Chapter 583: Persuasion

The villagers asked, "What if that Qu Le treats his little aunt like a pig? I've seen how much he despises her behind her back—he's just fooling her."

Cen Ashou thought for a moment and said, "That's their family matter—we don't interfere."

His brother is Miao Jun, and Qu Le is his brother's brother; naturally, he stands by his brother's brother. That little girl also seems quite unpleasant—let her get cheated by her nephew.

After confirming they were brothers, Cen Ashou took them in and let them stay at his home.

Pan Yun led Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He through every room, upstairs and down, inside and out, criticizing everything, nearly driving the entire Cen family to throw them out.

Only after Qu Le pulled out two strings of copper coins and shoved them into their hands, bowing repeatedly in apology, did they manage to stay.

With his back to the Cen family, Qu Le couldn't help but complain, "Little aunt, this place is far from the county town—a round trip takes half a day. The big market doesn't open until tomorrow—just endure it. Besides, the Cens cleaned this room quite well."

"Where's it clean?" Pan Yun said petulantly. "Everything's filthy—the house, the roads, even the people. If you hadn't told me there were ultra-cheap gems and jewelry here, I'd never have come."

"Yes, yes, yes, you've been wronged. Tomorrow, after the market, we'll buy something good and leave." Qu Le raised his voice deliberately: "Little aunt, you wanted to buy gems to make jewelry for your dowry, didn't you? Tomorrow's your best chance—you can get ten taels' worth with just one tael of silver."

The Cen family listened with strained ears; the room fell silent. The petulant little girl seemed to have finally accepted it.

The Cen family was also dissatisfied, but the village did have a batch of goods to sell. Lately, for some reason, the atmosphere had grown tense—merchants who used to come regularly hadn't shown up, and the goods they brought back were hard to offload.

It was better to turn what they held into cash as soon as possible.

Qu Le wandered outside again, returning only at night, and soon everyone in the village knew.

The wastrel Qu Le had been cut off by his family and restricted from spending money, so he tricked his grandfather's favorite daughter out, claiming he needed to buy wedding gifts, when in truth he wanted to squeeze money out of her to start a business.

"Qu Le used to have a friend who bought goods from us and sold them elsewhere. But his friend's been watched by the authorities, so he wants to take over the business—but he has no capital."

"So he plans to swindle money from his little aunt?" Cen Dachuan frowned. "Cheating even his own family—he's no good. I don't want to do business with him."

"Dachuan, times aren't what they used to be—don't be so picky. Since the start of the year, only three merchants have come, sporadically, and they took little. The goods we hold will cause trouble if kept too long," Cen Sheng whispered. "The villagers have always feared you'll bring disaster upon us. With the current tension, no one says it aloud, but everyone feels uneasy."

"Sheng-ge, are you saying you want to kick us out?" A wiry, shifty-eyed man narrowed his eyes, flashing hostility. "I think it's not fear of disaster—it's because the goods won't sell and you can't make money."

Cen Sheng's face darkened. "Er Mu, the village has never taken your goods for free. Who among the nearby villages ever came to you for your money?"

"We all live hard. We know you go out risking your lives. The people from these five villages risked being implicated just to cover for you—we do it out of shared water and shared food," Cen Sheng could barely hide his anger. "Is this how you think of us now?"

"Sheng-ge, Er Mu didn't mean it that way," Cen Dachuan glared at Cen Ermu, forcing him to apologize to Cen Sheng. "We're of the same clan, our villages are all connected by kinship. Sheng-ge, Qiang-ge is out at sea—I know what you mean. Er Mu's been cooped up too long. I'll make him apologize."

Cen Ermu looked resentful, but under Cen Dachuan's force, he bowed his head and apologized.

Cen Dachuan finally agreed to meet the Qu family's aunt and nephew at the big market tomorrow.

Cen Sheng exhaled in relief. "They're rich, and Qu Le is sincere. Our prices are already far below market value. If that girl buys from us, she's getting a bargain. As for her and her nephew's affairs—that's their family matter."

"If the meat rots in the pot, you refuse the deal over trivial details, and that girl might even blame you."

He added, "She's extremely spoiled. Ashou's family is famous for their patience, yet even they're annoyed by her. If she hadn't brought a whole chest of money and truly meant to buy, even out of respect for Ashou's friend, they wouldn't have welcomed her." Cen Dachuan fell into thought, his stance softening further.

Seeing he seemed convinced, Cen Sheng sighed and stood. "Then it's settled. Bring your goods to the market tomorrow."

Cen Dachuan agreed.

Since both were focused on each other, neither noticed Cen Ermu's flickering gaze behind them.

Cen Dachuan saw Cen Sheng to the door, then turned to see Cen Ermu standing with his head bowed. He frowned deeply. "Er Mu, you must show more respect to Sheng-ge. Our hometown is our last refuge."

"We risk our lives out there, and when we come back, we have to bow to Cen Sheng's face?" Cen Ermu protested. "They've done nothing. Every time we return from sea, we give them two-tenths of our haul—isn't that enough?"

He said, "I think they're only making trouble because they can't turn goods into cash. If these are imperial court spies, and we slack off now, we're all finished."

Cen Dachuan paused, then shook his head. "I sent Da Yuan to check. Five people total: one girl, two maids—all around twelve or thirteen. Qu Le's a bit older, with a young servant. Clearly a rich young master. Impossible to be imperial spies."

Cen Ermu: "In the past six months, several groups have slipped into our area, quietly asking about us. Isn't that what the Jianghu people do?"

Cen Dachuan: "Look at how spoiled that girl is—does she look like a Jianghu person?"

!

Mostly, their ages are deceptive. If Qu Le and Tao Yan Bai had come alone, we might have been more suspicious.

Add Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He—even if Jianghu people are careless about formality, I don't believe anyone would send a daughter this young to gather intelligence.

Besides, Pan Yun radiates arrogance—clearly a pampered noblewoman raised in luxury.

Cen Ermu lowered his eyes, lost in thought.

The pampered noblewoman Pan Yun had Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He shut the door, then collapsed backward onto the bed, exhaling. "Thank heaven I've seen enough of the world. I can't fool true nobility, but fooling them? Easy."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Little Master, didn't you study Sister Xuan Li?"

Pan Yun sat up. "How do you know?"

Seeing Miao He: "Because you're exactly alike—you look down at people with your chin raised, just like Sister Xuan Li."

The three laughed, imitating each other for a while, and finally agreed Pan Yun did it best.

The three giggled foolishly, but the candles the Cen family gave were too short—they burned out soon.

Pan Yun glanced at them and sighed. "Let's sleep early tonight."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "How are we supposed to sleep?"

Pan Yun: "We three will squeeze together. Pan Xiaohei can find a spot at the foot of the bed."