Chapter 578: Crown Prince |
The night in the capital city was heavy.
On Gathering Sages Street, the night watchman carrying his watchman's drum craned his neck and shouted: "Close your doors and windows, guard against sneaks and thieves!"
The first watch, the Hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
If it were an ordinary day, the capital city should have already fallen silent. But today, Gathering Sages Street and Yanle Hutong were unexpectedly somewhat noisier than during the day.
A dense crowd of people were squeezed at the alley entrance, lying on top of the walls, and squatting on the roofs. All their gazes converged on that gatehouse hanging the plaque "Vermilion Steps Great Music Hall".
Outside the Imperial Music Bureau's doors, buzzing discussions lingered endlessly in the ears. It was so crowded that even the night watchman couldn't squeeze through.
Inside the Imperial Music Bureau's doors, it was Brightly Lit but eerily quiet.
At this time, the Stick Bearers from Plum Blossom Ferry, carrying cloth bags slung across their bodies, squeezed through the crowd loudly peddling today's Evening News, shouting with no effort spared: "Is the Qi Family the literary heart of the world or just fishing for fame and compliments? Take a look at today's Evening News!"
As soon as these words came out, the spectators squatting on the roofs stretched their necks straight to look down, asking curiously: "Qi Family? Which Qi Family?"
"What on earth happened? Did Viscount Wuxiang counterattack the Qi Family? I knew it, Viscount Wuxiang was sneakily set up by the Qi Family at a critical juncture and had the Trouble-Resolving Guards escort him into the palace. Knowing his disposition, he would definitely fight back."
A Stick Bearer laughed merrily and said: "Spectators, just buy a copy of the newspaper and you'll know what happened. No need to fight and scramble over it. My Plum Blossom Ferry proprietor predicts things like a deity. Today we printed an extra twenty thousand copies, enough to go around."
A man joined the fun and bought a newspaper, but he stumbled while reading it. He could only hold up the newspaper and ask loudly: "Which gentleman is literate? Do a good deed and read it out loud for everyone."
"Me! Me! Me!" Shen Ye, who hadn't managed to buy a newspaper, squeezed out from the crowd, the clothes on his body squeezed to the point of being a total, messy ruin.
The man handed the newspaper to him: "Please, sir, help read it."
Shen Ye's eyes lit up terrifyingly. He unfolded the newspaper and cleared his throat: "Ahem. Li's Pawnshop has been issuing Loan Shark Money and doing evil for many years. A monthly interest of nine percent is common, and if poor households are in urgent need, it can be as high as fifteen percent..."
The clamor of the crowd gradually lessened, until it reached silence.
In the alley and on the long street, only Shen Ye's loud reading voice remained: "Widow Zhou had nowhere to cry and complain, so she took her daughter and threw themselves into a well. Her son had one leg broken by Li's Pawnshop thugs and was driven out of the capital..."
In Yanle Hutong, a man angrily cursed: "Motherfucker, earlier when my dad was seriously ill, this old man (referring to himself) also shamelessly went to Li's Pawnshop to borrow Loan Shark Money. It caused me to be unable to turn things around for a year, and in the end, I only managed to survive by mortgaging two mu of land. It turns out the imperial court only permits a monthly interest of three percent, and prohibits compounding interest. Let's smash these conscience-lacking pawnshops tomorrow!"
"Don't speak first, let this gentleman continue reading!"
Shen Ye continued reading: "The principal, account books, personnel contracts, and Land Deeds of Li's Pawnshop are all managed and supervised by the Chief Surveillance Bureau Left Censor-in-Chief Qi Xianzhun... In the twenty-seventh year of Jianing, Qi Xianzhun withdrew eight thousand taels to purchase a residence in Tin and Wax Alley to keep concubines. In the summer of the thirty-first year of Jianing, Qi Zhenwu withdrew three thousand taels to redeem the Pure Courtesan Liu Zhuang..."
Someone said in astonishment: "No wonder Miss Liu Zhuang disappeared. It turns out the Qi Family hid her away."
"Qi Xianzhun, isn't that the censor grandmaster of the Pure Stream Faction?"
Originally, the commoners of the capital city didn't care who was right and who was wrong regarding today's matters. Everyone was merely holding it in for several days with nowhere to go, because during the National Mourning period, the teahouses had no storyteller gentlemen, the taverns had sealed their wine jars, the Eight Great Hutongs did not open their doors, and the theatrical troupes did not sing operas. Today there was finally a matter where they could join the fun, so they simply came to take a look.
But now, what Chen Ji's newspaper talked about were matters closely related to them.
The commoners had suffered bitterly from Loan Shark Money for a long time.
Shen Ye put down the newspaper and let out a long sigh: "Leave aside who exactly won and who lost today, the Loan Shark Money in the capital city will definitely be cleansed thoroughly. Lord Chen can also be considered to have accumulated boundless merit. Everyone, please pass the word to your friends and relatives. If anyone owes Loan Shark Money and has been subjected to compounded interest, they can go directly to the Shuntian Prefecture office tomorrow to report it to the authorities. The principal still needs to be returned, but the rolled-up interest does not need to be."
Someone cried out in alarm: "Really? You're not just spouting nonsense relying on the fact that we don't know you, right?"
Shen Ye smiled, cupped his hands, and said: "This lowly one is Hanlin Academy Hanlin Bachelor Shen Ye. Really."
A man exclaimed in surprise and doubt: "Looking at it this way, the Qi Family are the bad guys, and Viscount Wuxiang is a good guy."
"That's a certainty!"
"No wonder Viscount Wuxiang dragged that Censor Yang to death in the street. Well killed! Kill these dog things where officials shield one another!"
When the newspaper of Plum Blossom Ferry first appeared, the leading officials only considered it a novel method of amassing wealth. It wasn't until today that Chen Ji taught them to understand how sharp this item was for killing people.
The Qi Family's reputation was destined to fall into the abyss, and that poem titled "Bamboo and Rock" was also destined to be stamped with the mark of the Qi Family. Whenever people of later generations mentioned this poem, they would narrate to others the literary allusion of the Qi Family fishing for fame and compliments, leaving a foul reputation for ten thousand years.
The Qi Family, who loved holding literary gatherings the most, would probably never hold another literary gathering from now on.
...
...
A horse carriage parked quietly outside Yanle Hutong. Qi Zhenzhu returned to the carriage holding the newspaper. Qi Zhaoning borrowed the light from the lanterns outside the window, silently reading the Evening News in her hands, teardrops falling onto the Bamboo Paper one by one: "How could it reach this stage? Why did Chen Ji have to do this?"
The Bamboo Paper was of poor quality. Just a few drops of tears instantly smeared the writing, making it unreadable.
Her older sister Qi Zhaoyun sat beside her, gently wiping away her tears with a handkerchief, and whispered words of counsel: "Zhaoning, true predestined affinities in this world are already pitifully rare, they cannot be forced."
Qi Zhaoning suddenly looked at Qi Zhaoyun: "He can dislike me, but why must he treat my Qi Family like this? Why must he treat my older brother and Second Uncle like this?"
Qi Zhaoyun said Earnest and Sincere: "You can't blame him for this matter either. Originally it was Second Uncle and older brother who made things difficult for him first. You also saw it early on, he came to the capital city specifically to save the Commandery Princess. Now that older brother and Second Uncle want to buy Bai Li away, how could he tolerate it?"
Qi Zhaoning tore the Evening News in her hands into pieces, acting hysterically: "But he has a marriage contract with me! First he flirted glances with Zhang Xia, and now he even wants to redeem Bai Li in front of the entire capital city. When has he ever thought about my situation?"
Qi Zhaoyun sighed, reaching out to wipe her tears: "When he was at the Red Leaf Villa in Fragrant Hills, he specifically found you and asked you to refuse the Chen Family's marriage proposal. At that time, he had already made his intentions clear, you should have reined in your horse at the edge of the cliff."
Qi Zhaoning batted her older sister's hand away: "The orders of parents and the words of matchmakers, aren't everyone like this? Everyone finds a well-matched marriage, treating each other with the respect due to a guest, presenting the tray at eyebrow level. Decades pass and doesn't everyone live perfectly well? On what basis is he different?"
Qi Zhaoyun looked at her younger sister: "But Zhaoning, if he were just like everybody else, you wouldn't have liked him either."
Qi Zhaoning said angrily: "I don't care, I absolutely won't let him and Bai Li have it easy."
Qi Zhaoyun gently shook her head: "But Second Uncle and older brother have already met with mishaps. You also only have thirty thousand taels of silver in your hands, while he still has two hundred thousand taels. Counting Gufu Pavilion and the others, that's two hundred and forty thousand taels. How can you compare with him?"
Right at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from outside the horse carriage: "Third Miss Qi, golden peace to you."
Qi Zhaoning lifted the carriage curtain, only to see a young scholar standing respectfully outside the carriage, saying: "Regarding Third Miss Qi's difficulties, this lowly one can help."
Qi Zhaoning's face immediately turned cold: "Who are you? How dare you eavesdrop on me and my sister speaking?"
The young scholar politely cupped his hands: "Third Miss Qi doesn't need to care who I am, and who I am isn't important either. You only need to know that I can help you, and that's enough."
Qi Zhaoning said warily: "Help me with what?"
The young scholar explained with a smile: "In this world, there are more than enough people who don't want Viscount Wuxiang to have it easy, and my Master is the one who most wishes for him to die without a burial place. You lack silver, and my Master coincidentally has silver, then that is enough."
Speaking up to here, the young scholar took out three strings of Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency from his robes: "Viscount Wuxiang still has two hundred thousand taels of ready silver in hand, along with house and Land Deeds worth forty thousand. And here I have five hundred thousand taels of silver, completely enough to solve your urgent, eyebrow-burning crisis."
The young scholar said with a smile: "Third Miss Qi and that Chen Ji clearly already have a marriage contract, yet he ignores the marriage contract and comes to redeem a woman from the Imperial Music Bureau in front of all the commoners of the capital city. No matter what, it cannot be justified."
Qi Zhaoning stared steadily at the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency: "What does your Master want? He wants Bai Li?"
The young scholar gently shook his head: "My Master only hopes Viscount Wuxiang is unhappy. As long as he is unhappy, my Master is happy. Therefore, my Master has no other requests. He only hopes that after Third Miss Qi buys Bai Li, you can give her away. Giving her to your older brother, or giving her to your Second Uncle, either is fine."
Qi Zhaoning was tempted. She silently looked at the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency in the other party's hands, not knowing what she was thinking.
Right at this moment, Qi Zhaoyun suddenly said: "I have seen you."
The young scholar was somewhat surprised: "You have seen this lowly one?"
Qi Zhaoyun said with certainty: "At the Spring Hunt in Fragrant Hills in the thirty-first year of Jianing, you once followed beside Liao Zhong. You are the Crown Prince's man, right or wrong? I remember your surname is... surnamed Zeng. Some people rumored you are a page boy the Crown Prince raised by his side!"
The young scholar fell silent for a moment, then beamed with a smile once again. He didn't answer Qi Zhaoyun, but instead looked at Qi Zhaoning: "Third Miss Qi. Are you really going to plan on watching Viscount Wuxiang redeem Bai Li away in front of the commoners of the capital city? Today Chen Ji had his Plum Blossom Ferry and Salt Certificate businesses stripped from him by His Majesty before the throne, even the Evening News was taken away together. If he can't even save Bai Li back, then he really will have nothing left. Just thinking about it feels wonderful."
Qi Zhaoyun persuaded from the side: "Zhaoning, don't listen to him, don't go to the Imperial Music Bureau. Leave a bit of leeway with Chen Ji."
But Qi Zhaoning seemed to have made up her mind, and she snatched the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency from the young scholar's hands: "No, I want him to know that if he wants to see Bai Li in the future, he must come beg me! Whether or not he can see Bai Li, is up to me to decide!"
Qi Zhaoyun said urgently: "Zhaoning, my Qi Family is already at the cusp of the wind and the crest of the waves. Now if you spend hundreds of thousands of taels to buy Bai Li away from the Imperial Music Bureau, what will the commoners think of my Qi Family?"
In the gloomy carriage compartment, Qi Zhaoning looked at her older sister: "Sis, I can't care that much anymore. They have their years upon years and years upon years, they have the Nine Deaths One Life in the White Tiger Hall, but I have nothing. I am unwilling to accept it!"
Having said that, Qi Zhaoning slipped out of the horse carriage.
Qi Zhaoyun tried to pull her, but grabbed empty air. She could only watch Qi Zhaoning's retreating back walking straight through the bustling crowd, heading toward the Imperial Music Bureau.
Someone in the crowd didn't know who reorganized her, and suddenly cried out in alarm: "The Qi Family's Third Miss is here, she's going to enter the Imperial Music Bureau... Where is Viscount Wuxiang, why hasn't he rushed back yet?"
Meanwhile, that young scholar who delivered the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency turned around and merged into the sea of people. (End of Chapter)