Chapter 428: Concubine Hu Ying Meets the Great Official

Old Man Hu was an old man in his fifties, with a face full of wrinkles, a withered and thin figure, wearing a goatee, a fox-fur hat, and a fur robe made of brocade—the attire of a wealthy man. At his age, he could be considered to have lived a long life.

He looked at the letter in his hand, sighed, placed it on the table, and looked at his eldest son on the side: "Go find San Niang."

His father's reaction did not exceed Hu Cheng's expectations at all, because this was a choice that could not be more correct. He nodded, stood up, and went out to instruct a servant to call his little sister.

After a while, a woman with a melon-shaped face, a tall figure, a curvaceous body, wearing a white robe, and with willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix eyes, jumped in. Looking at her father and brother sitting there drinking tea in silence, she asked in confusion: "Father, Brother, why do you seek me?"

Looking at his daughter who was in the dark, Old Man Hu said: "San Niang, you are already eighteen this year. Originally, you were betrothed to Zhu Biao, the third son of the Zhu family, since you were young. What do you think of that Zhu Biao?"

"He's alright. We played together when we were young, and we understand each other, and there is a marriage contract. It's just that I told him that he could only come to marry me when he defeated me. Why, did he see that he was no match for me and is now urging it?"

Hu Cheng took over: "San Niang, it is not the Zhu family urging, but rather another good match."

"Another good match?" Hu San Niang's willow eyebrows furrowed, and her unhappiness was written all over her face: "Brother, let alone how that good match is, our Hu family has long had a marriage contract with the Zhu family. The Zhu family is powerful; if we break the marriage contract and offend the Zhu family, how will our family stand? Wouldn't that be adding a strong enemy for no reason? And if our Hu family breaks the contract and loses faith, how will we stand in the future? Will anyone be willing to associate with our family?"

These words were very reasonable and very considerate of the family. Hu Cheng clapped his hands happily: "San Niang, Father and I are truly happy for you that you can think this way. Your worries were something Father and I had long thought of. All of this must be attributed to the good match we found for you. Have you ever heard of Wang Yan of Yanggu County?"

"That treacherous sycophant whom everyone in the martial arts world wants to kill?"

"You cannot say it like that." Hu Cheng began to excuse his future brother-in-law: "Our Hu family has many dealings with people in the martial arts world, and San Niang, you know those people—they are strong men who would take a person's life at the drop of a hat. They don't talk about doing evil on weekdays, but their hands are certainly stained with the lives of innocent people, and they run around everywhere, looking for free food and drink. Wang Yan is a person who can reach the ears of the Emperor and has deep roots in Yanggu; how could he look favorably upon those strong men? Most of the corvée labor in Yanggu County is done by such people. As time went on, other strong men couldn't take it, and naturally, they ruined his reputation."

"Why did those strong men go there? Wasn't it to find a meal under him? Besides them, many fierce soldiers from the army and people with special skills went to seek refuge. Didn't he accept all those who hadn't committed crimes? He even took care of their families and helped them settle in Yanggu County."

"To call him a treacherous sycophant—Wang Yan is certainly not that kind of person. You haven't been to Yanggu County and don't know what the atmosphere is like there. I have visited it before, and in Yanggu County, Wang Yan has a good reputation. The living conditions of the commoners there are much better than ours. Moreover, Wang Yan's reputation as a good person is not fake; orphans, widows, the old, and the young all have money and grain for relief, and poor students who focus on their studies are also supported by him. Within the entire Yanggu County, there is not a single beggar; everyone has work. Just for these few points, he is a good person with a conscience."

"Speaking of martial arts, Wang Yan's love for martial arts is famous. Didn't the 'Jade Qilin' of Hebei, known as the number one genius in the martial arts world, also lose to Wang Yan? That Wu Song under him, I heard he used to be a rascal who drank and made trouble, and only had a bit of courage. But what about now? Most of the strong men in Yanggu County were captured by him. Wu Song often tells people that his martial arts were guided by Wang Yan. Also, before the Lantern Festival, Wang Yan entered the palace to meet the Emperor and fought bare-handed against the Imperial Bodyguard selected from the eight hundred thousand Imperial Guards, winning easily. If it comes to one-on-one combat, Wang Yan deserves the name of number one in the world."

"Such a good man, San Niang, do you think he is not a good match? If San Niang truly enters his door, then does our Hu family need to fear the Zhu family? At that time, it will be the Zhu family fearing us. And our Hu family's momentum will certainly rise to a higher level; it's not impossible for a few scholars to emerge from our clan, San Niang."

"There is just one point: Wang Yan already has a concubine. Originally, I was prepared to let San Niang marry into the Wang family as the mistress of the house in a grand manner, but Wang Yan actually wants San Niang to be a concubine. Wang Yan is powerful, and we cannot afford to offend him. If we refuse, I fear the Hu family will perish..."

Hearing news that was detrimental to herself, some people would become hysterical, and some would want to rebel, trying their best to restrain themselves. Hu San Niang belonged to the latter. At first, she listened and it was fine, but later she stared at her father and brother with an expressionless face.

First, they praised Wang Yan to the skies, saying he was rare in heaven and hard to find on earth. Then they talked about his immense power, being able to reach the ears of the Emperor, which the Hu family could not compare to. Finally, they said she had to be a concubine, and if she didn't comply, the Hu family would perish, putting pressure on her and forcing her to submit.

"Since you have already discussed it, why ask me? Is it useful for me to say I don't comply?"

She couldn't run away, and she couldn't not comply. Because once she left, what Hu Cheng said would certainly be reality. Not to mention a big shot like Wang Yan, if she broke the marriage with the Zhu family and married into a family with less power, the consequences would be simple: her Hu family and the other family would all be destroyed. This was something any family would do, without exception. Because things like breaking a marriage contract were like being slapped on both sides of the face; if it got out, the family would lose face. If they didn't act, others would look down on them, and their actions would be hindered in many ways because they would be seen as weak and easy to bully.

By the same token, now that Wang Yan wanted her as a concubine, if she didn't comply, or ran away privately, that would be slapping the Wang family in the face, making the Wang family a laughingstock in the mouths of others. How would they walk out in the future? How would the family's children walk out? So there was only one final outcome: there would be no more Hu Family Manor in the future.

Not wanting to bring disaster to her family, she could only comply; there was no room for willfulness, she really had no choice.

Looking at his daughter, whose eyes were filled with tears but who was gritting her teeth to keep from crying, Old Man Hu sighed: "San Niang, I have wronged you..."

Seeing that the matter was a foregone conclusion, Hu Cheng hurriedly put on a smiling face to appease his good little sister who was about to sacrifice herself for the family: "San Niang, you don't need to think too much. Brother didn't lie to you; Wang Yan is indeed a good match. You don't know, his concubine spends her days just strolling around, not suffering in the big mansion. She can go anywhere and buy anything; she is very free. You love martial arts, and Wang Yan also loves martial arts. From my understanding of him, you will certainly be able to practice martial arts as you wish. With his guidance, your martial arts will be able to improve even more."

Hu San Niang didn't pay any attention to this good brother at all, snorted, and turned to leave.

Hu Cheng and his father looked at each other, and the two of them sighed in unison.

It was the same old story: while they were talking to Hu San Niang, they were also convincing themselves, trying their best to think of the good parts and not think of the bad. Because their status was low and their strength was weak, there was no way around it even if it wasn't good; they had no choice...

Yanggu County was only two hundred miles away from Hu Family Manor, and it only took one day for a fast horse to deliver the message. The Hu family responded decisively without dragging their feet. Once confirmed, they immediately sent someone back with a fast horse, so when the Great Official saw the reply, it was only three days since he had returned home.

Wang Fusheng was conscientiously worrying: "Master, the Hu family has responded. What do you think, when should we bring the Sun Erniang over? What should we send as betrothal gifts?"

Jin Lian was a "bonus" sent by the wealthy Zhang, so there was no talk of betrothal gifts; on the contrary, in order to lick the boots of Great Official Wang, the wealthy Zhang even added a lot of dowry for Jin Lian. Now, it wouldn't do for Hu San Niang; after all, she was the daughter of a proper landlord family and was quite pampered. Now that they wanted her as a concubine, not having the three letters and six rites, and an eight-bearer sedan chair, was already bullying her; they absolutely could not be lacking in betrothal gifts.

"Take those things bestowed by the Emperor, and those things we made ourselves, and load them. Find thirty guard brothers to escort the carts and go over to bring the Hu family daughter back." The Great Official pondered: "Also, send a cart of gifts to the Zhu family. After all, I can be considered to be snatching a bride. We cannot bully others; send a cart of gifts to express it. If they are sensible and accept the gifts, then let it be. If they don't accept, then take my name card to the Jizhou Prefectural Office and deal with the Zhu family."

Not sending gifts to the Zhu family was bullying them. Sending gifts to the Zhu family was also bullying them, and bullying them to their faces. Anyway, the evil deeds had already been done, so it wouldn't hurt to be even more evil; after all, they were all great enemies, so he wasn't afraid of being even more so. It was typical robber logic, and he liked it very much.

"Yes, Master. This old servant will personally take Er Lang with me. If the Zhu family is not sensible, we will just wipe them out."

Wang Fusheng also spoke lightly, not taking the Zhu family's three thousand strong men seriously at all. Because those three thousand men didn't dare to move, which meant they were as good as non-existent. Unless the people of Zhu Family Manor made up their minds to go up the mountain and become bandits, if they still wanted to be obedient subjects, they wouldn't dare to move those three thousand men. Moving meant rebellion, and rebellion meant extermination of the clan. If he said they were rebelling, they were rebelling.

Although it was wrong for Liang Shan to slaughter Zhu Family Manor—after all, there were innocent tenant farmers—killing those direct and collateral descendants of the Zhu family was indeed very correct. Landlords of this era didn't need to look at any evidence; killing nine out of ten was certainly no problem. Just like him, Great Official Wang, he had had quite a few lawsuits against him until now, but he had hidden them well. If one were to truly get to the bottom of it, it would be enough to kill him twice. Of course, he hadn't harmed ordinary commoners, but innocent lives were certainly there. Under a collapsed nest, there are no unbroken eggs; it was inevitable to step on two unrelated ordinary people in places that couldn't be seen.

With such thick influence, it would be strange if the Zhu family were clean. And the weapons and armor of those three thousand strong men—there was no way to justify them.

The Great Official waved his hand: "Just do it like that. Pay attention to your own safety, go."

Wang Fusheng bowed and responded nimbly. Turning around, he let out a shout, calling for Wu Song and the guards, and began to harness the horses and carts, open the warehouse to take things and load them. In just a moment, the caravan was ready, and without another word, they set off. At the same time, they sent someone over to give the Hu family a heads-up so they could be prepared.

A caravan of ten carts, with guards numbering far more than thirty—at least double that. Wang Fusheng was still very concerned about his own safety... Those people were all sturdy men with the gait of dragons and tigers, walking with a rhythm that quite matched military regulations. They wore uniform, good-looking, and warm standard winter clothing personally designed by Great Official Wang. Weapons, food, and camping equipment were pulled by extra carts, and they trotted along with the carts into the distance.

The Great Official was not afraid of what others might say; after all, he was a Baozheng and had the responsibility of training local militia. Strictly speaking, these guards could be considered local militia who farmed during the farming season and trained militarily during the slack season, so there was a legitimate reason. One couldn't say that he, Wang Mou, had a problem training local militia well.

On the other hand, he was an Imperial Merchant, and the goods coming and going were quite valuable. It was only right and proper for him to train some local militia to escort the carts and avoid losses. Moreover, there were four thousand Imperial Guards stationed in Yanggu County, and they also escorted carts. After all, all the ruffians in the entire Great Song were thinking about robbing his goods. If they were truly robbed, the one who would lose the most was the Emperor, Zhao Ji, and it would be a direct loss. Therefore, his people mostly appeared together with the Imperial Guards, which was very open and aboveboard, and very safe...

Watching the group go into the distance, the Great Official nodded with satisfaction, turned around, and returned to the room to play with the little one. The little thing could already roll over and was recently learning to crawl, babbling and babbling, never having a moment of rest...

Whether it was the Hu family or the Zhu family, they were ultimately landlord families rooted in the local area, and the first priority was the family. Ultimately, they didn't dare to show off the courage of a mere man. Facing the much larger and more aggressive Wang family, they could only endure it, because they were truly pigs and dogs to be slaughtered.

The Zhu family had long since received the news of the Hu family's situation. Zhu Biao was furious and enraged, and the atmosphere in the Zhu family was also very tense. After all, the Zhu family had stood for many years, and it had always been them bullying others; no one had ever insulted them like this. But their strength was not enough; even with three thousand strong men, they couldn't go up the mountain and become bandits.

Besides the four thousand Imperial Guards in Yanggu County, there were more than twenty thousand Imperial Guards stationed throughout the entire Jingdong West Circuit. In addition, there were officials at all levels, all of whom Wang Yan could influence. They wouldn't be so naive as to think that going up the mountain would be safe.

Don't look at those people on Liang Shan as being quite majestic; that was because they hadn't done anything major. Another thing was that offending the imperial court and offending Wang Yan were two different things. Offending the imperial court, the Imperial Guards might not have combat effectiveness; offending Wang Yan, that combat effectiveness could explode. They understood this principle.

So no matter how unconvinced they were, they could only leave it at that. Facing Wang Fusheng, who had come personally under the guise of sending gifts but in reality to humiliate them, they had to grit their teeth and swallow this breath.

It went very smoothly. The Hu family happily sent away their only daughter, who was secretly shedding tears, and accompanied her with an incredibly generous dowry, as if she were marrying properly. Hu Cheng personally led the family guards to escort the bride, making it very lively.

As for the Zhu family, they were just a bunch of small characters, no need to say more...

The Great Official had taken another concubine; this news naturally spread long ago. Unsurprisingly, it was another grand banquet, and the Great Official invited the entire manor to eat a big meal. This seemed to have become a standard practice: marrying Jin Lian, giving birth to a child, the child's full-month and hundred-day celebrations, New Year's Eve, the Lantern Festival, Qingming, sowing, autumn harvest, the Great Official's promotion, Wu Song's marriage, and the marriages of other major figures in the manor—all were paid for by the Great Official, inviting the entire manor to eat and drink well, several times a year.

Now that the Great Official had taken another concubine, he would certainly have children in the future. The Great Official had long since said that boys and girls were the same, and the school also taught girls to read, so this would be three more meals. The men, women, and children of Wang Family Manor were all happy; when was there ever enough wine and meat?

Coordinating the time for Hu San Niang to enter the door, the women in the manor were busy early in the morning preparing the evening's wine and food, preparing to add joy to the Great Official on the day the Sun Erniang of the Wang family entered the door.

Therefore, Wang Fusheng, Wu Song, and Hu Cheng's group walked through the newly formed streets of the manor, smelling the aroma of wine and food, and went up the slope back to the Wang family mansion.

Wang Fusheng led Wu Song and the others to gather before the Great Official who was waiting at the door, and bowed: "Master, the Sun Erniang has been brought back safely."

Following the old steward's words, Wu Song and the group of guards behind him bowed in unison. The movements were neat and uniform, which made Hu Cheng, who was looking from behind, gasp in admiration.

This was very useless, but it was the rules—the rules of obedience, the rules of respect and inferiority.

The Great Official waved his hand smilingly: "Brothers, you have worked hard. Everyone get up. Hot water has long been boiled; brothers, go wash up and warm yourselves first. Wine and food have been prepared; brothers, eat and drink to your heart's content. The brothers sent by the Hu family are the same; just follow them, everything has been arranged."

The Hu family guards behind looked at each other, and with great tacit understanding, they imitated the appearance of Wu Song and the others just now, thanking the Great Official together, which was very ritualistic.

As the crowd dispersed, Wang Fusheng waved and called Hu Cheng over. As he trotted up, he introduced: "Master, this is the Sun Erniang's eldest brother, Hu Cheng."

"I, Hu Cheng, have met the Great Official."

Wang Yan smilingly helped up Hu Cheng, who was bowing: "Now that your Hu family's little daughter has entered my Wang family's door, speaking of which, you are also my brother-in-law. We are all one family, no need for such courtesy."

"Thank you, Great Official. In my family, there is only this one younger sister, pampered since childhood. Now that she is a concubine to you, Great Official, if there is anything wrong, I hope you will cherish her."

"We have just met, you and I are not yet familiar, there is still a long time, you will understand later." Seeing his fawning expression, Wang Yan patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "Brother-in-law, shouldn't you invite my Sun Erniang out?"

"Oh, Great Official, forgive me, I forgot the main business for a moment, I will call my sister out right now." After speaking, he hurriedly walked to the carriage, called out twice, didn't use the little maid who accompanied her, and put down the carriage stool himself, reaching out to help Hu San Niang, who was poking her head out.

Hu San Niang, dressed in red, lifted the carriage curtain, her phoenix eyes scrutinizing the Great Official, who was standing not far away with his hands behind his back, smiling and looking at her calmly.

The Great Official smiled and raised his eyebrows at her, which counted as a greeting.

This Hu San Niang was worthy of the name of the number one beauty of Liang Shan, with jade-like skin, a hibiscus appearance, and a natural elegance. Her jade hands were slender, her eyes were like autumn waves, and her myriad charms were worth picking. Her powdery face was dusty, and even if her willow eyebrows were slightly furrowed and her apricot eyes were emotionless, it added three parts of gentleness.

Such a beauty, being with a rolling dragon like Wang Ying, was truly a waste. It must be said that Song Jiang was truly not a good person; he killed her entire family, recognized her as a sworn sister, and then gave her to Wang Ying to be ruined—it was too terrible.

However, although Hu San Niang was beautiful, compared to Jin Lian and Shishi, she was indeed three parts inferior. But Hu San Niang had practiced martial arts for years, and compared to the two women, she had a few more parts of heroic spirit. Although she was not as talented and introverted as Shishi, she was better than Jin Lian, who had no culture and only an empty skin, and could be considered a rare beauty in the world.

The first impression felt quite good. Of course, even if it didn't, she couldn't run away. Hu San Niang slapped away Hu Cheng's hand that was trying to help her, not wanting to see him. She jumped off the carriage lightly, walked a few steps to the Great Official, bowed gracefully, and said: "Concubine Hu Ying, has met... Da Guanren!"

The two words "Da Guanren" were said almost through gritted teeth; she was not used to it. But since she had come, she had to call him that. Of course, it could also be considered as expressing her dissatisfaction through her discomfort. She didn't dare to show her dissatisfaction openly.

It was just a little girl acting willful. The Great Official naturally didn't care. He responded, turned around, called a little maid over, and instructed her to take Hu San Niang to wash up and eat, and after she had finished drinking, he would favor her...

---Author's Note---

Thanks to (Fei Fei Fei Fei Lai Le) for the 5000-coin tip for continued support.

Thanks to (No1 Wuliang Tianzun) for the 500-coin tip for continued support.

Thanks to (brokensword), (Xiao Cheng Xiao Ren), (Tang Song Yuan), and (Crown Prince Xiu) for their continued support.

Daily thanks to the good brothers who voted for monthly tickets.

Thanks to all the brothers who voted for recommendations.

Thanks to the brothers who read silently for their support. ===== CHAPTER 429 =====