Chapter 4 Do you want to lose a woman or lose face
After all, the official conferment operation at Wumeicun and Xu Shiqi takes time, and there will be no results within three to five days.
After Shen Shuren deployed the steps he could, he could only wait to close the net.
After three days of busy work, drinking and making friends with people every day, giving them gifts, making many familiar faces, I was as tired as a dog when I returned home at night.
Fortunately, Chen Yuanyuan is sensible, and the new techniques he has learned gradually make him perfect with practice, so that he can do it without exerting any effort at night, and he can still press and knead after he is done.
Counting the days, it would soon be time to hold a banquet at Meixiang Tower and let the guests redeem Li Xiangjun's body. He had no choice but to operate on two fronts and worry about this end of the matter first.
The brothel does not open early in the morning, so Shen Shuren slept in very low-key that day and went there after lunch.
Li Xiangjun himself was willing to be his internal coordinator, which made things much easier. Even if some of the other guests who came to join the party that day got wind of the news and heard that Mr. Shen would come to attend, most of them thought he was just here to broaden their horizons.
After all, I have been a local official in the countryside all year round and have never seen an oiran redeeming herself from the Qinhuai River in Nanjing. It is normal for me to want to see some of them.
Chen Shuren arrived at Meixiang Tower in Shenshi, and saw that the lanterns had already been lit inside the building, so she had specially decorated it.
When Li Zhenli saw him, she nodded and bowed, found a few other ladies to sit with him, and opened a separate private room for him.
Of course, Li Xiangjun couldn't show up easily tonight. She had to wait until the guests had finished bidding and the famous flowers had their owners before she could accompany them.
Fortunately, other girls' actions are not restricted.
Bian Yujing, who is now second only to Li Xiangjun in fame in Meixiang Tower, was originally a person that attracted everyone's attention. But tonight, he is a little more leisurely. He doesn't have to go on stage to sing, and he doesn't have to accompany his guests to discuss the world and talk about the rise and fall of history.
Only then did she find an opportunity to quietly sneak into Shen Shuren's cubicle to report the latest situation without being noticed by anyone:
"You're finally here, and you're quite trustworthy. My sister took great pains to help you, and she even deceived my mother. She thought the young master was just here tonight to learn and observe, and she planned to take action next time."
Chen Shuren originally didn't expect anything unexpected to happen tonight, and was ready to spend money directly. After hearing these words, his curiosity was aroused, he folded the folding fan, held his chin and asked seriously: " Oh? What did Miss Li say?"
Bian Yujing pouted unconsciously, subconsciously feeling a little aggrieved:
"My sister told my mother that Mr. Shen didn't want to redeem her life, but wanted to redeem mine in the future, so let's take a look at how much it will cost first, so that I can have an idea. My mother doesn't take you seriously."
These words made Chen Shuren even more strange: "Can she believe this? Xiangjun and I had a relationship the year before last, but we only met you a few days ago."
Bian Yujing said angrily: "Mom has seen many heartless people in her life. Whenever a man is said to be ruthless, the more ruthless she is, the more she will believe him.
Of course, my sister would not say that you have a crush on me. What she said was: If you want to ransom me and give it to Mr. Umemura, or if Mr. Umemura is embarrassed, you can pretend to give me my freedom and let me go to him.
My sister also said that you wanted to please Mr. Umemura because you had some dealings with the Imperial College, so you did not hesitate to use various methods to give heavy gifts!
Mom just last month was told by Hou Fangyu that he wanted to give his sister to Zuo Liangyu. Now she hears the same unlucky behavior, how can she not believe it! She must feel that men in the world regard women as playthings, buying them and giving them away at will! "
Chen Shuren was really shocked after hearing the sexy tricks the two girls had planned in the past few days.
It seems that they really study hard, and one prostitute can actually use tricks.
Although, it's just some calculations at the gossip level of people's minds.
Chen Shuren jokingly said: "We have been seeing each other with admiration for three days. Miss Bian, for the first time, I admire you a little. What is true is false, and what is true is false. If you are a man, you can learn from those generals who built slaves and read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" "If you memorize it backwards and forwards, you might be able to lead troops in war."
Bian Yujing had never heard of this statement, so he was naturally curious:
"Is it true or not? Jiannu still reads "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to learn how to fight? I have tens of millions of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, how can I not see through Jiannu's crude art of war?"
Chen Shuren shrugged helplessly: "It's true. Maybe it's because there are too many rotten scholars in the Ming Dynasty. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people only read the Four Books and Five Classics."
Bian Yujing didn't ask any more questions. He tilted the building back and whispered in Shen Shuren's ear to take credit: "Sister and I worked so hard just to help you save a few thousand taels of silver. How should you thank us?"
Chen Shuren smiled and spread the folding fan with both hands: "How else can I thank you? Your sister will be mine by then, and I will treat her well. If you want me to thank you, at worst, I will use my tricks to ransom you too. If you ask one force to defeat ten groups, if you have money, you will be willful, and no tricks will work."
Bian Yujing's face turned red and he spat: "You really have no conscience. Do you really want to redeem me and give me away?"
Chen Shuren: "How is that possible? Even if I ransom you, the most I can do is give you your freedom and let you choose to stay or go on your own. You have to understand, if you don't want to talk to Mr. Meicun, or if Mr. Meicun has concerns, that's none of my business. Anyway, I have repaid my favor to you and Mr. Umemura. I, Shen, may buy women for my own pity, but I will never give them away like objects."
For the first time, Bian Yujing stared seriously into Shen Shuren's eyes for a long time. The clear eyes made her believe that there was no need for the other person to lie.
Why would a rich man deceive a poor girl?
"You can be considered a thief, and you still have some things to do and some things not to do. Forget it, it's getting late. Mom will be suspicious if I continue to talk to you. Don't let my sister down in a while." Bian Yujing sighed. He spoke in a tone of voice, put away his joking expression, and left solemnly.
…
As night falls, there are gradually more and more guests upstairs and downstairs in Meixiang Building. Many of the upper-class literati in Nanjing are willing to come to support us.
Chen Shuren sent the insider away, carefully observed the guests, and soon discovered the main target to be blocked tonight, Hou Fangyu.
In addition, he also met friends from Hou Fangyu's family.
Gong Dingzi, who was already serving as a minister of the Ministry of War in the capital and had recently been promoted to a foreign minister, was also among them.
Historically, when he returned to Nanjing for vacation this year, he got to know Gu Mei deeply, but tonight he came to Meixiang Tower to support her for some unknown reason. It was probably because of his previous friendship with Hou Fangyu.
Soon, Chen Shuren saw Maoxiang, a famous scholar from Jiangdong, and some old friends of Hou Fangyu whom he didn't know. After asking the ladies waiting next to him, they were very familiar with these scholars, and immediately told him that the man's name was Yang Wencong.
Chen Shuren suddenly realized: The person who helped Hou Fangyu act as a broker to ask for bribes in "The Peach Blossom Fan" is here again, isn't he?
Yang Wencong does not have a high official position and has not made much achievements in history, but his interpersonal relationships are quite complicated - he is Ma Shiying's brother-in-law, and Ma Shiying has a relationship with the notorious eunuch Ruan Dacheng. So today he is helping Hou Fangyu pay. , the person behind it is actually Ruan Dacheng, which is recorded in "The Peach Blossom Fan".
(Note: Ma Shiying still has integrity. In the end, he fought against the Qing Dynasty and would rather die than surrender. Ruan Dacheng is a complete villain. When he is in power, he will kill dissenters. He does not care about the country. He will surrender to the Tatars when he encounters them but cannot defeat them. Although these two people are friends, It cannot be generalized.)
Ruan Dacheng has been besieged by people in Nanjing since the eighth year of Chongzhen, and his reputation has fallen to the bottom.
But he was very rich, and had been corrupt a lot when he was an official, so he always wanted to use money to win over allies. Ruan Dacheng also knew Hou Fangyu's father Hou Xun back then, and this time he planned to give Hou Fangyu money in exchange for the "Four Young Masters" to clear up their suspicions against him. .
It's a pity that the several thousand taels of silver he lent to Hou Fangyu today will hit the muzzle of the gun.
The atmosphere of chatting and laughing in the venue became more and more lively, and Li Xiangjun, under the arrangement of Li Zhenli, went on stage to sing a song first to lighten the atmosphere.
Then, with a smile on her face, Li Zhenli made a bow to the crowd, waved her handkerchief and said with a smile: "My little girl came out of the palace today and was honored by all the benefactors. She is extremely honored and favored. Maybe there is someone who wants to be the first to take part in this grand event, or Those who want to redeem themselves should do so based on their sincerity and ability."
Several stooges soon began to shout out the price. One of them first said that he wanted to comb the cage, and he shouted eight hundred and two thousand taels.
Chen Shuren observed carefully and found that this was not just a random shout.
Although there was no auction deposit in the Ming Dynasty, "capital verification" was still required. Those who shouted would actually ask people to carry the money, open the lid of the box and display it in public - at least you had to prove that you could get that much money.
After warming up the situation for a while, Hou Fangyu finally spoke. He shouted out three thousand taels and wanted to redeem Li Xiangjun's body directly.
But this price was obviously too low, and it was quickly beaten by someone else's offer of 4,000 taels. Fortunately, Hou Fangyu didn't reveal his trump card all of a sudden, and gradually increased it to 5,000 taels, which seemed to stabilize the situation.
Chen Shuren pushed away the sister who was serving him the wine next to him, drank the remaining wine in the glass in one gulp, and waved his hand behind him.
How could he come alone on an occasion like today? Of course he had to bring Shen Fu and a group of servants, otherwise he wouldn't be able to move just the money.
"Taicang Chen Shuren, six thousand taels!"
When everyone heard the sound, they all turned their heads to look. Hou Fangyu and Yang Wencong in the venue suddenly turned pale.
"Chen Shuren is actually here to disrupt the situation? Didn't you say he came to watch the fun?"
But when the horse entered the road, there was no turning back. Hou Fangyu and Yang Wencong discussed urgently, and with the courage to sell the iron, they put it together again and called out a price of a few hundred taels more.
"Eight thousand taels." Shen Shuren was too lazy to talk nonsense and directly asked the servant to place another forty ingots of fifty taels of silver in front of him.
The fastest way to end the battle is to make the opponent completely despair and lose sight of opportunities.
As expected, Hou Fangyu was completely depressed. He rushed upstairs and gritted his teeth and said:
"Mr. Shen, I know you don't deal with me, and you framed Governor Zhu, so you are cruel. However, I didn't buy it for myself today. I planned to buy it as a gift to a distinguished guest. No matter how rich you are, , I can’t afford to offend that distinguished guest! Otherwise, I will let you never have peace after returning to Huguang!”
"Hahahaha, is that right? Then I would like to ask which distinguished customer you bought it for. If you are willing to tell it in public, it will also open up everyone's eyes." Chen Shuren's expression was still so calm. It's light, but the smile makes the other person shudder.
Hou Fangyu's heart skipped a beat, and he realized that he must not mention this in public - if he didn't say it, he could still pretend that nothing happened today. At worst, he would complain to Zuo Liangyu in private when he went back, and show how much he cared about Zuo Liangyu. Make friends.
But if he said it in public and everyone present knew that Zuo Liangyu had been robbed of his woman by Chen Shuren, Zuo Liangyu would lose a lot of face. When the time comes, even Hou Fangyu would definitely hate him too.
"What a close call. This guy is so vicious. Fortunately, he didn't fall into the trap."
Hou Fangyu thought to himself, broke into a cold sweat, and finally had no choice but to cry angrily: "Shen Shuren! You such a polite scum! You want to steal love with a knife! There is no courtesy! Let's wait and see."
Chen Shuren raised his eyebrows, jumped up, drew the handle of the folding fan in a graceful arc in the air, and slapped Hou Fangyu on the face.
Anyway, the Ming Dynasty did not prohibit civil servants or scholars from fighting. As long as no one was killed or injured and it was just a fight of emotions, it was not a big problem. Shen Shuren was still reasonable, and he was not afraid of a little trouble.
Chen Shuren was tall and strong. He stepped forward and grabbed Hou Fangyu's bun and lifted it up:
"Shuzi, you haven't passed a single provincial examination, how can you have the nerve to call yourself a scumbag in front of two Jinshi and Hanlin editors? You should have been a year ago, a frog in the well."
Seeing that the matter was about to get serious, Li Zhenli, the proprietress of Meixiang House, hurriedly came over to break up the fight in person, announcing that Shen Shuren had come out on top and letting him calm down.
"Young Master Shen! Shen Futai! Let's forget it for today, right? One more thing is worse than one less thing. When the time comes, you can take Mr. Xiang back first."
——
PS: Let’s stop here first, the fourth update. Everyone, please take a rest and don’t stay up late.
There will be one update each before noon during the day and before get off work in the afternoon as usual. Today there will be a total of 20,000 words.