Gulu gulu—
The wheels rolled over the blue bricks and stopped outside the Pei Mansion.
Pei Xiangjun held the fluffy bird in her arms. Standing under the lantern and looking into the distance, she was like a virtuous woman waiting for her husband to return.
Seeing Ye Jingtang get off the carriage, Pei Xiangjun smiled:
"Jingtang, how did the talk go? Did Yang Guan give you a hard time?"
"Miss Third, why are you waiting at the door?"
Ye Jingtang stepped onto the steps and reached out to touch the bird that knew how to enjoy life more than he did:
"He didn't give me a hard time. I spent a lot of words to make things clear to Master Yang..."
"Ahem—"
Chen Biao, who was unloading the carriage, and the two unfamiliar escort guards stumbled when they heard this. They turned around and looked at Ye Jingtang. Their expressions probably meant:
You only said five sentences in total. You call this spending a lot of words?
Yang Guan didn't give you a hard time. Don't you know the reason yourself?
The old servant Yang Chao, Little Six, and the others, however, reacted calmly.
After all, in their view, the young master had indeed spent a lot of words today.
Back in the lawless small border town, when encountering such a ruffian, the young master would think it was too much to say even one sentence. He would just finish the fight and turn around and leave.
Ye Jingtang ignored the looks of the few people and continued to gently explain the process of the matter, lest Miss Pei, a woman, be frightened.
Pei Xiangjun had been watching from start to finish and naturally wouldn't be scared. Like an obedient little woman, after listening to Ye Jingtang, she bit her lower lip and looked at him with admiration:
"You're really amazing. It's really different having a man in the family~"
A stunning beauty showing an expression of admiration for the strong was very lethal.
Ye Jingtang believed that he didn't care much about fame and fortune, but under Miss Third's admiring gaze, he still felt a bit complacent. He waved his hand with great masculinity:
"It's just a piece of cake."
"Just now, I discussed with your aunt and decided to make you the young master of the Pei family. We'll give you a monthly salary of a hundred taels of silver. You don't think it's too little, do you?"
The young master was roughly equivalent to the vice director of the Pei Group, with enough authority to open the silver treasury. A monthly salary of a hundred taels of silver, converted, was about a monthly salary of over ten thousand yuan.
This treatment was a bit exaggerated. If Ye Jingtang accepted it, he would definitely feel guilty. He shook his head and said:
"Miss Third said that a man should earn his own living. But then you give me this kind of treatment. The shopkeepers on the street will definitely be dissatisfied. Just pay me according to the salary of an escort head in the escort agency."
When Chen Biao heard this, he quickly shook his head: "Young Master Ye, you're really being polite. You settled Yang Guan today, and the money you saved is more than this. Moreover, an escort head gets twelve taels of silver a month. What can you do with that money? Young Master Pei spends more than that just on a night of drinking..."
Pei Xiangjun also nodded and said: "Yes. Being the young master isn't easy. There are a lot of occasions for socializing. If you go drinking and listening to music with the children of officials and scholars at Wende Bridge and can't even take out money to tip the girls, won't it damage the reputation of the Pei family? This money is just pocket money. If you really feel embarrassed, just do your best to help the family with the business."
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang didn't decline anymore:
"Then I'll follow Miss Third's arrangement. Now that the matter at Qinglian Villa is settled, are there any other things for me to handle in the family?"
Pei Xiangjun had a lot of things to deal with. Her eldest brother died in the martial arts world, and the title of "Champion of the Spear" was taken away. This enmity hadn't been avenged. Many martial arts forces were trying to seize the financial routes, and there was no one to step forward to solve the problems. Several hall masters of Honghua Pavilion were restless and kept putting pressure on her to step down.
But these were all matters in the martial arts world, and it was still too early for Ye Jingtang to get involved. She smiled and said:
"I have a bunch of shopkeepers under me. How can I show up for everything? It's raining today, and there aren't any social activities. You can take a rest first, and let Chen Biao take you around the capital city."
As she spoke, Pei Xiangjun leaned closer, took out a banknote, and quietly stuffed it into Ye Jingtang's arms:
"From now on, they'll all be your subordinates. It's also part of the young master's duty to take them out to a restaurant for a drink when there's nothing to do."
When Chen Biao heard this, he perked up and quickly sent the horse back to the stable.
When the bird heard about going to a restaurant, it immediately felt that Pei Xiangjun's arms weren't soft anymore. It jumped onto Ye Jingtang's shoulder and flapped its wings at Pei Xiangjun: "Jiji ji~" Presumably, it was saying—Goodbye, Sister Big-breasted...
Ye Jingtang went into the house first and changed back into his regular clothes before setting off with several escort guards.
However, when they were about to leave, Pei Xiangjun saw Chen Biao's sneaky smile and reminded him again:
"Chen Biao, don't take him to the wrong places. Jingtang just came from outside and hasn't seen the colorful world of the capital city. If you turn Jingtang into someone like Pei Luo..."
Chen Biao's sneaky smile disappeared, and he pretended to be serious:
"Boss, do I look like that kind of person?"
"Miss Third, don't worry. I know what to do."
After Ye Jingtang replied, he left the alley with several of his subordinates.
-----
Half an hour later, on the second floor of Chunxiang Pavilion.
The musician holding a pipa was singing a gentle tune on the stage.
Three dancing girls in colorful clothes were dancing to the song, with graceful figures.
Seven or eight sturdy escort guards stared wide-eyed at the girls downstairs from the window, swallowing hard and not even bothering to pick up a bite of food.
Ye Jingtang sat in the private room, clinking glasses. The bird beside him was shaking its head and seemed to have drunk more than Ye Jingtang.
Chen Biao held a wine glass in both hands and toasted Ye Jingtang:
"Young Master, you really know what to do!"
Ye Jingtang was ordered to take his subordinates out for a "team-building" activity, so he naturally couldn't be too stingy:
"We're just listening to music, not going to a brothel. To be honest, the girls in the border town are much worse than those in the capital city. Eighty percent of them are stronger than me. If I didn't know some martial arts, I would have been snatched away and married at the age of fourteen..."
Chen Biao blinked his eyes and leaned closer:
"Young Master, you're not still..."
?
Ye Jingtang didn't know how to answer this question.
Yang Chao, who was drunk beside him, took over the conversation:
"Look at your ability to judge people. With the young master's appearance, if he goes to find a girl, the girl should pay him. Would you do this kind of losing business?"
"That's true. In my opinion, the only girls who are worthy of the young master are the young ladies of the wealthy families at Wende Bridge. I won't allow those ordinary women outside to try to court him..."
"Hehe..."
They listened to music in the brothel, ate, and drank.
Just as they were having a good time drinking and chatting, there was some commotion on the street outside.
Tata ta—
The sound of a large group of infantry running.
The few of them frowned and got up to look out the window. They saw many imperial guards and captors from the Black Yamen running in the rain, heading towards the Mingyu Pavilion area at the end of their vision.
"What's going on?"
"With such a big commotion, I guess something happened at Prince Jing's Mansion. There are a lot of martial arts bandits locked up in the Black Yamen, and it's said that there are also many martial arts secret manuals collected in Mingyu Pavilion. There are often audacious martial arts thieves causing trouble there. It usually calms down in about an hour."
Since it had nothing to do with them, Ye Jingtang didn't pay too much attention and continued to drink.
Martial artists generally have a large capacity for alcohol, and the wine they drank was of good quality, fragrant but not strong. None of them got drunk after a long time, and the time unconsciously arrived in the afternoon.
After having enough to eat and drink, a lecherous escort guard hinted with his words that they should go to a "brothel" for the next activity.
But Chen Biao knew the importance of the matter. It was okay to listen to music and look at the girls, but if he dared to take the young master to a brothel, Miss Third would definitely kick them all out. In the end, he didn't dare to mention it to Ye Jingtang, and the group dispersed.
When it was getting dark, Ye Jingtang, once again with a horse and a bird, returned to Ranfang Street.
The banknote that Miss Third gave him today was an advance of a month's salary, a hundred taels of silver, which was enough to rent a two-courtyard compound. With good luck, he might even be able to buy a little maid to warm his bed and relieve his boredom at night.
Although Ye Jingtang wasn't picky about his living place, he didn't have the habit of deliberately enduring hardship either. It had rained all day, and with such a big hole in the roof, it was definitely impossible to stay there.
Ye Jingtang came back now to pack up some things in the house, tell the landlady, and change to a better living environment.
Zhi ya—
The old courtyard gate without a lock opened, and the furnishings inside hadn't changed at all.
Ye Jingtang tied the horse under the eaves of the kitchen, put away the umbrella, and came to the main house. He pushed the door open and was still talking to Tuantuan:
"Be good in the future. Don't钻 into women's arms for no reason..."
The bird ignored him and squatted on his shoulder, chirping:
"Jiji ji~..."
But the next moment, both the person and the bird froze.
The room was bare with only four walls, and there weren't many things in it. Any changes could be seen at a glance. The hole in the roof was covered with a coir raincoat.
However, Ye Jingtang and the bird didn't pay attention to this. They just stared blankly at the bed.
Under the double bed with a dark gray bed sheet, a pair of cyan embroidered shoes with bamboo leaf patterns were neatly placed. A strange woman was sitting cross-legged on the bed. Her hair was styled in a married woman's bun, and a green jade hairpin was inserted obliquely. She looked like a young married woman.
The woman's skin was extremely fair. She had a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, and her eyebrows were like willow leaves in the early spring of February. Her cherry mouth hadn't been painted with rouge, but it was naturally red and plump. Describing her face as "national beauty and heavenly fragrance" seemed too ordinary. She was more like a fox fairy coming to a farmhouse to repay a favor or a fairy who married into a cowherd's family. She was so beautiful that she had a kind of otherworldly fairy air.
The woman was wrapped in a light cyan cloak. Only her fair hands were visible, placed on her abdomen, making the "ziwu formula" gesture. She was probably practicing some profound martial arts technique. There were some beads of sweat on her forehead, and wisps of water vapor could be seen rising from her hair bun, as if she had a high fever and was almost cooked.
"Jiji?"
The bird stood at Ye Jingtang's feet and tilted its head to look under the bed, as if looking for a steamer there.
Ye Jingtang was confused. He didn't even notice the woman's otherworldly beauty. He just suspected that he had gone to the wrong door.
But there probably wasn't a second house in the capital city with such a big hole in the roof.
"Heroine?"
Ye Jingtang's home was occupied, and he couldn't just turn around and leave. He called out at the door, but the woman didn't respond. After thinking for a while, he held the knife and walked towards the bed.
The bird, on the other hand, shrank its head and hid behind the door, peeking out with a terrified expression...