That day, Feng Yuan arrived in Suzhou.
Suzhou City has always been a place of romance and wealth.
The canals crisscross like a net, the small bridges like a comb, grooming the city into something gentle and charming.
Feng Yuan stood at the entrance of a newly opened shop called "Yugui Workshop," watching the boats and pedestrians passing by on the street.
This shop was an enterprise established for him by Prince Zhongshun in Suzhou, specifically for producing and selling more exquisite and expensive soap.
Hou San followed behind him, holding an account book in his hands and muttering to himself.
"Master, once the sales channels open up in Suzhou, the Silver Taels flow in like running water."
"The stewards from several large Silk Shops in the city all sent invitations yesterday, hoping to discuss placing our soap in their shops for consignment sales."
Feng Yuan hummed in acknowledgment, his gaze resting on a stone bridge not far away.
"What movement is there from the Xue Family?"
"What movement could there be?" Hou San pouted. "They lower prices, and the Zhen Family follows suit. Now in Suzhou City, who still buys their old stock? I heard the Shopkeeper of their Suzhou branch is so worried his hair has turned half white."
A slight smile finally appeared on Feng Yuan's face.
This was exactly what he wanted: boiling the frog slowly.
No knife, no spear, just slowly draining the Xue Family's lifeblood bit by bit.
"Let's go take a stroll through the streets."
He led Hou San and two newly promoted Stewards, strolling along the riverbank.
Suzhou lacked a bit of official air and possessed more of the lively and refined spirit of the common market.
Walking past an arched bridge, a sudden commotion erupted ahead.
A crowd was gathered, pointing fingers at a storefront.
That storefront displayed a plaque reading "Changle Workshop," and two Big Fellows at the entrance were savagely beating a middle-aged man who had fallen to the ground.
"Hit him! Hit him hard for me!"
"Can't pay your debt and dare to act tough in our Changle Workshop!"
The beaten man clutched his head, curled up in a ball on the ground, emitting painful groans.
He was wearing a half-worn silk shirt, suggesting he was once a respectable person, but now he looked as wretched as a Wild dog.
Feng Yuan stopped walking.
Hou San understood immediately, stepped forward, and grabbed a bystander asking, "Brother, what's going on here?"
The man was cracking sunflower seeds, watching with great interest.
"What else? A gambler owes money and is getting beaten up by the casino staff."
"You don't even know this Old Man Xing? Gambles every day, loses every day. If it weren't for having a younger sister who married well in Shenjing, he'd have been dead long ago..."
Surname Xing?
A sister in Shenjing?
Something clicked heavily in Feng Yuan's mind.
He walked a few steps forward, pushed through the crowd, and clearly saw the man's face.
His face was haggard, his eye sockets sunken, and there were streaks of blood at the corner of his mouth.
It couldn't possibly be Madam Xing's brother, Xing Xiuyan's father.
That fool from the original story who was destitute, eventually brought his daughter to rely on relatives, and ruined a good hand he was dealt.
And his daughter, Xing Xiuyan, apparently ended up marrying Xue Pan's cousin, Xue Ke.
The Xue Family...
Feng Yuan's eyes slowly narrowed.
It was truly a case of finding something without looking for it; what he sought came to him effortlessly.
He had only intended to prune the branches and leaves of the Xue Family, but unexpectedly, Heaven itself delivered a piece of their future right to his doorstep.
"Stop."
Feng Yuan spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone dropped into the noisy crowd.
The two men who were hitting him stopped and turned, looking at him menacingly.
"Who are you? Dare to meddle in Changle Workshop's business?"
Feng Yuan ignored them. He walked up to Xing Zhong and squatted down.
"Are you Xing Zhong?"
Xing Zhong looked up, gazing at him with eyes swollen like peaches.
"You... know me?"
"No," Feng Yuan stood up and looked at the two Big Fellows. "How much does he owe you?"
The leading Big Fellow sized Feng Yuan up.
Seeing his fine clothing, steady demeanor, and the few shrewd Servants behind him, he toned down his aggression slightly.
"Young Master, it's not that we are unreasonable. This fellow owes us three hundred and eighty Silver Taels, principal and interest. Our boss gave the order: if he doesn't pay today, we break his legs!"
Three hundred and eighty Silver Taels.
For an ordinary family, it was an astronomical sum.
For Feng Yuan now, it was merely a drop in the bucket.
"I will pay this debt for him," Feng Yuan said lightly.
The surrounding people gasped in unison.
Hou San and the two Stewards were also stunned.
They couldn't understand why their Master would spend such a large sum of money for a gambler he didn't even know.
The two Big Fellows exchanged glances, joy appearing on their faces.
"Are you serious, Young Master?"
"Hou San," Feng Yuan said without turning back.
"I am here."
"Go to the accounting room and bring five hundred Silver Notes."
"Yes!"
Xing Zhong, lying on the ground, was also dumbfounded.
He couldn't believe his ears and struggled to get up.
"Y-Young Master... why... why are you helping me? I... we are complete strangers!"
Feng Yuan turned to look at him, his face showing neither pity nor sympathy.
His gaze was like that of someone looking at a piece of merchandise.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
His voice was soft, yet it pierced Xing Zhong's heart like an ice pick.
"If I pay your debt, you must give me something in return."
Xing Zhong's face instantly turned deathly pale.
He looked around at himself; besides these tattered clothes and his injuries, what else did he possess?
"I... I have nothing..." His voice cracked with tears.
"No, you do."
Feng Yuan's gaze deepened.
"I heard you have a daughter who is in her teens?"
Xing Zhong shuddered as if struck by lightning, staring blankly at Feng Yuan.
"H-how do you know?"
"You don't need to know how I know." A cruel curve appeared at the corner of Feng Yuan's mouth.
"Let your daughter become my concubine."
"These five hundred Silver Taels will serve as the Betrothal Gift."
"What?!"
Xing Zhong felt as if struck by five bolts of lightning; he was completely stunned.
He would rather have his legs broken than believe what he had just heard.
Sell his daughter?
She was his only hope!
The surrounding onlookers also erupted into an uproar.
"Heavens, he's trying to forcibly buy someone's daughter!"
"This Young Master looks respectable, but his heart is so black!"
"But then again, that gambler deserves it. Why should his daughter pay for his own sins?"
Hou San and the two Stewards were too shocked to speak.
They finally understood that their Master was not acting out of kindness.
He was taking advantage of a crisis.
And what he was seizing was a person.
Xing Zhong snapped back to reality, crawling to Feng Yuan's feet, weeping, and clutching his leg.
"Master! Master, have mercy! I will give you anything, please, don't set your sights on my daughter! I don't even have a son; she is my only lifeline!"
Feng Yuan frowned in disgust and kicked him away.
"Lifeline?" he sneered. "When you took the money given by your relatives to gamble recklessly, did you think of your lifeline then?"
"When you were being beaten on the ground like a dog, could your lifeline save you?"
His words were like knives, carving into Xing Zhong's heart sentence by sentence.
"I..." Xing Zhong was speechless, only left with desperate sobs.
At that moment, Hou San had returned with the Silver Notes.
Five one-hundred-tael Silver Notes, brand new and crisp.
Feng Yuan took the Silver Notes and waved them in front of Xing Zhong's eyes.
"Two paths."
"One: Take this money, pay the debt, and we are square. I guarantee this casino will never bother you again."
He looked at the two Big Fellows.
The two men felt uneasy under his gaze and quickly bowed and scraped.
"Two," Feng Yuan's voice grew colder, "I take back the Silver Notes, and you continue to be beaten. Choose whether you want a broken hand or a broken leg."
"As for your daughter... without you as a father, do you think she, a weak woman, can have a good outcome in this man-eating world?"
"Will she be abducted and sold to a Brothel, or bought by some wealthy household to be a Maidservant treated like dirt?"
"You think about it carefully."
After speaking, Feng Yuan stopped looking at him and turned to Hou San, saying:
"Go reserve a Private Room in the teahouse across the street."
He went upstairs to the teahouse, leaned against the railing, and slowly sipped his tea.
Downstairs, Xing Zhong was still lying on the ground.
On one side was a path to survival within easy reach, and on the other, his daughter's lifelong happiness.
He felt as if he were being roasted over a fire, tormented repeatedly.
Time passed little by little.
The two Big Fellows were already growing impatient.
"Hey! Have you decided or not! Don't waste our time!"
Xing Zhong looked up and glanced at the leisurely figure drinking tea upstairs.
That figure was like a mountain, pressing down on him so he couldn't breathe.
He knew he had no choice.
He closed his eyes, and two streams of turbid tears flowed down.
Finally, he gathered all his strength and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.
"I... I agree..."
He collapsed onto the ground as if all his strength had been drained.
Feng Yuan heard this from upstairs.
He set down his teacup and told Hou San, "Go bring the man up. Also, find a scribe to write a document."
Soon, the distraught Xing Zhong was brought into the Private Room.
Feng Yuan pushed the five hundred Silver Notes in front of him.
"This is yours."
Then, he pushed over a document that had just been written.
"This is mine."
The document clearly stated that Xing Zhong voluntarily gave his daughter, Xing Xiuyan, to Feng Yuan as a concubine, without regret forever.
The Betrothal Gift was five hundred taels of silver.
"Press your handprint here," Feng Yuan's voice carried no warmth.
He used the last of his strength to press his bright red fingerprint after the name.
Feng Yuan picked up the thin sheet of paper and blew gently on the ink.
He looked at the name on the paper.
Xing Xiuyan.
Xue Family, your future daughter-in-law now belongs to me.