Chapter 246: A Little Gossip

"Arrogant and conceited, looking down on everyone—that was Yu Zhaoan before he went to the Imperial Prison."

Chen Guanlou almost slipped up and said 'before Yu Zhaoan broke his leg.' Fortunately, he was quick-witted and decisively changed his words to 'before he went to the Imperial Prison' as the words reached his lips.

Talking about a broken leg in front of a cripple was suspected of picking at scars.

The eldest son 'hmm'd, and glanced at Chen Guanlou with profound meaning, "Listening to you, it seems Yu Zhaoan has changed after returning to the Heavenly Prison."

"The change is huge! He is willing to put down his status, can bend and stretch, and it can be seen that he has let go of his reputation and past; he wants more real and tangible benefits."

"About the same as I guessed."

The eldest son pondered for a moment and asked again:

"Has he ever said specifically what he wants to do?"

"He said he wants to please the Emperor, and even replace Jiang Tu. He believes that those who do big things should not be constrained by small details," Chen Guanlou said slowly.

Hearing this, the eldest son immediately laughed.

"Not being constrained by small details is good!" He seemed to have thought of something interesting, and after a moment, he suddenly asked: "I heard Yu Zhaoan values you quite a bit. He is now smooth in his official career; would you be willing to work beside him?"

Huh?

Chen Guanlou was surprised; was this a test, or did the eldest son originally intend to do so?

He pondered for a moment and decided to tell the truth, "Reporting to the eldest son, nephew is doing quite well in the Heavenly Prison right now."

"You don't want to work beside him; do you have any concerns?" the eldest son asked curiously.

Chen Guanlou thought about it and simply said: "Yu Zhaoan is not an easy person to get along with. Nephew only seeks freedom and doesn't want to be restrained by others."

"Oh!" The eldest son looked at Chen Guanlou twice more, "It seems you are indeed like a fish in water in the Heavenly Prison. This matter is not forced; don't take it to heart."

After saying that, he picked up the teacup.

Chen Guanlou took his leave tactfully.

In the study, the head steward looked at the eldest son, listening to the instructions.

The eldest son put down the teacup and said slowly: "Since Yu Zhaoan wants to go to the northwest to take charge of civil affairs, he can be fulfilled."

"Ah?" The head steward was very surprised, "Yu Zhaoan won't let go of power, and his work style has always been tough."

"It's just that we need someone like him to stimulate that land. The ground is too hard and has all condensed into a ball; we need a sharp hoe to dig the ground."

"Is the Marquis not worried that he will become an obstacle?"

"I'm not afraid of him becoming an obstacle, and I even hope he becomes an obstacle. Besides Jiang Tu, the imperial court needs another target, an indestructible target. Yu Zhaoan is very suitable. Presumably, he himself has this realization. He wants benefits, so give him benefits. I'm very curious how far he can go."

The eldest son laughed, a complete old fox.

After Chen Guanlou left the Marquis's mansion, he went to find Master Du for a drink.

Since the Dongzhou civil unrest began, the clan school opened smoothly. The days of teaching every day made Master Du very satisfied; he didn't eat for nothing and felt at ease in his heart.

As soon as the two met, without waiting for the other to ask, Chen Guanlou took the initiative to talk about the meeting, "The eldest son asked me about Yu Zhaoan's situation. Yu Zhaoan seems to be very popular recently!"

"Just this?"

"Yes, just this. We chatted for a few sentences and then I came out. I feel the eldest son already had the answer and was just verifying it with me."

"Why would the eldest son care about Yu Zhaoan?"

"Not clear. Presumably it has something to do with the rebels in Jin and Ping prefectures. As for things in the imperial court, we small people are all late to know and can only be hindsight. The eldest son is at the center and must have inside information."

Chen Guanlou invited Master Du to drink together and talked about the recent bad business. The prisoners in the Heavenly Prison either didn't lack money, or were forgotten by the above and didn't need to spend money to handle things for the time being, or were poor capital officials. Chen Guanlou's antique and calligraphy business had been interrupted for a long time.

A while ago, he met Shopkeeper Li of Sitong, who seemed to have stood up again and wanted to do the business of stealing treasures from the imperial palace. Of course, the other party said it very subtly; he couldn't report to the official because of this and let Qi Wuxiu take the Embroidered Uniform Guard to clean up the other party.

Fortunately, he and Master Du both had the habit of saving, and they didn't lack money to spend for the time being.

Big spenders like Liu Daowen were rare and hard to find!

After drinking, facing the autumn wind, he went home.

Just as he arrived home, he saw a two-person soft sedan chair parked at the gate of Chen Ergou's courtyard opposite. A small woman got off the sedan chair, her figure weak, and walked into Chen Ergou's courtyard supported by a little maid.

Cloth merchant Boss Qu still rented in Chen Ergou's courtyard; was this small woman here to buy cloth?

Two days later, he heard people say that there was an extra woman beside Boss Qu. Boss Qu seemed to intend to set up a wine and introduce the woman beside him to the neighbors.

Chen Guanlou's gossip heart arose, and he ran to Sister Chunxiang's house to eat a noodle cake and ask about the situation opposite, "Is Boss Qu planning to take a concubine?"

Could it be that small woman from that day?

Sister Chunxiang's news was indeed well-informed, "I asked, Boss Qu's country wife died a few years ago, and there has never been a proper woman beside him. This time, he is preparing to remarry, not take a concubine."

"Ah? Since it's a remarriage, and they haven't officially set up a wine, they are living together?"

Is it so unparticular these days?

"The woman's situation is a bit special, it seems to be..." Sister Chunxiang hesitated for a moment before saying: "I heard people say it's the family member of a disgraced official."

Huh?

He was familiar with this!

Chen Guanlou pressed, "Tell me the specific situation."

"How would I know. As the saying goes, family ugliness should not be publicized; people are tight-lipped, and I can't get to the bottom of it. Neighbors and streets, we still have to deal with each other in the future, it's not good to be so direct. Boss Qu is quite good, his business is so big, he really needs a woman to take care of him. Before, there were matchmakers who introduced him to marriage, but he didn't look at any of them. I didn't expect that he would finally fancy a disgraced official's family member; I don't know how beautiful she is, to hook Boss Qu's soul."

Chen Guanlou recalled that back, it was indeed a beauty just looking at the back. It's just that I don't know if the front is worthy of such a beautiful back.

"When will the wine be set up? If I have time, I will also ask for a cup of wine to drink."

"Someone is looking at the date, presumably there will be news in two days."

"That's good."

On the day Boss Qu set up the wine, there was something in the Heavenly Prison, and Chen Guanlou didn't drink the wedding wine. A disgraced official vomited and had diarrhea, suspected of food poisoning, and the Heavenly Prison was like facing a great enemy. After checking for a long time, it turned out that the disgraced official himself couldn't figure it out and wanted to commit suicide.

By the time he returned home, the banquet opposite had long ended.

It was a pity not to see Boss Qu's wife, but he also had good news. The third chapter of "Ascension Record" was cultivated to the later stage of perfection, very smooth and silky, and entered the fourth chapter without any obstacles.

Suddenly, he felt that the big knife in his hand was a bit redundant. His understanding of sword techniques reached a higher level. With no sword in hand, there is a sword in the heart, truly achieving that everything can be a sword, and flying flowers and falling leaves are swords everywhere. ===== CHAPTER 247 =====