Chapter One: The Sentimental Saint

  "Master... Master, you're done for! You've been eating, drinking, whoring and gambling in Suzhou. Let's see how you explain yourself when you get home this time."

  “……”

  "Master... Master, Madam said that if you don't change your ways, Sir will have to drive you out of the house."

  “……”

  The little girl carried a bundle on her back, chattering away, with a pair of bright and sparkling eyes staring at the young master walking in front of her, muttering to herself.

  These seven or eight days following the young master on a distant journey were the most painful moments for Xiaoxiang. The young master's bad habits had not changed, and as soon as he left home, he was like a bird out of its cage, either going to brothels or sneaking into gambling dens. In just three days, all his money was spent, and he even accumulated a large amount of debt. Just two days ago, the young master, perhaps afraid that he would not be able to return home to explain himself, suddenly fell ill with a serious illness, but then suddenly recovered overnight, and made a decision - to go back home!

  The young master in front, wearing a Confucian robe with a sword-shaped eyebrow and a high nose, was none other than Hao Fenglou, the only son of the Hao family. The Hao family was a wealthy and influential family in Songjiang Prefecture, and their ancestors had produced many notable figures.

  He ignored Xiaoxiang's scolding and was now depressed because he had somehow crossed over to a strange place, where he met someone who looked exactly like him and shared the same name, Hao Fenglou.

  After a few days of adaptation, he roughly knew the family background of this Hao Gongzi, who was a thoroughbred spoiled son. Hao Feng Lou did not reject spoiled sons, in fact, as the 18th generation single-transmitted disciple of the Sentimental Saint, his goal was to take spoiled sons to the extreme.

  Unfortunately, this young master's spoiled level has no technical content at all, and even the spoiled can't come up with any tricks, which makes Hao Feng Lou very headache.

  Fortunately, this person's identity is not bad, at least the family background is solid, and he is a young master. Hao Fenglou thinks this is a great advantage. However... At this time, it was the third year of Jianwen, and even if Hao Fenglou was a historical fool, he knew that the Jingnan campaign had already started, and the Prince of Yan had led his army south to Nanjing.

  Is this considered a chaotic world? But although it's a chaotic world, why is everything peaceful and harmonious in Songjiang Prefecture? Hao Fenglou watched the residents coming and going, and couldn't help but think to himself: "Can't you give the young Emperor Jianwen some face? His uncle is about to arrive, and you're still smiling? Be more serious!"

  It was autumn at the time, with a cold wind blowing and yellow leaves falling from the trees by the road. It had been drizzling for days, and the air was filled with a damp, earthy smell. Fortunately, Songjiang was a big city in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, so even on such a cold winter day, the streets were still crowded with people.

  Hao Feng Lou stopped in front of a large mansion based on the memories of this body's owner.

  The house occupies a large area of land and is located in the lush area of Songjiang. Through the gaps between the branches that stretch out from behind the courtyard wall, you can still see the high attic and the layered roof inside.

  Hao Feng Lou fanned himself with a fan, full of enthusiasm, and couldn't help but say: "What a great atmosphere."

  Enduring all sorts of fantasies, he went to knock on the door. The gatekeeper opened the door a crack and poked his head out. This gatekeeper was an old servant of the Hao family, named Hao Wu. Haofenglou had some impression of him.

  Hao Wu Yi saw Hao Feng Lou and exclaimed with a surprised face: "Young Master is back? Didn't he go to Suzhou Academy to study? Ah... Young Master, please come in quickly, it's windy outside. San Er, didn't you go inform Old Master and Madame?"

  San'er is Hao Wu's son, Kong Wu has strength and a strong body. The old master was a slave in the Hao family, his son inherited his father's career, now he is also responsible for the task of guarding the door. As soon as he heard the old master's call, he rushed to the inner courtyard like a gust of wind.

  Hao Feng Lou walked in, fanning himself as he sized up his future estate. The dark grey brick walls, the massive wooden pillars, the three courtyards, and the dozens of rooms on either side were all divided into inner and outer yards by a moon gate. Behind the screen wall was a sky well. Hao Feng Lou roughly estimated that such an estate would be worth over 100 million in the modern era, especially if it were located in a bustling downtown area. "Ah, being a local tyrant isn't bad at all," he thought to himself, "and neither is crossing over into this world - I get to pick up a freebie like this."

  Xiao Xiang followed him in, but suddenly poured a basin of cold water on Hao Feng Lou: "Young master, the old man will break your legs, but... I'm hungry now, I'll go to the kitchen to see if there's anything to eat."

  "Leave me a copy, thank you." Hao Fenglou found that his stomach was also growling.

  Xiao Xiang made a face at him: "Young master has a wooden board to eat." After speaking, she bounced and jumped with her hands behind her back, looking like a little adult, and walked away with a swagger.

  Hao Feng Lou smiled wryly. This little girl had taken good care of him all along the way, but her mouth never conceded, not looking like a maid at all.

  Hao Fenglou strode into the courtyard with a nonchalant air, fanning himself.

  Arriving at the flower hall in the backyard, Hao San made a ghostly face to him: "Young master, the old master and madam are waiting inside, please go in and talk."

  Hao Fenglou put away the fan and felt good for now. In his past life, he was an orphan who grew up with his master since childhood. Although he had no experience of being with his parents, as a romantic saint, he still had plenty of confidence. He eagerly stepped across the threshold, but before he could see the faces of these cheap father and mother, he heard a loud roar: "You wicked child, you dare to come back! You useless thing, kneel down!"

  Hao Feng Lou was taken aback, and then he saw the furious old man Hao Zheng. Hao Zheng had a dignified appearance, with a square face and a beautiful beard, but his eyes seemed to be devouring people, and at this moment, they were staring fiercely at Hao Feng Lou.

  Sitting beside him was Mrs. Hao, who looked slightly uneasy and had a heart-wrenching expression on her face. She was the mother of Haofeng Building. The complex emotions of love and hate for not being able to make steel out of iron all flashed across Mrs. Hao's face.

  "What evil deed did I commit in my past life that I gave birth to a thing like you? You wretched creature, how dare you still stand there?"

  Facing Hao Zheng's sternness, Hao Feng Lou felt embarrassed. Wasn't he just a bit spoiled? Must it be like this? Moreover, according to his memory, the family rules of the Hao family were not very strict. After all, he was the only child of the Hao family, and whether it was Hao Zheng or his wife, they both doted on him extremely. Usually, no matter what mistakes he made, at most, he would just be scolded and that's it. But today's severity was a first.

  Hao Fenglou hesitated for a moment, then knelt down on the ground and said obediently: "I know I was wrong."

  Originally, a boy had gold under his knees, but Hao Feng Lou had replaced someone's son after all. From now on, this pair of emotionally excited parents in front of him would be Hao Feng Lou's parents too. Kneeling down wouldn't hurt either.

  "You said it, you were wrong!" Hao Zhengsheng's anger had not dissipated, and he glared at Hao Fenglou with a fierce gaze. The lady sitting beside him couldn't bear to look at him, so she turned her face away.

  Hao Feng Lou felt bitter in his heart, originally that Hao surname was quite straightforward, eating and drinking and whoring and gambling, but he had shifted all these troubles onto himself. Hao Feng Lou's eyes rolled around, sincerely saying: "The child shouldn't be idle and not doing what they should do, even more shouldn't be...".

  Before Hao Fenglou finished speaking, Hao Zheng cut him off in a rage: "You only know now? It's too late! Hmph, your actions have already been heard by the Lu family. Yesterday, they sent someone to cancel your engagement with Miss Lu. Good grief, after generations of friendship, it ends here with you, and our reputation is ruined. Do you know how important the Lu family is to us? We rely on them for everything. Now look at you, you ungrateful son!"

  Hao Zhengqi's anger was not light, he pounded his chest and stomped his feet, later on, even speaking became vague.

  Madam Hao's embroidered eyebrows were furrowed even deeper, and it was clear that she also had some hidden worries about this.

  Hao Feng Lou suddenly remembered that the Lu family and the Hao family had been friends for generations. His grandfather, Hao Feng Lou, was once the prefect of Ying Tian Fu, while the Lu family were hereditary earls. Although they came from different backgrounds, their relationship was extremely good. At that time, when Hao Feng Lou was born, they had already agreed to form an alliance through marriage with the Lu family.

  But later on, Old Man Hao passed away, and the Hao family gradually declined. The Lu family remained prosperous as ever. Originally, the Lu family didn't look down on them, and the two families still socialized. However, recently this young master Hao's character has been too rotten, and his scandals of eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling couldn't help but spread to Zhenjiang. As a result, the Lu family couldn't bear it anymore. This Miss Lu was also the apple of the Lu family's eye, so naturally they couldn't tolerate their daughter marrying such a scoundrel. Finally, a few days ago, they sent someone over to cancel the engagement.

  Hao Zheng couldn't bear it, the only child in the family was like this, and his son was useless. However, it didn't matter, at least there was a good daughter-in-law. It was said that the future daughter-in-law was beautiful, intelligent, and knowledgeable about books, deeply understanding the Lu family's traditions. Who knew, even the daughter-in-law was gone.

  Hao Feng Lou finally knew why Old Master was so furious today. The resentment that had been building up for years finally erupted over the engagement with the Lu family.

  "You beast, how did I treat you in the past? You actually committed such a sin. Our Hao family's face has been completely lost. Now that you know your mistake, what's the use of knowing it? Can Miss Lu come back?" Mr. Hao's lips trembled with anger.

  Hao Fenglou didn't have much of a sense of identification in his heart. The great romantic, was he really worried about not being able to find an old lady? Moreover, with the Hao family's vast business empire, what kind of chick couldn't be found? It seemed that Old Master Hao had some narrow-minded thoughts, obviously wanting to hang himself on one tree. Hao Fenglou really wanted to tell him not to just look at one tree, but to have a broader vision and take in the entire forest. However, he didn't dare say these words, as the other person was still fuming, saying such things would be asking for death, and Hao Fenglou didn't want to die.

  Madam Hao finally relented: "Old master, this matter, see if there's still room for maneuver, why not go to the Lu family and ask for mercy? Lou'er is young and ignorant after all. What's the use of scolding him like that?" She said, her eyes brimming with tears, and took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

  Hao Fenglou's heart softened, he had no parents since childhood, only a master, but his master was a man after all, without maternal love. Today, seeing Mrs. Hao in tears, he felt a pang of sadness and hastily said: "Yes, why don't I go to Zhenjiang to plead for mercy, see if there's still room for redemption? Just hope Father won't be angry, Mother won't be heartbroken."

  Hao Zheng's face slightly eased up a bit, he seemed to appreciate Hao Feng Lou's sincere apology attitude, at least this was unprecedented before.

  Just then, gatekeeper Hao Wu hastily came over and carefully said: "Master, madam... there is a visitor outside."

  Hao Zheng's face regained its composure, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said solemnly: "Who is visiting? Could it be someone from the Lu family returning once again?"

  Hearing this, Madame Hao also ignited hope, and a hint of expectation flashed across her beautiful eyes.

  Hao Wu hesitated and said: "Th...th...this..."

  "What's going on? Speak plainly!" Hao Zheng asked in a rage.

  Hao Wu cried and laughed, saying: "He's from Suzhou, claiming to be here on behalf of Lihongyuan to collect debts. He said that the young master had stayed at Lihongyuan for three days and owed over 400 taels of silver, and they've come to demand payment..."

  Hao Zheng's face suddenly fell, and his eyes, which had already softened a bit, suddenly became fierce: "Get out, get out! From now on, the Hao family doesn't have you as a disobedient son. I, Hao Zheng, would rather die without an heir than want you, this useless thing. Hao Wu, what are you still standing there for? Throw this scoundrel out, and from now on, never let him set foot in the Hao family's door again!"

  Hao Feng Lou had a premonition that he was going to be tragic, his heart was bleeding, what... rhythm, it turned out that Hao Feng Lou was indeed a pit, big brother, you ate and cleaned up, can you leave some soup for your little brother?

  It's your personal interest issue, but why do you want to owe money?