Chapter 322

Su Qiao, whose head had previously been in a daze, suddenly had his eyes light up and tremble.

"Your Majesty, this humble minister now wishes to catch up on sleep; I fear I will have no money to visit the brothels when I wake in the evening."

Wang Chengen: "……Su my lord"

Inside the chat group:

Emperor Taizu: "Give it to him!"

Emperor Chengzu Wen: "……"

……

Zhu Youjian: "……".

178, Su Qiao: Spent it all!

Wang Chengen was also somewhat dumbfounded, "Your Majesty……"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand dismissively and said: "Su, my beloved minister, is a talented and youthful scholar; with beauties adding fragrance to his red sleeves, if he truly finds someone compatible, it might become a fine tale. What is a little reward of silver to the Emperor?"

Wang Chengen thought for a moment and felt that his own Emperor spoke with reason.

Su Qiao has established such Great merit; he merely wishes to visit the brothels to see the flowery world.

Although I, this eunuch, do not crave beauty and have no longer that root of trouble,

yet Su my lord is still young, at the age when one admires beauty.

Hmm, give it, then give it.

"Here!"

Thus Wang Chengen decisively agreed, took a handful of banknotes from his robe, and began counting a few for Su Qiao.

Would Su Qiao let him count them?

He went straight up and grabbed them all, "Since it is a reward from Your Majesty, then this subject will not be polite."

"Hey, hey, Su my lord, these banknotes……"

Wang Chengen was somewhat dumbfounded, his eyes bulging, reaching out his hand to grab them back.

Su Qiao simply turned his body slightly and dodged past.

"The banknotes are enough; no need to give more. Thank Your Majesty for your generosity."

Saying this, he stuffed the whole stack of banknotes into his robe.

Zhu Youjian did not know the denomination of the banknotes and thought Wang Chengen was being petty.

Helping Su Qiao block him, he said, "Enough, it is late; let Su Qing rest early. We will go stroll in the West City."

Wang Chengen wanted to say something but could not get the words out.

After Zhu Youjian and his servant left, Su Qiao's face showed an expression of surprise.

Just now I could not check; now that they are gone, I must quickly see how much money there is.

Taking out the stack of banknotes from his robe, Su Qiao instantly drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

"F***! This grab really was a big one!"

Looking down, this stack contained over a dozen banknotes; not a single one was below five hundred taels, all being denominations of one or two thousand taels and five hundred taels.

A rough calculation came to one hundred and ten thousand taels of silver.

'Ah, I've struck it rich, I've struck it rich!"

Although this was not Su Qiao's first time "suddenly becoming rich," he was equally very happy.

Tonight, the small money for Yi Hong Lou is secured.

Tonight, buy a bowl of wonton, pour a bowl of wonton!

Just like that, go to sleep!

……

When noon arrived,

Zhu Youjian and his servant, feeling hungry, chose a restaurant quite famous within Jingcheng, Yi Pin Lou, and ordered a table full of fine wine and dishes.

Having "simply" eaten a bite, Zhu Youjian stood up and was about to leave.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, wait first!"

Wang Chengen's face looked very bad; he quickly stood up and grabbed Zhu Youjian's sleeve.

"What is wrong?"

Zhu Youjian, not knowing what was wrong with Wang Chengen, stopped his steps, somewhat impatient.

Wang Chengen's heart was in a panic; he spoke very awkwardly: "Your Majesty, that, we have no money to pay the bill."

"What?"

Zhu Youjian suspected his ears had gone wrong.

"No money, Your Majesty!"

Wang Chengen could already imagine that he would definitely be severely scolded in the end.

That was still better than his own Emperor being detained by the restaurant and losing face.

Thinking this, he simply gave up and broke the jar.

Biting his teeth and closing his eyes, "Your Majesty, I mean we have no money to pay for the meal."

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian was stunned, "That's not right; I remember before we came out this morning, did I not tell you to take quite a lot of money from the Inner Treasury?"

"Yes, this servant was also worried the money would not be enough in the morning, so I specially took out fifteen thousand taels of banknotes; even if Your Majesty bought this restaurant, it would be enough. But were you not at Mr. Su's home earlier?"

"What does that have to do with him?"

Zhu Youjian was somewhat dazed.

"How is there no relation? Mr. Su said he had no money to go to the brothels at night and asked you for it. You said you would reward him. I took out the banknotes, and Mr. Su snatched them all at once."

Wang Chengen felt deeply aggrieved.

Prompted by his reminder, Zhu Youjian also recalled that Su Qiao seemed to have had this visual exchange with Wang Chengen that morning.

Hmm, it seemed he had even helped block it.

"Don't tell me those banknotes are all the assets you have?"

Zhu Youjian asked tentatively.

Wang Chengen nodded. "That's right. There are banknotes totaling one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. Early this morning, just after you left the palace, you said you wanted to buy a residence outside; that cost forty thousand taels. I had the servants handle it. The remaining one hundred and ten thousand taels in banknotes were snatched away by Mr. Su."

Zhu Youjian: "..."

"Which brothel exactly is Su Qiao going to, and what woman is he seeing that costs over one hundred thousand taels of silver? Is it made of gold?"

Embarrassed, Zhu Youjian stamped his feet, then sat down again in a rage, picked up the teacup on the table, and drained all the tea in one gulp.

Wang Chengen, as ever, was a devoted personal attendant; he had arranged everything, big and small, with perfect clarity.

After learning before the morning court that Your Majesty intended to leave the palace in plain clothes, he had already dispatched numerous people to inquire about the situation in Jingcheng.

He had also learned of the news that Liu Rushi, one of the courtesans of Qinhuaihe, had entered the capital.

So now he took the opportunity to inform Zhu Youjian.

"Is this Liu Rushi truly that beautiful? How does she compare to my harem?"

Had Wang Chengen not spoken, nothing would have happened; but by speaking, he had instead sparked Zhu Youjian's interest.

He could recite Xin Qiji's "He Xin Lang" as well, and since Su Qiao was going to see her, he wanted to go too.

Upon hearing these words from his own sovereign, Wang Chengen's heart trembled instantly.

He thought inwardly: "Disaster! Now that I've piqued Your Majesty's interest, if the noble ladies of the harem or the hundred officials and scholars of the court find out, I will surely be infamous for ten thousand generations!"

He gritted his teeth, his eyes darted, and he said:

"Your Majesty, although Liu Rushi has a famous reputation for beauty, she is after all a low-born woman from the filthy world of courtesans; how could she possibly compare to the noble ladies of the harem?"

"I asked whether she is beautiful or not; why are you talking about status?"

Zhu Youjian was no longer easily fooled and immediately exposed Wang Chengen's attempt to shift the concept.

"Your Majesty..."

"Enough, you need not say more. Quickly send someone to bring the money, settle the bill, and let us return directly to the palace. Tonight, that Liu Rushi will come out, correct? Tonight we shall go see her as well."

Having finished speaking, Zhu Youjian drove Wang Chengen out.

After Wang Chengen exited the private room, he reached out and slapped himself hard across the face.

"You had to open your mouth and chatter! What now? If this news leaks and others learn that I, your servant, led Your Majesty to a brothel, they might well dig up my ancestors' graves!"

The more he thought, the more worried he became; with a mournful face, he found the guards hidden in the shadows and ordered them to deliver the money.

He himself sat alone at the corner of the staircase, looking utterly conflicted.