The most dissolute couple in the capital

He Li's execution ability surprised Cui Qingyi.

This spoiled young master, who would cry at the sight of an old charcoal seller, found his empathy to be his greatest driving force when it came to "someone being harmed."

The next morning, He Li, accompanied by two servants, scoured the West and South markets. He not only located the five counterfeit goods stalls but also discovered that these peddlers' counterfeits all originated from an inconspicuous workshop in the south of the city.

More importantly, he found three victims whose faces were swollen and red from using counterfeit products: a cloth merchant's wife, a clerk's daughter, and a minor official's concubine.

"Sister-in-law, you don't know, that cloth merchant's wife's face is swollen like a steamed bun!" He Li ran back to the Liang Prince's residence to report, her eyes red with tears. "She was supposed to attend her son's wedding banquet, but now she doesn't dare to leave the house! It's so tragic!"

Cui Qingyi: "...Alright, alright, stop crying. Are they willing to report this to the authorities?"

"I'm willing!" He Li wiped away his tears. "I told them it wasn't their fault; someone was selling toxic counterfeit goods that harmed people. At first, they were afraid of offending someone, but I told them not to worry, with the Prefectural Governor's Office backing them up, who would dare to cause trouble for them? I, He Li, would be the first to object!"

Cui Qingyi nodded in satisfaction.

He Li may be a poor student, but he has an honest and trustworthy appearance and has always been very popular in various regions.

"Then let them go to the Jingzhao Yin's office tomorrow to submit a petition," Cui Qingyi instructed. "The petition doesn't need to be too complicated. Just say that they bought cosmetics at a certain place, and after using them, their faces were damaged, suspected to be poisonous. Please investigate, Your Excellency."

Although He Li was sometimes not very bright, he was most enthusiastic about things like "helping the weak to seek justice," and he nodded repeatedly before running off.

Wang Chengyuan hasn't come these past two days. Cui Qingyi later learned that when he heard about the counterfeit goods, his first reaction wasn't anger, but rather—

"The glaze on that counterfeit bottle is so poor; it's disgusting to look at. Even counterfeiters should have some aesthetic sense, right?"

Then, he spent his own money to buy all the counterfeit products he could find on the market, examined them one by one, and wrote a three-page "Guide to Identifying Counterfeits." He copied it more than a dozen times in his beautiful thin gold calligraphy and had it posted at the entrance of Chenxiang Pavilion.

These three playboys seem unreliable most of the time, but they each have their own unique skills when it matters.

-

Three days later, at the Jingzhao Yin's office.

When Magistrate He of the Capital looked at the three petitions and seven bottles of inferior counterfeit goods on his desk, he felt a sudden headache.

What troubled him wasn't the case, but the rebellious son who led the beating of the drum to appeal for justice and cried louder than the victim outside the yamen.

The dignified Prefect of the Capital heard from the bailiffs on duty that "Young Master He brought several women with faces swollen like pig heads to report a crime." This unfilial son didn't even give a heads-up before reporting the crime!

Despite his anger, since the case had been classified as "poisoning and disfigurement," it had to be investigated. Although Lord He doted on his son, he was always a shrewd and capable official.

He immediately dispatched his most capable constables to the south of the city to investigate the underground workshop. In less than three days, they followed the clues and found out who owned the workshop.

The property deed was registered under the name of a business called "Zhouji Trading Company".

There are countless wholesale businesses in the capital, but those that can use the "Zhou Ji" brand and dare to blatantly counterfeit goods are beyond his control if you dig deeper.

This case is a hot potato.

The cunning Master He made a decisive decision: he would not delve any deeper.

He quickly compiled the case file into a book, emphasizing that "inferior cosmetics caused disfigurement" and "it is suspected that unscrupulous merchants poisoned people." In his report, he also subtly pointed out that "the source of the victim's purchase of genuine products seems to be related to the Liang Prince's Mansion."

Then, this hot potato was packaged and presented directly to the palace.

-

The Imperial Study.

The emperor looked at the memorial presented by Lord He, and then at another secret report about "Zhouji Trading Company" that was secretly handed over by the Imperial Guards. He let out a cold snort that had no clear meaning.

"Go, summon the Prince of Liang to me." The emperor tossed the folding tablet onto the imperial desk, his tone slightly somber.

Half an hour later, Li Chengjing strolled into the imperial study.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!" Li Chengjing bowed.

The emperor pointed at the memorial on the table, looking at him with a half-smile: "Li Chengjing, you've really grown some guts, haven't you? A first-rank prince of the Great Ning Dynasty, instead of indulging in cockfighting and dog racing in your residence, you're out in the marketplace competing with merchants for cosmetics? And now you've even been impersonated, resulting in a case of poisoning and disfigurement, which has even reached the Jingzhao Yin's office!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengjing was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened like saucers, and he cried out in protest, "Your Majesty, please be wise! I am innocent! That shop is not mine at all!"

"Not yours?" the emperor sneered. "That shop was a gift from the Empress Dowager. What are you pretending it is for?"

"Please don't worry, let me explain."

Instead of feeling ashamed, Li Chengjing proudly raised his chin, saying, "Although it was a gift from the Empress Dowager, it's still a gift for the Princess. In a sense, it's part of the Princess's dowry. I'm now a servant working under the Princess's command!"

The emperor was speechless at his self-righteous manner.

A prince of the nation, living off his wife's wealth in such a refined and unconventional way, is probably unparalleled in the Great Ning Dynasty.

The emperor rubbed his temples, saying helplessly, "You still have the nerve to argue? Since it's your wife's shop and you personally prepared the recipe, why don't you just put up the Liang Prince's Mansion sign? If you put up your sign, even if those unscrupulous merchants had ten times the courage, would they dare to counterfeit Liang Prince's Mansion's products?"

At this point, Lee Seung-kyung straightened his back even more:

"As members of the imperial family, we must not compete with the common people for profit! If we were to hang up the sign of the Liang Prince's Mansion, it would be an act of bullying and extortion. Although the money may be easy to earn, if word gets out, it will damage Your Majesty's reputation as a benevolent ruler! For Your Majesty's sake, and for the sake of the royal family's dignity in Da Ning, I can only humble myself, hide my identity, and work undercover for my own princess."

The Imperial Study was silent for a moment.

This girl from the Cui family is not only courageous in the face of adversity, but also sensible and reasonable.

She really managed to keep Li Chengjing's impulsive nature in check.

"Alright, stop behaving like that." The coldness on the emperor's face dissipated.

Upon hearing his elder brother's tone soften, Li Chengjing beamed with joy: "It's all thanks to His Majesty's bestowal of this marriage! How could His Majesty's judgment be wrong? My princess is truly wise and righteous. She has long established a rule that a large portion of the profits from this cosmetics shop be donated to the orphanage under my sister-in-law's name every month. This is sharing the burden of the country and bringing blessings to my sister-in-law and the royal family!"

Upon hearing this, the emperor remained unmoved, merely grabbing a book from his desk and throwing it at the man: "Get out of the way! Since this matter involves innocent civilians being disfigured and reported to the authorities, it's no longer an ordinary dispute between merchants. The Prefect of the Capital will continue to investigate this case thoroughly. Go back home and tell your wife that she doesn't need to concern herself with this matter; I will give you an explanation myself."

Li Chengjing nimbly caught the flying letter and asked with a grin, "Your Majesty is personally in charge? Then what about my recipe...?"

"Go back to your residence and obediently continue your work as a cosmetics connoisseur!" The emperor glared at him irritably, then turned to the eunuch Zhao beside him and instructed, "That batch of top-grade Western Region spices that the Persian merchants presented as tribute a few days ago is of no use to me. In a little while, send someone to load it onto a cart and deliver it to the Prince of Liang's residence."

The emperor paused, looked at Li Chengjing, and said earnestly, "Take it back and let your wife use it as cosmetics."

Li Chengjing was overjoyed and, holding the book, immediately bowed deeply, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your generous gift! Long live the Emperor!"

As the emperor watched Li Chengjing trot out of the imperial study like a happy black dog, the smile on his face gradually faded.

"Set up the Kunning Palace."