Chapter 92 Blowing
"Why are you here instead of going home to be with your wife after your wedding?"
Seeing Xie Qi drinking silently, Yuan Xu opened his mouth to mock him.
This man came to him early in the morning with a cold face, drinking alone and disturbing his enjoyment of music.
Upon hearing this, Xie Qi put down his wine cup: "I just heard that you are taking office the day after tomorrow, so I came to celebrate for you."
"You're celebrating with empty hands?"
"That's really not it."
Xie Qi said, "The manager of Xiecuifang gave me a beautiful young woman from Yangzhou. She is quite attractive, so I'm offering her to you, sir."
"Wishing my father-in-law a bright future and continuous advancement in his career."
"..."
Yuan Xu clicked his tongue: "How did you even come up with that?"
This man is truly stingy; he'd rather borrow a flower to offer to Buddha than give a woman to a eunuch...
Only Xie Qi could do something like this.
"Since she's so beautiful, why not keep her for yourself? You could have one at home and one outside, enjoying the bliss of having two wives—wouldn't that be wonderful?"
The wound on his fingers, which were still holding the wine cup, had not yet healed, and the occasional splash of wine stung and itched Xie Qi.
Xie Qi looked down at the pale pink wound that had just sprouted a thin layer of tender flesh, and suddenly pressed hard on the edge of the wine glass.
The pain brought him a slight pleasure, but also inexplicably stirred up some resentment towards Shen Yuanzhu.
She was quite proactive on her wedding night, but in the past few days, perhaps she has been thinking about Xie Xuchuan's good qualities again, and has not taken the initiative to get close to him.
Even though he didn't return home from Jiu Cai Ju late at night, he didn't ask about it this morning.
Thinking of this, Xie Qi lowered his eyes, feeling aggrieved.
Yesterday, fearing she would worry, he returned to Qianxiang Courtyard in the dead of night. But upon seeing the neatly made-up small couch and the sun-dried quilts, he felt a lump in his throat, and his resentment soared to the heavens.
As he pondered this, he became agitated again, and didn't listen to a word Yuan Xu said.
After a while, when the wound on his finger started bleeding again, Xie Qi came to his senses and asked about the Jiang family.
"Has the Jiang family made any moves?"
Yuan Xu glared at him and said irritably, "Jiang You was impeached and lost his official position. He has been arrested and imprisoned."
“I have no connection with him, so I have no intention of kicking him when he’s down. You find someone to go to the Jiang family and extort some money from them. We’ll split it 20/80, and they can get Jiang You out to retire.”
"You have money? That's easy."
Normally, Xie Qi would not want to take on such trivial matters, and besides, Yuan Xu had eight, and he had two, so the amount of silver he actually received was not much.
Besides, he had previously purchased a large quantity of goods from Xiecuifang, and now he was financially well-off. Under normal circumstances, he would have declined the offer.
But just now he suddenly remembered the bright look in Shen Yuanzhu's eyes as she said that she liked silver the most, and he couldn't help but open his mouth and accept the task.
The Jiang family was quite wealthy; if he extorted 30,000 to 50,000 taels of silver, he could get some money to buy jewelry and headwear for Shen Yuanzhu.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Qi got up to find someone and told Yun Zheng about the matter.
After most of the day had passed, Yun Zheng arrived at Yuan Xu's residence with a long face.
"What's this?"
Yuan Xu looked puzzled as he saw the tiny piece of silver, no bigger than a fingernail, in Yun Zheng's palm.
Yun Zheng cried and said, "Father-in-law, Jiang Hong is a terrible person. He doesn't care about Jiang You's life or death at all, and he has no intention of getting this uncle out of trouble. He only gave our people a piece of silver."
"They said the eight taels would be used to buy Jiang You a straw mat, roll it up, and throw it into the mass grave. The rest would be used as a tip for running errands."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xu narrowed his long, narrow eyes and his expression turned quite unpleasant.
His background was similar to Jiang You's, except that Jiang You was better off, as he still had relatives, nephews, and nieces.
Over the years, Jiang You embezzled most of the money to subsidize Jiang Hong's family. His only aim was to help the Jiang family's children rise above their station and break the cycle of poverty that had been passed down through generations.
This is also to prevent the Jiang family from going down this path of self-destruction and seeking a way to survive.
But Jiang Hong was so heartless that he wouldn't even give Jiang You some money to support him in his old age.
Yuan Xu's face was dark and gloomy, filled with a deep sense of shared grief and indignation.
"The Jiang family is truly devoid of any good people."
Xie Qi said, "I'll set up a scheme to trick the Jiang family. Father-in-law will cover for me. If it works out, we'll split the responsibility 50/50. What do you think, Father-in-law?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xu chuckled.
"You're... interesting."
Yuan Xu slammed his hand on the table: "Go ahead and do it, our family will cover for you."
Xie Qi stroked the wound on his finger, thinking of Shen Yuanzhu's joy when she saw the silver, and hummed softly.
“In the past, Jiang Hong took advantage of Jiang You’s influence to do a lot of dirty things such as collusion between money and power and mutual support.”
"I'll have someone investigate today to see if the Jiang family has concealed or evaded taxes, falsified tax deeds, or tried to avoid city or commercial taxes. I'll find someone to extort some money from them, and then you can step in and pay off the Jiang family's shop tax, how about that?"
Xie Qi lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and then said, "Spread the word about what Jiang Hong did today, so that the Suzhou government can see what kind of ungrateful and treacherous people the Jiang family are."
"Good, good idea to cook fish two ways."
Yuan Xu praised them profusely, then immediately ordered someone to check the Jiang family's accounts with the Textile and Dyeing Bureau.
Xie Qi was in a great mood upon seeing this.
Jiang Hong was sensible in giving him a chance to crush the Jiang family.
Jiang Wansu may look weak, but she's not stupid. If the building collapses, she will do everything in her power to hold onto Xie Xuchuan and cut off any possibility of him rekindling his old feelings with someone else.
If she's smart, she could win Xie Xuchuan over and make him develop feelings for her, so he'd stop thinking about Chen Yuanzhu.
Of course, he can also help Jiang Wansu if necessary.
With this in mind, Xie Qi began to plan which of the Jiang family's businesses and shops he would take over.
Hmm...
It seems the Jiang family owns a large shop on Wanbao Street. Jixia Village couldn't afford such a location before, but now he can snag a bargain.
Thinking this, Xie Qi's expression instantly brightened.
After giving Yun Zheng a few more words of advice, Xie Qi had no desire to stay with Yuan Xu any longer and took his leave.
Upon returning to the Xie family, I noticed that the situation was unusual and different from usual.
The courtyard was quiet, both inside and out, with a sense of oppression and unease, as if a storm was brewing.
Xie Qi, on the other hand, quite liked the deathly stillness that carried a damp and gloomy atmosphere.
In high spirits, she walked toward Qianxiang Courtyard. Just as she saw the gate, she saw Shen Yuanzhu walking out.
"Where are you going?"
Xie Qi quickened his pace and moved closer to her.
Shen Yuanzhu pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "I heard from the servants at home that Second Uncle did something to anger the Old Madam, and he is currently throwing a tantrum in Yujintang."
She had been married into the Xie family for many days and was extremely bored staying in her room all day.
Today I heard that Xie Chengzhi angered Xie Sanniang, so I thought I'd go and see what the commotion was like, just to pass the time.
However, she couldn't say these words in front of Xie Qi.
Unexpectedly, Xie Qi disliked the Xie family even more than she did, and upon hearing this, he said directly, "We can't miss this spectacle, let's hurry up and go."
After saying that, he stretched his hand out to Shen Yuanzhu.
After a while, Xie Qi's eyes darkened and his lips drooped when he didn't see Shen Yuanzhu take his hand as usual.
How did you hurt your finger?
Unaware of Xie Qi's subtle thoughts, Shen Yuanzhu leaned closer and frowned as she looked at the bright red scar on the inside of his fingertip.
Unconsciously, she imitated her nanny's actions and gently blew on it...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
