Joy of Life

The Bao Yue house was still in business. Word had spread amongst the populace about recent events, and it was quickly gaining notoriety as “the craziest brothel in the city”. The people whispered about the Fan family fighting the second prince, and following that, all who were involved with the establishment were promptly taken back to the Fan manor and beaten with canes for hours. But then, that was all. But some concerned voices spoke of the Overwatch Council’s impotence in the affair, and some were saying that their watchful eyes were flagging, being unable to keep the sordid deeds of the Bao Yue house within their sights. Not long later, however, as the events winded down, so too did the people’s interest, for they thought it all to be over.

To the belief of many officers, things had unfolded and been resolved as naturally as they ever could have. With the confrontation between Fan Xian and the second prince, it was believed that many of Fan Xian’s actions were taboo and that he had been far too cocky, doing many things he should have respectfully refrained from. Additionally, it was now known that it was the second master of the Fan family who owned Bao Yue. Although the family’s general reputation may have taken a minor hit, the revenue they would have earned over the many months would more than make up for it. And with everyone working together to resolve the matters until things returned to a state of normalcy, it was to be a win-win situation.

But for the civilians who did not know of what had transpired, all they were aware of was that an investigation by the Overwatch Council into the Bao Yue house had been undertaken, and at some point, a number of the tortured wails of beaten children echoed from beyond the walls of the Fan manor. It was all so very strange to them. Many of them would think, Since when did our emperor’s special unit begin dealing with brothels? What happened in the Fan manor, I wonder? Why have all those young, thuggish brutes disappeared off the streets all of a sudden?

It did not matter who knew what about what, however, for the general consensus was that this was another petty squabble between the nobles of the city. Its rapid conclusion was most likely due to the network of relationships between families, it was assumed, and that was of benefit to all.

But as for the managers and ladies of the Bao Yue house, they did not seem as relaxed as they once did. Ever since the investigation into Bao Yue, the owner of the establishment had disappeared. Rumors had circulated in regards to a certain “young owner” who was now forbidden to leave the manor he may have belonged to, but confirmation of such a thing had not yet been achieved. As such, all were concerned for his wellbeing. As for the second owner, his identity was somewhat special and so it was rather obvious as to why he could not show up frequently. On the surface, Bao Yue house may have looked fine once more, but under the hood, tensions bubbled as things were put into motion.

Elsewhere, the officers under the second prince’s command were left wondering why the Fan family were willing to send the three men who were directly involved with the homicides straight to the government.

Ever since Mei Zhi Li was transferred to another department, this important Yamen had been under direct control of the second prince. People should have known that the capital government was heavily influenced by the will of the second prince. If the Fan family was preparing to incriminate their own who were involved, and send the second master to Yamen to avoid ruining the entire family’s reputation, then why were there certain rumours perpetuating the belief that the second master had actually been placed under curfew? Furthermore, it was strange to see that there was little movement or action from the Fan manor.

The second prince was having a headache, attempting to wrap his head around the current actions of the Fan family. He did not expect that the Fan family would so quickly decide to exile one of their own to a foreign country, in the dead of night, as he had learned they had. The way the Overwatch Council performed their appointed tasks truly were without fault. With the mounting pressure, he had thought to act upon these issues, but before he could do anyone, word was received of the Fan family’s severed ties with the Bao Yue house. They were clean, and even if they were to try and preemptively move on Fan Xian, his unpredictability rendered it near impossible to calculate what course of action would be the best to take.

No one could correctly guess what Fan Xian was thinking, and no one could ever guess what Yan Bingyun was capable of.

...

...

On this day, the wind blew gently, caressing leaves on their journey to the ground. It was the perfect day for a hike and a good day to observe the flowers of those meadows.

In six days’ time, it was to be Royal Flower Observation Day. Officers and civilians alike would bring their families out on a hike to view the flowers of the kingdom. Since it was also the daytime, the Bao Yue house was now quieter than usual. Because they did not know the future of their favored establishment, and because the owner of the place had been missing all this time, the customers who were always delighted to come were now deflated upon their seats. The ladies that skirted the pond did their best to cheer the horny old men up, and unknown bugs were writhing beneath rocks and stones, awaiting their impending doom.

The workers inside the house were restless as well. With cloth, they went about wiping down surfaces casually, in an attempt to stay motivated, unlike their detest of the activity in prior, more jovial days. Fan Sizhe would often give the order to wipe down tables with a pure white cloth to highlight whether or not there was a single speck of dust. Although they now went about cleaning of their own volition, it was done in a haphazard, careless manner.

All of a sudden, a person walked in. He possessed extremely thick eyebrows, as if they had been painted upon his face. Because a person of such an appearance was a rare sight, it was one that was easily remembered. He had been here before ,and the waiter who had once served him recognized him immediately. In shock, he jumped up, but did not approach him.

One worker looked upon him with a strangeness in his eyes, and as he finished wiping a table, he slung his cloth over his shoulders and said, “Welcome!” His speech was like the sound of music, and its tone was joyous to hear.

The person gave a wry smile, and looked a touch awkward. He stood in the lobby of the Bao Yue house for a while before shaking his head and speaking, “Tell Shi Qing’er to come and see me.”

Upon hearing this, the worker was taken aback. She thought of this customer to be somewhat boorish, particularly with his speech mannerisms. His request to immediately see Shi Qing’er, and his reference of her name, was unusually direct. There were many nobles in the capital, but for those that would come to the Bao Yue house, which of them would not be nice to her?

The worker who recognised who this man was snapped out of his daze, wiped the sweat from his brow and approached the fellow. He politely said, “I will deliver the message, sir.” And then, one of the other works led this strange person to the third floor. He was brought to the quietest, nicest room in Bao Yue, in which others were told to treat him nicely.

After that person went upstairs, all the workers who remained on the first floor gathered around each other and began talking. They did not know why that person had come here and, even though the Bao Yue house was not in any immediate danger, the past incidents had left all of its staff in a state of anxiety.

Although this person with bushy eyebrows seemed to be one you could easily mistake for some common, bureaucratic nerd; one person finally remembered who he was. He was the person who arrived at the Bao Yue house with Mister Chen. Who was Mister Chen? He was the big brother of the owner of the Bao Yue house and the most popular person in the court. The person that had arrived had to be Mister Fan’s good friend, and as such, it was a person who was of a high rank in the Overwatch Council.

Everyone was shocked in the house, for they all knew what transpired that day. They were only afraid that the brothel had gravely offended Master Fan, and this made the owner of the establishment suffer. And now, on this day, someone else had been sent. Was the Overwatch Council going to make a mess again? Would the business still be able to operate as it usually did?

It was then that someone sighed and said, “I see. I am only afraid that the brothel might have to give out a large sum of money to resolve its issues. It is a shame that although the big owner was really cruel at times, the way he did business was tremendous. But for no reason, we will have to stuff the pockets of another couple of officers to remain afloat. Even if the business is going well, I only fear that it would be a waste.”

“Bah!” Someone was unable to cope with the sight of the person who was speaking, acting like a priest of the Qing Temple. Mockingly, he said, “You idiot! The owner of Bao Yue house is Fan Xian’s little brother; there is no way the Overwatch Council would take money from us. Do you expect the brothers to take our money in their left hand, only to hand it to their right hand? Furthermore, their old man is a shangshu; he would always have his eyes on them.”

A person with a skinny face spoke up, “then what is this subordinate of commissioner Fan doing here?”

The person with large eyebrows who had arrived at Bao Yue was Shi Chanli. Today, Fan Xian had been relaxing, and because he was little more than a self-disciplined, honorous scholar, Shi Chanli had been commanded by his teacher to visit the brothel. As it went against his nature, his mood was soured.

Si Qeng’er’s eyes had a strange look to them, though she politely poured him tea nonetheless. Her moderate, but her disdain for the man did not stem from him being an officer; it was because he was a close friend of Fan Xian. The owner had vanished a few ago, and this person was visiting. After thinking a whole she softly asked, “Mister Shi, I have no idea why you have decided to come visit us on this day.”

Shi Chanli was hesitant to reply.

Si Qing’er was a person selected by the third prince. She did not know much about the Fan family, but seeing him hesitate, she was given the wrong idea. While cusping her mouth, she began laughing, “We are all family now. Is Mister Shi still planning on... tearing down this building?” When she said the word “tearing”, it was pronounced so deeply, it sounded otherworldly.

Shi Chanli’s thick eyebrows furrowed, for he disliked how frivolous this woman was. He therefore steeled his expression and immediately presented a document. With a deep voice, he told her, “I did not come here today to destroy the house. I have come to claim ownership.”

“Claim ownership?”

Si Qing’er was visibly rocked. She clasped the document she was given and gave it a quick look, her face curdling with every passing second. When she reached the bottom of the page and took sight of the red fingerprint, she gritted her teeth. After a long silence, she seemed to have digested the shock of the revelation, and with widened eyes, asked, “the big owner gave up all shares of this house... to you?”

Her words were paced unevenly... 70% of the shares was a most incredible sum of money; how could it have been transferred so quickly and easily? Si Qing’er knew it could not be this simple, and so she furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “Mister Shi, this is too much. I cannot agree with it.”

Shi Chanli now revealed a wry smile and responded, “I don’t need your agreement. From now on, I am your boss. I am the owner of the Bao Yue house. I came here today just so I could notify you.”

Si Qing’er gritted her teeth and said, “Might I ask you, Mister Shi, where is the previous owner of the Bao Yue house? This is such a big thing, I fear I must see it in person to believe it.”

Shi Chanli could write very well, and the document he wrote a few days ago had been composed quickly and cleanly. What he himself had not expected was Fan Xian’s desire to position him as the brothel’s new owner. In his heart, he felt extremely uncomfortable, and he had the thought that he was merely inviting more and more trouble to himself. When he heard her ask her question, he coldly responded, “Do you truly believe that this ownership transfer document can be forged? Do not be a pest! The accounting folk will be here later, so don’t you think about doing anything unruly.”

Si Qing’er was now aware that the Fan family was preparing to severe all of its connections to the Bao Yue house and use the scholar before her as little more than a pawn. Her ranking was not high enough to learn of any more, however, and she thought it strange that Yuan Meng had all of a sudden disappeared. So, she said, “the Bao Yue house is going to be owned by someone named Shi? I am just trying to get by with my work here; I would not dream of competing with you.” Her heart was calmer now, and so she smiled and said, “Thirty percent of the shares are still possessed by the third prince, but I am sure that Mister Shi is well aware of this by now.”

No matter what, as long as the third prince owned the sum of shares that he did, the Fan family could not wholly escape their ties to the Bao Yue house. Even so, she did not know that Fan Xian had never planned to wholly scrap the establishment, and instead wanted to obtain some form of ownership. There was a lot of coin to be earned.

Shi Chanli looked at her and smiled, and both of his bushy eyebrows came alive as he told her, “Today, I am merely laying claim to the house. Therefore, I am going to have to ask you to notify the other owner that I plan on taking the rest of the shares, also.”

“You plan to take those, as well?”

“What arrogance!” Si Qing’er was brought to rage as she yelled this. She was aware that the transference of ownership between the Fan family and their closest allies was a simple deed to do, but she did not believe that taking the third prince’s shares could be done quite so simply.

Now, Shi Chan Li was comfortably slipping into the prospect of him being the owner of a brothel. He told her, “to collect this thirty percent of shares, I have many ideas. To bring it up now is to respect the second owner; you must understand this.”

Si Qing’er responded coldly, “oh? It looks like I’ll have to thank you, but I just don’t know... how much you are willing to pay?”

Shi Chanli raised his hand and lifted a single finger.

“A hundred thousand coins?” Si Qing’er asked, thinking that such a price was fair enough. If the Bao Yue house was able to maintain its current traffic and continue to generate the income it currently was over the long term, 100,000 coins for 30% of shares was a fair price.

Shi Chan Li shook his head.

“Only ten thousand coins?” Shi Chanli was shocked.

“I only have one thousand coins.” Shi Chanli professed honestly, and said, “To be a scholar is to almost always be poor.”

...

...

“Ridiculous!” Si Qing’er shouted madly. “Do not think for one second that because you are associated with the Fan family that you can do anything you want. It is the third prince who owns the rest of the shares, he of the royal family!”

Shi Chanli raised his eyebrows and said in a friendly tone, “Do not misunderstand. Seventy percent of these shares are owned by Shi Chanli. That’s me. It has nothing do with any other family. And it is irrelevant who owns the remainder of the shares.”

Si Qing’er, with a frosted voice, told him, “About the remaining thirty percent what if he is not willing to sell?”

“Firstly, there’s always the chance a few documents might turn up, incriminating a particular person in the harboring secret ties to a foreign country. As for what this crime is called, I am not so sure.” Shi Chanli was now laughing, and he continued, “Secondly, it won’t be long before an establishment by the name of Bao Ri house opens up in the capital. If I own seventy percent of the shares, then I can fire everyone in the Bao Yue house. That goes for the waiters, as well as the ladies. If this was to happen, then the Bao Ri house may find itself in a wonderful position. Lady Qing’er? This is something for you to think about. The Bao Ri house has yet to exist, but how much time do you expect it will take to bring down the entirety of the Bao Yue house?”

Si Qing’er was wearing a surprisingly confident, almost smug look. Without backing down, she retorted, “Regarding your first point, I do not believe it. Is the Fan family... no...Is Mister Shi truly willing to let the Bao Yue house shut down? Squander the seventy percent of shares so that everyone loses?” With a face beaming with pride, she then said, “As for second suggestion? That would be impossible. When the owner originally chose this spot for the Bao Yue house’s establishment, it was done with very precise, very contemplative thought. He also paid particular attention to the contracts he signed with the girls in ensuring how their contract cannot be rescinded. How do you expect to make them all leave?”

Shi Chanli shook his head and sighed. He then said, “It looks to me as if Lady Si Qing’er does not fully understand this situation... You have to understand that I am the owner of the Bao Yue house. No matter what the contract says, I have the final say-so.”

Si Qing’er face warped.

Shi Chanli stood up and pushed open a window. With a hearty smile, he told her, “In regards to where the Bao Ri house will be established, I won’t hide it from you. It’ll be established right next door to the Bao Yue house. It is right beside the pond, also. The only reason why I came here to claim the house today, is because I have been busy these past few days. I was busy claiming the land next door.”

Si Qing’er’s eyes were wide open in disbelief and she was left speechless.

Shi Chanli was now intoxicated with the power of being being the owner of the Bao Yue house, and he had wholly assumed the role of a cruel businessman. He was loving it. He reached his hand out the window and waved his hand along the breeze, telling her, “and about us perishing together, I have no fear of doing that. If the other side refuses to quit, then I will have no choice but to bring us all down together. Although the seventy percent of shares is a lot of money, it is the least of my concern right now.”

After his utterance, He thoughtmy identity as a scholar, and assume the role of someone far more powerful, where I can bully others freely? He really was being a menace to Si Qing‘er. Although he had only made shallow, simple threats, they would be more than enough for them to give up the hope of resisting such a takeover.

The land beside the Bao Yue house truly had been taken over by the Overwatch Council, but at what method they used to claim it, none knew. Shi Chanli knew that every step they took in claiming ownership of that land was flawless. The proceedings were overseen by Yan Bingyun and it all went without a hitch. And now, if the third prince was unwilling to give up the thirty percent of shares, Yan Bingyun would have to find a way to bring down the Bao Yue house within ten days or less. If this was done, there would be no coming back for Bao Yue.

“If you don’t know how all this stuff began, it’s best not to worry your little mind about it.” Shi Chanli did not need her to send a message to the third prince anymore. The matter of Fan Xian wanting to claim the Bao Yue house had already been sent by the Fan manor to Yi Gui Pin, who was residing in the palace. Yi Gui Pin was the one overseeing the punishment of the third prince, and the boy had been made to copy out archaic books all day, everyday. Even if he felt bad about his money getting scammed by his big cousin, there was nothing that he could do to right what he was currently being wronged.

He saw Si Qing’er’s face take on a look of confusion. The nature of a scholarly fellow being nice is something that could not be avoided, and he unwittingly smiled at her and said, “I am a nice person. In the future, if you continue to work for me, I won’t treat you poorly.”

But who was to know that Si Qing’er was a person of extreme stubbornness? She had always wanted to be responsible for the second owner. The second owner was a young boy, but she thought of his identity and thought that Shi Chanli was overstepping his boundaries. It was common to see people fight for businesses in the capital, but who would dare to push back against a prince?

“If the second owner sends a message, I will let you know.” She gritted her teeth and continued to speak, “but the figures of money that are penned into the ledger will have to be calculated by you and I correctly. Do not mess this up.”

Shi Chanli nodded. The repo men who had been waiting outside now at last entered. Seeing this group of people, Si Qing’er’s eyes were stunned; these were the secret agents of the Overwatch Council dressed in casual clothing. And to prohibit the entry and actions of a group such as that, who could do such a thing?

She looked upon the group of people. One person in particular had a long beard, and he repeatedly complimented the decor as he walked about. As she took sight of him, she could not help but sigh. And that is all she could do, for she could no longer muster the effort to speak. She had tried her best, but there was nothing she could do to prevent Fan Xian from taking the money from the third prince.

Even with the Qingyu Hall’s Yi family’s accounting, there was no wriggling out of this one. Her worst dreams had now been realized, and in her horror, she thought of her cherished establishment being owned by a man named Shi... no, by that damn Fan Xian!

He would definitely not choke on the money he was to receive, and he probably wouldn’t need water to swallow it down.