fantasy novels Chapter 35 News about the Cui Family
Chapter 35 News about the Cui Family
"Sit down and talk."
After Su Guang and Chen Ye took their seats, Su Guang cut to the chase and said, "The Cui family is indeed recruiting retainers. The person in charge is an old steward surnamed Cheng, who works for the Third Miss Cui Xijun. The requirements aren't high; anyone with the ability to transform into a higher level is eligible. However, there's one condition..."
Chen Ye looked at Su Guang and asked, "What?"
"They must be scholars," Su Guang said helplessly. "The guards of the Cui family said privately that this rule was added mainly because the Third Miss Cui's previous practice of recruiting people without asking about their background had caused dissatisfaction within the Cui family."
Chen Ye pondered, his brows furrowing slightly.
The Jing Kingdom had its own unique national circumstances.
In officialdom and politics, social status and family background were important; only those from prominent families could be called scholars.
Those from high-ranking families, secondary families, and even poor families can all be categorized into this type.
People like them, who were commoners, could only be called ordinary citizens. Unless recommended by a powerful figure, they would not be qualified to become officials.
Therefore, it seems highly unlikely that one can enter the Cui family by becoming a retainer of the third Miss Cui.
His background alone shut him out.
As expected, it's not easy to enter a second-rank high-ranking family.
Chen Ye asked, unwilling to give up, "Is this information reliable?"
Su Guang took a sip of wine and said, "The Cui family guard I found, I had a relationship with him when the young master was alive. Although these things are confidential, they are not secrets that can be hidden from the public, so they should all be true."
Zuo Dongxi interjected, "Then there's no other way; this path is blocked. How about we try another family? The Cui family isn't the only powerful family in the capital region."
Chen Ye remained silent.
He possesses true yang energy, and his ultimate target is the Xie family.
The only family in Jingguo that can and is willing to confront the Xie family head-on is the Cui family.
Chen Ye said, "I still want to try to get into the Cui family."
Seeing this, Zuo Dongxi stopped trying to persuade him and quickly said, "Let's drink first, and talk while we eat. The food is getting cold."
Chen Ye and Su Guang didn't continue the discussion. They picked up their chopsticks and downed their first bowl of wine.
After seven days, the bandages on Su Guang's fingers were removed, leaving only some bruises. He can now use chopsticks much more easily.
He picked up a peanut, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it a few times.
Zuo Dongxi said proactively, "There's still no news about the person you asked me to inquire about before. We don't have much contact with the powerful families, so it's not easy to find out anything."
"No rush, just keep an eye out and find out more," Chen Ye said.
I said something inappropriate after drinking, and we talked a bit too much.
But it's not a big problem.
People will do business that could cost them their lives, but nobody will do business that loses money.
These people are now all tied to Feng because of the Feng family's affairs, so they won't do anything foolish.
As for the future, that's another story.
There's no point in bringing this up now.
After a few drinks, the atmosphere gradually became more lively.
The three of them started chatting about what had happened around them recently.
Su Guang suddenly remembered something and said, "When I was inquiring about the Cui family recruiting retainers, I also learned about two other things that are related to the Cui family."
"What is it?" Chen Ye and Zuo Dongxi looked at Su Guang at the same time and asked curiously.
Su Guang put down his wine cup and said, "The third young lady of the Cui family will be going to Xiangguo Temple outside the city to offer incense in about half a month. This is a tradition of the Cui family, and they go every year. However, Liu Zhao, the eldest son of the Liu family, will also be going to Xiangguo Temple for the first time, saying that he is 'offering incense on behalf of the Liu family.' He will be going on the same day as the third young lady of the Cui family."
He took a sip of his drink and continued, "The guards of the Cui family privately find it rather amusing that this纨绔子弟 (playboy) has suddenly become so devout."
"The eldest son of the Liu family?" Chen Ye suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard before that someone from the Liu family went to the Cui family to propose marriage. Is that Liu Zhao?"
"It's him." Su Guang nodded repeatedly and said, "The Liu family's descendants are not very promising now, and their influence in the court is declining. They urgently need to form marriage alliances with other powerful families to gain status, and the Cui family is their best choice."
"They wouldn't dare touch the other Cui family daughters. But they'd really like to try their luck with Miss Cui the Third, who's born out of wedlock."
Chen Ye picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and pondered before saying, "You all say that recruiting retainers is a dead end for me, but if I could meet Miss Cui directly, would it be possible to enter the Cui family?"
"It's still difficult." Zuo Dongxi shook his head and said, "Miss Cui's prayers are not just a personal matter; they represent the entire Cui family. Every year, she brings nearly a thousand taels of silver in incense money. The temple also makes special arrangements on that day, making it difficult for outsiders to get close."
Zuo Dongxi said confidently, "We basically have no chance."
Chen Ye was silent for a moment, then said, "The path of retainers is already blocked, so this is the only other way we can try. Let's keep an eye on this matter for now. There's no other way."
Neither Zuo Dongxi nor Su Guang said anything, they just nodded in agreement.
They also hoped that this would work out.
If Chen Yezhen manages to establish connections with the Cui family, it will be beneficial to everyone.
The three of them clinked glasses again, thus finalizing their tasks for the next few days.
The night market outside the window gradually quieted down.
The three parted ways, agreeing to meet again in seven days.
However, seven days had not yet passed.
On the fifth day, Zuo Dongxi and Su Qing made an appointment with Chen Ye to go to Fengqing Tower.
This time, instead of choosing the window-side private room as before, I opted for a more secluded private room.
When Chen Ye arrived and closed the door, he asked directly, "Any new developments?"
Zuo Dongxi and Su Qing nodded in unison.
"You go first," Su Qing said, offering his seat.
Zuo Dongxi didn't refuse and spoke first: "Just as you predicted, the Liu family's trip to Xiangguo Temple this time is indeed abnormal."
Chen Ye sat down, leaning slightly forward, and said with great interest, "Tell me about it."
"A few of my brothers ran into some unfamiliar faces with accents from out of town at the casino a few days ago. They were carrying ingots of official silver, not loose silver, and they were very generous."
"The day before yesterday, someone lost a lot of money at the casino and tried to pay off his debts with gold coins. I looked at the gold coins and they were stamped with the Liu family's business mark."
Chen Ye understood the underlying meaning: "You mean, this is someone the Liu family hired?"
"That's right," Zuo Dongxi continued. "Afterwards, I had the brothers keep an eye on those out-of-towners. We discovered that this group wasn't just three or five, but more than a dozen. They were all staying in the best rooms at the inn, one person per room. When the patrolling caravan went into the inn, they peeked around outside their rooms and saw a long knife in the corner. These guys had definitely seen blood; they were all desperate criminals with some martial arts skills."
"The Liu family is clearly planning something big!"