Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 63 Noble Man
Outside Deqing City, Chen Qing and Miss Gu saw Master Gu off as he departed.

After Master Gu's carriage drove north and disappeared from their sight, Miss Gu turned her gaze to Chen Qing and sighed softly, "In Father's heart, Uncle Zhao will always be more important than the family. These past few years, he has been thinking about this matter."

Chen Qing also withdrew his gaze and said with a smile, "If you ask me, in Uncle Gu's heart, Miss Pan'er is still more important. Otherwise, he would have gone to the capital long ago without a care in the world. Why would he have waited until today?"

Miss Gu still had a worried look on her face.

"I wonder if Father will be safe on this trip."

After saying this, she looked up at Chen Qing and gently gritted her teeth: "When will you go to the capital, young master?"

Chen Qing thought for a moment.

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be about four or five months. In these four or five months, let's get Xia Ji up and running, the bigger the better. That way, when we go to the capital at the end of the year, we'll have some capital in hand, so we won't be like we are now, unable to stir up any waves."

Miss Gu nodded first, then asked, "Does the young master have any new stories? Relying on just one or two, it's probably difficult to maintain popularity."

"Don't worry, Pan'er. I've heard many stories since I was a child. Writing down seven or eight of them won't be a big problem."

At this point, Chen Qing stroked his chin and continued, "Once seven or eight of them are written, this project can be fully established. At that time, other writers of storybooks should be vying to submit their manuscripts."

"I don't need to write it myself."

Upon hearing the word "Pan'er," Miss Gu remained silent for a moment before chuckling softly, "Young master, you must have heard so many storybooks when you were young, but unfortunately, none of these interesting ones have ever been published in the market."

Chen Qing coughed.

"The world is vast, and it may have already been printed elsewhere, but it just hasn't been seen in Huzhou."

Miss Gu looked at Chen Qing and shook her head, saying, "You're just lying. You might not have it in Huzhou, but do you think you can't have it in the capital?"

"You want to spread this thing to the capital, which clearly means you're certain that no one in the capital has ever seen this thing before."

Miss Gu sighed softly: "We're practically acquaintances, why are you still trying to coax me like this?"

Chen Qing said with a smile, "Alright then, let's just say Pan'er wrote it."

Gu Pan nodded gently, and together with Chen Qing, they turned and entered Deqing County. Walking behind Chen Qing, she asked, "Big Brother, why does Uncle Chen think you're stupid?"

"You are clearly very intelligent."

Miss Gu looked at him and blinked her eyelashes: "And he's also very talented."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Perhaps I wasn't very smart before, but I've only recently become more perceptive."

"More importantly, I have no talent for the imperial examinations and am not as good at studying as my second brother, so my father does not like me very much."

Miss Gu gave a soft hum.

“I asked the people at Anrentang in Huzhou to inquire about it. The eldest son’s younger brother is eighteen or nineteen years old this year. He hasn’t even passed the county-level examination, let alone the prefectural-level examination. His talent is far inferior to that of the eldest son.”

"At most, he will only pass the imperial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations) in the future."

Gu Pan looked at Chen Qing and said seriously, "Uncle Chen, you'll regret this sooner or later."

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "He was successful at a young age, and he probably will never think that he did anything wrong, let alone regret anything."

"His gaze was only fixed on officialdom."

Gu Pan looked up at the sky and said, "Maybe in the future, Da Lang can give him a big setback in his official career?"

Chen Qing looked at her and said with a smile, "Big brother, big brother, that sounds strange. A few days ago, I asked Mr. Yang to give me a courtesy name. I hope you will call me by my courtesy name from now on."

The story of Wu Dalang didn't exist in this era; even if it did, Dalang was a common name for him.

However, after hearing Chen Qing's words, Gu Pan still asked, "What courtesy name did you choose?"

"Zizheng."

Chen Qing replied, "Chen Qing, Chen Zizheng."

Mr. Yang taught Chen Qing martial arts. Although there was no formal master-disciple relationship, he was effectively Chen Qing's teacher. It was reasonable for him to give Chen Qing a courtesy name.

The two words Mr. Yang chose were likely intended to persuade Chen Qing to completely abandon the path of becoming a live-in son-in-law, turn to the right path, and have a proper marriage.

However, in Chen Qing's view, the character "表" (biǎo) has another layer of meaning. The Zi hour is divided into Zi Chu (子初) and Zi Zheng (子正), with Zi Zheng being exactly midnight, marking the beginning of a new day.

Chen Qing's arrival in this world is a new beginning for him, and looking to the future, Chen Qing's arrival may also be a new beginning for this world!
"Zizheng, Zizheng."

Gu Pan muttered a couple of words, then shook her head.

"Calling me by my courtesy name is awkward, so I'll just call me Da Lang instead."

She looked at Chen Qing, her eyes gentle and suggestive: "How about we continue to address you as 'Young Master'?"

Chen Qing smiled wryly and said, "Then let's continue to call him Dalang, it sounds more intimate."

Upon hearing this, Miss Gu turned her face slightly away: "Young Master probably never intended to get close to the Gu family, otherwise he wouldn't have moved out of the Gu family."

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "I moved out so that people wouldn't have anything to say about me. If I were still living in the Gu family after that incident, I wouldn't be afraid of people gossiping, but I'm afraid that people would point fingers at you behind your back."

Miss Gu then turned to look at him.

"My father has gone on a long trip, and the Gu family has so many things to take care of, you..."

Young Master Chen spoke with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely help if anything happens."

Miss Gu nodded and then asked, "When you go to the capital, remember to take me with you."

Chen Qing was silent for a while, looked around, and seeing that they had arrived at the gate of the Gu family compound, he thought for a moment and said, "I won't lie to you, I have to wait for Uncle Gu to send a letter back from the capital before I can decide whether or not to take Pan'er to the capital."

Gu Pan glanced at Chen Qing, then turned and walked into her own courtyard without saying anything more.

"Anyway, it's all up to you to decide."

She took small, quick steps and soon disappeared from Chen Qing's sight.

Xiaoyue, who was following behind her, glanced at her young mistress's back and then looked at Chen Qing.

"Young master, you absolutely must bring my young lady with you. Even if you have to coax her now, you must do it."

Xiaoyue said worriedly, "Otherwise, she won't be able to have a good mood for the next six months."

After a brief consideration, Chen Qing nodded: "Okay, I'll come see her tomorrow."

"I've definitely talked to her about it."

…………

Just as Chen Qing and Miss Gu were seeing off Master Gu, a group of uninvited guests arrived at the Deqing County government office.

A group of more than ten people, all dressed in fine clothes, entered the Deqing County Government Office in a grand manner. After entering the office, the leaders shouted a few times and forced Magistrate Hong to come out.

At this moment, in front of the people of Deqing, the incomparably dignified Magistrate Hong felt somewhat uneasy facing these aggressive guests. He looked at the crowd, forced a smile, and cupped his hands, saying, "May I ask which distinguished guest you are?"

He looked around and quickly located the person in the crowd.

This was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a blue robe, which was very ornate, with a beautiful jade pendant at his waist.

His attire was perfectly fine, but the boy was somewhat overweight and had a lot of clearly visible acne on his face, making him look rather unattractive.

However, he was subtly protected in the middle by the crowd, clearly indicating that he was the master of these people.

The young man was also looking at Magistrate Hong. Upon hearing this, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to step back. Then, he walked up to Magistrate Hong with a smile and said calmly, "Magistrate Hong, is that right?"

Magistrate Hong nodded silently: "It is indeed me, Hong."

The young man took out a name card from his sleeve, handed it to Hong Jing, and then said with a smile, "I was studying in Yingtian, but recently I saw some interesting things. After inquiring, I found out that they were made in Deqing. Since I had nothing to do, I came to Deqing for a visit."

"Please, Magistrate Hong, take me to find the person in charge."

At this moment, Hong Jing had already opened the name card. After glancing at it, his expression changed slightly, and he bowed and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Your humble servant Hong Jing pays respects to the young prince!"

(End of this chapter)