Flower Stealing Master - Chapter 243

Looking at Di Yun in tattered clothes, Song Qingshu showed a smile, “Brother Di, have you decided to join the Pole Arms?”

Di Yun nodded and hesitantly said, “But I don’t have any exceptional skills, so I’m afraid I won’t be of much help to you.”

“Even if it’s a piece of toilet paper…” Seeing Di Yun’s bewildered look in his eyes, Song Qingshu hurriedly changed his words, “Brother Di is strong in martial arts, and what is even more mendable is that you have a pure heart! I consider that a great asset.”

“I thought about what Big Brother Song had said last time very seriously, and I have clearly thought it through. I must take my junior sister back.” Di Yun showed an honest smile.

“I have already instructed the spies of the Pole Arms to investigate the whereabouts of your junior sister. It’s just that the world is so big, and the members of the Wan family have deliberately concealed their whereabouts. So, it may take some time to find out the information.” Song Qingshu said.

“Brother Song has already sent someone to investigate?” Di Yun’s voice showed excitement, ” I really don’t know how to repay Brother Song’s great kindness…”

“Brother Di, you don’t have to act so servile.” Song Qingshu quickly helped Di Yun up, “You will live in Yanjing City in the future. Familiarize yourself with some regulations of the Pole Arms first, and then I will try to assign some tasks to you. After all, a man always needs to have his own career, and when we find Miss Qi in the future, wouldn’t it be better if you’ve already earned enough?”

“Okay!” Di Yun nodded, his eyes full of determination.

*****

After settling the matters with Di Yun, Song Qingshu wandered in the Yanjing city while feeling quite plicated, ‘This Di Yun is quite different from what I know. Compared to the original book, he didn’t practice the “Blood Saber Technique”, so his martial arts skills were quite low level, and he also seemed quite naive. I really don’t know what responsibilities I can give him… but now I am in desperate need of a force of my own, so I will have to make use of him. At least Di Yun has a pure heart.’

Unknowingly, he had e to Wei Xiaobao’s Mansion. Looking at the plaque on the door, Song Qingshu became a little dazed. At the moment, in this huge Mansion, there were only a few little widows left. He wanted to take a look at Shuang’er’s situation for quite a while, and finally found a legitimate reason.

Just as he was about to knock on the door to ask for permission, he suddenly found that the door was open, and Song Qingshu’s heart sank, ‘Could it be that a thief had snuck in? But who would do so in broad daylight!’

He quickly pushed the door and rushed to the inner hall. After hearing the noise from a distance, Song Qingshu felt confused, so he hid his figure in the shadows and carefully observed the situation.

“Miss Shuang’er, Lord Wei is no more. You are young and at the prime of your life. Do you want to stay as a widow for the rest of your life?” A middle-aged woman with her body full of jewelry said while waving her handkerchief. She was apparently a matchmaker.

“Aunt Zhang, I respect you as a neighbor, so I let you in. If you talk about matchmaking in the future, don’t blame me for not remembering the past kindness. You can see yourself off!” Shuang’er trembled with anger and said in a cold voice.

“Don’t you want to hear which young master it is? In terms of family background, he is not worse than Lord Wei, and in terms of appearance, I am afraid that he is much better than Lord Wei…”

Song Qingshu finally understood the situation and frowned, ‘Who was so bold? Wei Xiaobao had just died and they came to marry Shuang’er.’

With a light cough, Song Qingshu appeared from the shadows and said with a long laugh, “I would also like to know which young master has a better family background than Brother Wei.”

“Brother Song?” Shuang’er looked very surprised when she saw Song Qingshu, but she didn’t know what to think, and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Sister-in-law, it’s been a long time, have you been well?” Song Qingshu looked at Shuang’er carefully. She was still dressed in white clothes, and her hair was draped naturally behind her back without any trace of decoration. Even with the simple clothes, it was hard to hide her pretty face.

“So that’s how it was! I was wondering why Miss Shuang’er refused all the matchmakers who came to the door one after another? It turned out that she was interested in someone already.” The matchmaker sneered.

“What did you say!” Tao Hong and Liu Lu, who were the maids standing beside Shuang’er, yelled in unison.

“Why should I be afraid to point out the truth?” The matchmaker’s mouth turned crooked as she muttered something, and although she lowered her voice, it was just enough for everyone in the scene to hear clearly.

“This eldest sister, haven’t you ever heard that words can kill?” Song Qingshu came to Shuang’er and motioned for the two maids to calm down.

“Oh, who will feel scared when the Emperor rules the land! Is it possible that I am not even allowed to speak?” The matchmaker put her hands on her waist, showing no fear.

Wondering why this matchmaker was so fearless, Song Qingshu changed his mind and asked, “Who is the person the elder sister was talking about just now? I’m very curious.”

“I’m not afraid to tell you…” The matchmaker smiled, “This handsome little brother, listen to what this elder sister says, you should back out while there is time, so as not to offend someone who should not be offended.”

“Oh?” Song Qingshu remained expressionless, and waited for her to continue.

The matchmaker thought that he was making fun of her, and angrily said, “Looking at how well-dressed you are, you must be from a wealthy family, so you must have heard of the Eight Great Families of the Qing Dynasty?”

“Eight Great Families?” Song Qingshu was stunned. It seemed that Duo Long and the others had mentioned it before, but he didn’t care enough to pay attention at that time.

“You don’t know?” The matchmaker gave him a scornful look, and her heart became even more calm. This guy didn’t even know the Eight Great Families, so even if he was an official, he must have a low position, “The Eight Great Families are the eight most prominent families in my Qing Dynasty. They are— Tong, Guan, Ma, Suo, Qi, Fu, Nalan, and the Lang family…”

The matchmaker continued to run her plump mouth, but Song Qingshu’s thoughts had already wandered away, and he began to recall the information of these Eight Great Families in his mind.

The Eight Great Families can be considered as the most prominent families in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. They were the nobles among the aristocrats, and most of the ministers and governors belonged to these families.

The head of the Tong family is a hereditary first-class duke. Concubine Yuan of the Emperor Nurhaci, Empress of Emperor Shunzhi, and the current Empress of Emperor Kangxi, as well as the Noble Concubine Xianfeng… were all from the Tong Family. So the prestige of the Tong Family was fairly evident here.

The first generation family head of Guan family was a hero who contributed greatly in the founding of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. This family has also produced numerous ministers and governors throughout the rule of the Qing Dynasty. 

In the past, their power over the government made Kangxi tremble. Amongst all the contemporary heads of this family, the most famous one was Ronglu, a powerful official in the late Qing Dynasty.

Even the modern stars Zhou Hai*mei and Guan Zhi*lin belonged to the Guan family! In his past life, Song Qingshu was very fond of these two beautiful actresses, so he checked their backgrounds, and found that information. But thinking of Zhou Hai*mei, who played Zhou Zhiruo, Song Qingshu’s face suddenly turned ugly.

The next family was the Ma family. At present, Kangxi’s concubine Rong was from the Ma family. In history, the most famous figure from the Ma family was Gong Tuhai, who pacified the rebellion of Zhang Sanfeng. Of course, due to the chaotic nature of this world, Zhang Sanfeng had not yet rebelled, and Gong Tuhai was naturally yet to emerge.

The Suo family had also produced many famous ministers for the Qing Dynasty. Currently, Suo Etu, the head of the Suo family, was deeply trusted by Kangxi because he helped Kangxi get rid of Aobai, who was so powerful in the past.

The Qi family was relatively mysterious in history, Song Qingshu thought about it for a long time, but couldn’t recall any information about his family.

The Fu family was one of the most famous families in history because of Fukang’an and his son. Of course, in this world, Fukang’an had bee the heir of Hongli, which Song Qingshu didn’t expect. By the way, there was also a very famous person from this family— Su Qier, the champion of Wu. 

Thinking of him, Song Qingshu inevitably thought of Zhou Xingchi from his previous life, and his face showed a hint of nostalgia.

The Nalan family had produced many concubines. The Qing Dynasty was full of them. In fact, there were probably far more concubines from this family than the other seven families bined!

The current head of the Nalan family was Nalan Mingzhu. He and Suo Etu didn’t mix well with each other, but they were both favored by Kangxi. He also has a son, Nalan Xingde, who has fascinated thousands of young girls in the capital 

‘I’ve been in Yanjing City for so long, and I have to find a chance to meet this legendary figure in the future.’ Song Qingshu thought.

The Lang family was the last in the list. Their first generation patriarch was Eyidu, one of the five heroes of the founding of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In history, the Qianlong Emperor’s (Hongli) biological mother was also from the Lang family. Of course, she was probably Qian Zhenhuan from the Qian clan, but the head of the Lang family succumbed to Prince Yong’s threats and had no choice but to include her in the family. 

In this chaotic world, the current head of the Lang family was one of the four ministers, Ebilong, who was removed from his post because of his close relationship with Aobai. After Aobai’s death, he was arrested by the court, and now he was idling at home, making the Lang family the weakest of the Eight Great Families.

‘Which family holds a grudge against Wei Xiaobao?’ Song Qingshu could clearly see that it was Wei Xiaobao who had offended a certain family when he was in power, and now the other party was taking advantage of his death and came to bully his widowed wives. ‘Well, Wei Xiaobao probably deserves all this…’

‘Logically speaking, the most likely one is the Guan family or the Lang family. After all, the fall of these two families were all linked to Wei Xiaobao.’ Song Qingshu looked up at the matchmaker and saw that she was still chattering about something irrelevant. So he impatiently interrupted her, “Just say it directly, which young master wants to marry my sister-in-law?”

The matchmaker was stunned for a moment, wondering why the other party was so relaxed, and quickly said, “It’s Orundai, the young master of the Tong family, he is not only young but also handsome…”

Song Qingshu didn’t have the patience to listen to her flattery, so he lowered his head and pondered, ‘I had seen this person in the palace, and he seemed to be the son of the first-class official Tong Guogang. Emperor Nurhaci and Shunzhi both married women from the Tong family as their Empresses. The Empress Tong of Kangxi is also from the Tong family. He recently married Empress Tong’s younger sister, and he also favors them very much. Both the Empress and the Noble Concubine are the daughters of Tong Guowei, the uncle of Orundai.’ 

‘Both the current Empress and the Noble Concubine are his cousins, and the Empress Dowager is also his aunt, so no wonder he is so bold and dares to force Wei Xiaobao’s widows. But how did Wei Xiaobao offend the Tong family that made them settle accounts so ruthlessly?’

Song Qingshu naturally didn’t know what had happened when Wei Xiaobao was the favorite of the Emperor in the past. Although Wei Xiaobao was only a viscount, he had a position of “Below one person, above ten thousand people” and it usually made him quite arrogant. 

It didn’t matter when he insulted people like Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian, who would endure it all for a lot of silver taels and a bright future, and didn’t think much of it. 

However, for some imperial relatives who were nobles, Wei Xiaobao’s methods of flattery didn’t prove all that effective.

One day, at a banquet, Wei Xiaobao met Tong Guogang, and when he heard that his father’s name was Tong Tulai, he immediately made fun of it. Tong Guogang didn’t dare to speak out at that time, so he had to gamble with him and deliberately lost a lot of money. So the foul-mouthed Wei Xiaobao made a casual ment, “Tong Guogang’s name should be changed to Cheng Tong Guguang, which means that he only knew how to lose. He is a great shame for the Tong family.”