Chapter 1131: Chapter 967: The Limits of Strength
"Isn’t it that she has no father and no mother? She’s just been living with her eldest uncle’s family!" The man was very patient and hurried to explain.
Gu Chengyu was momentarily speechless. With no father and no mother, there really was no one who could make decisions for this girl.
Gu Chengyu rubbed his brow. He wanted to go back early to rest and was unwilling to waste time on these people.
He had just been about to ask how much Silver was owed when that scholar surnamed Fang抢先 spoke up.
"Then how much Silver does this girl’s eldest uncle owe you?" Fang Shusheng couldn’t help but ask.
He was helping this girl, first because he really couldn’t stomach such injustice, second because the girl was beautiful, which inevitably stirred a few little thoughts in him. If he saved this girl and she offered herself to him in gratitude, wouldn’t that be perfect?
He had a soft heart, and feeling tender toward beauty was something that happened often. Aren’t the storybooks all about heroes saving beauties, then the beauty offering herself in return?
The leader turned his head at these words and sized Fang Shusheng up and down. "What? You want to pay back the Silver for her family? Not much, only three hundred taels of Silver."
The man let go of the young girl and came to stand in front of Fang Shusheng.
"Young master truly is a man who pities fragrant jade. Since you’re willing to help this girl pay off her debt, then we don’t need to make things hard on her."
Since the other party was a scholar, the man didn’t dare offend him too much. Who knew if he’d have some dogshit luck in the future and become a Scholar or scholar?
If they offended him to death now, unless they killed him, it wouldn’t be worth it if he came looking for trouble someday.
So his expression eased a little compared to before. He reached into his breast and pulled out a sheet of paper, waving it in front of Fang Shusheng.
When Fang Shusheng heard "three hundred taels of Silver," he got a fright. His face looked extremely ugly at this moment. Three hundred taels of Silver was no small sum—how could he possibly have that much?
Besides, even if he did have three hundred taels of Silver, there was no way he’d take it out just to pay off this girl’s debt.
Fang Shusheng’s face turned green and then pale. Earlier he had been all high spirits and ambition; now he was having second thoughts.
Only, the words were already out. If he shrank back as soon as he heard it was three hundred taels, wouldn’t that be losing face?
Fang Shusheng was riding a tiger and couldn’t get off. The classmate beside him understood his situation, so he stepped forward to advise: "Brother Fang, three hundred taels of Silver is no small sum. Your wife has just given you a son—shouldn’t you be thinking more for your wife and your young child?"
The classmate knew Fang Shusheng’s family circumstances very well. They merely had a hundred mu of farmland and lived off what the land produced! Three hundred taels of Silver was far too much for the Fang Family.
Fang Shusheng’s face looked extremely unpleasant. He then retreated a few steps and said through gritted teeth, "Forgive me for being powerless to help with this matter, alas!"
After speaking, he moved aside and didn’t dare look at the girl’s disappointed expression, but he still didn’t leave just yet.
He wanted to play the hero saving the beauty, but his实力 just wouldn’t allow it!
Gu Chengyu thought it over. Three hundred taels of Silver wasn’t much to him, but there was no need to just give money away for others to spend.
Besides, if he set a precedent with this, anyone could block his carriage on this road. If everyone pulled this trick on him, wouldn’t he end up bankrupt?
"Which gambling house are you from?"
The man was caught off guard by the question from inside the carriage and his heart clenched. What did that mean? Was he looking for trouble?
But no matter what background this noble might have, their gambling house wasn’t afraid.
"We’re from Baofeng Money Shop. Young master, do you know our master?"
The man’s gaze was fixed tightly on the curtain of the carriage window, as if trying to see through it to the figure inside.
"Oh? I don’t know him." How could Gu Chengyu know the owner of a Money Shop?
There were two kinds of business he never touched: one was a Money Shop, which were essentially the so-called gambling houses.
Under the feet of the Emperor, all these gambling houses bore the signboard of Money Shops. That so‑called "hanging a sheep’s head while selling dog meat" was exactly this.
Most of the gamblers inside had originally been very motivated people, but once they got hooked, they couldn’t quit no matter what. In the end they lost everything.
The second was brothels, because he would not engage in forcing good women into prostitution.
Though both lines of work made huge profits, he already had more Silver than he could spend, so why do such conscience‑less things?
The man frowned at these words. Was he really planning to cause trouble?
"My lord, my lord, please save me!" The woman looked toward the curtain, panic all over her face.
She knew the scholar was unreliable and could only pin her hopes on the noble in the carriage.
"Then what do you mean, my lord?" The man’s eyes rolled. If this noble intended to pay, the matter could be settled here.
If not, then he could only take the woman back. After all, he was just following orders from above and couldn’t make the decision himself.
"You said her eldest uncle owes your gambling house three hundred taels of Silver. As far as I know, a large part of that is interest. The amount he actually borrowed probably isn’t even one hundred taels, is it?"
The man’s face instantly darkened. This was indeed standard practice for a gambling house. If you had no Silver to gamble with and borrowed from them, you had to pay interest—otherwise, why would the house lend you Silver?
"Exactly how much did he borrow?" Gu Chengyu still didn’t get out of the carriage. He was wearing an official uniform, and going out would inevitably invite trouble.
"My lord also knows this is the Money Shop’s usual practice. If you don’t intend to get involved, then we’ll consider it that we’ve disturbed you."
The man cupped his hands, and after speaking, he went forward again to grab the young woman.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be talking so nicely. But he was afraid this person had some background and might bring disaster down on their Money Shop.
It was just that the matter was still unresolved, and he was getting impatient.
On the surface, if they took this woman away and threw her into a brothel, they’d earn far more than three hundred taels.
"Big brother, we’ve wasted so much time. If we just drag her back, won’t it all be over? Let’s hurry up!"
The other two men had shifty brows and rat‑like eyes, clearly no good people, looking extremely sleazy.
Their gazes roamed unrestrainedly over the woman’s body. As for the suddenly appearing carriage and scholar, they felt nothing but disgust, yet their big brother’s patience today was unusually good.
Even if they couldn’t sleep with this woman, they could at least cop a feel a few times to scratch the itch, couldn’t they?
The woman started sobbing softly. Her beautiful eyes swept around, as if searching for someone who could save her.
But the people present were all common folk. They stood at the side pointing and whispering, yet no one reached out a hand to help. Despair surfaced in the woman’s eyes.
Gu Chengyu sighed and tapped the carriage wall.
Ming Yan knew at once from the sound that his lord was calling him. He quickly leaned close to the curtain. "Young master?"
Gu Chengyu took off the tooth card he wore and passed it out through the curtain, speaking softly: "Give them some Silver and settle this quickly. Keep it discreet."
From the moment Ming Yan approached the curtain, the woman’s gaze followed him. She saw a long, slender, pale hand pass some object to the young man, and heard him whisper a couple of sentences. She couldn’t hear what was said.
Ming Yan understood immediately and borrowed the tooth card. "Yes!"
He then sat back where he’d been and beckoned to the man beside him. "Big guy, come here."
