SFS Chapter 232 A big gamble
Chapter 232 A big gamble
There were already a dozen women sitting in the box on the third floor. They looked young and had different looks, some charming, some cold, and some pretty.
"We are late." Madam Lou pushed the door open and Shang Wan followed her.
The conversation in the box suddenly stopped and the women all looked over.
"Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and brought the person you wanted." Madam Lou pulled Shang Wan to an empty seat and sat down.
Shang Wan only felt a flash before his eyes, a fragrant breeze blowing on his face, and the empty seat next to him was already occupied.
Immediately afterwards, all the boss ladies gathered around and asked Shang Wan about his well-being.
Shang Wan suddenly felt like he was trapped in a garden of flowers, with sweet voices filling his ears.
The boss ladies' dresses were all scented with incense. It was okay if it was just one of them, but when more than ten people gathered around him, Shang Wan's nose was in real trouble.
"A-choo!" She couldn't help but sneeze while covering her nose.
Madam Lou hurriedly said, "Don't gather around, sit down and talk. If you scare people away, you'll cry or not."
Seeing that Shang Wan was indeed feeling a little unwell, the proprietresses returned to their seats awkwardly.
Shang Wan raised her hand to rub her nose, but still felt stuffy. Just as she was about to get up and open the window, Madam Lou had already stood up before her and reached out to push the window next to her open a crack.
The cold wind blew in through the crack. Although it was cold, it also blew away some of the fragrance floating in the air.
Shang Wan was finally able to breathe and gave Madam Lou a grateful look.
Madam Lou smiled and came back to sit down.
She brought up a topic, "Qionghua Restaurant closed down, did you know about this?"
"When?"
"Without any customers, it should have collapsed long ago."
"It's such a big restaurant, I don't know who has the ability to take over."
"Why did you suddenly fall down?"
"It's not sudden. I have a piece of news here. I guarantee you will be interested." The lady working in the dessert shop winked at everyone playfully, with an expression that said, "I have a secret but I won't tell you unless you beg me to."
Everyone looked at each other, and the two closest to her reached out and tickled her.
Lady Hua laughed so hard that her branches and legs shook. She twisted her body to hide and begged for mercy, "Good sister, please forgive me. Isn't it enough for me to say it?"
"Little girl, I can't cure you yet." The woman next to her, who was about thirty years old, raised her hand to adjust the golden hairpin on her bun, and glanced at Madam Hua with her charming phoenix eyes.
If he were a man, his bones would have been softened by her coquettish look.
Even though Hua Niangzi was a girl, her little heart was beating uncontrollably.
She blushed and straightened her slightly messy clothes, then slowly said, "Last night, a big incident happened at Linglong Casino."
She paused. She originally wanted to keep the topic a secret to arouse the girls' curiosity, but the two hands beside her were staring at her eagerly, so she had to give up the playful idea and continue talking.
"Young Master Qiao gambled heavily with Young Master Qiao in the gambling house, but he lost 100,000 taels of silver in just two hours, and almost pawned his underwear. It was only after the two masters of the Qiao Mansion came that they took Young Master Qiao back. You didn't see the expression on Master Qiao's face. He wanted to eat Young Master Qiao alive."
The eldest young master Qiao is Qiao Yugui, the eldest master Qiao is his father, and the third young master Qiao is Qiao Yu'an.
There are three branches in the Qiao family. Old Madam Qiao passed away early, and Old Master Qiao only lived for three more years before passing away.
After Grandpa Qiao passed away, the third branch of the family separated and moved out to live on their own. Now the whole family has settled in the capital and they come back to visit during the holidays.
The first and second branches did not separate. It was not because the second branch did not want to separate, but because the eldest master Qiao, as the eldest brother, did not allow the second master Qiao and his family to move out.
The reason, of course, is that Master Qiao married a good wife.
The second wife of Qiao, Yanlan, was the daughter of a fourth-rank official, the Chief Censor of the Censorate of the current dynasty.
Old Master Qiao and Censor Yan were classmates and good friends, but both failed in the examinations many times. However, Censor Yan passed in one go and has since risen rapidly and has a relatively smooth career.
After gaining power, Censor Yan did not forget his good friend Old Master Qiao, and the two often exchanged letters.
There is trouble in the court, and Censor Yan is accidentally involved, and the road ahead is dangerous.
Yan Lan is the only daughter in the family. In order to protect his daughter from being implicated, Censor Yan married her off to Dongning County and asked an old friend to take care of her.
At that time, Master Qiao had already married, and Master Qiao was of similar age to Yanlan, so the two became husband and wife.
As a result, the Qiao family and the Yan family became relatives.
After the incident, Censor Yan was reinstated. As his daughter had become a wife of the Qiao family, he became more concerned about the Qiao family and wanted to help them.
Unfortunately, none of Old Master Qiao's three sons lived up to expectations. Only the third son passed the examination and became a scholar, while the other two didn't even pass the examination to become a student.
My son is not good at studying, so I can only take care of my grandson.
Qiao Yu'an is the most studious of their generation, and he is also Yan Lan's biological son. Censor Yan values his grandson very much and often writes to him to show his concern.
When Qiao Yu'an passes the provincial examination and enters the capital, with Censor Yan by her side, her future path will not be difficult.
But Master Qiao was unwilling to accept this. He felt that everything Master Qiao owned should belong to him.
If he had not been married that year, he would have been Yanlan's husband, and the one who was valued and supported by Censor Yan would have been his own son.
If the second branch separates and lives on its own, how can they still benefit from the Yan family?
Therefore, he kept using filial piety and brotherhood as an excuse to prevent the second wife from getting a share.
Master Qiao Er was easily influenced, so after Master Qiao Da played the family card a few times, he agreed not to divide the family.
Yanlan had quarreled with him several times over this. If she hadn't taken her two children into consideration, she would have packed her bags and returned to her parents' home long ago.
Before, Qiao Yuguai injured his leg, and Qiao Yu'an asked Shang Wan for medicine for him. After that, he acted as a middleman several times to help Qiao Yuguai negotiate cooperation. Shang Wan thought that the two had a good relationship.
But the truth was not what Shang Wan thought at all. Qiao Yu'an was very annoyed with his eldest cousin Qiao Yuguai. Many times he was punished because of this eldest cousin and the relatives from the first house.
He had been enduring it because of Qiao Weiwei.
Although Qiao Yu'an is a little silly sometimes, he still cares very much about his sister Qiao Weiwei.
Qiao Yuguai is not nice to Qiao Yu'an, but he is very nice to his cousin Qiao Weiwei, and the two get along more like real siblings.
Qiao Yu'an was also on guard at the beginning and sent people to keep an eye on him, both openly and secretly, for he was worried that Qiao Yugui would coax his sister first and then harm her when he couldn't see.
But after so many years, I didn't notice anything unusual and I couldn't help but relax.
This slackness led to trouble.
Shang Wan reminded Qiao Yu'an, but Qiao Yu'an didn't take it seriously at first. Later, Mrs. Qiao mentioned Qiao Weiwei's strange behavior several times, and Qiao Yu'an became concerned and sent people to investigate.
If you don’t check, you won’t know. If you check, you will be shocked.
Qiao Yuguai, this heartless man, actually tricked Qiao Weiwei into having a secret meeting with a man outside of his family, and secretly got engaged to the son of Madam Qiao's second cousin.
Qiao Yu'an was so angry that she almost picked up a knife and killed the wild man. It took A Le's persuasion to persuade her.