Chapter 648: Feng Qi's Troubles

With no real authority in his hands, no one came bearing gifts, and he could forget about the good fortune of getting rich just by sitting there—he had to go out and hustle on his own.

Feng Qi didn't really complain about this. Inside and outside the city of Nanjing, far too many people toiled bitterly just to scrape a living. Some worked themselves ragged all day and still couldn't feed themselves or their families. By leveraging his status, he could manage the food and expenses of a comfortably middling household, which already made him very fortunate.

When Embroidered Uniform Guard members did business, the higher-ups took silent shares while the lower ranks ran the operations. With that identity came conveniences others couldn't match. But Feng Qi's father had been a dissolute character who long ago squandered the family's savings clean away on the Qinhuai River, then caught a sudden illness and passed, leaving behind a widow and orphan to get by. That they had survived until now was all thanks to this Embroidered Uniform Guard status—capital was out of the question.

Having no capital didn't mean there was no way to earn money. Since Feng Qi couldn't run a business, he became a "little boat boss" on one of the flower boats along the Qinhuai River.

Put that way, it sounded like a father-to-son inheritance—the old man fooled around in the pleasure quarters, and the son followed in his footsteps. But Feng Qi's character was actually upright. Having endured hardship with his mother since childhood, he kept those scenes at a respectful distance. However, the term "little boat boss" on the Qinhuai had a particular meaning. In truth, this little boat boss didn't own a single copper coin's stake in the boat. That unearned silent-share bonus was simply his compensation for anchoring and protecting the boat.

If you had great ability and great face, you took a bigger cut; if your ability wasn't so great, you took less. Feng Qi had only managed to land this role because of his status, so what he received wasn't much—roughly double a guard's wages, with a little extra during festivals and holidays, plus free food and drink on the flower boat. The perks were honestly few, but combined with his heavily docked official grain-and-pay stipend, it was enough to keep the family fed and clothed, so Feng Qi was content.

On a flower boat, with all the coming and going of guests, some disputes were inevitable. The local rich and powerful were easier to deal with—everyone knew each other's backgrounds. But those free-spending guests from out of town brought far more trouble. Drunk and ignorant of the rules, they would often kick up a fuss. At such times, Feng Qi would step forward and flash his Embroidered Uniform Guard credentials, which proved very effective. Everyone would recognize the difficulty and back down. After all, in this world, outfits like the Zhao Battalion that didn't give a damn about the Embroidered Uniform Guard were few and far between.

Feng Qi had guarded this flower boat for two years and resolved several incidents, reaping quite a few benefits. He didn't squander them, but instead bought a small shopfront and rented it out for income—a steady, trickling livelihood. Life was growing easier and easier, and he was even starting to plan for marriage.

In the past, the Feng family had been poor. Though Feng Qi's old mother was anxious, at such times the Embroidered Uniform Guard status proved utterly useless. Families of equal standing were all too pragmatic and wouldn't let their daughters go over to suffer.

There was, it seemed, a bit of inheritance between father and son after all. Feng Qi lived an honest life, but as time went on, he ended up falling for a maidservant on the flower boat named Chunmei.

"Falling for," in this case, meant pledging themselves to each other in secret. Feng Qi had inherited his father's fine looks, and paired with the official authority of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he cut quite a fine figure. Add to that his honest nature, and the whole flower boat had a good impression of him—the girls on board all teased and flirted with him, whether meaning to or not.

Flower boats, with all their coming and going of guests, constantly bought young girls and raised them. While still young, they served as maids attending to others; when they reached the right age, they were assigned roles based on their looks, but in the end it all came down to the business of pleasure and flesh.

Chunmei was good-looking. She was fifteen this year, and in one more year she too would have to show her face and receive guests. There was nothing particularly cruel about it, by those standards—girls from poor families, or even children sold by refugees, were lucky just to survive. Besides, this flower boat still had some conscience. On the Qinhuai River, it was all too common for boats to use girls who weren't yet grown to entertain guests.

Because she was good-looking, Chunmei had endured no small amount of harassment on the boat. Most of the time it could be defused, but sometimes there was no avoiding it. A lake merchant from Wuxi, drunk and overcome by brutish lust, dragged Chunmei straight to the rear cabin. Every man and woman on the boat was too afraid to interfere. These lake merchants and sea lords were not to be offended—behind the lake merchants stood the lawless Taihu bandits. Who would dare cross them?

Just when Chunmei was about to be violated, Feng Qi stepped in. First he revealed his status, but the lake merchant didn't care at all. His companions just laughed and jeered, ignoring him. The great Taihu merchants who dared enter Nanjing and come play on the Qinhuai all had deep roots—who knew what big shot stood behind them.

Since his Embroidered Uniform Guard status couldn't intimidate them, Feng Qi resorted directly to force. Fortunately, having grown up poor and afraid that without skills he'd starve as an adult, he had always trained diligently in martial arts, and his fighting ability was quite good.

That ruffian of a merchant was thrown straight into the Qinhuai River, and the two bodyguards who rushed to stop him were beaten to the ground—a truly dashing display of prowess.

To be able to operate on the Qinhuai, the flower boat didn't rely solely on Feng Qi for protection; it had other backers behind it. Once the immediate crisis was weathered, a big shot naturally stepped forward. The next day, those lake merchants came to apologize, utterly crestfallen, and the matter was settled.

Once the matter was settled, Feng Qi became a hero on the flower boat. The boat's manager wrapped up a red envelope of a few taels of silver, and the women on board pooled together another dozen or so taels for him. It was rare to find someone who didn't take advantage and would still step up so chivalrously when trouble came—with him around, everyone felt at ease.

Chunmei had always had a good impression of Feng Qi—never mind his upright looks and gentle nature, he was on a flower boat yet never groped or took liberties. On other flower boats, there were no shortage of Embroidered Uniform Guard agents, and they were all scumbags who hung around freeloading. After being rescued this time, it was inevitable that her heart secretly went out to him, and she began making quite a few advances.

They were young man and young woman to begin with, and spent a great deal of time together on the boat. With Chunmei taking the initiative, it was all the easier for things to develop. As time passed, the young pair pledged themselves to each other in secret.

Although Feng Qi's old mother wasn't too willing, Chunmei was still untouched, and her own son was smitten. She had no real way to stop it and could only accept the matter.

After gaining his mother's consent, Feng Qi began thinking about buying out Chunmei's contract. The flower boat was willing to grant him that face—the redemption price was thirty taels of silver; hand it over and they'd be square. Thirty taels wasn't much, but even with borrowing from all sides and using his own savings, it would take Feng Qi more than half a year to scrape together.

Still, the people on the flower boat gave him face. Before the silver was fully gathered, Chunmei no longer had to serve tea out front, but was assigned to do rough work in the back. Though more toilsome, she didn't have to show her face in public, which counted as work fit for a girl of untainted reputation.

The saved silver grew more and more, and there was even enough set aside for wedding expenses. With good days clearly just ahead, Feng Qi wore a face full of smiles every day.

But two months ago, the flower boat manager came to find Feng Qi, his face full of awkwardness, and said that the redemption price for Chunmei had gone up—from thirty taels of silver to three hundred.

When Feng Qi heard this, he was first stunned, then instantly erupted in fury. He grabbed the manager and demanded to know: the written contract had already been signed, how could they go back on it now? Weren't they afraid of trouble from the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Weren't they afraid of a lawsuit?

The manager said that in that case, they could only compensate him thirty taels of silver—or double it, pay him sixty. This contract couldn't exactly be called irregular. As for Chunmei, he could forget about taking her away. When Feng Qi heard this, he was on the verge of drawing his blade. Unexpectedly, the manager glanced left and right, then lowered his voice and dropped a hint: Assistant Commander Lin's son had taken a fancy to Chunmei. The flower boat couldn't afford to offend him.

For the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard, Assistant Commander-in-Chief Ma Chonghao was a big shot too high to even glimpse. The several assistant commanders were the sky above their heads. The moment he heard that an assistant commander's son was involved, Feng Qi's mind went completely blank.

The women on the boat, however, were well-informed. This Young Master Lin, son of an assistant commander, had been carousing on another flower boat one day. When he stepped out for some fresh air, he spotted Chunmei washing up over there. Perhaps seeing a respectable girl in this world of pleasure left a deep impression, or perhaps it was something else—whatever the reason, he immediately wanted to buy her and take her home to serve him.

When he inquired at the flower boat, the manager's wife, to her credit, had a conscience. She told this Young Master Lin that Chunmei had already pledged herself in secret to an Embroidered Uniform Guard agent and was just waiting for her contract to be bought out so she could leave the life. But how could this Young Master Lin possibly care about a squad leader? He completely ignored the flower boat's explanation. Still, he at least knew he couldn't offend the people behind the flower boat too deeply, so he didn't order his men to take her by force.

The flower boat was in an extremely difficult position, because they had already promised Feng Qi. But this Assistant Commander Lin's son was also not someone to offend. Although Feng Qi was a minor figure, there was no need to create a deep enmity with a government officer. Moreover, if word of this got out, the flower boat would lose all face. After weighing the options, they came up with this silver ploy.

Heaven is great, earth is great, but silver is greatest. Breaking a contract for the sake of greater profit, and even compensating the other party afterward—no one could find fault with that. On the surface, it even looked like a happy outcome for all.

If Feng Qi could somehow come up with the silver, the flower boat would also have an excuse to give Young Master Lin, the assistant commander's son. They could satisfy both sides. The flower boat had people backing it too, so that Young Master Lin wouldn't dare go too far.

It seemed considerate and well-rounded, but in truth it was a calculation that had Feng Qi completely figured out—they had calculated that he couldn't produce those three hundred taels, and were even calculating whether Feng Qi might be tempted by the extra thirty taels. Everyone knew that in the end, Feng Qi could only swallow this loss.

The deadline was three months, and now there were less than twenty days left. Feng Qi had sold the shopfront he'd been renting out for over a hundred taels, but there was no way he could scrape together the rest. The only people he could borrow from were his Embroidered Uniform Guard colleagues, but once they heard he was competing with Assistant Commander Lin's son over a woman, not a single one dared lend—that wasn't how you offended people.

Feng Qi was truly at his wit's end. His old mother at home, who had been waiting for a daughter-in-law to come through the door, fell ill from anger upon hearing the news. Treating the illness and calling a physician also cost money—it was enough to make anyone frantic.

By now, the flower boat no longer allowed Feng Qi to come aboard. Without that source of income, the family's finances were painfully tight. He had also secretly met Chunmei twice. She only wept. The girl even said through gritted teeth that if Feng Qi couldn't gather the silver to take her away, then when the Lin family came for her, she would take her own life.

That Young Master Lin had also sent someone to pass along a message, telling Feng Qi to know what was good for him and not make things ugly for everyone.

When Feng Qi received this message, he truly had no idea what to do. He felt he had exhausted every option. He couldn't get the silver, and he couldn't win a fight. He could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved was snatched away by another—or even driven directly to suicide. Should they die together? But then what about his old mother?

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