The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

At this moment, he felt a strong sense of mission and responsibility, and felt that he could not let Jia Huan down.

As for how Jia Huan trusted him, even Xue Pan himself probably couldn't explain it clearly.

"Select five to ten skilled men; they will be at your command when the time comes!"

Jia Huan didn't stand on ceremony and said directly, "At that time, not only will they be needed to charge into battle, but they may also suffer some grievances. You should give them a heads-up in advance!"

It's time to let some guys see the power of a family of founding military heroes.

Even if the guess is wrong, it's not a big deal. Just consider it helping your underlings expand their territory and clear obstacles. Anyway, it won't be a wasted effort.

But if the guess is even slightly accurate, then that would be truly amazing!

If I hadn't transmigrated here, my thinking wouldn't have been limited by my environment, and I wouldn't have had such wild imaginations from watching too many detective and political dramas in my previous life.

In fact, Nima's Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Ma Yuan, gave him the feeling of a deeply hidden mastermind, which aroused Jia Huan's strong urge to investigate further.

He was well aware of things like "curiosity killed the cat," but he wouldn't go directly to the front of the stage this time.

As I said before, the foundation and power of the founding military families cannot be fully fathomed by later generations.

After seeing Xue Pan and Ni Er off, Jia Huan leisurely arrived at the Sihai Gambling House.

Not long after, a servant from the Sihai Gambling House quietly arrived at the West City Command Post of the Five Cities Military Command.

As the last rays of the setting sun shimmered on the horizon, and with only a little time left before the day was about to end, Qiu Liang, the newly appointed commander of the West City Command Post, leisurely arrived at a small teahouse in a corner of Ningrong Street.

There's no way there could be a tavern or restaurant on Ningrong Street; the Jia family wouldn't allow it!

A moment later, Jia Huan brought Cong Ge'er inside.

With Sihai Casino involved, the two could be considered allies, so there was no need for them to be polite with each other.

After exchanging greetings and taking their seats, Qiu Liang got straight to the point. Upon hearing Jia Huan's request, Qiu Liang was taken aback by the boy's audacity; he was truly young and ignorant.

Normally, he would never have helped with something like this, as it would have cost him a lot of favors.

Jia Huan, naturally aware of the intricacies of the situation, immediately presented his chips, putting Qiu Liang in a difficult position.

Finally, after hearing Jia Huan's whispered words, he was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a long time.

Whether driven by his own ambition or by his high regard for Jia Huan's future, he saw it as an early investment and inexplicably agreed to a rather difficult task.

"Then we await Brother Qiu's good news!"

Having achieved his goal, Jia Huan didn't linger and immediately got up to say goodbye and leave.

As if afraid that Qiu Liang would change his mind, he quickly pulled the bewildered Cong Ge'er away.

"That kid really has guts!"

As Jia Huan's small figure disappeared from sight, Qiu Liang chuckled softly, holding his teacup.

"When they get older, the Rong family might have another chance to turn things around!"

He muttered to himself for a while, his eyes gleaming. This was another great opportunity for him to climb the ranks.

Compared to the Rong family, the Qiu family's foundation was far inferior. The fact that they could help him secure the position of commander of the western city of the Five Cities Military Command was already the limit.

To go further, it depends on your own efforts and luck.

This time, what Jia Huan said was quite risky, and the credit would go to someone else.

But for him, it was also a rare opportunity to make a name for himself.

Not to mention, Jia Huan has offered a tempting offer, so there's no reason not to take a gamble!

Having made up his mind, he drank the almost-cold tea in one gulp, then got up and strode away, his heart burning with excitement.

On the other side, Cong-ge'er, who was already eight and a half years old and had the height and build of an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, asked cautiously as he walked into the mansion, "Huan-ge'er, wasn't the price you paid this time a bit too high?"

Chapter 97 The Phoenix Egg Was Disliked (Please Subscribe)

"Is the cost high? I don't feel it at all."

Jia Huan smiled nonchalantly and said leisurely, "Cong-ge'er, remember this: if a problem can be solved with money, then it's not a problem!"

That's right, the big prize he offered was three thousand taels of silver!

Living in the capital, with only a small amount of power and influence, one has no shortage of money to spend.

Logically speaking, given the Qiu family's status as a founding noble family, they should not lack money.

The truth is quite the opposite!

The Rong family began to decline rapidly, and its income from money was also significantly affected.

It was quite an achievement for the Qiu family to maintain a number of fourth or fifth-rank officials in the capital in each generation, with the occasional appearance of a high-ranking local official of the third rank or above.

By Qiu Liang's generation, the large number of clansmen had severely diluted resources.

The amount of money in the Qiu family's possession was also gradually decreasing.

After all, maintaining the dignity of the founding noble families required a huge expenditure of money.

To become the commander of the West City, one must have spent money.

Qiu Liang could only get about two thousand taels of silver a year from the dividends of Sihai Gambling House.

This amount of money is more than enough if you have no plans for the future and just want to live a life of leisure.

However, if one wants to advance further in officialdom, it would be good if one could still have seven or eight hundred taels left after bribing superiors and subordinates, and one would also have to contribute a portion to the family.

Their lives were neither miserable nor luxurious.

Don't be fooled by his feigned distress when he spoke to Jia Huan, which claimed that the favor Jia Huan asked him to do required a great deal of personal connections.

In fact, such social obligations are nothing compared to real money; some relationships do require money to maintain.

Three thousand taels of silver may not seem like much, but it's enough in a critical moment.

After all, the commander of the West City was only a sixth-rank official, and it wouldn't cost too much to advance to the fifth rank.

Jia Huan is still too young!

If it weren't for Jia Lian behind him and his implicit representation of the Rong Mansion, even with a promising future, Qiu Liang wouldn't have given him a second glance without sufficient benefits and advantages.

Meanwhile, Jia Huan was still instructing Cong-ge: "Besides, do you think I would suffer a loss?"

Seeing Cong-ge'er subconsciously shake his head, he chuckled and said leisurely, "If I guessed correctly this time, I naturally won't have to pay for this money!"

"Even if we guess wrong, it doesn't matter. We can just have those thugs carry it!"

"Do you think I, a boss, would get into debt just to help my underlings expand their territory? That's ridiculous! It's shameful to even talk about it!"

Cong-ge'er suddenly realized, and the first person that came to mind was Xue Pan, that foolish tyrant.

This guy usually acts all extravagant, but when it comes to actually needing money, if Huan-ge'er shows even the slightest unusual expression, this fellow will probably rush to take out his money.

I wonder what Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai would think if they knew about Xue Pan's extravagant lifestyle outside?

All I can say is that poverty limited Cong Ge'er's imagination!

Little did he know that Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai didn't care at all about the money Xue Pan squandered outside. As long as he didn't suffer losses or get tricked into going astray, that was fine.

The expenditure of several thousand taels of silver was nothing to the wealthy and powerful Xue family.

According to unverified rumors, Madam Wang always received tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Xue family each time.

In the original novel, the Xue family also contributed a large sum of money to the construction of the Grand View Garden for the Rong family.

Many fan fictions have described how Lady Wang took too much money from the Xue family and never intended to repay it, so in the end she could only use Jia Baoyu to pay off the debt.

Meanwhile, Xue Pan returned to Pear Fragrance Courtyard, still quite displeased, a mood that was clearly visible on his face.

"My son, what's wrong? Did you get bullied outside?"

When Aunt Xue returned from Rongqing Hall, she couldn't help but ask Xue Pan about his appearance.

"Don't even mention it, I ran into some trouble outside!"

Xue Pan waved his hand, naturally not mentioning the conflict over the small canal in front of his mother.

He casually changed the subject: "I heard that Brother Bao goes back to the main study in the mansion every afternoon to study?"

"Yes!"

Aunt Xue chuckled, "Your aunt and the old lady are both worried about this!"

"Heh, he deserved it!"

Xue Pan curled his lip dismissively and chuckled, "Wouldn't it have been better to just stay at the clan school? Why did you have to keep making a fuss? Now you've gotten yourself into trouble!"

"What's wrong? Is Baoyu not doing well at the clan school?"

Aunt Xue asked doubtfully, "I think Baoyu is a very good child. He is well-behaved, sensible, and handsome!"

"He's just good at behaving in front of his elders!"

Xue Pan chuckled and said, "Brother Bao certainly has quite a temper when he's out there!"

"Besides, Mother must have heard the absurd things Baoyu said about studying!"

"He wasn't just talking; he wasn't really putting any effort into his studies!"

"Then what does he do at the clan school every day?"