Chapter 172 Redemption
In her previous life, when Chen Tang was married to Xie Guimo, although the two did not get along and lived a life of hostility, as long as Xie Guimo was in the house, they basically ate every meal together. It was just that you ignored me and I ignored you, and we really lived up to the principle of not talking while eating and not talking while sleeping, which also caused Chen Tang to suffer from indigestion during those years.
Now they were eating together. Before Chen Tang even got to the table, he had already put the chicken leg in her bowl. "Try it and see how it tastes."
She had been eating the food of Jingyang Palace for four years. She could tell who cooked each dish. Chen Tang sat down, picked up the chicken leg and took a bite. She said, "Isn't it cooked by the chef of Jingyang Palace?"
"Made by the chef of Zuixianlou."
Each dish was Zuixianlou's signature dish, and they all suited Chen Tang's taste. On the contrary, she hardly picked up the dishes made by the Marquis' Mansion.
The two of them had a very happy meal. Ginkgo and Qiutong served on the side, with smiles on their faces all the time. They were living the life of a married girl in advance. If the eldest girl hadn't been blocking the way, the girl would definitely have been married off in no time. Ginkgo and Qiutong were quite dissatisfied when they thought that all the dowry was given to the eldest girl first. The eldest girl was the daughter of the second wife, but she became the consort of the second prince with the title of the eldest daughter of the Pingyuan Marquis's mansion. It was too good for her.
The fourth wife will have to wait until the eldest daughter gets married before she can free up time to prepare the dowry for the daughter, which will take at least a month.
Chen Tang ate half a bowl of rice more than usual, and ate a lot more vegetables. She was a little full. She wanted to go to the garden for a walk. Xie Guimo didn't want to stay any longer, but just as he was about to leave, there was a knock on the window, and the voice of the secret guard came, "Master, there is news from Wangzhou."
God knows how long Chen Tang waited for the news from Wangzhou. Finally, there was some news. Xie Guimo walked towards the window, and the secret guard said, "Wangzhou sent a pigeon to rescue the maid named Chunlan, but Chunlan's leg was broken, and the carriage can't go fast. It will probably take another ten days to reach Kyoto."
Wasn’t it about redeeming a maid? Why did he use the word “save” and even broke his leg?
Unfortunately, carrier pigeons could not convey much information, and the secret guards were unable to help Shen Tang resolve his doubts.
Chen Tang didn’t know that if she hadn’t been alert and asked Xie Guimo to send someone to Wangzhou to ensure that Chunlan was brought back to Beijing, Chunlan would have died in Baihua Tower.
The Fourth Madam arranged for people to go to Wangzhou to redeem Chunlan, and she took precautions to prevent Baihualou from raising the price. People in that brothel have no credibility. Once they are sure that you want to redeem someone, they will double the price. The Fourth Madam told the people who went there that if necessary, they could act under the guise of Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion.
The manager went to Wangzhou and met Chunlan. When the madam saw that someone from Kyoto really came to redeem Chunlan, she immediately raised the price from 4,000 taels to 10,000 taels.
The manager was almost furious to death. It was outrageous enough that the Fourth Madam spent four thousand taels to redeem a maid, but he didn't expect that Baihua Tower would ask for such a huge amount. A maid who had been abused by Baihua Tower for more than ten years and could hardly receive a few guests a day, actually dared to ask for ten thousand taels.
Although the fourth wife said that it was okay to spend more money and to bring Chunlan back, ten thousand taels was too much, so much that the manager did not dare to make the decision.
The manager had no choice but to say that he was from Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion. It would have been fine if he hadn't said it, but once he said it, it was even more outrageous and the price went directly up to 20,000 taels.
The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Wangzhou is hundreds of miles away from the capital, and the emperor's edict may not be effective, let alone a mere Marquis Pingyuan. Chunlan belongs to her Baihualou, and the Baihualou has the final say on life and death. Either bring 20,000 taels or don't redeem her.
The manager was helpless because of their firm attitude. Although he brought two servants with him, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. The behavior of Baihua Tower clearly shows that it has a backer, and he, a manager alone, cannot suppress it.
Not to mention redeeming the person, the manager couldn't even speak to Chunlan alone before he was kicked out of Baihua Tower.
Chunlan has been trapped in Baihua Tower for more than ten years, and she has been looking forward to leaving and returning to the Fourth Madam every day. It is the secret she carries that has sustained her day after day. Now that she has finally got the person back, she did not expect that Baihua Tower would be so cruel as to increase the ransom from four thousand taels to twenty thousand taels.
That’s a full twenty thousand taels!
Where did the Fourth Madam get so much money to redeem her maid?
Chunlan was completely desperate.
She wanted to die, but in Baihua Tower, it was not so easy to commit suicide.
The madam knew that Chunlan had asked people to pass on messages for her for so many years. She thought that a maid was too naive and didn't take it seriously at all. But now someone from Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion really came to pick her up and was willing to spend four thousand taels of silver to redeem a maid who was no longer a lovelorn woman. This maid must be hiding a secret.
The madam's intuition told her that this secret was the most valuable.
The madam interrogated Chunlan, but Chunlan refused to tell the truth. The madam showed no mercy and tortured her directly. In just two days, Chunlan was tortured beyond recognition.
Chunlan couldn't bear the torture any longer, so she took the opportunity to jump down from Baihua Tower, and that's how she broke her leg.
Chunlan fell down the stairs and was caught by a servant of Baihua Tower. Just then, Xie Guimo's men arrived and realized that she was Chunlan, so they rescued her directly from Baihua Tower.
It was no problem for the secret guard to save a maid, but the unlucky one was the steward sent by the Fourth Madam. He could not come up with the 20,000 taels, and the title of Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion was of no use. The Fourth Madam also said that she must find a way to bring Chunlan back. The steward was in the inn, with dozens of hairs turned white with worry, and he didn't know what to do.
Send someone back to ask the Fourth Madam. It's hundreds of miles away, and it would take half a month to go back and forth even if riding a horse at full speed. The person in charge doesn't want to travel back and forth, so he is thinking about whether he can redeem Chunlan through the local government office, so that the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion owes her a favor.
Just as the manager was about to do so, people from Baihua Tower came to the door. Baihua Tower believed that Chunlan was rescued by the manager, and since they could not capture the secret guard and Chunlan, they went to the manager to demand the return of Chunlan.
The manager was so angry. If he had the ability to do that, why would he have to stay in the inn and endure this anger?
Chunlan's indenture contract was in Baihua Tower. Without the indenture, he couldn't take her out of Wangzhou. Baihua Tower thought about it the same way, but his intuition told him that the person who rescued Chunlan was closely related to Pingyuan Hou Mansion.
Without saying a word, Baihua Tower captured the manager and two servants and took them to Baihua Tower, waiting for the secret guards to take Chunlan in exchange.
At this moment, the person in charge is still locked up in the woodshed of Baihua Tower.
As for Chunlan's indenture, the secret guards of Jingyang Palace had tokens to prove their identity. No one dared to stop the secret guards from taking Chunlan back to Beijing.
However, Chunlan's leg was broken, so there was no way to rush back to Beijing. They were afraid that she would die on the road, so they could only let her recuperate in Wangzhou for a few days, and then take her slowly on the road in a carriage. If possible, they would take the water route, but if they really couldn't take the water route, they would have to travel slowly in the carriage.
After waiting for so many days, I finally got this piece of news. Fortunately, Chunlan was on her way back to Beijing. Chen Tang breathed a sigh of relief. Xie Guimo said, "My people will definitely bring Chunlan back to Beijing alive."
Shen Tang was assured that Xie Guimo's people would do the work, otherwise he would not have asked him for help. Shen Tang nodded.
The secret guard said, "Sir, the eldest prince is waiting for you in Zuixian Tower."
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