Chapter 117 Someone Steals Money
"Mother!" Xu Lezhi cried in pain. He felt even more wronged when he saw Lian. "Sixth sister scolded father in public today, making our second branch lose face. We want justice for father!"
"What justice are we seeking? Your father nearly killed us. Should we seek justice from your Second Branch too?" Huang Cui'e was the first to step forward and immediately stood behind Xu Qingying. She looked Xu Qingying up and down with some concern. After making sure she hadn't suffered any harm, she continued to say to Xu Lezhi, "Why are so many people bullying the Sixth Girl?"
Xu Qingying smiled at Huang Cui'e, "Don't worry, Auntie. I can handle it."
Even the soft-natured Miao was a little angry. "Le Zhi, what do you mean? My Ying'er saved you, and you're repaying kindness with hatred like this?"
"Nonsense! She didn't save us at all. She's clearly serving as a traitor and dragged our entire family into a rebellion with Li Datou. Don't you know what rebellion is? It's punishable by death! Xu Qingying dragged our Xu family into such a hopeless situation, so why are you still grateful to her?!"
"Lezhi, what nonsense are you talking about?!" Xu Yinxi looked at Xu Lezhi with some disapproval, pushing her into the house. "You don't know anything, so don't talk nonsense here. Sixth sister does things in her own way, and it's not your turn to comment."
"Sister!" Xu Lezhi broke free from Xu Yinxi's shackles, her face full of disappointment. "Mother, sister, you two are afraid of her, Xu Qingying, but I'm not. If you're not willing to seek justice for father and the Second Branch, then I'll go! Why does Xu Qingying treat us Second Branch members like non-humans just because she made a few bucks? Back in the day, the Third Branch was weak in Bianjing City and depended on us Second Branch for survival. But who in our Second Branch dared to trample people into the mud like Xu Qingying did?"
After saying this, Xu Lezhi's eyes turned red again, and he questioned Xu Deyuan: "Father, you have suffered such a great injustice, why don't you dare to confront her? If Xu Qingying dares to do this to you today, she will dare to do the same to me tomorrow, and then she will just let her be the head of the entire Xu family! There is no place for us, the second branch of the family!"
Xu Deyuan looked extremely embarrassed. He wanted to play the role of a coward and pretend that the matter had gone unmentioned as long as no one else in the Xu family mentioned it.
But Xu Lezhi was such a clueless girl that she insisted on making a big deal out of the matter and making him lose face.
He was furious and anxious, and shouted, "Evil creature, it's not your turn to interfere in my father's affairs! Go back!"
Xu Lezhi was in disbelief, and then tears of grievance flowed down his face, "Father, I am standing up for you and for our entire Second House!"
"Seventh sister, what you said makes perfect sense." Xu Qingying nodded repeatedly and looked at Xu Huizheng. "Cousin, do you think so too?"
Xu Huizheng had originally been afraid of Xu Qingying, but seeing her smiling face, which seemed very easy to talk to, he grew bolder and puffed out his chest, saying, "Of course! The great reputation of our Xu family has been completely ruined by you! In my opinion, people like you should be expelled from the Xu family to prevent them from dragging down our entire family!"
Xu Qingying tilted her head and looked at everyone in the second house. "Do you all think so?"
The fourth room quickly expressed its stance, and Xu Dekai said, "Serving the thieves is only a temporary solution. Qingying said she would find a way to leave later."
Xu Dechi, the eldest wife, also said quickly, "I believe in Sixth Girl, too. We are a clean family, how could we seriously engage in rebellion?"
Huang Cui'e spat, "You're all pretending to be virtuous and noble. You're all going to die, so why would you care about whether we rebel or not? Besides, if you don't say it, I won't say it, and the escort won't say it either, so who would know we're rebelling? Rebellion means losing your head, but you saw the situation at the time. If you didn't want to go into the city, you should have said so right then and there. Why are you all pretending to be chaste and heroic women now?"
"Alright." Xu Qingying sighed, scratching her fingernails nonchalantly. There was a coldness in her eyes, a hint of indifference. "If that's the case, then what do you want me to do?"
"Kneel down and apologize to my father!" Xu Lezhi blurted out, "And donate all the money you earned from your soap business to the public treasury!"
Xu Qingying paused in clasping her hands.
Seeing everyone looking at her in disbelief, Xu Lezhi simply hardened her heart and closed her eyes and said, "Don't think we don't know that you've made tens of thousands of taels from your soap business!"
Xu Qingying turned her head and saw Lian's somewhat bewildered look.
Too many people knew about this matter, and Xu Qingying knew that she couldn't keep it secret for too long, but she didn't expect that someone would dare to take her money.
"Are you... sure?" Xu Qingying still had a smile on her face, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
When they heard that Xu Qingying had earned tens of thousands of taels, Huang, the first wife, the second wife and others were all shocked.
They knew the soap business could be lucrative, but they didn't expect it to be this lucrative.
They had only been doing business for a few days, but they had earned enough to support the Xu family for several lifetimes.
Not to mention Xu Lezhi, even Huang was very tempted!
Grandma's mouth was dry and she asked everyone with a trembling voice, "Sixth girl, did you really make that much money from the soap business?"
Xu Qingying paused and nodded.
"grandmother!"
Huang almost fainted, but fortunately Xu Yinxi supported her in time.
Huang Cui'e also patted her chest and said, "Oh my god, how much money does this cost? I'm afraid even a donkey cart can't pull it all."
Speaking of this, Huang Cui'e wanted to beat her chest and stamp her feet. If she had known this would happen, when she wanted to invest in the second round of soap business but was rejected, she should have been thick-skinned and begged Liu Yatou more often. Who knows, maybe today's wealth would have been hers.
Tens of thousands of taels, or even a few thousand taels will do!
Fortunately, although everyone was moved, they still had a little bit of rationality left. If they continued to treat the third house as a soft persimmon over the past few days, they might as well look at the fate of the refugees killed by Xu Qingying that day.
Just because of Xu Lezhi's words, everyone hated Xu Deyuan, who had strongly advocated that they write the contract.
Huang coughed softly, "Seventh girl, what are you talking about? The soap business is signed and sealed. The third house is responsible for all profits and losses of the soap business. You can't evade the debt that is written in black and white."
"Grandmother, what does it matter if it's written in black and white? Without the official record and the family division documents, the contract we signed is invalid! The third branch has earned so much money, enough to squander for several lifetimes, so why wouldn't they help us? Back when we were in Bianjing City, Dad was so capable and never forgot to support the other branches. Why should the third branch be an exception? We are all members of the Xu family, and we all have Xu blood flowing through our veins. Grandmother, you must not favor one over the other!"
Xu Lezhi still did not give up and tried to persuade Huang. As long as Huang agreed, the word "filial piety" would be the most important thing, and the third branch would be in great trouble.
But Huang knew clearly that Xu Lezhi was encouraging her to take the lead, and she was annoyed that this girl was so cunning towards her.
Xu Lezhi didn't even think about it. The third wife earned so much money, how could she not be filial to her?
She would never fight for the second wife and offend the powerful third wife!
She broke free from Xu Lezhi's hand and said unhappily, "Seventh girl, what you said is wrong. You signed the document yourselves. I didn't force you or tie you up. People should keep their word. How can you take it back? Do you think you can lick back the spit you spit on? There is no such thing in the world. Today, I, an old woman, have made the final decision. No matter how much money the third wife makes from the soap business, it belongs to her. Don't even think about taking advantage of her!"
Huang Cui'e felt her heart bleed, but she could only force herself to say something high-sounding, "Mother is right. No matter how good the soap business is, it still belongs to the Third House. It was the Sixth Girl who invited us to do business together, but we didn't know what was good for us. We mistook the fish eyes for treasures and listened to the slander of some people, and missed this opportunity to make a fortune. Now we can only blame ourselves——"
At this point, almost everyone stared at Xu Deyuan.
Xu Dechi was even more direct, almost merciless. "That's right. Back then, my second brother kept saying that the Third Branch's soap business would be wiped out. We trusted you for your extensive knowledge and education, but who could have known there were such ruthless people in this world who would even cheat their closest relatives! The elders cheated us, and the younger ones came to incite us, letting the Second Branch say everything good and bad about us. So we're the ones who are the bad guys?"
Miao and Xu Degui's eyes were red.
Xu Lezhi was dissatisfied. "Uncle, how can you say that? My father was kind-hearted at the time and was afraid that you would be cheated. What is that soap? None of us has ever seen it, so how can we know whether it will sell well? My father tried to stop it out of kindness for your sake, so why is it all my second wife's fault now? It's really hard to be a good person in this world—"
"It's hard to say whether he's a good person or not, but it's true that he's trying to stop us from getting rich."
"That's enough, shut up!" Xu Deyuan shouted, and the people in the rooms fell silent. "It's come to this, there's no point in saying more - Xu Lezhi, come in with me."
"Father!" Seeing that Xu Deyuan seemed to be trying to settle the matter peacefully, Xu Lezhi became anxious again. She had finally persuaded the children from the second house to stand on her side. She had thought that today she would either ask Xu Qingying for money or make Xu Qingying kneel down and admit her mistake. The scene had been set and the protagonist had already appeared. How could she give up halfway?
"She treated our Second Branch like this today, and she'll treat you the same way tomorrow! Are you really planning to let the Third Branch take over? Grandmother, as the head of the family, why can't you seek justice for our Second Branch?!"
"Evil creature!" Xu Deyuan was furious. He raised his hand and slapped Xu Lezhi hard. The sound was so crisp that Xu Lezhi staggered and almost lost his balance. Xu Deyuan glanced at Xu Qingying, then pulled Xu Lezhi into the house. "I was wrong about what happened today. If Qingying hadn't acted decisively, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to enter the city alive today."
Xu Qingying raised her eyebrows.
How could I hear Xu Deyuan admit his mistake in my lifetime?
If I had known that fists were useful, I should have woken him up earlier.
Lian also stepped forward and said, "Sixth girl, it's us, Lezhi, who have wronged you. She's younger than you, and as your elder sister, you should bear with her more. That girl is just like her father, a stubborn and single-minded person. Anyway... I will discipline her more. I promise, she will never go against you again."
Xu Qingying made a gesture of invitation.
Lian dispersed the people from the second house who came to watch the fun, and then looked at Xu Huizheng.
Xu Hui felt her legs weaken at the sight of her stepmother, and she almost immediately defended herself, "Mother, it was my seventh sister who said the people of the second house should unite. I came here to seek justice for my father!"
Lian smiled coldly, "You know the truth in your heart. I advise you that you are the eldest son of the second house after all. Don't fail to understand the situation and follow Xu Lezhi in making trouble. Otherwise, I will let you know the family rules of the second house."
Xu Hui was looking down.
Xu Deyuan took Xu Lezhi into the house, and Xu Yinxi followed.
As soon as he entered the room, Xu Deyuan scolded, "You evil creature, kneel down!"
Xu Lezhi had never seen Xu Deyuan so angry before. Although she felt wronged, she dared not disobey and knelt on the cold floor. "Father, tell me, what was my fault? She bullied you in public today. I just want to seek justice for you and the Second Branch! Our Second Branch has already given in so much, but Xu Qingying is still pressing forward. How can she, Xu Qingying, be so impatient to kill the Second Branch before she even becomes the head of the family? Father, I can't swallow this!"
"Swallow it even if you can't!" Xu Deyuan was furious. Thinking about what he had just said to Xu Qingying, he felt an unprecedented humiliation. It was all Xu Lezhi's fault for stirring up trouble and making him so embarrassed. "Who are you? Are you ready to fight Xu Qingying? Can you beat her?"
"What talent did she have? She was just lucky enough to make a few bucks! If I had half her luck, I could be like her. Besides, did she really make that money from selling soap? She's a woman, out in the open all day, hanging out with men. Who knows where she got that money!"
"You..." Xu Deyuan discovered for the first time that Xu Lezhi was extremely stupid. "Idiot, idiot! Do you think everyone is as lucky as her? You only saw that she made a few bucks, but why didn't you see who in the Xu family stood on our side just now? Even if you told everyone that the third branch made tens of thousands of taels, so what? You just wanted to win over others to force the third branch to spit out the money they made from soap. But look, who was against her, Xu Qingying, just now? Who dared to jump out and say a word for you?"
Xu Lezhi's face turned pale.
"Think about the situation when we were exiled, and what it's like now. Think about it yourself. Along the way, she's won over everyone from the Xu family, the Fang family, and the escorts. The entire team has become obedient to her. She's forced the Second Branch into isolation. To be able to utilize so many people in such a short time, is this something that can be achieved by luck alone?"
Xu Lezhi immediately said, "That's witchcraft! She's just bewitching others!"
"What kind of magic potion is this!" Lian was also furious. She didn't expect that when Xu Lezhi forced her to ask how much money the third room earned, she told him carelessly. Unexpectedly, Xu Lezhi just blurted it out in front of everyone, making Lian lose face in front of Xu Qingying.
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