I m the Farmgirl You Can t Mess With - Chapter 1393: Side Story: Fan Zijin (9)
Chapter 1393: Side Story: Fan Zijin (9)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Fan Zijin did not let Qi Haoran escape from the Qi Residence using his martial arts. Instead, he spent a lot of effort to bribe the servants of the Qi Residence to turn a blind eye and let him slip out.
Highly dissatisfied with this, Qi Haoran asked, “I could have snuck out quietly. Why leave such a long trail behind?”
Fan Zijin only had a fan in his hand. At this moment, he tapped his palm with the handle of the fan and said proudly, “We’re just two teenagers. How can we not leave any traces when we run away from home? What if he reports your death to the government office? Besides, it’s better for you to hide your abilities. Now is not the time to show them off.”
He sneered and said, “Otherwise, the enemy might become wary of you. Your martial arts are your trump card and you shouldn’t show it easily.”
Many people in the capital knew that Qi Haoran was practicing martial arts, but in general, martial arts was just martial arts. If one had the ambition to join the army, they would also have to learn horsemanship. Very few children of officials would learn the profound martial arts of the martial arts world.
That was because not only did it require talent, but it also required great perseverance and a vast amount of time and energy. That kind of martial arts was usually suited for one-on-one battles and not suitable for the battlefield.
Therefore, very few people would learn it, let alone meditate for ten years to cultivate internal energy. If they had the time, they might as well practice riding skills or read a few more military books.
It was just that Qi Haoran had a one-track mind. Ever since he set his goal at the age of three, he had been meditating and practicing martial arts every day.
Everyone only thought that Qi Haoran was practicing boxing techniques and saber techniques that were suitable for the battlefield like Qi Xiuyuan. They did not know that his most powerful skills were actually his internal energy and qinggong.
Fan Zijin scanned him from head to toe and asked with a frown, “Where’s our money? Don’t tell me you forgot to bring it with you? If you really forgot, you have to go back quietly and get it for me.”
Qi Haoran chuckled and patted his chest. “How could I have forgotten? It’s already wrapped in oil paper and placed here.”
Fan Zijin heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he said with a frown, “Where are the few large silver ingots? We can’t leave them behind. Since it’s a long journey from the capital to Xingzhou Prefecture, we have to prepare more money.”
Qi Haoran waved his hand casually and said, “Don’t worry, I have enough money.”
Fan Zijin looked at him suspiciously. He knew that his money only totaled about 150 taels while Qi Haoran definitely did not have much money on him, perhaps less than five taels.
150 taels might sound like a lot, but the capital was too far from the north, and the road was too chaotic. It might not even cover the duo’s travel expenses, so they had to scrimp and save.
Qi Haoran pulled him into the alley and took out three large silver ingots from his sleeve. Fan Zijin recognized that he had given these ingots to him yesterday.
Then, he took out a thick oil paper bag from his pocket and opened it to reveal a thick stack of banknotes. Other than Fan Zijin’s small banknotes which had face values of ten taels and 20 taels, there were banknotes of higher face values underneath, mostly 100 taels and 50 taels. The last banknote actually had a face value of 1,000 taels.
Fan Zijin’s eyes widened. He swallowed his saliva and asked, “Where did this money come from?”
“My and Big Brother’s,” Qi Haoran said smugly.
“Nonsense.” Fan Zijin did not believe him at all. “If you had this money, would you have kept it until now? Tell me honestly, where did it come from?”
“It’s mine and Big Brother’s.” Qi Haoran snorted. “More than half of the Qi Residence’s assets belong to me and Big Brother. What’s wrong with me taking some money in advance?”
“Did you take from the Qi family treasury?” Fan Zijin glared at him.
“Our family treasury doesn’t have so much silver. This was taken from Madam Wu’s room. I counted last night—there’s a total of more than 50,000 taels. It’s probably all the cash in our Qi Residence.”
Fan Zijin immediately rolled up the banknotes and stuffed them into his arms. He said solemnly, “We have to leave quickly. Let’s buy a horse and escape now.”
He did not expect Qi Haoran to take from the Qi Residence, much less so much money. The Qi Residence would definitely not let this matter rest.
If only Qi Haoran was missing, based on Fan Zijin’s understanding of his uncle, he would most likely just shelve the matter temporarily. He would think that Qi Haoran would naturally come back after suffering outside and not bother to search for him.
However, if all the money in the house was missing, his uncle would definitely be furious. At that time, it would not be as simple as chasing Haoran back. Even if he did not die, he would suffer greatly for it.
Fan Zijin glared at him resentfully and said, “You could’ve just taken a few banknotes. Why did you take all of them?”
Qi Haoran pouted and said, “The Qi Residence has plenty of money. Big Brother and I are merely taking this bit.”
“Are you really planning to only take this money and give up all the other assets?”
Qi Haoran snorted. “Well, I’d love to receive my share, but can he bear to split the assets? Big Brother and I are the legitimate sons, but other than five taels of silver a month, what else do we get from the Qi Residence? Meanwhile, Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai are illegitimate children, yet they can take as much money as they want from the accountant.”
Fan Zijin coughed lightly and said, “You spend as much as they do every month. Don’t those merchants come to ask Uncle for money?”
Speaking of which, Qi Haoran spent a lot. Sometimes, he would easily squander a thousand taels of silver just like that, an amount that was almost equivalent to a year’s expenses for the Qi Residence. Every time, Qi Feng would be so angry that he almost vomited blood.
However, as his father, he could not refuse to pay up. If he hit Qi Haoran, he’d run away from home. If he scolded him, it’d just go into his left ear and straight out of his right ear.
Although Qi Haoran only received a monthly allowance of five taels, he could always find a shop that was willing to let him put it on credit. He would first take the items and then ask the shopkeeper to look for Qi Feng to collect the payment.
At that time, Fan Zijin was the one who came up with this idea for Qi Haoran. It couldn’t be helped. Who asked Uncle to be so stingy and almost bully Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran to death?
However, he did not expect Haoran to be so determined to punish his uncle, making a large purchase every two months to agitate him.
As Fan Zijin thought of his uncle’s pained expression over the few hundred taels of silver, he touched the banknotes that he was holding to his chest and said, “I think Uncle will definitely vomit blood from anger this time.”
Qi Haoran felt guilty for a moment before looking up and snorting softly.
Fan Zijin had originally planned to hire a carriage to travel. He had gotten Yanmo to ask around and knew that it would cost about 20 taels of silver. However, since they had enough money now, he simply waved his hand and bought a horse each with Qi Haoran.
He spent more than 160 taels in one go. Later facts proved how wrong his decision was.
The two youths, who had never traveled far before, left the capital on two horses with a stack of banknotes in their arms. When they started feeling hungry, they realized that they were in the wilderness and there was no one around. If there was no one around, it meant that there was nothing to eat.
The two youths looked at each other as they rode on their horses. In the end, Qi Haoran raised his hand and said, “I’ll go hunt and we’ll roast the meat?”
“Did you bring your bow and arrow?” Fan Zijin asked.
Qi Haoran widened his eyes and looked back at him. “You didn’t say that we were going to hunt by ourselves…”
