PCA Chapter 73

After the birthday banquet, Jia Zhen seemed to have found a kindred spirit in Su Cen, coming to visit him every day. In just a few days, he had taken Su Cen around every brothel and flower boat in Yangzhou.

 

Although Su Cen did not intend to indulge in such activities, having Jia Zhen follow him around served as a distraction from potential enemies.

 

One day, Su Cen returned home early in the morning, only to hear Qu Ling’er sitting on the railing, sighing softly, “With nightly revelry, Brother Su, be careful not to be drained by wine, women, and lust.”

 

Su Cen glanced at him. “Did you manage to find out what you were asking about?”

 

Qu Ling’er jumped down from the railing. “Xiao Hong is from the Secret Door. Now that I’ve defected from it, how could she possibly tell me anything?”

 

Su Cen smiled at him. “You couldn’t get anything out of her? Should I have your Brother Qi ask instead?”

 

Qu Ling’er shivered at Su Cen’s warm smile, thinking to himself that he couldn’t afford to provoke him. He quickly withdrew his neck and slipped away.

 

Su Cen stretched lazily in the courtyard and yawned before heading back to his room for a nap.

 

A few days later, Jia Zhen finally stopped talking about visiting the brothels and changed his attitude, deciding to focus on studying. He even sent a young servant to Su Cen’s house to invite him over, calling it “accompanying him in his studies.”

 

When Su Cen arrived, he quickly realized that old habits die hard. Jia Zhen shut the door behind them, dragged him to the table, and pulled out two rare and out-of-print erotic books, saying, “Brother Li, only you and I would be willing to share these. I wouldn’t even let those commoners look at them.”

 

Su Cen thought to himself, ‘I’d rather be a commoner.’

 

Seeing that Su Cen showed little interest, Jia Zhen patted him on the shoulder. “Brother Li, you certainly have a discerning taste. If you’re not interested in these vulgar ones, I have others.”

 

Saying this, he crawled under the bed and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets. After a while, he pulled out a stack of books and handed them to Su Cen. Su Cen casually flipped through one, his eyes nearly popping out.

 

Not only was the writing vivid, but it was also accompanied by illustrations—clear, explicit, and detailed. The most shocking part was that the picture depicted two men embracing, their positions and every detail visible.

 

Jia Zhen noticed Su Cen’s ears slowly turning red and leaned in closer, asking, “Interesting, right?”

 

Su Cen subtly shifted away. “You’re into this sort of thing?”

 

“I haven’t tried it yet,” Jia Zhen replied.

 

Su Cen let out a small sigh of relief, but before he could relax, Jia Zhen added, “But I do kind of want to try.”

 

Su Cen quickly assessed their physical sizes and stood up without a sound. “I… I need to use the restroom…”

 

Jia Zhen gave him a meaningful look, his eyes saying, “I understand,” and he smiled. “Brother Li, there’s no need to force yourself. There are empty rooms next door. I can have a little maid come over, or if you prefer, a young servant.”

 

Su Cen hastily refused, saying, “No need,” and rushed out the door. Standing outside, he let out a long sigh. As the ancient saying goes, one should choose their friends wisely—those who are close to vermilion turn red, those who are close to ink turn black. The ancients were right.

 

This person is toxic. From now on, I’ll stay as far away as possible.

 

Since he couldn’t return right away, Su Cen decided to take the opportunity to explore Jia Zhen’s house. Though not as grand as the Wang family’s, Jia Zhen’s residence had several large courtyards, with pavilions and corridors arranged in an intricate manner.

 

Just as Su Cen was walking out of a small courtyard, he saw someone sneaking hurriedly toward the back courtyard, carrying a pile of items.

 

Su Cen quickly hid behind a corner gate, frowning in thought.

 

He recognized the person—it was the shopkeeper from Jia’s salt shop. He had seen him a few days ago while investigating the salt business.

 

It was perfectly natural for a shopkeeper from the salt shop to visit the Jia family, so why was he acting so sneaky?

 

Once the man had gone a little farther, Su Cen carefully followed him. He saw the man enter a side room, glance around cautiously, and then slip inside.

 

Su Cen quietly approached and, just as he got near the window, he overheard a voice inside saying, “The salt from the north of Huai has arrived.”

 

Su Cen frowned slightly.

 

The official salt in Yangzhou came from Shuzhong, where it was harvested from salt lakes, boiled into brine, and refined into salt. This salt was purer and contained fewer impurities, known as well salt. These salt lakes were mostly controlled by the government, meaning official salt came from here. However, in the Two Huai regions, due to their proximity to the sea, various small workshops made salt by boiling seawater, and even small households could make salt in their own courtyards. The quality of this salt was uneven, with many impurities, and despite repeated government bans, the salt traders still relied heavily on salt from the Two Huai regions.

 

Jia family’s salt was official salt, so it should have come from Shuzhong. What was the deal with the salt from Huai regions?

 

Inside, an older voice asked, “How much official salt is left?”

 

The shopkeeper replied, “Not much, exactly three hundred shi.”

 

After a brief pause, the other voice said, “Mix it.”

 

“How do we mix it?”

 

“Forty-sixty,” the voice hesitated for a moment, “or maybe thirty-seven, with seven parts of private salt.”

 

Su Cen froze in place. When he came to his senses, he realized his palm was already damp, leaving deep finger marks.

 

The price difference between official salt and private salt was enormous. They were using the cheap private salt to pass off as official salt, selling it at the official price. The common people were paying for what they thought was official salt, but only three parts of it was genuine!

 

He could tolerate their collusion with the government to crack down on private salt, but this kind of deception—fooling both the court and the people—he could not tolerate!

 

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement and stood up to leave. Su Cen quickly stepped back, but as he lifted his foot, he heard a creaking sound. Somehow, a small dry twig had fallen here, and Su Cen stepped right on it.

 

The people inside immediately became alert. They exchanged glances and rushed out of the room.

 

Su Cen, unable to dodge in time, was suddenly grabbed from behind and shoved against a shadow wall.

 

Jia Lao Ye and the shopkeeper came out of the room, clearly hearing the noise, and called out toward the shadow wall, “Who’s there? Come out!”

 

Jia Zhen made a silencing gesture to Su Cen and peeked his head out from behind the shadow wall. “Father, it’s me…”

 

Jia Lao Ye furrowed his brow deeply. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Playing hide and seek,” Jia Zhen replied with a carefree laugh. “That little maid will come looking for me soon. We promised whoever finds me gets a kiss, but this one’s ugly, so I have to hide well.”

 

“Useless!” Jia Lao Ye exploded in anger, pointing at Jia Zhen’s nose and scolding, “How did I end up with such a rebellious son? I’ll beat you to death!”

 

“If you beat me to death, you’ll have no sons left,” Jia Zhen retorted with a smirk.

 

Su Cen wasn’t sure if he was hearing things, but despite the playful tone, there was an underlying chill in the words.

 

Jia Lao Ye trembled with rage, his finger shaking for a moment before he turned and stormed off.

 

Jia Zhen turned back and smiled at Su Cen. “How did you find your way here from the outhouse?”

 

Su Cen opened his mouth, about to make an excuse, but before he could, Jia Zhen waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it. I know my house is big. It’s no shame to get lost.”

 

 

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