Through Wang Xifeng's intermittent recounting of the events, the two finally learned what had happened.
It turned out that Jia She had tasted success at some brothel. Initially, the person in charge sent by the Zhang family, upon seeing that it was Jia She, had given him a thousand taels of silver as chips, allowing him to gamble freely. Losing was fine; they wouldn't take the money. If he won, he could take it home.
Since he was the governor's father-in-law, naturally, he had to be treated well.
This seemingly generous gesture actually concealed malicious intent.
And Jia She's luck was excellent; he had been winning money non-stop for the past few days.
Those days, he walked with a swagger, looking down on everyone he met, all smiles. Anyone who didn't know better would think he'd found money on the street.
Even when his wife, Madam Xing, went to help at the women's brothel, he simply waved her off, telling the old woman to get lost. Little did he know that Madam Xing's help wasn't wrong; she was just using her old genitals to help.
He went to satisfy Lu Ming's lust, using his old cunt to release his pent-up desires, until he was completely exhausted before returning home.
To destroy someone, first make them mad. He drank wine, ate fine food, and embraced alluring prostitutes, almost to the point of forgetting his homeland.
That's how gamblers are; when they gamble, they lose all sense of proportion, caring only about gambling, gambling and gambling on. It's as if only in this way can they stimulate their adrenaline, only in this way can they prove the unparalleled thrill.
Then, as you can imagine, he lost everything in succession.
He overheard someone talking about borrowing money against collateral, and someone nearby was also talking about how the young master Pang next door borrowed a lot of money, then won it all back in one go, and even bought a luxurious aristocratic carriage—that cost tens of thousands of taels of silver!
Because it was indeed very comfortable, with spring-loaded shock absorbers, four-wheel balance, fur padding, and white jade decorations, everything was worth it.
It was also a symbol of status, so Jia She, blinded by gambling, started borrowing money.
There were wins and losses, and the number had always been kept under control.
But in the last few days, he suddenly started gambling heavily, seemingly because his favorite courtesan had been snatched away by someone else—the highest bidder won. This left Jia She penniless, watching helplessly as the woman he usually favored ended up in another's arms. This feeling was more painful than having his own mother killed, and as a result, he became hopelessly addicted to gambling.
If he lost the bet, he could use his status as the governor's father-in-law, and naturally, there wouldn't be any difficulties.
The result was predictable: he was beaten black and blue by Zhang Quan's men.
His mission was to make these nobles indulge in brothels and then deal with them one by one.
This kind of gradual manipulation couldn't be rushed; it had to seem reasonable, lest it alert other potential victims.
Just now, Lu Ming had married Tan Chun and Xi Chun.
Jia She's signed IOU was delivered to the Jia family, demanding that they send someone to ransom the women. Upon seeing the 30,000 taels of silver, Wang Xifeng nearly fainted.
If it weren't for her maid Ping'er supporting her, she would have definitely collapsed.
The entire Jia family, relying solely on rent from their fertile land, only earned 5,000 taels of silver. They even had to resort to usury to keep the family afloat.
After Lu Ming arrived, even usury became difficult; registration and signatures were required from the government, with rules about proper lending and prohibitions against taking lives.
"Where is Master Lian?" Wang Xifeng sensed the gravity of the situation. She needed to discuss it with her husband; if she showed this to Grandmother Jia, the old matriarch would surely faint.
Ping'er glanced timidly, sensing Wang Xifeng's growing impatience, before saying, "Second Master Lian went to the 'Romantic Pavilion' to listen to music. It's said there are several attractive young women there, and they went with Xue Ke and Second Master Bao."
"What!" Wang Xifeng gritted her teeth. What kind of time is this to go to a music pavilion!
Besides, that 'Romantic Pavilion' is obviously no good. Many wives say it's a bad place, yet their husbands are so addicted to it that they forget everything else.
Given the scarcity of entertainment options, Lu Ming, who controls all affairs in Chang'an, could easily create some entertainment.
Mahjong, wrestling, fencing, horse racing, cockfighting, martial arts—there are plenty of novelties.
If he could control Shanglin Wan in the future, he could even organize hunting activities—more fun, more exciting.
The so-called young women are actually male prostitutes, used by men with homosexual tendencies.
It sounded nice, and since it was an act, she was called Lingguan.
Originally, it was just Jia She's matter, so it was easy to handle. Although he was Wang Xifeng's father-in-law, it wasn't really her concern.
So she could accept it. But when someone else delivered the IOU, she glanced at it and almost fainted from anger.
It was Jia Lian's IOU, used to buy Lingguan and a house, supposedly to be repaid in a short period. He couldn't repay it, and people came to the Jia family mansion.
Her father-in-law was in debt, and her husband was spending a fortune on homosexuality—this almost drove Wang Xifeng to her death!
Unable to contain her anger, Wang Xifeng went to her aunt, Lady Wang, in tears to discuss the matter. She was genuinely undecided and felt wronged.
After listening to Wang Xifeng's story, both Lady Wang and Aunt Xue had strange expressions.
Lady Wang was relatively kind; having married into the Jia family, she was now a woman of the Jia family.
If the first wife gets into trouble, it will also implicate the second wife.
If her reputation is bad, her husband will have a hard time getting promoted.
Only Aunt Xue's expression was strange. A thought lingered in her mind: could this be a deliberate setup?
She didn't doubt Lu Ming's character. What beast even wanted to get her pregnant!
He said that getting her pregnant would mean consummating their marriage.
She was seething with hatred. Did being fucked to the point of ecstasy every time, enjoying the pleasure of sex, not count as consummation?
She dared not speak out, only able to rage helplessly, and then, under Lu Ming's brutal fucking, beg him not to ejaculate inside her, further stimulating him to ejaculate inside her!
This was indeed Lu Ming's plan. He wasn't the kind of person who would diligently handle official duties.
With Lin Daiyu to share the burden, he didn't mind letting his women get involved.
With this time, he could calmly plan and scheme against the powerful nobles and the four great families.
Developing the economy was merely to have the capital and confidence to carry out these schemes.
Otherwise, without money, what would he use to scheme?
You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; a man can lack power, but he cannot lack money!