Volume 6: Dream Record Chapter 376: Zhao Paner, the Smart One
"Let me go!"
Pushing Yuan Xudong away with all her strength, Zhao Paner broke free from his arms, blushing and saying:
"I also saved your life, so we are even. How about we not owe each other anything from now on?"
"What do you think?"
Smiling at Zhao Pan'er, Yuan Xudong looked at the other gangsters. There were five gangsters in total, two dead and one unconscious. The remaining two were also subdued by Sun Sanniang and the other tea drinkers. After the battle, all the yamen runners outside the door rushed in, tied up the surviving gangsters and took them away . The two corpses were also dragged away for collection. After some investigation and questioning, the leading yamen runner led a group of men to Yuan Xudong, who was highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless and deadly, and interrogated him:
"Hey, judging by your skills, you are a martial artist. Although there are reasons for what happened, someone has died after all. Where did you come from? Tell me your name right away!"
" Don't be rude!"
Seeing that the yamen runners were going to cause trouble for Yuan Xudong, Lao Jia quickly stood up, pulled the leading yamen runner aside and whispered to him. At the same time, Gu Qianfan also stood up and prepared to leave. As he passed by Yuan Xudong, he smiled slightly and said:
"When you've had enough fun, go back to Tokyo. This place might be a place of trouble, the center of a vortex. You shouldn't stay here for long!"
"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible!"
After taking a look at Gu Qianfan, Yuan Xudong said directly:
"He misses you very much. If you have time, you might as well go and see him. After all, you are both people who know your destiny!"
As if he had never expected Yuan Xudong to say such caring words, Gu Qianfan was slightly stunned and said:
"Let's talk about it later. I'm leaving now!"
"good!"
At this moment, Zhao Pan'er came over with a cup of tea in her hand. She looked at Yuan Xudong and bowed slightly, then raised the tea tray in her hand and said:
"Thank you for saving my life. I have nothing to repay you with, so I can only give you a cup of tea. This is Lingyin Buddhist Tea from Qiantang. Only ten taels are produced every year. Please try it!"
"Pan'er, you..."
"benefactor!"
Before Yuan Xudong could finish his words, Zhao Paner interrupted him and said:
"I know that you are a noble person, and I have offended you before. I hope you will drink this cup of Lingyin Buddhist tea and not take it seriously like a country bumpkin like me!"
"Pan'er, you..."
Looking at Zhao Pan'er, who was polite but distant, Yuan Xudong was about to speak when the head of the yamen runners walked in from outside. He looked at Yuan Xudong with great suspicion and said:
"Imperial City Division, I don't think you are from the Imperial City Division. Come with me!"
As he spoke, the chief of the yamen runners reached out to grab Yuan Xudong. Old Jia, who was following behind him, attacked directly and kicked him in the knee, forcing him to kneel on one knee. He instantly grabbed his shoulders with both hands and made him kneel in front of Yuan Xudong, unable to move. At this time, Old Jia glanced at Yuan Xudong and Gu Qianfan. After receiving Gu Qianfan's signal, Old Jia took out the golden waist badge of the Imperial City Bureau from his waist, shook it in front of the yamen runner and said:
"Open your dog eyes and see clearly, Commander of the Imperial City Investigation Department!"
"Please spare my life, sir. I was blind and did not recognize a great man. Please forgive me!"
Looking at the chief of the yamen runners who kept begging for mercy, Gu Qianfan nodded slightly, and Lao Jia let him go and said:
"Go away and do your case!"
"Thank you, sir. I will get out of here right away. I will get out of here right away!"
The head of the yamen runners and his subordinates tumbled out of the teahouse. Old Jia put away the golden waist badge of the Imperial City Bureau, then looked at Yuan Xudong, bowed slightly, and apologized:
"Mr. Xiao...Mr. Yuan, I took it upon myself to tell the guards that you are from the Imperial City Division. I hope you will forgive me!"
" No problem!"
Looking at the yamen runners who were scared away by a token, Yuan Xudong looked at Gu Qianfan and said with a smile:
"Commander Gu, you guys from the Imperial City Division are very impressive. Can you lend me a token?"
"What do you think?"
He glanced at Yuan Xudong who was trying to mock him. In fact, what Yuan Xudong said was true, but Gu Qianfan felt that he was mocking him. He looked at Yuan Xudong and retorted:
"The Prime Minister is even more majestic and powerful, with students all over the Song Dynasty. As long as you mention his name, it will definitely be more useful than our Imperial City Division. Didn't you often do this in the past?"
"Yeah?"
Looking at Gu Qianfan who was mocking him, Yuan Xudong said seriously:
"I forgot everything. Actually, I have amnesia and have forgotten many things. Since his reputation is so effective, can I go find the county magistrate of Qiantang or the prefect of Jiangnan and ask them to help me?"
"Do you really have amnesia?"
Seeing that Yuan Xudong had indeed changed a lot, Gu Qianfan really believed that he had amnesia. Otherwise, he would not speak to him so politely, nor would he hang out with country women, and he would not even know where his father's sphere of influence was. Thinking of this, he looked at Yuan Xudong and frowned:
"I will notify the Prime Minister's Mansion to send someone to pick you up. The officials here do not belong to the Prime Minister's faction, but they are not hostile either. They can help with some insignificant small favors, but for the rest..."
"Okay, I got it. Tell the Prime Minister's Office to send someone to pick me up here. I'm afraid I'll get lost if I go back alone. What if I run into robbers on the way?"
"Yeah?"
Looking at Yuan Xudong, whose words were much more exaggerated, Gu Qianfan's mouth twitched and said:
"Before, Mr. Xiao was just disappointed in you, but in the future, I think he is likely to be desperate!"
"It doesn't matter. What I like to do most is to cheat my father!"
After smiling and chatting with Gu Qianfan for a while, Yuan Xudong felt his mouth dry. Seeing Zhao Pan'er holding a cup of Lingyin Buddhist tea and staring blankly, Yuan Xudong reached out to take the tea and said with a smile:
"Pan'er, thank you for your..."
“Ouch~~”
Before Yuan Xudong could finish his words, Zhao Pan'er flipped over the cup of Lingyin Buddhist tea in her hand and spilled it on the ground. She hurriedly squatted down to pick up the teacup and apologized:
"I didn't mean to do that. Please forgive me, sir!"
"fine!"
Although he knew that Zhao Pan'er had deliberately knocked over the cup of Lingyin Buddhist tea, Yuan Xudong still smiled indifferently, squatted down to help her clean up the broken teacup and said:
"I'll make you a cup of very special tea later. I guarantee you've never tasted it before, or even heard of it. Do you believe it?"
“I don’t believe it!”
Seeing his stupid brother being played around by a country woman, Gu Qianfan frowned slightly. He looked down at Zhao Paner squatting on the ground and ordered:
"Since the tea has been spilled, just pour another cup!"
Looking up at Gu Qianfan, Zhao Paner lowered her head and refused:
"This tea is precious. Everything I have is in this cup!"
"Then boil another pot!"
"Just now, the bad guys came over and knocked over the stove. Apart from the cup of tea just now, all the spring water was spilled. If you really want to drink tea, there is a teahouse next door!"
Looking at Zhao Pan'er who was trying to shirk responsibility again and again, Gu Qianfan said coldly:
"If the water spills, pour it out. If the stove goes out, light it up. I want to drink tea here today. If your tea is not good enough, then I'd rather not do business with you. I'll have your place torn down. How about that?"
"What are you going to do?"
Looking at the majestic Gu Qianfan, Yuan Xudong stood up from the ground, blocked the timid Zhao Paner behind him and shouted coldly:
"Commander Gu, did you earn your reputation as a 'living devil' by bullying weak women?"
"Weak woman?"
Looking at the stupidest brother who liked to go against him before he lost his memory and still wanted to go against him after he lost his memory, Gu Qianfan said coldly:
"Are you really stupid, or are you pretending? When she was dealing with the gangster just now, the move she made to dodge the knife was from the Green Waist Dance. As far as I know, most of the people who can do this dance are not from good families. Plus, when she was serving tea to the customers, she was deliberately showing off her charm. I'm sure she must have performed in some brothel before!"
As soon as Gu Qianfan finished speaking, before Yuan Xudong could open his mouth to refute, Zhao Paner, who was hiding behind him, immediately spoke up to defend himself:
"I am a good citizen and I am not allowed to talk nonsense!"
"Good citizen?"
After taking a look at Zhao Pan'er, who lowered her eyebrows and looked docile and lacked confidence, Gu Qianfan became more certain of his guess. Although he did not care about the difference between rich and poor families like Xiao Qinyan, he definitely looked down on women who had been in brothels. He looked at Zhao Pan'er, who lowered her eyebrows and looked docile, and no longer had a trace of arrogance, and sneered coldly:
"I think you are a good citizen who has been stripped of his citizenship. Report your resume one by one. We will know whether it is true or not after checking it out!"
Then he added:
"You should know what our Imperial City Department does. If you tell me the truth, I can let you go for now. However, if you flatter me and deliberately conceal the facts, I can guarantee that within three days, I will make every citizen in Qiantang County know all your past stories!"
Looking at Zhao Pan'er, whose face was pale, eyes were slightly red, and tears were faintly welling up in her eyes, Yuan Xudong took a step forward, stood in front of Gu Qianfan and said directly:
"Don't worry about my affairs. You can go now. No matter who Pan'er is, I only know that she saved my life and is my savior. Besides, I like her. No matter if she is a good citizen or a good citizen who has been stripped of her citizenship, I like her!"
"You...you are really crazy. Do you think Mr. Xiao will agree with you to do such a thing?"
"He has no business intervening in my affairs, and he can't control me either!"
"You...you idiot!"
Looking at Yuan Xudong, Gu Qianfan was almost pissed off at him. If it wasn't for his dead mother, he wouldn't bother with the Xiao family's affairs. If another son of the Xiao family fell in love with a girl from a brothel, he might be so happy that he would be happy to see Xiao Qinyan make a fool of himself. But this person was Yuan Xudong, his own brother, so that wouldn't work.
If Yuan Xudong really married Zhao Pan'er, all the dignitaries in Tokyo City would laugh to death, and both the Xiao family and the Gu family would lose face. But he really couldn't do anything about Yuan Xudong. He couldn't wake him up by scolding him, and he might not be able to beat him if he beat him. What if he lost the fight and got beaten up? Then, would he still be able to keep the title of "Living Yama"?
Seeing Yuan Xudong and Gu Qianfan arguing, Lao Jia sneaked out. The other tea drinkers had already left. Sun Sanniang hid in the teahouse, looking outside through the curtains, holding two kitchen knives in her hands. If Zhao Paner got hurt, she was ready to rush out to help her at any time. In the deserted center of the lobby, only Gu Qianfan, Yuan Xudong, and Zhao Paner were left. Gu Qianfan couldn't do anything about Yuan Xudong, so he looked at Zhao Paner who had been hiding behind him and laughed coldly:
"Miss Zhao, you are really good at this. My brother has only been missing for a few days, and you have played him like a clown. May I ask, Miss Zhao, which brothel did you perform in before?"
"He is your brother?"
After hearing Gu Qianfan talk about his relationship with Yuan Xudong, Zhao Paner slightly widened her eyes, and couldn't help but think of Yuan Xudong's life experience. He had a biological brother who was adopted by his uncle as a son since he was a child. Obviously, it was Gu Qianfan. After thinking about this quickly in her mind, Zhao Paner sighed slightly and said:
"Sir, why do you have to embarrass me? If you want some tea, I'll make it for you!"
Looking at Zhao Pan'er who wanted to pretend to be confused, Gu Qianfan snorted coldly:
"You don't understand what I said, right? I'm the commander of the Imperial City Investigation Department. How can I not drink any tea I want?"
"So what do you want?"
Looking at Gu Qianfan who was trying to control him by acting like a brother, Yuan Xudong said directly:
"Go away now. I've told you to stop caring about my business. What else do you want?"
"Forget it, I don't care about you!"
Looking at the rogue Yuan Xudong, Gu Qianfan used his last resort and said:
"I will tell Mr. Xiao the truth about this matter. You just wish him good luck. He won't be able to reason with you like I would!"
"So what?"
Looking at Gu Qianfan, Yuan Xudong said indifferently:
"Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, so how can he kill me?"
“Hehe~~”
Looking at his cutely stupid brother, Gu Qianfan glanced at Zhao Paner and sneered:
"Don't you know what kind of person your father is? He won't do anything to you, but he can send someone to kill Zhao Pan'er. Once she dies, everything will be over!"
Zhao Paner was startled when she heard Gu Qianfan say this, and she said at the same time:
"Master Gu, I think you misunderstood me. I'm already engaged. His name is Ouyang Xu. When he comes back after graduating from high school, he will marry me according to the three matchmakers and six betrothal gifts!"
"Ouyang Xu?"
Seeing Gu Qianfan frowning and thinking about something, Yuan Xudong didn't want Zhao Pan'er to talk about Ouyang Xu, so he pushed her away and said with a smile:
"Okay, Pan'er, go prepare some tea first. I want to talk to Commander Gu alone!"
"All right!"
…
After leaving the lobby, Zhao Pan'er went to the teahouse to prepare refreshments. Seeing Zhao Pan'er's unhappy face, Sun Sanniang hurriedly went up to her and said worriedly:
"Oh my God, he is the evil star of the Imperial City Department. Why do you have to provoke him?"
"I just don't want them to drink the tea I poured!"
While Zhao Pan'er was preparing tea and snacks, she looked at Sun Sanniang beside her and explained:
"Back then, it was the Imperial City Division that broke into my house in the middle of the night. Fourteen years have passed. As soon as I saw that lion-head waist badge, I..."
Zhao Pan'er choked up and added something to the snacks she was preparing with red eyes. Seeing her do this, Sun Sanniang slightly widened her eyes and said in shock:
"Hey, what did you put in here? Don't be stupid!"
“It’s frosting!”
After adding the frosting sugar, Zhao Pan'er continued to prepare the snacks. She looked at Sun Sanniang and smiled:
"Don't worry, if you want to deal with them, I have plenty of ways. There's no need to get myself involved!"
"That's good!"
Seeing Zhao Pan'er burst into laughter, Sun Sanniang also smiled, gently touched the tip of her nose and said:
"Hey, it seems that Mr. Yuan is really the son of the prime minister. I think he is quite good. He is handsome and has a good family background. The most important thing is that he likes you so much that he said he would arrange marriages with three matchmakers and six engagements, and marry you in a sedan chair. Are you really not tempted?"
"Don't be tempted, and don't be tempted!"
Rolling her eyes at Sun Sanniang, Zhao Pan'er sighed slightly and said:
"I am of humble origin, and I have no background in investigation. Even marrying Ouyang still requires some concealment, let alone the son of the prime minister of the dynasty?"
After smiling, Zhao Paner continued:
"I accompanied Ouyang to study for three years. I know him best. But Master Yuan is different. I don't understand him!"
"Too!"
Smiling, Sun Sanniang bumped Zhao Pan'er with her shoulder and said:
"Before, he was called Dengtuzi Dengtuzi, but now he is called Master Yuan? Shouldn't it be Master Xiao?"
"You're the only one who talks too much!"
Rolling her eyes at Sun Sanniang, Zhao Pan'er prepared some snacks and was about to bring them out to Gu Qianfan.
"Sanniang, can you help me get rid of Master Yuan...Xiao later?"
"Okay!"
After taking a look at the snacks in Zhao Pan'er's hand, Sun Sanniang said with some concern:
"Is there...anything wrong with your tea?"
"Don't worry, it's no problem!"
"That's good!"
