Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 42 Disaster Approaching
Upon hearing the words "assassinate the king and kill the emperor," Master Gu's expression changed. He stood up, shook his head, and said, "You really have a lot of nerve."

"They dare to say anything."

Assassinating the king is a crime punishable by the extermination of three generations of his family. If Chen Qing were to actually carry out this act, the entire Chen clan of Huzhou would likely be utterly ruined.
Not to mention the lives of the Chen family.

This was indeed Chen Qing's greatest reliance in threatening his father, but the price was too high, requiring him to sacrifice his own life.

Chen Qing smiled and said, "There's no one else here, so it's fine to be a little bolder."

Master Gu shook his head and said, "We still need to be cautious."

"If you take over the Gu family business in the future, you must be even more cautious."

Just as he finished speaking, a muffled rumble of thunder suddenly sounded. Master Gu walked outside the main hall with his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and saw that half of the sky had turned completely black.

He couldn't help but shake his head: "Now that summer has arrived, the weather really changes in an instant. It was fine this morning, and now it's about to rain."

After saying this, Master Gu got up and walked outside: "I'll go to the shop to see if all the herbs that were drying have been taken in. I'll talk to you in detail another day. You can stay at the Gu family home with peace of mind and don't need to worry about anything else."

"After a while, I will begin to prepare for your wedding with Pan'er."

After saying this, Master Gu left the main hall with his hands behind his back and headed towards Anren Hall.

Chen Qing also looked up at the sky outside, and then heard another thunderclap, followed by a downpour of raindrops.

Chen Qing shielded his head with both hands and jogged back to his courtyard. However, the rain was so heavy that half of his clothes were soaked when he got back to his residence.

Inside the room, Chen Qing changed out of his wet clothes, took out new clothes from his bundle and put them on, just in time to bring out a packet of silver from the bundle.

This sum of silver, about four or five taels, wasn't a lot, but it was the first money he had earned in this era.

To be precise, it was the share he earned.

Since the publication of The Romance of the Western Chamber, the teahouse has been packed with people every day. The owner of the teahouse is quite generous and has given Mr. Yang and his daughter a considerable share. Yesterday, Mr. Yang gave some of his share and insisted on giving it to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing couldn't refuse, so he eventually accepted it.

This amount of money is not much for the Chen and Gu families, but it is a considerable sum for ordinary people.

In other words, Chen Qing could survive in this world simply by creating stories and without engaging in any commercial activities.

He changed his clothes, holding the money in his hand, lost in thought. After a long while, he shook his head, got up, and walked to his desk. As he flipped through the books, he pondered where he should go in the future.

At this moment, the sound of thunder and rain was deafening outside. Chen Qing walked to the window, closed it, and took one last look at the weather outside. The rain was pouring down, and the strong wind blew it against his window, making a pattering sound.

"heavy rain."

Chen Qing shook his head and sighed. He closed the window and thought of Madam Li and her son.

With such heavy rain, the mother and daughter probably won't be able to leave Deqing anytime soon.

Thinking about this, some strange ideas popped into his head, but he had experienced too much in one day, and soon he lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

He slept soundly, and when he woke up, it was already dark. There was someone outside the door, knocking incessantly.

It was the knocking that woke him up.

Chen Qing yawned and opened the door. Outside the room, Xiao Yue was holding an umbrella in one hand and a food box in the other, bringing him food.

Chen Qing quickly stepped aside to let her in, and seeing her clothes were already half wet, shook his head and said, "Why did you run over in such heavy rain?"

"Isn't this bringing food to the young master?"

Xiaoyue glanced at him, placed the food on the table, and said, "Young master, please eat quickly."

Chen Qing stretched and said with a smile, "I slept so well that I didn't even feel hungry."

He had just taken the chopsticks when he casually remarked, "The rain is really heavy today. I've been sleeping for two or three hours, and it's still pouring outside."

Xiaoyue nodded, looking outside with some worry: "If things continue like this, there will probably be another flood this year. I wonder how my parents are doing."

Chen Qing was taken aback, and put down his chopsticks. He asked, "Does Deqing often experience flooding?"

"Yes."

Without hesitation, Xiaoyue said, "Our place is near a big lake. On average, every three to five years, the Daxi River in Deqing will rise during the flood season when there is heavy rain."

"Flooding of fields and land."

Xiaoyue was still shaken: "People can drown." She sat opposite Chen Qing, seemingly recalling something from the past: "When I was eight years old, the Daxi River flooded, and many places in Deqing were submerged. Many people lost their way to survive, and my family lost our way to survive too."

"So they sold me to the Gu family, and that's when I started working for Miss Gu."

At this point, Xiaoyue sighed: "I'm lucky. Of the children I grew up with, some starved to death, but I'm still alive and well, and I can go back to see my parents and brothers from time to time."

Chen Qing frowned.

He really had no memory of this, perhaps because the original Young Master Chen was unaware of the hardships faced by ordinary people.

"Doesn't the imperial court care?"

"I do not know either."

Xiaoyue shook her head and said, "It might be under their control, but we didn't see it. We only know that whenever there is a major disaster in Deqing, the master usually takes his family and the people from the shop out of the city to brew medicine and porridge to treat the sick and save lives."

Chen Qing then walked to the door and looked at the stormy night outside.

"So, the Gu family has a good reputation in Deqing."

"of course."

Xiaoyue said with a smile, "Our master is not only the richest man in Deqing, but also the most philanthropist in Deqing. The former county magistrate even presented him with a plaque that reads 'The Most Philanthropic Family'."

Chen Qing nodded slowly, lowered his head and ate while asking about the situation in Deqing. By the time he finished eating, all the little knowledge Xiaoyue had about the floods in Deqing had been transferred to Chen Qing's mind.

After seeing Xiaoyue off, Chen Qing lit the candles and sat alone until late at night before finally falling asleep again.

The next morning, he woke up to a knock on the door. When Chen Qing opened the door, he saw Mr. Gu standing there with a serious expression.

“Nephew, the Daxi River has flooded, inundating many places in Deqing.”

"These next few days, I will be working with the government officials to do my best to help the disaster victims. You stay here and make sure to protect the family."

Chen Qing frowned and asked, "It flooded in just one day and one night?"

"It rained too hard last night."

Master Gu shook his head and sighed, "I'm afraid it's going to be a major flood."

He said quietly, "In this situation, chaos may break out both inside and outside the city in a few days. The government is short-handed. Keep an eye on your home to prevent anyone from breaking in, robbing, or injuring you."

The reason why local powerful and wealthy families would show great generosity by providing relief to disaster victims and even voluntarily distributing porridge is often not because of their kind hearts, but because of their own self-interest.

There can be large-scale deaths, but there cannot be large-scale starvation; otherwise, once a popular uprising occurs, family property will no longer be family property.

That's the situation with the Gu family.

As the richest man in Deqing, the Gu family would be the first to be robbed if Deqing descended into chaos.

Whether out of kindness or for safety reasons, Mr. Gu had to go and provide relief to the disaster victims.

In fact, most of the imperial court's disaster relief efforts were carried out with the cooperation of local powerful families.

Chen Qing's gaze shifted.

Although he also longed for peace and prosperity for the country, the reality was that this era was fraught with disasters.

This is especially true for ordinary people.

Perhaps, he can take this opportunity to strengthen himself a little.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Qing cupped his hands to Master Gu and said, "It must be muddy and treacherous outside. Uncle is getting old, so it would be better if Uncle stayed home to keep watch."

“I’m going out to help the disaster victims on behalf of my uncle and the Gu family.”

Master Gu looked him up and down, thinking he was going to take advantage of the chaos to seek revenge on Madam Li and her son, so he frowned and said, "Don't do anything reckless."

"Uncle, don't worry."

Chen Qing patted his chest.

"I promise that I will only provide relief to disaster victims and will never cause trouble."

(End of this chapter)