Chapter Sixty-Seven [V] Xue Erlang Helps Others to the End...

After Li Yan and the Xue family left, the elderly Han couple and Han Yue and his wife also hurriedly said goodbye.

The other neighbors from the same alley also clasped their hands in farewell. Soon, the once lively courtyard fell silent.

Although Li Shangping had drunk a lot, he was only about 60-70% drunk at this point, not completely passed out. Seeing that everyone else had left, he quickly ran back into the house.

The house contained Lin's dowry, and in the box with three locks, there was also a list of Lin's dowry.

This list was, of course, notarized by the government. Since Madam Lin's passing, he had been carefully managing these belongings for her.

But now, the dowry is still there, only the dowry list is missing.

Fearing she might have misremembered the location, she began searching inside and outside the house. In the end, she searched until the house was in complete disarray, but still couldn't find the dowry list.

It vanished as if it had grown wings.

Li Shangping finally collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, his face filled with disbelief: "How is this possible?" he muttered to himself, "It was right here, how could it be gone?" He always carried the three keys to the lock with him, confident that they had never left his side. And he checked the lock every day, never finding any signs of it being pried open.

But how... how could the dowry list have disappeared without a trace?

Li Shangping couldn't understand it.

As Li Shangping frantically searched the house, Yue Shi followed behind him. Seeing that there was so much gold and silver jewelry in the box, her eyes gleamed with greed, and she naturally began to plot against it.

"Master, are you really going to return all of these?" Madam Yue was unwilling.

Li Shangping glanced at her coldly: "Second Madam has her mother's dowry list in her hand, and that list has been notarized by the government. If she really takes that dowry list to the yamen to sue me, not only will I still have to return it all, but I might also get a beating. So tell me, should I return it or not?"

Madam Yue said, "Although she has the list, with so many items, who can keep track of what might go missing, even if a few or a dozen items are lost? If it comes to court, just say that too much time has passed and you can't remember. Anyway, the items are all there, and since you don't have the dowry list, you don't know what's in them."

Yue's words reminded Li Shangping, and Li Shangping's eyes suddenly lit up.

Madam Yue continued to flatter him, saying, "Master, I don't ask you to consider me or Jiaojiao, but you have to consider Zong'er, right? Zong'er is your only son, the root of your family line. Whether it's the eldest or second wife, once they're married, they're outsiders. But Zong'er will marry and have children to continue our family line. He's one of us. This money should be left to him."

Madam Yue also knew that it was no longer possible to force Jiaojiao to keep her things.

Moreover, the Han family also said that even if Jiaojiao has no dowry, the Han family will treat her as before.

Since that's the case, why not just let go of Jiaojiao and say some nice things to him so that he'll focus on Zong'er's well-being?

To further solidify his resolve to focus on Zong'er's well-being, Yue Shi proactively added, "I will go and get back what I gave to Auntie."

Seeing that she would go and get back her aunt's dowry, Li Shangping felt guilty and sighed deeply, "Today's situation really made my aunt feel wronged. When you go tomorrow, be sure to comfort her and don't let the child be too sad."

Yue's eyes were cold, but when her husband looked at her, she immediately put on a smile.

.

After returning home, Li Yan sincerely thanked Xue Yi.

"Thank you so much for speaking up for me in front of Scholar Han today." Li Yan's attitude was extremely sincere.

In reality, whether Xue Yi helped or not wouldn't have affected the outcome in the slightest. She could have handled Han Xiucai on her own.

But by helping her, he was supporting her, at least making it seem like he, the newly returned husband, would protect his wife.

Although it was all just an act, it looked different to outsiders.

Moreover, this is a mess, and most people wouldn't want to get involved.

The fact that he stood up for her in that situation was enough for her to sincerely thank him at this moment.

Seeing the couple talking, Aunt Xue, with her keen perception, quickly led Yue'er out. Only the young couple remained in the main room.

"There's nothing to thank me for." Xue Yi didn't take it seriously. In that situation, he couldn't possibly stand by and watch her fight alone.

Besides, she was at least his wife in name only.

"If they don't return everything within three days, are you really going to go to the yamen to file a complaint?" Xue Yi was quite curious whether she was just saying it as a threat or if she really intended to do it.

“Of course,” Li Yan smiled. “I have irrefutable evidence, why shouldn’t I sue? What feelings do I have to speak of with them?” If there were even one normal person in that family, she would have shown some leniency.

But none of that family members were normal.

Including the original owner's stepsister, Li Jiaojiao, the female protagonist of the book "My Lucky Koi Wife," she is no pushover either.

Seeing the resentment and hatred in her expression today, she knew that the two of them would probably not even be able to maintain a semblance of peace from now on.

But it doesn't matter, it's not her fault. She doesn't need to deliberately flatter and fawn over the female protagonist just because she's the one in the book.

Li Yan also took the opportunity to tell him, "I've had countless arguments with them, and we know each other's temperaments very well. We've even been to court before." Then, she told Xue Yi about how, when she was still selling drinks at her stall, Yue Shi had hired someone to poison her drinks.

Xue Yi was shocked upon hearing this: "What deep-seated hatred? If it weren't for the murder of a relative, would it be worth resorting to such despicable means?"

Even if there is a blood feud involving the murder of a relative, one should report it to the authorities instead of resorting to such despicable means.

Li Yan explained the reason: "Because at that time I asked someone to help me get Xu Ge'er into Xiaochun School, which happened to take the place of my half-brother, my stepmother held a grudge and that's why she did such a dirty thing."

Li Yan gave a normal explanation and did not deliberately say these things to Xue Yi in order to gain any credit.

But when Xue Yi heard that it was about Xu Ge'er, he couldn't help but show a look of guilt and gratitude.

"If anyone should be thanking someone, it should be me thanking you." During the time he was away, it was fortunate that she was there for his mother, and she fulfilled his filial duties to her in his place.

Xue Yi dared not imagine how heartbroken and desperate his mother must have been when she learned that he had "died in battle." Her presence, at least, brought hope to his mother's life.

Li Yan chuckled sheepishly, hesitated for a moment, and then asked him to do her another favor.

"Then... could you do me another favor?"

"What kind of help?" Xue Yi asked.

He would go through fire and water for anything that wasn't illegal, such as murder or arson.

Li Yan knew this was a difficult favor, but it seemed she had no other choice but to trouble him. So, she could only smile apologetically and say, "Knowing them as I do, they certainly won't willingly hand over everything. If they only give us half and then claim ignorance of the rest… that would be really troublesome. So…"

"So you want me to help you secretly observe their actions so you can find out where they've hidden the stolen gold and silver jewelry?" Xue Yi said next.

Li Yan: "That's right." Then she apologized, "I'm so sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

With Xue Yi's skills, this wasn't much of a problem.

Xue Yi was a man of honor who always repaid kindness, so he agreed without hesitation.

"Then I'll go right away." Xue Yi was very proactive; having agreed, he naturally got to work quickly.

Watching his tall figure gradually disappear into the dark night, Li Yan felt quite embarrassed.

Before Xue Yi returned, Li Yan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In bed, Aunt Xue and Yue'er were already fast asleep, both snoring softly. Afraid that her tossing and turning would disturb the grandmother and granddaughter's sleep, Li Yan quietly got out of bed, put on her clothes, and went directly to the main room outside.

Aunt Xue didn't ask why her son had suddenly left again after returning home. Since she didn't ask, Li Yan didn't explain either.

It was late at night, and the dew was heavy. Although it was summer, the night was still quite cool. The main room had no door, and Li Yan, wearing a coat, sat inside, feeling a deep chill.

Time passed slowly, and Li Yan found it unbearable.

It was almost midnight when they heard noises coming from outside the courtyard.

Seeing this, Li Yan immediately walked towards the dark cave outside.

Xue Yi knew that at this hour, his family would definitely be asleep. So he opened the door very quietly.

But he didn't expect that even with such gentle movements, he would still wake up Mrs. Li.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, Li was seen standing inside, holding an oil lamp.

Xue Yi was startled, then bolted the courtyard gate and turned to look at her: "Did I wake you up?"

Li Yan shook her head: "I can't sleep without you coming back." Thinking that it was too damp outside, she quickly invited him in, "Let's talk inside." Then, holding the oil lamp in one hand, she reached out and tugged at his sleeve with the other.

Li Yan didn't think much of it; she just wanted to pull him inside as quickly as possible. But Xue Yi's gaze fell on her hand tugging at his sleeve.

Xue Yi didn't pull his sleeve back, letting her hold it. Once inside the house, she released her grip, and Xue Yi, to hide his unease, tucked the area she had grabbed behind his back.

Fearing that talking in the main room would disturb Aunt Xue and her two grandchildren's sleep, Li Yan didn't take Xue Yi to the main room to talk, but instead went to the kitchen.

"Well? Did you see them hiding anything?" Li Yan asked anxiously as soon as she entered the kitchen.

As expected, Li knew her father and stepmother well. When he went to the Li family's house, he secretly observed them by removing a tile from the roof. Sure enough, he saw the couple hiding silver and jewelry.

“I saw it.” Xue Yi nodded.

He shouldn't have lingered until now, but he was also afraid that the couple would hide somewhere else again. He thought that since he had already helped Li, he should help her to the end and not give up halfway. So, he waited a little longer.

He didn't return until late at night, after the couple had long since fallen into a deep sleep.

"That's great!" Li Yan clapped her hands.

Li Yan thought that if she was going to do something, she should do it to the best of her ability.

Based on that family's character, she didn't want to let them take advantage of her for even a penny.

Li Yan thanked Xue Yi again, and Xue Yi said it was nothing, so the two went back to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, when Li Yan got up, Xue Yi was nowhere to be found at home.

Li Yan then remembered that he had already used up his three-day leave and had to rush back to Jiangning Prefecture early this morning.

Actually, if he hadn't helped her with this yesterday, he should have left last night.

After realizing this belatedly, Li Yan felt even more guilty.