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A few people arrived in front of a wooden building with red lacquered railings in Wa City. The signboard read Baxian Teahouse.

The siblings entered the tea house, chose a table by the window, and ordered some pastries and a pot of tea from the young waiter.

In the middle of the table were several upside-down tea bowls. When turned over, the waiter poured tea for each of them.

They arrived quite early, the storyteller hadn’t arrived yet, and there weren’t many people in the tea house.

Yingbao and her siblings ate their pastries while observing the scene outside.

Outside was much more lively than inside the tea house. There were performers with various tricks, vendors selling medicinal plasters, and people showing off martial arts.

There were also peddlers carrying yokes and baskets, selling an array of homemade foods.

Suddenly, Jiang Wu tugged at his sister’s sleeve and pointed outside, “Look! Isn’t that uncle in the floral robe?”

Yingbao looked over and saw a man in his thirties, dressed in a green birthday gown, among the crowd not far away. He was laughing with two burly men and heading towards the brothel.

Jiang Quan also saw and asked, “Hmm, aren’t those the two who fought with uncle and aunt yesterday? Why are they together?”

They saw the three men arm in arm walk into the brothel, quickly disappearing into a building.

Yingbao watched as the three disappeared and turned to ask Sister Dani, “Sister Dani, how much silver did aunt borrow from my uncle last time?”

Dani thought for a moment and replied, “Fifty taels. She wanted to borrow one hundred taels from mum and dad initially, but mum didn’t agree.”

“Did she say what she needed the silver for?” Yingbao asked.

Dani replied, “Aunt said her shop needed to replenish stock and that she was short of funds. When she borrowed money from grandma, she said that uncle was going into a big business deal with others and needed silver as capital. She promised to repay quickly, but she hasn’t until now.”

Yingbao then asked the second girl, “Did aunt borrow money from my second uncle as well?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. Dad gave her forty taels.”

The second girl said, “Aunt even sneaked and asked me if I had any money. Humph, I told her I didn’t.”

Yingbao:······

Considering the incident from yesterday, she probably knew why Jiang Yunniang needed to borrow money.

Could it be to cover Zhang Jia’s deficit?

Jiang Quan pondered for a while, then said, “How about I sneak over to the brothel to see what they are really up to.”

“No! If you get caught, you are dead.” This was not an exaggeration.

Yingbao said, “Just tell aunt what we saw today when we see her.”

As for what Jiang Yunniang should do, let her decide.

“Or else, when we go home, we’ll tell my uncle, second uncle, and dad. Let them come to the county town to confront Zhang Jia.”

If Zhang tries to pull any tricks, the three Jiang brothers can take him on, and even their spit could drown him.

While the siblings were talking, Dongmei and her father took the stage.

Looking around, the tea house had filled up to about forty percent capacity.

Gao Lifan noticed the children sitting by the window, nodded at them, adjusted his sleeves, and set out his mallet, fan, and a handkerchief.

The young waiter had already run over with a teapot to pour him a cup of tea.

By the time Dongmei sat down next to Gao Lifan with her pipa, the tea patrons were already urging them to start their performance.

Today, Gao Lifan continued to recount the tale of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He struck his mallet and began:

“As the saying goes, a horse recognizes the reins, a dog repays the kindness of even a blade of grass;

Deer gather in herds when food is seen, heartless people are detestable!

Let’s continue talking about that Lu Bu, Lu Fengxian…”

Yingbao and Jiang Quan listened with relish, but Dani, the second girl, and Jiang Wu could hardly sit still after a while.

Jiang Wu repeatedly tugged at his sister’s sleeve and asked, “Sis, can we stop listening and go have fun outside?”

He didn’t understand any of it, and he simply wanted to watch the knife-juggling performers. If not, watching stilt walkers would do as well.

“Let’s wait a little longer.” Yingbao still didn’t know how Dongmei was promoting their shop.

Finally, after Gao Lifan finished a section and took a break to sip his tea, his daughter Dongmei, cradling her lute, began her introductory speech.

Surprisingly, her introduction promoted the Jiang Family’s specialty goods store across the county school and the various merchandise it sold.

Dongmei’s words flowed fluently, seeming like she had recited this many times.

The audience was accustomed to this and showed no dissatisfaction.

After the introduction, Dongmei began to play her lute and sing.

A segment later, a young clerk began to go around the tables collecting tip.

Yingbao took out a handful of copper coins from her bag and put them into the tray, telling Dong Mei, “Sister, after you and the gentleman finish on stage, could you stop by my shop?”

She hadn’t given Dongmei her Rootless Water for a month, and today she planned to give her three jars all at once.

As the New Year was approaching, Yingbao wasn’t sure when she would be able to come to the county town again, so she decided to give extra. It was a reward for Dongmei’s publicity work for her.

Dongmei smiled and nodded.

The siblings walked out of the teahouse, went to a calligraphy and painting shop and bought several portraits of Zhong Kui and several pairs of peach wood amulets, keeping them for the New Year.

Dani and her sister went to the silverware shop and bought some silver ornaments, like earrings, pendants and Beaded Flowers.

These little items were not expensive, but of course, they contained a small amount of silver, not comparable to the silver made by the Prefectural Government Office.

A few days later, Jiang, the third son, drove the carriage into town again, ready to take his children and nieces home.

Before leaving, they had to pick up Jiang Jie from the County Government Office and go back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year together.

Jiang prepared some New Year’s gifts and sent them to Mr. and Mrs. Wu of the county office in advance.

There were newly made chestnut cakes from home, as well as a pound of Xue’er and a pound of golden mushrooms, two boxes of persimmon cakes, and health pills made by his youngest daughter.

Mr. Wu was very pleased and asked Jiang why he didn’t bring Yingbao with him.

The next day, Jiang Quan took advantage of their uncle’s good mood, and repeated the story of his aunt and uncle’s troubles.

Jiang instantly furrowed his brows and immediately rose to seek out Zhang Jia.

Fearing that his uncle might suffer alone, Jiang Cheng quickly called out to his younger brother to accompany him, and instructed Dani, her sister, and Yingbao to watch the shop.

Only by dusk did the three men return.

Jiang looked furious and went straight into his room to sulk, nobody knew what he was doing.

Yingbao could only quietly ask Jiang Quan, “What did you guys do?”

Jiang Quan touched the back of his head and said, “Uncle found Aunt Zhang and questioned his relationship with that woman and the attackers. Aunt Zhang got angry and insulted Uncle, so Uncle slapped him and knocked out two of his teeth.”

“What happened next?” Yingbao was full of curiosity.

Jiang Quan: “Then Aunt suddenly appeared and started fighting Uncle, saying that it was her own family matter, and Uncle shouldn’t interfere. Uncle was furious and immediately came back.”

He also whispered, “Aunt Zhang admitted to keeping a mistress and having a pair of children with her, whom he was supporting. He even said he wanted the two children to recognize him as their father. I don’t understand why Aunt is still protecting him.”

This was a direct slap in Aunt Zhang’s face, Jiang Yunniang actually said that her own family should not interfere.

Yingbao was simply dumbfounded.

“What about the other two men who beat him up?” she asked.

Jiang Quan: “I don’t know, Aunt Zhang wouldn’t say, but I guess they are from his mistress’s family.”

Because he heard one of the beaters say that Aunt Zhang had seduced his daughter.

That burly man, full of fury, was indeed probably the young mistress’s real father.