Qing Yao

Chapter 255 The Debt-Collecting Prince

He does not mean that.

The provincial governor was joking, but the circuit intendant took it seriously.

If you do the math, the old man has been to Jiangnan six times in his life. Let's skip the first three times because the ages don't match.

The next three times were in the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, the 45th year of Qianlong's reign, and the last time was seven years earlier in the 49th year of Qianlong's reign.

If the old master left behind an illegitimate child in Jiangnan in the thirtieth year of Qianlong's reign, then this year is the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, and this illegitimate child is either twenty-seven or twenty-six years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).

Zhao An is twenty-two years old this year, so his age doesn't match up.

However, age is not a hard requirement for Zhao An; he can simply take out the file and change it.

It's no big deal, because none of the options in Zhao An's personal file that required truthful reporting were actually true.

Believe it or not, pretending to be the old man's illegitimate son seems to be a viable option.

Old Ding said that two years ago, some Manchu thugs impersonated Fukang'an. If those guys hadn't run into the officials promoted by Fukang'an and been exposed, they probably could have fooled their way all the way to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

In Zhao An's previous life, when the country was so prosperous, there were still a lot of swindlers impersonating generals and officials. Many local governments actually believed them, and many of them were only discovered after a long time.

These days are much more backward than in the past. If you're lucky and your act is convincing, you can fool everyone.

Moreover, Zhao An was not impersonating Fukang'an; he was directly impersonating the old master's illegitimate son. Apart from the old master himself, who could see through his disguise?
The story of an illegitimate child is easy to fabricate. During Emperor Qianlong's southern tour in the thirtieth year of his reign, the Empress cut her hair, a major event that occurred.

The old master ruled that Empress Nara had gone mad after she cut her hair. But how could the empress have gone mad when she was perfectly fine?
Whether among the common people or in the imperial court, the general consensus was that the old patriarch had taken a fancy to a woman in Hangzhou and wanted to make her a concubine. The empress, in a fit of anger, cut her hair in protest, which led to the controversy surrounding her deposition.

Empress Nara's deposition and starvation caused a great uproar, even prompting the Empress Dowager to intervene, but the story of the commoner woman from Hangzhou never came to light.

If we extrapolate logically, the old man had taken advantage of her but couldn't bring her back to the palace. So, wouldn't she hate the unfaithful man and disappear in a fit of anger? Then she discovered she was pregnant and had no choice but to raise her son alone in the countryside.

Twenty years later, when the woman passes away with regrets, will she reveal the truth to her son and ask him to go to Beijing to find his father?

Ok?
Why does this version of the story sound so familiar?
Little Swallow!

If you change the gender, she's not Princess Huanzhu, but a debt-collecting prince.

Thinking of this, Zhao An unconsciously revealed a knowing smile.

There's no way around it, this story is just too hilarious.

Give me back my mother's pearl.

However, such things must be kept mysterious and not explicitly stated. They must be presented in a way that makes it seem like something is going on, yet no one dares to expose the emperor's new clothes.

The local officials believed that Zhao An was indeed the emperor's illegitimate son, but no one dared to verify it, nor did they dare to offend Zhao An.

What if it's true?
Is this for real? He got promoted ten times in just half a year?
Who else gets this kind of treatment besides those few boys from the Fu family?

As long as officials have this idea, Zhao An will be able to thrive in the officialdom, moving forward and retreating at will.

I'm not afraid to verify it, anyway, he never said he was the old man's illegitimate son, it's all a result you imposed on me.

"My lord, please don't tease me. To be honest, I didn't know who my father was after I was born. My mother raised me with great difficulty."

Zhao An made up a story on the spot.

The story is roughly about how his mother passed away when he was ten years old, and on her deathbed, she entrusted him to a couple surnamed Zhao.

The couple surnamed Zhao were Zhao Youlu's parents. Old Ding had completely erased all traces of them from official records, and they had been secretly sent to Songjiang for resettlement. With the methods of finding people in those days, even the dead might not be found. Fu Chang found this increasingly intriguing and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Lord Zhao have the surname Zhao before?"

Zhao An shook his head: "My mother never told me my father's surname and given name."

Fu Chang said "Oh," and then asked, "How does your mother address Lord Zhao?"

Zhao An hesitated for a moment, then casually made up a nickname: "My mother calls me Wufu'er."

May you have longevity, wealth, joy, fortune, and prosperity.

Isn't that Wu Fu'er?

The problem was that Zhao An's casually chosen nickname startled Lord Fu, because Lord Fu knew that there was a person whose nickname was "Sanfu'er," and that person was none other than the current General Fukang'an, who was leading the army to conquer the plateau.

Only one person dared to call him by the nickname "Sanfu'er," and that was the current patriarch.

Fu Chang'an, the younger brother of General Fu, was affectionately called "Fourth Fu'er" by the old master.

Three blessings, four blessings, and now comes five blessings!
Fu Daren's head was buzzing: He was just joking casually, what a coincidence!
Zhao An, unaware that Lord Fu's head was spinning, continued to fabricate: "My adoptive father funded my studies. My name, Youlu, was told to my adoptive father by my mother on her deathbed, but for some reason, my mother still refuses to tell me my father's name. Alas."

At this point, Zhao An sighed sadly.

"."

At this moment, Master Fu's head was not just buzzing, but felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Because the current emperor also has a Han name.

Call him Yuanshou!
This name was bestowed upon him by the Holy Ancestor, Emperor Kangxi!
Yuanshou, Youlu, Wufu'er
Lord Fu gave the young Daotai in front of him a deep look, swallowed hard, and asked Zhao An in a low voice how old he was.

Zhao An looked troubled: "To be honest, sir, I don't even know how old I am."

"Uh?"

Mr. Fu was a little confused.

Zhao An explained, “My adoptive father told me that I was actually born in the thirty-first year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, but my mother said that I was born in the thirty-fourth year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, so I really don’t know which year I was born.”

"I see."

Master Fu nodded and curiously asked Zhao An if he knew where his mother was from.

Zhao An shook his head and said he didn't know where his birth mother was from, only that she spoke differently from people from Yangzhou, and that she sounded a bit like someone from the south.

The south side?
The first place that came to mind for Master Fu was Suzhou and Hangzhou, because the old master had left behind many romantic stories in Suzhou and Hangzhou during his several southern tours.

Suddenly remembering something, he asked with a smile, "If I remember correctly, Lord Zhao was a candidate for the Imperial Academy through donation?"

When this topic came up, Zhao An was a little embarrassed: "I originally wanted to take the imperial examination, but last year the newly appointed prefect asked the county to vouch for me and then donated money to get me a ninth-rank academic record."

Fu Chang nodded. He knew about this matter. At the time, he just felt that it was a bit strange that Eqina had given a child probationary position. Now it seemed that Eqina knew something.

Then, not without curiosity, he asked, "Why would a mere ninth-rank official like Lord Zhao have to pay a thousand taels of silver to the imperial court for his punishment?"

"This"

After hesitating for a long time, Zhao An finally mustered up his courage and said, "Your Excellency is unaware of the truth. I do not have this thousand taels of silver. It was sent to me by someone from the capital, where Grand Secretary He entrusted me to receive it."

(End of this chapter)