Chapter Eleven: The First Meeting with Cai Wenji

  "Old brother, your Wei family is a wealthy and influential one. I suppose there are many officials in the imperial court from your family?" Chen Chu's underlying implication was: Your Wei family is so rich, they must have bought many official positions for their younger generations. Actually, Chen Chu asking this question was quite abrupt, as these matters belonged to others' private affairs, how could he casually inquire about them? However, Chen Chu couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked anyway.

  "Wei Du didn't seem to mind, but he gave Chen Chu a strange look and said: "Younger brother, although our Wei family has money and can afford to take out tens of thousands of gold at once, it's not as rich as you think. Moreover, what we care about is making money, not official titles. Although if there are family members in the official circle who can help with the family business, this can be achieved through bribery, and the cost is much lower. So, no one in our Wei family has become an official."

  Chen Chu finally understood that the financial resources of the Wei family were not as rich and powerful as he had imagined. But then he raised another question, which was why the Wei family would store large amounts of money in a small county town like Le Ping? He thought back to when Wei Du had taken out 6,000 yuan to buy his two banknotes, according to what Wei Du had said, there were at least 50% of the Wei family's liquid assets stored in Le Ping! This didn't seem quite reasonable.

  Chen Chu was also engaged in business activities in his previous life, so he immediately guessed that the Wei family's actions had only one possibility, which was that the Wei family planned to make a big deal in Le Ping. But what exactly was this deal?

  Chen Chu couldn't continue to speculate about the surrounding areas of Le Ping County that he wasn't very familiar with. However, he didn't pursue the question further. Although others might not mind, one should still be aware of their own limitations.

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  Le Ping County is located in the northern part of Bianzhou, at the northern end of the Taihang Mountains, which was a very remote area at that time.

  A group of people traveled south along the official road, and Chen Chu was surprised to find that as they went further south, more refugees appeared. These refugees were in groups of thirty or fifty, or teams of over a hundred, mostly dressed in tattered clothes with pale faces, each person dragging their body listlessly.

  Chen Chu couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion: No wonder at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turbans rose up and it was impossible to stop them. Just looking at this scene of refugees, one can see how difficult life has become for the people.

  After walking on the official road for half a month, the magnificent Luoyang City finally appeared before our eyes.

  Looking at the majestic city gate tower, Chen Chu's eyes widened with excitement. ***! I finally saw the capital of the Han Dynasty! Compared to this, the ones in previous TV dramas were like toilets!

  Wei Du and his group were also excited, not because they had the same feelings as Chen Chu, but because they finally arrived safely in Luoyang. Along the way, except for Chen Chu, everyone else was on high alert, knowing that bandits were rampant now, and their dozen or so large carts were very eye-catching, if they were targeted by powerful bandits, the consequences would be unthinkable. Fortunately, the journey was smooth and uneventful.

  After entering Luoyang, Wei Du arranged for everyone to stay in a large guest house within the Wei family's estate, called the Welcome Inn. Chen Chu, since he was traveling with Wei Du and wasn't familiar with the place, also moved into this inn. However, all expenses were paid by Chen Chu himself, which was his insistence.

  After settling down, Wei Du prepared to go out and take care of some business. He then said to Chen Chu: "Younger brother, older brother has some business to attend to. Do you want to rest first or head to the Hongdou Gate immediately?"

  "Anyway, nothing's going on, I'll go take care of things first."

  "Alright then, let's go out together."

  Two people walked out of the inn, shuttling through the bustling streets. Although the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse at this time, the city of Luoyang still appeared to be very prosperous. Upon careful consideration, it's not surprising that those who could live in Luoyang were all of some value, and these people gathering together would naturally make Luoyang present a scene of prosperity.

  After about an incense stick's worth of time, the two arrived at the legendary street where high-ranking officials and nobles resided. Here, the flow of people was much sparser, with tall gates and deep courtyards lining both sides of the street, clearly indicating that the owners were no ordinary people.

  Suddenly a carriage with a light awning drove past from beside and stopped at the gate of a large mansion not far ahead.

  Chen Chu glanced unintentionally, and this glance stunned Chen Chu.

  Only a beautiful woman in a Luo skirt was seen walking down from the carriage with the support of her maid. She looked about 16 or 17 years old, with her hair styled in a cloud-like bun, her eyebrows resembling distant hills, and an absolutely beautiful face that still had a hint of youthful innocence, but her figure had already developed into a slender and charming shape that captivated people's hearts. What was most attractive, however, was the natural and effortless scholarly aura she emitted, which seemed to have a hypnotic power.

  Chen Chu stared blankly, until the absolutely beautiful girl disappeared from view and he still hadn't come back to his senses.

  Just then, Chen Chu suddenly felt someone patting him on the back.

  Chen Chu was startled and quickly turned around, but saw Wei Du looking at her with a ambiguous smile.

  Chen Chu was caught red-handed, so he just smiled and said nothing. He didn't feel embarrassed at all, thinking that it's only natural for men to look at women.

  He couldn't help but think of the beautiful woman with the book, and Chen Chu asked, "Old brother, who was that girl from just now? There's actually such a beauty in this world!", Chen Chu's tone was full of emotion, in his opinion, compared to this beautiful woman with the book, those so-called heavenly beauties of later generations were simply like aunties who swept toilets.

  "What's wrong, having a crush? Hehe, but you little guy probably don't have much chance. Cai Yong's daughter is the dream of countless young talents, and Cai Yong has very high requirements for his son-in-law. Only those with exceptional literary talent can catch his eye."

  When Chen Chu heard the two words "Cai Yong", he was suddenly stunned, and he didn't even take in what Wei Du said afterwards.

  Cai Yong!?! This is Cai Yong's daughter! Could she be Cai Wenji?! How is this possible?! Cai Wenji should still be a little girl, how did she become a beautiful young woman!!... Could it be that I've caused trouble by crossing over myself! Is it because this butterfly fluttered its wings and altered history!!! Cai Wenji was accelerated in growth because of me!!!

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