Chapter 571: Pawn |
Outside Zhengyang Gate.
Chen Ji rode his horse aimlessly on the bluestone road. The setting sun stretched his shadow long, casting it diagonally across the street. When passersby saw that eye-catching Qilin Rank Robe, they all looked sideways and made way, yet couldn't help but look back and peek at him.
Few people in the capital city recognized his face, but the Qilin Rank Robe was unique in the Ning Dynasty.
The wind swept around the street corner, bringing fragments of discussion, "Did you hear? The Qi Family took those two spoiled heirs into their mansion..."
"Now Viscount Wuxiang has nowhere to get silver, right?"
Under the gray-tiled eaves by the roadside, a few cyan-clothed scholars stroked their beards and nodded, "By sheltering the children of good families without fearing the despotic power of the Eunuch Faction, this move by the Qi Family is a model for our Confucian scholars."
In front of a meat stall across the street, a butcher wiped his knife and scoffed, "What kind of big-tailed wolf are they pretending to be? One robs openly, the other protects secretly. Who is cleaner than who?"
"But this time Viscount Wuxiang probably won't be able to save Commandery Princess Baili. An arm can't twist a thigh."
Chen Ji seemed completely deaf to it all. He just sat on the saddle, his body swaying with the horse as if he would fall off at any moment, not knowing what he was thinking about.
As soon as he entered the door, Xiaoman held a piece of white cloth to dust off his clothes. While patting him down, she cautiously observed his expression, "Is Young Master alright?"
Chen Ji said lightly, "Did you hear?"
Xiaoman hummed in acknowledgment, "Word has spread in the ward. Everyone says the Qi Family has made a move, and no matter how fierce Young Master is, you can't possibly do anything to the Qi Family... Young Master, don't worry first, there must be another way. Tonight I made Young Master's favorite Braised Tofu and scrambled eggs with yellow chives, it's extremely delicious."
Saying that, she slipped into the kitchen, brought out the food and dishes, forced chopsticks into Chen Ji's hands, and pressed Chen Ji down by the table.
Chen Ji sat at the table and picked up a chopstick of tofu, but didn't put it in his mouth for a long time, "Xiaoman, what about the things rewarded by the palace before? One hundred taels of gold and one thousand taels of silver, ten horses, and this residence."
Xiaoman was stunned, "What is Young Master going to do?"
Chen Ji thought about it, "Tomorrow, go exchange the gold for silver. One hundred taels of gold should be able to exchange for one thousand five hundred taels of silver... How much silver can this residence sell for?"
Xiaoman thought about it, "Outside East Brilliance Gate is already the best location in the eastern part of the inner city. This one-courtyard residence can sell for two thousand eight hundred taels of silver. But you can't be in a rush to sell a residence; you have to meet the right buyer. If you don't, sometimes it can't be sold even in half a year."
Chen Ji didn't eat his food. He absentmindedly brought a chopstick of rice to his mouth, "Take it to the pawnshop to mortgage."
Xiaoman's eyes widened, "Young Master, going to the pawnshop to mortgage for silver is fast, but pawnshops are too cutthroat. For a residence worth two thousand eight hundred taels, they'd dare to only give one thousand five hundred taels. Moreover, a 'Redeemable Pawn' has a monthly interest rate of nine percent, compounding interest. It's easy to mortgage this residence out, but it'll be difficult to redeem it back."
Chen Ji was thoughtful, "What else in this home can be mortgaged out?"
Xiaoman lowered her head and counted on her fingers, "The furniture in this residence is extremely good. Those chairs made of old timber can be mortgaged for fifty taels of silver each, and there's the table too. But Young Master, these are all items bestowed by the Emperor. Privately pawning them will result in exile."
Chen Ji shook his head, "I can't care about that anymore."
Xiaoman lowered her head and let out a low "oh", "We only just got a new home. Now the silver gap is so large. How about I take Heavenly Venerate to mate? It's so smart, if we take it to noble families to mate, it could maybe earn several taels of silver just once..."
Before she finished speaking, Wu Yun had already jumped onto her shoulder, aimed at her head, balled up her paws, and gave her two solid bang bang punches.
Xiaoman covered her double-buns hairstyle and complained, "Didn't Heavenly Venerate see that I was amusing Young Master?"
Only then did Wu Yun let her go.
While eating, Xiaoman quietly observed Chen Ji's absentminded appearance. Eventually, she gritted her teeth, put down her bowl and chopsticks, went to her own west wing room, and brought out a wooden box, "Inside are the Land Deeds for the fertile fields in Changping, as well as the Property Deeds for Gufu Pavilion, Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, and Baoxiang Bookstore. Young Master, take them to pawn."
Chen Ji was somewhat surprised, "These are all things I promised you before. You don't need to give them to me."
Xiaoman opened the box, revealing the house and land deeds inside, and sighed, "Auntie said before that when you encounter difficulties, friends who remain neutral are enemies, and enemies who remain neutral are friends. Once you pawn these, Young Master shouldn't pawn this residence, otherwise there will be censors impeaching you again."
Chen Ji repeatedly confirmed, "Are you really willing to part with them?"
Xiaoman thumped her chest and took a deep breath, "Really willing."
Chen Ji smiled and closed the wooden box, "Then I will take them to the pawnshop to mortgage for silver."
Xiaoman's heart instantly ached tremendously, "Will Young Master not refuse a little? This is the family property that Auntie painstakingly saved up. Does Young Master know how hard it was for me to clean up the mess at Gufu Pavilion? From top to bottom, they were all parasites. And that Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, the shopkeeper relied on his seniority to fool me..."
Chen Ji was curious, "How did you clean them up?"
The Little Monk suddenly said from the side, "If anyone didn't listen to her, she threatened the other party saying, 'If you dare to fool me again, I'll have my Young Master kill you all.' The other party was immediately terrified on the spot. It's hard to say if the young masters of other families would kill people or not, but her young master has truly killed hundreds."
Chen Ji slowly looked at Xiaoman. Xiaoman hurriedly said with a guilty conscience, "I'm going to wash the dishes."
When she carried the bowls and plates to the kitchen, she didn't forget to come back and pinch the Little Monk's waist, making the Little Monk bare his teeth in pain.
...
...
The fourth day.
Early in the morning, Chen Ji changed into gray cloth clothes and went out. Holding the wooden box, he first went to Li's Pawnshop outside East Brilliance Gate.
He looked up at the plaque and stepped over the high threshold. The lighting inside was dim.
A smell of aged ink mixed with camphor assaulted his face. The counter was absurdly high, and the countertop was made of a whole piece of elm wood, polished until it was shiny with oil.
Behind the counter sat an old appraiser. Using the dim light, he was carefully examining the yellow infiltration on a Hotan jade archer's ring. Hearing the footsteps, the appraiser didn't even raise his head, dragging his tone, "What is the guest pawning?"
Chen Ji placed the wooden box on the counter and opened it, revealing a stack of deed papers inside.
Only then did the appraiser raise his eyes. He methodically stretched out two fingers and picked up the top Land Deed: five hundred mu of fertile fields in Changping.
He held the deed up to the light, carefully checking the seal, the corners, and the paper grain. After a long while, he slowly said, "Land in Changping. It's too far from the capital city, it's not valuable."
Chen Ji didn't speak.
The appraiser picked up the Property Deed for Gufu Pavilion, "This old man has heard of this pavilion. It was booming in the early years, hard to find a seat, but business has plummeted in recent years, it's not valuable either."
Chen Ji remained silent.
The old appraiser looked through them one by one. When he picked up Baoxiang Bookstore, he curled his lip slightly, "Baoxiang Bookstore? Also not valuable."
It wasn't until he saw the Property Deed for Heavenly Treasure Pavilion that the appraiser's eyes instantly lit up. Before he could take a closer look, Chen Ji had already pulled the Property Deed away.
The old appraiser scrutinized Chen Ji across the counter, "Is the guest the proprietor of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?"
Chen Ji said calmly, "Yes."
The old appraiser asked again, "I didn't see clearly just now. Is the guest's deed a Red Deed or a White Deed?"
Chen Ji replied from outside the counter, "A Red Deed."
The old appraiser nodded, "A Red Deed is good."
A Red Deed was an official deed stamped by the Government Office, while a White Deed was a private deed. Their values were drastically different.
The old appraiser's eyes shifted, "Is the guest willing to break up this Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and pawn it separately?"
Chen Ji shook his head, "I won't break them up, altogether."
"A Redeemable Pawn or a Permanent Pawn?"
"Redeemable Pawn."
"Then that means you're in urgent need of silver and borrowing temporarily." The old appraiser stroked his beard, pulled out an ebony abacus from under the counter, and clicked the beads with crackling sounds, muttering, "Five hundred mu in Changping, calculating it as high-grade fields, the market price is fifteen taels a mu. But the guest urgently needs money, so my pawnshop will mortgage it at seventy percent of its value. Gufu Pavilion occupies half a mu of land. Originally it could be worth five thousand taels, but that pavilion is old, so discount it another twenty percent, four thousand taels."
He calculated extremely slowly. Every time he calculated an item, he would secretly look up at Chen Ji through the gaps of the wooden bars.
Chen Ji just stood quietly, his face calm.
When he calculated to the end, the old appraiser pushed the abacus forward, his gaze dissecting Chen Ji through the gaps in the bars, "Guest, altogether these of yours are worth this amount. If it weren't for Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, it wouldn't even reach this number."
He held up four fingers.
Chen Ji looked at him.
The old appraiser said slowly, "Forty thousand taels. Since this is a Redeemable Pawn, the monthly interest is nine percent, and the pawn period is half a year. If it is not redeemed after the period expires, the items belong to the pawnshop."
Forty thousand taels.
Xiaoman had said that if these properties were sold normally, they would fetch at least sixty thousand taels. Heavenly Treasure Pavilion alone was worth forty thousand taels.
Chen Ji pondered for a moment, "Too low."
"Guest," the old appraiser leaned his body back, lightly tapping his fingers on the counter, "Our Li's is a century-old brand, we treat everyone fairly. If you don't believe it, you can go out and ask around. In this entire capital city, who else can give a higher price?"
He pulled a purple clay teapot from under the counter, took a sip from the spout, and squinted, "If the guest feels it's acceptable, we'll write the pawn ticket right now. If not..."
The old appraiser made a gesture toward the door, indicating he was free to leave.
Chen Ji stood outside the counter, "Forty-five thousand."
The old appraiser wore a mocking look, "Guest, forty thousand taels, not a single copper coin more. If you want to pawn, we'll write the ticket right now. If not, the door is over there."
Chen Ji was silent for a long time, "Pawn."
The old appraiser beamed with joy. He spread out a pawn paper, took out a weasel-hair small regular script brush, and densely filled the paper with writing, "Today pawned: five hundred mu of high-grade fields in Changping County, one storefront of Gufu Pavilion, one storefront of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, one storefront of Baoxiang Bookstore. Sum total pawned for exact forty thousand taels of silver. Monthly interest nine percent, pawn period six months. Insects eating and rats biting are left to the hands of fate. Water, fire, theft, and loss have nothing to do with this shop. We recognize the ticket, not the person. If overdue and unredeemed, we are free to sell them..."
After writing, he blew the ink dry, took out four small seals from under the counter: one was the shop seal 'Li's Pawn', one was the personal seal of the 'Duty Appraiser', and one was the property damage seal of 'Insects Eating and Rats Biting'.
With three seals stamped together, the pawn ticket was complete.
The old appraiser handed the pawn ticket along with four strings of Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency to Chen Ji, smiling happily, "Guest, a Redeemable Pawn calculates interest by the day. If you want to redeem them, you'd better do it early."
Chen Ji turned around and left without the slightest hesitation or sloppiness. He now had two hundred and forty thousand taels in hand, but there was still a gap of more than half.
He didn't want to waste time here, there were still many things to do. (End of Chapter)