Martial Arts Crossover: My master tricked Huang Rong into becoming my wife!

The sun was high in the sky, and sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the room brightly.

Chen Yanzhou opened his eyes groggily, reached out and touched the side, but found it empty.

The bed had long since lost its warmth, with only a faint scent of roses remaining on the pillow.

Chen Yanzhou yawned and sat up.

Looking down, good heavens, the collar of his undershirt was wide open, revealing a large expanse of his chest; he must have slept quite wildly last night.

He slowly dressed, quickly washed up, and went out.

As soon as I stepped out the door, I bumped into an old face that was all smiles.

"Yanzhou, are you awake?"

Lu Youjiao was all smiles, clearly having been waiting there for quite some time.

Chen Yanzhou stretched and said, "Grandpa Lu, what are you doing guarding my door so early in the morning? Where's that girl?"

"Miss Huang?" Lu Youjiao pointed outside the courtyard. "She went out early this morning, saying she wanted to visit the morning market in Xiangyang City and experience the lively atmosphere of everyday life."

"Go to the morning market?" Chen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow.

This girl just came out of the deep mountains and forests last night, and she's so energetic today?

That's fine, at least it saves me from nagging in his ear.

Touching his empty stomach, Chen Yanzhou turned to leave: "Let her be, I'm starving, let's go get something to eat."

Before he had taken two steps, a green jade bamboo staff was placed in front of him.

Lu Youjiao chuckled, a shrewd smile playing on his lips: "Yanzhou, we can eat anytime, but this matter can't be delayed any longer."

Chen Yanzhou's heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over him: "What is it?"

Lu Youjiao didn't speak, but stepped aside and pointed to the stone table in the courtyard.

The once empty stone table was now piled high with account books.

It wasn't just one or two books, but a whole stack, almost as tall as a person.

"Although the business of the Yiyun Division is overseen by me and several elders, you still need to personally review the final accounts."

"Especially with the recent opening of several new routes, and the secret dealings with the Jin Kingdom, we all need your advice."

Chen Yanzhou felt a throbbing sensation in his temples.

It was one thing to be a corporate slave staring at Excel spreadsheets all day, but now that I've transmigrated and become a gang leader, why do I still have to do this backbreaking work?

"Um... Grandpa Lu." Chen Yanzhou clutched his stomach, looking pained. "Food is essential for survival. This ledger isn't going anywhere. I'm so hungry my stomach is practically sticking to my back, and my brain isn't working properly. How am I supposed to look at the accounts? Let's eat first, and we'll talk about it after we finish eating."

He was about to use his "Free and Easy Wandering" technique to make a quick getaway.

"Slap! Slap!"

Lu Youjiao didn't stop him, but simply clapped his hands twice.

A Beggars' Sect disciple carrying a tray came running from around the corner with lightning speed.

The tray was placed on the stone table.

Steaming hot soy milk, golden and crispy fried dough sticks, thin-skinned and generously filled meat buns, and two small dishes of delicate pickled vegetables.

The fragrance wafted straight into my nostrils.

"Yanzhou, I specially asked someone to buy this from Li's shop in the east of the city. It's still warm."

Lu Youjiao gestured for him to continue, smiling as he looked at him. "Let's eat and watch at the same time, without wasting time on either."

Chen Yanzhou looked at the breakfast on the table, then at the stack of account books next to him, and finally his gaze fell on Lu Youjiao's seemingly honest but actually shrewd face.

"Grandpa Lu, who did you learn all this from?"

"It's all thanks to the excellent guidance of Chief Hong."

Chen Yanzhou rolled his eyes and resignedly walked to the stone table and sat down.

Although I was forced to eat it, this breakfast was indeed tempting.

Chen Yanzhou grabbed a fried dough stick, took a big bite, and found it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a rich, oily flavor.

Holding a fried dough stick in his left hand, he reluctantly flipped to the top ledger with his right.

"The Yiyun Division's Xiangyang headquarters received payment in March of the fifth year of the Qiandao era..."

While chewing on a fried dough stick, Chen Yanzhou quickly scanned the accounts.

It must be said that the Beggars' Sect has indeed developed rapidly in recent years.

Since he established the "Yiyunsi" (Benevolent Transport Office), he has organized the originally scattered beggars into an efficient logistics network, and the silver has been flowing into the warehouse like water.

"Why is the Han River water level down by 30% this month?" Chen Yanzhou asked, pointing to a line of numbers.

Lu Youjiao came over to take a look and quickly explained, "Last month, the Han River flooded, and two boats capsized, resulting in a lot of losses. In addition, those bastards from the Iron Palm Gang set up roadblocks in this section of the river to collect tolls, so we took a longer route to avoid delaying our journey."

"Iron Palm Clan..." Chen Yanzhou narrowed his eyes, swallowed the bun in his mouth, "That old dog Qiu Qianren, even after becoming a lackey of the Jurchens, he still won't behave himself."

After saying that, Chen Yanzhou put his thoughts aside and flipped through a few more pages. The more he read, the more dizzy he felt, with dense numbers making his eyes spin.

If Huang Rong were here, that would be wonderful.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the courtyard gate.

"We want to see Chief Chen!"

"Yes! Let us in!"

"That's what the young lady herself said; she told us to pay the bill here!"

Chen Yanzhou was drinking soy milk when he heard the noise and frowned: "What's going on? Who's making such a racket outside so early in the morning?"

A gatekeeper rushed in, flustered: "Reporting to the leader, a lot of people have arrived outside. They say... they say they're here to collect debts."

"Collecting debts?"

Chen Yanzhou almost spat out his mouthful of soy milk.

"Who does our Beggars' Sect owe money to? The Righteousness Agency always pays on demand, so where would this debt come from?"

Lu Youjiao also looked bewildered: "I've never heard of us owing foreign debt."

"Let them in!" Chen Yanzhou put down his bowl and stood up aggressively. "I want to see who dares to extort money from the Beggars' Guild."

A short while later, a group of people rushed in.

The leader was a chubby middle-aged man wearing a silk robe, holding a list in his hand, and with a big smile on his face.

Chen Yanzhou recognized the man as Manager Wang of "Jinxiuzhuang," the largest clothing store in Xiangyang City.

The outfit I wore last night was bought from his store.

"Manager Wang, what are you up to?" Chen Yanzhou pointed to the group of people behind him. "Bringing so many people to my Beggars' Sect, are you trying to cause trouble?"

"Oh, Chief Chen, you're joking. I wouldn't dare even if you gave me ten lives."

Shopkeeper Wang wiped the sweat from his brow and handed over the order slip. "This morning a young lady came to our shop and bought a batch of clothes, saying she wanted to put it on your tab. I've come here specifically to check with you."

"Miss?" Chen Yanzhou's eyelids twitched, and he took the order and looked at it.

Good guy!

A Suzhou embroidery flowing cloud skirt, one set; a Shu brocade pleated skirt, one set; a Cantonese embroidery flowing skirt, one set...

Total: 860 taels.

Chen Yanzhou's hand trembled slightly.

Eight hundred and sixty taels? Has this spendthrift woman emptied out Jinxiu Manor?

Before he could even catch his breath, another tall, thin man squeezed up behind Manager Wang, holding a brocade box in his hands.

"Chief Chen, I am Li Si from 'Baoyuxuan'. The young lady just picked out a white jade hairpin and a pair of jade earrings in my shop. She said they were a token of love from you and asked me to come and collect the money."

A token of love? Chen Yanzhou's lips twitched.

"How much?"

"Not much, not much. I'll give you a discount, five hundred taels."

Then, the third, the fourth...

"Chief Chen, I'm from Juweizhai..."

"Chief Chen, I'm from the Four Treasures of the Study..."

"..."

Chen Yanzhou stood in front of the stone table, holding a thick stack of bills in his hand. His face turned from white to red, then from red to green, finally settling on a bizarre expression that seemed to want to kill someone while also wanting to laugh.

"Good! Good! Excellent!"

"Boss, this money..." Manager Wang asked cautiously.

Chen Yanzhou took a deep breath, trying to calm the urge to grab a knife and kill someone.

How could he not pay? They'd already mentioned his name, and he was a major client of the Charity Mission; he couldn't afford to lose face like that.

"Grandpa Lu!" Chen Yanzhou shouted.

"Take them to the accounting office to settle their bill!" Chen Yanzhou waved his hand dramatically, with a tragic air of a warrior cutting off his own arm. "Put it in my private account, not the public account!"

"yes!"

The group of shopkeepers immediately beamed with joy and followed Lu Youjiao, expressing their gratitude profusely.

Chen Yanzhou put the bill in front of his chest, picked up the Dog-Beating Stick beside him, and used all his skills of the Free and Easy Wandering Technique to leave the Beggars' Sect branch in the blink of an eye.

……