In the past, only Bao Yue Lou threatened others; who would dare to threaten Bao Yue Lou?
That beautiful woman, whose surname was Shi and given name Qing'er, was Yuan Meng's most capable assistant, cultivated by her own hand. She thought tonight was just a matter of a few petty officials investigating a case. However, her subordinate reported that this Master Chen possessed an extraordinary demeanor and profound martial arts skills, making him a tricky character. Therefore, she prepared to use a show of strength to reach a compromise – the reason for choosing compromise was that, since September, the big boss had been constantly demanding that Bao Yue Lou behave itself. But she didn't expect the other party to refuse peace and blatantly threaten them!
Shi Qing'er was furious. She stared at Fan Xian and said, word by word, "You will regret what you've done tonight."
"Don't threaten me. Quickly bring the contract." Fan Xian said with a smile, "You've ruined my mood. I'm going home."
Looking at Fan Xian's incredibly gentle smile, Shi Chanli sighed inwardly. He knew his mentor was very unhappy, and the consequences would be serious. In a few days, this Bao Yue Lou would probably close down. Shi Qing'er was exasperated, a flash of sternness flickering in her eyes. She ordered her subordinate to take care of the matter. After a short while, a thin piece of paper was placed on the table between them.
"Cash transaction. You have ten thousand taels of silver notes, and I'll give you the person." Shi Qing'er stared into Fan Xian's eyes. "Qing law does have provisions for redeeming those who have been forced into servitude, but... I can't just leave Miss Sang here in the brothel waiting for you to buy her. If you can't produce the cash now, maybe another buyer will come along and buy her away."
Fan Xian's expression remained unchanged, but he sneered inwardly. Who else would spend ten thousand taels of silver to buy a person? If he really didn't offer to buy her, the buyer who would appear would only be Bao Yue Lou itself.
Shi Chanli had already taken the brush and ink and written a deed of indenture, placing it together with Sang Wen's personal indenture. He was just waiting for Fan Xian to take out the silver notes. He had always trusted his mentor's financial ability, and after all, he was a scholar who always thought that money was nothing to a wealthy family.
Shi Qing'er also stared at Fan Xian. She had seen countless rich people in her life, but even the salt merchants and imperial merchants of Jiangnan didn't have the habit of carrying ten thousand taels of silver notes in their sleeves unless they were preparing to give a generous gift to a high official at a banquet. So, she didn't believe that this young man could produce ten thousand taels of silver notes.
It seemed like a long time, but it was only a moment. Fan Xian didn't make a move. Shi Chanli felt a slight sense of panic and surprise, while a proud smile of "I knew it" appeared on Shi Qing'er's lips.
Fan Xian looked at the delicate woman's slightly arrogant and self-possessed expression and suddenly felt very good. He smiled and beckoned to Deng Ziyue, who had been standing quietly beside him.
Deng Ziyue leaned over and said, "Master Chen, what are your orders?"
Fan Xian chuckled and cursed something under his breath before saying, "Why are you playing dumb? I don't have that much silver on me. I'm borrowing money from you."
Deng Ziyue's face flushed slightly. Although he didn't know why Supervisor believed he was carrying tens of thousands of taels of silver notes, he still quickly reached into his robe, fumbling for a long time, and pulled out a pouch that was tied tightly to his undershirt. The pouch was plain, and slightly bulging.
Everyone in the room exchanged glances, watching Deng Ziyue pull out a stack of silver notes from this ordinary pouch as if he was tearing out his heart and lungs!
Deng Ziyue placed the silver notes on the table, counting them carefully over and over again, and then took ten and handed them to Shi Qing'er.
……
……
Shi Qing'er could no longer maintain her composure. Holding the full ten thousand taels of silver notes, she was stunned, her mouth agape in disbelief. In her heart, she was shocked beyond words! In her mind, this young master might be the son of a wealthy family, but even his attendant had ten thousand taels of silver on him!
Clutching the silver notes, she looked at Fan Xian's calm face, thinking in shock, "Just what kind of god is this?"
Fan Xian ignored her gaze, gently touching Miss Yan'er, who had been asleep behind him. His fingers slid gently across her neck, seemingly in a playful manner. Yan'er slowly woke up, covering her mouth and yawning. It seemed that she had slept well.
"Let's go."
He said gently, and took the lead, getting up and walking out of the courtyard. Behind him, Deng Ziyue helped up the attacker, who was soaking wet and whose life or death was unknown, while Shi Chanli also supported Miss Sang Wen, who had suffered too much mental shock, and followed him out.
Soon, this group of people with unknown origins disappeared from Bao Yue Lou, following the faint orange lights along the Thin River.
Shi Qing'er squeezed the ten silver notes in her hand until they were wrinkled, but she was ultimately unwilling to part with such a large sum of money. She carefully put them away and said hatefully, staring at the backs of the group, "Keep a close eye on them!"
Bao Yue Lou had two mysterious bosses, and Shi Qing'er belonged to the faction of the second boss, and her methods were extremely ruthless. At this time, Yan'er frowned and walked forward. Her mind was still a little dizzy, and looking at the scene in the room, she naturally knew that she hadn't just taken a nap. It seemed that the young Master Chen with the friendly smile was indeed a powerful figure.
Shi Qing'er slapped her across the face with a backhand!
No one expected Yan'er to coldly dodge the blow, looking at Shi Qing'er and saying, "Why do you want to hit me, Sister?"
Shi Qing'er gritted her teeth and said, "You useless little slut! I told you to get information out of him, but you slept for most of the night!"
Yan'er scanned the room and guessed what had happened, sneering, "I am useless, but if Sister is really capable, how could you let these people take Sister Sang away? You'll have to explain this to Lady Yuan."
"Humph." Shi Qing'er stared at Yan'er's glamorous face, saying with contempt, "Don't think that just because the big boss likes you, you can be impudent in front of me. Bao Yue Lou is open for business, of course we can't have conflicts with guests here. We'll naturally find a way to deal with it later."
It seemed that these two women were both popular figures in Bao Yue Lou, so their words were full of hidden thunder and did not give way to each other. The subordinates quickly retreated, fearing that they would suffer collateral damage.
After a short pause, Yan'er said with a chuckle, "Don't forget, the big boss told you to be a little more well-behaved these months, and do less things that are harmful to heaven and reason."
"Harmful to heaven and reason?" Shi Qing'er sneered. "In this capital, we are the natural law."
Yan'er raised an eyebrow, feigning confusion and asking, "Oh? Today's visitors, I estimate, are powerful figures from the Thirteenth Offices."
"Bullshit Thirteenth Offices." Shi Qing'er's eyes revealed a hidden murderous intent. "There aren't many people in the entire capital who can take out ten thousand taels of silver notes without batting an eye. Even if you turn over all the bluestone slabs in the Ministry of Justice and break all those fire pokers, you won't find a few silver flowers... I think that person is probably the son of some prince or marquis."
Yan'er paused slightly, seemingly not expecting the Master Chen to have such a high status. Thinking back to the previous Master's "methods", she was a little dazed for a moment.
Shi Qing'er looked at the amorous look that appeared between her eyebrows, spat, and cursed, "Don't get carried away, little slut, or the big boss will be unhappy."
Yan'er was not afraid of these words, replying with a sneer, "Didn't Sister arrange for me to accompany the guest earlier? Aren't you afraid the big boss will be unhappy?"
Shi Qing'er sneered and said, "The Master Chen you're accompanying is about to become a dead man, what does it matter?"
Hearing this, Yan'er was shocked, her brow furrowing as she said quietly, "Are you going to kill again?"
"Anyone who dares to disgrace my Bao Yue Lou will not have a good life, of course." Shi Qing'er's eyes were full of a cold self-assurance. "Even if we consider his status and don't kill him for the time being, we should at least kill that Sang bitch. It's just bad luck for them that the second boss's little brothers are all playing in the brothel today."
After hearing this, Yan'er sentenced the Chen Gongzi's group to death. Although she didn't know the identity of the second boss, she knew that the second boss's little brothers were rampant and audacious throughout the capital. Even if the Chen Gongzi was a noble relative of some prince or marquis and managed to survive this night, those people around him were probably doomed.
She couldn't help but sigh and say, "Always acting so wantonly, if the imperial court really investigates one day, I'm afraid none of us will have a way out."
Shi Qing'er gave her a mocking look, seemingly mocking her timidity, and said, "With the popular adults in the courtyard as our backer, and people in the palace speaking for us, who do we Bao Yue Lou need to be afraid of?"
——————————————————————————
After leaving Bao Yue Lou, Sang Wen gave Fan Xian a deep bow, her face covered in tears. Fan Xian couldn't stand this kind of scene, comforted her gently for a few words, and quickly got into the carriage. A group of two carriages headed towards the light along the main street in front of Bao Yue Lou.
The carriage hadn't gone far when it stopped on a long street. Fan Xian lifted the carriage curtain and looked ahead, not at all surprised to see a group of people holding torches, blocking the entire street.
These people were not very old, only fourteen or fifteen years old, still teenagers. Their pale faces indicated their unhealthy lifestyles, and the tall horses beneath them represented their status. Some of their servants and attendants, who were further away, watched the scene of blocking the street indifferently, as if they were already used to their masters committing violence on the streets of the capital.
"You people in the carriage, get the hell down for this young master!" The leader, a young man with a ferocious expression, his pupils flashing with excitement, seemed to think that he could kill a few more people to play with today, which was really a happy thing.
"Bao Yue Lou's reaction is very direct." Fan Xian praised in the carriage, then turned and asked, "Ziyue, what are the origins of these little fellows?"
Deng Ziyue's expression was a little grave: "These are the most famous 'roaming heroes' in the capital, committing all kinds of crimes and evils, but they are all descendants of dukes and princes, so no one has ever dared to manage them."
"It seems that Bao Yue Lou not only has a relationship with Hong Cheng, but also a close relationship with these dukes." Fan Xian shook his head, looking at the black shadows flashing past on both sides of the street, knowing that the Qi Nian Group lurking in the shadows had already moved, and couldn't help shaking his head again.
Qing country won the world by force. Although the generals who followed the Taizu Emperor to conquer the world later retired and settled in the capital, after all, their merits were there, so many were enfeoffed as dukes and princes. The subsequent emperors also showed consideration for these royal families, but did not allow these veterans to extend their reach in the court for too long, and were wary of their descendants, secretly making many maneuvers in the imperial examinations and careers.
As a result, by the third or fourth generation of these ducal families, apart from a very few who were extremely talented, the rest were just empty titles. And these people were often in their teens, with wealthy families and special treatment from the court. Naturally, they indulged in worldly pleasures and had nothing else to do. Young and passionate, they raced horses and walked dogs in the courtyard, bullied men and raped women in the market, unspeakably arrogant and bored. They would often draw their swords at the slightest disagreement, acting extremely ruthlessly and not caring about the consequences.
These young men thought that they possessed chivalrous spirits, and also raised a group of small thugs in the capital as hitmen, calling themselves "roaming heroes". In fact, in Fan Xian's view, they were just a bunch of scum and wastrels. He didn't know how many women they had harmed and how many lives they had taken.
Although Fan Xian was only a few years older than these notorious teenagers in the capital, his mentality was much more mature than theirs. As soon as he saw this kind of formation on the long street, he narrowed his eyes, shrunk back into the carriage, and refused to show his face again, only leaving the matter to his subordinates to handle.
The ducal lineage, although it had no real power, had complicated connections through many indirect relatives. Even the Fan residence and the Duke Liu residence had relatives. How could he disentangle himself? Fan Xian thought that it would be best if he didn't have to do it himself.
————————————————————————
"Smash that carriage for me!"
The leading privileged young man shouted excitedly, spurring his horse forward. Behind him, a large group of teenagers screamed and charged towards Fan Xian's carriage, waving the straight swords commonly seen in the capital, excitedly, like a group of little sharks that had smelled blood.
Sang Wen glanced timidly and then quickly shrank back, clutching the hem of her skirt, her body trembling, but gritting her teeth and not letting out a cry.
Fan Xian looked at her and said nothing, pulling open a small crack in the curtain, looking at the fierce teenagers charging on horseback, thinking that the security in the capital was indeed getting worse and worse. However, the Kyoto Prefect was from the Second Prince's faction, and coupled with the sensitive identities of these young men, no one dared to manage them. But looking at the excitement in the eyes of those teenagers, he still felt as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly.
Because in these young and even somewhat immature eyes, beneath the excitement, there was a deeper indifference to life, a contempt for those considered low, and a perverted love for the taste of blood. Fan Xian was a person who had been in contact with death since childhood. He didn't feel very scared about taking other people's lives, and even felt very calm.
But he had always been careful not to revel in the process of killing. On the contrary, he was a person who cherished life very much and was very grateful for his second chance.
Moreover, he thought he just wanted to have some recreation at public expense tonight. As a result, the dignified Supervisor of the Overwatch Council had actually been reduced to having a street brawl with a bunch of playboy gangsters. It was really a disgrace.
Therefore, Fan Xian was very unhappy.