Chapter 211:
After that day, the Lu Clan returned to peace. Clan members received their monthly allowance ten days early, and various clans also got their principal back on time. Naturally, they all praised Lu Xin for keeping his word, saying he had good character, great ability, and a sense of responsibility. Appointing him as finance steward could not be more appropriate. No one missed Lu Jian, who had done all kinds of evil deeds, anymore.
As for the Elder Council, they had lost face over the mourning for Lu Jian and could not do anything to Lu Shang’s side for the time being, so they temporarily ceased activities and caused no more trouble for a while.
Regarding the Pei Clan and Xie Clan, they showed no reaction to what happened in Cuihe Garden. The commotion that night was not small and could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of various clans, but even if the Pei Clan and Xie Clan knew, they had no face to come and argue with the Lu Clan. They could only pretend nothing had happened. As for whether they severely punished Xie Min and Pei Yukou behind the scenes, outsiders had no way of knowing.
Having helped Lu Xin secure the position of finance steward, Lu Yun also ceased activities and returned to his life of home, Sanwei Hall, and Small Bamboo Forest—a straight line between three points. Like his three brothers, he turned a deaf ear to outside matters and focused single-mindedly on preparing for the Grand Competition two months later.
This autumn of numerous complicated events seemed finally over.
.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and it was already early winter. Flowers and trees in Luojing City were withering, cold winds rising. The princes and nobles north of the Luo River had already started using underfloor heating and warm stoves early, staying in halls as warm as spring to drink and make merry, feeling no bitterness from the cold at all.
The collateral lineages of noble clans and common folk south of the Luo River were reluctant to use charcoal so early and could only put on cotton pants and jackets ahead of time. While cursing the thieving heavens for getting so cold so early, they went about their business as usual.
As for those disaster victims still lingering in the capital, their days were even harder. After the floods receded in autumn, most disaster victims returned home one after another, but some, coveting the prosperity of the capital and still able to enjoy relief from various clans, delayed their departure. Who knew that starting last month, various clans announced the disaster relief a complete success and successively closed the congee kitchens, paying no heed to the remaining ten to twenty thousand disaster victims.
These disaster victims who still wanted to eat for free were really too naive. When those noble clans opened kitchens to give out congee earlier, it was not out of pity for them, but fear of trouble in the capital, so they took out some grain to stabilize the situation and incidentally gain some reputation. Now that most disaster victims had left, the remaining few could not stir up any waves, and various clans had already earned their reputation. How could they possibly waste more grain on them?
In the end, these disaster victims, still wearing tattered thin clothes, huddled hungrily under the eaves of neighbors’ homes in south of the Luo River. Just as winter had begun, some were already freezing or starving to death.
Helpless, the disaster victims could only try to save themselves. The elderly and children carried broken bowls, going door to door begging. Women and men went to West Market to sell their labor. They registered at the brokerage, then squatted tightly together in the corner, waiting for employers to come and select. Those chosen as long-term laborers were overjoyed, finally no longer worrying how to survive the winter. But most people could only take scattered odd jobs and short-term work, going hungry one meal and full the next, living very hard lives.
Among these disaster victims, there were no lack of lazy good-for-nothings unwilling to work themselves to death just for food. Go begging? People saw they were young and strong and refused to give alms. These people then took up deeds of swindling, cheating, kidnapping, and petty theft. And those bolder and more capable even set their sights on the princely tombs in Mount Mang, taking up the business of grave robbery!
Since the onset of winter, pawnshops in the capital had suddenly received a sharp increase in gold and jade wares, all dead pawns. The pawnbrokers in those pawnshops, each with sharp eyes like fire, could tell at a glance that those things were burial items, ninety-nine percent stolen from tombs in Mount Mang. But the pawnbrokers had no intention of refusing stolen goods. Instead, they exploited the psychology of these outsider grave robbers lacking channels to fence goods and urgently needing money to survive, pressing prices down desperately. Often with only a tiny fraction of the value, they took those treasures into their hands. Turning around to resell, there was no more profitable business.
As a result, at this moment, as soon as they saw someone looking like a disaster victim walk in, the shop assistants, pawnbrokers, and shopkeepers in the pawnshop all had eyes gleaming like they had seen the God of Wealth.
Sure enough, at Renhe Pawnshop in West Market, the thick door curtain was lifted, and a dusty man in ragged fur coat walked in somewhat awkwardly.
Normally, the doorkeeper would have chased him out. But seeing the man enter, the doorkeeper casually held up the curtain for him. After he went in, the doorkeeper eyed his back, grinned wide, and mouthed ‘fat sheep’ to the shop assistant opposite.
The shop assistant gave an imperceptible nod but put on a stern face, looking at the man and saying: “Sir, are you here to pawn or redeem?”
“Pawn, pawn, pawn.” The man stammered, clutching his chest, as if something extraordinary was hidden there.
“This way, please.” The shop assistant led him to the pawnbroker. The pawnshop’s pawnbroker sat behind a counter nearly as tall as a man, looking down imposingly through the railing at the man without a word.
The man was already somewhat awkward, and seeing the pawnbroker’s demeanor, he grew even more nervous, stammering: “Excuse me, I have, have something to pawn.”
“Mm.” The pawnbroker nodded, looking half-dead, refusing to say half a word more.
The man grew increasingly uneasy, his mouth twitching a few times. He took out a ragged cloth bundle from his bosom, raised it high with both hands, and laboriously placed it on the counter. With a pleading expression, he said: “Take a look, sir, how much is it worth?”
“Mm.” The pawnbroker hummed through his nose again, glanced at the ragged cloth bundle, reached out to unwrap it, and saw inside a palm-sized, ancient-style, purple gold token-like object. The pawnbroker narrowed his eyes, examining the front, where four seal script characters read ‘Peace Under Heaven’, surrounded by cloud patterns. Though it looked extremely ancient, the color was still bright as new, just like freshly forged.
The pawnbroker reached out again to pick up the object, but found it incredibly heavy upon lifting—actually twice as heavy as gold of the same size. No wonder the man kept clutching his chest; he was afraid it would tear open his collar and fall to the ground. The pawnbroker held the object with both hands, flipping it to the back, where another four seal script characters were engraved: ‘Great Teacher of Benevolence’.
While the pawnbroker examined the object, the man didn’t even dare breathe, waiting there anxiously. After a long while, the pawnbroker finally withdrew his gaze, pushed the object back toward him, and said with an indifferent take-it-or-leave-it face: “Not gold, not jade, not silver, not bronze, ugly style too. At most two hundred cash.”
“What, only two hundred cash?” The man’s hopes shattered instantly. Incredulously, he said: “This thing is heavier than gold, impervious to knife or axe. It must be a treasure!”
“Then tell me, what is its origin? Where’s the wonder?” The pawnbroker looked at the man mockingly and said: “Please enlighten us, sir.”
“This…” The man’s briefly raised spirits deflated completely. He just kept saying: “Give a bit more, this thing is really valuable.” But where exactly it was valuable, he couldn’t say. He didn’t even dare mention where it came from.
Seeing the man’s embarrassment, the pawnbroker felt a smug cold laugh in his heart: ‘Dealing with you grave robbers is effortless.’
As the man kept begging, the pawnbroker impatiently pushed the object outward again and said dully: “If it’s a dead pawn, at most three hundred cash. If sir is still unsatisfied, you’ll have to try elsewhere.”
“Other places are the same price…” The man was already disheartened.
“There we go.” The pawnbroker smiled smugly, looking down at the man: “Pawn or not?”
“Pawn…” The man nodded helplessly.
“Live pawn or dead pawn?” the pawnbroker asked again.
“Dead pawn…” the man said, head down.
“Pawn accepted into storage!” The pawnbroker immediately called out loudly, while his brush flew like a dragon and snake, issuing a pawn ticket for the man to sign and seal, lest he regret it.
