Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2640 Still Vigorous in Old Age 24.0
Chu Han looked at the children's expectant and eager expressions, like hungry puppies, and couldn't help but smile. He even patted the puppies' heads.

The puppies that were petted were incredibly well-behaved, showing none of the wildness they displayed outside.

"Want to know?" Seeing the puppies nod in unison, Chu Han's mischievous thoughts resurfaced. He grinned wickedly. "Let me think." Seeing the puppies nod again, he bared his teeth at them. "I'm not telling you!"

Song Yaojia and Xia Chen quickly pulled Xue Ruitian back from his rampage, while Shen Haolin held Shen Cha in his arms.

"No, no, no, don't be impulsive!" Chu Han quickly waved his hand when he saw them like this. "I was just joking."

"Wait a moment!"

Seeing that Chu Han was about to continue speaking, Shen Cha quickly interrupted him, struggled out of Shen Haolin's arms, walked out of the main hall, and found Mei Lin.

Chu Han didn't know where Shen Cha had gone, but he saw her leave in a hurry and then return in a hurry, holding a piece of paper in her hand.

When the paper—or rather, the portrait—was handed to him, Chu Han curiously took it and glanced at it.

"How did you get his portrait?" He waved the paper in his hand. "There are very few people who have seen him and are still alive. They were either killed by him or died of old age."

"Are you sure it's Master Falian himself?"

“It’s him, no doubt.” Chu Han nodded and looked at the portrait. “When I saw him, he looked a bit older than he does in the portrait. My brother said that he must have been disguising himself, and his real appearance would be seen as younger. Because his situation is similar to ours, and he was younger than us when he became like this, it was much more difficult for him to disguise himself than for us.”

"Is this what he really looks like?"

"Hmm!" Chu Han looked at the portrait, chuckled, and said, "To be honest, we really traveled all over the place to track him down. We almost caught him several times, but this guy is like an eel; he slips away as soon as we're not careful. Even so, the encirclement and suppression was still very successful. The evidence against the Green Lotus Sect is irrefutable, so we didn't work for nothing. Even if he escaped, most of his foundation was destroyed. Now, the assets he owns are less than a tenth of what they were at their peak."

"Huh? How is this possible?" Xue Ruitian couldn't believe his ears. "Leaving aside his collusion with the Xiao family, he made a fortune by using the Luan, Liu, and Ning families to sell the Forget-Me-Not Powder in Daxia. Xiao Jue's side did the math, and the proceeds from the shops we've just seized are almost ten years' worth of the national treasury's income. And the profits from these shops are just a drop in the ocean for him. According to that Luan guy's confession, their profit sharing with Master Falian was extremely harsh. They got 10%, while Master Falian got 90%." "That's because you don't know that at his peak, he owned almost half of the Jiangnan region."

"Is that the Empress Dowager?"

"The Empress Dowager?" Chu Han was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realized what he meant. "Oh, you mean that girl from the Hua family?" He waved his hand. "The Hua family is just a small merchant family. Even if the young lady from the Hua family is a business prodigy, how could she have opened so many shops in just a few years? Do you really think those aristocratic families in Jiangnan are just sitting around doing nothing?"

“But…” Shen Cha was taken aback, “it’s not just the man surnamed Luan who said that, my master said the same thing.”

"Because the Hua family and the young lady are the ones he put in the open, while he himself is hiding behind the scenes." Seeing their blank expressions, Chu Han smiled and explained to them, "Jiangnan is the old lair of those great families. They have been operating in Jiangnan for hundreds of years. How could they easily allow so-called rising stars to jump around under their noses? The only explanation is that they know who is behind the Hua family and the young lady, and have instructed their subordinates not to make things difficult for them. As long as their fundamental interests are not touched, they can turn a blind eye."

"All the major families know about this?" Shen Cha was taken aback. "Master Falian's true identity?"

“Yes, that ill-fated little prince from the previous dynasty.” Chu Han sighed, glanced at his empty teacup, then at Shen Cha. Seeing her stand up to pour him tea, he smiled and thanked her, continuing, “Actually, in the eyes of many great scholars, if they had chosen that little prince as the crown prince back then, instead of sending him to a temple, perhaps the previous dynasty could have lasted a little longer. Of course, that was merely a last gasp before the flames died down.”

“The war of transition between the old and the new wouldn’t be so brutal, and the people wouldn’t be displaced as a result.” Song Yaojia sighed softly. “Father and Uncle share the same thoughts as you, but everything can’t be undone.”

"Yes, everything can't be undone. So, those powerful families in Jiangnan have some pity and sympathy for Master Falian. Since they are no longer in the court, the help they can offer is limited. Since he wants to do business in Jiangnan, they think that's fine. So, as long as their own interests are protected, they won't make things difficult for him. The young prince himself knows what's going on and has been quite proactive in avoiding business with those powerful families. So, they are basically in a state of mutual respect."

"In other words, the Empress Dowager is actually the manager of all his businesses in Jiangnan, and he is still the boss behind the scenes, right?"

"Hmm!" Chu Han nodded. "Later, the assassination attempt happened, and the Hua family's little girl entered the Eastern Palace. He couldn't find a suitable person in Jiangnan, so he had no choice but to disperse most of his businesses to various places. However, this also made things easier for us, allowing us to completely eliminate his henchmen without alerting him." He looked at the children. "Later, we also learned that he had gone to sea. I led people to chase him at sea for more than half a year, but we still couldn't find him. We had no choice but to bring him back." He looked at Xia Chen. "What you've experienced is what I've experienced, so I can give you some relatively practical advice."

"I had considered that it might be my great-uncle who had gone to sea, but then I thought that he had always been ordered to monitor various places within the Great Xia territory, so he probably didn't have much time to go to sea. I didn't expect this."

"My brother was ordered to oversee various regions, while my job is to track down this kid." Chu Han looked at Shen Haolin and then at Shen Cha. "However, thanks to everyone, my job should be completed soon."