Chapter 370: Chen Yuanyuan

Tian Hongyu had entered the palace so early precisely because of the matter just mentioned.

In order to secure his daughter's favor with the Emperor, Old Tian had gone to great lengths this time. His eldest son Tian Wan had stirred up no small commotion in the Suzhou area, and although he had obtained a peerless beauty, Old Tian also feared this would bring considerable criticism upon his cheap son-in-law.

In the first half of this year, Tian Hongyu happened to hear that Empress Zhou and his own daughter were not on good terms. Tian Hongyu was very worried that his daughter's silent and stubborn nature would cause a falling-out with the legitimate consort, and that this would lead the Emperor to grow weary of her, dragging the entire Tian family into the fallout.

After much deliberation, Tian Hongyu decided to send his eldest son Tian Wan south with a large sum of money, to find a stunning beauty in the Jiangnan region and bring her back. She would then be raised in the household for several years, and finally, under the guise of an adopted daughter, an opportunity would be found to send her into the palace to help secure his own daughter's position.

In his early years, when Tian Hongyu served as Battalion Commander in Yangzhou, he had already become famous for his skill in commerce, and the Tian family lived quite prosperously.

Ever since his daughter married into the Prince Xin Residence as a secondary consort, and after Zhu Youjian ascended the throne she was titled Noble Consort, the Tian family moved their entire household to the capital, and their business interests extended from south to north.

In recent years, with the situation improving greatly, Zhu Youjian had also been generous with rewards to his consorts' families, allowing them to participate in some of the businesses of the Four Seas Trading Company. Coupled with Tian Hongyu's capable management, the Tian family's wealth had been multiplying every year.

Tian Hongyu naturally knew who the Tian family's pillar was, so he frequently sent members of his household into the palace to deliver large sums of silver to his daughter. Zhu Youjian was naturally well aware of this in his heart.

In this regard, Tian Hongyu's approach formed a stark contrast with the greedy and stingy Zhou Kui.

Zhu Youjian also had a favorable impression of the generous and open-handed Tian Hongyu, promoting him to the first-rank position of Left Commissioner-in-Chief. Noble Consort Tian's elder brother Tian Wan also received hereditary grace as a Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although the Tian family was not yet among the top noble houses, they were now a presence in the capital that no one dared to underestimate.

Not long after Tian Wan went south on his father's orders, he learned through business connections that in Peach Blossom Hollow outside Suzhou city there was a stunningly beautiful woman who often performed on the stages of Suzhou's opera troupes. She was renowned throughout Jiangdong for being "lovely as a flower, like clouds emerging from mountain peaks, with a warbling voice sweet as an oriole's, so beautiful even six horses would stop grazing to listen."

This woman's surname was Chen, given name Yuanyuan, born into the family of a peddler. Because her mother died early and her father remarried, she was not tolerated by her stepmother, so she was sent to live with her maternal aunt's husband and raised there.

By the time she reached around ten years of age, she had already blossomed into a strikingly beautiful girl, admired by many men and greatly envied by the women of the village.

Later, her aunt's husband, out of greed for money, sold her into an opera troupe. Within a few years, relying on her peerless beauty and natural talent for opera, she built up a considerable reputation throughout the Wujiang region.

It was said that quite a few wealthy squires and local gentry wished to spend fortunes to take her into their households, including the Zou and Gong families, both quite prestigious in the Wujiang area.

After learning all of this clearly, Tian Wan immediately set out for Suzhou Prefecture. Having discovered the day Chen Yuanyuan was to perform, he arrived at Peach Blossom Hollow on that very day.

Tian Hongyu was deeply fascinated by opera. After moving to the capital, he kept an opera troupe in the household for the family's entertainment. Having grown up immersed in this atmosphere, Tian Wan was also quite knowledgeable in this art.

The moment Chen Yuanyuan stepped on stage, Tian Wan was captivated by her extraordinary beauty, and when she began to sing, he was even more enchanted by her exquisite voice and elegant bearing.

After intently enjoying Chen Yuanyuan's entire performance, Tian Wan publicly bestowed a huge reward of one hundred taels of silver, astonishing the Jiangnan audience, who all sent people to inquire which young scion of a wealthy family was so extravagantly lavish.

When the troupe's madam personally came over to express her thanks, Tian Wan bluntly stated his demand to purchase Chen Yuanyuan outright, which caused the Wujiang locals watching the commotion to burst into an uproar of discussion.

The troupe's owner, Madam Liu, upon hearing Tian Wan's request, wore a troubled expression and felt greatly conflicted inside.

First, the troupe's current income was quite substantial, all thanks to the sensation Chen Yuanyuan had created.

The wealthy merchants and great households who came to hear the opera would always reward her handsomely at the end of each performance, each person tossing out five or ten tael ingots, and at the very least silver pieces of around one tael.

These tips alone brought the entire troupe a handsome monthly income, and with the addition of admission fees and spending on tea, sweets, and pastries, every performance filled the troupe's coffers to overflowing.

Second, the Zou and Gong families were both prominent gentry clans with great influence in the Suzhou area. The young masters of both families had also set their eyes on Chen Yuanyuan. On every performance day, rain or shine, these two would attend without fail, and at the end they would always bestow generous rewards.

As time went on, the two had begun showing signs of rivalry. Though they had not yet come to open blows, their reward money had risen from the initial five or ten taels, to twenty or thirty taels, and now to forty or fifty taels each time.

While Madam Liu secretly rejoiced at this, she also knew Chen Yuanyuan could not be kept forever. Neither the Zou family nor the Gong family was someone she could afford to offend. Once either of them obtained their elder's approval and came with silver to buy her out, she would have to obediently nod her head in agreement.

For now, all she could do was find ways to delay Chen Yuanyuan's departure as long as possible, and also keep an eye out for other peerless beauties like her, so she could buy and carefully raise them — perhaps they would become another money tree in the future.

What she hadn't expected was that today, besides the Zou and Gong families, a patron with an even more lavish hand had suddenly appeared, and had directly raised the matter of purchasing her outright. This immediately gave Madam Liu an ominous feeling.

"Kind sir, I had intended to have my girl come personally to thank you for your generous reward, but unfortunately Yuanyuan has been unwell these past few days. She only performed today despite her illness because the young masters of the Gong and Zou families were present — we couldn't very well let the two young masters leave disappointed. Might you be from another province, honored guest? Allow me to first sincerely thank you for your generous gift. May I ask where you are staying? How about this — in a few days, once Yuanyuan has recovered, I will personally bring her to your door to express our gratitude, would that be acceptable?"

Madam Liu, who was not yet thirty and quite pleasant-looking, smiled as she performed a curtsy to Tian Wan and explained.

How could Tian Wan fail to read between the lines of her words?

The Gong and Zou families had clearly also set their sights on Chen Yuanyuan, and they were also people her troupe could not afford to offend. But Tian Wan's reward had been too lavish, so in desperation Madam Liu could only obliquely point out the situation, hoping that once Tian Wan understood, he would back off.

"Hehehehe, my good madam, to be frank with you, my father has always loved opera, and is especially fond of the Yiyang style. My purchasing your girl is purely an act of filial piety — I simply wish to please my father. It is not out of lust for her beauty or a desire to keep her for myself. Once she has grown to adulthood, my family will naturally find her a suitable husband. Please do me this favor, madam — as for the matter of silver, that can certainly be discussed!"

Tian Wan, seated in his chair, gave Madam Liu a once-over, then leaned back against the chair's backrest and smilingly related his fabricated reason for the purchase.

Before Tian Wan left the capital for the south, Tian Hongyu had specifically instructed him not to be too ostentatious, lest he attract unnecessary trouble and draw the attention of those with ulterior motives.

If the girl were eventually sent into the palace, someone might dig up old accounts and fabricate stories about forcibly seizing a common woman, which would cast a bad light on the Emperor's reputation.

Upon seeing Chen Yuanyuan, Tian Wan immediately made up his mind: a beauty of such peerless grace, sent into the palace, would surely win the Emperor's favor, adding another layer of security to the Tian family's future. A woman like one who had stepped out of a painting absolutely could not fall into another's hands.

It was precisely because he had made this decision that Tian Wan found a high-sounding excuse, hoping to buy Chen Yuanyuan without offending anyone, so as not to leave behind grounds for criticism. Otherwise, given his temperament, he would have long since resorted to brute force without a care.

"Miss Chen possesses a heavenly beauty, long the pillar of Suzhou's opera world and the darling of Wujiang's gentry. How could such a treasure be claimed by a single household? How can this brother take what all desire for his own private ends? This is not the conduct of a gentleman! I observe that you do not carry the air of a common market merchant, so why do your actions reek so strongly of the stench of coin?"

Before Madam Liu could respond, a young man dressed in a sapphire-blue straight robe with handsome, delicate features walked over slowly. Stopping not far before Tian Wan, he clasped his hands behind his back, furrowed his brow, and began his rebuke.