The old lady didn't have time to pay attention to Wu. The family had made a lot of money recently, and life was much better. Wu did indeed quiet down for a few days.

However, Old Mrs. Zhao was the head of the household, controlling the finances and making all the decisions.

The old lady was used to a hard life and was reluctant to spend money recklessly. When Ms. Wu wanted to make some new clothes for the family, the old lady refused.

Today, something happened to the second son's family, and the old lady took out all the money in the house, which made her very angry, but there was nothing she could do.

The old lady walked briskly, arriving at the scholar's house in just a few steps. By then, Zhao Xiaosheng had finished working in the rice paddies and returned home.

He was arguing with Zhang the landlord when Old Lady Zhao entered the courtyard and began to berate Zhang the landlord in a bad mood.

“We’re all from the same village, you’re bullying us too much. You just want the scholar’s ​​old house, don’t even dream about it. I’ve brought twenty taels of silver with me. Leave the deed and IOU here, take the silver, and get as far away as you can.”

When Zhang the landlord saw Old Madam Zhao's aggressive demeanor, his arrogance immediately diminished.

He hadn't expected that Old Madam Zhao's family was so wealthy, and that they had raised twenty taels of silver so quickly.

The family breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the old lady had actually brought twenty taels of silver.

Zhang the wealthy man stared wide-eyed at the silver in the old lady's hand, and immediately burst into laughter.

“What kind of silver is this? It’s all jumbled up and there’s a lot of loose silver. It’s obviously not enough. The silver I lent to the scholar wasn’t like this. I won’t accept this kind of loose silver.”

Everyone was stunned. He wouldn't accept such money. What was he trying to do?

"If you won't accept this kind of silver, then what kind of silver do you want?"

"Give me a twenty-tael silver ingot, and I won't take anything else." Zhang the landlord was now determined to get what he wanted.

Zhao Xiaosheng and Zhao Xiaoshan were furious. They clenched their fists and glared at Zhang Dahu.

Seeing this, the two men brought by Zhang the landlord came over and stood in front of the brothers.

"If you two want to fight, we're happy to oblige."

Qin Siyu realized that things were going badly; once a fight broke out, it would be impossible to control. This matter had to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise it would be detrimental to her master.

“Master Zhang, let me tell you plainly, you’re deliberately causing trouble. When I gave you a silver note, you said you couldn’t make change. When I brought you silver, you said it was all junk and you only wanted to accept a twenty-tael silver ingot. It seems we have no choice but to go to court.”

Qin Shiyu knew that Zhao Xian had a good relationship with Magistrate Cao. Since she had encountered such an unreasonable person, it seemed that she had no choice but to seek help from the government. Magistrate Cao would not refuse to help her.

"So what if we meet with officials? Do you think I'm afraid of you? Let me tell you the truth, I have connections in the county government, and I'm not afraid of anyone." Zhang the landlord began to act arrogantly.

"In that case, let's invite the village headman here to be a witness and let him know that you, Zhang, don't want banknotes or silver coins. You only have one purpose, which is to take a fancy to our old house," Qin Shiyu said calmly.

"I'll go and invite the village headman here," Zhao Xiaosan said, and quickly walked out of the courtyard gate.

Zhang, the wealthy man, was in a bit of a dilemma. If he invited the village headman, things would be really difficult to handle. But it didn't matter. By the time the village headman arrived, it would already be past dusk, and then the initiative would be on his side.

As soon as Zhao Xiaosan stepped out of the courtyard gate, he saw a carriage approaching. Zhao Xiaoshan was overjoyed, thinking that Zhao Xian had returned.

The carriage stopped, and three people got out. Zhao Xiaosan was a little disappointed that his brother was not among them.

The leader was a man in his forties, with an imposing presence and a kind face.

Beside them was an old man with a goatee and a thin build, and a young man with a robust physique, who was clearly skilled in martial arts.

The three men were dressed in casual clothes, like businessmen.

They had met Zhao Xian once in Dawan Town. When the three of them were down on their luck, Zhao Xian lent them the only tael of silver he had.

This man was Shen Yong, the prefect of Qing'an. The old man next to him was his advisor, Yu Wen, who was equivalent to a secretary today. The young man was his personal bodyguard, Bao Ping.

The appearance of these three people in Narcissus Village was indeed rare, but Zhao Xiaoshan was unaware of this.

Shen Yong saw a young man rushing out of the courtyard. He seemed a little stunned when he saw the three of them, so he went up to ask him a question.

"Excuse me, sir, is this the home of scholar Zhao Xian?"

"Zhao Xian is my older brother. Who are you, and what do you want with him?"

“We are your brother’s friends, and we have come here specifically to visit Scholar Zhao.”

“My brother is not home today. He was taken to Xinkou County by Magistrate Cao early this morning to help solve the drought there. He probably won’t be back until tomorrow.”

"Oh, is that so? We've come at an inopportune time." Prefect Shen said with a hint of regret.

Seeing the chaos in the courtyard, Prefect Shen frowned.

"What happened at your house? Why are you arguing?"

“Zhang, the wealthy man from our village, came to collect a debt. Two years ago, my brother borrowed ten taels of silver from Zhang for a friend, agreeing to repay it in two years with interest of twenty taels of silver.”

Today is the due date, and he came to collect the debt. Taking advantage of my brother's absence, he's making things difficult for our family, refusing both banknotes and small change.

Prefect Shen was a little puzzled. Wasn't the purpose of collecting debts to get money? Borrowing ten taels and having to repay twenty taels was too high an interest rate. After making so much money, why didn't they want banknotes or silver?

"So what does he want? Does he have some ulterior motive?"

“He said he only wanted one ingot of silver worth twenty taels. If we didn’t pay by 5 PM, our old house would belong to him. We had no choice but to report it to the authorities. I’m asking the village headman to come over and make an assessment.”

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