Chapter 319: Future Father-in-Law, Please Accept a Bow from Your Humble Son-in-Law

"How much money?" Zhong Zhong Susu chose to compromise.

"One hundred thousand!" Zhang Zhang Yushi opened with an outrageous price.

"Father, have you lost your mind? Carrying that much money on you at once — aren't you afraid of being taken for a fat sheep and slaughtered on the road? No, no, that much money is a disaster, the whole family will be dragged down by you."

Zhang Zhang Yushi considered carefully — what his daughter said did seem to make sense. He was currently on the fringes of officialdom, and on the whole, the people around him still played by the rules.

Once he left Jingcheng, he would be leaving the zone where rules held sway; counting on others to play by the rules would be naive.

The human heart is mad, and it is vicious. In the face of money and wealth, what benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, what loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness, what reason and rules — none of it works. Only the knife works.

Gleaming white silver is the root of disaster and trouble. One slash to slaughter the whole Zhong family, report it as death by plague, then spend a little silver to seal mouths, and the matter can be muddled through.

He was the River Inspector — he had seen too much of the darkness of human nature.

Jingcheng was still relatively decent, after all it was right beneath the Son of Heaven's feet, and one had to maintain the Son of Heaven's dignity. With some fear of the Brocade Guards, everyone kept up appearances, and on the whole still played by the rules. Outrageous things did happen, but never brazenly — at the very least, some attention was paid to propriety and decorum.

For example, when Chen Chen Guanlou saved Zhong Zhong Susu, at the very least Clerk Hu put on a show of locking Zhong Zhong Susu up in the female prisoners' section, to shut other people's mouths. Only after all the procedures were walked through would he release her.

Outside Jingcheng, it really was a chaotic mix of dragons and snakes — people who wanted money more than life. All manner of rule-breaking, all manner of outrageous deeds, far more of them. The more remote the place, the higher the probability of absurd things happening.

The world called him black-hearted and ruthless, accused him of ruining countless families and staining his hands with countless lives. What they did not know was that many of those lives were given willingly — the victims gladly traded their own lives for money to change their families' circumstances.

He truly wasn't defending himself — this was fact. Absurd reality. Hard to imagine from within Jingcheng, but out in the provinces, especially in poor regions, all manner of bottom-crossing absurd realities played out every single day.

He didn't want the victim's life, yet the victim would be so disappointed as to wail and cry — his own life was worthless! If only an official lord would so much as glance at him, it would mean his life was worth something, that it could be exchanged for money.

In many people's eyes, a life being worth money mattered more than being alive!

Jingcheng officials could not understand why the common folk in the provinces rebelled. Zhang Zhang Yushi had spent years in the provinces, spent years dealing with the rivers — he understood all too well why the common folk rebelled.

For now it was only a few prefectures that had bandits.

If things kept going like this, it was only a matter of time before commoners across the whole realm rose in revolt.

Jingcheng was the sole exception under heaven. The old Emperor had standards, and in ordinary times did not bring disaster upon Jingcheng — the lives of Jingcheng's citizens were a hundred times better than those of the provincial populace.

The one time disaster struck — the deposed Crown Prince's coup — the greatest impact on Jingcheng's citizens was rising prices, rising grain prices. Jingcheng's citizens howled about it, cursing the old Emperor as a fool.

That was nothing!

Go take a look out in the provinces — compared to the poverty of the common folk there, this bit of price inflation was the very picture of not knowing one's own blessings.

This exile, three thousand li of road — who knew how many dangers they would encounter. Money was indispensable, but it could not be too much.

Zhang Zhang Yushi gritted his teeth. "Give me ten thousand taels first. Once I've settled in, send the rest over. You should understand — whether the whole family survives, whether we avoid being used as cannon fodder, depends entirely on how much sincerity you can show.

If you deliberately delay, the whole family will be killed by you. Your sisters will be violated, tossed into a ditch like rubbish. Your brothers will be beheaded, not even an intact corpse left. The Zhong line will be cut off from that day forth. You are a daughter of the Zhong family — you cannot be heartless!"

Exile was only the appetizer; the real test came after reaching the place of exile. Dealing with those soldier ruffians, Zhang Zhang Yushi truly had no good method — only silver could smooth the way.

"Ten thousand taels is too much. Father has lived in wealth and honor for years — you seem to have a tremendous misunderstanding of ordinary people's prices."

Chen Chen Guanlou next door, hearing this line, spat out his tea on the spot. Zhong Zhong Susu, who didn't understand real prices herself — how did she have the nerve to lecture Zhang Zhang Yushi on not understanding prices?

"Ten taels of silver is enough for a family of five or six to live an entire year — that is the real price. Ten thousand taels — forget the Yamen Runners getting murderous thoughts, even villagers in passing villages would get murderous thoughts. For the family's safety, five hundred taels is plenty."

"Five hundred taels, my foot!" Zhang Zhang Yushi was furious. "Don't drag prices into this. At least five thousand taels. Less than that and your father's heart won't rest easy."

Money emboldens a man.

Zhang Zhang Yushi's safety baseline was five thousand taels. Less than five thousand and he felt practically bankrupt, panicked beyond measure.

Zhong Zhong Susu was quite dissatisfied: "How about this — convert part of it into jewelry to carry on your person, it won't draw attention. And many people don't really know the value of jewelry, so you can fool them completely. Then prepare a thousand taels in small-denomination banknotes, a few dozen taels in loose silver, and ten-odd taels in copper coins. How about it?"

"My daughter thinks things through thoroughly. We really can't carry too many banknotes on us. We'll do it your way. Hurry — get it done today. Tomorrow the whole family goes into exile, and who knows when we'll see each other again." Speaking to the emotional part, Zhang Zhang Yushi actually squeezed out a few tears, putting up the image of a loving father.

Zhong Zhong Susu hesitated a moment. "Father, rest assured. Once I'm free, I will find a way to send you money and goods, and make sure to preserve the whole family's lives. When the day comes that a general amnesty is granted, there will still be a chance to come back."

"Hard!" Zhang Zhang Yushi wiped his tears, his heart aching, and for once spoke a few words from the heart. "Too many people find your father an eyesore, wishing I would die on the road to exile. Don't forget — hire a few good men from the thug agency to secretly escort us.

From now on, stay by Chen Chen Guanlou's side, live your life well, don't go thinking wild thoughts. Even if your heart is unwilling, this is your fate. Compared to your sisters, you are already the lucky one.

Chen Chen Guanlou may be of low status, but at least he's read books and knows propriety. Behind him stands the Hou Fu. Once you enter the Chen family, remember to visit the Hou Fu often, and get along well with the Ladies and young madams of the Hou Fu. In the future, the whole family may still have to rely on the Hou Fu's connections to get free."

Chen Chen Guanlou in the next room was in an excellent mood at this moment. His bargain father-in-law, despite his many flaws, was very responsible when it came to guiding his daughter. As for talk of getting along with the Hou Fu and using it for the Zhong family — he automatically blocked it out, pretending he hadn't heard.

Such a fine father-in-law — the daughter he raised couldn't be too bad, surely she'd be a virtuous sort.

The joy in his heart!

Originally he had only meant to take a concubine, but now the thought of formally taking a wife had sprouted. Zhong Zhong Susu as the principal wife — quite suitable indeed.