TAMW CH19

Yuqing leaned over the old master’s bed, his normally straight back finally bending.

Outside the window, it was completely silent under a clear, boundless sky. Inside, the room was as cold as an ice cellar. Zhou Yuzhang’s cheeks were deeply sunken. Perhaps because Yuqing was by his side, his exhausted, lifeless eyes were half-open, stiff and unmoving.

“You saved me back then just so you could close your eyes in peace when you died, didn’t you.”

Yuqing reached out and gently closed Zhou Yuzhang’s eyes, resting his head softly beside him. “You taught me how the world works, bought me birthday gifts…”

“You taught me how to write, read, and do business. You taught me how not to degrade myself as a mere object. I have no way to repay you, so I can only guard the Zhou family for you, ensuring its doors don’t fall. If we meet in the underworld, let Yuqing be your true son in the next life. Please truly love Yuqing then—not through the young master, but just Yuqing…”

He stayed by Zhou Yuzhang’s body until it lost its warmth and slowly grew stiff, then slowly kowtowed three times to his father.

As soon as news of Old Master Zhou’s death spread, it made the papers across Baizhou City. With dozens of pawnshops in the city, the Zhou family was a prominent household. The funeral was held with great dignity; white silk was draped inside and outside the mansion, and all the servants knelt outside the ancestral hall, weeping.

Zhou Yulin naturally came to mourn, but he brought a massive, imposing group of people with him.

Butler Deng blocked his way: “Second Master, what are you doing!”

Zhou Yulin replied, “Naturally, I am here for my eldest brother’s funeral. Can’t I, his younger brother, come? The third brother is at the frontlines, and my niece just gave birth. Naturally, it falls to me to take charge of the household.”

The guards from the Ruan family surrounded the Zhou residence so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through. It didn’t look like mourning; it looked like a robbery.

“Second Master, what day is it today? Please don’t make a scene!” Butler Deng hadn’t even wiped the tear streaks from his face when Zhou Yulin shoved him aside. The guards behind him pinned the butler down.

“What are you?!” Zhou Yulin kicked him, then lifted his robes and strode inside. “Ruan Yuqing, get the hell out here!”

“Second Master!” Overcome with grief, Butler Deng cried out, “The Old Master treated you well back in the day. You’re brothers, how can you cause such a scene!”

“When my son died, he told me to let things go quietly. Now I’m here to give him a grand and lively send-off. Isn’t that nice?” Zhou Yulin scoffed coldly, leading his men straight for the ancestral hall.

None of the other servants dared to stop him. The gloomy sky pressed down as a fine drizzle began to fall, forming small puddles beneath the ancient eaves from the dripping water.

Zhou Yulin wasn’t necessarily there just to ruin the funeral; he was there to claim his position. Whoever carried Old Master Zhou’s memorial tablet out of the Zhou residence would become the new head of the family. Sixteen pawnshops, countless wealth in the storehouses—who would pass that up?

Zhou Yulin and his men surrounded the ancestral hall completely. The rain blurred his vision. Inside the dim, square ancestral hall, white candles were burning.

The coffin rested in the very center of the hall. Yuqing, wearing a white mourning cloth over his long gown and a white cap on his head, looked frail and slender. He knelt with his back to them, burning paper money in a copper basin.

The heat from the fire was so intense that it made his silhouette distort in the air, as if warped by time itself.

“Ruan Yuqing, what are you doing kneeling here?” Zhou Yulin took a few steps forward, and the guards swarmed in behind him.

Only Zhao Fu stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall, blocking Zhou Yulin’s path.

“Dog of a slave.” Annoyed at being blocked, Zhou Yulin slapped him across the face, but Zhao Fu barely reacted and still wouldn’t budge.

“Move!” Zhou Yulin’s face turned incredibly ugly. Furious to the extreme, he delivered a few more slaps, but Zhao Fu remained impassive, eyes downcast and silent. “You damn slave, have you forgotten you are a servant of the Zhou family?! Open your dog eyes and look—the person inside is named Ruan!”

“Zhao Fu.” Yuqing reached out, picking up more paper money and dropping it into the iron basin. Ashes drifted into the air. His voice was soft.

Zhao Fu was just an obedient dog. Only upon hearing Yuqing’s voice did he step aside. Zhou Yulin spat on him and marched viciously into the ancestral hall.

“Hand over the keys to the storehouse. Why haven’t the shops opened these past few days?! The Old Master is dead, and the man named Jiang isn’t here. How long do you think you can stay arrogant? Ruan Yuqing, you better see reality. You killed my son. Since you’re so loyal to my eldest brother, why don’t you join him so he has some company.” Zhou Yulin had no intention of letting him leave alive today.

A few days before the funeral, every pawnshop in Baizhou had closed. Even the shops Zhou Yulin had been managing on their behalf were shut down. When asked about the keys, everyone said they were at the Zhou residence. He had been waiting for the old man to die so he could transfer the shops under his control to his own name and sell them off. But now the shops were closed, and before he died, the old master only let him manage them without transferring the deeds or storefronts. He didn’t even have the right of inheritance.

As the second son of the Zhou family, how could he swallow this insult and let an outsider with a different surname walk all over him? Who was Ruan Yuqing? Just a wild stray unwanted by the Ruan family. A lapdog his eldest brother picked up off the street. He was even worse than Zhao Fu; at least Zhao Fu was a domestic slave.

“Hand over the keys, and I might spare your life,” Zhou Yulin said coldly.

Yuqing remained kneeling on the cushion, burning paper money, and said softly, “‘New leaves in the fragrant forest push the old leaves aside; the front waves of the flowing water yield to the waves behind’… This is a poem Father taught me.”

He turned his face slightly. His almost transparently pale profile was tinged with the fire’s glow. His fervent gaze was as blinding as direct sunlight, and the dancing flames of the burning paper money reflected in his dark pupils. His expression was remarkably calm. “Second Uncle, in this Zhou family, I am the one who calls the shots now.”

“You are the one who has overstepped the rules.”

“Listen to this, let the ancestors hear it. What right do you have to say such a thing?” Zhou Yulin had even brought people from the police station today, intending to forcefully transfer the Zhou family’s assets to his name. “When the old man was alive, he claimed you were married to Zhou Xiao and protected you. I let it go then, but now he’s gone. Let’s see what you’re capable of.”

The corners of Yuqing’s mouth curled up slightly: “I am the wife that the Eldest Young Master formally married and brought through the door. The share of the family property that belonged to you, Second Uncle, was already divided and given to you when you married. Father is dead, so naturally, the Eldest Young Master inherits the estate.”

“Since the Eldest Young Master is not here, managing the family business is my responsibility as the Zhou family’s daughter-in-law. Second Uncle, your attempt to take it by force is unjustifiable and illegitimate.”

Looking at his face, Zhou Yulin couldn’t help but laugh loudly: “Wife? From ancient times to now, I’ve never heard of a man being a wife. What an absolute joke!”

“Ruan Yuqing, do you have no shame?”

What was the use of pride and face? It couldn’t be exchanged for money, nor could it buy an extra life.

Seeing that Yuqing didn’t move, he muttered a low curse, “A stubborn bastard who won’t listen to reason! Men!”

The guards outside prepared to rush in, while the police stood at the door, clearly with no intention of interfering.

Zhao Fu couldn’t hold them off alone and started scuffling with the crowd. Butler Deng wailed loudly about the family’s misfortune, crying over such a disgraceful scene happening right at the Master’s funeral.

Yuqing stood up. “Second Uncle, the people you brought today are from the Ruan family, aren’t they.”

“Mrs. Ruan allowed you to bring her men to cause trouble at the Zhou residence because she obviously believes the Zhou family’s wealth will be of use… But if she knew that your illegitimate son and daughter outside had grown up and were almost adults, I wonder… would she still support you so wholeheartedly?”

A flash of shock crossed Zhou Yulin’s eyes, and his face turned pale and green. “What nonsense are you spouting!”

“Is Yuqing spouting nonsense?” He smiled gently as the muzzle of a gun pressed against Zhou Yulin’s forehead. “You know it in your heart.”

“Zhou Yulin, let me tell you clearly today. In this Zhou family, I call the shots.” He enunciated every word clearly. Before Zhou Yulin could speak, a gunshot grazed right past the man’s ear with a loud ‘Bang’!

Zhou Yulin’s ears rang from the blast. He covered his ears. Hearing the gunshot, the people outside all stopped fighting. “You’ve got some nerve, Ruan Yuqing, daring to hide firearms!”

The police outside instantly perked up upon hearing the gunshot. Entrusted by Mrs. Ruan, they definitely couldn’t let Ruan Yuqing off the hook today.

“Whether you smuggled or stole it, you’d better explain yourself, otherwise—” The police drew the firearms from their waists and entered the door, but suddenly heard the sound of orderly footsteps outside. A group of soldiers in army-green uniforms aimed their rifles at everyone in the courtyard. Corporal Chen raised his hand, resting his gun on his shoulder. Even the clamoring police didn’t dare to move.

Because these were General Jiang’s men.

He actually left his soldiers for Ruan Yuqing to command?!

Ruan Yuqing rarely left the house; aside from checking the pawnshop accounts, how could he possibly know a military boss, let alone Jiang Sui! Jiang Sui basically walked sideways in Baizhou. He wiped out bandits and collaborated with the Chamber of Commerce to take a cut from the ports. Even if he couldn’t cover the sky with one hand, he was absolutely not someone this group could afford to provoke.

In this era, hard truths came from the barrel of a gun. Only those with guns had the right to speak.

Yuqing, who had just fired the gun, still spoke in a light tone: “If you truly miss Father, you are welcome to accompany him. But I just need you to be clear on one thing.”

“All the pawnshops of the Zhou family are now under my, Ruan Yuqing’s, name, Second Uncle…”

He slowly cocked the trigger, pressing the dark muzzle against Zhou Yulin’s forehead. “Will you yield, or not.”

Zhou Yulin obviously did not yield, but with a gun to his head, the soldiers outside also chambered their rounds following Yuqing’s lead.

“You don’t yield, but I hold your illegitimate children in my hands. Stealing money to keep a mistress—that must have cost quite a bit, didn’t it?”

“You squandered all the property you were given from the Zhou family in your early years until the businesses went bankrupt. The Ruan family had to subsidize you quite a lot. If you fail to get elected to the Chamber of Commerce this time, I’m afraid you’ll have to live at the mercy of others in the future.”

“So you want to take advantage of Father’s death to seize the Zhou family under the guise of being the younger brother. After all, in your eyes, I am nothing.”

“Let me think, how would Mrs. Ruan describe me? My mother was dirty, and I’m a bastard, just as debauched as she was, enjoying serving others. Serving Father—when word gets out, I’d be the slut who seduced Father, so if you kill me, you’re just cleaning up the house, right?”

Zhou Yulin’s eyes instantly widened. He had indeed planned to kill Ruan Yuqing just like that; after all, he was the true Second Master of the Zhou family.

He just didn’t expect…

“You just didn’t expect that I wouldn’t only know about your mistress outside, but that I also knew General Jiang… isn’t that right?”

Seeing Zhou Yulin’s shocked face, Yuqing smiled with some amusement, patting his cheek with the gun. “Second Uncle, I am in charge now. Do you yield or not.”

The guards he brought, the plans he had long calculated in his heart—Ruan Yuqing dismantled them as effortlessly as crushing an ant.

Thinking back to when Yuqing first arrived at the Zhou family, as the Second Uncle, he couldn’t stand the adopted son his eldest brother took in—the son of a whore. If Yuqing did something wrong, he would just slap him across the face, and Ruan Yuqing wouldn’t even dare tell his Father. When he first arrived at the Zhou residence, he lived cautiously and timidly.

Zhou Yulin never imagined that one day Yuqing could stir up such a storm, that he possessed such capability. An outsider was actually about to swallow the Zhou family fortune.

“You’ve plotted against the old man for so long to take the Zhou family. Is it for greed, or do you want revenge on the Ruan family?” Zhou Yulin asked through gritted teeth.

Yuqing tilted his head, seemingly puzzled. “What are you talking about? I am Father’s daughter-in-law. Naturally, by marrying the young master, I became a member of the Zhou family.”

“Bullshit!” Zhou Yulin spat. “You served the old man all these years, coaxed him, served the father and now you’re going to serve the son. Pity my Zhou family doesn’t have a single capable person left, being threatened by a son of a bitch like you!”

“You keep claiming you’re a Zhou, but your fucking surname is Ruan! After all this tossing and turning, you just want the money!”

“Yes and no,” Yuqing withdrew his gun, “Because I am pregnant.”

Zhou Yulin’s expression froze on his face. He felt as if his ears were ringing.

“I will give birth to a legitimate heir with pure bloodlines for the Zhou family. Father will be happy, too. So, Second Uncle, if you keep making a fuss, I guarantee you can reunite with Father in the underworld today and play the devoted brothers.”

The expression on Zhou Yulin’s face was one of shock and horror. He stared at Ruan Yuqing in disbelief.

Who could believe that a man would go to such exhausting lengths, genuinely doing it all for someone he shared absolutely no blood with?

Ruan Yuqing stood before the ancestral hall and picked up Zhou Yuzhang’s memorial tablet—something only the eldest son had the right to do.

Zhou Yulin actually saw a somewhat smug smile on his face. What was he so proud of? Proud of possessing the Zhou family fortune, or proud of usurping the status of the Zhou family’s eldest son?

Yuqing gently averted his eyes, a mild look on his face. “Second Uncle, if you overstep the rules again in the future, I won’t be as soft-hearted as I am today.”

The toll of the funeral bell rang, and the long funeral procession departed.

Yuqing’s unfamiliar face appeared on the long street.

“Who is that?”

“Looks like the manager of the Zhou family pawnshops. When did he become the Zhou family’s son?”

“Oh my, he’s Old Master Zhou’s concubine! I heard he was kept in the mansion since he was very young, the one who was kicked out by the Ruan family!”

“What? The Ruan family actually has someone like that? Being a male concubine for the Zhou family? Can a male concubine walk at the front of a funeral procession?”

“Now that the old man is dead, he’s definitely going to lose both people and money. Didn’t you see the second Zhou brother bringing people in to cause trouble just now? I heard from someone in the police station that they want him to be buried with the dead today! Once they get to the graveyard, I’m afraid they’ll bury him along with it.”

“Good heavens, he’s quite pretty. What a pity to be buried alive like that.”

“Who knows. With the Zhou family, nothing is new anymore.”

“Right you are.”

White paper money drifted across the long street. Yuqing walked at the front of the procession; it was impossible to tell if it was rain or tears on his face.

Back then, Father fell out with the First Wife to send the eldest young master abroad. From then on, the First Wife’s maiden family stopped supporting the Zhou family, and their business plummeted. Old Madam Zhou died of sheer anger. Zhou Yuzhang watched the concubines in his home die tragically one by one, only thankful he had sent his son away. He felt he had wronged his son in this life, and wronged the Zhou family’s century-old foundation, which was practically ruined in his hands.

Yuqing had taken all of this over.

Starting today, he was the master of the Zhou residence.

Two months later, rumor had it that the Zhou family had gone bankrupt. Over a dozen pawnshops were entirely sold off, and no one ever saw the male concubine who had scattered paper money on the street corner for Old Master Zhou again. Some said he was dead.

The people of Baizhou didn’t think much of the disappearance and closure of over a dozen pawnshops. After all, in the Republican era, who still pawned things?

However, a private bank opened in the eastern suburbs near Lincheng. It was called ‘Qingming Bank’.

At this moment, the bank president was lazily basking in the sun in the courtyard, his lower abdomen slightly bulging. Even in midsummer, he felt a bit sensitive to the cold, wearing a Persian blanket imported from the port draped over his shoulders.

Leisurely reading a letter, he opened it to see four words written at the top: [My Wife, Yuqing]

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Author’s Note:

We’ll probably reach the events of the synopsis tomorrow!!! [Milk Tea]

The Eldest Young Master is about to shoot himself in the foot.

Date-pit bro: Out here traveling, Yuqing is probably missing me to tears.

Yuqing: Hello, and you are…?