to do.
The butler opened the box and saw a paper ball inside, which did have a faint tea fragrance.
“What is this?” The butler picked up the paper ball and slowly unfolded it. Some tea leaves fell out.
“Huh?” The butler’s eyes widened. “Your Highness, look… this…”
“This… isn’t this…” Prince Zhao suddenly panicked. He snatched the unfolded paper ball from the butler’s hand. “This is our account book from Dai Shan!”
“That’s right, it should be. How could they have…” The butler’s mouth also gaped open.
Then, he and Prince Zhao fell silent, their four eyes fixed on the paper.
The names recorded on it, the accounts filled in, line by line, fell like lead blocks.
After a long time, Prince Zhao let out a long sigh and said with unwillingness, “There’s no need to say more. This must have been done by Prince Chu. He now holds our account books and has our people under his control. No wonder his attitude has been so arrogant these past two days. The Emperor ordered me to investigate him, yet he remained so nonchalant. So, this is what he was waiting for!”
Prince Zhao had already been wondering when Prince Chu had become so bold. It turned out that he was confident that he wouldn’t dare to do anything to him.
But when did he gain such ability to do something like this, so thoroughly and without anyone noticing?
Was this still the Prince Chu he knew? Had he been faking it all along?
