Chapter 71 Clash
"Mayor Huang, it's not that we don't want to set up stalls, it's just that we've already sold everything!"
An older-looking man stepped out from the crowd, his brows slightly lowered, looking quite helpless.
Huang Yuan looked surprised when he heard what he said.
"What did you say? You've sold everything?" How could that be? After all, Zhu Er and Hou San messed things up yesterday and they didn't set up their stall. And now, with this situation, how... how could this be?
The vendors, unaware of Huang Yuan's thoughts, nodded, indicating that their goods had indeed been sold. Huang Yuan frowned in disbelief: "When did you sell them? If you sold them, why are Zhu Er and Hou San telling me today that there are no vendors at the market?!"
The man was clearly surprised that Huang Yuan would ask such a question, and he subconsciously glanced in the direction of Ji Yushu.
"This..." Huang Yuan followed the man's gaze and saw Ji Yushu smiling and saying something to a thin and pitiful little girl.
It was that brat from the Ji family who did it!?
He frowned, somewhat annoyed. The Ji family had been relatively well-behaved since the old man died; what was going on today? Why were they actually meddling in other people's business?!
Thinking of this, he subconsciously glanced at the little girl in front of Ji Yushu. The girl looked to be about twelve years old, pale and thin, and short and slender. She looked almost like a bean sprout. What was that girl's name again?
When Hou San saw that Huang Yuan was not speaking and was staring straight at Fan Xiaoxiao, he took two steps forward and whispered to Huang Yuan, "That young lady is from the Fan family. She's an outsider. She's the one who bought the braised pork before."
"Oh, it's her." Reminded by Hou San, Huang Yuan remembered that there was such a person. Aunt Zhang had even come to complain that the Fan family seemed to be somewhat evil, causing her parents to be bedridden and sighing all day long.
How did the third son of the Ji family get involved with the little girl from the Fan family? Could it be that the young master of the Ji family has taken a fancy to this young lady? That's unlikely, that young lady is clearly a little girl! But the third son of the Ji family is clearly looking at his sweetheart with those eyes! Tsk, this kid doesn't like his own daughter, but likes this kind of young girl! It's clear that something is not normal.
Thinking of this, Huang Yuan's gaze towards Ji Yushu became somewhat strange.
Fan Xiaoxiao, who was gazing infatuated at Ji Yushu, was unaware that she had become Ji Yushu's sweetheart in Huang Yuan's eyes. The truth was that Fan Xiaoxiao was standing in front of the seated Ye Niangzi, blocking Huang Yuan's view.
She watched speechlessly as Ji Yushu fawned over the young lady; the book had never mentioned that this guy was actually a sucker for good looks. Beside her, Madam Fan quietly tugged at Fan Xiaoxiao: "Sister, that Huang Yuan seems to be watching us the whole time!"
Fan Xiaoxiao paused slightly, then turned to look at Huang Yuan. Sure enough, the fat man was watching them thoughtfully. She immediately nudged Ji Yushu, who was still grinning foolishly at Ye Niangzi, with a blank expression: "Hey! Huang Yuan is looking at us! Aren't you going to go?"
"Huh? Oh!" Ji Yushu responded, realizing what was happening, and quickly walked over, snapping open his paper fan with a snap, looking every bit the dashing scholar.
"Does the mayor have any further questions?"
"Hehe, it's not really a question. I just heard the vendor say that it seems your Linjiang Tower bought all the things they were selling?" Huang Yuan twirled the Buddhist beads in his hand. Although his face was all smiles and amiable, his eyes were actually very sharp and scrutinizing.
Ji Yushu continued to leisurely wave his paper fan, seemingly oblivious to the chill in Huang Yuan's eyes.
“That’s right, it was our Linjianglou that bought things from the villagers. What, now we have to inform the town mayor before buying anything?” Ji Yushu twirled his paper fan and looked at Huang Yuan with an arrogant expression.
"Could it be that the town mayor is also going to be in charge of the Ji family's affairs?"
These were harsh words, and the surrounding villagers suppressed their laughter, seemingly watching Huang Yuan make a fool of himself. However, Huang Yuan acted as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring Ji Yushu's words.
“Young master, you are joking. At my age, I am already overwhelmed with managing the docks, markets, and shops. How could I possibly take on such a heavy responsibility as the steward of the Ji family? Besides, you are not someone who doesn’t understand right and wrong. It wouldn’t sound good if your brother Fu heard this, would it?” Huang Fu was Huang Yuan’s eldest son, the one who served as an official in Yizhou County.
Hearing Huang Yuan's implication that he was disrespectful to his elders, arrogant, and even disrespectful to his father, a court official, Ji Yushu gave a forced smile and snorted, "Hmph, Mayor. I didn't say that. You're not allowing everyone to set up stalls, yet you're interfering with my family's purchases of everyone's goods. What, now that you're collecting taxes, are you simply preventing everyone from living?"
"Hey, why are you preventing everyone from passing through? I'm just concerned about the villagers. After all, paying taxes daily at the market is the rule. Suddenly there's no tax payment and they say everything's sold out. I'm just worried everyone might have been cheated." This was a polite way of putting it, but it was just a veiled accusation that the Ji family had ulterior motives and was trying to deceive the villagers. Did they really think Ji Yushu wasn't aware of his little scheme?
“Mayor Huang, you can’t say that. Paying taxes every day is the rule, but there’s no rule that says we have to force everyone to set up stalls. I bought all the goods that everyone had stockpiled, which is in accordance with business. My Ji family is a well-known family in Guqu Town, how could we do something so shameless and ignorant of manners, only caring about money? After all, my family has produced many scholars.”
The eldest and second sons of the Ji family were both renowned scholars in Yizhou, and Ji Sanlang, if it weren't for his love for his parents, would he still be a mere Xiucai (a lower-level scholar)? As for the Huang family, it was only because their ancestors were blessed with good fortune that Huang Fu was the only scholar among them; the rest were just good-for-nothings.
The fact that the Huang family had few scholars had always been a sore point for Huang Yuan. Sure enough, after Ji Yushu finished speaking with a sarcastic tone, Huang Yuan's amiable demeanor finally crumbled, and his face instantly turned ashen. His eyes bulged slightly, clearly showing that he was furious.
"You! Ji Yushu! Don't push your luck! You've already broken the rules! And now you're spouting nonsense!"
Ji Yushu seemed amused by Huang Yuan's words. He suddenly closed his fan and approached Huang Yuan step by step: "Ha, this is too much! Your Huang family collected half a day's tax money from everyone yesterday, but you didn't allow everyone to set up stalls. Everyone still needs to eat! My Ji family kindly accepted their goods, which is how we managed to keep everyone from losing money for a day."
"You yourselves bully your fellow villagers, and now you're blaming me for going too far? I think you're the one who's going too far! You're the one who forcibly collects town taxes and breaks the rules! You keep talking about benevolence and morality, but in reality, you're the one who just wants to skin us alive!"
Huang Yuan was so frightened by Ji Yushu's imposing manner that he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, the servants behind him caught him in a panic, preventing him from suffering a serious fall.
"You...you you you." Huang Yuan clutched his chest, looking breathless, unable to even utter a coherent sentence.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Er quickly stepped forward to help his cousin catch his breath.
"Brother, are you alright, brother?"
"Fine, fine, you quick-witted Ji Sanlang! Since you think there are no rules, then the market will be closed for three days! During this period, merchant ships that buy things from our shops will be exempt from taxes when entering and leaving the town! But if they buy things from you people, the taxes will be multiplied several times over!"
Huang Yuan was clearly furious; he practically roared his words. Fan Xiaoxiao heard him clearly from a distance, and a slight smile appeared on her lips as she looked at the Fan family.
"Let's go, we can go back and pack our things."
(End of this chapter)
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