The heart of General Sheng Jiangli, the so - called "poor wretch", was stabbed through and through.
He glared at Song Yongzhen resentfully, forcing a smile.
It's really great to have a wealthy older brother!
Thanks to Song Yinghuai's protection, His Highness the Prince of Qi was the most carefree and irresponsible among all the princes of the Great Ye.
Whether it was the economy or the military forces in the Qi region, in fact, it was Song Yinghuai's men who secretly took care of everything.
This good - for - nothing second - generation idler only needed to stretch out his hand for money.
Fortunately, although Song Yongzhen was good - for - nothing, thanks to Song Yinghuai's supervision, he didn't turn out to be as violent and absurd as the Crown Prince Song Chengyuan.
This young man was at most just playful and had a taste for women.
So Sheng Jiangli didn't dislike him.
Song Yongzhen waved the silver note he had just got from Ji Ming a few days ago, trying to tempt Caiyu.
"What do you say? Will you come with me? If you do, these 50,000 taels of silver are yours. I'll go and get your indenture from the Fourth Brother. You don't have to be a maid when you come to the Qi region. You can be my... my..."
"Be my legal concubine. I'm giving you a great honor, aren't I?"
Song Yongzhen was full of confidence, thinking that for a little maid to be promoted to a legal concubine was an unparalleled honor.
Coupled with 50,000 taels of silver that she couldn't earn in ten lifetimes.
No woman would refuse.
Caiyu watched the silver note fluttering in front of her eyes. Thinking of the 200,000 taels of silver she was desperately trying to raise, an idea suddenly came to her mind.
After Song Yongzhen finished speaking, instead of showing a look of ecstasy, her face became even colder and more aloof.
"Your Highness the Prince of Qi wants to take the maid... but 50,000 taels of silver from Your Highness is not enough!"
"Why?" Song Yongzhen opened his mouth in surprise. "He only needs 50,000 taels to redeem you and marry you. Why won't it work for me? What am I inferior to him? I'm a prince!"
Caiyu held back her smile and said, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi just heard what the Crown Prince said. The maid was a Yangzhou thin horse... Do you know the price of a Yangzhou thin horse? The maid was once a top - ranked flower girl among the thin horses. A mere 50,000 taels of silver can't buy the maid.
"The reason the maid asked General Sheng for 50,000 taels of silver was that General Sheng had saved the maid several times. The maid has no way to repay his life - saving grace... Of course, the maid can't take nothing, so the maid gave a friendly price of 50,000 taels.
"Your Highness the Prince of Qi has never saved the maid, so 50,000 taels is naturally not enough."
Song Yongzhen was completely dazed.
After a long while, he turned to look at Sheng Jiangli. "You saved her several times and only managed to bargain the price down to 50,000 taels?"
Sheng Jiangli had guessed what Caiyu was up to as soon as she opened her mouth.
He sighed and nodded. "I saved her three times... Once I almost lost my life, and that's how I bargained the price down. I'll try to save her a few more times. Maybe she'll agree to marry me then.
"I'm poor, Your Highness the Prince of Qi. Unlike you, who can achieve great things by spending money, I only have my worthless life to win the beauty's favor."
Song Yongzhen nodded stupidly. "Indeed... I do feel sorry for you... So how much silver do I need to redeem Miss Caiyu?"
Sheng Jiangli glanced at Caiyu and said with a half - smile, "In my opinion, 200,000 taels should be about right."
200,000 taels!
Song Yongzhen swallowed hard.
He had just asked the Fourth Brother for 50,000 taels of silver. If he asked again...
Although the Fourth Brother was rich, he couldn't waste money like this!
The Ninth Brother said that the Fourth Brother had spent over a million taels of silver to save their lives and smooth things over.
Moreover, the Yan Army was growing larger and larger. The Crown Prince was in charge of the Ministry of War and was withholding the military pay of the Yan Army. Most of the silver the Fourth Brother earned had to be used to subsidize the military supplies.
He couldn't be too excessive...
Song Yongzhen looked embarrassed. "You're asking for too much... I'm rich, but I'm not stupid..."
"I heard that the Qi region is rich. Your Highness is a feudal prince. I didn't expect you to haggle over 200,000 taels of silver. Has Your Highness never been to a brothel and doesn't know the price of a top - ranked flower girl?"
Caiyu knew that she shouldn't have deceived this innocent young man out of his money.
But she was in urgent need, so she had no choice but to act against her conscience for the time being.
In the future, when she returned to the Yan region and managed the shop that Song Yinghuai had given her, she would slowly pay back this young man in five or ten years.
"Who says I don't know?" Song Yongzhen couldn't stand being laughed at for his lack of knowledge in the world of love and romance. He immediately retorted defiantly. "I'm an old hand in the world of love and romance. Of course, I know about top - ranked flower girls. They're valuable, very valuable!"
He gritted his teeth hard. "Fine, isn't it just 200,000 taels of silver! It's a piece of cake. For the beauty to be completely devoted to me, I agree!
"Give me two days. In two days, I'll go to the Prince of Yan's Mansion and get your indenture from the Fourth Brother!"
Caiyu waved goodbye to the departing Song Yongzhen with a beaming smile. "The maid will be waiting for you, Your Highness! Walk slowly, Your Highness. Watch your step. Your Highness must come back!"
When she lowered her eyes, she saw Sheng Jiangli's mask twitching as he tried hard not to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
Sheng Jiangli rubbed his forehead, with the corners of his mouth twitching. "What on earth did you learn in Yangzhou all those years? The way you waved goodbye to His Highness the Prince of Qi just now was really like a madam in a brothel seeing off a customer."
Caiyu was in a much better mood now. Hearing this, she raised her eyebrows and teased, "General Sheng has a lot of experience. You seem to know exactly what a madam in a brothel looks like and what she says."
Unexpectedly, Sheng Jiangli's face changed. He quickly denied it. "I've been there when it was necessary for business, but I swear I only sat inside drinking tea and wine. I never really touched any of the women there!"
This sounded...
It was as if all the men in the world had rehearsed the same answer. There was only one standard answer.
Caiyu had seen too many such things in Yangzhou.
Some of the officials' wives couldn't stand their husbands' wandering in the world of love and romance. They would lead people to make a scene in the brothel.
The first words of the men were all the same.
Caiyu didn't say a word. She just bit her lips and smiled happily.
It didn't matter to her at all who Sheng Jiangli had been entangled with in the past.
She only cared about the great opportunity that had fallen from the sky - His Highness the Prince of Qi!
Finally, Song Yinghuai had finished dealing with group after group of ministers who came to pledge their allegiance.
He didn't go over there himself, but he could see everything that was going on clearly.
Whether it was Song Yongzhen or Sheng Jiangli, Caiyu was smiling sweetly in front of them.
Looking at the woman's beaming face, the gloom in his eyes welled up and darkened.
He raised his head and gulped down another cup of tea instead of wine. The muscles in his arm holding the teacup tightened.
A drop of tea overflowed from the corner of his mouth, flowed down his smooth chin, and then onto his Adam's apple.
As his Adam's apple bobbed, the tea disappeared under his collar where it couldn't be seen.
The light hanging under the catalpa tree shone down, casting half of Song Yinghuai's face in shadow.
His dark eyebrows and eyes were suppressing the surging emotions. The corners of his eyes were even forced to turn red.
Song Boming, the Prince of Zhou, noticed that his Fourth Brother was in a strange mood. Finally, he blocked the court officials who were still trying to come up and make friends.
At this time, Song Yongzhen ran over happily. Song Boming grabbed him.
"What did you go over there for just now? Sheng Jiangli is on the side of the eldest imperial brother. You'd better stay away from him."
Although Song Yongzhen was simple - minded, he wasn't stupid after all. He glanced at Song Yinghuai and obediently said,
"Don't misunderstand, Ninth Brother. How could I talk to Sheng Jiangli... I was just going over there to spy on the enemy for the Fourth Brother."
He cleared his throat and lowered his voice.
"Just now I heard that Sheng Jiangli proposed to Caiyu... for 50,000 taels of silver! She said yes!"
Song Boming stared in surprise. "What kind of maid is so valuable? Is Sheng Jiangli out of his mind? Fourth Brother, your maid is really..."
"Hey, Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother... Where are you going?"
Song Boming watched in bewilderment as Song Yinghuai pushed through the crowd and strode towards the catalpa tree.
Song Boming: "What's going on? Is he in a hurry to collect the silver?"