The rise of the poor

Chapter 2292 A Glimmer of Hope

Luo Longwen paid another hundred taels of silver and returned to the inn with his two lackeys. He kicked and shoved them all the way back, spitting and cursing them until the matter was finally settled after the two lackeys swore and cried.

"You two go out and find out who Zhang Heizi and Li Gan are, what their backgrounds are. If you can't handle this little thing, you don't need to come back!" Luo Longwen returned to the inn and sent his two lackeys out to find out about Zhang Heizi and Li Gan. He didn't want to be made a fool of by the two of them anymore.

"Don't worry, sir, we guarantee we'll complete the mission!" The two lackeys quickly pledged their loyalty, thumping their chests loudly.

They were confident in their ability to gather information; the two of them had been mingling in the streets for over thirty years and were experts at gossiping.

Half a day later, the two lackeys returned, looking smug and self-satisfied. Indeed, they smelled of women's perfume, had lipstick marks on their faces, and reeked of alcohol.

Upon seeing this, Luo Longwen jumped three feet high in anger. He grabbed a book, rolled it up, and ran over to give the two men a good beating, yelling as he did so, "Damn it! Are you two heartless? What did I tell you to do?! I told you to go out and gather information, and you went out to drink and carouse! You deserve to die!"

In his emotional outburst, Luo Longwen knocked the books he was holding down.

"Oh dear, sir, please don't get agitated. We didn't go drinking and carousing; we went to the brothel to gather information. When it comes to gathering information, there's no place more well-informed than the brothel!"

“Master, we really did go to gather information. Although it was inevitable that we would have some interactions with women of the night, it was all just for show. It was our disguise. We endured humiliation and sacrificed our virtue to gather information.”

The two lackeys begged for mercy, crying and pleading.

"You really went to gather information?" Luo Longwen was still somewhat skeptical, suspecting that the two were lying to him.

“It’s true, it couldn’t be more true. If it’s a lie, may it be struck by lightning. We’ve found out everything about Zhang Heizi and Li Gan.”

The two lackeys swore oaths repeatedly, their faces beaming with pride as they claimed credit.

"Tell me your story," Luo Longwen said, putting down the tattered book he was holding.

"Master, the Japanese pirate on duty at the gate of Prince Hui's mansion today was Li Gan. There are two gatekeepers at Prince Hui's mansion, one named Zhang Heizi and the other named Li Gan. Zhang Heizi is tall, and Li Gan is fat. The one on duty at the gate today is obviously fatter, so he is undoubtedly Li Ganzi. People say that Zhang Heizi is called Zhang Heizi because he has a palm-sized black mole on his buttock, and that's how he got his name."

“Zhang Heizi was indeed the captain of the personal guard of Prince Hui, Wang Zhi. He was a skilled fighter and a prominent figure. He was fond of drinking, gambling, and whoring, and couldn't save any money. Whenever he had money, he would spend it on drinking, gambling, and whoring. He was indeed implicated in Xu Hai's assassination attempt on Prince Hui, but he deserved it. He stayed in brothels for three days in a row during the days following the incident, spending his days and nights with women. On the day of the incident, Prince Hui sent men to escort him out of the brothel. The people in the brothel remembered it all too clearly.”

“Zhang Heizi is a habitual swindler who likes to target newcomers to Ligang. After he succeeds, he will give a portion of the money to bribe the people in the Prince Hui’s mansion to maintain his old relationships and connections. He will then use the remaining money to eat, drink, gamble, and whore, living a carefree life. With his network of connections protecting him, he is not afraid of being retaliated against, and the victims can only swallow their anger.”

"Li Gan is greedy. His favorite thing to do is to extort money and demand bribes. Almost everyone who wants to enter Prince Hui's mansion without a powerful backer will be extorted by him. The reason he is so fearless is because he has a good older sister. His sister is a maid in Prince Hui's harem. Although she is called a maid, she is actually a bed warmer for Prince Hui. However, she is not even a concubine, but she is still considered to be in Prince Hui's household. Li Gan is able to extort money and demand bribes without fear of fear because of this nepotism."

The two lackeys relayed all the information they had gathered to Luo Longwen, one after the other.

"Sigh, so neither of these two people is very reliable. If we want to pay our respects to Prince Hui, we'll have to find another way."

Luo Longwen sighed after hearing this. Zhang Heizi and Li Gan were both opportunistic and unreliable.

Damn it, all I want to do is visit Prince Hui, why is it so difficult? At this rate, how am I going to complete the task that Brother Donglou assigned me?

Luo Longwen sighed repeatedly, anxious and worried, scratching his head so hard that dandruff fell out of his hair.

"Master, we have a way to get an audience with Prince Hui," the two lackeys said to Luo Longwen, eager to curry favor.

"Are you kidding me? You just arrived in Ligang with me, and you don't know anyone here. What connections do you have?! You're making fun of me without even considering your own weight, whether you're enough to make me angry."

Luo Longwen gave the two of them a good scolding.

“Sir, we wouldn’t dare to mess with you even if we had the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard. We really do have connections.”

The two lackeys quickly tried to defend themselves.

"What connections do you have?!" Luo Longwen asked, seeing that his two lackeys didn't seem to be joking. Anyway, he didn't have any connections or anything to do, so he figured he might as well try anything.

"Master, while we were drinking and having fun at the brothel, we used all our sweet talk and even sacrificed our looks, and finally got some information from the madam," the two lackeys boasted, adding fuel to the fire.

"What news is this, and what does it have to do with my meeting with Prince Hui?" Luo Longwen asked.

"Master, do you know who is in charge of Prince Hui's affairs?" the two lackeys asked.

Luo Longwen shook his head. "How the hell do I know who it is? There must be more than one steward for Prince Hui."

"Among the stewards of Prince Hui, there was a man named Wang San. This man was a relative of Prince Hui. To be precise, Prince Hui should call him uncle, but of course, he wouldn't. This Wang San was an old man who had risen to power with Prince Hui. He had influence with Prince Hui, and many people had made connections with him and successfully gained an audience with Prince Hui through him."

"Just recently, there was a cloth merchant from Hangzhou who had a large stockpile of cloth that was now unavailable due to the off-season. To minimize his losses, he wanted to trade the cloth with foreigners through Prince Hui. After going through countless hardships, he finally arrived in Ligang but was unable to meet Prince Hui. Later, through a matchmaker, he found Wang San, who helped him meet Prince Hui. Under Prince Hui's guidance, the man sold the cloth to a Japanese daimyo and made a fortune. This story has become a legend in Ligang."

The two lackeys spoke with great conviction. (End of Chapter)