Chapter 236: High Stakes Gamble
There were already about ten women seated in the private room on the third floor, all looking young, with appearances either seductive, aloof, or charming, each with a different style.
“We’re late.” Niangzi Lou pushed the door open and went in, with Shang Wan following behind her.
The conversation in the private room suddenly stopped, and all the women turned to look over in unison.
“I’ve accomplished my mission; I’ve brought the person you wanted.” Niangzi Lou pulled Shang Wan to sit in an empty spot.
Shang Wan only felt a blur before her eyes, a fragrant breeze brushing her face, and the empty seat beside her was already occupied.
Immediately after, all the boss ladies crowded around, fussing over Shang Wan with concern.
Shang Wan suddenly felt like she had fallen into a flowerbed, her ears filled with soft, coquettish voices.
All the boss ladies’ dresses were scented with perfume; one alone was fine, but with these ten or so surrounding her together, Shang Wan’s nose was in for it.
“Atchoo!” She couldn’t help but cover her nose and sneeze.
Niangzi Lou hurriedly said, “Don’t crowd around her; everyone sit down and talk. If you scare her off in a bit, let’s see if you cry or not.”
Seeing that Shang Wan was indeed a bit uncomfortable, the boss ladies sheepishly returned to their seats.
Shang Wan raised her hand to rub her nose, still feeling stuffy. Just as she was about to stand up to open the window, Niangzi Lou had already stood up first and pushed open the nearby window a crack.
Cold wind blew in through the crack; it was chilly, but it also dispersed some of the floating fragrance in the air.
Shang Wan could finally breathe and gave Niangzi Lou a grateful glance.
Niangzi Lou smiled faintly and sat back down.
She started a topic, “Qionghua Restaurant has gone bankrupt; have you all heard about this?”
“When?”
“No customers at the door; it was bound to close ages ago.”
“Such a big restaurant; who knows who has the ability to take it over.”
“How did it suddenly go under?”
“Not sudden at all. I have some news here that I’m sure you’ll be interested in.” The Hua Niangzi from the sugar water shop winked playfully at everyone, with a little expression that said she had a secret but wouldn’t tell unless they begged her.
The others exchanged glances, and the two closest to her directly reached out to tickle her.
Hua Niangzi laughed so hard she shook like a flower in the wind, twisting her body to dodge while begging for mercy, “Good sisters, spare me; I’ll tell, alright?”
“You little minx; can’t handle you.” The woman beside her, who looked to be in her thirties, raised her hand to adjust the gold hairpin in her bun, her seductive phoenix eyes glancing at Hua Niangzi.
If it were a man, that coquettish, reproachful glance would have made even his bones go soft.
Even though Hua Niangzi was a woman, her little heart still couldn’t help but “thump thump” beating fast twice.
She blushed and straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, then slowly said, “Last night, something big happened at Linglong Gambling House.”
She paused in her words, originally wanting to tease and hook the women’s curiosity, but with two pairs of hands eyeing her warily nearby, she had no choice but to drop the playfulness and continue.
“Young Master Qiao the First gambled big against Third Young Master Qiao at the gambling house and lost ten thousand taels of silver in just two hours, nearly pawning even his underwear. It was Master Qiao the First and Master Qiao the Second from Qiao Mansion who rushed over to take him back. You didn’t see Master Qiao the First’s expression—tut tut, he looked ready to devour Third Young Master Qiao alive.”
Young Master Qiao the First was naturally Qiao Yu Gui, Master Qiao the First was his father, and Third Young Master Qiao was Qiao Yu’an.
Qiao Mansion had three branches in total; Old Madam Qiao passed early, and Old Master Qiao only held on for another three years before passing away.
After Old Master Qiao’s death, the three branches split off to live separately, and now each family is settled in the prefectural city, returning to visit during holidays.
The eldest and second branches didn’t split; it wasn’t that the second branch didn’t want to, but Master Qiao the First, as the eldest brother, pressed them not to let Master Qiao the Second’s family move out.
The reason, of course, was that Master Qiao the Second had married a good wife.
Master Qiao the Second’s wife Yan Lan, whose father was a deputy censor in the Imperial Court’s Censorate, a fourth-rank official.
Old Master Qiao and Censor Yan were fellow students and friends, but alas, Old Master Qiao failed the exams repeatedly while Censor Yan succeeded on his first try and rose steadily thereafter, with a fairly smooth official career.
Once in power, Censor Yan did not forget his friend Old Master Qiao, and the two often exchanged letters.
Trouble arose in the Imperial Court, and Censor Yan was inadvertently caught up, facing danger ahead.
Yan Lan was the only daughter at home, so to protect her from implication, Censor Yan married her far away to Dongning County, entrusting his old friend to look after her.
At that time, Master Qiao the First was already married, and Master Qiao the Second was about the same age as Yan Lan, so the two became husband and wife.
Thus, the Qiao family became in-laws with the Yan family.
After the incident, Censor Yan was restored to his post, and since his daughter had become a Qiao family wife, he became even more concerned with the Qiao family, with intentions to support them.
Unfortunately, Old Master Qiao’s three sons were all useless; only the third son passed the xiucai scholar exam, while the other two didn’t even become child scholars.
Since the sons couldn’t study, they could only look to the grandsons.
Qiao Yu’an was the best reader among their generation and Yan Lan’s own son, so Censor Yan thought highly of this grandson and often wrote letters inquiring after him.
Once Qiao Yu’an passed the provincial examination and went to the capital, with Censor Yan there, his future path wouldn’t be difficult.
But Master Qiao the First was unwilling; he felt everything Master Qiao the Second had should be his own.
If he hadn’t already been married back then, Yan Lan’s husband should have been him, and the one to receive Censor Yan’s favor and support should have been his own son.
If the second branch split off to live alone, how could they still benefit from the Yan family?
Thus, he kept using filial piety and brotherhood to pressure them not to split.
Master Qiao the Second had soft ear roots; after Master Qiao the First played the family card a few times, he agreed not to split the family.
Yan Lan quarreled with him over this several times; if not for their two children, she would have long packed her bundle and returned to her maternal family home.
Previously, when Qiao Yu Gui injured his leg, Qiao Yu’an had asked Shang Wan for medicine on his behalf, and afterward acted as intermediary several times to help Qiao Yu Gui discuss cooperation; Shang Wan had thought the two had a good relationship.
But the truth was far from what Shang Wan thought; Qiao Yu’an was thoroughly annoyed with his eldest cousin Qiao Yu Gui, and he had been punished many times because of this eldest cousin and the relatives from the eldest branch.
He had endured it all because of Qiao Weiwei.
Although Qiao Yu’an was sometimes a bit obtuse, he was still very attentive toward his younger sister Qiao Weiwei.
Qiao Yu Gui wasn’t good to Qiao Yu’an, but he was very nice to his cousin Qiao Weiwei, and the two got along more like real siblings.
At first, Qiao Yu’an was wary and sent people to watch openly and secretly, worried that Qiao Yu Gui would first coax his sister and then harm her where he couldn’t see.
But over the years, finding no irregularities, he inevitably relaxed.
This relaxation led to trouble.
Shang Wan had reminded Qiao Yu’an, who hadn’t paid it much mind at first; later, Master Qiao the Second’s wife mentioned Qiao Weiwei’s abnormalities several times, and only then did Qiao Yu’an take it to heart and send people to investigate.
This investigation was eye-opening.
That wolf-hearted Qiao Yu Gui had actually coaxed Qiao Weiwei into secretly meeting an outsider, privately betrothing herself for life to the son of Master Qiao the First’s wife’s second cousin.
Qiao Yu’an was so furious he nearly drew his knife to kill that wild man; A Le talked him down with great difficulty.
