My classmate Zhu Houzhao

"Fang Heng, what are you trying to do? Are you planning a rebellion?"

Fang Heng led Wang Mazi and the others straight in. The servants of the Fang family, seeing that it was their second young master, did not want to stop him from the bottom of their hearts. Only the steward pretended to stop him.

Soon, Madam Liu arrived after hearing the news. When she saw Fang Heng bringing so many thugs to the Fang family, she was furious and began to boss them around.

Since Fang Heng's mother passed away, Lady Liu has been officially recognized as the principal wife. In the Ming Dynasty, there was basically no such thing as a concubine being promoted to the principal wife. A concubine was always a concubine. Even if the principal wife died, the wife would usually remarry.

However, Liu's existence was originally unclear. She was a concubine, but the Fang family had never held a ceremony for taking a concubine. In order to elevate Liu to the status of principal wife, Fang Hong simply absurdly imitated theatrical script, saying that Liu had always been his secondary wife, and now that the principal wife was gone, the secondary wife would naturally be elevated to the status of principal wife.

Although this action drew ridicule and discussion from many people in Liangxiang, neither Fang Hong nor Liu Shi cared much.

Now, Madam Liu is in charge of the Fang family's household affairs. However, one doesn't know the cost of living until one is in charge. Over the past three years, Madam Liu has watched as the Fang family's treasury has been slowly depleted, without any decent income. Originally, Fang Hengniang's dowry still had a small portion of money left, which should be around two thousand taels.

However, Fang Hong was concerned about his reputation and spent a lot of money on daily expenses. In addition, with so many servants to support in the Fang family, the monthly allowance was a huge expense. In just three years, the Fang family was about to run out of money, and Liu Shi felt extremely worried.

As for Fang Hong, he didn't show up at all. He felt very guilty towards Fang Heng. Fang Heng was now a prominent figure in Liangxiang. Therefore, whenever there was a problem at home, Fang Hong would usually leave it to Liu Shi to handle. Liu Shi was always good at throwing tantrums.

The mistresses of ordinary wealthy families usually pay attention to their reputation and are careful in their words and actions, and will not act recklessly. However, Liu was born in the countryside and had little family education, so she never cared about these things.

"Nothing much. I lost money gambling outside and borrowed money from them. I can't pay them back now, so I had to bring them home to ask for the money back."

Fang Heng didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down on a chair in the living room, picked up the teapot next to him, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it by himself.

The maid standing nearby was in a dilemma when she saw this. The pot of tea had been brewed an hour ago and was already cold. She should go and brew a fresh pot for the young master, but when she saw Liu's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, she finally gave up on the idea.

"Xiao Tao, come here."

Seemingly noticing the maid's reaction, Fang Heng beckoned to her. The maid glanced at Madam Liu, but eventually came to Fang Heng's side.

"When I went out this morning, I saw a man from southern Vietnam setting up a stall. He was selling all these jadeite pieces, which were very beautiful, especially this bracelet. I think its beauty can only be truly appreciated when worn on your wrist."

As Fang Heng spoke, he grabbed Xiao Tao's right hand and then took out a jade pendant from somewhere and put it on Xiao Tao's right hand.

Jadeite had entered the Ming Dynasty long ago, but it was always cheap, even less expensive than glass. The truly valuable thing was jade. As for jadeite, it was even used to pave roads in Southeast Asia.

This jade bracelet was actually given to Fang Heng by a villager from Liangxiang who had received a favor from him. It was just a small trinket, but Fang Heng didn't accept it for nothing and gave the man ten coins.

Looking at the jade bracelet on her wrist, Xiao Tao felt her face burning. As a maid of the Fang family, she had never been treated like this before. Only the young master always treated her like a lady from a prominent family. Whenever he had something good, he would always think of her. What did she do to deserve this? If the madam and the young master had a conflict later, she would protect the young master even if it cost her her life.

When Liu saw this, she was even more furious.

"They've all gone too far! Xiao Tao, do you even respect me as your mistress?"

Liu glared at Xiao Tao, her eyes wide with anger.

"Madam, what are you saying? What has Xiaotao done wrong?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tao pretended not to understand and looked at Liu Shi.

Upon hearing this, Madam Liu felt as if she had been choked, unsure how to respond. Logically speaking, Fang Heng was the eldest son of the Fang family, and given the death of the eldest son, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Fang Heng was the eldest son.

As the eldest son of the Fang family, Xiao Tao, a mere maid, was naturally obligated to serve him, and she couldn't really find fault with that.

Most importantly, Xiao Tao is different from ordinary maids. She is from the Fang family's matriarch's family, Fang Hong's wife's side. The matriarch is sentimental and kept Xiao Tao in the Fang residence. Liu Shi really didn't dare to touch Xiao Tao, after all, she was able to become the matriarch of the Fang family without the matriarch's support.

"When did you get hooked on gambling? With this kind of behavior, you still dare to call yourself a member of the Fang family? Aren't you disgracing the entire Fang family?"

Seeing that she couldn't do anything about Xiao Tao, Madam Liu immediately turned her attention to Fang Heng.

Upon hearing this, Fang Heng glanced at Madam Liu.

"What kind of talk is this? When has there ever been a case of a concubine being promoted to the principal wife in the Ming Dynasty? You, a mere concubine, have now entered our household. In the entire Liangxiang, who wouldn't laugh at my Fang family because of this? You don't feel ashamed, but how is it shameful for me to gamble?"

Fang Heng picked up his teacup and took another sip.

"Young master, the tea has gone cold. Let me brew you a fresh pot."

As she spoke, Xiao Tao picked up the teapot beside her and walked towards the side hall.

Most of the servants in the Fang family listened to Fang Heng, mainly because Madam Liu was extremely harsh on them and would deduct their monthly wages whenever possible. On the other hand, if they had any difficulties, they could just ask the young master for help, and he would usually help them. By comparing the two, they could naturally distinguish between those who were close to them and those who were distant.

The main reason is that Liu came from a humble background and had never been taught how to manage a large family. She also did not know how to win people's hearts, so most of the servants in the Fang family were alienated from her.

Fang Heng's words were tantamount to pointing his finger at Liu Shi and cursing her.

In the past, Fang Heng and Liu Shi had always kept to themselves. Zhao Huan, seeing his second brother make such a fuss for his sake, felt extremely remorseful and moved at the same time. He even decided that his life would belong to his second brother from now on.

"You! You! You!"

When Fang Heng insulted her like that, Liu was so angry that she didn't know how to refute him. She pointed at Fang Heng and almost choked on her breath.

"How dare you speak like that? She's still your aunt, how can you humiliate her like that in front of outsiders?"

Fang Hong had been listening at the door for a while but hadn't come in. Hearing this, he couldn't hold back any longer and looked at Fang Heng with a face full of reproach.

"Humiliation? Is this humiliation? In the past three years, she hasn't given me a single penny of my monthly allowance. Three years ago, I was only nine years old. Did you ever ask me how I was surviving? Now, I only owe some gambling debts. My Fang family is wealthy and powerful. Surely we wouldn't default on someone else's gambling debts?"

Fang Heng looked at his cheap father and didn't give him a kind look at all.

"How dare you talk like that? You have no manners!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong flew into a rage and adopted the demeanor of a head of the family.

Wang Mazi, standing to the side, looked at Fang Heng with admiration in his heart, thinking that this young master Fang was truly righteous and chivalrous, willing to go to such lengths for his brother.

As for Zhao Huan, needless to say, he was thinking about how to serve Fang Heng.

"My Fang family would never default on a debt. How much do you owe them?"

Fang Hong took a breath and looked at Fang Heng.

"Not much. I borrowed a thousand coins, paid out nine times and returned thirteen times. I only need to repay them one string of cash plus three hundred coins."

Fang Heng said calmly and unhurriedly.

The saying "nine out, thirteen back" means that you borrow one thousand coins, but you only actually receive nine hundred, and you have to repay one thousand three hundred.

"Go to the warehouse and get them the money, then send those people away. How could the Fang family owe gambling debts?"

Fang Hong looked at Liu Shi and said.

Hearing this, Madam Liu felt aggrieved but dared not refute it. She knew very well that her husband valued his reputation the most, and Fang Heng had precisely grasped this point, which was why he had deliberately said those things.

Soon, Wang Mazi and the others followed Liu Shi out.

"I can pay off your gambling debts for you, but not for free."

Fang Hong looked at the young man in front of him, his eyes full of calculation.

"Tell me, what are your conditions?"

Fang Heng was no exception to Fang Hong's words. Although his father was not as shrewd as his grandfather, he was still very calculating and would never do a losing business.