Patriarch Li had a gloomy expression. Since she dared to say that, it must be true. He cast his eyes on his son beside him, only to see him swallowing hard, with cold sweat running down his temples. Looking at him, he knew without asking that Shang Ruoyi was not lying.

Patriarch Li was so angry that his hands were shaking. He slapped Li Quan hard and said, "You traitor! Kneel down!"

Li Quan's legs trembled, and he knelt down suddenly, shaking all over: "Dad, someone plotted against me, I didn't do it on purpose."

Patriarch Li looked at Shang Ruoyi and said, "Shopkeeper Shang, I'm sorry for not bringing you up properly."

Shang Ruoyi smiled and said, "I guess Master Li must have been fooled by others."

"Yes, yes, the dogs are just a little naughty." Patriarch Li forced a smile on his face: "But these don't seem to affect our business dealings."

"Master Li, you don't know that I hate gamblers the most in my life. If this business must be done with Young Master Li, then forget it. I came here just on a whim. Please return the 10,000 taels of silver I paid as a deposit to you."

What?

Not doing business anymore?

How can that be?

Shang Ruoyi said quietly, "Someone will come to your house this afternoon to ask you for the ten thousand taels of silver. Master Li, I don't want the banknotes, I just want cash."

Upon hearing this, Patriarch Li was disappointed. This was simply cutting off the source of funds. How could he raise 12,000 taels of cash so quickly? Besides, the master of the family will be back in the afternoon, and moving so much cash will definitely attract his attention. He will look down on his son. If he finds out, Li Quan will probably lose the qualification to inherit the position of head of the family.

"Shopkeeper Shang..."

"Master Li, this 10,000 taels of silver should not be a big deal for such a huge Li family!"

The head of the Li family twitched his face and smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I really can't take out 10,000 taels of silver now." The previous 10,000 taels had already paid off part of his gambling debts, and now he could only take out a few hundred taels of silver.

Shang Ruoyi's lips curled slightly, she naturally knew this.

That's why she is so confident.

Patriarch Li looked at Shang Ruoyi's expression, bit his tongue, and said to the servant beside him, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you let the eldest sister come out?"

When 께 司 heard this, he bowed and nodded and ran out.

Shang Ruoyi sat back in the chair and picked up the tea on the table. The tea in the cup was cold at this time, so she didn't drink it and put it back directly.

After a while, Li Xia Xia followed Xiao Si in and saw Shang Ruoyi in the living room. Her eyes lit up: "Sister Shang!"

Shang Ruoyi looked at her face and said with a smile: "It seems that Sister Li's illness is not serious. Now it seems that she has almost recovered."

Li Xia Xia saw her father winking at her and smiled, "I was not feeling well for a while, but I feel much better now."

She walked to the table and looked at the cold tea on the table: "How do you serve? You don't even know to replace the cold tea for the guests. Tao, you go."

"yes."

Patriarch Li looked at his daughter and couldn't help but sigh, how great it would be if she was a boy?

"Sister Shang, are you free? I'll take you to the clam farm."

"Okay." In her previous life, when she was on a mission, she lurked in a pearl oyster base for three months. She knew everything about how to raise clams, but going to the clam farm here to take a look could be considered as accumulating some new experience.

Although Beiling is located in an extremely cold place, their clam farm has a natural hot spring water. The two streams of water intersect, and the temperature is just right for the growth of Dongzhu clams.

This is why only the Li family in Beiling can raise Dongzhu clams.

The two of them got on the carriage, and Shang Ruoyi began to close her eyes and rest. Li Xia Xia hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke: "Sister Shang, I have something to ask for."

Shang Ruoyi slowly opened her eyes: "You say."

"Shang Cong, you told me that the only way to become stronger is to become stronger yourself. I wonder if Sister Shang can teach me how to become stronger."

Shang Ruoyi smiled and said, "Actually, you already have the answer in your heart, right?"

"But I am just a woman, how can I be in charge of the Li family?"

"So what if I'm a woman?" Shang Ruoyi sat up straight and laughed coldly, "Who said that only men can stand tall in this world? What's wrong with women?"

"But women have to get married eventually!"

"You can marry a live-in son-in-law." Shang Ruoyi smiled and said, "If this man truly loves you, he will understand your difficulties. Even if this man marries you for money, he will have to restrain himself and be inferior to you when he arrives at the Li family. It is better than marrying a man you have never even seen and having to endure his three wives and concubines."

Li Xia Xia was enlightened when she heard this. She grabbed Shang Ruoyi and said, "Sister Shang, you are right. What should I do next?"

Shang Ruoyi thought of the contents of the letter she had investigated earlier, and she whispered, "I heard that your grandfather loved you the most."

Li Xiaxia nodded: "Yes."

"I heard that your fiancé has a lot of concubines in his house, and you will be his mother right after you marry him. He has quite a few concubines in his backyard. Tell your grandfather about this. Since he loves you, he will naturally not be willing to marry you to such a family." She took out another 20,000 taels of silver and handed it to her: "The balance of the Dongzhu Bang."

After hearing her words, Li Xia Xia felt a chill running up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

When his father was arranging a marriage for him, he praised it in front of his grandfather, saying that he came from a scholarly family with a bright future. Which scholarly family would allow their son to bring so many concubines into the house before he even gets married?

In Beiling, a wealthy family must marry a wife and wait for her to have no children for three years before they can take a concubine. Otherwise, they would be laughed at if they told others about it.

She never expected that her father would marry her into such a den of tigers and wolves.

She held the twenty thousand taels of silver note in her hand and whispered, "I will definitely find a way to cancel the marriage."

Shang Ruoyi took out an envelope from her bosom: "All the good things your half-brother has done over the years are listed here. Most of them were given by your father. You can decide for yourself!"

Li Xia Xia's hands trembled as she opened the letter. Every detail on it was shocking. She covered her lips and looked at the contents of the letter in disbelief.

"The maidservant who suddenly died in my courtyard turned out to be..." Hatred burst out of her eyes. The maidservant was chosen by her mother as a study companion when she was alive. They were as close as a sister. She died suddenly and tragically. My father said that she had contracted a serious disease. I didn't expect that she died at the hands of that bastard Li Quan.

"My mother passed away suddenly that year. Could it be related to my father?"

Shang Ruoyi shook her head: "I don't know about that."

Li Xia Xia looked at her: "Why are you helping me?"

Shang Ruoyi was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Once, there was an old friend who was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Compared with her, your Li family is just a witch meeting a witch. She gave her love to the wrong person, her family fell into decline, and she did not have a good ending. Now you are very similar to her. I can't help her, but I don't want you to step into the abyss again."