Chapter 578
The Crown Prince
The night in the capital was deep and dark.
On Jixian Street, the night watchman, carrying his drum, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Close the doors and windows, beware of thieves!"
It was the first watch of the night, at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
In any other day, Beijing would have been quiet, but today Jixian Street and Yanle Hutong are even more bustling than during the day.
A dense crowd thronged the alleyway entrance, pressed against the walls, and squatted on the rooftops, all eyes fixed on the gatehouse bearing the plaque "Danbi Dale Hall".
Outside the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) gates, a constant buzz of discussion filled the air, and the crowd was so dense that even the night watchman couldn't squeeze through.
The Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) was brightly lit, yet eerily quiet.
At this moment, the porters of Meihua Ferry, carrying cloth bags, squeezed through the crowd, loudly hawking today's evening paper, shouting with all their might: "Is Qi Jia a man of great literary talent or just a fame-seeker? Read today's evening paper for the answers!"
Upon hearing this, the onlookers squatting on the roof craned their necks to look down, asking curiously, "The Qi family? Which Qi family?"
Someone in Yanle Hutong shouted, "It could be any other Qi family, it must be the Qi family from Fuyou Street!"
"What exactly happened? Did Viscount Wuxiang retaliate against the Qi family? I knew it. Viscount Wuxiang was tricked by the Qi family at a critical moment and had the Jie Fan Guards take him to the palace. Knowing his temperament, he will definitely fight back."
Ba Gun chuckled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, just buy a newspaper and you'll know what's going on. No need to fight over it. My Plum Blossom Ferry owner is a prophet. I've printed an extra 20,000 copies today. That's more than enough."
A man bought a newspaper to join the fun, but he stumbled over his words. He could only hold up the newspaper and ask loudly, "Is there any gentleman who can read? Please, kindly, read it to everyone."
"Me, me, me," Shen Ye, who hadn't been able to buy a newspaper, emerged from the crowd, his clothes disheveled from being jostled.
The man handed him the newspaper: "Please read this for me, sir."
Shen Ye's eyes shone brightly. He unfolded the newspaper and cleared his throat: "Ahem. Li's pawnshop has been a notorious moneylender for many years, with monthly interest rates of nine percent being common. If a poor household urgently needs money, the rate can be as high as one and a half qian..."
The noise from the crowd gradually subsided until it fell silent.
In the alleyways and along the long street, only Shen Ye's voice remained as he read aloud: "Zhou, having nowhere to turn for help, threw herself into a well with her daughter. Her son had his leg broken by Li Ji's thugs and was driven out of the capital..."
In Yanle Hutong, a man cursed angrily: "Damn it! When my father was seriously ill, I shamelessly borrowed money from Li's pawnshop at exorbitant interest rates. It ruined my life for a year, and I only survived by mortgaging two acres of land. So the government only allows monthly interest rates of 3%, and doesn't even allow compound interest! These unscrupulous pawnshops, I'll smash them up tomorrow!"
"Please don't speak yet, let this gentleman continue reading!"
Shen Ye continued reading: "The principal, accounts, deeds, and land deeds of Li's pawnshop were all supervised by Qi Xianzhun, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate... In the twenty-seventh year of the Jia Ning era, Qi Xianzhun withdrew eight thousand taels to purchase a residence in Xila Hutong and to keep concubines. In the summer of the thirty-first year of the Jia Ning era, Qi Zhenwu withdrew three thousand taels to redeem the courtesan Liuzhuang..."
Someone exclaimed in astonishment, "No wonder Miss Liuzhuang disappeared; the Qi family hid her away!"
"Qi Xianzhun, isn't that the censor from the Qingliu faction?"
Originally, the people of Beijing didn't care who was right or wrong in today's events. They were just bored and had nowhere to go for several days during the national mourning period. Today, they finally had something to do and decided to come and see.
But now, what Chen Ji is talking about in the newspaper is something that is closely related to them.
The people have suffered from usury for too long.
Shen Ye put down the newspaper and sighed, "Regardless of who wins or loses today, the usurious loans in the capital will definitely be wiped out. Lord Chen has done a great service. Everyone, please tell your relatives and friends that if they owe us usurious loans and the interest keeps piling up, they can go directly to the Shuntian Prefecture tomorrow to report to the authorities. The principal still needs to be repaid, but the interest that has been accrued will not need to be paid."
Someone exclaimed, "Really? Don't try to talk nonsense just because we don't know you."
Shen Ye smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "I am Shen Ye, a junior scholar in the Hanlin Academy. It is true."
A man exclaimed in surprise, "Judging from this, the Qi family are the bad guys, and Viscount Wu Xiang is the good guy."
"Of course!"
"No wonder Viscount Wu Xiang dragged that Imperial Censor Yang to his death in the street. Good riddance! Kill those corrupt officials who protect each other!"
When the newspaper from Plum Blossom Ferry first appeared, the officials only saw it as a novel way to make money. It was only today that Chen Ji taught them how deadly this thing could be.
The Qi family's reputation was destined to plummet, and the poem "Bamboo and Rock" was destined to bear their mark. Whenever later generations mentioned this poem, they would recount the story of the Qi family's blatant pursuit of fame and fortune, leaving them infamous for eternity.
The Qi family, who used to love organizing literary gatherings, will probably never do so again.
……
...A carriage was quietly parked outside Yanle Hutong. Qi Zhenzhu returned to the carriage with a newspaper. Qi Zhaoning, by the light of the lamplight outside the window, silently looked at the evening paper in her hand, tears falling one by one onto the bamboo paper: "How could it have come to this? Why did Chen Ji do this?"
The bamboo paper was of poor quality; a few drops of tears would smudge the writing, making it illegible.
Her older sister, Qi Zhaoyun, sat beside her, gently wiping away her tears with a handkerchief, and whispered, "Zhaoning, true love is rare in this world, and you can't force it."
Qi Zhaoning suddenly looked at Qi Zhaoyun: "He may not like me, but why did he treat my Qi family like this? Why did he treat my brother and second uncle like this?"
Qi Zhaoyun said earnestly, "This matter cannot be blamed on him. It was Second Uncle and Brother who made things difficult for him first. You also saw it early on: he came to the capital to save the princess. Now that Brother and Second Uncle want to buy Bai Li, how can he tolerate it?"
Qi Zhaoning tore the evening paper in her hand to shreds and said hysterically, "But he's engaged to me! He was flirting with Zhang Xia first, and now he wants to redeem Bai Li in front of the whole capital. When has he ever thought about my situation?"
Qi Zhaoyun sighed and reached out to wipe her tears: "Back when he was at the Fragrant Hills Red Leaf Villa, he specifically sought you out to make you refuse the Chen family's marriage proposal. He had already expressed his feelings then, and you should have pulled back from the brink."
Qi Zhaoning pushed her sister's hand away: "Marriage is arranged by parents and matchmakers. Isn't that how everyone does it? Everyone finds a suitable match, treats each other with respect, and lives happily ever after. Why is he different?"
Qi Zhaoyun looked at her younger sister: "But Zhaoning, if he were like other people, you wouldn't like him either."
Qi Zhaoning said angrily, "I don't care, I will never let him get along with Bai Li."
Qi Zhaoyun gently shook his head: "But your second uncle and brother have already met with misfortune, and you only have 30,000 taels of silver. He still has 200,000 taels, and if you include the Gu Fu Lou, that's 240,000 taels. How can you compare to him?"
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from outside the carriage: "May Miss Qi be well."
Qi Zhaoning lifted the carriage curtain and saw a young scholar standing outside the carriage, who respectfully said, "I can help Miss Qi with her difficulties."
Qi Zhaoning's face immediately turned cold: "Who are you, and how dare you eavesdrop on my conversation with my sister?"
The young scholar politely cupped his hands and said, "Miss Qi, you don't need to care who I am. It doesn't matter who I am. You just need to know that I can help you."
Qi Zhaoning asked warily, "Help me with what?"
The young scholar explained with a smile, "There are plenty of people in this world who don't want Viscount Wu Xiang to have a good life, and my master is the one who most wants him to die a horrible death. You're short of money, but my master happens to have some, which is enough."
At this point, the young scholar took out three strings of Buddhist coins from his pocket: "Viscount Wu Xiang has 200,000 taels of silver in cash and a house and land deed worth 40,000 taels, while I have 500,000 taels of silver here, which is enough to solve your urgent problem."
The young scholar smiled and said, "Miss Qi and Chen Ji are clearly engaged, yet he disregarded the engagement and redeemed a woman from the Jiaofangsi in front of the entire capital. This is simply unacceptable."
Qi Zhaoning stared intently at the Buddhist Coin: "What does your master want? Does he want a white carp?"
The young scholar gently shook his head: "My master only hopes that Viscount Wu Xiang is unhappy. As long as he is unhappy, my master is happy. So my master has no other requests. He only hopes that Miss Qi will give the white carp away after she buys it. She can give it to your brother or your second uncle, it's fine."
Qi Zhaoning was tempted. She silently looked at the Buddhist coin in the other person's hand, lost in thought.
Just then, Qi Zhaoyun suddenly said, "I've seen you before."
The young scholar was somewhat surprised: "Have you met me before?"
Qi Zhaoyun said with certainty, "During the spring hunt at Xiangshan in the thirty-first year of the Jianing era, you were by Liao Zhong's side. You are the Crown Prince's man, right? I remember your surname is... Zeng. There are rumors that you are the Crown Prince's pageboy!"
The young scholar was silent for a moment, then smiled again. He did not answer Qi Zhaoyun, but looked at Qi Zhaoning: "Third Miss Qi, do you intend to watch Viscount Wu Xiang redeem Bai Li in front of the people of the capital? Now Chen Ji has had his Plum Blossom Ferry and salt permit businesses taken away by His Majesty in front of the emperor, and even the evening newspaper has been taken away. If he can't even save Bai Li, then he will have nothing left. Just thinking about it makes me feel wonderful."
Qi Zhaoyun advised from the side, "Zhaoning, don't listen to him. Don't go to the brothel. Leave some room for Chen Ji."
But Qi Zhaoning seemed to have made up her mind, taking the Buddhist coin from the young scholar's hand: "No, I want him to have to come begging to me if he wants to see Bai Li in the future! Whether he can see Bai Li or not is up to me!"
Qi Zhaoyun said urgently, "Zhaoning, my Qi family is already in the eye of the storm. If you spend hundreds of thousands of taels to buy Bai Li from the Jiaofangsi, what will the people think of my Qi family?"
Qi Zhaoning looked at her sister in the dimly lit carriage: "Sister, I can't care about anything else. They have the years and years of hard work, the White Tiger Hall, and the life-or-death struggles, but I have nothing. I'm not reconciled!"
After saying that, Qi Zhaoning climbed out of the carriage.
Qi Zhaoyun tried to pull her up, but missed. He could only watch as Qi Zhaoning's back walked straight through the bustling crowd toward the Jiaofangsi.
Someone in the crowd recognized Qi Zhaoning and exclaimed, "The third young lady of the Qi family is here! She's going to the brothel... Where is Viscount Wu Xiang? Why hasn't he returned yet?"
The young scholar who had delivered the Buddhist talisman turned and disappeared into the crowd. (End of Chapter)