northernbook Chapter 249 Squandering
Chapter 249 Squandering
He spent all day in brothels and taverns, and no matter how much money he had, it would all be squandered.
Prince Chu was not very satisfied, but he still drank it reluctantly.
Here, Shen Qi finished serving her man, helped him take off his shoes and put him on the bed, but over there, some noisy noise came from somewhere.
Shen Qi walked out the door to take a look, and just then the servant in front ran in and said, "Princess, there are people outside the door yelling and banging on the door, asking our prince to pay back the money, and we can't wait any longer at the end of the year."
Shen Qi's heart twitched. There were endless things to do every day. "Didn't we agree to extend the deadline until after the New Year? Why are you here all of a sudden and banging on the door?"
"I don't know either, but they said that if you don't pay me back, they will wait at the door until they see the prince and princess."
Shen Qi was in a dilemma. Prince Chu loved to go out and gamble, but she loved to gamble among important people. As a result, she accidentally owed a lot of money.
But we had agreed to pay you back later, so why did you come today?
For a moment, Shen Qi was so angry that her head hurt, and she hurried into the room to wake up her husband.
Prince Chu woke up and after hearing this, he said lazily, "Let them be, what can they do to me? I am a relative of the emperor!"
Shen Qi frowned, "Then do you still have any shame?"
Of course we can let them do as they please, but if we do that, these people will come every day, squat at the door and curse every day, and then the whole Shangjing City will know about it.
"If you know, you know. Otherwise, you can look around and see what else you have at home and sell it. After the New Year, when the silver from the fiefdom is handed over, you'll have money again." The Prince of Chu didn't want to pay any attention and lay down again.
Shen Qi was overwhelmed. The noise of people banging on the door outside was giving him a headache. He had no choice but to take out some valuable jewelry and try to send them away first.
But this time, for some reason, those people were not willing to talk to me at all. They threatened that they could not pay back the money and just sat there.
For a moment, Shen Qi was at a loss as to where to find so much money.
All in all, this New Year was not a good one.
Another person who had a hard time this year was Zhuang Yan from the neighboring neighborhood.
The end of the year is approaching, and the family is already busy, busy purchasing things and dealing with interpersonal relationships.
Zhuang Yan is a clan member's wife and is very busy. But one day, her husband Zhang Lan brings his mistress back home, saying that he wants to bring her in as his concubine.
Zhuang Yan's eyes turned red with anger, "Didn't we agree to let that bitch stay outside? If I don't want to, why should I bring her back?"
"Brother Hong is about to start school. What's the point of keeping him outside?" Zhang Lan said with a cold face.
"What does that have to do with me? She's just a bastard!" Seeing Zhang Lan's face turn unhappy after hearing this, Zhuang Yan changed her tone and said, "At worst, I can bring Hong back. Anyway, that bitch can't come back!"
Over the years, Zhuang Yan has been showing off in the circle of noble ladies, saying that her husband has never had a concubine since they were married to her, which made her so proud. Now he brings her back openly. Isn't this a slap in her face?
"If you don't want to, then give up your seat. Madam Zhang, let Xue Niang sit here!" Zhang Lan looked as if he would not negotiate.
Zhuang Yan pointed at him and said, "You Zhang family, do you have any shame? You raise the concubine as the master, if this gets out, people will laugh their heads off!"
"If you can't tolerate her, then naturally someone else can. Without you, can't I just find a mistress who can tolerate her?"
Zhuang Yan was so angry that she almost vomited blood. "Do you have any shame at all? If this gets out, will our family still be able to live as human beings?"
"Are you talking about your Zhuang family or our Zhang family?" Zhang Lan said with a cold look in his eyes, "Our Zhang family is not as fake as you, living only for face."
"You!" Zhuang Yan really wanted to strangle him to death, "Are you doing this to Ying Jie'er?"
Ying Jie'er is Zhuang Yansheng's daughter, who is just three years old.
Zhang Lan's face brightened a little when she mentioned Sister Ying. "Sister Ying is my daughter, the daughter of our Zhang family. I will never treat her badly."
"What about me? Do you Zhang family treat me well?"
This made Zhang Lan angry. She stood up and pointed at her and said, "What do you mean sorry for you? It's you. Do you think your family deserves our Zhang family?"
Zhang Lan's concubine, Xue Niang, was his childhood sweetheart. The two families had similar family backgrounds and they had been betrothed since childhood.
But later, the Zhang family was promoted, Xue Niang's father was involved in a case, and the family fell into poverty.
The Zhang family came to Beijing to work as officials, but they still remembered the arranged marriage. They were not the kind of people who looked down on others, and they did not look down on Xue Niang just because she had no family background.
They had originally planned to get married when Xueniang was eighteen years old, but that year, Zhang Lan passed the imperial examination and, because of his elegant appearance, many families were attracted by him and wanted to marry their daughters to him when the results were announced.
Zhang Lan refused to agree to any of them, thinking that he would marry Xue Niang on his wedding night when his name was on the list of successful candidates.
At that time, Xueniang had already been settled in a house in the capital by the Zhang family and was brought over from her hometown in the countryside.
But at this time, Zhang Lan was noticed by Zhuang Yan.
The Zhuang family was prominent and a powerful family in the capital, and was related to the Empress Dowager Dong, so they immediately went to ask for an imperial decree.
When this decree reached the Zhang family, everyone in the family was stunned.
Zhang Lan is a man of elegance in his life and does things in a scholarly manner.
Thinking that he could not disobey the imperial decree, he accepted it first and then went to find Zhuang Yan to explain the situation, telling her that he had a lover and could not marry her, which was unfair to her.
At first, Zhuang Yan would still pretend to be a virtuous wife, saying that she was willing to be the eldest wife. When the time came for her to get married, she would ask Xue Niang to come in and be the young mistress, and it would not be a problem to promote her to concubine.
He also advised Zhang Lan that since the Empress Dowager Dong had issued an imperial decree, it would not be easy to change it, otherwise the royal family would lose face.
Zhang Lan's marriage to Zhuang Yan had become a matter of course.
Zhang Lan told Xuenniang about this. Xuenniang knew that she had no family background now. Even if her husband's family liked her and she married into the family as a mistress, she would not be able to help him and would be a burden. So she nodded and agreed to be his mistress.
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Yan's expression changed after he entered the door.
At first, it was said that taking a concubine right after entering the house would not look good if it got out, so Xue Niang was asked to wait outside first.
But after waiting for two or three years, when Zhuang Yan became pregnant, Zhuang Yan said that now that she was pregnant, it would be bad for her fetus to bring in a concubine.
Zhang Lan thought it wouldn't be a problem to go later, so he agreed.
But after Zhuang Yan gave birth to Ying Jie'er, she stopped talking about the matter. If she mentioned it again, it was as if she was unwilling to discuss it.
This Xue Niang was unable to become a concubine from being the main wife, and finally could only become a mistress.
Zhang Lan has always felt sorry for her, and today he finally got the chance to bring it up again.
But for the sake of her reputation among the noble ladies, Zhuang Yan was absolutely unwilling to do so.
Moreover, today, I don’t know what medicine Zhang Lan took, he spoke so aggressively, completely unlike his previous well-controlled self.
Zhuang Yan panicked for a moment, "Did she give you some kind of drug? If she enters this door, there will be no wife of the clan like me."
Zhang Lan sneered, "No, then no. Your dowry was not used by my Zhang family, so it can be taken back to your family."
"You want to divorce me?" Zhuang Yan exploded.
"If I had known this day would come, I should have divorced you long ago!"