Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2777 What a rotten peach blossom! 1.0
"He was only slapped twice and forced to kneel in the ancestral hall, but his status as heir was not revoked, so it's not a very serious punishment." Chu Han's expression was indifferent. "Besides, based on my understanding of the Shi family, kneeling in the ancestral hall might be true, but he would get slapped twice." He shook his head slightly. "Nine times out of ten it's fake, just a rumor deliberately spread."

"A rumor deliberately leaked?" Shen Cha immediately realized, "Was it specifically meant for the Miao and Xiao families? It shows that they have punished Madam Shi, thus demonstrating their utmost sincerity and hoping that they will be magnanimous and let it go?"

"That's roughly the idea," Chu Han smiled and said, "However, neither the Miao family nor the Xiao family will pay them any attention. It's not that they're arrogant, but everyone probably has important matters to attend to and won't be distracted by such petty squabbles." He turned to Xiao Fengqi, "Your great-aunt has only met Madam Shi once?"

“Yes.” Xiao Fengqi sighed. “After the Miao family’s banquet, they stayed in Yangzhou for another half a month, met with some big merchants, ordered some goods that they liked and that sold well in Linhuang Prefecture, and brought some gifts for their family and relatives. Then they said goodbye to the Miao family and set off for home. In the following ten years or so, even when my great-aunt traveled to Daxia alone, she never saw anyone from the Shi family again.”

“The Shi family may have seen my great-aunt, but she didn’t notice.” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “At that time, my great-aunt was with my fourth grandfather. The Shi family must have recognized my fourth grandfather, so they didn’t dare to harass her. Otherwise, if my great-aunt was alone, I’m afraid…” She shook her head slightly, “she would have been targeted by the Shi family long ago. With the Shi family’s bandit-like methods, they could have kidnapped my great-aunt silently without anyone knowing.”

Xiao Fengqi didn't speak, but nodded to Shen Cha. He agreed with this statement. If it weren't for Master Jiang, his great-aunt's safety would indeed be a big problem. Although she was accompanied by guards, she was in the open while the Shi family was in the shadows, so it was really impossible to guard against them.

"Alright, that's all for the story of Madam Shi." Chu Han looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao. "Is there anything else you want to ask? Is there anything else you want to know?"

“No.” Shen Cha shook her head, sighed softly, and said, “It can only be said that the real culprit behind the downfall of the Shi family was Madam Shi. Although she was talented, she did not use her talent in the right way. If the Shi family had done business properly, they would not have ended up like this. They were just too ambitious, wanted too much, and were too unscrupulous.”

"They were mainly audacious, daring to even contemplate something as outrageous as the 'Tanuki Plan'," Chu Han sneered. "They deserved this fate." He looked at Jin Miaomiao and winked at her. "Tell me about it!"

"What did you say?" Seeing Chu Han glance at Shen Cha, Jin Miaomiao suddenly realized, "Oh, Xiao Cha's experience, right?" Seeing that Chu Han, Third Grandfather, Xiao Fengqi, and Qi Zhifeng were all looking over, she sighed, "To sum it up, it was a really bad romantic encounter."

"Bad romantic prospects?" Xia Jiu and Shen Jiu said in unison, "Sister, when did you attract bad romantic prospects? Does brother know?"

“Yes, I know. Not only your elder brother knows, but the Marquis, the Grand Commander, and His Highness the Heir Apparent all know. They witnessed it with their own eyes.” Jin Miaomiao chuckled, telling Xue Mu to clear the table and then brew a large pot of digestive tea. After watching Xue Mu and the servants quickly clean up and leave the main room, she slowly said, “That incident happened about three or four years ago, close to the New Year. We usually return to the capital a little over a month before the New Year and come back during the New Year. That time, we went to the palace first and met His Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and several imperial concubines. After leaving the palace, we went to Taibai Residence. We had arranged to meet His Highness the Heir Apparent and the Grand Commander there; they wanted to host a welcome dinner for us.”

Chu Han chuckled softly, “Taibaiju, I didn’t expect this restaurant to still be around.”

"What's wrong?" Jin Miaomiao looked at him curiously. "Is there some story behind this? Or does your great-uncle think their food is bad?"

"It's not that the food here is bad, it's just very eccentric. If they like you, they'll serve you all sorts of delicious food; if they don't, they'll be rather perfunctory," Chu Han sighed. "The owner and I have a falling out. Every time I go, he just brings me a pot of tea, no snacks at all. Not only that, he charges me one tael of silver for a pot of tea, and he gets upset if I don't pay." "Huh? Really?" Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, looking at Shen Cha, then at Xia Jiu and Shen Jiu. "It seems we haven't run into each other, have we?"

"No." Xia Jiu shook her head. "It's just that once when Jiu Jiu and I went to eat with my older brother, the owner really didn't like him. If the dishes were placed in front of him, he would slam them down and snort."

"That's it."

"The owner of Taibaiju Restaurant serves the dishes himself?"

“It’s not like that at every table, just the more important guests, or guests he doesn’t think much of.” Chu Han smiled. “Miao Miao, continue. Did someone provoke you when you went to Taibaiju for dinner?”

"When we went there that time, we managed to book a private room on the second floor, but as soon as we entered the lobby, we saw the Grand Commander and the Crown Prince, and then we were stopped by a group of people."

"A group of people?" Qi Zhifeng looked over curiously. "They don't recognize you?"

“We probably don’t know each other. After all, we don’t often appear in Xijing City, and Xiaocha doesn’t like to go out to eat. What was the reason for that time we went out to eat?” Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Cha. “I don’t remember at all.”

“It was after that incident that I stopped liking to eat out.” Shen Cha raised an eyebrow and looked at Chu Han. “The person who stopped us was Gongsun Yu, the second son of the Marquis of Xibo.”

"The Marquis of Xibo!" Chu Han sneered. "He has no real ability, but he has a high opinion of himself. However, he does have the right to be called that, because his face is indeed quite presentable."

"Is he alright?" Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao exchanged a glance, trying to recall Gongsun Yu's appearance, only to realize that they had completely forgotten him. "Hmm, I have no impression of him. If he really was good-looking, we wouldn't have forgotten him."

"The second son of the Marquis of Xibo." Shen Jiu frowned. "Why are you stopping me?"

"They said they were amazed by Xiaocha's beauty, especially since they'd never seen anyone like her in the capital, so they came to make friends." Jin Miaomiao sighed. "After stopping us, he didn't even look at anyone else, his thieving eyes were fixed on Xiaocha, and he was even posing and making faces at her, which was very indecent. Of course, he thought he was being charming and dashing, but we thought it was very offensive."