Chapter 27 It is better to offend a gentleman than a villain
The snow in December fell intermittently, and finally stopped completely as the New Year was approaching.
The days of the second house of Weiyuan Marquis's Mansion were like the weather after the snow melted. Instead of warming up, it became even more gloomy and muddy.
The second master Cui Jun has been in a state of panic recently.
His several shops, which had been prosperous before, seemed to have been targeted by the plague god overnight.
First, the silk and satin shops in the west of the city had their best-selling new Suzhou and Hangzhou satin cancelled by several major customers this year. The reasons were all kinds of strange, such as "not liking the pattern" or "the warehouse is full", and some even simply avoided the business!
Then, a spice shop in the south city that specialized in serving the nobles finally brought in a batch of high-quality ambergris and agarwood from the south.
The goods were detained at the dock by the Inspection Office on the grounds of "incomplete procedures". Even after spending hundreds of taels of silver to bribe people, the goods were still detained and were about to miss the golden opportunity of the New Year!
There was also the rice shop that he had high hopes for and had just taken over. Several wealthy merchants had clearly agreed to supply grain to him, but when it came time to sign the contract, they all changed their minds and would rather buy goods from other places at a high price than trade with him!
"Weird! Too weird!"
Cui Jun paced restlessly in his study, like a trapped animal. His face was haggard, his eyes were dark blue, and he took a big gulp of cold tea.
He tried to suppress the anger in his heart, but he felt a chill rushing to his forehead, making him shiver.
"Brother! You have to help me! There must be someone behind this! They're deliberately trying to mess with me!"
He turned around abruptly and wailed at Cui Yan, Marquis of Weiyuan, who was sitting on the armchair and leisurely sipping tea.
Cui Yan didn't even raise his eyelids, his slender fingers stroking the warm wall of the purple clay cup, his voice calm and steady.
"Second brother, please be patient. Business has its ups and downs. It's almost the end of the year, and everyone's busy. Perhaps someone down there made a mistake, or perhaps... you were just unlucky and ran into an accident."
He paused, as if he just remembered something, raised his eyes, and looked calmly at Cui Jun's face that was full of anxiety and resentment, with a tone of just the right amount of "concern"
"But... Second Brother, think carefully, have you... accidentally offended anyone recently?"
Who did you offend?
These words were like an invisible thorn, piercing precisely into Cui Jun's nerves that were paralyzed by alcohol and anxiety.
Offended people? Didn’t Mr. Cui have enough people to offend?
Relying on the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion, he has always been arrogant.
He ordered his fellow merchants about like slaves;
It was common for him to exploit small suppliers by lowering prices and withholding payments.
He even hired gangsters to "take care" of the shops that had offended him... Over the years, the number of merchants who had been stepped on and humiliated by him must have been at least eighty, if not a hundred!
Who would mess with him? Who has the ability to mess with him? His mind is a mess, he can't make any sense at all!
"Who...who could I possibly offend? Those lowly merchants? Even if they had a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare!"
Cui Jun stiffened his neck and roared in a timid manner, but his eyes were wandering guiltily.
He suddenly remembered that night in Yanshou Hall when he pointed at the young eunuch in the palace and cursed him as a "eunuch slave"... A chill instantly ran up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!
Could it be... could it be those rootless eunuchs? !
This thought made him shudder all over, his face turned pale instantly, and even his lips trembled.
No... impossible, right? Those eunuchs were slaves in the palace, how could they dare to cause trouble outside the palace? He subconsciously looked at his eldest brother, hoping to seek some comfort.
Cui Yan saw his momentary panic and guilt, and his sneer in his heart became even stronger.
This idiot brother finally realized that he was afraid? Did he offend the eunuchs in the palace?
Oh, who the hell was Cui Jun? Was he worthy of offending all the eunuchs in the palace? Cui Yan still remembered the cold look in Xiao Shunzi's eyes as he stormed out that night.
The eunuchs in the palace usually look docile, but in fact they are xenophobic, cruel and ruthless, and they hold grudges the most!
To offend them is like stirring up a hornet's nest!
Cui Jun's words "castrated slaves" were simply putting himself and his second wife on the fire!
If it weren't for the fact that his Weiyuan Marquis Mansion had some weight to it, if it weren't for Xiao Zhou's quick reaction, she would have immediately shut Xiao Shunzi up with a large sum of money.
The incident was temporarily settled, but the second branch of the family was probably already destroyed by those pervasive and treacherous tactics!
"Brother! Brother! You have to help me!"
Seeing Cui Yan's silence, Cui Jun became even more panicked and begged with tears in his eyes.
"I... I know I was wrong! I was confused that night! I... I drank too much horse urine and said something I didn't think was right! Big brother, can you help me plead with the palace? No matter how much it costs! I... I won't dare to do it again!"
Looking at his brother's cowardly look of begging for mercy, the last bit of brotherhood in Cui Yan's heart completely disappeared.
He recalled how his younger brother, instigated by Old Lady Zhou, had been jumping around all over the place when the old marquis was seriously ill, and had joined forces with the clan elders to try to seize the title, and even resorted to bribing the doctor to tamper with his father's medicine!
If it weren't for my own vigilance and the genius doctor Liu Bushi invited by the fat man Feng Dayou to break the poison plan, the title of Marquis Weiyuan and the lives of his entire family would have fallen into the hands of this vicious mother and son!
Half-sisters? In the face of power and hatred, this meager blood connection means nothing!
Cui Yan had already made up his mind. He just waited for the old hag in Yanshou Hall to die, and then he would immediately write to the clan office to completely separate from the second branch!
Draw a clear line! Lest I be dragged down by this stupid, mean-spirited brother and bring disaster to the entire mansion!
Cui Yan put down the teacup, sighed deeply, and showed helplessness on his face.
"Second brother, it's not that I won't help you. The affairs in the palace... are too complicated. I'm afraid that my little bit of face is not worth mentioning in the eyes of those eunuchs.
You also know that the eunuch Xiao Shunzi that day was from the Fu'an General Manager's side... The Fu'an General Manager is the most useful person around His Majesty..."
He stopped talking, patted Cui Jun's shoulder, and said in a heavy tone
"For now, all we can do is... bear with it. Perhaps after some time, when the eunuchs have calmed down, everything will be fine. You... take care of yourself."
The words "take care of yourself" easily blocked all of Cui Jun's thoughts.
Cui Jun left the study in the main courtyard in a daze, feeling as if the sky had fallen.
He stumbled back to the courtyard of the second house and met his wife, Madam Wang,'s eyes that were all-seeing and filled with anger.
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