Seeing Chen Liang drunk, Shen Haiyan didn't say much. He passed the shelled shrimps to Shen Baozhu and said gently, "Baozhu, eat slowly."
Then he asked the waiter for a bucket of water and splashed it on the drunk Chen Liang to wake him up.
He grabbed Chen Liang by the back of his neck and dragged him to the corner. "Tell me everything clearly, or you'll die here."
Shen Baozhu was busy eating the chicken drumstick and shrimps. With Yan Mingli chatting beside her, she didn't notice the commotion in the corner.
But the Dragon King saw it clearly. He couldn't help but praise, "Look at Shen Haiyan, and then look at that fool. They're like heaven and earth!"
The Dragon King said, "But how does he know this Chen Liang is the one he's looking for?"
Lin Yu replied, "Baozhu's third brother probably doesn't know for sure. He's just suspicious, so he brought Chen Liang to the Drunken Ballad Tower for dinner and deliberately got him drunk to get information."
The Dragon King asked, "Get him drunk to get information?"
The True Man Qingyun said, "Just now the wine pot was placed beside Chen Liang. Neither Shen Haiyan nor Yan Mingli has the habit of drinking, and they're with Baozhu. Who do you think the wine was prepared for?"
Shen Haiyan, as Baozhu's third brother, who doted on her, would naturally not drink in front of the five - year - old. Yan Mingli and Shen Baozhu had similar tastes and both liked sweet things, avoiding the spicy wine.
The wine was naturally prepared for Chen Liang.
After learning that Shen Haiyan got Chen Liang drunk on purpose, the Dragon King sighed, "They're born of the same parents. How can Shen Haiyan be so smart?"
Then he asked, "What's he doing now?"
Seeing that Shen Baozhu was concentrating on eating and didn't look up, Lin Yu replied, "It seems he's threatening Chen Liang?"
Just as Lin Yu said, Shen Haiyan was indeed threatening Chen Liang.
Chen Liang was dazed when splashed with water. He instinctively wanted to resist, but was grabbed by the neck by Shen Haiyan. He said defiantly, "Tell you what? I don't need to tell you..."
Shen Haiyan exerted a little more force, and Chen Liang felt he couldn't breathe. The sense of suffocation came, and the instinct of survival made Chen Liang yield.
He begged Shen Haiyan, "I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything!"
Hearing this, Shen Haiyan didn't let go. Instead, he first broke Chen Liang's arms to ensure he couldn't cause any trouble, and then let him go.
When Chen Liang returned to the table again, cold sweat was pouring from his forehead and his whole body was shaking.
Just then, Shen Baozhu finished the chicken drumstick. She looked up and saw this scene. "Third brother, he's shaking. Is he sick?"
Chen Liang trembled even more. "No, no, no. I just like to shake. I like it."
Lin Yu said, "That's right, Baozhu. Don't learn from him. It's a bad habit."
Shen Baozhu noticed that Chen Liang was acting strange, but she trusted Lin Yu more. She believed it and began to lower her head to eat the shrimps.
Shen Haiyan nodded slightly at Yan Mingli, and the two began to interrogate Chen Liang.
In the past few days, Yan Mingli had been going to the South Wind Pavilion more often. He knew that most of the guests there were men, and these men were married with children. So he asked, "I've seen many people get married and have children. Why did your parents drive you out? Do you have other bad habits?"
"No! I just like to eat, drink and play and can't earn money. My parents drove me out because I can't get married and have children..." Chen Liang stammered out his situation. He liked men and was submissive during intimacy. He had no interest in women.
His parents had taken him to see many doctors and tried many folk remedies, but none of them worked. Later, they had a daughter after taking care of their health and drove out this useless son of theirs.
Yan Mingli gasped. Fortunately, they found out today, or Xu Yutang would have to be a widow!
Shen Haiyan's question was more direct. "What do you mean when you say the Xu family is coveting Xu Yutang's dowry mansion? This mansion was given to Xu Yutang as a dowry by the Xu family. They could just not give it. Why covet it?"
The Dragon King said, "If I remember correctly, Little Bitter Gourd said the mansion was left by her mother. Could it be that it was left by her mother?"
Chen Liang smiled bitterly. "This mansion wasn't given to Xu Yutang by the Xu family. It was her mother's mansion."
"Xu Yutang was sent to a high pavilion to live with her aunt when she couldn't even walk. Later, this aunt got married, and she lived alone in the high pavilion."
"Her mother felt sorry for her and left most of her dowry to Xu Yutang and recorded it in the government. But Xu Yutang's elder brother, Xu Yusong, had already regarded the dowry as his own and had been coveting it for a long time."
Chen Liang didn't know about this at first. But after he got engaged to Xu Yutang, the Xu family, especially Xu Yusong, always lent him money. They were even more generous than his parents!
This abnormal behavior made Chen Liang suspicious, so he privately asked the servants of the Xu family.
Chen Liang liked to enjoy life and buy some delicious food. In the past, he would eat half a roasted goose for several days. But since Xu Yusong lent him money, he always bought a whole one. He would eat his favorite parts and distribute the rest to the servants of the Xu family. After all, he had money in his hand and could buy fresh food whenever he wanted.
After getting along for some time, he got on good terms with the servants and really found out the truth.
Chen Liang said sadly, "The Xu family is really vicious. Xu Yutang is their own daughter of the direct line. How could they try to settle it with only three hundred taels of silver!"
Three hundred taels of silver was a lot for Chen Liang, but for Chen Liang who was engaged to Xu Yutang, it was too little.
Just the small two - courtyard mansion of Xu Yutang in the capital was worth one thousand and five hundred taels. Three hundred taels was not even a fraction of the mansion's value!
Shen Haiyan asked again, "How did you persuade Magistrate Xu?"
This question stumped Chen Liang.
He was silent for a while and then told the truth. "I didn't do anything."
After being driven out of his home, Chen Liang's life was really hard. He had no special skills. His grandfather had taught him how to cook, but Chen Liang was half - hearted and didn't learn it well. The only useful thing was the recipe he could recite backwards.
This was forced by his grandfather.
In order to get some silver, Chen Liang started to sell the recipe. He sold it to a big restaurant in the city.
One day, someone suddenly came to find Chen Liang and said that the magistrate wanted to see him.
Magistrate Xu asked where the recipe came from. Chen Liang told the truth. Then Magistrate Xu said that he knew Chen Liang's grandfather and they were old friends. Before Chen Liang could react, Magistrate Xu had arranged a marriage between him and Xu Yutang.
Yan Mingli said angrily, "You should have told Magistrate Xu that you like men and asked him to cancel the marriage!"
Chen Liang didn't say a word. He knew very well that everything he had now was thanks to this marriage. If he told the truth, would Xu Yusong still lend him money?
The Dragon King said, "What on earth is Magistrate Xu thinking? Even if he's not satisfied with his granddaughter's large dowry, he can't push her into the fire pit!"
After hearing Chen Liang's description, Shen Haiyan said in a deep voice, "This marriage can't be annulled for now. With Chen Liang in front to block, Xu Yutang can still live a few peaceful days. If the marriage is cancelled, the Xu family will try every means to take Xu Yutang home and arrange another marriage for her."
While Shen Haiyan and Yan Mingli were discussing countermeasures, Shen Baozhu beside them also finished the shrimps in her bowl. She quietly pricked up her ears and listened to the conversation at the table.