On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

When the two sat down in the pavilion of Jingxin Garden, Sima Chunlei was still clenching her fists in anger.

What should I do with this jealous person?

Lin Zhen looked at her angry yet concerned expression and suddenly felt a headache.

He scooped a spoonful of shredded chicken congee and heard the distant overtones of a jiaoweiqin (a Chinese harp)—it must be Qizhu'er, returning to Tingqin Residence, rehearsing the passage she had left unfinished the previous night. In the morning light, Sima Chunlei's oriental pearl bracelet and Qizhu'er's harp tassel shone against each other, like two distinct strings of notes, each playing its own tune in the palace's morning breeze.

"Husband, please eat quickly." Sima Chunlei suddenly pushed over a plate filled with neatly cut braised beef. "I cut this myself. My knife skills are much better than those of the cooks at home."

Lin Zhen smiled and shook his head, suddenly remembering the bloodstains left on the strings by Qizhu'er's fingertips when she played the zither last night. Perhaps every woman in this palace had her own zither strings and tunes, and all he could do was make each string vibrate freely, whether it was the crackling sound of the Jiaowei Qin or the clear melody of the Dongzhu Chain.

......

At three quarters past morning, the sun had just climbed over the eaves of the casino.

In the box on the third floor, Zhang Li was calmly stroking the jade bracelet, occasionally taking it to look at it in the sunlight, and ignoring the two people standing respectfully opposite her.

Host Bi was sweating. Behind him stood a middle-aged woman, who was none other than Mother Wang from Zuixian Pavilion, and also Qizhuer's adoptive mother and teacher.

At this moment, the two of them kept wiping their foreheads with handkerchiefs.

"Boss Zhang."

Bi Zhizhu's face wrinkled, his voice trembling with flattery, "Let's not mince words. Regarding the ten thousand taels of silver His Majesty mentioned last night... please forgive me, I don't dare ask the prince for it. I hope you can help me, be kind, or we will lose everything on this trip."

Zhang Li looked at her, put down her hand, picked up the mutton-fat jade cup and sipped the Pu'er tea, the tea soup rolling out the mellow fragrance on the tip of her tongue.

"Boss Zhang..."

"you..."

"When did the prince ever say he would give you silver?" She raised her eyebrow slightly, observing the two men's instantly tense backs. "Or do you think His Majesty's reward is something you can bargain for?"

Madam Wang's handkerchief was twisted and deformed, revealing her well-maintained rosy nails at her fingertips. "Boss Zhang, look at what you're saying. We're all businessmen, and the principles apply. We've raised Qizhu'er at Zuixian Pavilion for thirteen years. She's proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she's the most beautiful girl in all of Yangzhou. Last year, Yangzhou Xingda Commercial House offered fifteen thousand yuan for her, but we refused. Now that she's in the capital, you can't expect us to pay for her, right?"

At this point, she deliberately raised her voice, "Last night at the Grand Theater, the merchants from Northern Yan offered nine thousand taels. His Majesty has given the prize to the Crown Prince. Our pawnshop must give an explanation, right?"

"So you want the prince to make up the difference of ten thousand taels?" Zhang Li suddenly chuckled, her jade bracelet making a crisp sound on the huanghuali wood table. "Master Bi has been in Yangzhou for twenty years. He should understand the rules of the palace. The royal reward is a grace. How can he turn around and ask for money from the ministers?"

Bi Zhuizhu's Adam's apple rolled heavily, and sweat broke out on his forehead. "Boss Zhang, please understand. We're not asking for money. We really can't explain to our boss in Yangzhou... After all, this is not a small amount of money. This is ten thousand taels!"

"Are you afraid of losing not only your wife but also your army?" Zhang Li interrupted, tapping the table with her fingertips. "I bought her for five taels of silver, raised her to sixteen for three hundred taels, and was hoping to sell her for a thousand taels, but Your Majesty snatched her away."

She suddenly raised her eyes, her gaze piercing Wang Mama's face like a knife. "But you've forgotten the laws of Daqian. Once a skinny horse is registered with the government, it becomes the private property of its owner, and the pawnbroker has no say in the matter."

Mother Wang's face paled instantly, the tassels on the edge of her handkerchief swaying gently in the wind. "Is Boss Zhang trying to use legal pressure on me?"

"Pressure?" Zhang Li stood up suddenly, revealing her calves embroidered with dark patterns through the slits of her moon-white cheongsam. "What you did in Yangzhou? Giving thin horses mute drugs, tattooing fake cinnabar on birthmarks, and burning marks with irons. Do you think I don't know?"

She pointed to the brown paper envelope on the desk and said, "Before the prince entered the palace last night, he had the Minister of Justice stamp an expedited document."

Bi Zhizhu fell to his knees, his knees hitting the blue bricks with a dull thud. "Boss Zhang, spare us! We don't want the money anymore. We're going back to Yangzhou now!"

"Want to leave? Ha." Zhang Li sneered and said, "It's not that I want to use my power to bully you, but this is for your own good."

The corner of Bi Zhui's mouth twitched: "For our own good?"

"Old Bi, you're a famous talker in Yangzhou, but you're not a businessman. It's normal that you don't understand. Including this instructor, none of you are the boss, so you don't understand the rules here. But I guarantee you, if your boss knew that he had established a relationship with the royal palace with just a skinny horse, he would be overjoyed."

Bi Zhuzhi's Adam's apple rolled heavily, and sweat broke out on his forehead: "Boss Zhang, please tell me..."

"Explicitly?" Zhang Li put down her teacup, her voice suddenly cold. "The palace has never had the custom of paying for skinny horses. His Majesty's reward is a grace. You're slapping the prince in the face by asking for money."

She glanced at Mother Wang's pale face and said, "Think about it, if other merchants knew that you had to bargain for gifts to the prince, who would dare to cooperate with you?"

Mother Wang's handkerchief fell to the ground with a thud: "No, no, we dare not... We just really can't make ends meet..."

"Can't make ends meet? All the merchants in Daqian depend on the Crown Prince's mood. He decides who can get rich, who can get rich, and who can die, who can die. In Daqian, the Crown Prince is the king! If you insist on taking these 10,000 taels, I will have the Cao Gang stop the Zuixian Pavilion's cargo ship tomorrow. No matter how good the skinny horse is, it's useless if it can't reach the capital."

Bi Zhizhe slumped to his knees, his knees hitting the bricks with a dull thud. "Boss Zhang, spare us! We don't know the rules!"

He pulled at Mother Wang's sleeve, and she was still moving her lips when he pinched her arm hard.

"It's good that you understand the rules. All merchants in Daqian understand that giving gifts to the powerful is about face, not business." She looked at the two people's trembling backs, "Forget it this time, but if I hear Zuixian Pavilion gossiping behind my back again."

"I dare not!" Bi Zhizhe kowtowed hurriedly, his forehead flushed red. "Qizhu'er, consider it our filial tribute to the prince. We don't want any money! We will return to Yangzhou now."

He pulled Mother Wang up and walked out. The latter frowned in pain, but he cursed her in a low voice: "Idiot! Didn't you hear her say that the cargo ship was cut off? Which is more important, money or business?"

Zhang Li looked at the two people's backs as they fled in panic and suddenly sneered. The hustle and bustle of the casino came from outside the window, the sound of dice, cheers mixed with the aroma of tea drifting in.

Her fingertips slid across the "Business Tips" on the desk.

Bi Zhuizhu finally understood that in the Daqian business world, one could offend no one but the person who could hold their lifeline in his hands.

"Someone," she knocked on the edge of the table, "tell the Yangzhou branch to increase the price of goods supplied to Zuixian Pavilion by 30%."