Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2761 Madam Shi 1.0
Upon hearing Shen Cha mention Madam Shi and Hua Yu Ji, Chu Han paused for a moment, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

"So we couldn't avoid it after all!" He sighed softly, watching Xue Mu place dinner on the small table in front of him. "Those kids made an excuse not to eat with us, and they wanted to leave because of this?"

“They don’t know the specifics, they only know that Uncle is hiding something from us.” Shen Cha looked at the stewed meat on her table and waved to Xue Mu, “Take these two plates to Jiu’er and Jiu Jiu. If we can’t finish this tonight, we can keep the rest.”

"Okay!" Xue Mu replied, and after helping Shen Cha set out the food, he delivered two plates of stewed meat to Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu's table.

"Is this all we're having for dinner?" Chu Han glanced at the plate on Shen Cha's table and saw a bowl of noodles, a plate of blanched vegetables, and some cold appetizers. "It looks alright."

"That's enough." Shen Cha poured the greens and cold side dishes into the noodle bowl, added some vinegar, mixed it, and looked at Chu Han.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Chu Han imitated Shen Cha, pouring the stewed meat and various side dishes into the noodle bowl, stirring it, and slowly rolling it up with chopsticks. "Am I being that obvious?"

“It’s very obvious.” Xiao Fengqi said while mixing noodles, just like the others. “It’s made me a little curious. What could be so important that our benefactor would care so much about it?”

“Every time before avoiding us, you have to look at us first, and then talk about something else. Once or twice is fine, but it happens several times. It’s no wonder people are suspicious.” Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes and ladled a bowl of chicken soup for Shen Cha and placed it next to her. “It’s hot. Let it cool down before you drink it.”

"Mmm!" Shen Cha nodded, scooped up a mouthful of noodles with her chopsticks, and slowly chewed it.

“The stories of Mian are all very complete, and they all correspond to each other. But the Tanuki Project is not like that. The details were not discussed. It was only said that the Shi family and families related to the Shi family were raided. But you have been avoiding talking about the content of the interrogation. We tried to ask you about it several times, but you always changed the subject.”

“This inevitably arouses our suspicion, making us wonder if you have some hidden reason for concealing this.” Shen Cha took a couple of bites of noodles, picked up the chicken soup next to her, took a couple of sips, found it a bit too hot, and put it aside. She continued to struggle with her noodles, twirling them as she spoke. “Later, I thought about it, and that Shi family is very likely the Shi family I know. After all, there should only be one Shi family in Jiangnan with a foundation of more than a hundred years.” She sighed softly and said, “If it really is that Shi family, then it is related to Madam Shi. I can understand why you are avoiding talking about it.”

"You actually know her?"

“Both Master and Master have mentioned the Flower Language Shop, so naturally they will talk about her.” Shen Cha sneered. “Many people say she is a business prodigy. In just over ten years, the Flower Language Shop opened twelve shops. But few people know that the cases of missing girls at the end of the previous dynasty and the beginning of the Great Xia Dynasty were actually related to her.”

"That's not actually what I'm avoiding. It seems neither Huilan nor Azheng have mentioned it to you. Madam Shi," Chu Han glanced at Xiao Fengqi, who was leisurely sipping his soup, "Shouldn't anyone know her true background?"

"Is it related to the Xiao family?"

“Hey, General, you can’t say things like that. It has nothing to do with us, but it has to do with the Yelü family.” Xiao Fengqi looked at his third grandfather, and seeing the old man nod, he continued, “She should be related to you in some way?” “A little.” The third grandfather held up two fingers to indicate, “We can barely be related, but they have basically no contact with us. On the contrary, the Xiao family, as their former in-laws, are closer to us than we are.”

"They're not close to us at all; they just see our house as a place where they can travel without spending any money and have people serving them. They never think of us for anything truly good. They only think of high-risk things like the 'Tanuki Plan,' things that could cost them their heads if things go wrong."

"That's true!" Chu Han nodded, smiled at his third grandfather, and said, "It's a good thing that we're not close; it saves us a lot of trouble."

"Based on my understanding of my martial uncle, even if they wanted to get close, he wouldn't pay them any attention. He probably came over hoping to establish a connection, but you rejected them." Jin Miaomiao looked at Third Grandfather. "Right?"

“You know me best, that’s true.” Third Grandfather nodded and divided his stewed meat among Jin Miaomiao and Xiao Fengqi. “As you get older, you should eat less at night.”

"Not bad!" Jin Miaomiao gave Third Grandfather a thumbs up. "But, Madam Shi is related to you. Could it be that the Shi family are Liao people?"

"No, they are from the Great Xia." Chu Han waved his hand, seeing that everyone looked shocked. "This is a long story, let's talk about it while we eat."

Xiao Fengqi took a couple of sips of soup, glanced at Qi Zhifeng who was sitting with Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu, enjoying his meal, chuckled, and placed the two plates of stewed meat from his table in front of them.

"You all eat, this is enough for me." Xiao Fengqi patted Qi Zhifeng's head, then turned to look at Shen Cha. "Actually, it's not hard to understand. Back when the previous dynasty purged the powerful clans in the north, some people escaped and avoided the purge, while others were left behind, forced to hide and change their names to preserve the last vestiges of their family line. Madam Shi's ancestors didn't have time to escape the pass and had to stay here. They traveled to many places before finally settling in Jiangnan, where they changed their surname from Yelü to Shi early on. So, later generations only know that the Shi family is a prominent family in Jiangnan, but they don't know the relationship between the Shi family and the Yelü family."

"They wouldn't dare to reveal themselves, right?"

“Of course, when they fled, they even burned their family genealogy. So, the Shi family genealogy only goes back to Jiangnan, and there's nothing before that.” Xiao Fengqi shrugged. “But what about the missing girl case that the General mentioned earlier?”

"The reason why the Shi family was able to gain a foothold in Jiangnan was because even when they were fleeing, they brought with them a large collection of books. As you know, the previous dynasty valued knowledge highly. These books and rare editions played an indispensable role in their successful escape to Jiangnan. So, once they arrived in Jiangnan, they first used a batch of rare editions to gain the trust of the local aristocratic families, and then slowly built up their businesses, gradually opening schools to cultivate their own clansmen. At the same time, they secretly recruited some students from poor families to become the Shi family's first batch of students, and the Shi family gradually grew stronger."

"But the Shi family is an outsider after all. Even if they have established themselves, they still have to be mindful of the local powerful families. In the beginning, they even had to send gifts to the local powerful families every year. Over time, they started to find themselves unable to make ends meet."

"So, you started doing business?" Seeing Chu Han nod, Jin Miaomiao raised an eyebrow and looked at Shen Cha, "The most successful one is Flower Language Record?"

"Pretty much!" Shen Cha sneered. "Back then, when Madam Shi was still a young girl, she came up with an idea to use Huayuji to attract young men and women who loved beauty. Because Huayuji not only catered to girls, but also had many handsome young men who came to patronize it. She arranged for the shop's employees to keep an eye out for some good ones. After investigating their backgrounds and confirming that abducting them would not have any negative impact on herself or the Shi family, she would drug them and take them away while they were trying on clothes and jewelry."