Chapter 60: Earning Some Hard-Earned Money, the Angel from the Capital City Arrives
Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Earning Some Hard-Earned Money, the Angel from the Capital City Arrives
The next morning, after arriving at the Hundred Households, Pei Shaoqing called Sun Youliang over and handed him another list of materials. "Mingde, for the next few days, don’t worry about anything else. Just take your men and collect these things."
’This wasn’t him using public office for personal gain.’
’Collecting these materials for Alchemy was to effectively control the Shaking Light Saintess. By controlling the Shaking Light Saintess, he would increase his own power, and thus be better able to serve the Court.’
’So, when you get down to it, this was actually official business.’
"Yes! Your subordinate obeys!" Sun Youliang agreed without hesitation, then reached out to take the list of materials.
Pei Shaoqing waved his hand. "Go on."
"My lord..." Sun Youliang began, then hesitated.
Pei Shaoqing frowned. "If you have something to say, just say it."
"Yes!" Sun Youliang replied, then pulled several silver notes from his robes and presented them. "This is a small token from your subordinates. Please accept it, my lord."
’It wasn’t much, just a mere one thousand taels.’
"Why the sudden gift of money?" Pei Shaoqing didn’t reach for it, asking curiously instead.
Sun Youliang answered honestly, "Last night, Song Youcai dragged me to a gambling den. We lost everything, so we used the pretext of arresting a wanted felon to rob the place. According to the rules, we have to give you a share, my lord."
"Has that den paid us our fee?" Pei Shaoqing still hadn’t taken the silver notes, asking with casual indifference.
Sun Youliang quickly shook his head, speaking rapidly. "Rest assured, my lord, how could I be so thoughtless? That den has never paid us a cent."
"Since it was legitimately acquired, I’ll accept it." Pei Shaoqing nodded slightly, taking the silver notes while adding, "But don’t make a habit of it."
’We have to maintain Tongzhou’s business environment, after all.’
’Can’t just be robbing people left and right.’
’Who would dare to do business here in the future?’
’If no one comes to do business, who will I collect money from?’
"Right, send a message to that casino you robbed. Tell them to hurry up and pay their dues. With our Jing’an Guard protecting them, no one will dare to rob them again." Pei Shaoqing tucked the silver notes into his robes and said nonchalantly.
"Yes, my lord." Sun Youliang smiled, then sighed in disappointment. "Unfortunately, there wasn’t much cash on hand. We snatched a box, but when we opened it, it was just full of useless IOUs."
"How are they useless? Now that the IOUs are in our hands, we can collect the debts ourselves!" Pei Shaoqing said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, trying to broaden his subordinate’s horizons.
Sun Youliang stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded. Then, his eyes slowly lit up with an expression of pure admiration. "My lord, you could have just robbed them blind, but you chose not to. You truly have the heart of a Bodhisattva, your mercy is unparalleled. This subordinate is deeply impressed."
’I really shouldn’t have read so many books by the sages.’
’My mind has been contaminated by knowledge.’
’To think I couldn’t come up with such a brilliant idea.’
Pei Shaoqing adopted a dignified expression. "We are officials, after all. Everything we do must have a legitimate pretext. Even if they report this to the Prefecture City, we have no reason to fear a lawsuit."
"My lord, your insight is profound!" As befitting an educated man, Sun Youliang not only understood immediately but could also think one step ahead. "After we collect the debts, we can go back to the casino and demand a commission. After all, they’re the ones who made the loans in the first place, causing us all this trouble. We can’t be expected to go through all the hard work of collecting the money for free, can we?"
"Now that’s going a bit too far. Casino owners earn their money through blood and sweat, too." The kind-hearted Pei Shaoqing seemed unable to bear the thought. He mulled it over for a moment, then sighed. "A seventy-percent commission should be enough."
’The casino earns its money from the blood and sweat of gambling addicts.’
’And I earn my money from the blood and sweat of the casino.’
"My lord is merciful," Sun Youliang praised.
The two of them exchanged a look and burst into laughter.
"My lord! My lord!" Just then, Song Youcai rushed in, red-faced and out of breath. He pointed outside and stammered, "My lord! The Angel has arrived!"
"Angel?" Pei Shaoqing was startled for a second before realizing he meant an emissary from the Court. He thought his reward for killing the Kaiyang Saint Heir had finally arrived and was overjoyed. "Quickly! Prepare the incense table to receive the decree!"
"There is no need for that."
A soft, effeminate voice drifted in.
Pei Shaoqing looked up.
He saw a scrawny, middle-aged man in a eunuch’s attire, his face powdered and rouged, slowly approaching. Behind him were two younger men also dressed as eunuchs, along with more than a dozen Imperial Guards.
"Second Young Master Pei, just so you know, the Holy Emperor has not issued a decree, so you needn’t trouble yourself."
The scrawny, middle-aged Eunuch said with a simper.
’No imperial decree?’
’A verbal edict, then?’
’That’s not right. For such a great merit, how could there be no decree?’ Pei Shaoqing was confused, but he maintained a polite facade. "And how should I address you, esteemed Eunuch?"
"My!" The scrawny, middle-aged Eunuch feigned surprise, then brought a handkerchief to his lips with a delicate flourish and giggled. "Second Young Master Pei, you great personages are so forgetful. It has been less than half a year since you left the Capital City, and you’ve already forgotten little old me?"
Before Pei Shaoqing could respond, the Eunuch’s face took on a look of mock realization, and he continued in a passive-aggressive tone, "Oh, but that’s to be expected. You are the second son of Marquis Weiyuan, after all. Why would you bother to remember a ’rootless’ person like myself."
’Fuck, it sounds like I’m supposed to know this damn Eunuch.’
’And it seems I pissed him off somehow in the past.’
Beyond that, Pei Shaoqing could faintly glean the Emperor’s attitude from the Eunuch’s behavior. He suspected that instead of a reward, trouble had come knocking.
For a moment, he was frozen to the spot.
’I don’t know his background, much less the history between us. I can’t risk saying the wrong thing.’
The middle-aged Eunuch chuckled. "Second Young Master, say something! Are you giving me the silent treatment now?"
"Eunuch, please come with me." Gritting his teeth, Pei Shaoqing strode forward, grabbed the Eunuch’s hand, and started pulling him away.
The middle-aged Eunuch was momentarily stunned. He could have easily broken free, but he chose not to, allowing himself to be led along with a show of reluctance. "Oh my, where are you taking me, Second Young Master? Slowly, now, slowly."
The other eunuchs and the Imperial Guard were left standing there, staring at each other in bewilderment.
"Follow them, follow them," one of the eunuchs said.
Pei Shaoqing dragged the middle-aged Eunuch all the way back to his residence.
"Young Master." Liu Yuheng was a bit bewildered, watching the noisy crowd of eunuchs and Imperial Guards that followed Pei Shaoqing inside.
"Prepare some food and wine for them," Pei Shaoqing called out, then continued to drag the middle-aged Eunuch deeper into the house.
The middle-aged Eunuch waved a hand behind his back, signaling for the others not to follow.
’Meeting Pei Shaoqing again, I can tell he’s changed. I want to see what kind of trick he’s trying to pull.’
Pei Shaoqing led the middle-aged Eunuch directly into his personal vault. After shutting the door, he opened one chest after another right in front of the man, revealing box after box of gold, silver, jewels, and gleaming snowflake silver.
The room was instantly filled with the dazzling radiance of treasures.
The middle-aged Eunuch was utterly dumbfounded.
"Esteemed Eunuch, please, take your pick," Pei Shaoqing said frankly. "To be honest, back in the capital, I was a good-for-nothing who caused trouble and made a lot of enemies. I spent my days in a drunken daze, so my memory isn’t the best. Whatever I did to offend you back then, how about we let it all go today?"
The middle-aged Eunuch turned his head stiffly to look at him.
’Wait, isn’t this bribery a little too blatant?!’
’To be honest, on the way to Tongzhou, I thought of a hundred ways to get revenge on Pei Shaoqing for humiliating me back then.’
’After all, everyone knows we eunuchs are a petty and vindictive lot.’
’But at this moment, I could truly feel the heavy, glittering sincerity of Pei Shaoqing’s apology. It instantly washed away the surging tide of hatred in my heart.’
’We rootless folk have no children, no one to depend on. These gold and silver treasures are the closest things we have to family!’
Pei Shaoqing called out again, "Esteemed Eunuch?"
’The situation was urgent, and this was the only solution I could come up with. After all, I love money. I refuse to believe a Eunuch could be more enlightened than me and not love it.’
’Of course, if even this doesn’t move him...’
’...then it means the grudge between us is a matter of life and death, and we might as well just settle it with blades.’
"Experience in the provinces truly forges a man. Second Young Master, you have truly matured." The middle-aged Eunuch came back to his senses and sighed with heartfelt emotion, his face wrinkling into a smile like a dried chrysanthemum. "A man of your noble status has taken the initiative to apologize to a mere castrato like myself. It would be rude of me not to accept your gesture. Let us consider the past forgotten."
’We eunuchs grow up in the palace, treated as less than a chair or a potted plant. Have we not suffered enough insults? One more from Pei Shaoqing hardly makes a difference.’
’Besides, he has already apologized.’
’And with such a generous gift, no less.’
’One can’t throw away money for something like dignity.’
’I don’t even have my Jill anymore, what do I need dignity for?’
’I want money!’