Chapter 94 One Thousand Taels of Gold Returned
"Chu Yanluo, if you and Gu Er were truly innocent, why would Gu Er give you a thousand taels of gold for no reason? Just for your worthless pastries? Only a pig-brain like Xiao Qingyuan would believe that!"
"Hey, speaking of which, is it that Xiao Qingyuan can't afford to support you? Doesn't he give you any money to spend on a regular basis? So when Gu Er sent you a thousand taels of gold, you couldn't wait to invite him into your private room, and you practically wanted to undress and serve him on the spot?"
“That shouldn’t be the case. Young Master Xiao is not a stingy person. He can easily spend thousands of taels of silver on a casual drink, and he never hesitates to reward people. Gold and silver are no different from dirt in his eyes.”
"So, this woman is just plain cheap? She'll sleep with whoever gives her gold?"
"Of course! Otherwise, would she have changed her attitude towards Gu Er so quickly? Gu Er is a fool too. He spent a thousand taels of gold on someone like that. This Duke's mansion is going to be quite a show from now on!"
Chu Yanluo had never suffered such humiliation before. She was so angry that her heart ached and her vision blurred.
Damn it, how did things turn out like this?
If she lets these people continue to spread rumors, she can forget about ever making a living in the capital again; they'll drown her in their spittle!
She had painstakingly used Gu Qianhan's reputation to clear her own name, making countless men admire her and countless women respect her. But overnight, she became a pariah, hated by everyone, simply because she accepted a thousand taels of gold from Gu Qianhan.
Chu Yanluo keenly sensed the problem: yes, the gold! It was all caused by those thousand taels of gold!
She hurriedly bypassed the group of young masters and called the shopkeeper upstairs.
She smelled too bad, and the group of young noblemen found it offensive, so no one stopped her.
Even the innkeeper disliked the smell on her and kept a distance of ten feet from her after entering the private room.
"Miss Chu, you've really ruined our restaurant! Yesterday, we not only failed to make any money, but we lost over a thousand taels. Today, we've even lost our reputation. You..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Yanluo interrupted him: "Where's my thousand taels of gold? Hand it over!"
When the shopkeeper heard that she asked for gold right away, he felt extremely contemptuous and disdainful. He thought to himself that she was indeed the daughter of a concubine from a poor family, short-sighted and extremely snobbish.
If she hadn't wanted that thousand taels of gold, she wouldn't be in this predicament today, and Qingyunlou would have been dragged into this mess and scolded along with her. She's really had a terrible time.
However, the shopkeeper knew that Chu Yanluo had Yuan Zheng behind her, so he didn't dare to offend her. He called a servant to take the gold out of the storeroom and carry it into the private room.
Seeing the gleaming gold ingots, Chu Yanluo's mood finally improved a little. What did it matter if she was scolded? The gold in her hands was the most real and useful thing.
She picked up a heavy gold ingot, touched it repeatedly, and then asked the shopkeeper, "This thousand taels of gold, is it all correct?"
"Absolutely nothing is missing. This is your gold, Miss Chu. No one in the restaurant dares to touch it!"
Chu Yanluo nodded in satisfaction, then reluctantly put the gold ingots back into the box: "Give all this gold back to me!"
The shopkeeper was startled: "Take it back?"
"Yes, return it to Young Master Gu."
"Ah? You don't want this thousand taels of gold?"
Chu Yanluo replied with a resolute and proud expression: "No, thank you."
The shopkeeper was surprised by her decisiveness, and his previous contempt for her lessened considerably. However, he then heard Chu Yanluo say, "Find a reliable person to pass on a message to Young Master Gu. Tell him to do me a favor and hold onto this thousand taels of gold for me. I'll take it back once things have calmed down."
The shopkeeper nearly coughed up blood after hearing this!
So she asked Gu Qianhan to keep the gold for her? And she was just now so proudly saying she didn't want it anymore? What was she so proud of? She's really asking for it!
The shopkeeper was inwardly cursing, but his round face remained amiable: "Don't worry, Miss Chu, I will definitely have someone deliver your message."
"Make sure you make it clear that you're asking him to keep it safe. Tell him that you're currently staying at the Prince Ning's residence and have nowhere to store such a large sum of gold. Also, you need to tell this to the Second Young Master Gu privately, without letting anyone else hear."
The shopkeeper resisted the urge to roll his eyes and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, Miss Chu, I understand."
Wasn't she deliberately trying to create a false impression for others, making everyone believe that she had returned the gold? Then, she could take the opportunity to clear her name, saying that she had never accepted Gu Qianhan's gold, and establish herself as a noble and aloof fairy who didn't care about money.
She's so cunning!
Seeing that the shopkeeper understood immediately, Chu Yanluo finally relaxed: "Oh, right, also, you should have the person who delivered the gold make a big fuss. It would be best to arrange a few more people to pretend to be passersby and deliberately ask the person who delivered the gold what was going on. This way, we can ensure that the news of my return of the gold will spread."
"Alright, let's do as Miss Chu says."
The innkeeper readily agreed, after all, a better reputation for Chu Yanluo would also benefit the restaurant.
Although he looked down on Chu Yanluo's character and conduct, he was now tied to her fate and had to run around for her, and when necessary, he had to cover for her.
Soon, the box of gold was carried out of the restaurant.
There were four people carrying the box, all of whom were dressed in the uniform of Qingyunlou waiters.
To make it seem grand and impressive, the shopkeeper even spent money to hire bodyguards from a security escort agency to escort the goods all the way.
Under the shopkeeper's deliberate arrangement, news of Chu Yanluo returning the gold spread like wildfire throughout the capital.
The thousand taels of gold that Gu Qianhan sent out were returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion in full.
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Gu Qianhan sat in a grand chair made of golden nanmu wood, sipping tea while casually glancing at the gold that had been brought back.
A waiter who came to deliver the gold stepped forward and whispered a few words in Gu Qianhan's ear.
After listening, Gu Qianhan's lips curled into a mocking smile: "I understand, you can leave now."
Having completed his mission, the waiter left with the people from the restaurant and the security escort agency.
The servant boy, Jixiang, exclaimed with delight, "Young master, you are truly a prophet! You said Chu Yanluo would return the gold, and she actually did!"
Gu Qianhan nodded indifferently: "Mm."
"When you gave her the gold, did you already anticipate that she would be given a severe scolding today?"
"That's obvious."
Ji Xiang scratched his head. Where was it obvious? At least he hadn't expected Chu Yanluo to be scolded so badly yesterday. Chu Yanluo herself certainly hadn't expected it either, otherwise she wouldn't have dared to accept the thousand taels of gold.
Remembering the waiter's whispered words to the young master, Jixiang couldn't help but ask again, "Young master, what did the waiter say to you? Is Chu Yanlu really willing to send the gold back?"
Gu Qianhan sneered: "If she were really willing to give it up, she wouldn't have accepted it yesterday. She asked the waiter at Qingyunlou to tell me that the gold was temporarily kept here for her safekeeping, and she would come to pick it up later."
"What?!"
Jixiang was speechless: "She's really cunning and shameless! I thought she really didn't want that thousand taels of gold! Young master, are you really going to keep this gold for her? You can't be such a fool—such a good person!"
"Storage? This gold originally belonged to me, so what's this talk of storage? Now that it's been returned, it's naturally back to me. Put it away and return it to the warehouse."
Jixiang was delighted: "Yes, young master!"
He knew that his young master was exceptionally intelligent and would never be a sucker like Xiao Qingyuan!
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