Chapter 2

When it comes to the Jiangnan region’s Jin Qian Sect being a household name, it is in fact the truth.

Jin Qian Sect was not only the richest clan in the Jiangnan region, even amongst the Jianghu,[1] there was no other clan or sect that could compare to it in terms of wealth.

Speaking of the Jin family’s success, it was all due to a chance that they seized at an opportune moment.

Over ten years ago, the eighth emperor of the Zong Zheng patriarchy, Jia Yun, was an ignorant and unprincipled man that always indulged in women and wine and was indifferent towards governing the affairs of the state. There was a drought in the Central Plains and famine in the Jiangnan region, while many barbarians repeatedly invaded the nation’s border. For a time the people had no means of living, and those with lofty ideals began to rise up in the four corners of the empire. The centuries-old Zong Zheng dynasty was placed in turmoil and were in peril of being destroyed. Unexpectedly, emperor Jia Yun suddenly died at the age of thirty seven without leaving any will behind. Left behind were four princes and two princesses; two of the princes were still young, and so the battle for the throne fell between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince.

At last, the Crown Prince ascended the throne and the Second Prince was exiled. Some say that the Second Prince was secretly executed, but what exactly is the truth only those who were involved at that time would know.

The new emperor was a wise and brilliant young conqueror. Possessing a weak crown was the default position of the emperor, however as soon as he ascended the throne he began to consolidate his power in a bold and decisive way. Within eight years he resolved all internal and external troubles and led the centuries-old Zong Zheng patriarchal dynasty out of a stormy and turbulent era.

Prior to the ascension, many new laws were introduced and there were a thousand things waiting to be done in the entire Zong Zheng dynasty. At that time, many people who seized the opportunity became rich overnight, and the Jin Qian Sect was one of them.

Most of the people who made a fortune then did not have a glorious family history, and the Jin Qian Sect’s history was extremely disgraceful.

In the earlier years, Jin Qian Sect’s Sect Leader Jin Bao, was just an ignorant bandit leader who led a group of rogues around, looting and plundering homes.

One day, he witnessed a young lady being robbed on the outskirts of a city, so he bravely went forward to rescue her. Having encountered such a situation, it would be good if he didn’t seize the opportunity within the chaos to rob her, how could he have acted so heroically? The main reason is because the young lady had a beautiful appearance and was dressed decently, and so his heart was suddenly moved.

That young lady felt very grateful toward him and wasn’t aware of the dirty thoughts he was hiding.

Jin Bao volunteered to escort the young lady back home, and along the way he was very attentive toward her and did his best to court her. It was the first time that the young lady ever ventured outside, before that she had never come into contact with any man before. Seeing Jin Bao’s upright appearance and his heroic and considerate manner, she wasn’t put off but found him to be unrefined and vulgar, and thus did not particularly care for him.

Naturally, Jin Bao wasn’t a saint, and on a particular night after showering her with much attention and wine, they became husband and wife.

The next day when the young lady woke up, she was filled with intense regret, but it couldn’t be said that she had been forced, at most it could only be considered as her being unduly influenced. Besides, she had already been deflowered, so it was useless even if she regretted it.

Thus, Jin Bao sent the young lady back to her hometown in Jiangnan, and automatically became a son-in-law.

This young lady’s background was not ordinary.

It turned out that she was the young mistress of a rice mill in the Jiangnan region. Even though this rice mill business wasn’t extremely big, however, it was a well-known brand and the Zhao family was also considered to be an established and rich household in the area.

Old Master Zhao had only this one daughter, so he was extremely unwilling to accept this son-in-law. However, since such a thing had happened, there was nothing else that could be done about it. That autumn, many things happened, and the rice mill business wasn’t very good. Old Master Zhao was busy running his business, and so did not make things overly difficult for Jin Bao.

As for Jin Bao, even though he is a bandit, but he is also very loyal. Since he had become the son-in-law of a wealthy family, he definitely won’t forget about his good brothers. So he brought a bunch of his brothers into the residence to do some odd jobs, so that at least they would be able to lead a stable life. Although Jin Bao was uneducated, however he was very shrewd. He tamed the villagers in the surrounding mountain regions into obedience, and not only did he not bring trouble for the Old Master, he became a reliable helper within the household. He knew how to get things done and treated the young lady extremely well and was also very filial toward Old Master Zhao; it was such that no one could pick out any flaws.

After two years, Xiao Bao was born. To be able to hold such a white and fat grandson, Old Master Zhao couldn’t stop smiling. As his body’s condition began to deteriorate, he decided to remain at home to pamper his grandson, and gradually handed over the reins of the family business to his daughter and son-in-law. Since young, his daughter was well educated and had a deep understanding of business, and while his son-in-law wasn’t very refined, however he possessed a bright and clever mind and worked hard; if the both of them managed the business together, they wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives.

At that time the newly crowned emperor upon ascension to the throne, spared the Central Plains region and the four Jiangnan provinces from having to pay taxes for three years. All at once, the people regained hope for their lives.

After a few years, Old Master Zhao passed away. Young lady Zhao worked painstakingly hard in order to operate this rice mill business, and as a result she lost a lot of weight.

Jin Bao saw this and was very distressed. He didn’t have a lot of experience in managing a business and could only rely on his bandit’s intuition. He thought that as long as the farmers do not sell their grains to other rice mills, or the people do not buy grains from the other rice mills, then they would have nothing to worry about.

This was indeed a simple explanation. After the death of Old Master Zhao, he had become the Master of the family. As an unscrupulous man, his style was never to drag his feet. Instead, he unleashed the full force of his bandit character and first, directly brought his group of brothers to every household to threaten the farmers, then in the middle of the night, he went to smash other people’s shop.

The locals knew it was them who did it, but they didn’t dare to speak up. At that time, the imperial court had just changed, and many officials were removed from their stations, the entire situation was very turbulent. Nobody cared about these kinds of trivial issues amongst the people, so whoever has the strength would have the final say.

Jin Bao’s method was quite effective. In less than two years, the Jiangnan rice mill became the biggest rice mill in the entire region.

Of course, many locals harboured resentment towards the rice mill business, and they also encountered a lot of troubles.

Jin Bao once again took out piles out of silver earned through exploitation and began recruiting soldiers from the Jiangnan region. He kept a group of ‘advisors’ within the residence which he self-styled as the Jin Qian Sect, and this could also be counted as him fulfilling his youthful dreams of establishing a big and influential sect within the Jianghu region.

Since then, Jin Qian Sect’s business grew bigger and bigger, penetrating into every aspect of the people’s lives be it clothing, food, housing or transportation. After more than ten years, not only are the foundations of the business solid, the amount of accumulated wealth is simply astonishing.

Backed by vast amounts of financial wealth, Jin Qian Sect would distribute large amounts of benefits to other big sects along the Jianghu region annually, or they would provide some business advantages, thereby gaining their protection. Everyone could only watch helplessly as Jin Qian Sect grew bigger and bigger.

The Young Master Jin Xiao Bao was thus born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Toward the Lady Zhao, Jin Bao is both loving and respectful. Don’t judge him by his origins as a bandit, his true nature is in fact very pure and innocent. Although he has become rich and wealthy, the thought of straying had never once crossed his mind. Jin Xiao Bao is the only son of the Jin family, and his worth could rival a nation. From the time he was young up till now, Jin Xiao Bao led the kind of life where the world revolves around him for a whole twenty years. Everyday he only knew how to eat, drink, play and be merry, and has virtually never felt any unease.

However, recently there is something that has been troubling him.

That is, his parents have been urging him to get married.

Indeed, he is already at the age where he should be looking for a wife. It’s not that he is unwilling to, but he just doesn’t want to resign himself.

Ever since he first got a taste of carnal relations when he was thirteen, he has since experienced it countless times over the years. Be it those capital beauties, Jiangnan courtesans or exotic goddesses, there was none that Jin Xiao Bao could not afford.

But…… All these years of romantic pursuits were bought entirely with money.

There were those that didn’t require money, but it was because they coveted his family’s wealth and just wanted to use him as a stepping stone or try to get some benefits. Everyone was merely putting on a pretense, and once they got what they wanted, they would leave immediately.

To put it simply, it was all related to the money.

As for those young ladies from scholarly or influential families whom he truly liked, the kind that never left home and had little contact with the outside world; the kind that spoke softly and gently and was well-versed in painting, Qin[2] and calligraphy, who read poetry and possessed a pure heart; or perhaps, an intelligent young miss from a martial family who is filled with a valiant and heroic spirit, and possesses a fiery hot temperament; a different kind of romance between a carefree and spirited son and daughter of the Jianghu, is fine as well. In short, his wife must be as beautiful as a fairy, as pure and unsullied as a white lotus, and as noble and distinguished as a peony.

But all those that he has taken a fancy to, were without an exception as unreachable as the stars in the sky. Simply put, they didn’t care much about him.

Xiao Bao spun a full round while gazing at the figure reflected in the bronze mirror. He stared at that white and fat youth, then touched his soft belly, and couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged.

Even though Laozi[3] is not handsome and muscular enough, nevertheless I have a very… benevolent appearance… Anyway, what good is there for men to have good looks, those who are pleasant to the eye are mostly of no use.

How could they compare to him, who understood the importance of sentimentality and knew how to please women, and who was also generous; to be with him is to be able to enjoy all the luxury and splendour of this world!

What are all these women thinking……

Xiao Bao recalled with frustration how he had been refused entrance[4] by Li Zhi Zhou’s daughter, even though his father had high hopes for his success. Then last week, it was the Young Miss of the Wu Xiang Sect, and last month there was Lady Sun, Lady Hong, Lady Wang……

He went to so much trouble to cast his net everywhere, such that it covered a thousand miles, yet why was it that none of the young ladies whom he fancied would give him a response?

He didn’t like any of the ones that his parents found for him. His ideal wife must be a pure and innocent virgin from a prominent family and be an intelligent and alluring beauty that could bring the downfall of nations.

Laozi is the richest man in Jiangnan… or rather, his son!!!

He is also owner of the Jiangnan region’s number one richest sect… well, the Young Sect Leader!!!

Even if it was the emperor’s daughter who was betrothed to him, it also wouldn’t be an injustice.

Xiao Bao looked at the mirror twice, placing both hands on his round bear-like waist and giving it a rub. When he smiled, the layers of fat piled up, and those big and round eyes curved to form merry-looking crescents.

He decided to depart immediately and journey overnight to pay Li Zhi Zhou a visit. It’s said that Li Zhi Zhou has three daughters, all of whom were unmarried and rumoured to be sensible, smart and as beautiful as a fairy. Hehe, there were three of them, it would be fine if he could obtain any one of them~~ If he could marry all three of them~~ That would be the greatest blessing in life~~~ hehehehehehe~~~

Translator’s Notes:

[1] The Jianghu refers to a community of martial artists in ancient China, you can read more about it here.

[2] 琴 (Qin): A Chinese stringed instrument

[3] 老子(Laozi): A coarse way of referring to oneself, kind of like ‘I, your father’

[4] She refused to see him. Basically he came to pay her a visit outside her chambers, but she refused him entry.