Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 99 Divide the money!

Zaoshu Hutong (Zaoshu Alley).

With his hands behind his back, Chen Qing wandered around Zaoshu Hutong, but still couldn't find the brothel that Master Bai had mentioned. He could only ask around in Zaoshu Hutong. He asked two middle-aged men, who both looked Chen Qing up and down before smiling and pointing to a seemingly ordinary house.

So-called "secret prostitutes" are, of course, those who don't wear signs.

Chen Qing pushed open the door and went in. There was a man in his forties with a stubble beard guarding the door.

The man looked Chen Qing up and down, then said with a smile, "Young master, you are indeed very young."

This implies that Chen Qing, at such a young age, was already visiting brothels.

"I've come to see Aunt Liu."

Chen Qing remained calm and said, "The Yang family."

After coming into contact with the White Lotus Sect, Chen Qing finally understood what the "Yang family" that Mr. Yang Qi had mentioned to him in Deqing meant, and now he was also adept at using this identity.

However, the White Lotus sect in Zhili and the capital was too insidious in its actions, which made Chen Qing now have some doubts about Mr. Yang in Deqing.

After hearing this, the man thought for a moment, then picked at his earwax.

"Wait, I'm going to find Aunt Liu."

He strode into the inner room with a swaggering gait. Not long after, a woman in her thirties or forties, heavily made up and with an exaggeratedly large bust, came out swaying her hips. When she saw Chen Qing, her eyes lit up at the sight of his face.

"Is it Young Master Chen?"

Chen Qing glanced at her, his gaze lingering on her chest for a moment before replying, "It's me."

A smile immediately appeared on Liu's mother's face: "Please come in, please come in."

"Master Bai has been giving instructions for a long time, and finally we've waited for Young Master Chen."

The woman led Chen Qing deep into the house and soon they sat down in the main hall. She bent down to pour tea for Chen Qing, revealing a patch of snow-white skin.

Chen Qing remained calm and simply said, "Since there's no one else here, I'll get straight to the point: I've prepared Bai Tang's main manuscript."

"I've come specifically to deliver this to Master Bai."

Seeing that Chen Qing remained unmoved, Madam Liu was slightly annoyed, but she still forced a smile and said, "What a coincidence! If Young Master Chen had come yesterday, he probably wouldn't have been able to see Hall Master Bai. It just so happens that Hall Master Bai spent the night here last night."

"However, Master Bai is still sleeping, so Young Master Chen will have to wait a while."

Chen Qing looked at the sky; it was already past 1:00 AM.

For a normal person, they should be up by now, but for a brothel, most of the girls are still asleep.

That Master Bai is also sleeping. He must have been here yesterday, causing quite a commotion.

Chen Qing asked, "When will Hall Master Bai wake up?"

"If it takes a long time, I'll go back first and come back to see Master Bai in a couple of days."

Madam Liu smiled and said, "Since you're here, young master, there's no need to leave in a hurry."

"Master Bai has spoken to me about Young Master Chen. From now on, we'll all be working under Master Bai, so let's get to know each other."

She sat down next to Chen Qing, looked him up and down, and said with a smile, "How old are you this year, Young Master Chen?"

Chen Qing frowned, stood up abruptly, and said, "If Hall Master Bai has something to attend to, I will come another day."

He got up to leave, but Madam Liu reached out and grabbed his sleeve, saying softly with a smile, "Young master, are you in no hurry to leave? I know you look down on me."

“I have quite a few young girls here. Young master, stay here tonight, and I will arrange one or two new maidens for you.”

Chen Qing snapped, "I'm a scholar who's studied the classics, what do you take me for!"

Having said that, he turned to leave.

He had only taken a few dozen steps, almost reaching the door, when a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Brother Chen, Brother Chen!"

That's Master Bai's voice.

Chen Qing turned around and saw that not far away, the White Hall Master, dressed in dark red, had a pretty girl in his arms. Perhaps because of the cold weather, his hand was inside the girl's arms to warm it, and he was looking at him with a smile.

Chen Qing frowned before stepping forward and said indifferently, "Master Bai is truly blessed with good fortune in love."

Master Bai pulled his hand away, patted the girl's bottom, and said with a smile, "Go, go, go have fun."

The girl looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, but she already had the air of a woman of the world. She gave Bai Tangzhu a flirtatious smile, swayed her hips, and left.

Only then did Master Bai look at Chen Qing and say with a smile, "Not bad, right? She's the best girl in this restaurant. Tonight, let her go to your room, Brother Chen."

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "Master Bai, I have no interest in this place."

Master Bai clicked his tongue.

“I know, I know. You scholars don’t like visiting brothels, you prefer to go to brothels to talk about poetry, songs, music, chess, calligraphy and painting. You spend ten or a hundred times more money, but in the end, don’t you still end up sleeping in bed?” “I don’t think there’s much difference.”

Master Bai said calmly, "The top courtesans in brothels aren't necessarily much cleaner than the girls here."

Chen Qing raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. He simply handed over the manuscript of "The Chronicles of Heroes" and said, "This is the manuscript for the next issue of 'The Chronicles of Heroes.' Gu's Bookstore will print it in five days. After you take it, Master Bai can publish it in seven or eight days."

Master Bai reached out and took it, glanced at it briefly, and then said with a smile, "Brother Chen is a trustworthy man. I'll have Mama Liu wrap it up for you in a bit."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing frowned slightly, but still nodded: "Thank you."

Seeing Chen Qing's expression, Master Bai smiled and said, "Brother Chen, do you think the money here is dirty?"

He looked at Chen Qing and said, "Money has nothing to do with being dirty or not. If it were something glamorous, we wouldn't be in this business. Whatever we do, it's all for the great cause of the Holy Church."

Chen Qing asked, "Besides these two businesses, what other businesses does the Hall Master have?"

"That's a lot."

Master Bai said with a smile, "I have people under my command who can handle even the lowest of the low."

“In the past, our Holy Church only made money from incense offerings, but incense offerings alone could not support too many believers.”

"Over the past ten years or so, I have managed the Zhili capital area, which has given the Holy Sect other sources of income. It is precisely for this reason that Sect Leader Yang promoted me to the position of Hall Master."

Chen Qing said "Oh," and remarked with admiration, "The hall master is truly a talented individual."

Master Bai waved his hand, then looked down at the manuscript and asked, "Brother Chen, we agreed that you would write a story for the Holy Sect. Have you finished it?"

"It's not finished."

Chen Qing shook his head and said, "I've only written the first volume. I'll give it to the hall master for correction after I finish writing the whole thing."

At this time, we must not rush.

If Chen Qing were to rush to show the item to Master Bai, Master Bai might become suspicious. Only if Chen Qing himself pressed him for an answer would Master Bai not become suspicious.

"One scroll it is, let the leader take a look first."

Master Bai stroked his chin and said, "If the sect leader is not satisfied, Brother Chen can still make revisions in time."

"Well."

Chen Qing said, "In a few days, I will send the first volume of the manuscript to the hall master."

Master Bai waved his hand and said with a smile, "No need for that trouble. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll have someone go to Brother Chen's place to pick it up."

Chen Qing nodded, replied "Okay," then stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "In that case, I'll take my leave."

Master Bai glanced at him, then stood up and called over Mama Liu, saying with a smile, "Give Young Master Chen one hundred taels of silver."

Mother Liu responded and quickly brought out a small wooden box and handed it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened it and saw that inside were several silver ingots and some loose silver coins.

Holding it in my hand, the box and all weigh about six or seven pounds.

He thanked them, took the box, and left the brothel, continuing his journey until he exited Zaoshu Hutong.

After leaving Zaoshu Hutong, Chen Qing wandered around for a while before entering an inconspicuous house.

Inside the house, Yan Cong, with about twenty men from the Zhenfu Division, had been waiting for a long time. Chen Qing bowed to the group.

Everyone followed Yan Cong in bowing to Chen Qing.

After exchanging greetings, Chen Qing looked at Yan Cong and asked, "Brother Yan, how are the arrangements going?"

Yan Cong said, "We've already arranged for someone to go in disguise as a customer."

"Try to see what Master Bai looks like, and then find out his background as soon as possible."

Yan Cong looked at Chen Qing and said in a low voice, "I reckon this person might not be surnamed Bai."

Chen Qing hummed in agreement and said, "Judging from the accent, it should be a Zhili accent."

Yan Cong looked around and began to instruct his men to keep watch and carry out their duties. Just as the officers of the Zhenfu Division responded in unison and prepared to go about their tasks, Chen Qing coughed and said with a smile, "Brothers, don't leave yet."

Everyone stopped in their tracks when he called them.

Chen Qing opened the box containing one hundred taels of silver, placed it in front of everyone, and sighed: "This is dirty money given to me by the cult bandits. It would be against the rules if I took it."

"It would be a shame to hand it in."

He looked at everyone and said, "Brothers, you've all worked hard these past few days with me, otherwise..."

Young Master Chen said with a smile.

"Everyone, do me a favor and divide this money among yourselves so we can go out for drinks."

(End of this chapter)