Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Impersonating the emperor directly is definitely not an option!

No matter how much his face resembled that of the Jiajing Emperor, the age difference was undeniable.

Although the true age of this body is unknown, the Jiajing Emperor is at least ten years older than himself.

Xie Pi, as a high-ranking official who had risen to the rank of Tan Hua Lang (third-place scholar in the imperial examinations) and was also the son of a prime minister, must have had many opportunities to meet the emperor.

Perhaps it was because he was able to see the emperor so often that when he suddenly saw a face that looked just like the Jiajing Emperor in his home, he was so flustered that he overlooked the important detail of age.

But if given a little time, he should be able to react quickly.

It's better not to impersonate someone in the first place than to be exposed after you've done it.

If one cannot impersonate the emperor, then should one continue to impersonate a maritime merchant?

After discovering that he looked very much like the Jiajing Emperor, discussing crystal glassware business with the Xie family became a trivial matter.

Even if Xie Pi realized that he was not a descendant of the Jiajing Emperor, he would not dare to do business with a "maritime merchant" who looked very much like the emperor.

Lu Chen felt that he now had only two choices in front of him.

One was to make it clear to Xie Pi that he was not the emperor, and then extract more information from him.

Another option is to simply take Qin Fang and leave, before Xie Pi can react, and escape from the Xie family's Fei Dun Garden.

Then, they rushed to the dock as quickly as possible, took all their men, weighed anchor, and set sail.

As for what Xie Pi will think after he realizes what's going on, let him be.

The gains from this trip to the Xie family in Yuyao far outweigh those from developing a crystal glassware distributorship.

After discovering that his face resembled that of the Jiajing Emperor, many of the doubts that had previously made Lu Chen uneasy were answered.

The most important thing now is not selling crystal glassware, but how to deal with this matter.

After a brief consideration, Lu Chen decisively chose the first option!

I had already shown Xie Gen the samples of the crystal glassware I brought on this trip, and I also gave him a crystal glass as a gift.

Xu Dong in Shuangyu Port still has more than 500 pieces of crystal glassware.

Although Xu Dong assured himself that he would sell all the goods to the Portuguese and Japanese, some of the goods would eventually flow back into the Ming Dynasty after they reached the hands of the Portuguese and Japanese.

This "Western crystal glassware" can only be produced in our glass workshop in Linqing; there are no other branches in the world.

It is not entirely without trace.

This time, he and Qin Fang and the others came out in disguise, without revealing their identities as Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards).

Whether it was the maritime merchants of Shuangyu or gentry like the Xie family who cooperated with the maritime merchants, it was extremely difficult for them to trace the source to Linqing.

But the situation is completely different now. If he leaves directly, Xie Pi won't be able to sleep if he doesn't find out what happened.

It would indeed be difficult for the Xie family to find out about Linqing on their own, but what if they reported it to the imperial court, or even directly to the Jiajing Emperor?

Knowing that someone looks exactly like him, the Jiajing Emperor would inevitably issue an edict ordering the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to search for his whereabouts throughout the country.

Gao Mingqian and Sun Dexiu, both members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, along with a high-ranking official from the Eastern Depot behind them, all knew that he was in Linqing.

This will put you in a very passive position.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to have an open and honest conversation with Xie Pi and Xie Gen to get more information and make a better response strategy.

If these two members of the Xie family posed any threat to them, they wouldn't have been able to leave this side hall alive.

"Qin Xiaoqi, go stand guard outside the door and don't let anyone near."

After making the decision, Lu Chen turned to Qin Fang and instructed him.

"If anyone tries to force their way in, just show them the 'Unpredictable' sign!"

"Your humble servant obeys."

Qin Fang answered decisively.

"No one will be able to break in."

Qin Fang's eyes also gleamed; the old Xie family man kneeling on the ground had obviously mistaken him for someone else.

Qin Fang was absolutely certain that Lu Chen had served as the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Linqing for half a year and could not possibly be the emperor.

But the fact that the old man from the Xie family admitted his mistake shows that Lu Chen looks very much like the current emperor.

The ambiguous words spoken by his cousin, Commander Gao, when he assigned him to Lu Chen's command, now have an answer.

The superior I've been following for the past six months must be related to the current emperor by blood, and may even be a prince.

"Please rise, Mr. Xie."

After Qin Fang closed the door outside the side hall, Lu Chen walked up to Xie Pi, bent down, and helped him up.

"Please take another look, sir. I am only twenty years old; how could I possibly be the current emperor?"

Upon hearing the words "at the age of twenty," Xie Pi visibly trembled. As he was helped up, he looked up at Lu Chen's face.

"It's so similar, it's really too similar."

Xie Pi muttered to himself,

"In the sixth year of the Jiajing reign, I was appointed Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, concurrently serving as a reader and lecturer at the Imperial Lectures."

At that time, I lectured His Majesty on classics and history almost every day, face to face. His Majesty was wise and often debated the contents of classics and history with me.

I will never forget His Majesty's appearance and voice at that time.

Eleven years have passed, and His Majesty has developed some wrinkles on his face, and his voice has become deeper, quite different from what it was back then.

Your face and your voice are almost identical to His Majesty's eleven years ago.

"I was being presumptuous just now, and for a moment I forgot that it is already the first month of the eighteenth year of Jiajing's reign."

What?!

A storm raged in Lu Chen's heart.

Judging from Xie Pi's words, he not only looked almost exactly like the Jiajing Emperor from eleven years ago, but even his voice was very similar.

How can two completely different people be so similar?

"Are you a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Hearing Lu Chen and Xie Pi's conversation, Xie Gen also stood up.

He naturally realized that his elder brother had mistaken him for someone else. Although the person in front of him looked very much like the current emperor, he was too young and could not possibly be the emperor.

At this moment, his attention was focused on what Lu Chen had just told Qin Fang.

"That's right, we are the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Lu Chen directly took out his Embroidered Uniform Guard captain's token.

"However, please rest assured, Mr. Xie, we are not here to cause trouble for the Xie family."

The business of Western crystal and glassware that we talked about yesterday is not a front.

We do have sourcing channels and would like to ask the Xie family to handle the distribution, just like you handle the distribution for Shuangyu Maritime Trade.

I never imagined that I would look so much like the current emperor, that even Elder Xie could mistake me for him.

From the moment he decided to have an open and honest conversation with the Xie family, Lu Chen had no intention of hiding his identity from them.

Not only that, but they also planned to bring up their doubts and discuss them with them.

If the two are sensible, I might be able to establish a partnership with them.

The situation is now completely different. If they were to cooperate, it would be much more than just a small matter like the crystal and glassware business.