"You can go and find out what the person who lent him the money does. They're in this business all the time! It has nothing to do with me."

"The interest I charged on the loans I lent out is all written here. You can look at it as you please. The original is also here, but you can't see that one because you're showing favoritism here. Only Father Emperor can see it."

Su Wenyuan leaned back in her chair, looking relaxed and content.

Su Yuan lowered his voice again and said, "There's no need to trouble Your Majesty with such a matter."

"Lord Su is truly pragmatic!" someone nearby remarked.

This attitude changes constantly, which is astonishing and something that most people cannot do or learn.

After several rounds of mockery, Su Yuan can now ignore their ridicule.

"It was an impulsive decision of mine to go see the Emperor," Su Yuan said politely. "But you can consider my suggestion. If it doesn't work out, have Su Xian write a new IOU. He will pay you back when he has the money."

Su Wenyuan shook her head and said, "I don't want it later, I want it now. It's written clearly in black and white, and I'll pay it back whenever it's due."

Su Yuan hurriedly said, "He's your own brother..."

Su Wenyuan quickly stopped her, saying, "Even a father might not be a biological father, let alone him."

After saying that, he picked up the snacks on the side and began to eat them slowly.

Meng Qi just had someone go to the kitchen to get it. Su Lin'er invited her friends to celebrate their birthdays, so there's bound to be something delicious in the kitchen.

"What do you mean 'a father isn't necessarily a blood relative'? You can't deny that." Su Yuan still wanted to use family ties to pressure her.

Su Wenyuan laughed and said, "Whether we're related or not, the accounts must be settled. Even if Father is the Emperor, he still has to punish Seventh Brother severely according to the law for making a mistake."

"But these two things are different!" Su Yuan was extremely anxious.

Su Wenyuan said, "Then let's talk about something similar. Back then, Su Lin'er accused me of stealing her hairpin, and the matter came to your attention. What did you do?"

Su Yuan beat Su Wenyuan and demanded that she hand over the hairpin, but Su Wenyuan didn't steal it at all; Su Lin'er lost it herself. How could she hand it over?

In the end, Su Yuan demanded that she repay the full amount.

Su Wenyuan didn't have any money to begin with, so Wang Shi cut off her allowance and New Year's money. Su Wenyuan didn't mind, because she hadn't received much of that money anyway.

When the old story was brought up again, Su Yuan's memory became somewhat hazy.

Su Wenyuan recounted her experiences little by little. Ever since Wang was imprisoned, her memories would occasionally resurface.

Whenever a debt comes to mind, that debt must be settled.

Su Wenyuan explained in detail, and Su Yuan slowly recalled the incident.

Looking at Su Wenyuan again, he felt a little guilty.

"That's all...how long ago..."

"How long has it been?" Su Wenyuan sneered, throwing the plate in her hand at him. "Your unfair decision turned me into a thief, and you think you can just forget about it?"

Su Yuan had never been hit like this before. Covered in crumbs of pastry, he was completely stunned.

When he looked up again and saw Su Wenyuan looking furious, he couldn't help but get annoyed too.

It was this face, the same face as Yu Qingzhu's. Back then, Yu Qingzhu often scolded him with a face full of anger.

Suddenly reminded of those unbearable memories, Su Yuan could no longer bear it.

"Do you know I'm your father! What you're doing is unfilial. You're laying a hand on your own father. Don't you have any manners?" Su Yuan was angry, so he could only use his status to intimidate him.

Su Wenyuan sneered, "A loving father is a filial son. What are you? If I hadn't come here to collect a debt, I wouldn't have wanted to look at you even once. Give me the money and I'll leave right now."

I originally came here to watch the fun, but now I've ended up getting really angry.

"I'm not going to waste any more words. I won't accept any of your methods. Either give me back the money, or if you insist on not returning it, then I'll report you to the authorities. As long as you can afford to lose face."

Su Wenyuan didn't care; she wasn't in the wrong.

Besides, the entire Su family owes her!

She had just finished recounting how Su Yuan had framed her when the onlookers were on the verge of tears.

These rich kids have been wronged quite a bit at home.

But they weren't bullied as badly as Su Wenyuan.

However, even just one similarity was enough to evoke their sympathy.

The way they looked at Su Yuan and Su Xian changed. Once they left, these things would be spread around, and Su Yuan would be even more embarrassed.

Before Su Yuan could make up his mind, Sheng Yuanhe pulled him aside and whispered, "If we report it to the authorities, I'm afraid it won't solve the problem. In the end, we'll still have to go to Father Emperor. Besides, you... can't afford to lose face."

All of them combined, none of them were as willing to go to such lengths as Su Wenyuan.

"I know." Su Yuan looked at Su Xian on the ground and found that Su Xian had also started to seem indifferent.

He had no money, and his life depended entirely on Su Wenyuan.

Su Wenyuan doesn't lack this little bit of money; she doesn't care whether she gets it back or not. She's just here to cause trouble for the Su family.

Neither of them was in a hurry; only Su Yuan was…

Su Yuan couldn't understand why he was in such a hurry, since it wasn't his debt.

Seeing that the situation was really not optimistic, Sheng Yuanhe gritted his teeth and asked, "How much is Lord Su lacking?"

He can fill in the rest.

Su Yuan said he didn't know either. He first calculated the accounts in the manor, then took out the box where he kept his silver notes, and finally thought of Wang Shi, so he sent someone to look for her.

News of the incident had already spread throughout the manor.

Everyone knew that Su Xian owed money, and Su Wenyuan's arrival to collect the debt was not a good thing, so no one in the manor bothered to come over.

Now Su Yuan needs money, but he can't come up with it himself, so he has to borrow some from his aunt and Su Lin'er.

If silver isn't an option, jewelry can always be used to make a living.

But since all the money was given to Su Wenyuan, Su Yuan felt as if his heart was bleeding.

All the concubines in the mansion, including Su Lin'er, hid away their finest jewelry.

Such a tacit action required no communication whatsoever.

The concubines managed to scrape together a few dozen taels, but Su Lin'er was more generous and took out a thousand taels.

These silver coins, laid out there, look shabby.

Su Xian laughed self-deprecatingly, even his own sister Su Lin'er was unwilling to help him.

What he gave out was less than what his friends had given him.

Su Yuan first cursed, but then the guards who went to search Wang's place returned and told him that all the silver and jewelry in Wang's room were gone.

"I took it a long time ago." Su Xian retorted, having nothing left to lose.

He turned over everything he could find.

Su Yuan launched into another tirade of angry curses, followed by another bombshell: all the silver he had saved up had been spent by Su Xian.

In other words, the manor is currently out of money...

While he was busy, Su Wenyuan was watching from the side. When she saw that his expression was not right, Su Wenyuan quickly got up and moved away.

Just as he dodged, Su Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood, startling everyone.