Chapter 315: What a Beautiful and Clever Young Miss

On a day with gentle breeze and bright sunshine, Chen Chen Guanlou sat in a second-floor teahouse drinking tea, having ordered a whole table of pastries.

The second floor overlooked the main street through its windows.

A woman wearing a veiled hat walked into the teahouse.

After a while, the woman went up to the second floor, knocked and pushed open the door to the private room, and upon clearly seeing the appearance of the man by the window, removed her veiled hat, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face.

Chen Chen Guanlou looked at her and invited her in an unhurried tone, "Miss Zhong, please sit."

"You knew I would come? Weren't you worried I couldn't get out?" Zhong Zhong Susu sat down across from Chen Chen Guanlou.

Chen Chen Guanlou chuckled softly, "Zhang Zhang Yushi disregards his own son for continuing the family line, disregards the elders in the house, yet alone arranged an escape route for you. I figure, apart from your beauty, you must have other talents. Otherwise, it doesn't add up!"

Today's meeting had been arranged by him.

He had sent word to Zhong Zhong Susu, arranging to meet at the teahouse. He was certain she would come, and she had the ability to evade her family and the watching Yamen Runners.

Sure enough, he had waited, and she came.

He didn't believe Zhang Zhang Yushi had simply, out of pure concern for his eldest daughter's beauty, painstakingly prepared an escape route for her. Beauty is a scarce resource, but for a family in trouble, it is not an essential scarce resource. A son, survival, continuing the family line, even money—all are more important than beauty.

So why Zhong Zhong Susu? She must have something extraordinary about her.

A small test confirmed his guess.

"Greetings, Warden Chen!" Zhong Zhong Susu bent slightly in a bow, "I have already learned the basic situation through my father. May I ask what Warden Chen wishes to know?"

Chen Chen Guanlou rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with great curiosity, "I'm just a minor warden. Zhang Zhang Yushi, in his desperation, found me and wants to entrust you to me. Aren't you surprised? What can a warden possibly do?"

Zhong Zhong Susu pressed her lips together, "Forgive me, before coming I made some discreet inquiries. Warden Chen's words just now are far too modest. You bear the surname Chen, and have the Hou Fu behind you—that alone is a background and network countless people dream of but cannot obtain. Presumably, my father valued precisely this point when entrusting you."

"You believe I can help you?" Chen Chen Guanlou asked.

Zhong Zhong Susu was silent for a moment, then said, "I trust my father."

Chen Chen Guanlou smiled, "Back to the main point—why did Zhang Zhang Yushi alone plan an escape for you? Isn't his own son important? Isn't the family's continuation important? If I can't figure out this question, I wouldn't dare accept Zhang Zhang Yushi's request. No amount of money would change that."

"Does Warden Chen always insist on knowing the cause and effect?" she countered.

Chen Chen Guanlou raised an eyebrow slightly, "Just to be safe, knowing the reason is good for everyone. Zhang Zhang Yushi's case is no small matter—the embezzled amount is enormous, the death toll is high, and many people are watching him.

Though you are a woman, you bear the surname Zhong. Suddenly removing you from the list is no easy feat. To leave no hidden dangers, one must understand the whole story from start to finish and plug every loophole. I imagine you don't want any hidden troubles either, troubles that might affect your future life."

"So you're saying you really do have a way to remove my name from the list?" Zhong Zhong Susu widened a pair of clear, black-and-white, innocent eyes, looking pure and lovely.

Chen Chen Guanlou didn't fall for her act, but couldn't help feeling pleased. Talking with a girl as beautiful as a flower always lifts the spirits.

"Just assume I have that ability." He didn't state it outright—he had to keep something in reserve. He absolutely must not let beauty delay the real business.

Zhong Zhong Susu's eyelashes were very long, black and thick. They trembled slightly, making her eyes especially bright, hiding too many emotions within, and seeming to hide secrets as well.

She picked up her teacup and took an elegant sip. Truly worthy of a lady from a great house, having received top-tier and strict feminine education from childhood—every gesture radiated beauty and poise.

She seemed to be weighing her words.

Chen Chen Guanlou was in no hurry.

Now, as a warden, he could skip work whenever he pleased, and no one cared. Warden Lei usually held meetings only on the first and fifteenth, and on ordinary days was basically nowhere to be seen—either shut away in his office handling Xu Xu Sishi.

"My father doesn't trust outsiders."

Zhong Zhong Susu suddenly spoke, slowly beginning to explain the whole story.

"Our Zhong family rose too late—we have no household-born servants. The servants in the house were all bought halfway, or hired from outside. My father couldn't trust these people, and even less the outside accountants he hired. As for me, I was clever from childhood, learned everything quickly, could draw inferences, and bookkeeping was a breeze. When my father found out, he was delighted, and from then on, I began keeping the books for him."

At this point, Zhong Zhong Susu smiled with self-satisfaction.

She continued, "I taught myself to keep a public ledger while also keeping a private one. After the case broke out, the public ledger was taken by the Six Doors. But I hid the private ledger—under heaven, only I know where it is. Seeing that my father's case is about to be sentenced, there are only two possible outcomes: either the whole family is exiled, or the men are exiled and the women are sent to the Chongru Sect. Neither outcome is one I can accept."

Zhong Zhong Susu suddenly raised her head, "I am sixteen this year, young and beautiful. If exiled, I probably wouldn't survive the journey; even if I did, sooner or later I'd be ruined by the local officials and reduced to a plaything. If sent to the Chongru Sect, the outcome speaks for itself—soon Jingcheng would gain another courtesan with a flowery alias. As a woman, how could I willingly fall into such a fate?"

Speaking of the possible fate ahead, Zhong Zhong Susu was filled with fear and unwillingness.

"I'm unwilling! I absolutely refuse to accept it! So I sent word to my father, telling him he must find a way to help me escape, to remove me from the list—whether of exile or of the Chongru Sect. Otherwise, I'll hand over the private ledger. Once the private ledger is submitted, the whole family will be buried with it. Extermination of the nine clans! Death is better than being humiliated, at least. It's just a pity the Zhong family line will be cut off. Heh heh…"

Zhong Zhong Susu was like a mischievous youth, showing a triumphant smile at her successful scheme.

"Father is afraid! Father fears death—I have always known that. As long as there's a sliver of hope, he won't give up. And I am that sliver of hope. Now that you know the reason, are you still willing to help me escape?"

After hearing her out, Chen Chen Guanlou sighed inwardly. She could have relied on her looks to make a living, yet insisted on talent. Other women—like Pan Pan Niangzi—completely leverage the advantage of being a woman; beauty plus fragility is enough to make ninety-nine percent of men drop their guard and willingly help.

Yet Zhong Zhong Susu refused to. From beginning to end, she never showed the slightest intention of using her beauty to achieve her goal. She relied on sincerity, on talent, on cleverness, playing this life-and-death contest. She fully exploited Zhang Zhang Yushi's fear of death, exploited the world's obsession with continuing the family line, seeking a path to survival in a desperate situation.