Chapter 21 A dignified general, eavesdropping?
His voice was clear and pleasant, with a slight upward inflection at the end, carrying a natural charm without being frivolous, but rather revealing the composure of a young master from a noble family.
As soon as he finished speaking, the brocade curtain was lifted by a folding fan.
The mutton-fat jade pendant hanging from the fan swayed, reflecting the smiling eyes of the newcomer.
Lu Zhaoruo immediately stood up, gave him a graceful bow, and said in a soft but apologetic voice, "It was my oversight that I troubled Master Gu to rush back in such heavy snow. I am truly sorry."
Gu Xian quickly unfolded his folding fan, and a cold wind hit his face. He quickly covered his sneeze, touched his nose awkwardly, but a smile appeared in his eyes: "Madam Lu, you are being too formal. If it weren't for your help that day, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have a fan to wave anymore."
As he spoke, he deliberately twirled his folding fan in a graceful arc: "Even if it's snowing, or if it's raining knives, I'll ride back immediately."
That's an overstatement.
Lu Zhaoruo hurriedly said, "Master, you flatter me. You are too kind."
It's the dead of winter now, and everyone is using hand warmers, but he's still using a folding fan from summer, which makes him seem a bit out of place and frivolous.
Gu Xian gestured for Lu Zhaoruo to sit down first.
After she was seated, he calmly lifted his robe and sat down, but did not rush to ask her purpose. He simply gestured to the maid to add half a cup of hot tea for her.
As the tea smoke curled upwards, his gaze swept over her almost imperceptibly.
She sat upright like a bamboo shoot, her plain dress unable to conceal her scholarly air. Her slender neck drooped slightly, its curve elegant, and a single silver hairpin adorned her hair. She possessed a more refined and graceful demeanor than the jeweled young ladies of the capital.
Gu Xian sighed inwardly.
pity……
She is already someone else's wife.
He glanced at the screen behind him.
Behind the screen, a tall, slender figure stood silently.
He tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, then chuckled softly, "Madam Lu, in this freezing weather, for you to come to my door in person, it must be something extraordinary."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhaoruo raised her eyes and met his smiling gaze. She said gently, "I have come here because... I have a thorny matter that I would like to ask for your help, Master."
Gu Xian glanced at the screen again and said, "No matter how difficult the matter is, I will help."
Lu Zhaoruo lowered her eyes, her voice gentle and steady: "My aunt has a gambling addiction. She was divorced after marrying into her husband's family because of gambling debts. Now, she has not been able to change her ways and has even gone to an underground money exchange again. She only has two taels of silver, which she will probably lose in just a few rounds. Given her nature, she will definitely borrow money from the money exchange's treasury..."
Gu Xian tapped his palm lightly with his folding fan, raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I was worried that your aunt had borrowed money at interest, so here I am giving you fifty taels of silver..."
Lu Zhaoruo bowed slightly: "Thank you for your kindness, Master. However, my intention is for you to go ahead and borrow it, Aunt."
Gu Xian: "That's fine then. After all, money from dubious sources might cause your aunt to misunderstand. So, let's have the treasurer lend money to your aunt without a contract or signature, and without interest. How about that?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhaoruo raised her eyes, all her gentleness vanished, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips: "No, my aunt must sign a contract and sign it, and the interest must be tripled."
Gu Xian paused, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes: "Madam Lu, this is... not to help your aunt, but to harm her?"
Lu Zhaoruo rose and straightened her robes, speaking clearly and distinctly: "My aunt, after being divorced and returning home, constantly insults me and treats me like a servant. My in-laws also frequently force me to pawn my dowry to fund her gambling. Knowing her temperament, she would definitely make me kneel before the treasurer to beg for leniency and force me to borrow money... Rather than that, it's better to..."
A sharp glint flashed in her eyes: "Let her gamble to her heart's content, borrow to her heart's content."
Gu Xian tapped the table lightly with his fingertips and chuckled softly, "Triple monthly interest... that's rather alarming."
Lu Zhaoruo: "Please lend her one hundred taels."
Gu Xian picked up the teapot and left a few drops of water on the table. "One hundred taels of silver, and it rolled into three hundred taels in the first month. After three months..."
He gestured with his finger, "That's two thousand seven hundred taels."
Lu Zhaoruo smiled slightly: "No need to wait three months, two months is enough."
She couldn't wait three months, and two months' worth of nine hundred taels would be enough for Shen Lingyi to turn the Shen family upside down.
"Oh? But according to what you've said, in the end, you'll still have to pay for it."
Gu Xian was puzzled.
Lu Zhaoruo smiled and said, "To be honest, I was living a life worse than death in the Shen family. My parents-in-law were unkind, and the servants were disrespectful. I have already decided to leave, but I only ask to take the two shops that I have personally managed with me."
Gu Xian was a smart man and immediately understood her meaning, saying, "Does Madam Lu want the warehouse keeper to come to the door to force the debtor to come and demand repayment, so that the two elders of the Shen family will have to pawn their shop?"
He then asked, "But the two shops you run, including the goods, only amount to six hundred taels, leaving three hundred taels..."
Lu Zhaoruo said calmly, "The two shops are indeed worth six hundred taels, but the Shen family's accountant can raise fifty taels in cash. In addition, my aunt and uncle regularly take silver from the family's public account as their private savings, which is at least one hundred taels. There is also my dowry of one hundred taels, which is still being withheld by my aunt... And there are fifty taels left, which Zhang should sell her jewelry..."
Gu Xian: "Madam Lu is trying to undermine the Shen family from the ground up."
Lu Zhaoruo curtsied and said, "Even a single copper coin from the Shen family was earned through my own blood and sweat; the suffering involved is beyond words."
Gu Xian was quite surprised. Was the woman in front of him still the submissive Lu Shi in the Shen family?
At that time, he was saved by Lu Zhaoruo and personally went to her door to express his gratitude. He had seen her kneeling and serving tea with such obedience that she dared not let her skirt get messy, and he had seen her forbearance in smiling and agreeing even when she was scolded in public.
At that time, he only thought it was blind filial piety!
Now, they want to leave, and they're taking away the shop, leaving the Shen family not even a single copper coin...
Lu Zhaoruo continued, "At that time, please ask Master Gu to instruct the treasurer not only to lend money generously, but also to make her very happy. My aunt is most susceptible to this kind of thing."
Gu Xian hesitated: "But, the treasury always doubles its value with compound interest..."
Lu Zhaoruo: "My aunt is not very literate. Once she got the money, she couldn't wait to continue gambling. How could she possibly read the contract carefully?"
"What a clever scheme!"
Gu Xian gently waved his folding fan, then suddenly lowered his voice: "But Madam Lu's methods are..."
Lu Zhaoruo naturally understood that such acts of instigating fraudulent loans not only violated the law, but also contradicted the virtues of women that were praised by the world.
It's understandable if he feels he's too ruthless and sinister.
"Wonderful!"
Unexpectedly, Gu Xian burst out laughing and even slammed his hand on the table, praising, "Madam Lu, you're quite the schemer! I've long heard that you, a mere woman, have supported the Shen family's livelihood, while Shen Lang went to the ocean on his wedding night. Such a heartless man is better off without."
He changed the subject, his gaze drifting to behind the screen: "With your talent and beauty, you would be more than qualified to marry a learned scholar, or even a general."
Lu Zhaoruo: "..."
Then, Gu suddenly remembered a question: "Speaking of which, how did Madam Lu know that those warehouse owners were my people?"
Lu Zhaoruo gripped the teacup tightly with her slender hands.
Suddenly, a low cough came from behind the screen.
Lu Zhaoruo's fingertips trembled, and the teacup almost slipped from her hand. She looked up at the screen, where a figure could be vaguely seen behind the silk.
Gu Xian's expression stiffened slightly, then he chuckled softly, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Madam Lu."
He walked over, lazily flicked the handle of his fan, and lifted half of the screen's gauze curtain: "It's the courtesan we invited to accompany our drinks the other day, she's quick-tempered..."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of flirtatious charm, "He actually hid behind the screen and eavesdropped for so long."
A courtesan?
Lu Zhaoruo was slightly taken aback, not expecting that someone as refined and handsome as Gu Xian would bring a prostitute into his residence.
However, although the cough was very low, it was clearly not the clear, melodious song of a songstress. Looking closer at the figure behind the screen, she had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, which was hardly the delicate woman she was looking at.
Could it be that this Mr. Gu has a fondness for the south wind?
The person behind the screen was exceptionally handsome, but his pale skin was now flushed with anger, and beneath his long, raven-feather-like eyelashes, a pair of extremely dark eyes pierced straight at Gu Xian.
Gu Xian coughed a few times and deliberately said, "Young lady, don't be in a hurry."
Lu Zhaoruo stood up without showing any emotion: "Thank you for your help, Master Gu. I have troubled you for a long time today. I will take my leave now so as not to disturb your enjoyment."
Gu Xian summoned his trusted servant: "Take Madam Lu to see Old Zhou."
He then turned to her and said, "Those uncouth people don't know how to be flexible. It would be more prudent for Madam Lu to personally give the orders."
That's better.
Lu Zhaoruo thanked her again.
Gu Xian then said to the maid, "Bring a veiled hat and put it on the lady. Prepare the sedan chair and leave the house through the side gate. Don't let anyone recognize her."
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