Prime Minister

Chapter 246, Section 245: [The Thug]

The marriage negotiations between the Xue and Shen families proceeded very smoothly. Xue Mingding did not linger for long, staying only three days before embarking on his return journey with the rest of the family.

He needed to return to the capital as soon as possible to complete the betrothal ceremony, and then send the marriage certificate and engagement tokens to the Shen family. After the Shen family accepted them, they had to reply to confirm, and the marriage was officially established. Neither party could go back on their word. This was the engagement that Xue Huai had told Shen Qingluan.

These tedious formalities didn't require Xue Huai's personal attention, and he certainly wouldn't put his energy into them.

As the acting prefect of Yangzhou, Xue Huai was responsible for handling all the government affairs of the seven counties and one prefecture under his jurisdiction. In addition, he was also responsible for supervising the salt administration, assisting in the management of the grain transport, and continuing to deepen and promote the new policies of Yangzhou.

In addition to these routine duties, he also had to complete the collection tasks assigned by the imperial court and higher-level government, namely summer tax, autumn grain tax, commercial tax and miscellaneous taxes, especially the summer tax, which had to be handed over before June.

He quickly withdrew from his idyllic life and threw himself into his busy and demanding official duties, even entrusting the investigation of the remnants of the Xuan Yuan Sect entirely to the professionals of the Jing An Division.

With Xue Huai as an exemplary leader, his officials naturally dared not slack off, a stark contrast to the scene two years ago where government officials indulged in nightly revelry and pleasure boats.

However, this did not affect the romantic and prosperous scene on Slender West Lake. After all, Yangzhou salt merchants were the richest in the world, and there would always be people who would spend a fortune here.

As evening fell, a group of five young men boarded the Lan Yue Fang (Moon-Viewing Boat) on the lakeside.

The Slender West Lake is filled with numerous painted boats vying for attention, with the Moon-Viewing Boat and the Flowing Clouds Boat being the most famous, simply because each of these two boats has a beauty who is both exceptionally beautiful and talented, and both are among the four most beautiful courtesans in Yangzhou.

However, after the Liu family became a thing of the past, Jing Yanqing, the star of Liuxia Boat, lost her former glory. The news that she had deliberately approached Xue Huai at the Yingyuan Night Banquet spread quickly. Although Xue Huai did not deliberately target a woman of the night who had no choice in her life, Liuxia Boat's situation was ultimately not as good as before.

The Lan Yue Fang was unaffected. They had no deep ties with powerful families like Liu and Zheng, but maintained a good relationship with the Qiao family. In addition, their top courtesan, Wei Qingyue, was low-key and cautious. As a result, the three-story painted boat was gaining popularity.

When the manager of the pleasure boat saw the five young men enter, his gaze quickly locked onto the man in the middle. Although he had never seen him before, seeing the man's luxurious brocade robe and the jeweled dagger hanging at his waist, he did not hesitate and immediately greeted him with a smile.

The man in the middle was about twenty years old, tall and strong with an arrogant look in his eyes. He looked around at the magnificent decorations inside the pleasure boat and walked straight toward the stairs, seemingly ignoring the manager's respectful words.

Seeing this, the steward asked, "Does our distinguished guest already have arrangements?"

"Stop being so verbose."

The young man spoke in a cold tone and continued on with his four companions, their destination clearly the top floor.

The manager, being well-informed, sensed a sharp aura emanating from these men that set them apart from ordinary spoiled brats. He then gave a wink to a man in his thirties not far away before continuing to respectfully introduce the features of the Moonlit Pavilion to the young man.

The group arrived at the top floor. The young man glanced around and his gaze finally settled on the door of a private room named "Tingyun".

He seemed to only notice the steward's presence now, and dusted off his sleeves, saying, "I've heard that your Lanyue Pavilion is the best painted boat in Yangzhou, especially the owner of this Tingyun Pavilion, who is said to be a beauty of unparalleled grace. So I've come here today to see for myself. Please make the arrangements."

The manager smiled obsequiously and said, "Thank you for your kind words, we are truly honored. However, our timing is unfortunate, as Tingyun Pavilion has already been reserved for today. We suppose you are new to the area, may I make some alternative arrangements for you? I assure you you will not be disappointed."

The young man turned to look at him, and his cold gaze startled the steward.

The next moment, a young man next to him suddenly stretched out his right hand, which was like an eagle's claw, and grabbed the manager's collar. He said in a cold voice, "Who do you think you are? Don't be so shameless. Tell those damn customers inside to get out of here and make room for our Master Sang!"

The manager's eyes widened in shock; he seemed to have already guessed who this young man was.

"Don't be so rude."

The young man waved his hand, then took out more than a dozen silver notes from his pocket and slapped them on the steward's face, laughing, "Is that enough?"

"Master Sang, please calm down. I'm not being petty, but this Tingyun Pavilion—"

Before the steward could finish speaking, the young man strode forward, his companion following closely behind, completely ignoring the steward behind him.

"boom!"

The young man kicked open the door of Tingyun Pavilion and walked in leisurely.

The four young people at the table behind the screen were startled by the sudden noise. They stopped talking and looked outside with displeasure.

The man sitting in the main seat was also in his early twenties, with a handsome and refined appearance, and it was clear at a glance that he came from an extraordinary family.

He was Qiao Wenxuan, the youngest son of Qiao Wangshan.

Since Qiao Wangshan was elected as the first head of the Lianghuai Salt Industry Association, the Qiao family's position in the Huaiyang business community has become increasingly stable, and the family members have gradually become the focus of attention in their respective circles.

Today, Qiao Wenxuan hosted a banquet for several friends whose fathers were all members of the Salt Industry Association. This was naturally intended to deepen their friendship, but unexpectedly, someone ruined his mood.

Fortunately, Qiao Wenxuan was mild-mannered and did not slam his fist on the table. He calmly looked at the five uninvited guests, then at the steward who had hurriedly followed in, and said indifferently, "Steward Wu, what's going on here?"

Manager Wu Ding inwardly groaned and hurriedly explained, "Seventh Master Qiao, this is a misunderstanding. These guests thought I was lying and insisted on coming to the private room to see for themselves. It's all my fault for not handling things properly today. Please forgive me, Seventh Master."

"That's all."

Qiao Wenxuan was familiar with the local playboys. Seeing that the five men were unfamiliar and aggressive, he stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "I am Qiao Wenxuan of the Qiao family. I am having a small gathering with some friends here today. I would appreciate your help. Manager Wu, please invite these distinguished guests to the Ningfang Private Room next door. I will cover all their expenses at Lanyue Pavilion today."

Wu Ding secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As expected of the youngest son whom Old Master Qiao valued so much, his handling of the situation was remarkably smooth and skillful.

Before he could react, the young man surnamed Sang had already walked to the table and said with a half-smile, "Seventh Master Qiao? Qiao Wenxuan?"

Qiao Wenxuan calmly replied, "Indeed, may I ask your esteemed name and what brings you here?"

"What do you want to teach me?"

Young Master Sang shook his head and said leisurely, "Your father is that old bastard Qiao Wangshan?" Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the private room almost froze instantly, and Wu Ding was even more dumbfounded.

The most prestigious person in Yangzhou City today is naturally the young Assistant Magistrate in the prefectural government. However, given Qiao Wangshan's age, seniority, and reputation, no one would dare to disrespect him in public, let alone use such an extremely contemptuous term as "old thing."

Qiao Wenxuan and the other three immediately stood up. He said in a deep voice, "I don't know who you are, but if you don't apologize today, I guarantee you won't leave this Moon-Viewing Boat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his entourage surrounded the five men, looking at them with hostility.

A smile appeared on Young Master Sang's face as he calmly said, "You?"

His four companions then joined in mocking him.

"Young Master Qiao, you have quite the grand style, chartering a boat on Slender West Lake to meet with friends. It seems your Qiao family has been making quite a bit of money in the Salt Industry Association."

"That's right, no wonder Young Master Qiao is so generous, willing to help us peasants with our accounts."

"Don't say that. I didn't smell any extravagance from this young master Qiao. I only smelled a hint of sycophancy from him, just like his father!"

"Well said! Isn't Qiao Wangshan able to secure his position today precisely because he served as a lackey for that Lord Xue?"

"Hahahaha!"

These people went on and on, doing everything they could to belittle and humiliate him. No matter how well-mannered Qiao Wenxuan was, he knew they were deliberately provoking him, so how could he possibly hold back?
"Insolence! Take them down!"

Qiao Wenxuan shouted, and the eight relatives beside him rushed forward. They had to subdue these five people first, otherwise, if word got out that what happened today, the Qiao family's reputation would be trampled underfoot!
"You son of a bitch, you dare to lay a hand on me?"

A man next to Young Master Sang had a ferocious expression, yet he allowed the other man to punch him in the face.

The other three did the same, surrounding Young Master Sang in the middle and stubbornly refusing to fight back, while Qiao Wenxuan's henchmen beat them black and blue in an instant.

Young Master Sang finally spoke up: "You dare to bully our canal gang? You've got guts!"

Upon hearing this, the situation suddenly changed.

Young Master Sang lunged forward and kicked away the Qiao family retainer who was charging at the front!

At the same time, the four companions who had just been pretending to be beaten instantly dropped their pretense, their eyes becoming as fierce as wolves.

One of them dodged a straight punch from a member of the Qiao family, grabbed the other's wrist, and slammed him hard onto the hard floor with a clean and neat over-the-shoulder throw!
The man groaned and fainted on the spot.

The other man crashed directly into the arms of a member of the Qiao family, his fists pounding the opponent's chest and abdomen like drums, moving so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

The attendant was beaten back repeatedly, eventually collapsing to his knees, clutching his stomach, and retching painfully.

In just a moment, all eight of Qiao's close followers were knocked to the ground!
The people Qiao Wenxuan invited to the banquet were all well-off, gentle young men; they had never seen such a brutal scene before.
Just as one of them was about to step forward to argue, a member of the Canal Gang grabbed him by the collar and slapped him hard across the face with his large, fan-like hands, making him see stars and his cheeks instantly swell and turn red.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

Wu Ding was sweating profusely with anxiety. At that moment, the seven or eight thugs kept by Lan Yue Fang finally arrived.

"Dare to cause trouble at the Moon-Embracing Boat? Take him down!"

Seeing the mess on the ground and the injured guests, the leader of the thugs roared and led his men in.

"Another bunch of stupid bastards!"

Young Master Sang stepped on the back of a Qiao family retainer who was struggling to get up. Hearing the sound, he looked up, his eyes flashing even more fiercely.

Faced with the thugs from the pleasure boat rushing towards them, the five men not only did not retreat, but instead took the initiative to meet them!
They were extremely ruthless, targeting vital points with every move, leaving no room for error.

Although the thugs on the pleasure boats were numerous, they lacked real experience in life-or-death combat and were utterly helpless against the ruthless gangsters of the Canal Gang, who had been roaming the waterways and land for years with blood on their hands.

Painful groans and the sounds of heavy objects falling to the ground were incessant.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, seven or eight thugs from the pleasure boat, along with Qiao Wenxuan's entourage and friends, were all lying on the ground groaning and rolling around. The private room was a mess, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

Qiao Wenxuan's face turned deathly pale, his expression filled with shock and anger.

Before he could speak, Young Master Sang appeared before him like a ghost, a cruel smile on his face like a cat toying with a mouse.

"Seventh Master Qiao? What a grand display of power!"

Before Young Master Sang could finish speaking, his left hand shot out like lightning, grabbed Qiao Wenxuan's collar, and lifted him up!
Qiao Wenxuan struggled fiercely and said, "Let me go!"

"Let go? Okay!"

Young Master Sang grinned maliciously, and his right fist slammed into Qiao Wenxuan's handsome face with a whooshing sound!

"boom!"

Blood gushed from his nose instantly, and Qiao Wenxuan felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, seeing stars, and the excruciating pain almost made him faint.

Young Master Sang didn't stop. He grabbed Qiao Wenxuan's collar, raised his knee, and slammed it into Qiao Wenxuan's lower abdomen!

(End of this chapter)