Chapter 109 Escorting Young Master, I'll Take You to a Good Place
Tongshanfang was not located in the most prosperous part of the city, but because it was close to the southeast city gate and guarded the Wish Tower, it was a place that merchants and scholars alike favored, thus supporting a number of shops and restaurants.
Yuelai Restaurant is one of them.
"Brother Xu, the marriage we agreed on has been delayed for some time now. I'd like to ask, when will my beloved concubine finally enter our home?"
On the second floor of the restaurant, two people sat in seats near the railing. One of them was dressed in rich clothes and was teasing a silver cricket jar in his hand. He would occasionally glance at the person opposite him, and his words and actions revealed a frivolous attitude.
The man sitting opposite him had an honest and simple appearance. If it weren't for his excessive flattery, no one would have thought that such a person was a gambler. He spoke in a fawning tone: "Young Master Wang, it's just a matter of the next two days. I will go to Dunyifang again today and guarantee that the person will be delivered to your residence this month."
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhou's eyes darted around. He lowered his voice and said with a hint of malice, "Brother Xu, what we agreed on before was your Hongxiu. If your niece is unwilling to marry into the family, why don't you give Hongxiu to me? If your niece marries into the family, it will at most settle the money you owe me. But if Hongxiu marries into the family, not only will our debts be settled... but I can also give you twenty taels of betrothal money."
Hearing this, Xu Mingxing couldn't help but swallow, but his wife's crazy appearance made him shake his head. He looked somewhat embarrassed and said, "Young Master Wang, as you know, Hongxiu... has already been betrothed to someone else by my wife. It's really not possible."
"Tch," Wang Zhou threw the cricket jar on the table, somewhat impatiently: "What do you mean I promised her to someone long ago? Do you think I didn't know?"
“Your wife clearly wants to send Hongxiu to the Marquis’s mansion as a maid, and then climb into his bed to become his concubine. But brother, forgive me for speaking frankly, your Hongxiu is only somewhat pretty. In a family like ours, she can barely be considered a beauty. But in the noble families of the dukes and marquises, Hongxiu is not good enough.”
Seeing that his thoughts had been exposed, Xu Mingxing looked a little embarrassed. In fact, he didn't care whether it was his daughter or niece who married into the family. Not to mention Xu Wanzhen, he had three daughters and two sons. Unlike his brother, who had difficulty having children, his family had no shortage of children.
Of his three daughters, the eldest, Hongxiang, was steady but plain-looking, just like him, so she married early. The youngest, Hongli, was gentle and too young. Only the second daughter, Hongxiu, not only inherited her mother's beauty but also had an outstanding and strong personality. She had high aspirations since childhood and never considered marrying someone from a commoner family.
A few days ago, the major case in the capital came to an end. The emperor executed many high-ranking officials and posthumously conferred titles on several noble families, including a marquis family. The current head of the family is a young and promising general. The marquis's mansion was locked up as soon as the plaque was hung up, saying that it would not be officially settled in the capital until he returned from the expedition.
It was quite a coincidence that he managed to find out that the young marquis was General He, who was leading troops north this time. It was like having someone offer a pillow when you're sleepy. His younger brother happened to be a soldier under General He. If he could ask him for help, wouldn't Hongxiu be able to enter the marquis's mansion to serve him?
Therefore, the whole family is now focused on sending Hongxiu to the Marquis's mansion. They have full confidence in Hongxiu and believe that their family has produced a golden phoenix. Naturally, they are unwilling to marry Hongxiu off to the young master of a restaurant.
"Do you know how things work in those high-ranking families? Even if Hongxiu gets in, she'll still be a servant. Do you think it's so easy to get close to someone of high status? Why don't you come with me? Our concubines also have servants to attend to them. Instead of becoming a servant, you'd be better off enjoying a life of luxury from the moment you enter the family."
Xu Mingxing knew that Wang Zhou had an older sister who was a concubine in a high-ranking family, so he trusted what Wang Zhou said to some extent. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "This..."
Seeing that he was wavering, Wang Zhou became even more interested: "Last time we drank, didn't you say that your Baogen had taken a fancy to the girl at that clothing store in Dayefang? My nephew is indeed of age. If you give Hongxiu to me, no—"
"If you marry your niece and Hongxiu together, I will have your niece serve Hongxiu as a bed warmer, and I will make Hongxiu a secondary wife and give you a dowry of eighty taels. I will also help you find a match for the girl that Baogen has his eye on, and I guarantee that the two of you will get married this year."
"In addition, I'll give you an extra twenty taels to make it a round number of one hundred taels. Firstly, you can use this money to handle Baogen's wedding, and secondly, isn't Baozhu's nephew also looking for a wife? Brother, you need money in your hands to find a good daughter-in-law, right?"
Wang Zhou kept adding weight to the stakes, making Xu Mingxing feel somewhat elated. Upon reflection, it made sense. Putting aside whether Hongxiu could become a concubine in the Marquis's mansion, he knew about the army's expedition and that they might not return to the capital for a long time. Hongxiu was in the prime of her life, and if she wasted her years waiting for that young marquis, she might end up with nothing.
Let Wanzhen and Hongxiu marry into the family together, with Hongxiu as the wife and Wanzhen as the servant. Not only that, Young Master Wang will also give a hundred taels of betrothal gifts to help him arrange Baogen's marriage... No matter how you look at it, this is a good deal, and Xu Mingxing's heart is a little excited.
Thinking of this, he rubbed his hands together and said, "Young Master Wang, as you know, my wife is the one who calls the shots in our family. How about I go home and discuss it with her? I'll give you an answer in the next couple of days."
Wang Zhou, a dissolute playboy, naturally looked down on his henpecked behavior. He clicked his tongue and said, "Can't even manage a household, buddy... Here's what we'll do: if you don't have a definite answer by this evening before sunset, then the fifty taels of silver you owe me..."
Before he could finish speaking, a commotion arose in the lobby downstairs. The two looked down and saw a handsome young man in a round-necked brocade robe standing in the center of the lobby. Just by looking at his posture with his hands behind his back, one could tell that he was a young master from a wealthy family.
Having grown up in restaurants, Wang Zhou had seen many high-ranking officials and nobles. His intuition was far more acute than others. He immediately realized that this person was not only from a wealthy family but also a powerful figure worth currying favor with. He no longer cared about Xu Mingxing and hurriedly got up and went downstairs to greet him:
"Oh, young master, I am the young master of Yuelai Restaurant. Please tell me what you need. The waiter is not very clever, please don't be angry."
After a series of ingratiating words, he thought the young man in front of him would treat him better, but to his surprise, the man simply looked him up and down before asking in a cold voice, "Are you Wang Zhou?"
This arrogant demeanor made Wang Zhou uncomfortable, but thinking of the man's extraordinary bearing, he forced himself to endure it: "Yes, yes, I am Wang Zhou."
Have you seen Xu Mingxing recently?
"Xu Mingxing?" Wang Zhou was taken aback by the question. He subconsciously turned his head and saw Xu Mingxing standing blankly by the railing upstairs: "He..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the person in front of him wave his right hand, and a squad of soldiers rushed in from outside the door. Several of them ran upstairs and headed straight for Xu Mingxing, while others surrounded the two of them. Looking at these soldiers in armor with swords at their waists, Wang Zhou felt a sense of unease.
"Who...who exactly are you?"
Zhu Yu, too lazy to waste words with him, took out a token from her bosom and showed it to him: "Do you recognize it?"
The token in front of me is made of fine bronze. Unlike the other tokens which are plain and decorated, this token is exquisitely crafted. On the front, there are two dragons coiling around it, with the two characters "Eastern Palace" cast in gold in between.
An ordinary person might not recognize this, but Wang Zhou had seen similar tokens before because of his sister, and immediately guessed the person's identity. He stammered, "Sir..."
Suddenly, a thud came from behind, accompanied by the breaking of the wooden railing. Xu Mingxing was finally caught by the guards. He had just fallen from the second floor when he was tied up. Hearing Xu Mingxing's painful groans, Wang Zhou felt his legs go weak and he knelt down on the ground with a thud.
“Let’s go,” Zhu Yu looked down at him and sneered, “I’ll take you to a good place.”
Unlike other administrative offices, the Jingzhao Prefecture was located in a bustling area, only three market districts away from the most prosperous street in Xiajing City. Zhu Yu intended to make a big fuss, so he deliberately led the Eastern Palace guards to escort Wang Zhou and Xu Mingxing through the streets at a leisurely pace.
Wang Zhou's family's Yuelai Restaurant had been passed down for two generations in Tongshanfang, and he was the third generation. Therefore, there were quite a few old residents in the neighborhood who knew him. When they saw him being paraded around, they all pointed and talked about it.
"Isn't that Young Master Wang from Yuelai? What trouble has he gotten into?"
"Hey, hey, look, isn't that Xu Mingxing following behind him? Did these two get into trouble because of gambling?"
“That shouldn’t be the case. Although Wang Zhou is fond of gambling, he never gambles big. Even if Xu Mingxing wanted to gamble big, he wouldn’t have the money.”
The man who said this was the one who usually played cards with the two. Everyone looked at him when they heard this. He was a little embarrassed and his face turned red: "Don't you believe me? These two only play for a few taels of silver at most. The last time was when Xu Mingxing lost his daughter to Wang Zhou to be his concubine."
"What?!" Everyone was stunned. "Is this still his biological father?"
"Of course not! His second wife is the real wicked one. They couldn't bear to part with their own daughter, so they set their sights on their brother's niece who had long since separated from the family! I heard that Xu Mingxing's younger brother is a soldier who went to the northern frontier to fight. He hasn't even been gone for a month, and these heartless in-laws are already bullying the widow and her child. The old lady is so sick that she's practically being carried out!"
"Oh my god..."
"Those are military dependents! Xu Mingxing is truly unworthy of being called a brother. These two are utterly depraved!"
The one who just exposed the truth was not a relative of the Xu and Zhao families, but a naval force specially sent by Shen Yujiao. Seeing that everyone had taken it to heart, the little eunuch stirred up trouble again: "Hey! I saw that official who was escorting us once on the main street. He is a confidant of His Highness the Crown Prince. Is the Crown Princess going to interrogate them personally?"
As he said this, some people in the crowd remembered: "When the soldiers went to war, the Crown Princess did say that if the families of the soldiers in the northern frontier who stayed in the capital had any difficulties, they could go to the Eastern Palace for help."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go and see! I've never seen anything like this before!"
"Is the Crown Princess really going to stand up for the military families? Isn't it said that officials always protect each other? I've heard that the Wang family has high-ranking officials backing them..."
"Stop talking! What kind of high-ranking official is behind the Wang family? It's just that Wang Zhou's sister is someone's concubine. What kind of status does the Crown Princess have? She is the phoenix ordained by heaven... In short, why would she care about the face of a concubine?"
Seeing that the crowd was already discussing the matter, the young eunuch took advantage of the crowd surrounding Wang Zhou and the others to dart out. He then took advantage of the chaos at the corner to escape back to the East Palace. He ran through the alleys, changing his clothes as he went, until he finally ran into the main courtyard of the East Palace.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, the person is already on the way. Lord Zhu will arrive in about an incense stick's time."
Seeing his beaming face, Shen Yujiao knew that this wave of online trolls had stirred up public opinion. She turned to Mu Jin with a smile and said, "Good lad, reward him."
Mu Jin also smiled. She took off the purse from her waist, intending to take out a few small gold ingots, but seeing that Shen Yujiao had already stood up, she threw all the gold ingots in the purse to him, and then took a few steps forward to help Shen Yujiao.
"Let's go, the stage is all set up, we should go take a look."
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