"Your Highness, please do not be angry. Leave this matter to me. Give me three days, and I will definitely deliver the original Phoenix Painting to your residence!"
After hearing Jiang Segu's grand ambitions, Grandma Jiang's expression changed drastically.
We don't understand anything yet, how can we find the original in three days?
"You little brat, you've got quite the nerve. Don't bite off more than you can chew!"
Jiang Segu smiled obsequiously at Prince Jing'an, "Your Highness is wise. This junior truly lacks the ability, so I wish to seek Your Highness's assistance!"
"Your Treasure Pavilion has been trying to fool me with fake paintings, and now you want my help? Do you think I'm easy to talk to, or are you just too bold, little brat!"
"None of them! However, I can guarantee with my life that Treasure Shop never sells fakes!"
Furthermore, I believe that the father of Guo Jie, who was able to raise such a dignified and composed person, must be someone who achieves great things without being bothered by trifles!
Furthermore, doesn't the prince want to know who is playing tricks on him behind his back? And who is stirring up trouble between the prince and Zhenbaozhai?
Prince Jing'an was not a brainless man. He stared intently at Jiang Segu and said, "You little girl, you just want to use my people to find out who is behind this trouble for Zhenbaozhai. You make it sound so high and mighty!"
However, you are right about one thing, and I really want to see which blind fool has dared to use me as a scapegoat!
Jiang Segu finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the next words from Prince Jing'an made her heart jump again.
"Your words are nice, but if you haven't found the person in three days, don't blame me for turning ruthless and burning your Treasure Pavilion down!"
Jiang Segu suppressed the turmoil in his heart and pretended to be calm, saying, "It's a deal!"
"Very well, I will come again in three days!"
"Your Highness, please wait. I have something to ask you."
Prince Jing'an sat back down in his chair. "What is it? Ask away!"
It was rare to find a little girl who wasn't afraid of him, so he chatted with her for a bit.
"After the prince bought this painting from Zhenbaozhai, who were the people who handled it?"
The person standing behind the Jing'an Dynasty said, "A-Wu, you speak!"
Ah Wu replied, "I was ordered to take the painting to the Song residence, personally deliver it to Miss Song, and then left the Song residence."
I had barely left the Song residence when Yuzhu, the maidservant of the Third Miss Song, caught up with me, carrying the painting and declaring it a fake!
It turns out it's related to Song Yuhui!
It's highly likely that she switched the painting, but she can't say that. The fact that Prince Jing'an spent a fortune to buy a painting for Song Yuhui shows that he cares about her quite a bit!
Jiang Segu's lowered eyes shifted slightly as he looked at Mr. Xiao and asked, "Mr. Xiao, are the two points you mentioned earlier common knowledge?"
"Of course not. People who are not particularly familiar with Mr. Tao's works generally wouldn't know these two points."
"Then may I interpret Mr. Xiao's meaning as follows: the forger is merely someone who is exceptionally skilled at imitation, but is not someone familiar with Mr. Tao's works?"
Mr. Xiao nodded, then seemed to remember something, walked back to the phoenix painting, looked at it carefully for a while, and then returned empty-handed, saying, "If you want to find the forger, young lady, why not go to Yuehua Street in the north of the city and find an old man named Ye? He should be able to help you."
Jiang Segu bowed to Mr. Xiao and said, "Thank you, Mr. Xiao."
"Now I'm out of the picture!"
"It seems Your Highness forgot to assign me some men. This is also a way to supervise the younger generation, so that when the truth comes out later, it won't be said that the younger generation did something wrong!"
"Hiss, you little girl, you're quite the smooth talker. You're already trying to shift the blame before you've even found out anything! But you're right, Wu, you'll be following her for the next couple of days!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Don't thank me so soon. If it was one of your own people who did it, I won't be so lenient!"
As he spoke, his hawk-like eyes swept over Manager Wu.
Manager Wu was terrified by the stares.
"Your Highness, rest assured, if it were one of our own people who did such a shameless thing, I will hand the person over to Your Highness for punishment and return in full the money Your Highness spent on the Phoenix Painting."
To compensate Your Highness for your losses, this junior, on behalf of my mother, is willing to give Your Highness three-tenths of the profits from Zhenbaozhai.
A hint of scrutiny slowly surfaced in Prince Jing'an's eyes. He glanced at Granny Jiang, who was still trembling slightly, and said in a deep voice, "I misjudged you. You little girl are not simple at all! You think you can get me to back up your Treasure Pavilion with just a few words!"
"Your Highness's words are too formal. In truth, I just wanted to take this opportunity to get involved with Sister Guo. Please consider this my belated congratulatory gift!"
"What gift?"
"Naturally, it's a gift to congratulate Sister Guo on her wedding!"
The chilling aura in Prince Jing'an's eyes vanished completely. "I'll accept this gift on behalf of my Ting'er!"
Jiang Segu's eyes widened in surprise and delight. "Your Highness, you can't go back on your word!" she exclaimed. Then, she grabbed Jiang San's arm and shook it, saying, "Mother, I also want to ask you for a favor!"
Seeing that Prince Jing'an had lost his previous anger, and seeing that her daughter had responded with composure and was not as useless as herself, Granny Jiang naturally had no objection to her daughter's promise to Prince Jing'an that she would receive three-tenths of the profits as compensation.
Now, hearing that her daughter had something to ask of her, she nodded without hesitation, "Azi, just say what you need, and your mother will agree to it personally."
"Mother, I heard that the Treasure Pavilion once acquired an item from the previous dynasty. Where is it now?"
Grandma Jiang was surprised; how could she not know about this? She looked at Manager Wu with surprise.
Shopkeeper Wu stepped forward and said, "That's right. A few days ago, a passing merchant sold a phoenix crown that had been worn by a noblewoman from the previous dynasty. Although it wasn't anything special, it was valuable because it came from the palace of the previous dynasty, so I bought it for four hundred taels and had it cleaned..."
With that, he gave an order, telling the waiter who was huddled to the side to fetch it.
The waiter quickly brought the items over.
It is a phoenix crown in the shape of a phoenix holding a pearl.
As expected of something from the palace, the three-colored phoenix was exquisitely crafted and breathtaking. The pearl in the phoenix's beak was even better in quality and larger than the South Sea pearl she had given to her elder sister a couple of days ago. The phoenix's wings were also covered with long strings of pearls of excellent quality. Such a thing would be worth more than four hundred taels, even a thousand taels!
Jiang Segu presented the item to Prince Jing'an with a smile, saying, "This little trinket is a gift for Your Highness!"
"What does this mean?"
"I just heard that Your Highness purchased the phoenix painting to give to Miss Song. This phoenix crown is naturally our compensation to Your Highness, so that Your Highness can regain some face in front of the beauty."
Prince Jing'an couldn't help but laugh, "You little girl know how to handle things. I'll accept this!"
After respectfully seeing off Prince Jing'an, Manager Wu walked shakily to Third Madam Jiang, glanced at Jiang Segu, and said cautiously, "Third Madam, the origin of that phoenix crown is really a bit suspicious!"
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