Ji Ming nodded. "His Highness, the Prince of Qi, knocked on the door of Datong Bank last night and dragged the manager out of his dream. He asked for 200,000 taels of silver. I wonder what urgent matter has happened."
Datong Bank was a secret industry under Song Yinghuai. Even Song Yongzhen didn't know that the real owner behind it was Song Yinghuai.
He only knew that whenever he ran out of silver each month, he could go to Datong Bank to withdraw some.
Last night, he woke up the manager and said he wanted to withdraw the silver for the next four months in advance.
Since the manager knew he was Song Yinghuai's younger brother, he naturally didn't dare to refuse and advanced the silver to him.
Song Yinghuai propped his hand on his forehead, looking a bit fatigued. "What big matter could he have? At most, he must have taken a fancy to some courtesan and wanted to redeem her."
"This..." Ji Ming became even more worried. "According to Your Highness's orders, our people have been in frequent conflicts with the Tartars in Biansha recently. The military supplies and silver have been spent like water. Just two months after Your Highness left Yanjing, we've already spent five or six hundred thousand taels of silver. Our silver reserves are getting tight!"
It was just at this time that the Prince of Qi had taken out such a large sum of silver.
They weren't the Crown Prince, who only spent money on himself all day.
His Highness had to support over 200,000 Yan troops!
Song Yinghuai was silent for a while before saying, "Let's discuss this matter later."
Shi'er and Xiaojiu were trapped in Shangjing and couldn't return to their fief. They had nothing to do all day. Besides playing with birds and dogs, they could only look for fun.
At least no one had been killed so far, so they were still being relatively well - behaved.
Just then, Han Fen came in. "Your Highness, His Highness the Prince of Qi and His Highness the Prince of Zhou are here. They want to discuss matters with you."
Ji Ming said, "Speak of the devil. Your Highness, how about..."
As the chief steward, he really felt heartache for that 200,000 taels of silver.
That was the military supplies for a month!
Could it be that the Prince of Qi really used it to redeem some courtesan?
Song Yinghuai waved his hand, indicating that he understood. "I'll try to find out."
Song Yongzhen and Song Boming walked in.
Song Boming was still tugging at Song Yongzhen, looking like he was trying to stop Song Yongzhen from doing something stupid.
But Song Yongzhen stubbornly wanted to speak.
This made Song Yinghuai frown deeply. "What on earth is going on with you two?"
"Fourth Brother!" Song Yongzhen finally broke free from Song Boming. "I want Miss Caiyu!"
As soon as he said this, the air pressure in the room suddenly dropped.
Song Yinghuai frowned tightly. His deep and sharp eyes, with a cold and dangerous glint, slowly narrowed:
"Shi'er, did you just turn a deaf ear to what I said yesterday?"
"Fourth Brother, I'm not convinced." Song Yongzhen boldly retorted. "Miss Caiyu can only be a maid by Fourth Brother's side. Do you think such a woman would be willing to be just a maid for the rest of her life?"
Song Yinghuai's face darkened even more. "What did you say? Who told you she could only be a maid? And who told you she wasn't willing to be just a maid?"
"Of course it was Miss Caiyu herself who said so!" Song Yongzhen didn't notice the danger at all. "Otherwise, why would she agree to let me redeem her?"
Song Yinghuai slapped the writing brush in his hand on the table!
"Redeem her?" A cold breath came out between his teeth as he squeezed out each word. "She agreed to let you redeem her?"
He paused for a moment and stared at Song Yongzhen. "Last night you said she agreed to let Sheng Jiangli redeem her. Why is it you today?"
"A fair maiden is a gentleman's good match." Song Yongzhen continued to babble without a care. "Beautiful women are naturally fought over by everyone. General Sheng only offered 50,000 taels of silver, but I'm willing to offer 200,000 taels. Naturally, the one who offers the highest price wins!"
200,000 taels!
Such a familiar number!
Ji Ming gasped.
His Highness the Prince of Qi really used 200,000 taels of silver to redeem a woman.
It's just that this woman wasn't a courtesan, but was more precious than one.
She was the apple of His Highness's eye!
Moreover, was there ever such a thing in the world where someone used the seller's silver to pay the seller?
"Your Highness the Prince of Qi, Miss Caiyu is not for sale." To prevent Song Yongzhen from further angering Song Yinghuai, Ji Ming quickly spoke up. "Your Highness has only had one considerate maid after all these years. We really can't let her go, not even for 200,000 taels."
Song Yongzhen clicked his tongue. "Fourth Brother, 200,000 taels! That's not a small amount. How many maids can we buy with it? We can buy so many, really countless..."
"You're my elder brother, my dear brother. I've only taken a fancy to this one beauty. She's just a maid. Please give her to me!"
"I promised to redeem her and take her into my mansion as a concubine of good status. I can't go back on my word!"
Song Yinghuai pressed on his aching forehead and murmured to himself, "A concubine of good status?"
Instead of getting angry, he laughed.
He had been thinking of finding an opportunity to make Caiyu his side - princess, but he never expected that this twelfth younger brother of his only promised her to be a concubine of good status, and she agreed.
It seemed he had overestimated that girl!
Her ambition wasn't that big.
"Fourth Brother, Shi'er is just talking nonsense." Seeing Song Yinghuai's expression was hard to read and impossible to tell whether he was angry or not, Song Boming quickly said, "Miss Caiyu didn't agree to Shi'er. She just said that her worth was 200,000 taels of silver... I think she might be deceiving, deceiving, uh."
When Song Boming met Song Yinghuai's murderous gaze, he quickly changed his words. "Maybe Miss Caiyu was in a hurry and had no choice but to ask Shi'er for help..."
For the silver.
It had to be said that Song Boming accidentally guessed right.
It was just a pity that the naive Song Yongzhen didn't listen at all and trampled on Song Boming's good intentions:
"Nonsense. Miss Caiyu must like me. Otherwise, why didn't she deceive General Sheng but came to deceive me?"
Song Boming said, "...This is the first time I've seen someone who has been deceived and still wants to compare. You're such a stupid idiot!"
"Enough!" Song Yinghuai slapped the table with his palm, and his voice was tinged with anger. "Miss Caiyu likes you?"
The room instantly fell silent.
Song Yongzhen nodded. "Huh?"
Song Yinghuai curved his eyes, looking as if he was happy. "Did she say so herself?"
If she dared to say that she liked Shi'er, he would strangle her.
Song Yongzhen finally belatedly noticed the anger of a certain man.
But he didn't understand why Song Yinghuai was so angry.
Trading a maid for 200,000 taels of silver, this deal seemed like a good one no matter how you thought about it.
Moreover...
Why was Fourth Brother so obsessed with the question of "liking him"?
Song Yongzhen blinked his eyes nervously. "No, she didn't say... I guessed."
Only then did Song Yinghuai's tense face relax.
His knuckles tapped on the table again as he quickly thought in his mind.
Why did Caiyu suddenly need 200,000 taels of silver?
He had known Caiyu for so long and knew that girl wasn't a money - loving person.
On weekdays, she didn't have the habit of comparing with others.
Unless she was in urgent need of money.
But why was that girl just not willing to ask him for silver?
She would rather deceive Shi'er than ask him for help.
Was he really so unreliable in her heart?
The more Song Yinghuai thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and the air pressure in the room dropped again.
Everyone in the room was as quiet as a mouse, looking at Song Yinghuai's ashen face.
Song Boming nudged Song Yongzhen. "Look at how angry Fourth Brother is. Fourth Brother must think you're so useless, squandering a fortune on a woman. All the things he taught you on weekdays have gone to the dogs."
"Get out of here!" Song Yongzhen was very irritable, fearing that Song Yinghuai would flatly refuse.
If he refused, how embarrassing would he be in front of Caiyu!
Time passed bit by bit.
Finally, Song Yinghuai raised his eyes. When he spoke again, his face was as calm as usual and his voice was as gentle as water:
"Where are the silver notes?"
Song Yongzhen was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out several silver notes of large denominations and handed them over. "Fourth Brother, does this mean you've agreed?"
Song Yinghuai smiled faintly and took the silver notes:
"Trading 200,000 taels for a maid. Only a fool wouldn't trade."
Moreover, this 200,000 taels was originally his.
He had just been thinking of trying to find out why Shi'er had urgently taken out 200,000 taels of silver and how to stop him from spending money recklessly.
Well, here he had brought the silver back by himself.
Song Yongzhen was overjoyed. "Fourth Brother, can I take Caiyu away now?"
"I've accepted the silver notes." Song Yinghuai threw the silver notes to Ji Ming and said leisurely. "But whether Caiyu leaves or not depends on herself."
"I've only found one considerate maid after all these years. She serves me well. As her master, I naturally have to take care of her future happiness."
Song Yongzhen looked at the 200,000 taels being taken away with a wronged look and asked:
"Fourth Brother, how are you going to take care of it?"