Chapter 66: Public Humiliation

"Brother Liu, why is this?"

Zheng Yue Ru was startled.

According to the Flower House Trade Association, with the Empress coming, the standards had to be significantly raised, and the subsidized silver would certainly not be a small amount. It would have to start at at least ten thousand taels! Once this news came out, several flower houses were grumbling internally, feeling dissatisfied.

This Liu Zheng, not only was he not dissatisfied, but he wanted to cover it all?

Liu Zheng gave a sneaky smile: "Let's rest for today; I will go talk to them tomorrow!"

Zheng Yue Ru wanted to say something but stopped, thinking that they had indeed been busy all day and Liu Zheng was also injured, so she said nothing more.

The next day when they woke up, snow was falling in Liangzhou again, and the biting east wind blew against their faces, making people wrap their cotton coats tighter.

Early in the morning, Liu Zheng called Zheng Yue Ru over. The latter smiled bitterly: "Brother Liu, what are you doing? The Flower House Trade Association has the same daily routine as all the flower houses; they don't open until noon."

"Ah?"

Liu Zheng made a huge blunder and said: "Then how about I, Liu Zheng, invite Miss Zheng to tour Liangzhou together today? After all, I was once the number one prodigal son of Liangzhou!"

Hearing this, Zheng Yue Ru let out a "pfft" of laughter, thinking to herself how could anyone talk about themselves like that. Who would have thought that just at this moment, an old man in brocade clothes nearby saw Liu Zheng, his expression changed instantly, and he shouted, "Young Master Liu, you villain, don't harm me again!" Then he scrambled away in the snow, fleeing in a panic.

This scene left Liu Zheng dumbfounded, let alone Zheng Yue Ru, who was already clutching her stomach and laughing. It seemed Liu Zheng's self-mockery was not an exaggeration at all.

"I don't recognize this fellow at all!"

Liu Zheng felt very aggrieved.

Zheng Yue Ru glanced at him sideways, thinking that since this counted as Brother Liu taking the initiative to invite her, she felt very happy inside, and regardless of the freezing weather, she started strolling around with Liu Zheng.

Returning to Liangzhou, Liu Zheng had many mixed feelings in his heart. Strictly speaking, he was a native of this place, but because of his transmigration, he had not the slightest sense of belonging to Liangzhou; as time passed and his career developed, he actually felt more of a hometown connection to Yinzhou.

When they passed a household on the road, a child happened to run out to play and was scolded by their parents.

"Erwa, don't sneak off! Come back here!"

"Hey, hey, it's freezing cold, put on some Snow Cream before you go out!"

Once the child heard there was a chance to go out, they obediently let their mother apply the Snow Cream and kept saying: "It smells so good!"

Hearing this conversation, Liu Zheng couldn't help but look at Zheng Yue Ru, his eyes smiling. It seemed that this Snow Cream was still very popular within Liangzhou, and even ordinary families could afford it. This was the promotional effect Liu Zheng had wanted.

"Brother Liu, don't you want to go back to the Liu residence to take a look?"

Zheng Yue Ru tilted her head, smiling as she looked at Liu Zheng.

When the Liu Family father and son left Liangzhou, they did not sell the house, just so that one day they could return to Liangzhou in glory. At this time, it was probably overgrown with weeds and extremely desolate. Thinking of this, Liu Zheng smiled: "We are guests this time, so let's not go back."

Zheng Yue Ru was slightly stunned, looking at Liu Zheng with renewed respect.

If it were anyone else, having achieved what Liu Zheng had now, they would certainly make a big show of returning home in glory, afraid that others wouldn't know. Yet Liu Zheng was as steady as an old man at this moment; Zheng Yue Ru only then realized that this Young Master Liu had ambitions that were far from ordinary. She suddenly remembered the folk rhyme that was widely spread among the people, which she had thought was ridiculous when she first heard it.

"Old man of the Liu Family, riding a donkey backward."

"Leave Liangzhou, disrupt Heaven's Will."

"Feng Sanniang, never stopping hooves."

"Yinzhou Beach, looking east and west!"

At first glance, it sounded like a childish nursery rhyme, but now Zheng Yue Ru felt there was deep meaning in it. Given Liu Zheng's current state of mind and the prospects of his industries, what Yinzhou would become in the future was really hard to say...

As the host, Liu Zheng was not stingy, taking Zheng Yue Ru around for the whole morning, and only finding a restaurant to eat at noon.

Who would have thought that just as they were seated.

They heard a bustle in the restaurant; an old man with a blindfold playing the erhu and a young girl dressed in simple clothes were sitting in the center, appearing to be street performers telling stories in this ancient restaurant.

"Give us a segment!"

"Give us that segment, 'Chen Batian Battles the Xiongnu King'!"

"Haha, dear guests, the border war is tight recently, and I hear the imperial court is negotiating peace with the Xiongnu; I absolutely dare not tell that segment!"

The manager came out to apologize.

"What a letdown!"

The old man played the erhu, and the young girl beside him was responsible for striking the chime; one singing and one responding, they had actually already begun.

"Today, we tell of the Liu Family father and son entering Yinzhou, meeting bandits on the road and outsmarting the enemy! Taking the ungovernable land in three months, publicizing income and expenditure, and levying no taxes!"

"Good!"

"This segment is good!"

The crowd shouted.

Zheng Yue Ru looked at Liu Zheng playfully, smiling gently.

Liu Zheng sat drinking, noncommittal. But his heart was rippling with waves. Because these things were not done by his own design, yet they had already been turned into stories by others. Sure enough, the eyes of the masses were as sharp as ever... Although the old man's storytelling was slightly exaggerated and had more artistic embellishment, people listened with great interest and cheered repeatedly. Some even asked, there is a County Marquis Mansion that doesn't collect agricultural taxes?

This County Marquis Mansion not only didn't scrape the fat and blood of the people, but actually publicized its financial income and expenditure?

And so, some people began to curse indignantly.

County Marquis Liu was devoted to the people, yet was assassinated on the road; the world was unfair, and so on.

Reputation is the kind of thing that spreads just like that.

It seemed his efforts had added quite a few points for his old man; Liu Zheng was very satisfied.

"Good!"

"Well told, here is a reward!"

Just at this moment, a loud shout came from the second floor of the restaurant, and a gold ingot was actually thrown out. Everyone watched with great envy. The young girl hurriedly picked it up; a gold ingot that required two hands to hold.

"Thank you, sir, for the reward!"

"Hahahaha, well told, this Liu Family father and son are truly interesting!"

A man in brocade clothes walked out of the private room on the second floor and laughed: "Today, tell it another thirty times!"

The storyteller happily agreed.

The man in brocade clothes then left the restaurant surrounded by several people. When she saw the man's appearance, Zheng Yue Ru's delicate body trembled: "Du Biao!"

"Who?"

Liu Zheng had also been curiously watching that man; he prided himself on knowing countless people in Liangzhou, yet he had never seen this person, and he was feeling curious in his heart.

Zheng Yue Ru whispered, "The Third Leader of the Baiya Army!"

"What?"

Liu Zheng gasped, his scalp tingling. Recalling Jiang Xuan's speculation from last night, he believed it a few points more now. He had originally thought the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce had not yet spread its wings and would not attract the attention of the Baiya Army for the time being, but looking at it now, his thinking was still too conservative... This Baiya Army was simply tireless when it came to things that could strike at Prefect Chen Ping, and they did not mind at all using various methods to kick a man when he was down.

Just looking at this person, he was not someone easy to deal with, Liu Zheng thought to himself; no matter what, he had to stay far away from this person.

However, he still thought of it too simply.

After the two finished lunch, they hurried toward the Flower House Trade Association. This so-called Flower House Trade Association was the place in Liangzhou specifically used to manage every flower house, equivalent to an organization similar to a trade association. All flower houses in Liangzhou had to obey the management and scheduling of the Flower House Trade Association to avoid malicious competition and fighting.

Arriving at this place, there were already quite a few people inside, probably fifty or sixty.

This represented fifty or sixty flower houses in Liangzhou; it could be seen that the prosperity of Liangzhou was indeed not something a mere Yinzhou could compare to.

"Oh my, isn't this our Young Master Liu?"

Just as the two stepped into the trade association, several yin-yang, sarcastic voices rang out. Liu Zheng looked over; it was a few brocade-clad young masters huddled together, their eyes unkind as they mocked Liu Zheng.

"Long time no see!"

Liu Zheng chuckled.

These young masters had been relatively familiar with him in the past; one could even say they used to be his lackeys, committing all kinds of evil in Liangzhou every day, just wanting to cling to Liu Dahao, the richest man in Liangzhou. Who would have thought that after Liu Dahao fell on hard times, the descendants of these Powerful Clans would change their faces directly; before, they called him Brother Liu, but after he fell, they couldn't wait to come up and stomp on him a few times.

"Hmph, a stray dog, who wants to see you? I heard that now that Young Master Liu has returned to Liangzhou, you are staying at the Post House? Has the Liu residence become desolate?"

"Young Master Liu, how are your injuries? The former Young Master Liu was pampered and spoiled, needing to stay in bed for a month even for a cold! Now, tsk tsk, is it that you are so poor you can't even open the pot? Injured yesterday, and out doing business today?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

The people of Liangzhou had the arrogance of Liangzhou people; naturally, they looked down on Liu Zheng, who had fallen to such a godforsaken place as Yinzhou. The more they had flattered Liu Zheng in the past, the harder they wanted to stomp on him today.

Zheng Yue Ru's expression changed, and she was just about to retort, but was stopped by Liu Zheng.

He chuckled and said, "We are all doing business, let's be a bit more harmonious."

As soon as these words were out, the others laughed mockingly again.

"Doing business? Young Master Liu, as you are now, who are you still qualified to do business with?"

"Just relying on you?"

"Get lost and go back to being your County Marquis's son, and finish out your life!"

Liu Zheng shook his head slightly. When Liu Dahao was in Liangzhou, he was the undisputed richest man, and after that was Qian Buqun; at this time, Qian Buqun had also been tricked, and these monsters and demons had all emerged. Among these people, the guy named Guo Yu who was the leader had a family behind him that was already the richest in Liangzhou—as for how long he could remain so, Liu Zheng dared not say; this ability of Chen Ping's to "slaughter the fat sheep" was still quite solid.

"Who is this young lady..."

That Guo Yu still wanted to spout sarcasm, but seeing Zheng Yue Ru, his eyes immediately lit up, and he asked ingratiatingly.

"What business is it of yours?"

Zheng Yue Ru looked at him coldly.

Other lackeys were angered and shouted one after another, "Young lady, you probably don't know who our Young Master Guo is, do you?"

"In this Liangzhou, Young Master Guo is this!"

One person held up a thumb.

Zheng Yue Ru chuckled in her heart and couldn't help but glance at Liu Zheng. Were these guys with no ink in their chests what Liu Zheng used to be like? It was just that she didn't know how he had suddenly matured.

"Everyone, please sit, please sit!"

People from the trade association came out to smooth things over.

Guo Yu snorted coldly and deliberately gave a wink to the lackey beside him. That underling seemed to work at this Flower House Trade Association and arranged for people to sit one by one, but when it came to Liu Zheng and Zheng Yue Ru, the prepared chairs were unexpectedly gone.

The whole room suddenly went quiet.

Guo Yu even shouted indignantly, "How preposterous, is this how you treat our Young Master Liu?"

"You didn't even prepare enough chairs?"

"Quick, bring me a few haystacks!"

As soon as these words were out, the whole room erupted into laughter.

"Young lady, look, why follow this useless guy, why not come over here..."

Guo Yu looked at Zheng Yue Ru with a grin and was about to make a move.

Liu Zheng's eyes turned cold, and he backhanded him with a slap.

Slap!

Guo Yu was hit and retreated three steps, covering his face and pointing angrily at Liu Zheng.

"Presumptuous!"

"You are courting death!"