Chapter 5: Master Hou's Transaction

  "In broad daylight, you still dare to rob me! I am the future Marquis, how dare you be so rude!" Liu Xin shouted angrily.

  Several family members looked at each other in dismay, not daring to step forward.

  "Hurry up and get your hands moving." The old man shouted loudly.

  Zhang's family servants rushed forward at the old man's command. Liu Xin saw this, his anger rising, and put the jade box lid into his bosom, took a stance, and began fighting with the family servants.

  Liu Xin learned the Qingcheng school's splitting fist, and it is said that his ancestor's ancestor could punch a branch as thick as a thumb from 20 meters away with one punch, while an even earlier predecessor could punch down a small tree 40 meters away with one punch. However, these are just legends, and no one has ever seen them. Liu Xin's master can extinguish nine candles two meters away, but after ten years of practice, Liu Xin can only extinguish one candle. Liu Xin has been in this world for twenty days now, and he understands that having good kung fu is more important than anything else in this era. He practices diligently every morning and evening, never slacking off, so these few house guards are no match for him, and they were quickly knocked to the ground with a few punches.

  "Take me to see Master Hou quickly!" The old man saw that things were not going well and turned around to run, but was caught by Liu Xin.

  "How dare you be rude!" A man in his fifties appeared from behind the side hall, wearing a crown with a black upper garment and a red skirt, with a sword hanging from his waist, his face as calm as water.

  Liu Xin was shocked by this person's aura and his hand involuntarily loosened. The old man quickly retreated to the side, lowering his head in silence.

  "Bring someone over and take them all away." The man waved his hand at the old man again. "You go down too."

  The newcomer stared at Liu Xin with both eyes, and Liu Xin was not afraid of him at all. He glared back at him, and neither of them spoke. For a moment, the atmosphere was very awkward.

  "What's this young man's name?" He asked after a moment, his face relaxing.

  "Down with Liu Xin, specially came to see Master Hou."

  "Oh, what can I do for you, Mr. Hou?"

  "So you are Lord Hou, I didn't recognize the great mountain and have been rude, please forgive me, Lord Hou." Liu Xin bowed deeply, but in fact, he had already figured out that this person was indeed Liu Chong, the Marquis of Ju's Nest.

  "Don't be polite, just say what you want."

  "The commoner has come for this. The commoner wants to see the box and lid match with his own eyes." Liu Xin took out the jade box lid from her bosom. In fact, Liu Xin was unwilling to let go of the jade box lid, making it clear that she did not trust Liu Chong.

  "Your surname is Liu, what's your father's name? Where did this thing come from?" Liu Chong saw the box cover, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.

  "My father Liu Jian, this thing is what Father gave me." Liu Xin saw some clues from the eyes of Liu Chong and that old man, and his confidence in matching success greatly increased.

  "Where is your father? What's your grandfather's name?"

  "My grandfather's name is Liu Kai, and my father passed away recently." Liu Xin thought of his adoptive father who had just met him for a day before passing away, and he didn't even have time to pay his respects, so he couldn't help but feel sad.

  "You must go in person to match, but do you know the consequences of not matching successfully?" Liu Chong saw Liu Xin mention his father, and his expression was sorrowful, not pretending, and he secretly thought, could it be that he is really my nephew?

  "No matter what, I'll be watching from the side." After the previous scene, Liu Xin not only still didn't trust Liu Chong, but also greatly increased his confidence in his own abilities. Humph, people of Eastern Han aren't that great anyway, at worst I can just fight my way out.

  "Alright, I have a condition before the box and lid can be matched." Liu Chong was obviously very confident that the box and lid could be matched.

  "What's the condition?" It turned out that this Liu Zhong was indeed not good-hearted, and the saying "there is no free lunch in the world" was a truth that had remained unchanged for thousands of years. In her heart, Liu Xin despised Liu Zhong once again.

  "The condition is, if the box and lid match, I will pass on the title of Marquis to you on the spot!"

  Liu Xin thought to himself, this is also a condition, and what a great condition it is. He couldn't help but look at Liu Chong with newfound respect.

  "But... " Ah, it turns out there's more to this, Liu Zhong is indeed not simple.

  "You must establish an heir!" Liu Zhong finally spoke out the core of the condition.

  "No way, what a joke. I haven't even given birth to a son yet." Liu Xin refused on the spot. She and Ma Yun were not yet husband and wife in reality, and even if they had been lucky enough to get pregnant immediately, they would have had to wait ten months, and besides, it was still unknown whether the baby would be a boy or a girl.

  "This is no longer your concern, I have already prepared the young master for you. If the box and lid match, you can hang up the title of Marquis, and don't worry about other things, I will give you a large sum of money again. What do you think?" Liu Chong finally spoke out his ultimate goal.

  "Good grief! After all that fuss, it turns out I'm just a nominal marquis! Whether the deal goes through or not is a tough question!"

  "You'd better think carefully. If you don't agree to this condition, you won't get anything. I'll give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn." Liu Zhong's expression was calm and confident of victory.

  "How much money can you give me?"

  "One million dollars!"

  "Alright, deal! But I also want to add a condition!" Liu Xin said without hesitation.

  "You also have conditions, okay, you say." Liu Chong looked at Liu Xin with some curiosity, what kind of condition could this kid possibly have?

  "My condition is - Bao, Duan, He, Quan, Gui, all belong to me!" Liu Xin said word by word.

  "Haha, what kind of condition is this? A treasure box is worth nothing. No problem, the box and lid match successfully, the treasure box belongs to you." Liu Chong couldn't help but burst out laughing, it was too easy, he had no idea that this treasure box carried Liu Xin's gratitude towards his adoptive father.

  "Now you come with me to the post house first, and see if the box and lid can be matched successfully. We'll discuss other things when we get back." Liu Zhong saw that the conditions were agreed upon, couldn't conceal his excitement, and without regard for his identity, pulled Liu Xin's hand and ran outside, shouting "Prepare the carriage, quickly!"

  Liu Chong pulled Liu Xin onto the horse-drawn carriage, and they set off under the escort of a large group of family servants. Along the way, neither of them spoke, Liu Xin felt somewhat nervous, while Liu Chong was somewhat excited.

  At the gate of the post house. A young eunuch came out and greeted in a shrill voice: "Your humble servant has seen Master Hou."

  "Yes, speak inside." Although eunuchs were in power at the time, Liu Chong was still a member of the imperial family of Han, and he didn't take this little eunuch seriously.

  Liu Xin looked up and saw that this was really a eunuch! Finally saw a eunuch, before only saw on TV, those were all actors dressed up, this is a real eunuch. Only to see the eunuch in his early twenties, appearance quite handsome, just skin slightly dark, chin indeed without a single whisker, not even a hint of stubble, with a raised finger!

  That eunuch saw Liu Xin staring at himself without stopping, somewhat displeased, and asked in a soft voice: "Your Lordship, who is this person?"

  "This man claims to be called Liu Xin, and brought a lid of a treasure box. Liu Xin, don't you hurry to pay respects to the master." The eunuch was also an inner official, so Liu Chong addressed him as "master".

  "Commoner Liu Xin has seen the Duke." Liu Xin stepped forward and paid his respects.

  "What did you call me?" The little eunuch was somewhat surprised.

  "Commoner Liu Xin has seen the emperor." Liu Xin had no choice but to bow again, muttering to himself that TV shows always called eunuchs like this, what was wrong with it.

  "Eunuch, eunuch, it's interesting. Haha, Master Hou, this way please." The eunuch said with a smile, leading the way in front.

  Upon entering the inn, a young eunuch waved his hand and a military officer-like person brought over a red cloth-covered plate. The young eunuch lifted the red cloth, revealing a lacquer box on the plate without a lid, with cloud dragon patterns, dot patterns, diamond patterns, and stone patterns drawn in black lacquer on a red background, exquisitely crafted.

  "These days, I don't know how many people have brought a box cover, but none of them can match it. Bring yours out too." The little eunuch glanced at Liu Xin.

  "Master, look." Liu Xin took out the lid of the silver box from her bosom and presented it with both hands.

  "Well, this thing does have some appearance. Master Hou, I'll try it out then." The little eunuch's face was filled with smiles as soon as Liu Xin called him "gong gong".

  "Ah, I also think it's a bit like that, so I brought him over personally." Liu Chong saw the snuff box again and added a few more points to his confidence.

  The little eunuch picked up the lid and pressed it onto the snuffbox.

  In an instant, the air seemed to solidify, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the little eunuch's hand, their hearts hanging in mid-air.

  All of a sudden, there was a "crack" sound, the lid and box matched perfectly, with patterns connected seamlessly without any difference. What's even more astonishing is that when the lid and box were put together, they couldn't be opened. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that a small black lacquer dot on the lid had bulged up slightly. The young eunuch gently pressed the bulging black dot with his hand, and again there was a "crack" sound, as the lid automatically popped open. Everyone present was stunned for a moment, indeed it was an unprecedented masterpiece of craftsmanship.

  "Congratulations, Master Hou! Congratulations, Master Hou. Master Hou has finally achieved his wish today. These two pieces are indeed a matching pair, and no matter how skilled the craftsman is, they cannot be fake." The little eunuch hurriedly congratulated Liu Chong, but then said to Liu Xin: "Although this box and lid match, it still can't prove that you are the descendant of Liu Kai!"

  Liu Chong was shocked upon hearing this and thought that the Emperor had clearly wanted to take back the fiefdom.

  Liu Xin was well-prepared and calmly said, "Your Honor, I also have a copy of the family tree that can prove my identity. The family tree is currently with my wife and I didn't bring it here. If Your Honor wants to see it, I'll go get it right away."

  Liu Zhong was secretly delighted, since there was a genealogy, even the emperor couldn't say anything.

  That little girl listened, but her expression was stunned, and she remained silent for a long time before saying: "Since there is a genealogy, it's not a big problem. However, I'm not in a hurry to see it now. The palace has spread the word that Lord Zhang wants to come to Ju Chao personally, and he will arrive tomorrow. You can bring the genealogy over tomorrow, and as for this treasure box, leave it at the post house for now, and wait until Lord Zhang verifies it himself before returning it to you."

  Liu Xin and Liu Chong heard the words of the little eunuch, and naturally they both knew that this Marquis Hou must be referring to Zhang Rang, who was at the head of the "Ten Constant Attendants".

  Liu Zhong felt uneasy in his heart and asked: "May I ask, sir, what important matter is it that Lord Zhang has personally come to Ju Chao?"

  That little eunuch said somewhat impatiently: "Zhang Houye has come here naturally to handle some matter, as for what kind of matter it is, it's not something that can be inquired about by someone like me. You two should go back first and wait until tomorrow morning when everything will become clear."

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