Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 49: Beautiful Lady and Guests
Let’s not talk about Chenglu Garden, but Changzi went straight to Manqian Penglai. Actually, Manqian Penglai was still within the wall of Yejiayuan, so Changzi didn’t even have to go out of the gate to go there.
He arrived at the small pier and explained his purpose. He was prepared for the possibility of being rejected and was ready to swim across if the other party refused - the water was not very wide anyway.
Unexpectedly, the boatman at the dock ferried him across after hearing what he had said. A servant then led him to see Zhou Yijin. Although Zhou Yijin had lain down, he still stood up to meet him. Changzi stammered a lot, but Zhou Yijin did not mind his nagging. He listened carefully and asked, "Where is the letter?"
Changzi took out the strip of cloth.
Zhou Yijin glanced at her and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go meet her."
Changzi was overjoyed. He had encountered many setbacks in everything he did in the past two days. He never expected that everything would go so smoothly at this moment.
Zhou Yijin looked at the sky and said, "It's just dawn. You go back first. I'll wait for half an hour before setting off to visit the third daughter of the Ye family in Chenglu Garden to ask her about music." He paused and said, "Do you remember what I said?"
Changzi nodded: "Remember, I'll keep it in mind."
Zhou Yijin said: "Go ahead."
Changzi hurried back and stammered back what Zhou Yijin had said. Ye Youyu secretly praised him, "This master not only acts in an orderly manner, but also with courtesy." He then asked Dongxue to prepare some refreshments to welcome this distinguished guest.
What could be in a small kitchen? Dongxue still thought of a way. She fried rice grains to make a dish of dry fried rice, and fried flour with oil to make a dish of fried noodle flowers, and paired it with some coarse tea. The food was really not presentable, but at least there was tea and snacks.
Just as I finished it, Zhou Yijin came.
He came to visit in a serious manner, handing in a note at the entrance of Chenglu Garden. Ye Zhong accepted the note and let him in.
After Xu's disturbance at the sisters' banquet, Ma had been sending people to keep an eye on them, but with Ye Zhong guarding the gate, her people could not get in. Later, she also knew that Changzi went to Manqian Penglai, but Zhou Yijin came to visit openly, so Ma couldn't stop him too deliberately. Moreover, she also heard that Zhou Yijin had a special status with Wu Chengjian, so she didn't dare to stop him. She thought: "It's already this time, if I just rely on people to pass on the message, I don't think that little bitch can do anything. But I must stop Haoguan from seeing this bitch!"
So she sent more people to keep a close eye on Chenglu Garden. If Wu Chengjian was persuaded by Ye Youyu to come see her, Ma was ready to break in and end her life with her own hands!
When Zhou Yijin entered the garden, he met Ye Youyu beside the fish pond.
When Zhou Yijin saw her, he thought, "What a pretty girl! No wonder Chengjian was so unforgettable at first sight."
When Ye Youyu saw him, he thought, "What a handsome man! If I hadn't heard about his deeds before, I would have thought he was using his sex appeal to entertain people."
Dongxue had already prepared a small table, with tea and snacks on it. After the two of them greeted each other and sat down, Zhou Yijin took another look at Ye Youyu and thought, "This girl's cheeks are a little thin, and her eye bags are still swollen. She must have had a hard time last night."
Ye Youyu glanced at Zhou Yijin, half intentionally and half unintentionally, thinking, "The bloodshot in his eyes is hard to hide. Is it because he didn't sleep well last night, or has he been like this lately? Is Yi Hexing worried about something?"
After just one encounter, the two of them figured out a lot about each other.
After taking a sip of tea, Zhou Yijin looked around and said, "This yard is nice, quiet and secluded."
Ye Youyu said: "It's just right for the cold palace."
Zhou Yijin smiled.
Ye Youyu said, "Let's get straight to the point. I invited Master Zhou here today because I really have something to ask you."
Zhou Yijin made a gesture of invitation.
Ye Youyu said, "Master Zhou, can you be the master of Haoguan?"
Zhou Yijin smiled and said, "I can't make decisions on small matters, but we can discuss big matters."
Ye Youyu asked, "What is a small matter?"
Zhou Yijin smiled and said, "The jealousies in his room and the mess in bed are just trivial matters. I never get involved." He had a peerless appearance and a gentle manner, but he said a lot of vulgar words, which surprisingly did not seem out of place.
Ye Youyu chuckled, not taking it as an offense. This chuckle was like a flower blooming in a dry garden, which made Zhou Yijin secretly admire it. After Ye Youyu smiled, he asked, "What is the big deal?"
Zhou Yijin said: "He often discusses these matters with me, such as the life and death, fortune and misfortune, success and failure of Yihexing."
Ye Youyu said, "That's great. I need to discuss an important matter with Master Zhou now."
Zhou Yijin said lazily, "What big deal?" His tone was not even a question, and it was obvious that he did not think Ye Youyu could say anything big.
Ye Youyu said: "I want Hao Guan to put pressure on my father and let me get married instead."
Zhou Yijin said, "It's not that Hao Guan can't do this, but there are some things outside that you don't know, so I won't say much. In short, if this is done, Hao Guan will have to pay a heavy price. What reason does he have to pay for it? Just the promise to take care of you that day is far from enough - we can take care of you in other ways."
Ye Youyu reviewed it, and Dongxue Changzi left. Zhou Yijin asked Wu Xiaojiu to leave as well, and then Ye Youyu said, "I don't know what's going on outside. But after thinking about it, it's nothing more than Cai Shiwen setting up some trap, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi putting pressure on him, the Supervisor of the Guangdong Customs or Zhongtang telling him about some difficult things, and if there's anything else, the East India Company will come and get involved - after all, Haoguan borrowed their power, and some things, once taken, must be returned. That's probably it."
Zhou Yijin looked at Ye Youyu steadily, with a look of uncontrollable admiration and surprise in his eyes. If it weren't for what happened in the past two days, he would almost think that the girl in front of him was actually Ye Dalin's strategist.
He suddenly laughed and said, "Everyone in Xiguan says Ye Dalin is smart and cunning, but today it seems that he is blind!"
Ye Youyu said: "It's not necessarily that I'm blind, it's just that people tend to treat things that are easily available as rubble. In the Ye family, I am just a piece of rubble."
Zhou Yijin smiled and said, "Do you think that if you go to the Wu family, you can become a pearl? Unfortunately, this alone is not enough. Hao Guan himself is very smart, and with me here, the Wu family is not lacking in wisdom now."
In a word: what Ye Youyu has is not what Wu Chengjian urgently needs.
Ye Youyu said, "I am trapped in seclusion, and I don't have complete information from the outside world, so I can only speculate based on fragments. However, I think Yihehang must have had some difficulties recently. Otherwise, Master Zhou, you wouldn't have been unable to sleep well these days."
Zhou Yijin smiled and said nothing.
Ye Youyu said, "Indeed, Hao Guan has already come up with a lot of clever ideas, and with Master Zhou by his side to help with the planning, if I go over there, at most I can only be the icing on the cake. Besides, Hao Guan may not trust me. An idea from someone you can't trust is worse than nothing. So even if I have some clever ideas, they won't be of much use to him, but I have more than that."
Zhou Yijin said, "Miss, do you have anything else? If you really had something, you wouldn't be locked up here and trapped in this city of sorrow."
Ye Youyu said, "A fish in a pit can only wait to die of thirst, but once it returns to the sea, it has a chance to turn into a bird. This is my name, and Hao Guan is the first person to explain its meaning in public."
Zhou Yijin suddenly interrupted, "When did he solve it?"
Ye Youyu answered casually: "When I was thirteen years old."
Zhou Yijin stared at her again, and suddenly laughed out loud: "I see."
Ye Youyu was a little surprised, not understanding why he suddenly laughed like that: "What do you mean, that's why?"
Zhou Yijin said: "It's okay, just continue talking."
Although Ye Youyu's eyes were filled with doubt, this was not the time to satisfy his curiosity, so he put aside his doubts and continued, "Only by myself, I naturally have nothing and can do nothing, but if Haoguan can give me a way to enter the sea, then I can give him a bay, or even an ocean."
Zhou Yijin laughed and said, "What a big tone."
Ye Youyu said, "I'm not being boastful, I'm just stating the truth. Master Zhou, I want to ask you a question . The Wu family took over so much of the Ye family's assets through this marriage. Do they want to take advantage of the opportunity to turn the Ye family into the Wu family's followers, or do they want to drive the Ye family's nails into the Wu family?"
When Zhou Yijin heard this, his heart moved slightly.
Ye Youyu said, "A fool may make a thousand mistakes, but a wise man may make a thousand mistakes. Hao Guan and Master Zhou are both people who deal with important matters outside, and sometimes they are inevitably negligent about some things in the inner house, but since I have reminded you, I believe Master Zhou will think of it, right? This time, the two families are exchanging properties. What is going to the Wu family is not only property, but also people. With people, there will be personnel, and with personnel, there will be people's hearts. The Wu and Ye families are getting married, and those people from the Ye family who followed the property to the Wu family must have a place to return to. This place of return is the third young lady of the Wu family surnamed Ye who married over. And whether I or Ye Haocai plays the role of the third young lady, there is a big difference."
Zhou Yijin asked: "What's the difference?"
Ye Youyu said, "My second sister, Ye Haocai, is the apple of my biological father's and mother's eye. Even if she marries, she will definitely do everything she can to rely on my parents and the Ye family. Although she has no ability, she has a name and power, and she may do bad things at any time. And what happened in the past two days, I'm sure Master Zhou has heard about it. The discord between me and my biological father and mother can no longer be concealed. I have more grievances than gratitude to the Ye family. If I marry, I can only rely on Haoguan in the future."
She paused before continuing, "In this world, a man without a wife has no master of wealth, and a woman without a husband has no master of her body. No matter who Hao Guan thinks I am, after I marry him, I, a helpless woman, can only rely on him, depend on him, work for him, and help him. So if I marry him, I can not only help the Wu family win the hearts and minds of those who return from the Ye family, but also help Hao Guan to further control the Ye family. If Hao Guan can use the Wu and Ye families to unite, firstly, there will be no worries about the Ye family stabbing in the back, secondly, he can use Wu and Ye to check and balance the Pan family, and thirdly, he can rely on the Pan-Wu-Ye alliance to show off his strength to the outside world. In that way, whether facing the Thirteen Hongs, the Guangdong Customs, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, or the East India Company, he will have more confidence, am I right, Brother Yi Jin?"
