Chapter 87 Chapter 87 [VIP]
Chapter 87
The Qian family and the Park family were indeed good friends in their early years, but it was only a matter of interest, not as life-and-death relationship as she said.
What was the current situation of the Park family? Having fallen out with their only patron, Prince Pyeongchang, and repeatedly assassinating imperial officials, the Park family was practically on the brink of collapse, practically isolated and vulnerable to persecution.
Since her Qian family has hooked up with Prince Song, there is no reason for them to get involved in the Park family's mess.
If it was because of his eldest son that the seventh lady of the Qian family could not forget him and helped him, and Pu Huailang was able to carve out a future for the Pu family in troubled times, then it was not because of the women's prejudices like the first and third ladies.
He couldn't believe it.
Compared with his son and the Prince Song of the Marquisate, he still has self-awareness.
The future of the Qian family is far more important than any personal affairs. Pu Huailang said bluntly, "Madam Qian, please tell me what your purpose is for this trip. There's no need to beat around the bush."
"Since Uncle Pu said so, I won't hide it." Qian Tong said without hesitation, "Uncle Pu should have heard about my marriage to Prince Song. In ten days or so, I will marry Prince Song in Yangzhou."
"Uncle Pu is also a merchant. He's well aware of the low status of businessmen over the years. I'm just a merchant, how can I be worthy of the eldest princess?" She didn't mind being ridiculed and said frankly, "Right now, I can still use my beauty to win over the prince and force him to marry into my Qian family, but how will I pass the test of the Marquis and the eldest princess in the future? Becoming the daughter-in-law of the Marquis's mansion is not that easy. I have to show some ability."
When Pu Huailang heard this, his eyebrows moved and he began to look at this Seventh Lady with admiration.
Qian Tong continued, "If Uncle Pu is planning to negotiate peace with the imperial court, I'm willing to act as a bridge. If the imperial court can recapture Yangzhou without resorting to war and successfully open the canal, I can be considered a meritorious official, right?"
She smiled, not hiding her plans at all.
Pu Huailang looked at her for a while, then suddenly laughed and praised her, "No wonder, among the four great merchants, only your Qian family is now at peace. Madam Qian has quite a bit of the demeanor of your uncle back then."
Qian Tong rubbed his hands and said embarrassedly, "Everyone says that, but I was playful as a child and didn't think about my family. I know very little about my uncle. If Uncle Pu could tell me about his intelligence and talent, I would be very grateful."
Seeing that he was asking for advice with a sincere look on his face, Pu Huailang couldn't help but say: "Your uncle has a long story to tell, but he is always a smart man..."
"I don't think so," Qian Tong said. "He was truly clever, and he wouldn't have been hacked to death by the barbarians. My mother told me that my aunt didn't want to be separated from him and begged him to go with her to the sea to defeat the enemy, but he refused. If he had gone, with him and my eldest brother by her side to protect us, how could my aunt and my second brother have perished at sea? Their bodies have never been found to this day..."
She looked sad, but her eyes were filled with resentment.
Pu Huailang paused, not wanting to discuss these matters with her. He said, "Everyone has their own destiny." Then he asked her about the real matter, "Since Madam Qian is here on behalf of the court, I wonder what kind of sincerity does Madam Qian think our Pu family can show to impress the Crown Prince?"
Qian Tong also realized that he had gone off topic. He sorted out his thoughts and got back to the point. "Uncle Pu, you don't know that the Pu family's assets in Yangzhou are now mostly gone. The only things they can show off are the canal and the two salt fields in Huainan."
Teahouses, cloths, spices, all of which were once run by the Cui and Lu families, were now owned by the imperial court.
As for how it came to this, Qian Tong avoided talking about it, and did not mind Pu Huailang guessing. However, the Pu family had more than just these two things to show off, there were also the two strait lines of Yangzhou Houbai.
Qian Tong didn't ask for too much, so he left a way out for the Pu family.
Park Huailang heard the key point. When he first heard that his wife planned to open the canal, he did not agree. Not only would the Park family not benefit, but it would also threaten the power of King Pyeongchang. But now it is different. The bargaining chips in the hands of the Park family are getting weaker and weaker, and they have come to this point with King Pyeongchang. They are already a life-and-death feud, and they don't care whether he minds or not.
He asked, "Madam Qian, don't you know that my Pu family's two salt fields were given to King Pingchang a long time ago?"
Qian Tong smiled and asked, "Since Uncle Pu has fallen out with King Pyeongchang, does that mean he still wants to keep the two salt fields in his hands?"
Does this mean that he should snatch it back from King Pingchang?
Before Park Huailang could marvel at her wishful thinking, she continued, "Uncle Park probably doesn't know that, besides the prince's surname being Qi, the princess's family is also closely related to my future sister-in-law's in-laws. When the princess's coffin left the prefectural government, every member of the Pyeongchang palace showed goodwill to my sister-in-law. If the prince hands over these two saltworks to the crown prince, what will be left for the Park family?"
Park Huailang's eyelids twitched.
Qian Tong finished what he wanted to say and stood up and said, "Uncle Pu just came back and hasn't had time to rest yet. I won't disturb him. Once Uncle Pu has considered it, please let me know."
Qian Tong was not in a hurry to leave, but stayed to wait for the war to end.
Zhou, make another plan, listen to her words, after thinking again and again, return to the Huai River, this time it became him.
Lin: "Watch her. If anything happens to me, kill Qian Tong."
The Third Young Master was startled and hurried."
"Is she a good person?" Park Huailang sneered, looking at his foolish third son, and gritted his teeth and said, "If you three brothers had half of her intelligence and cruelty, the Park family would not have reached this point today."
Unfortunately, the cruel ones lack wisdom, and the wise ones are not cruel, so only the third one with mediocre qualifications is left.
After Park Huailang left that day, Park Chengzhi found Qian Tong and asked, "What are you guys fighting about?"
Qian Tong smiled at him, "What do you think?"
The third son asked, "Money, fame?" The King of Pyeongchang had no power? The Qian and Pu families had no money? Why did they resort to fratricide?
Qian Tong said to him, "Third Young Master, do you think fate is unfair? You have no interest in business and prefer to study, always hoping to pass the imperial examinations to prove your talent lies not in business but in the imperial court. Yet, you were born into a merchant family and are not qualified to take the imperial examinations."
The Third Young Master was stunned. This was indeed what he was thinking.
Qian Tong continued, "Then let me ask you, Third Young Master, what do you think those refugees who are currently starving and without clothes want?"
The Third Young Master said in a daze, "Eat well and wear warm clothes."
"You see, everyone's situation is different, and they want different things. The Third Young Master feels that fate has been unfair to us merchants, and those without good farmland also feel it's unfair. They want to fight for what they don't have. And those who have everything, after holding on to something for too long, will think it's theirs, and they'll struggle before giving it up."
Qian Tong said: "This is war."
She said, "The reason the head of the Pu family befriended the prince was to protect the family business while fulfilling the Third Young Master's dream of entering the imperial court. However, it is difficult to have both. The dream was shattered, and the Pu family must pay the price for their greed."
The third young master stopped talking.
He still understood the principle of "winners are kings and losers are bandits", so he suddenly asked: "What does Sister Tong want?"
He could see that her love for her brother was genuine. Now that she was marrying the prince and working for the court, was it because she truly loved him, or was it to protect herself and covet the power behind him?
Qian Tong gave him an answer that was particularly unbelievable: "The world is at peace."
The third young master was stunned and thought she was playing a trick on him.
Qian Tong smiled helplessly, "The lonely soul has returned to its place." The Qian family was reunited, without a single person missing.
On the evening of the second day, the Third Young Master found the answer to the unasked question in his heart. The Prince of Song personally led 10,000 imperial troops to the river bank.
When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.
At this time, if the imperial army took action, the two families would surely die. King Pyeongchang and Park Huailang knew the pros and cons very well, so they stopped at the same time and sent letters to Song Yunzhi one after another, conveying their intention to surrender to the imperial court. The Crown Prince of Song did not meet any of them, but went to the town where Qian Tong was to pick him up.
It started to rain heavily halfway.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared. When Song Yunzhi arrived at the town where Qian Tong was, it was getting dark and the heavy rain blurred people's vision. The third young master saw from afar a dense group of people parked on the official road. Then a man came out of the carriage, without an umbrella, and walked straight towards him and Mrs. Qian.
When he arrived, the man was still wearing his armor. In front of the three families, he looked up in the rain and fog and asked the young man beside him, "Have you seen enough of the excitement? If you have, go home." Only then did Mr. Park recognize that he was the Prince of Song.
She wanted to use his influence to gain credit, and he gave her enough money.
Qian Tong hadn't expected him to come, so he hurriedly went inside to find an oil-paper umbrella, rushed into the rain, and held it above his head. Seeing that he was soaked, he looked distressed, "Prince, you'll catch a cold..."
Didn’t she say that she was just here to watch the fun and would be back soon?
Song Yunzhi didn't respond, letting the water droplets on his head roll down. He took the umbrella from Qian Tong, covered her tightly, and led her back, "Get in the car first."
——
During the journey of more than an hour, Song Yunzhi never showed up again and stayed in the carriage with Qian Qi Niang. No matter how much the King of Pingchang asked for an audience, he ignored him.
When Pu Huailang heard the news, he gave up the idea of going to fight against the wall. Before arriving in Yangzhou City, he told the third son, "When I enter the prefectural government, you go to find the seventh lady of the Qian family and agree to her conditions."
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