“Breaking off the engagement?”
With that simple sentence, the entire Duke Chengguo Residence instantly became lively.
Fang Jingsheng’s face immediately darkened.
As for Fang Yang, his eyes suddenly burst forth with endless light.
Starting with a broken engagement, this is a sure win!
Fang Jingsheng was about to speak.
Fang Yang stepped forward.
He casually took the marriage contract from Song Yiran’s hand.
With an utterly calm demeanor, he said, “Good! Since that’s the case, our Duke Chengguo Residence agrees!”
Fang Yang’s candid composure made Song Yiran freeze.
She didn’t know why, but at that moment, it felt as if something important had suddenly been lost from her heart.
After a moment’s thought, she felt relieved; after all, he was a simp she had kept for ten years.
She had expected him to beg her, but she didn’t expect him to be so decisive, which made her quite unaccustomed.
Could it be that this Spendthrift has finally seen the light?
With that thought, she subconsciously asked, “You… you really agree?”
“Naturally, from now on, you and I have no further connection!”
Fang Yang said with great nonchalance.
He then opened the marriage contract, raising his hand to tear it up.
However, he forgot that the marriage contract was made of cloth; he gritted his teeth and struggled for a long time, but couldn’t tear it at all.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Song Yiran couldn’t help but frown slightly.
In her heart, she cast aside the idea that Fang Yang had changed for the better.
The current Fang Yang was still that brainless Spendthrift who was useless for success and only good at screwing things up!
Fang Yang agreed readily.
Fang Jingsheng, on the other hand, said coldly, “The Song family and my Fang family were betrothed since childhood. How can you break it off just like that? Does your father, Song Vice Minister, know?”
“Yiran’s visit this time is precisely at my father’s behest,” Song Yiran said without changing her expression.
Fang Jingsheng’s face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.
“Alright, I know. Since your father agrees, our Duke Chengguo Residence also agrees. You may leave.”
Fang Yang said indifferently, a large knife already in his hand.
He then casually cut the marriage contract to shreds.
Initially, Fang Jingsheng was still angry.
Suddenly, he saw the large knife in Fang Yang’s hand.
He was instantly terrified.
He exclaimed, “Quick! Stop him! Stop him! Yang’er, don’t cause trouble! Although the Song family has broken off the engagement, with our Duke Chengguo’s reputation, we can surely find you someone better.”
For a moment, the entire Duke Chengguo Residence was in a chaotic frenzy.
Song Yiran looked at the scene before her, frowning slightly, and then said, “Since the engagement is broken, Young Master Fang doesn’t need to accompany me to the poetry gathering three days from now. After all, you no longer have the status of a Tai Student.”
After speaking, she didn’t care if Fang Yang had heard her.
She bid farewell and turned to leave.
...
An hour later.
Fang Yang in the study was full of worry.
Nothing else.
After an hour of understanding, he had basically figured out the family’s situation from Lian’er.
This family indeed had no money left.
And the luxurious life he imagined was even more out of the question; now the entire family relied on his cheap old man’s salary and that meager bit of farmland to get by.
Transmigrated into this world, becoming the Duke Chengguo's son, he had originally thought he could drink and eat meat to his heart’s content, living a carefree life as a dissolute young master.
Now, the family was so poor they were about to starve, and the dowry left by his early-deceased mother had all been pawned by his old man.
The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt; in his previous life, he was a miserable wage slave, and in this life, after transmigrating, he still couldn’t enjoy himself.
He truly had a hard life.
Forget it, his father was unreliable, so he could only rely on himself. Time to make money!
With an idea, Fang Yang suddenly slapped his thigh.
He stood up directly: “I have a plan!”
“What?”
Lian’er beside him looked utterly bewildered.
“This Young Master has thought of a way to make money, Lian’er, go and get all the property deeds from my house!” Fang Yang’s eyes sparkled with countless lights.
“Ah?”
Lian’er was stunned; as a maid, how could she have access to such things?
Fang Yang narrowed his eyes.
He looked at Lian’er and asked, “Lian’er, This Young Master isn’t unreasonable. How about this: you tell This Young Master where my father put the property deeds and such?”
Lian’er hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Young Master, I can’t say!”
“If you can’t say, then you know,” Fang Yang’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous light, then he said in a threatening tone, “By my reckoning, my father should have already left the capital. Now, I’m the biggest person in the entire Duke Chengguo Residence.”
“Lian’er, you don’t want me to sell you off, do you?”
Lian’er’s red lips parted slightly; she was already astonished.
...
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Fang Yang emerged from Fang Jingsheng’s room, holding a stack of documents, looking self-satisfied.
“Lian’er, what’s with that expression? Give Young Master a smile.”
Fang Yang looked at Lian’er, who had a sour face, and directly gave an order.
Lian’er shook her head.
“Look at you! This Young Master only took two hundred mu of farmland from the old man. If you keep acting like this, This Young Master will sell all the land deeds today.”
Fang Yang frowned, making a gesture as if to return to his cheap old man’s room.
Lian’er was startled and quickly forced a smile, then frantically waved her hands: “Young Master, you can’t sell any more! These two hundred mu in your hand are the best farmlands our residence has. The others are all dry land; even if sold, they wouldn’t be worth much.”
“That’s right, isn’t it? Smile more, and This Young Master will have good luck.”
Saying that, he took Lian’er and rode in a carriage straight to the pawnshop.
The pawnshop owner’s face lit up with joy upon seeing Fang Yang.
He couldn’t help it; who could blame him when this lord always brought good items and never haggled?
“Young Master Fang, what would you like to pawn this time?”
Fang Yang casually tossed the bundle and land deeds onto the counter, saying nonchalantly, “Pawn it all!”
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
The shopkeeper excitedly took the stack of documents, and his hand immediately trembled.
“Young… Young Master Fang, please don’t joke with me,” the shopkeeper said with a mournful face.
“No joke, name your price,” Fang Yang said indifferently.
“This…”
The shopkeeper looked helpless, and after a while, he said, “Young Master Fang, if you take these things out, does the Duke of Cheng know?”
“Nonsense, if he knew, could I still pawn these things? Hurry up and give me a price.”
Shopkeeper: “…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll write you a Clerk, even if my father comes, he can’t do anything to you.”
Fang Yang said with utmost calm.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper quickly winked at a nearby errand boy.
The errand boy quickly ran out.
Then the shopkeeper, with a smiling face, gave Fang Yang a thumbs-up and said, “Young Master Fang is truly the most filial. The Duke of Cheng having a son like you is truly like smoke rising from an ancestral grave.”
“That’s right, but flattery is useless. Don’t even think about lowering my price,” Fang Yang said proudly.
“Young Master Fang, don’t rush. Are you planning to pawn it permanently or temporarily?” the shopkeeper still asked with a full smile.
“Temporarily, of course.”
Fang Yang thought for a moment; his cheap old man had said this border patrol would take at least three to five months.
So he continued, “Three months. I’ll redeem it in three months.”
“Alright, Young Master Fang, you’re an old customer, so I won’t say anything else. These land deeds are for two hundred mu of fertile land. I’ll give you thirty taels of silver per mu, totaling six thousand taels.”
The shopkeeper, while working the abacus, cautiously looked at Fang Yang.
He was clearly afraid that this lord would be unwilling, as this excellent fertile land was near the outskirts of the capital, and one mu had long been speculated to be worth over a hundred taels of silver.
“That much?”
Fang Yang looked surprised; he hadn’t expected those lands to be so valuable.
The shopkeeper immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded.
Before long, the errand boy arrived with the official Clerk.
Then, under the official Clerk’s peculiar gaze, he signed and stamped.
Thus, six thousand taels of silver were in hand.
Fang Yang felt much more confident.
Before leaving, Fang Yang even asked an astonishing question: could the Guo Gong Fu (Duke's Residence) be pawned?
This scared the shopkeeper so much he almost fell to the ground.
The Clerk even covered his face and walked away.
Too embarrassing!
That was a residence bestowed by the royal family; the shopkeeper would only dare to accept it if he wanted his family to be wiped out.
Seeing that the residence couldn’t be pawned, Fang Yang walked out of the pawnshop with a hint of disappointment on his face.
Lian’er, following behind him with a worried expression, carefully asked, “Young Master, what do we do next?”
“Make money!”
Fang Yang didn’t hesitate at all.
Lian’er, however, hesitated for a moment.
Finally, with a determined look, she said, “Young Master, why don’t we return this money and redeem the land? Those dry lands at home simply can’t grow good crops. If we can’t redeem these lands in time, our Duke Chengguo Residence will only be an empty house left. When the master returns and finds out, I’m afraid, I’m afraid…”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be able to redeem it in two months at most. Besides, my father’s trip will take at least three to five months, so there’s enough time.”
Yang, however, didn’t care at all, because the way he chose to make money would definitely bring huge profits in Great Chu.
That method was high-proof liquor!
One must know that there was no such thing as high-proof liquor in Great Chu; even those aged fine wines were at most 20-proof.
For a seasoned drinker like him, that proof was no different from horse piss.
Most importantly, in Great Chu, whether it was peddlers and porters or royalty and nobility, there was no one who didn’t drink. Even the courtesans in the brothels were all top-notch drinkers.
Moreover, the method of making high-proof liquor was relatively the fastest to monetize and the lowest in cost compared to current methods. As long as he had his servants secretly acquire some cheap, low-quality liquor, he could distill it into high-proof liquor, and the technical difficulty wasn’t high either.
The more he thought about it, the more promising it seemed.
And, most importantly, the poetry gathering three days later would be the best opportunity for him to promote high-proof liquor!
Back at the Guo Gong Fu (Duke's Residence), looking at Fang Yang’s carefree demeanor, Lian’er said worriedly, “Young Master, why don’t we go and redeem the land deeds?”
“It’s already pawned, how could we just go and redeem it like that?”
Fang Yang immediately rejected the idea, then said, “Lian’er, go and call all the servants in the residence for This Young Master. This Young Master has something to tell them.”
Lian’er looked reluctant, but she couldn’t disobey Fang Yang’s orders.
She immediately gathered all the servants in the residence.
After selecting a few clever servants, Fang Yang gave them a few instructions, then began distributing silver and arranging the purchase of alcohol.
He specifically reminded this group of people to keep it a secret.
The few people quickly left upon receiving their orders, soon leaving only one servant standing carefully to the side.
Fang Yang casually pulled out a twenty-tael silver ingot and instructed, “Go buy some candy, then find some children who roam the streets outside and have them spread the word for me.”
The servant looked bewildered.
Fang Yang paused and continued, “You teach these few sentences to those children. If they learn it, they get one candy. If they sing it everywhere, they get ten candies.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “Have them sing this: ‘This wine should only exist in the heavens, but mortals get the chance to smell it. If one never tastes celestial intoxication in their life, even becoming Prime Minister is in vain! Celestial Intoxication Grand Wine House opening soon!’”
Fang Yang casually tossed the twenty-tael silver ingot to the servant.
Then he continued, “Within three days, I want this poem sung throughout the streets and alleys. If the money isn’t enough, just come to Lian’er for more.”
“Young Master, rest assured, it will be done properly.”
The servant took the silver and quickly went out.
Looking at the few remaining silver notes in her hand, Lian’er said with a pained heart, “Young Master, aren’t we spending this money a bit too fast?”
“Don’t worry, let the arrow fly for a while.”