All the women in the Imperial Brothel were family members of convicted officials, implicated by the crimes of their fathers, brothers, or relatives. They were stripped of their families and fortunes and sent to the Imperial Brothel as punishment.
To redeem Zhou Miao Tong, you would need not only money but also a pardon letter from the Ministry of Justice or the Northern Garrison. Both were indispensable!
Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, he had begun to purge the eunuchs, resulting in a bloody purge in the capital.
Many wives and daughters of convicted officials were sent to the Imperial Brothel. One less Zhou Miao Tong was simply a matter of a stroke of the pen by a hundred-man commander of the Northern Garrison.
However, the bribe money was indispensable.
It was called a "writing fee"!
The current Ming Dynasty court was in chaos, with corrupt officials. No matter what you did, you needed money to pave the way.
Lu Jian Xing, a standard-bearer of the Imperial Guard, had been trying desperately to get promoted to a hundred-man commander, but he couldn't get promoted because he didn't have enough money.
If it had been the old Chen Ran, he wouldn't have dared to think about redeeming Zhou Miao Tong.
But now, Chen Ran was completely different!
The shining silver taels were still lying quietly in the system's space. Even after paying the madam one hundred taels and another two hundred as a deposit for the redemption, he still had more than nine thousand taels left.
As for the thousand-man commander's "writing fee", fifty taels would be enough!
Thinking of this, Chen Ran quickly headed for the Northern Garrison.
As he reached the gate of the Garrison, three men in flying fish uniforms approached him.
One of the three, a man with a sturdy build and a gloomy expression, was Shen Lian, the third brother!
The other two, one tall and thin with a solemn and serious expression, was Lu Jian Xing, the eldest of the sworn brothers.
The man beside him had handsome features but slightly pale skin, giving him the appearance of an invalid!
This man was Jin Yi Chuan, the youngest of the three.
Of the three brothers, Lu Jian Xing had just been transferred to the Northern Garrison.
Jin Yi Chuan had just killed a fellow Imperial Guard with the same name and impersonated him to get into the Imperial Guard.
Shen Lian, on the other hand, had just been released from prison after being implicated in Lu Wen Zhao's case.
The three brothers, all from poor families, had no connections in the Northern Garrison.
They saw that Chen Ran, although from a local Imperial Guard family, was a righteous and humble man, so they got along well with him.
Seeing Chen Ran, Shen Lian and the others showed a smile on their faces and cupped their fists in greeting:
“Brother Chen, aren't you off duty today? Why are you at the Garrison again?”
Chen Ran smiled slightly, returned the salute, and said:
“I have something to do today. I want to ask the thousand-man commander to write a pardon letter for me from the Imperial Brothel!”
Upon hearing this, Shen Lian and the others knew that Chen Ran was going to redeem Zhou Miao Tong.
Previously, Shen Lian had been implicated in Lu Wen Zhao's case and imprisoned, but later he was pardoned by Chongzhen and released from prison, all charges dropped. He returned to the Northern Garrison as an official, but was demoted from a hundred-man commander to a standard-bearer like Chen Ran.
Shen Lian was still in prison when Chen Ran was promoted to a flag bearer and invited him to dinner. By the time he was released from prison, Chen Ran and Zhou Miao Tong were already in love.
Therefore, at this time, Shen Lian had no thoughts about Zhou Miao Tong and was instead happy for Chen Ran's desire to redeem her.
Only Jin Yi Chuan and Lu Jian Xing felt a little down, one thinking about how he was always being extorted by his senior brother and still hadn't saved any money, the other thinking about how he wanted to be promoted to a hundred-man commander but didn't have enough money.
Shen Lian smiled and said:
“Brother Chen, are you going to redeem Miss Zhou? That's great! I didn't expect you to have saved enough money for redemption so quickly!”
Chen Ran chuckled and replied:
“To be honest, my late father left some savings, and I also got some help from Miss Zhou. I finally managed to gather enough!”
Unlike Shen Lian, Lu Jian Xing, and Jin Yi Chuan, Chen Ran was a native of the capital, and his family was an Imperial Guard family, so it was normal for him to have some savings.
And Zhou Miao Tong was an entertainer in the Imperial Brothel, so she naturally had some savings.
Chen Ran's words were reasonable and well-founded.
Shen Lian didn't suspect anything and said happily:
“Alright, let's go with you!”
Jin Yi Chuan also became excited:
“Yes, let's go together! You have to treat us three brothers to a good drink later!”
Seeing their genuine happiness for him, Chen Ran said:
“Of course! It's not just one drink. You guys won't be able to leave until you're drunk at my wedding tonight!”
Jin Yi Chuan couldn't help but widen his eyes in exaggeration:
“No way, Brother Chen, you're redeeming Miss Zhou today and entering the bridal chamber tonight?”
Chen Ran chuckled and said:
“We're all poor people. We don't need all those elaborate ceremonies like six traditional matchmakers, eight sedan chairs, and such. Just a few brothers having a good time and getting drunk together is good enough!”
Chen Ran did indeed look poor now. If he spent one thousand taels redeeming Zhou Miao Tong and then had a big wedding, many people would be suspicious of where he got so much money.
The other reason was that he was anxious to get married to complete the system's initial task and receive his task reward.
As for the grandeur of the wedding, that was all for show. Chen Ran didn't care at all!
Lu Jian Xing couldn't help but frown when he heard this:
“Brother Chen, Miss Zhou is a good person, but she's from the Imperial Brothel, are you really going to marry her?”
Lu Jian Xing was a little stubborn and conservative.
In his heart, he thought that although Chen Ran was down on his luck, he was still from an Imperial Guard family.
Marrying a woman from the Imperial Brothel seemed a little unseemly!
But Chen Ran chuckled and said:
“Brother Lu, you're wrong!”
“Miss Zhou is from the Imperial Brothel, but she is still a virgin. What's wrong with marrying her?”
“The women in the Imperial Brothel were once family members of high-ranking officials. If their fathers and brothers hadn't committed crimes, why would they end up marrying us Imperial Guards?”
“As for whether the crimes committed by their fathers and brothers are truly guilty, you know better than anyone else, Brother Lu, Brother Shen, and Brother Jin, right?”
Shen Lian, Jin Yi Chuan, and the others listened to Chen Ran's frank words. They were completely unbothered by Zhou Miao Tong's background as a woman from the Imperial Brothel. They instantly felt a sense of respect for him.
And Chen Ran's last sentence made Lu Jian Xing and the others feel a bit bitter.
The current Ming Dynasty was in chaos, with a power struggle between factions.
Many officials, in order to bring down their political enemies, resorted to framing and slander, even to the point of reversing right and wrong!
Many officials who were thrown into prison were not actually close confidantes of Wei Zhongxian. They were simply accused of being eunuch supporters because they had flattered Wei Zhongxian when he was in power!
Among them were some officials who were actually quite capable and even very honest, but simply wanted to survive in the political arena while Wei Zhongxian was in power!
As members of the Imperial Guard, Lu Jian Xing and the others knew better than anyone how many innocent people were in prison!
As for their families, who were sent to the Imperial Brothel, they were even more innocent than Dou E!
Thinking of this, Lu Jian Xing sighed:
“Such is life, there's nothing we can do!”
“Fortunately, Miss Zhou has met a man like Brother Chen, who values his feelings. It's a good thing for her!”
“Come on, let's go together to find the thousand-man commander. After redeeming Miss Zhou, we'll all go have a drink together!”
Shen Lian and Jin Yi Chuan, upon hearing this, also said happily:
“Good! We'll have the wedding and enter the bridal chamber tonight. Let's all get drunk together!”
together!”