92 The Change of the Wealthy Family

◎The mistress of the Song Mansion wants to seize the property and pushes her stepdaughter into the abyss of rogue gamblers!◎

In a gambling house in the west of Yunzhou City.

"I want it bigger, bigger!"

"Small! It must be small!"

The winner speaks loudly, wishing everyone knew how powerful he is. The loser speaks in a voice as soft as a mosquito, and keeps muttering to himself, "How could I lose?"

Money catalyzes desires and bewitches people's minds in this world, making them crazy, ecstatic, or even losing their humanity.

Among them was a man, about the age of a young man, with an ordinary appearance and neatly dressed. He walked back and forth in front of the gambling table, his red eyes attracted by the rolling dice, revealing an irrepressible desire and obsession.

His hands trembled unconsciously, sometimes clenching into fists, sometimes unclenching, but as if they were restrained by something, he was unable to get to the gambling table.

He was inevitably noticed in this state. Someone put their arm around his shoulder and asked, "Looks like you're into this, brother. It's only a few bucks to gamble, and judging by your attire, you don't look like you can't afford it. Want to give it a try?"

The man's name was Xue Ziming, and he was the "good husband" that Shen Lingyu had found for Song Jinyi. He was originally a gambler and ran away from his hometown because he owed money.

He found his distant relative Shen Lingyu, who said she wanted to marry him to the daughter of the Song family.

The Song family—the richest family in Yunzhou City—wouldn't the dowry be several thousand taels? Or even more. For this dowry, he waited in Yunzhou for two years, and thought there was no hope, but Shen Lingyu came back.

She warned herself to just pretend for the next few months and not cause any trouble, so she stopped going to the gambling house in the South City where she used to go and went to the gambling house in the West City where she had never been before.

Thinking that he would be able to gamble to his heart's content in a few days, he gritted his teeth, pinched his hands tightly, and pressed down.

As he walked out, his eyes were fixed on the gambling table with reluctance.

His ugliness and greed were all reflected in the two pairs of eyes in the corners.

Song Jinyi was not surprised after hearing the visitor's reply. She already knew what kind of person her fiancé was.

In the story, after the original owner got married, all her dowry was gambled away, and Xue Ziming even wanted to sell her to a brothel to make money and treat her like a whore. The original owner couldn't bear the humiliation and would rather die than surrender, so he punched and kicked her and beat her to death!

She lowered her eyes. Shen Lingyu was really cruel! She had to think of a way to respond to her.

Song Jinyi thought for a moment, whispered a few words to the visitor, and gave him two silver notes.

When he turned around to leave, she said, "By the way, go to the He family outside the city and tell him that I need his help."

******

As the wedding was approaching, Shen Lingyu saw that Song Jinyi was concentrating on preparing for the wedding, and it seemed that she was going to settle down and get married. As a result, Shen Lingyu relaxed her control over her.

Song Jinyi went to Zui Liuxia three days before her wedding.

Zhou Changchun was surprised when he heard that she wanted to see him. After thinking for a while, he finally had someone bring her in.

Although the two were in the same industry, this was their first real meeting. They looked at each other and exchanged some polite words.

"I've heard about the mission of Shopkeeper Song from Chayuan for a long time, but unfortunately I never had the chance to meet him before. Now that I see him, he is indeed quite different."

Song Jinyi said "You're so kind" on her face, but she secretly thought: This Zhou Changchun is not a simple character. She learned from Li He that this Zhou Changchun, who was drunk with the rosy clouds, and Chun Sanniang were lovers.

The two had a deep affection for each other, and Zhou Changchun wanted to marry Chun Sanniang, but Chun Sanniang said that as a woman, she would have to take her husband's surname once she got married. She was already a popular pastry chef in Yunzhou City, and she didn't want to do that.

So although the two were not husband and wife in name, they were husband and wife in reality. Zui Liuxia and everyone in Zhou's house respected her as Madam.

Although she was not the one who killed Chun Sanniang personally, Chong Sanniang died because of her after all. The fact that he could still talk to her with a smile made people feel uneasy.

Zhou Changchun asked her, "I wonder what Manager Song wants to talk to me about?"

Song Jinyi stated, "I went to Yaowang Island, and on my way back, I encountered a group of pirates at sea..."

"That was truly thrilling. I heard that the pirates were extremely brutal. If a beauty like Madam Song fell into their hands, she would definitely not be able to return safely.

"Now that Madam Song is sitting in front of me, it means that good fortune will come to those who are lucky."

Zhou Changchun's face showed no expression and his tone was flat, but Song Jinyi could still hear the hypocrisy in his words. He didn't want to die at sea.

Song Jinyi smiled and tilted her head to Zhou Changchun, saying, "But I learned some information from them, such as that they had some vested interests with a tea merchant. Shopkeeper Zhou, guess who this tea merchant could be?"

Both of them knew the answer, but one didn't say it, and the other didn't respond.

"There are countless tea merchants in Yunzhou City. If Madam Song has evidence, she must file a complaint with the government and let us know who is colluding with the pirates."

This time, Chang Chun was really cunning. He did not respond to her questions directly, but instead provoked her with hidden words. If she had evidence, she could just report it to the police.

Indeed, apart from the pirates' witnesses, there was no other evidence. According to them, the owner of Zui Liu Xia was very low-key and cautious, leaving no trace. As for the pirate leader, he was a rough man and would not have kept any records in the account book.

Therefore, Song Jinyi first threw out some news to shock him, and seeing that he did not take the bait, she said, "In fact, in business, the most important thing is to make money through harmony. If you pay some tolls and can buy goods to arrive safely, then it's naturally nothing.

"It's just that he murdered someone for money. After a while, does Shopkeeper Zhou believe in karma?" Song Jinyi stared into his eyes. "Why bother getting involved in other people's karma? Why not hand over the deed and put these troubles aside?"

Zhou Changchun smiled with an ambiguous smile, "So Madam Song came to me for this matter." He looked into Song Jinyi's eyes and said slowly, "This thing is not cheap."

"Shopkeeper Zhou, please name a price!"

Zhou Changchun smiled maliciously and said, "If it were someone else, I might give it to him without asking for a penny, but if it were Shopkeeper Song, I wouldn't give it to him even if he gave me a thousand taels of gold."

Song Jinyi was about to say something when Zhou Changchun ruthlessly interrupted her, "I heard that Shopkeeper Song is getting married soon. Congratulations! The bride-to-be should go back and prepare for her wedding quickly, and stop wasting your breath here with me."

After saying this, he asked someone to see the guest off.

******

The day before the wedding.

Shen Lingyu was in a good mood. She even had a few extra buns for breakfast and asked someone to make an extra bowl of fish porridge for lunch.

Seeing him happy, Geng Niang was naturally happy for her as well, and said happily, "The evil woman will be married tomorrow, which finally relieves Madam's worries."

The two chatted about some unimportant things when they suddenly heard a servant outside the door come to report that the elder of the Song family was visiting.

Shen Lingyu hurriedly put down her things when she heard this. The elders of the Song family rarely asked about the affairs of the younger generation except for major events such as annual ancestor worship, inheritance, and division of property.

Why are you here suddenly now?

She did not dare to slack off, and quickly asked someone to go to the front hall to greet everyone, and asked Geng Niang to wash and groom her properly.

Arriving at the front hall, she smiled as she walked, "Grandun's daughter-in-law greets Uncle. I didn't know the elders were coming today, so I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I hope you'll forgive me."

The man who came was the younger brother of Song Zhangye’s grandfather. Because he married the daughter of an official family, he became a fifth-rank official. In the Song family, which started from scratch and later made a living by doing business, he was a powerful and influential family.

But he had a cold face and treated her like air, not even looking at her. Instead, he asked the housekeeper beside him, "Where is Zhang Ye? Why didn't he come to see me?"

Shen Lingyu's smile froze on her face, but she quickly recovered her composure and replied, "My Lord has recently fallen ill. I have worked hard day and night to save him from danger, but he is still weak and needs to be nursed back to health.

"I'm afraid you might be sad, so I've asked him to rest quietly in the house. I hope you won't blame me."

"Why should a woman like you interfere in the affairs of our Song family?" he said coldly.

After that, he asked the servant to take him to find Song Zhangye, "Since Zhangye is sick and can't see me, then I, his uncle, must go see him."

Shen Lingyu had no choice but to take the person to Song Zhangye's house.

Song Zhangye has been resting at home recently and not worrying about business matters. In addition, a happy event is approaching at home, so he is in a good mood and his spirits have also improved a lot.

These past two days, after breakfast, he would get out of bed and take a slow walk around the house. As he was walking into the main hall, he heard footsteps outside. Seeing it was the Song family's uncle, he hurriedly bowed, but the uncle persuaded him, "You're not feeling well, so don't move."

Shen Lingyu helped Song Zhangye sit on the chair, and respectfully invited his uncle to sit on the armchair in front.

The uncle snorted coldly, pulled out a palm-sized piece of paper from his sleeve, and slammed it on the table. "I came to your house today, firstly to see how you are feeling, and secondly for this matter."

What could possibly have angered his calm and composed uncle? Puzzled, Song Zhangye took the scrap of paper—it was a Yunzhou tabloid.

Written on it were these large characters: [Shocking Changes in a Wealthy Family! The Song Mansion's Mistress, intent on monopolizing the wealth, pushes her stepdaughter into the abyss of a rogue gambler!]

This Yunzhou tabloid is nothing more than a sensational fabrication, how credible is it? Song Zhangye used to scoff at it, but now seeing it fabricate the Song family and frame Yu'er in this way, he couldn't help but feel angry.

He would definitely find someone to give them a good warning.

Shen Lingyu had naturally seen the title as well. Just one glance and her eyes widened, her heart began to beat wildly, and she held tightly to the hem of her brocade dress.

Seeing her pale face and nervous expression, Song Zhangye held her hand and said, "Don't worry, Yu'er, I believe you. You and I have known each other since childhood and grew up together. I know you are not that kind of person."

After he comforted Shen Lingyu, he said to his uncle, "Don't worry, uncle, I will send someone to arrest the rumormonger and hand him over to the government. I will not allow others to destroy the reputation of the Song family."

"Do you think your uncle never thought that it was an outsider's fabrication? I sent someone to find Xue Ziming." He said, looking at Shen Lingyu with a judgmental look, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly, "Do you know where I found him?"