Chapter 199: There Are No Secrets in the Marquis Prefecture

Chen Guanlou returned home, and Sister Chunxiang greeted him to drink some dough-drop soup. He was polite for a moment, picked up the bowl, and started drinking. The politeness only stopped at his mouth.

He took a string of coins to Dawang and asked Dawang to go to the end of the alley to buy a pound of spiced beef.

Sister Chunxiang was worried—not about Dawang's safety, but about the boy spending money recklessly. "Buy the spiced beef and come back, do you hear me?"

Dawang promised crisply, his feet moving fast, as if he were stepping on wind-fire wheels.

"Did Brother Qian go out again?" Chen Guanlou asked casually.

Sister Chunxiang's husband, Qian Youli, worked in a security firm and often went out to escort goods.

"He left early this morning, going west. This trip will take more than a month to go and return." Sister Chunxiang picked up a towel and patted the dust off her body.

For more than ten days, the big sun had been shining, and the yellow earth street was scorched hot. With people coming and going, and carts coming and going, dust was flying. Every day when he went out, he brought a body full of dust home.

"The security firm's business is good."

"Since the war in Jinzhou ended, there have been many merchants transporting goods. Worried that the road might not be peaceful, the security firm's business has indeed been very good recently. On this trip, a total of ten merchants are traveling together; if it goes smoothly, they can earn a little."

Chen Guanlou drank the dough-drop soup. "So, Jinzhou is recovering very quickly?"

"I don't know about that. I'm just a woman; if it weren't for the war in Jinzhou, I wouldn't even know which direction Jinzhou is in." Sister Chunxiang said with a smile.

Jinzhou urgently needed to restore production. With the war subsided and goods circulating, as long as there were no more waves, and the imperial court provided sufficient tax exemption policies, he believed it would recover its vitality in a few years.

Dawang came back carrying the oil-paper-wrapped spiced beef. He rewarded himself with a lollipop. Seeing this, Sister Chunxiang picked up a broom and hit him.

"You bastard, that was Lou Ge'er's money, and you dare to spend it recklessly."

Dawang threw the spiced beef and ran around the courtyard. While running, he licked the lollipop and said very cheaply, "Can't hit me, can't hit me."

Really cheap! Really asking for a beating!

Chen Guanlou:...

He sat on the bamboo chair and watched happily, absolutely not intervening, nor pleading for Dawang.

He asked Erwang to set the table, poured the spiced beef onto the plate, and then greeted Sister Chunxiang to eat.

Sister Chunxiang ran around the courtyard a few times, but couldn't even touch Dawang's butt. She was panting with exhaustion. "You stinking boy, sooner or later I'll clean you up. If you have the guts, don't come back. Lou Ge'er, Dawang is ignorant, that money..."

"It's fine. The extra money was originally given to Dawang as a running fee."

"What running fee? It's only a few steps. The stinking boy is getting bigger, and I can't control him. He was better when his father was at home. When he's not at home, the person is like a wild horse that has broken its reins. I don't worry about anything else, just that he'll learn bad things from those green-skinned hooligans outside."

"Then let him learn a craft."

"He can't settle down; whatever he learns is three days of fishing and two days of drying nets."

"How about I ask him tomorrow what Dawang actually wants to do."

"That would be great! His father and I talk to him, but he won't listen. I'm finding him more and more unpleasant to the eye; he's not steady at all. I don't know whose temper he inherited."

Chen Guanlou laughed.

Actually, a temper like Dawang's—jumping around—was suitable for being a helper in the government office or a constable. He was familiar with the ways of the street, and it was very convenient to inquire about news.

Since Pan Niangzi left, Chen Ergou's courtyard had been vacant for a period of time, and later it was rented to a cloth merchant. Chen Guanlou even bought a few bolts of cloth and made a few sets of clothes.

The cloth merchant's price was fair, cheaper than the price in the cloth shops outside. The surrounding neighbors were greedy for cheapness and were willing to take care of the cloth merchant's business.

The cloth merchant didn't dislike small deals either; as long as someone came to the door to buy cloth, he would let the clerk come out to entertain them.

It could be seen that the cloth merchant deeply understood the importance of maintaining good neighborly relations.

This wasn't it—the Marquis Prefecture was holding a banquet and needed top-tier cloth. Someone recommended the cloth merchant.

Relying on his shrewd brain and long-sleeved dancing social skills, the cloth merchant successfully hooked up with the Marquis Prefecture, so happy that his mouth couldn't close. He really didn't expect that renting in the back alley of the Marquis Prefecture would have such benefits; it was simply a pie falling from the sky.

Sister Chunxiang was envious. "People who do business are shrewd."

Chen Guanlou said, "Opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared. By maintaining good relations with neighbors and making wide connections on ordinary days, can one hook up with the Marquis Prefecture's relationship."

"I don't know how much money he earned this time." Sister Chunxiang muttered.

"How much he earns is his ability." Chen Guanlou smiled.

"Seeing others earn money, you are quite open-minded."

"What do I have to be closed-minded about? Boss Qu is still very good as a person. With such a big deal, I haven't seen him look down on the surrounding neighbors. With such a big deal, renting Chen Ergou's courtyard, it can be seen that he is a person who calculates carefully. But he is not stingy as a person; when everyone goes to buy cloth, he gives the discount he should give, and he wipes off the zero he should wipe off. He deserves to earn money."

Sister Chunxiang was stunned for a moment, seemingly understanding, and nodded in agreement. "There's some truth to it. Boss Qu, if nothing else, is quite generous as a person. Two days ago, I went to him to get some scraps of cloth, and he didn't charge me money."

"Right! People earn money for a reason. The Marquis Prefecture is willing to do business with him—that's his ability. There are so many cloth shops in the capital; why did the Marquis Prefecture take a fancy to the newly arrived Boss Qu? It couldn't just be based on a recommendation from the manager below to finalize the deal. The Second Young Mistress is not an easy person to fool." Chen Guanlou said.

"Boss Qu must have given the Second Young Mistress a lot of benefits." Sister Chunxiang was certain.

Chen Guanlou smiled. "Whether he gave the Second Young Mistress benefits or not, let it be. I heard that the Second Mistress's niece, the one who was slept with last year, was said to have been lifted into the Jin Prince's Mansion. Is this true?"

He asked very gossipy.

On the way back, he met Chen Guanqing. He heard this from Chen Guanqing.

It was said that for this niece, the Second Mistress lost a lot of face. She borrowed the Master's face to send her niece into the Jin Prince's Mansion.

It was clear that the Jin Prince's Mansion didn't want to acknowledge it at all before. Not splashing dirty water on the girl's head to ruin her reputation was already showing mercy. Yet she still dreamed of entering the Jin Prince's Mansion—the Jin Prince's Mansion wasn't a brothel where one could enter if one wanted to. If they took in every woman they slept with, the Jin Prince's Mansion would have been filled with women long ago.

This matter was too embarrassing.

A yellow-flower maiden was slept with, and the man just patted his butt and left, not intending to take responsibility at all. This matter dragged on, and the Second Mistress lost a lot of face, being laughed at when she went out to socialize. They laughed at her family's bad family style, laughed at her niece being unwanted, and laughed at her family's decline—today is not as good as the past. If it were twenty years ago, the Jin Prince's Mansion wouldn't have acted like this.

It wasn't until the Master returned to the capital that the Second Mistress pulled the tiger skin as a banner and shook again.

Borrowing the Master's face, she forced the Jin Prince's Mansion to take the person back, and the matter finally had a result.

Sister Chunxiang often entered and exited the Marquis Prefecture's backyard to do short-term work, and she knew a lot about the Marquis Prefecture's inner courtyard affairs.

"Who did you hear that from? I thought no one outside knew. The Second Mistress had long since issued a gag order, not allowing anyone to mention this matter. Her niece entering the Jin Prince's Mansion was done quietly, and no one was alarmed. It was only when Old Woman Wei let it slip that I knew. I didn't expect it to have already spread outside."

"The Marquis Prefecture has no secrets. With such a big thing, how could it be hidden from people? The Second Mistress is naive." ===== CHAPTER 200 =====