Jinghong Tower

Chapter 368 Family
This young man is He Shuquan.

He ran back home and found the door open. Master He San was lying on the bed, snoring loudly with his mouth wide open, emitting an unpleasant smell of alcohol.

He Shuquan almost vomited when he entered the room. He covered his nose with one hand and pushed Master He San with the other.

"Wake up, wake up!"

Master He San smacked his lips, turned over and continued to sleep. In his dream, he returned to Zhending, where his wife and daughter were by his side. He had plenty of money, and there were people serving him when he went out or came in.

Seeing that he was unconscious, He Shuquan went out, scooped a basin of water, and poured it over Master He San's head.

The autumn day was getting colder. Master He San was drenched in water and shuddered. He sat up with a cry. He opened his eyes and saw He Shuquan. Master He San scolded him, "You little bastard, why didn't you die outside? Did you remember to come back? Did you get any money? You didn't come back empty-handed, did you?"

He Shuquan stopped studying early and followed his elder brother to hang out on the streets. Many officials in Jinling City had fled recently, which made a lot of money for the hooligans on the street, who took advantage of the situation and made a lot of money.

After hearing about this, Mr. He San was looking forward to He Shuquan's return home. He was also looking forward to taking the money to the gambling house to make a fortune.

He Shuquan was too lazy to talk to him and said anxiously, "You still want to sleep? You know, my elder sister has come to the city. Right now, everyone in Jinling City is welcoming my elder sister on the street."

Master He San was stunned for a moment, and for a moment he couldn't remember which elder sister He Shuquan was referring to.

There was no way, the only things in his mind were dice and Pai Gow. As for those people from the past, he didn't want to remember them at first, and then he couldn't remember them anymore.

But now he still remembered it, and suddenly remembered what he heard last night: "The emperor ran away, right?"

He Shuquan didn't know what to say to him. The emperor had run away a long time ago, and had been away for two or three months!

"My elder sister is here. She is in Jinling City now. I just saw her. She was so majestic, with a huge army following her. The army behind her was endless.

Dad, it was my aunt who offended her. Our family has never done anything to let her down. Let's go find her. If she's happy, she might give us an official position. I heard from people that someone in our family has gone to Xuzhou to be an official. Wasn't it arranged by my eldest sister?
In terms of closeness, our family can't compare to us. We and Big Sister are a family."

Master He San was stunned, and suddenly grabbed He Shuquan's hand: "You just said that someone in our family became an official? Is it true? Which one of our family members?"

He Shuquan shook his head: "I don't know, but they said that the man is from our family and has gone to Xuzhou."

He only remembered that a relative of his went to Xuzhou to serve as an official, but he forgot that he had ranked among the top in the official examination.

Master He San slapped his thigh and said, "Damn it! Those bastards from our family actually stole our official position! They always came to the city to extort money before, and now they are getting bolder and bolder. Seeing that we are not in Zhending, they really think of themselves as royal relatives!"

As soon as the words "royal relatives" came out, Master He San and He Shuquan were both stunned.

The father and son looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.

Yes, they are royal relatives now. Looking around the world, who can compare with the He family's majesty?
Although Mr. He San had been idle for more than 30 years, he had read a book or two after all. He panted and said loudly: "These southern barbarians look down on people all day long. What Jiangnan family is bullshit. From now on, our He family is the number one family!"

Yes, the so-called aristocratic family has at most a few officials, but the He family is different. They have an army, and that army that stretches as far as the eye can see belongs to the He family!
Even the emperor was afraid of the He family and fled away.

Mr. He San rummaged through his boxes and drawers. He had brought a lot of nice clothes with him when he went south, but later he sent them all to the pawnshop. After searching for a long time, he finally found one that looked pretty good.

He Shuquan didn't even have a decent piece of clothing. There was nothing he could do. He grew up fast, and even if he still had one or two pieces of clothes that he hadn't pawned, they no longer fit him.

As he was flipping through the pages, He Shuquan suddenly remembered something: "If the elder sister knew about grandma's affairs, would she blame us?"

Master He San was stunned. How could he have forgotten about this?
Two years ago, Mr. He San lost all his money and was left with only one pair of pants. The people in the casino wanted to break his legs, so he had no choice but to use his mother as collateral.

Although Madam He is old, she enjoyed a good life in her early years and had a good foundation. Even at her old age, she still has fair skin and charm.

I originally thought that Madam He would not agree, but I didn't expect that she and the old man Yu who was in charge of the place actually fell in love with each other. Old man Yu was about the same age as Madam He. He had been in Jinling City for decades and brought home seven or eight women, but had no children.

Old Man Yu's family is well-off, and Old Madam He has no worries about food and drink. She also has a little maid to serve her, and she has become plump and white in the past two years.

Master He San benefited from this opportunity. Old Man Yu allocated a gambling place to him. He had seven or eight brothers under him. They could gamble whenever they wanted. He lived a comfortable life and had long since started calling Old Man Yu "Dad."

Before today, Master He San was very satisfied with this matter. Although he pushed his mother out, her mother not only did not suffer, but also found him a stepfather. He now became a child with a father. It was a great thing to kill two birds with one stone.

But now, Master He San regretted it.

If I had known that he could become the emperor's uncle, he would have been crazy enough to push me out.

He had heard people say that the more powerful a person is, the more he cares about his face. If He Ran knew that her grandmother was warming the bed of an old gangster who was in charge of the place, would she be happy?
"Dad, if Big Sister gets angry, she won't kill you, right?"

After all, everyone in Jinling knew how powerful He Ran was.

Master He San shuddered. He had never seen He Ran kill anyone, but all the bad luck that the He family had encountered in the past was related to He Ran.

It was also because of this niece that he went to jail for the first time in his life.

He didn’t know it back then, but if he still hasn’t figured it out after all these years, he would be a real fool.

Back then, their whole family was made a fool of by He Ran.

"It's hard to say, He Ran. It's hard to say. Wait a minute, I'll go find your grandmother and discuss it."

The father and son wasted no time and went out to look for Mrs. He.

The pedestrians on the street have not yet dispersed, and everyone is talking about it. From time to time, you can hear "He Dadangjia" or "He Ran".

When the cold wind blows, Master He San wakes up completely. They go to recognize their relatives, but will He Ran really recognize them?

This He Ran, must hate the He family, right?
"Let's go find your grandmother."

Old man Yu lives in a house with its own door and yard, gray tiles and white walls. There are a few flowers planted in the yard, and it is kept clean and tidy.

Old Madam He was eating dim sum. You had to queue up to buy the dim sum from Gui Shunyuan.

When she first arrived in Jinling, she asked her maid to buy it a few times, but later on, as she had spent all her money, she was reluctant to buy more.

Now that she is with Old Man Yu, she doesn't have much money, but she doesn't have to worry about food and drink. If she wants to eat the snacks from Guishun Garden, she just needs to ask the maid to line up and she can eat them. Even though Old Madam He has been forced to pay off her son's debts, she still has money.

That's right, even when Mr. He San's creditors came to their door with a knife, Mrs. He kept her money tightly and didn't take out a single tael of silver.

Now that she has Old Man Yu as her meal ticket, Old Lady He will certainly not spend her own money. Old Lady He has two main principles in life:

First, it is better to have children and grandchildren than to have them yourself; second, no matter how hard the life is, you cannot make yourself suffer.

This month, Old Madam He took out another two taels of silver from the household allowance. She planned to send the little maid out after they had snacks, then pry open the blue bricks on the floor and take out her silver to count it.

Counting silver is her hobby.

After the turbulent times, Madam He finally understood that houses and shops were not as good as gold and silver, and they had to be real gold and silver, not silver notes.

She couldn't cash any of the silver notes she brought from the capital. There was nothing she could do. When she arrived in Nanjing, she found out that the bank that claimed to have a branch in Nanjing had been sealed up by the court. If she wanted to cash them in, she would have to wait until she returned to the capital in the future.

But can I go back in this life?
Old Madam He no longer had any hope, so she no longer believed in the banknotes.

There was a knock on the door. The little maid ran out and quickly brought in Master He San and He Shuquan.

Seeing them, Madam He hurriedly covered the unfinished snacks with a handkerchief. The snacks from Guishun Garden could not be given to others for free.

What? Doesn’t she love the third wife’s son and grandson the most?

That was in the past when she was well fed and had nothing to do. She was reduced to struggling to find a meal ticket, so why would she care about her sons and grandchildren?

Now, those who are trying to cheat her of her money are her enemies.

For example, these two in front of her, every time they come to her, there is always something wrong. They either ask for money or food. She is almost annoyed to death by them.

"What are you doing here?" Old Madam He looked alert.

He Shuquan had sharp eyes and saw the plate of dim sum at a glance. Even though it was covered with a towel, he could smell that it was the dim sum from Guishunyuan.

"Grandma, I'm hungry."

After saying that, he rushed forward and stretched out his hand to take the snacks. Old Madam He picked up the feather duster and hit him, saying that the silver was hers, and the snacks were hers, and no one could take advantage of them.

Master He San hurriedly said, "Let's talk business first. Your grandmother loves you the most. How can she not give you something delicious to eat?"

He Shuquan chuckled dryly, but his eyes were still glued to the plate of snacks.

Don't think that being a gangster is great. One has to reach the status of Old Man Yu in the underworld. Like him, he is not even qualified to carry shoes for the big brother. While the big brother eats the best food and drinks the spicy drinks, he can only wait for the big brother to finish eating and then eat a steamed bun dipped in the soup until he is half full.

I snatched half a piece of this Gui Shunyuan snack from Old Madam He the last time I came here.

"Tell me, what are you doing here? What do you want to do?" asked Mrs. He.

Master He San hurriedly told Madam He the news that He Ran had entered the city. Madam He was shocked. She stayed at home every day and knew nothing. Not to mention that He Ran had entered the city, she hadn't even heard of such a big thing as the emperor running away.

"Are you saying that He Ran is going to be the emperor? Nonsense, how can she, a money-loser, be the emperor?"

Master He San said hurriedly, "Of course she can't be the emperor, but she can be the queen, and a queen with great power, just like Lu Zhi. Think about it, the little Zhao Wang is several years younger than her, and he has nothing. He relies on her to get to where he is today. She has hundreds of thousands of troops. How can the little Zhao Wang not listen to her when he becomes the emperor? Then she has the final say. Whoever she wants to be an official can be an official."

The mother and son had discussed this issue before, but at that time He Ran was still a traitor, so they could only discuss it secretly. After a few words, they dared not say anything more because walls have ears.

But things are different now. The emperor is gone, and He Ran is the biggest person in Jinling City.

Old Madam He's eyes became brighter and brighter, brighter than when she saw the silver.

"So, this queen is safe?"

Master He San nodded vigorously: "It's stable, it couldn't be more stable. Let alone the queen, as long as she is determined, it will be a matter of words for her to become the queen mother. No one dares to stop her. She is much more powerful than the previous grand queen mother. So many troops all listen to her. Who dares not to let her be the queen or the queen mother? The ministers dare not, and King Xiao Zhao does not dare either.

Mother, our He family is about to tremble!"

He Shuquan quickly told Madam He the news he had heard from outside: "Someone from our family has already taken the lead and has become a high-ranking official in Xuzhou."

Madam He's eyebrows immediately stood up: "What? Someone from our family has become an official? This is ridiculous. Who do those people from our family think they are? They can only beg for money. Do they think they are officials? Who do they think they are?"

This branch of the He family is the best developed among the entire Zhending He family. Compared with them, all the relatives in the original family are poor.

Old Madam He looked down on them from the bottom of her heart.

Now, this great fortune that should have belonged to their branch has been taken advantage of by those poor relatives of the family. How can Madam He swallow this?
"Let's go find that girl! Even if she becomes the queen or the queen mother, she still has her family. How can a woman live without the support of her family, right? Among all these granddaughters, she looks the most like me, and I love her the most. Oh, my dear Ranran, my eldest granddaughter..."

Mr. He San was very curious whether Mrs. He still remembered what He Ran looked like.

Anyway, he doesn't remember.

In my memory, He Ran was dressed like a scallion, looking rustic. I only remember that she was not ugly, but she was young at that time and had not yet grown up, so she looked immature.

"If my elder brother knew that my niece had such great fortune, he would definitely be happy."

Master He San wiped the dry corners of his eyes.

Old Madam He was heartbroken. Her eldest son was an official appointed by the imperial court. If he were still alive, he would be the father-in-law of the emperor.

The eldest son could not be appointed as the father-in-law of the emperor, but she is still alive and well.

"Your eldest brother is the father-in-law of the emperor, and I am his biological mother, so what am I?"

Old Madam He couldn't help but scold her again, calling her a money-loser. If He Ran had been more competitive and had a son, she wouldn't be just the queen now, but could have been the emperor.

She is the emperor's grandmother, so isn't she the Empress Dowager?