After listening, Jing Zhe quietly went back.
Because Zhang Xiaoyu was inside, Chen Jiannan did not go in, but waited outside the door.
Upon seeing Jing Zhe return, he immediately asked, "President, you just gave him one hundred taels without even saying the price. Aren't you afraid he'll try to raise the price later?"
Jing Zhe laughed and said, "It's good that he's raising the price on the spot. I was just afraid he wouldn't do it!"
"..."
Chen Jiannan opened his mouth in astonishment.
Jing Zhe had overheard the conversation inside the room from outside and had a general idea of the identities of three of the four people inside.
One is the heir of King Yu, one is the owner of the Qu Family Cloth Shop, and the other is the manager of this Juxianlou Restaurant.
According to them, the Crown Prince of Yu had his eye on the Zhou family's cloth workshop, so he conspired with the Prince of Jin and the Master of Qu to deliberately set a trap for the Zhou family, and now the Zhou family has fallen into it.
Similarly, Prince Yu and Manager Hu of Juxianlou devised another plan. If the plan succeeded, the Zhou family would be completely finished.
If Jing Zhe doesn't come, the Zhou family is definitely doomed.
But now, it's someone else's turn to suffer, because he's decided to help the Zhou family through this difficult time.
Jing Zhe had no connection with the Zhou family, and he had only met Zhou Ziqiong, the young lady of the Zhou family, once. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have been so interested in her. However, the Crown Prince of Yu should never have made a move on his woman!
Do you also want to take Mu Qingren and Wang Yingqiu into your possession?
Damn it!
Moreover, judging from their words, the one who initially plotted against the Zhou family was none other than the Prince of Jin! And this Prince Yu's heir has a close relationship with the Prince of Jin, so he is naturally no good!
Although he didn't know what conflict existed between the Prince of Jin and the Zhou family that made him so scheming, Jing Zhe would never stand idly by, based on the principle that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"!
Therefore, in Jing Zhe's eyes, whether it was the Crown Prince of Yu, the Qu Family Cloth Shop, or this Juxianlou Restaurant, their good days were over.
After the two entered the house, Zhang Xiaoyu was unpacking her luggage. Jing Zhe hadn't been sitting in the house for long when the bald waiter brought the food.
The food was good, so Jing Zhe asked him to take it to Hanhan's room next door. He and Zhang Xiaoyu went there together, and Chen Jiannan was also sitting in Hanhan's room.
The bald waiter put down the dishes but didn't rush out.
"What, is there something else?"
Jing Zhe asked.
"Young master, you are now staying in the best room in our Juxianlou Restaurant, and eating the best food in our restaurant. Are you satisfied?"
Jing Zhe nodded, indicating his satisfaction.
At this moment, the bald waiter asked again, "I forgot to ask, sir, how long do you plan to stay here?"
"It will take at least ten days to half a month!"
Upon hearing that he would be staying for such a long time, the bald waiter's eyes gleamed: "Then I must tell you in advance, young master, such fine rooms and food are not cheap. The hundred taels of silver you deposited with our restaurant has been used up in just three days! If you wish to stay here for ten days or half a month, you will need to deposit even more silver!"
Why don't you just rob it?
Before Jing Zhe could speak, Chen Jiannan roared in dissatisfaction, "One hundred taels of silver would be more than enough for ten or fifteen days even at the most famous Wenxiangju in Jingzhou. How come it can only be used for three days here?"
"Heh, what's so special about Wenxiangju?"
The bald waiter sneered, "You're in Ruzhou, after all. There's no such place as Wenxiangju here, only Juxianlou! Stay if you want, leave if you don't. Nobody's stopping you!"
"Fine, let's go. We haven't even stayed here yet, and we haven't eaten anything. Give us back our silver notes!"
Chen Jiannan was also furious. As the editor-in-chief of Da'an Daily, when had he ever been bullied by anyone other than Jing Zhe?
"Heh, you can leave, but want silver notes? Dream on!"
The bald waiter sneered repeatedly.
"You, you, you—"
Chen Jiannan was furious. He pointed at the bald waiter and finally spoke after a long while: "This is forced buying and selling! This is robbery! Aren't you afraid I'll report you to the authorities? Then not only you, but your Juxianlou will have to close down!"
"hehe…"
As if he had heard the funniest joke, the bald waiter laughed, then his eyes flashed with cold light: "Do you know who our manager is? Do you know where the government office in Ruzhou is located? Believe me, if you dare to report this to the authorities, you'll be the first one arrested!"
The bald waiter's fearless demeanor suggested he had done this countless times before.
"You...you have such audacity!"
When a scholar encounters a soldier, reason is useless. Chen Jiannan was, after all, a scholar, and he did not have Jing Zhe's formidable fighting ability. At this moment, he could not say anything.
Jing Zhe was acting quite unusually today. If someone had dared to be so presumptuous in front of him before, he would have already started cursing—no, he should have already started beating them up.
"What's going on? Don't you know I'm hosting a banquet for the Crown Prince? Making such a racket, do you want to die?"
At this moment, a portly middle-aged man appeared at the door. Jing Zhe recognized his voice; it was the manager of Juxianlou, the same Manager Hu who had spoken in the next room earlier.
Behind him were three men: one younger, wearing an embroidered robe; one older than Manager Hu; and the last one in official robes, looking a few years younger than Manager Hu. Apart from the last one, Jing Zhe had already guessed the identities of the other two.
The crown prince of King Yu and the owner of the Qu family cloth shop.
"Manager, they're just a few out-of-towners who don't know the rules. I'll take care of it right away!"
The bald waiter, looking terrified, glared fiercely at Chen Jiannan and the others before turning to look behind Manager Hu and saying with a fawning smile, "Young Master, it's all my fault for spoiling your enjoyment. I hope you will punish me!"
The Crown Prince of Yu shook his head, not taking it seriously, but his eyes lit up when he saw Zhang Xiaoyu's appearance.
Having served Prince Yu's son for so long, Manager Hu was quite perceptive and immediately asked, "May I ask this young lady's name? Would you be interested in joining us for a drink next door? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Hu Yitong, and I'm the manager of this Juxianlou restaurant!"
"..."
Zhang Xiaoyu didn't speak, but instead hid behind Jing Zhe.
Chen Jiannan tensed up: It's coming, it's coming!
Having been by Jing Zhe's side for a long time, Chen Jiannan knew that Jing Zhe's Achilles' heel was his women. Anyone who dared to make a move on his women never had a good ending.
The last one he knew was Su Xinping, the heir of the Prince of Jin, who also had designs on Zhang Xiaoyu. As a result, Su Xinping's fate was tragic. If Princess Su Xiaoxiao of the Prince of Jin hadn't gone to Jingzhou, Su Xinping probably wouldn't have been able to return to Jinxi.
Thinking about it this way, this Prince Yu's hobby is quite similar to his cousin's; it's just a matter of whether their endings will be just as tragic.
So he turned his gaze to Jing Zhe.
————
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