Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2845 Master Qingsong 63.0
"How much? One hundred taels?" Jin Miaomiao exclaimed in shock. "Isn't this just blatant sucking up? One hundred taels for a swindler? Unbelievable!"

"Are you crazy?"

"Isn't that just insane!" Jin Miaomiao couldn't understand at all. "Wait a minute, something doesn't seem right." She looked at Song Yaojia, "Was that price of one hundred taels a lie, or did Gongsun Yue and my master say it?"

"Listen to the question you're asking! It's ridiculous!" Merlin slapped her. "Of course it's the conman who asked. Conmans always raise the price when they're trying to scam people. When have you ever seen a scammed person voluntarily ask for money?"

“Xiao Linzi is right. Scams involving money are almost always initiated by the scammers.” Song Yaojia spread her hands helplessly. “If the victim brings it up themselves, then it’s troublesome. If it goes to court, it’ll be hard to explain, and they could easily turn around and accuse you, right?”

"Oh, right, right, I was so shocked that I overlooked that." Jin Miaomiao rubbed her forehead to calm herself down and said, "These swindlers really have a big appetite. They ask for a hundred taels right off the bat. Why don't they just go out and rob people?"

“You couldn’t rob that much silver. Besides, if you tried to rob someone in Xijing City, you’d be caught before you even got off the street.” Shen Cha chuckled. “Moreover, they probably didn’t ask for a hundred taels right off the bat. They must have started with a higher price, which Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong refused. The final price we’re hearing now is what they agreed on.”

“Yes, that’s how it is.” Song Yaojia nodded. “My uncle said that the initial asking price was three hundred taels, and it was a fixed price with no bargaining. I don’t know how they negotiated it later, but it became one hundred taels.”

“A flat price of three hundred taels is even more outrageous; that’s an astronomical price. Sure enough, in these people’s eyes, everyone in the capital is easy to fool.” Jin Miaomiao curled her lips in disdain. “They don’t even consider that how many people who can gain a foothold in the capital are truly stupid?”

"If they could think of that, they wouldn't be flocking to the capital to die, would they?"

"That's true." Jin Miaomiao snorted, feeling a bit hungry from drinking tea, and reached for a rose cake. "I forgot to ask earlier, what's the name of that swindler from the Gong family?"

“His name is Gong Wu, I heard it’s because he’s the fifth child in his family.” Song Yaojia waved her hand and said, “That’s not important. He’s just a lowly errand boy, a gofer. What’s important is the person behind him. How do you get that person to come and meet you willingly? That’s not easy.”

“That’s true.” Jin Miaomiao nodded in agreement. “When did they meet that so-called swindler?”

"That day."

"So fast?"

"This has to be said, Gongsun Yue truly lives up to his reputation as a cunning and shrewd old fox who is adept at manipulating people's hearts."

"Wait a minute!" Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia curiously, "Is Gongsun Yue good at manipulating people's hearts?"

“You need to understand, although Gongsun Yue isn’t a top-tier genius like your grandmaster, he’s already an extremely powerful figure in the field. People like us have absolutely no secrets from them, if they want to. This…” Song Yaojia glanced at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, “You could say he’s skilled at manipulating people’s hearts, right?”

"Hmm!" Shen Haolin nodded. "They have the ability to see through everyone; they're quite the manipulators." "That's right, that's exactly what I meant." Song Yaojia took a sip of tea and said, "He said at the time that he should ask Gong Wu to invite a master so they could hear a solution. Gong Wu wasn't willing to move to the next step so quickly, so the two sides were at odds for a while, until..."

"Until what?"

"Gongsun Yue gave Gong Wu a deposit of twenty taels of silver, without any hesitation, saying that if they could meet today, one hundred taels would be the final price. But if they couldn't meet today, one hundred taels would be fine. Anyway, there's not much else in the capital, but plenty of sorcerers. If they're being coy and unwilling to take the order, then other families will definitely be willing, and it won't even cost one hundred taels."

"Good heavens, they have a firm grasp on people's hearts. Putting aside everything else, what the Gong family fears most is that the money will run away on its own."

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia smiled and said, “The twenty-tael silver note is right on the table. I’m not worried at all that Gong Wu will take the money and run away.”

"Of course I'm not worried. When those two go out, they're always surrounded by people. If he dares to steal and run, he won't be able to go home."

“Gong Wu never thought he could actually get a silver note just by fooling someone. It was unprecedented for it to be so smooth. Although he felt a little uneasy, Song Yaojia sighed, “People die for money, birds die for food. The temptation of one hundred taels of silver was just too great. So, after a slight internal struggle, he still took the silver to invite the expert he had mentioned.”

"Who is this expert?"

"The nephew of the Gong family head, although he has many nephews, this one is not particularly outstanding, but among that group of good-for-nothings, he is still considered quite excellent. Therefore, this time when the Gong family made a comeback, the nephew of the Gong family head played the role of leader. Although there are several teams and several leaders, when they are put together, only this person can lead the whole team, and everyone listens to him."

"Power granted by the Gong family head?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded to Jin Miaomiao. “This person is called Gong Sheng, the ‘sheng’ in the shengxiao instrument. He is a tall and thin boy who was not yet twenty-five years old when he was arrested.”

"Twenty-five years old." Jin Miaomiao and Meilin exchanged a glance. "That's quite an achievement for someone so young, isn't it?"

"Hmm!" Merlin took a piece of pastry, took a bite, and said, "Your Highness, does he actually have some real skills?"

“He does have some skill, but not much. He can fool ordinary people, but against experts like Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong, he's nothing.” Song Yaojia chuckled. “However, this Gong Sheng is quite bold. He heard from Gong Wu that someone offered him a hundred taels to resolve his predicament and even gave him a deposit. Without hesitation, he went directly with Gong Wu to that teahouse, without considering whether there would be any danger in this line of work.”

"He probably thinks that anyone willing to pay that price is either stupid or rich, right?" Seeing Song Yaojia nod, Shen Cha rolled her eyes helplessly and said, "He lost his life for a hundred taels of silver, no, he lost the lives of the entire Gong family team. I wonder if he regrets it or not."

"Whether he regretted it or not, I don't know. All I know is that when he entered the teahouse and saw Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong, his eyes gleamed as if they were a pile of gold ingots."