Chapter 83 Negotiation with Huang Yazi

Xu Qingying quickly supported Lian and reassured her, "Don't worry, Second Aunt, I will never let Fourth Sister marry Huang Yazi."

Xu Dekai saw that everyone was looking at Xu Qingying with anticipation, as if she was the most intimidating person in the room. The girl was thin, like a bean sprout that had not yet grown, but her eyes were calm, even to a scary degree.

Xu Qingying then said to the dazed Xu Yinxi, "Fourth sister, do you believe me?"

Xu Yinxi smiled miserably.

In this world, who else can she trust besides the Lian family?

Dad didn't care about her life or death at all. He was afraid that others would know what happened at home, so he just wanted to get rid of her immediately.

Xu Lezhi, a blood-thicker-than-water sister, kept trying to comfort her, but her tone was cheerful and her brows were smiling.

The betrayal of one’s closest relatives is tantamount to being cut into pieces.

Xu Yinxi opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was sore that she couldn't make a sound. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she could only nod her head.

Xu Yinxi held her like this, and because she was holding her too tightly, the joints of her ten fingers were exposed, as if she was afraid that Xu Qingying would run away.

Xu Qingying held her agitated shoulders in a soothing manner, "Fourth sister, don't be afraid. You're tired today, get a good night's sleep. I promise... when you wake up tomorrow, nothing will have happened."

Hope rekindled in Xu Yinxi's eyes, tears welling up in them. She bit her teeth lightly and babbled without thinking, "Sixth sister... thank you so much... if you can really help me, I... I can't repay you enough... from now on I'll give you my life... I'll be your slave—"

"There's no need for further words between you and me," she said, turning to Miao. "Mother, please take care of my fourth sister. As for the rest, Dad, Second Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt, and call my eldest cousin and my brother, and let's go meet this yellow-toothed guy."

Xu Degui looked at Xu Qingying, who was extremely calm, but felt a sense of unease in his heart. "Qingying, what should we do?"

"Oh, right, call Team Leader Zhao too. Huang Yazi is his man after all, so we have to let him know how to deal with him. Once everyone is together, let's go to Huang Yazi. Bring the knife..."

Xu Dekai said quickly, "Sixth girl, do you really want to cause a death? Even if Huang Yazi died, with Second Brother's temper, he would make the dead girl a widow."

"No. I know my limits. Father, please go get someone first. We'll wait on the first floor of the inn."

Lian hugged Xu Yinxi reluctantly and thanked Miao for the first time sincerely, "Third sister-in-law, they say time reveals a person's true character. Thank you so much for this matter. I was wrong before..."

Miao laughed and said, "Second sister-in-law, you're joking. We're a family that's connected by blood. Our daily quarrels are harmless, but living together as a family is bound to have some bumps and bruises. But in critical moments, family members always have to help each other."

"Helping each other?" Lian Shi didn't know what she was thinking. She smiled coldly, with a look of despair in her eyes. "Yes, uncle and aunt both knew to pull Yin Xi out of the fire pit, but her own father wanted to force his daughter to death just for the sake of her chastity."

Miao was unable to respond.

She once put herself in Lian's shoes and thought that if she were Lian, she would have no choice but to cry and make a fuss.

After all, I can't support my daughter for the rest of her life.

A woman who never marries will have to endure countless rumors and gossips. Not only herself, but even the entire family will be disgraced.

Faced with such a thing, Miao could only sigh and say that her life was miserable.

"Forget it. I saw his true colors in prison. I really..." Lian wiped her tears, her heart seemed to have turned cold. "I actually still had a little hope for him. In his heart... there are only those two bastards..."

"Mom..." Xu Yinxi uttered this sound with great difficulty.

Of all the people, she felt the most sorry for Lian. She could only watch Lian argue for her like a mad woman. She saw her father's hypocrisy and indifference, and she completely gave up on him.

On the road of exile, Xu Yinxi found the word "patriarchy" ridiculous.

In his father's eyes, he probably only cared about fame, wealth, and his two illegitimate sons. In his mind, everyone else was just a pawn that could be discarded at any time.

It is said that parents who love their children should plan for them in the long run.

What about the father? He knew that Huang Yazi was a vicious and immoral person, but in order to preserve his reputation and face, he abandoned her without hesitation.

If Xu Yinxi said that she had no resentment in her heart, she herself would not believe it.

She hated, hated her father's ruthlessness, and hated her own incompetence even more.

"Son, you have to believe what your sixth sister says. She is a person who keeps her word. She is more capable than your father. We all have to believe her. Have a good sleep. When you wake up, mother will be back. Ah..."

Lian lovingly helped Xu Yinxi tidy up the hair around her ears and looked at Miao earnestly, "Third sister-in-law, please take good care of my Yinxi. I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. I, Lian Qiuzhi, will remember this kindness..."

Miao knew the seriousness of the matter and immediately issued a military order, "Second sister-in-law, go ahead and handle the matter. I won't leave tonight and will keep an eye on the fourth girl to make sure not a single hair falls from her head."

Lian pulled Miao's hand, and Miao felt warm in her heart. This was the first time in all the years since she married into the Xu family that her second sister-in-law looked at her with such tenderness and tears in her eyes.

Unexpectedly, during the exile, this second sister-in-law became closer to them.

"Second Aunt, let's go." Xu Qingying urged, "While there are still people working downstairs, hurry up and deal with it while it's hot, otherwise the longer the night, the more trouble there will be—"

Since Xu Qingying had already given the order, no one dared to disobey.

Lian wiped her tears and reluctantly let go of Xu Yinxi's hand, "Come on, come on."

Perhaps no one noticed, but imperceptibly, they had begun to get used to following Xu Qingying's orders.

Xu Qingying led everyone to the door of Huang Yazi on the first floor. Zhao Bantou also hurried over. As soon as he saw this, he knew that Xu Qingying was going to make a big deal out of it.

He was in a dilemma. Huang Yazi was his subordinate, and Xu Qingying was his money-giving boy. If he was sincere, he would definitely give up Huang Yazi without hesitation. After all, it was Huang Yazi who had done something bad to Xu Yinxi. If he were Xu Deyuan, he would probably want to kill Huang Yazi to silence him.

But every family has its own rules, and every country has its own laws. Moreover, the matter of Huang Yazi is neither a big nor a small matter. In the final analysis, it is just a private matter. According to the consistent laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, even if it is brought to court, Xu Yinxi will be sentenced to marry Huang Yazi.

It's unfair, but this is reality.

Once this happens, the woman's family will suffer, and this has been the case throughout history.

But looking back over the past few days, although Xu Qingying seems easy to talk to, how many capable people are really easy to talk to?

Especially someone like Xu Qingying, who looks gentle and kind, but once she decides to do something, no one can persuade her to change her mind.

This matter is difficult to handle.

The punishment was too lenient and Xu Qingying was not satisfied.

If the punishment is too harsh, I'm afraid my subordinates will have some thoughts.

Zhao Bantou felt extremely troubled. If he had known this would happen, he should not have used those words to test Xu Qingying's attitude. Now that the situation has gotten out of hand, how should he end it?

Xu Qingying looked at Zhao Bantou's innocent face, as if she could see through his little tricks at a glance. She said bluntly, "Don't worry, Zhao Bantou, I won't make things difficult for you. I'm not here to vent my anger on Huang Yazi, but to resolve this matter for my fourth sister."

Since Xu Qingying said so, what else could Zhao Bantou say? He could only wipe the sweat from his forehead and nod.

Xu Qingying was walking in front. Although she was small in stature, she suddenly raised her foot and kicked the door open with a "bang". The lights in the house flickered in fear, and the eyelids of several people following behind Xu Qingying jumped.

What a strong force.

Although Xu Qingying is smart, she looks thin. Shouldn't she be a fragile and delicate woman?

Everyone didn't know that ever since she exchanged the soap for money, Xu Qingying had been forcing herself to eat eggs and meat, intentionally or unintentionally, and had been exercising for an hour every day.

The journey to Qianzhou is full of dangers and the weather conditions are so harsh. Xu Qingying doesn't want to encounter danger and be unable to escape.

The two people in the room were Liu Jieshi and Huang Yazi.

Huang Yazi had just been beaten and had gone into the water. He had just changed his clothes and was lying on the bed for Liu Jieshi to apply medicine. However, before the medicine was applied, the door was kicked open.

"You...what do you want to do?!" Huang Yazi saw that the Xu family members were in a rage, and the people Xu Qingying picked were all tall and strong men. Xu Degui, Xu Dechi, and Xu Huijia were all tall. Although Xu Huiming was weak, he was also a scholar, and his demeanor should not be underestimated. Such a large group of people rushed in and instantly filled the small room.

"Captain Zhao..." Huang Yazi glanced at the captain following behind him and said in a somewhat blaming tone, as if he had seen a savior. "Captain Zhao, what do they mean? Master Xu has already agreed to marry the fourth girl to me, so why are they bringing so many people to block me now? Are they trying to silence us?"

Huang Yazi is naturally not afraid.

Kill to silence someone?

He had just spread the news. Everyone knew that Xu Yinxi had fallen into the water and was rescued by him. She had also seen her naked body. Who else could such an unclean woman marry besides him? Even if he was killed, it wouldn't change anything.

Moreover, at this critical juncture of his resurgence, Master Xu would certainly be extremely cautious and keep things quiet, so how could he dare to make a big deal out of it? If he did, how could he have the face to return to the court?

Huang Yazi had calculated everything. He was sure that Xu Deyuan would be forced to accept him as his son-in-law, so he considered it over and over again before taking action.

"Silence you? You wishful thinking, don't you see that you are not worthy? If someone dies, how will I explain it when I return?" Zhao Bantou glared at Xu Qingying, also warning her not to cause any death. Xu Qingying understood the meaning of this look, but she remained silent, only pointing at Liu Jieshi, "Liu Jiecha, this is none of your business, please leave first."

Liu Jieshi's eyes darted around among the group, then he pretended to be terrified and looked at Zhao Bantou, "Bantou, this is your territory. We brothers will listen to you."

Haha, this is to sow discord between her and Zhao Bantou.

Zhao Bantou knew this and glared at Liu Jieshi. "Why are you talking about all this nonsense? You have nothing to do here. Get out first."

Liu Jieshi looked at Xu Qingying resentfully, then put down the medicine bottle and walked out slowly.

This yellow-toothed guy is such a loser.

He had originally intended to instigate Huang Yazi to attack Xu Yinxi, and then tell Huang Yazi that Xu Deyuan would be reinstated. Frightened, Huang Yazi would surely agree to join him in getting rid of Xu Deyuan.

But no one would have thought that Huang Yazi was so bold that he dared to use the emperor to control the princes and directly threatened Xu Deyuan to marry his daughter to him.

In this way, Huang Yazi and the Xu family became a family. It is possible that Huang Yazi would sell him to Xu Deyuan in order to preserve his identity as the granddaughter-in-law of the Lian family.

Liu Jieshi did not expect such a big change in this matter, and left in anger and hatred.

After Liu Jieshi left, Xu Qingying locked the door from the inside, then walked into the house. She calmly dragged two stools over, asked Zhao Bantou to sit down first, and then sat down herself.

Zhao Bantou was still very satisfied with Xu Qingying's behavior.

No matter what, Xu Qingying would give him enough face in front of outsiders.

What I fear most is that people who have some abilities become arrogant and look down on others. Obviously, Xu Qingying's propriety and humility made Zhao Bantou feel very comfortable.

"Huang Yazi, what are you standing there for? Put on your clothes!" Zhao Bantou scolded him. Although Huang Yazi looked dissatisfied, he finally put on his clothes.

While Huang Yazi was getting dressed, everyone saw Xu Qingying get up. She poured herself a cup of ginger tea, then walked slowly to the stove next to Huang Yazi's bed and suddenly poured all the tea on him.

The stove sizzled with hot air, and then the fire went out in an instant, leaving only blue smoke.

Huang Yazi immediately shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"Dad, Fourth Uncle, hold him down for me!" The two men obeyed the order and stepped forward to twist Huang Yazi's arm with their backhands.

Although Zhao Bantou was not sure what Xu Qingying was going to do, he couldn't help but blink when he saw this scene.

This scene reminded him of the methods used by the officials in the imperial prison to interrogate prisoners: first they would deprive them of food and water, to wear down their minds and weaken them, and then they would use severe torture.

This often makes the interrogation more effective.

Huang Yazi was pinned to the ground, howling uncontrollably. "Team Leader, are you just going to watch your brothers being bullied? Xu Qingying is just a prisoner. Why should we let a young woman ride on our heads and pee and shit?! Even if her soap business makes money, so what? We brothers will seize her recipe and make all the prisoners work, making hundreds of pieces of soap every day, and then sell them ourselves. If anyone refuses, we will beat them until they obey. Isn't this better than working for a bitch? Team Leader, ten thousand taels of silver! If it were all given to us brothers, each of us would get at least a few hundred taels. Now, because you're hesitant, we brothers have only received a few dozen taels of silver. If this continues, we brothers will feel dissatisfied! If it were you, we should just kill the Xu family. After all, the road to exile is long and winding, so killing a few prisoners is no big deal. We brothers can handle the soap business ourselves!"

Zhao Bantou immediately became anxious. He stood up with a thud, took a few quick steps, and slapped Huang Yazi in the face. "What the hell are you talking about? Didn't your mother give you a brain when she gave birth to you? You are a government employee after all, how can you talk about fighting and killing all the time? Look at what you have done——"

“我干什么事了！”黄牙子梗着脖子，脸上还青一块肿一块的，想必是之前赵班头带人揍的，此刻他疼得是龇牙咧嘴，大喊大叫，“我干什么事了？！不就是要了一个女人嘛，她徐音希一个犯官之女，能嫁给我那算她的福气。再说了，又不是我主动的，她成天扭着屁股在我眼前晃，分明就是想勾引我！”

These words completely infuriated the Xu family. Lian raised her hand, her heart pounding with rage. She picked up the big stick nearby and hit Huang Yazi on the back with a "clang, clang, clang" sound, nearly making him spit blood. "What are you doing, you old bastard? How dare you hit me? I called you mother-in-law to give you face. Try to touch me again!"

Lian screamed, her hands moving non-stop. "You bitch, not only did you harm my daughter, you also insulted her innocence. I must kill you today!"

"Kill me, kill me, and see who else in this world dares to marry such a dirty woman. I tell you, your daughter has to marry me, whether she wants to or not! If you touch me again today, after she gets married, I will torture her in bed for another day!"

"You!!" Lian was so angry that he was shaking all over and almost fainted. Da Bangzi fell down.

She covered her chest with her hands, tears streaming down her face. She stared at Huang Yazi, looking at his playful and fearless face, and thought of Xu Yinxi's desperate look of wanting to commit suicide. Her heart was torn, and she secretly hated how there could be such a scoundrel in the world?

The daughter she raised so carefully had to spend her whole life with such a scoundrel.

At this moment, Lian hated Xu Deyuan.

Zhao Bantou couldn't help it any longer. Thinking that Xu Deyuan would be revived in the future, he had to express his position quickly, so he stepped forward and slapped him again. "Don't insult the innocence of the fourth lady Xu. When did she seduce you? Not only will Mr. Xu slap you a few times when he gets here, but even I can't stand it anymore. If you say such words again, I will slap you!"

Xu Qingying didn't care. Zhao Bantou was openly on her side, but secretly wanted to protect Huang Yazi. If they continued to argue like this, there would be no result until dawn.

We must cut the Gordian knot.

Xu Qingying raised her hand and said in a clear voice, "That's enough."

Everyone in the room stopped.

Fortunately, Xu Qingying gave the order in time, otherwise Xu Huijia would have really killed Huang Yazi on the spot.

Everyone calmed down and waited for Xu Qingying to give orders.

Xu Qingying sat at the head of the table, her expression impassive, as if Huang Yazi's words hadn't moved her. Yet, precisely because of this calmness, she gained a certain degree of persuasive power.

Xu Qingying raised her eyes, stared at Huang Yazi's face, and said quietly, "Huang Jiecha, name your price."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, as if they had not expected Xu Qingying to say these words.

Xu Huijia immediately said, "Sixth sister, what do you mean?"

Xu Huiming then pulled Xu Huijia aside and said, "Brother, please be quiet for now and see how I handle this."

Xu Huijia shook off Xu Huiming and said angrily, "Everyone, you let a woman make all the decisions. It's really a disgrace to the Xu family! Look at you, what kind of person you have become. A seven-foot-tall man is being manipulated by a woman..."

Xu Huiming wasn't angry either, so he just calmly said, "Brother, there are priorities. Let's deal with this matter first, okay?"

Xu Huijia snorted, but said nothing more.

Huang Yazi sneered, "What price? Xu Yinxi will be my wife from now on. I, Huang Yazi, am not the kind of person who sells my wife!"

Xu Qingying raised her hand to block everyone's questioning gazes. She simply poured a cup of tea and appeared calm. "Huang Jiecha, I hope you will think carefully about this. Marrying my fourth sister will bring you no benefits."

"How can there be no benefit?!" Huang Yazi sneered, "Such a beautiful woman, it would be great to take her back to warm my bed!"

Xu Qingying smiled slightly, fiddling with the chipped teacup in front of her with her bare hands. A hint of allure rose in her voice. "Huang Jiecha, why don't you try to make an offer? Who knows, I might agree. Business always requires negotiation. If you don't offer, how can you know how much my cousin is worth?"

Xu Qingying's action went against the grain, leaving everyone present confused.

Only Lian bit her lower lip, her face visibly tense. She secretly clenched her fists, holding back her trembling teeth, and stared intently at Huang Yazi, as if unwilling to miss any expression on his face.

Zhao Bantou also didn't understand what he meant. He just sat there, holding his breath and waiting for what would happen next.

Huang Yazi was stunned. He was now confused about what Xu Qingying was up to, and didn't dare to talk to her.

But after thinking it over, Huang Yazi was certain that the Xu family would not dare to take his life. After all, he was also a public servant. So he said in a nonchalant manner, "I know that you, Miss Xu Liu, have made money. Fine, since you, Miss Xu Liu, have asked, this makes me curious about how much Xu Yinxi is worth."

Xu Qingying didn't even raise her eyebrows. "Tell me about it."

Huang Yazi naturally knew how much Xu Qingying had sold the soap for, so he grinned and said a number, "I want five thousand taels of silver."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked.

The light in Lian's eyes was instantly extinguished.

Five thousand taels... Even my father couldn't come up with so much silver... let alone Xu Qingying?

Even if Xu Qingying had these five thousand taels, would she have to spend all her money for the people in her second house?

"Sure." Xu Qingying answered without hesitation.

"What?" This time it was Huang Yazi's turn to be shocked. He opened his mouth wide, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.

Lian was also stunned and turned her head to look at Xu Qingying.

Xu Degui immediately said: "Qingying...you...what are you doing? Five thousand taels...that's..."

Xu Degui looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him, especially Lian, who looked at him with tears in her eyes and pleading. If there were no other people here, Lian would probably kneel down to him immediately.

Xu Degui bit his lip and was speechless for a moment.

Zhao Bantou's heart couldn't stop beating wildly when he saw Xu Qingying saying "yes" lightly.

"Did you agree?" Huang Yazi came back to his senses and asked tremblingly, "Did you agree just now?"