The Prodigal Son

A young man was standing at the entrance of the Qin residence.

Qi Dachui, wielding his golden mace, and the servants of the Qin family blocked the entrance, refusing to let this scoundrel who had come to cause trouble on the first day of the Lunar New Year into the house.

Qin Yu stepped forward and recognized the person at a glance.

Cui Zhi!

The moment Qin Yu saw Cui Zhi, he understood.

This is absolutely disgusting!

Upon seeing Qin Yu emerge from the door, Cui Zhi politely bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Qin."

"So you're being picky now, you bastard?"

Qin Yu abandoned his plan to give Cui Zhi a couple of firecrackers, and stared at him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Did your father send you?"

"Um."

Cui Zhi nodded and smiled. "My father said that Lord Qin owes him a thousand taels of silver and sent me to collect the debt on his behalf. Lord Qin shouldn't renege on his debt, right?"

Qin Yu took two steps forward. "I say, you weren't adopted, were you? Your dad chose this time to send you to collect debts, isn't he afraid you'll get beaten up?"

Damn it!

Why not collect the debt earlier or later, but of all times?

That old bastard Cui Xu knows how to be disgusting!

This is definitely revenge!

It was either because of the fact that he had used him as a pawn, or because of the fact that he had gone to the Empress Dowager's house to forcibly borrow money before the birthday banquet.

Or perhaps, both.

Cui Zhi smiled broadly, "Lord Qin is a man of status. Paying back debts is a matter of course. Lord Qin would never do such a thing."

Qin Yu's face stiffened slightly, then a smile appeared on his face. "Fine! It's my fault for not paying back the money on time. I admit defeat!"

Ok?

Seeing the smile on Qin Yu's face, Cui Zhi couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

This bastard isn't angry?

He thought his father would be furious if he chose this time to collect the debt!

They were obviously doing this on purpose to disgust Qin Yu.

Who told this bastard to make them uncomfortable time and time again?

"Alright, stop standing there. Since you're already here, come inside and have some breakfast!"

Qin Yu called out to Cui Zhi and then ordered the people blocking the doorway to move aside.

Looking at Qin Yu, who seemed so easy to talk to, Cui Zhi couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. "You're not planning to bring me inside and beat me up, are you?"

He didn't speak harshly to me, nor did he fly into a rage. Instead, he invited me into the house for breakfast.

This isn't like Qin Yu at all!

"I'm going to beat you up, anywhere!"

Qin Yu glanced at him, then turned and went inside.

Cui Zhi looked at Qin Yu's back with suspicion, then steeled himself and followed Qin Yu into the house.

Upon entering the house, Xu Wan and the others were already dressed and in the front hall.

However, none of the three women slept well, and they kept yawning one after another.

Upon seeing Qin Yu walk in, Xu Wan couldn't help but glare at him fiercely.

They kept whimpering until midnight last night, which kept me from getting much sleep.

That bastard definitely did it on purpose!

Meeting Xu Wan's gaze, Qin Yu immediately put on an innocent expression.

This isn't my fault!

Those two vixens have been flirting with me!

"Commander Xu, what are you doing here?"

Cui Zhi looked at Xu Wan with surprise, a sudden surge of gossip ignited in his heart.

"If you can be here, why can't I?"

Xu Wan was in a bad mood when she woke up and didn't give Cui Zhi a pleasant look at all.

Cui Zhi assumed Xu Wan was upset because he had come to the Qin family early that morning to collect debts, and said matter-of-factly, "I'm here to collect debts!"

"When did Qin Yu owe you money?"

Xu Wan frowned, then glared angrily at Luo Qingyi and the others who were hiding to the side, grinning mischievously.

How dare they laugh!

Isn't it just being promiscuous?

As if anyone can't say that!

Cui Zhichong gestured towards Qin Yu with his chin, "You should ask him!"

Before Xu Wan could ask any questions, Qin Yu told her the whole story.

Xu Wan was taken aback when she learned that Cui Xu had actually asked Qin Yu for "service fees".

Those two are really something!

One dared to ask, and the other actually gave!

Qin Yu smiled nonchalantly, "Alright, let's eat first! We should head out after we eat!"

As he spoke, Qin Yu invited Cui Xu to sit down.

Are you going out for a trip?

Cui Xu sat down and casually asked a question.

"We're going to the City God Temple."

Qin Yu nodded. "Are you going or not? If you are, you can come along."

This was something they had discussed last night.

The first day of the Lunar New Year and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month are the busiest times at the City God Temple.

"I'm not as leisurely as you guys."

Cui Zhi shook his head slightly, "I have to study at home."

"Studying during the Lunar New Year?"

This is a bit curly!

Cui Zhi said solemnly, "The imperial court has opened a special imperial examination, which will be held in March. I must study hard and strive to be in the top three."

That's right!

Qin Yu then remembered that the imperial court had held an extra imperial examination this year.

Luo Qingyi asked in surprise, "Young Master Cui, if you want to enter officialdom, you shouldn't need to go through the imperial examination, right?"

His father is the Imperial Censor; it wouldn't be difficult for him to be recommended for an official position.

Cui Zhi gently shook his head, "Only those who pass the exam on their own merit can be considered truly capable!"

Qin Yu chuckled and gave Cui Zhi a thumbs up.

The Qin family's breakfast wasn't lavish, but Cui Zhi, who had gone out to collect debts without eating breakfast, still ate heartily.

Qin Yu ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice and then asked indirectly, "I heard that before I sent someone to deliver the account books to your father, someone had already sent a letter to denounce me?"

"No comment!"

Cui Zhi gave a simple reply and then continued eating.

Depend on!

They're quite tight-lipped!

Qin Yu strongly suspected that the person who reported him was Yu Jing.

However, this was only his suspicion.

He still wanted concrete evidence.

Seeing that Cui Zhi was unlikely to tell, Qin Yu stopped pressing him and instead started chatting with Cui Zhi casually.

After finishing his meal, Cui Zhi quickly put down his chopsticks. "Lord Qin, I have some matters to attend to. You see..."

"have to!"

Qin Yu knew that he was asking for a debt, so he immediately ordered Luo Qingyi to fetch a thousand taels of silver.

Soon, Luo Qingyi handed Cui Zhi a silver note containing one thousand taels of silver.

After inspecting the silver notes, Cui Zhi put them away with satisfaction, cupped his hands in farewell to Qin Yu and the others, and said, "Farewell!"

With that, Cui Xu walked out.

However, after taking only two steps, Cui Xu suddenly stopped and turned back to Qin Yu: "If you're going to cause trouble later, go find Lü Si. Don't you dare bother me!"

"what?"

Qin Yu was taken aback. "What does this have to do with Guan Lüsi? If you want to shift the blame, you need a reason, right?"

"It's all that bastard's fault!"

Speaking of Lü Si, Cui Zhi immediately gritted his teeth in hatred, "If he hadn't come to my house yesterday demanding payment, my father wouldn't have sent me here first thing this morning to collect the debt from you!"

"..."

Upon hearing Cui Zhi's words, the group of people immediately turned pale.

After all that fuss, it turns out that it was that bastard Lü Si who went to disgust the Cui family first!

Coming to his senses, Qin Yu asked curiously, "So, what did you do to Lü Si? Why would he come to your house to collect a debt during the New Year?"

"What can I do to him? That bastard is just deliberately trying to disgust me!"

Speaking of this, Cui Zhi was furious.

The day after Qin Yu was stripped of his title and dismissed from office, Lü Si went to him to collect his debts.

He had originally planned to give the silver to Lü Si after Qin Yu gave it to them.

As a result, that bastard Lü Si didn't say anything at the time, but yesterday at noon he came to his house to collect the debt.

His father was furious to be confronted with debt collectors during the Lunar New Year.

After giving the silver to Lü Sihou, his father kicked him twice, telling him to come and collect the debt from Qin Yu first thing this morning.

After hearing Cui Zhi's words, Qin Yu was speechless for a moment. "How could you owe Lü Si money?"

"Isn't this all thanks to you?"

Cui Zhi was very upset and told him about the bet he had with Lü Si.

A bet that was supposed to be won was lost because Qin Yu brought it upon himself.

In this back and forth, two thousand taels of silver were gone.

After understanding the reason, Qin Yu was speechless again.

So that's what happened!

That bastard Lü Si is really asking for trouble!

They actually used this to make a bet with someone?

This kid seems to have gotten obsessed with making money lately.

First he tricked the Chu envoy, then he made a bet with Cui Zhi, and the day before yesterday he even wanted to ask me for hush money!

Hmm, let this bastard make as much money as possible first!

When the time comes, I'll get them all to myself at once!

Let's see if this bastard is still so smug!