Free Web NovelChapter 2371: Chapter 2346: Missing Out on New Year’s Money
Someone directly asked the Xiaos, "Did Imperial Doctor Zhou ever advise against drinking alcohol before?"
The Xiaos started crying.
Everyone knew there must have been such a warning, so they turned to look at Su Jian with admiration, thinking he was truly brave.
Su Jian’s face was sullen, and when he caught the expressions of his friends, he couldn’t help but shout back, "Is this my fault? It’s just a light drink, I didn’t even get drunk..."
As Su Jian spoke, he began to lose confidence, and his voice gradually softened.
Su Jian felt a slight pain in his stomach and couldn’t help but hold his belly.
The initially tolerable pain became increasingly unbearable, and his face grew more and more unsightly.
His friends, seeing he wasn’t looking well, became frightened and quickly approached to check his stomach, "You... you aren’t seriously... how about we immediately get Lord Zhou to take a look?"
"Is it inappropriate to ask? They’re now ranked fourth-grade official."
"Oh, who cares about that, for the sake of the Crown Prince, she would surely take a look. I’ll go ask."
"Don’t go," Su Jian grabbed the person, his face turning red, "I... I just have a stomach ache; no need to go, don’t go."
"But..." They still worriedly looked at his stomach, knowing it had been opened up before, and it was rumored that his internal organs had been somewhat damaged and had to be sewn up.
The thought gave them shivers. Though they were good-for-nothings, spending their days idly, Su Jian was considered one of the more accomplished among them, given he had duties with the Crown Prince...
Still, even if they were good-for-nothings, they understood that if Su Jian ended up in trouble after drinking with them, not just the Su Family, but they themselves couldn’t live with it.
So after exchanging glances, they persuaded Su Jian, "If you don’t want Lord Zhou to check, how about we have someone fetch a doctor from the city?"
"Right, get a doctor from the city to take a look; even if it’s just an upset stomach, you need medicine, right?"
Su Jian remained silent but didn’t object. Without Zhou Man examining him, it wasn’t as embarrassing. He was still cautious about his life, so he didn’t mind another doctor taking a look.
The good-for-nothings immediately ordered the servants to drive into the city to fetch a doctor, reminding, "Get a good doctor."
Even though Manbao and the others didn’t like to bet on polo teams, they enjoyed watching polo matches. When the first goal was scored, they cheered and whooped.
When another team scored, they also cheered; they weren’t familiar with either team, so they didn’t take sides and cheered for whoever scored, having no stance whatsoever.
Zhao Liulang and others, seeing this, were quite upset, "Why are you cheering for Wei Fengyuan’s team? We bet on Yu Jiang winning."
Bai Shan knew Wei Fengyuan and had met him with Zhao Liulang. He knew they didn’t get along, so he asked, "Who is Yu Jiang?"
"A new student at the Imperial Academy last year, his father is the inspector of Bingzhou, Yu Xin. As soon as he entered the Imperial Academy, he didn’t get along with Wei Fengyuan. I heard they’re going to have three matches today to determine the winner," Zhao Liulang said, "I bet on Yu Jiang to win, put down twenty taels, so don’t cheer for Wei Fengyuan."
Manbao: "... Even if we cheer for him, it won’t affect the match result, right?"
"Still not allowed, aren’t we in this together?" Zhao Liulang said, about to go in, but when he turned around and saw the person sitting at the top, he froze, quickly realizing and bowing, "I didn’t know Madam Bai was here, my apologies."
Ms. Zheng smiled at him and said, "You all go play with Shanbao, I’m just here to watch."
Zhao Liulang looked at the dozen or so beautiful maids surrounding her, speechless for a long time, and thought, "You’re just here to watch?"
He smiled and retreated, pulling Bai Shan aside at the railing to ask, "So the rumors about the guest bringing over ten beautiful maids are true and that’s you guys?"
Bai Shan laughed, "It’s spread all the way to you? Doesn’t that mean most of the people at the racetrack know by now?"
Zhao Liulang: "Pretty much, yeah."
Bai Shan turned to Manbao and said, "Congratulations, you’ve achieved half your aim without even starting the match."
Zhao Liulang was puzzled, "What aim?"
"It was a bet driven by disgruntlement," Bai Shan laughed, "She’s competing out of spite and achieving her goal would make her happy."
Zhao Liulang pondered and recalled the recent rumors, then glanced at Bai Shan, "How is it her fighting out of spite, shouldn’t it be you?"
Bai Shan was taken aback, "What’s it got to do with me?"
"There’s talk outside that you won’t be able to hold up as a head of a family because your family maids are fighting over her, not over you."
Manbao exclaimed, "Oh? There’s more to the story?"
Bai Erlang chuckled, "That’s an interesting twist."
Bai Shan ignored them and changed the subject, "In the first match, you bet on Yu Jiang, who lost, did you bet on this match alone or did you also bet on Yu Jiang as the overall champion?"
Zhao Liulang was shocked and quickly looked down to see that the bell for the end of the match had already rung, and Wei Fengyuan had won.
He couldn’t help but stomp his foot, "How could Yu Jiang lose? Isn’t he known as the best polo player in Bingzhou?"
Nearby, Ma Run said, "Wei Fengyuan’s polo skills aren’t bad either. Even if he’s the best in Bingzhou, he has to kneel in the capital, right?"
Zhao Liulang couldn’t help but turn around to hit him, "Whose side are you on? Didn’t you also bet on Yu Jiang just now?"
Ma Run jumped back to dodge and laughed loudly, "I placed a bet on Yu Jiang in public, but privately, I went to another bookie and bet fifty taels on Wei Fengyuan."
Zhao Liulang: ...
Bai Shan couldn’t help but ask, "Where did you get so much money?"
Bai Erlang also recovered, "Yeah, where did you get so much money? By the way, you still owe me money."
Ma Run immediately said, "I don’t intend not to pay you back, it’s just because you’re not in the capital that I haven’t paid yet, but I won’t pay interest for this period."
Bai Erlang was stumped for a moment and then held out his hand, "Fine, then pay me the interest and principal from when I returned together."
Ma Run clapped his hand and said, "I don’t have it now, it’s all been bet, I’ll pay you after the match."
Bai Erlang didn’t mind, retracted his hand, and asked, "Where did you get so much money?"
Zhao Liulang said, "Don’t ask, it’s just past the new year, who doesn’t have money at hand? Besides, Ma Run’s uncle returned to the capital this year for his official duties, so he must have gotten quite a bit of New Year’s money."
Only then did Manbao and the others realize, "Right, New Year’s money, we didn’t seem to get any this year."
Zhao Liulang couldn’t help but look at her, "You’re already a fourth-grade official, and you’re still asking for New Year’s money? We’re only getting it because we’re still studying."
"That’s just laziness on your part. Even if you can’t become a civil official, you can still get a position as a guard, right?" Manbao said, "You’re all older than me, and you can get New Year’s money, why can’t I?"
She confidently said, "Last year, everyone still gave me New Year’s money."
Bai Erlang: "That’s right, last year, the Crown Prince, Senior Brother Tang, and Scholarly Senior Brother Yang all prepared New Year’s money for Manbao. How can they not give it this year?"
He mainly wanted it too.
