Chapter 49: Being Cheated
Qu Lianzhi paced back and forth in the main courtyard.
"Mom, grandma fell pretty badly, are you really not going to go check on her?"
She finally couldn't help but say, "Father must be very angry."
Song leaned back on the couch without even raising her eyelids. "Hasn't the court doctor gone? I can't treat illnesses, so what's the point of him going?"
She picked up the teacup slowly and said, "Even if your father gets angry again, can he still divorce me?"
Qu Lianzhi bit her lower lip and said, "But if the power of the family falls into Qu Ling's hands, all our efforts will be in vain."
Song scoffed, "No matter how capable she is, can she really organize an engagement banquet by herself?"
"Just wait and see, she won't take over this mess in the Marquis' Mansion."
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. Lian Zhi was too young after all, and his planning couldn't compare to Qu Ling's.
As she was speaking, a maid came in, lifting the curtain with a strange look on her face, "Madam, the Marquis has taken Cuilu, the old lady's concubine, as his concubine."
Qu Lianzhi thought she had misheard, "What? Cuilu is already thirty years old. When did father become so uncritical?"
Song remained motionless, instead she smiled, "I thought it was a big deal. The Marquis has always been like this. When he first accepted Concubine Miao, wasn't he also executing her first and asking for permission later?"
She motioned the maid to continue.
"The Marquis also said that he would let you be the housekeeper, but you must give the late wife's dowry to the eldest daughter before the engagement banquet."
Song sipped her tea calmly with a smile on her lips.
Qu Lianzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. After everyone left, she was still unwilling to give up. "Mom, is it really so easy to give so many things to Qu Ling?"
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
Song put down her teacup and suddenly pulled out an account book. "Do you really think I would return those good things in their original condition?"
She turned to one of the pages and pointed to a line of small red characters.
Qu Lianzhi took a closer look and covered her mouth in shock.
It turned out to be the same thing in Xu Zhaoyue's dowry.
Song closed the account book, a cruel light flashing in her eyes, "I have had that dowry in my hands for so many years, I have already made plans."
This matter requires caution. She originally planned to secretly replace it before Qu Ling got married.
I didn't expect such a big change to happen after Qu Ling came back.
This time, it is her last chance.
Moreover, she wanted to put all the blame on Qu Mingyue.
At the Duke Su's Mansion, whips whistled, each one carrying a sharp sound of breaking through the air as they struck Liu Xuan's back fiercely.
"Rebellious son," Duke Su's eyes were red, and the bull whip in his hand was soaked in salt water, leaving a bloody mark when he lashed out. "Marriage is such a serious matter, how can you be so willful and reckless?"
Liu Xuan was kneeling on the mat, his clothes on his back had already been torn, revealing crisscrossing bloodstains.
He gritted his teeth, cold sweat dripping down his jaw, but he still raised his head stubbornly, "Father, I will never marry Qu Ling."
Duke Su was furious and whipped him again, "How dare you disobey your father's words?"
Qu Mingyue threw herself on Liu Xuan, crying bitterly, "Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, it's my fault, stop hitting me."
She knelt forward and hugged Duke Su's legs, "He is also your son, your only son."
Liu Xuan gritted his teeth, "Mom, don't beg me anymore. I will never marry Qu Ling."
His eyes burned with anger. "Father, why did you insist on your son marrying someone who murdered my stepmother? Is it just because she's a county lady? Has our Suguo Mansion fallen to the point where we have to sell our sons for glory?"
"Shut up!" Duke Su shouted, and the whip fell like raindrops.
Qu Mingyue cried so hard that she almost fainted. She looked at her son's back, which was covered in blood, and finally broke down and shouted the truth, "A Xuan, if you don't marry her, we're done!"
The whip sounds stopped, and Liu Xuan looked confused.
Only Qu Mingyue was left crying intermittently, "That sum of money, the one million taels for the prince to raise private soldiers, was all lost by me."
Liu Xuan's pupils suddenly shrank. Of course he knew what this meant.
Duke Suguo dropped the whip in his hand, his face instantly pale, and he couldn't help cursing again, "You are so bold! How dare you touch the prince's money?"
Qu Mingyue's hair was disheveled. "That man said he was a jeweler from the Western Regions and could make ten times the profit."
She trembled as she pulled out a contract from her bosom. "I'm also doing this for the Duke's Mansion. Over the years, you've done so much for the Crown Prince, and how much silver has he given you? Not only did he not give you a penny, he even paid a lot. The dowry I brought from my parents' home is almost gone. Ah Xuan is growing up, and money is needed everywhere..."
Liu Xuan struggled to crawl over. After seeing the seal on the contract clearly, she suddenly laughed miserably, "Mother, you've been cheated. This seal is a fake. The merchant must have run away long ago."
Duke Su held onto the table, tears streaming down his face, "Heaven wants to destroy our Liu family."
Liu Xuan kowtowed heavily, "My son is willing to marry Qu Ling."
When he looked up, blood was streaming down his forehead. "We still have to report it to the police and find out the whereabouts of this liar."
"You can't report it," Qu Mingyue cried heartbrokenly upon seeing Liu Xuan's expression. "Raising private soldiers for the Crown Prince is a heinous crime punishable by the death of nine generations of your clan."
She stumbled over to fight Duke Suguo, "It's all your fault, it's all your fault. Why didn't you just stay loyal to the Crown Prince? Why did you have to raise private soldiers for him? Have you forgotten how the Princess pulled you down from your position as Minister of War?"
Duke Su first ordered, "Take the prince down to apply medicine."
After the servants carried Liu Xuan away, he grabbed Qu Mingyue and said in a terrifyingly low voice, "Listen, if you can't marry Qu Ling and fill the deficit, you will die of a sudden illness, understand?"
After saying that, he waved Qu Mingyue away. Qu Mingyue collapsed to the ground, with a hollow look of disbelief in her eyes.
After a long time, she regained her spirit, with hope in her eyes.
As long as Qu Ling's dowry is brought in, everything will be solved.
"Did that foolish woman from the Duke of Suguo's Mansion really give the money for raising soldiers to merchants from the Western Regions?" The eldest princess had a complicated expression.
Pei Jingming leaned against the screen, playing with a fan in his hand. "It's not just her. Minister Li's wife lost 100,000 taels, and General Liu's mansion lost half of its land."
He suddenly chuckled, "These women all 'randomly encountered' Western merchants at the God of Wealth Temple."
A hint of sarcasm flashed across the eldest princess's phoenix eyes, "Did he catch the person?"
"I caught him in a gambling house in Mingzhou last night." Pei Jingming pulled out a confession from his sleeve. "He's not from the Western Regions, just a swindler who specializes in counterfeiting seals from various countries. He ran away very quickly."
The eldest princess traced her fingertips over several prominent names on the confession. "Have you said everything you need to say?"
"I vomited it all out." Pei Jingming said.
The princess held the confession close to the candlelight, and the flames instantly engulfed half the page. "Beat him up and throw him at the gate of the Dali Temple. As for the silver, I gladly accept it."
She raised her eyes and smiled, her grace and beauty were beyond compare. "I wonder if it was you who did it."
Pei Jingming's eyes were deep and he smiled, "Don't worry, Your Highness."
He pulled out the account book from his sleeve and said, "He lost 50,000 taels of silver in the gambling house from his fraudulent activities. The rest is gone."
"How many?"
"Ten years, twenty million taels," Pei Jingming lowered his voice, "that liar was originally from the Eastern Palace."
No wonder he couldn’t be caught for so many years and he even dared to come to Beijing to commit fraud.
The prince was a deep-minded person, and his subordinates each did their own thing and did not disturb each other.
Unexpectedly, it was a flood that washed away the Dragon King Temple.
The eldest princess suddenly laughed.
"This nephew of mine has learned to raise an army, but he just ended up shooting himself in the foot."
Ever since Qu Ling told her that Duke Su was short of money, she sent someone to check.
She said, "I will give A-Ling a big gift for her engagement party in three days."
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