The Crown Prince Chases His Wife
Chapter 45 Can’t Do (1/2)
The uncle of the Qin family, Fourth Master Qin, had suffered unspeakable misery for the past few months.
He had managed Prime Minister Qin’s properties for many years, and because of Prime Minister Qin’s influence, he managed the business in the Capital City smoothly and continued to expand.
Since Wen Trading Establishment entered the capital, they had made it clear that they would use any means to fight against them.
Fourth Master Qin was not an expert in business, but he couldn’t just watch the shops surrounded and going out of business by his opponents.
After discussing with Prime Minister Qin’s wife, Song Mei, Song Mei took out the jewelry, calligraphy, and paintings in the warehouse, either sold them off or pawned them off to raise another sum of money and handed it over to Fourth Master Qin to turn around the business.
Fourth Master Qin bought goods at a high price or offered benefits to attract customers, but with little success.
Seeing that the business of Wen Trading Establishment on the opposite side was booming and full of customers, while the shops on his side were deserted and the business was bleak, Fourth Master Qin was very anxious and didn’t know how to explain to Prime Minister Qin.
——
These days, Fourth Master Qin went to the shops every morning and when he saw that it was still the same, so he simply went to a gambling house in the West Market to play a few rounds.
Fourth Master Qin was not fond of gambling in the past, but he never thought that under disappointment, the excitement of gambling would allow him to temporarily forget the troubles in the business field.
Fourth Master Qin gambled more and more. Even if he lost everything in the casino every day, he would bring the money to the casino the next day.
Until one day, Fourth Master Qin’s residence no longer had spare money to gamble, and even the store had no liquid funds for him to embezzle.
However, Fourth Master Qin was already addicted to the pleasure of gambling. Even if he lost at the end of every day, as long as he won a game or two, he could get short-term excitement and forget his disappointment in the business field.
The owner of the gambling shop recommended the pawnshop of Yu Qingfeng Bank to Fourth Master Qin.
It was said that as long as one pawned a valuable item to Yu Qingfeng, one could borrow money from Yu Qingfeng with extremely low interest. As long as the principal and interest were repaid on time, Yu Qingfeng would never break his promise and would immediately return the pawned item.
Everyone in the business world knew Yu Qingfeng, but Fourth Master Qin had never been short of money in business before, so he had never dealt with Yu Qingfeng before.
Unexpectedly, he looked for Yu Qingfeng because of gambling.
Fourth Master Qin pawned a jade pendant to Yu Qingfeng. After borrowing the money, he went back to the casino and gambled a few times.
Fourth Master Qin didn’t know if using the borrowed money to gamble made him more daring. He began to change his luck and started to win money from the gambling house every day.
Because Fourth Master Qin attributed this luck to Yu Qingfeng, he still mortgaged something every day, borrowed money, and then went to the gambling house.
This allowed Fourth Master Qin to win for a long time. Although it was only a small amount of money, Fourth Master Qin finally gained a sense of accomplishment at the gambling table. If you are enjoying the novel, please support this translation and get direct access to new releases by reading it at the translator’s original website: https://justforfuntrans.com
Fourth Master Qin became a frequent visitor of Yu Qingfeng and the gambling house, and gradually forgot the difficulty of running the shops.
However, the business of the shops was getting worse and worse, and the shop assistants couldn’t find Fourth Master Qin who was in charge every day. Finally, one day, these assistants went to Prime Minister Qin Mansion to find the madam of the Prime Minister Mansion, Song Mei.
——
On this day, Fourth Master Qin was beaming with smiles again from the gambling house, went to Yu Qingfeng Bank to pay back the money, took back the pawned jade pendant, and returned to his Qin Mansion in the West City.
But he met Song Mei, Madam Qin who hardly ever came here.
A few years ago, Fourth Master Qin went to the Prime Minister Mansion to discuss business matters with Song Mei. So, how could Song Mei come to his residence?
Fourth Master Qin did not have a family, and there was no mistress in the mansion, only a few concubines and servants, which consist of old maids, and handymen.
In the main hall of the main room, only Fourth Master Qin and Song Mei sat opposite each other in the hall.
After serving the tea, the servant withdrew and closed the door.
The atmosphere was heavy for a moment, and Song Mei said: “Business is already like this, why didn’t Fourth Uncle come to the Prime Minister Mansion to tell me?”
“Didn’t I give Fourth Uncle so much jewelry, calligraphy, and paintings from the warehouse last time? Didn’t Fourth Uncle say that if the other party spends money, we should spend money too and it will definitely work?”
“Fourth Uncle doesn’t care about the shop these days, where did you go? Is this to break the jar that is already broken*?”
(break the jar that is already broken* – a metaphor that after having shortcomings, let it go without correction or intentionally develops in a worse direction.)
Song Mei looked at Fourth Master Qin who was just sipping tea and didn’t speak and got angry in her heart. She suddenly stood up and said angrily to Fourth Master Qin: “These shops will be owned by Ming’er from now on. Don’t forget that you have a son…”
Fourth Master Qin got up immediately, strode over and covered Song Mei’s chattering mouth with his hand, and turned his head to look around vigilantly.
There were only the two of them in the hall, and the door was closed tightly, but they had sailed carefully for ten thousand years, and this secret should not be known to anyone.
Fourth Master Qin lowered his head and looked at Song Mei who was in front of him with tears in her eyes. He put down his hand covering Song Mei, put her around his arms, and gently ran his right hand along Song Mei’s back.
“How could I not remember my son, my Ming’er?”
“But these words can only be known between you and me, and you must not blurt out like just now.”
Song Mei seemed to have repressed for a long time and finally cried out.
“Fourth Uncle…”
Fourth Master Qin felt a kind of taboo pleasure when he was called Fourth Uncle by Song Mei. The woman in front of him was the nominal wife of Qin Wenzheng, the Right Prime Minister of the court, and at the same time his nephew’s wife of his own family. At that moment, a weeping beauty leaned weakly in his arms. If you are enjoying the novel, please support this translation and get direct access to new releases by reading it at the translator’s original website: https://justforfuntrans.com
Fourth Master Qin’s eyes darkened, and he suddenly reached out his hand to raise Song Mei’s head and lowered his head to kiss her.
