Chapter 176
She crouched down, raised her hand and waved, then smiled and said, "It's me."
When Xie Ming saw her, he still remembered how she had begged him for more time that day, looking so pathetic and lowly. Now she had transformed into a noble lady from a noble family.
He glanced at her with disdain, letting out a sneer, "I thought you were some important person, but it turns out to be a lowly slut like you who does such unlucky business."
Upon hearing this, a murderous glint flashed in Leng Qiao's eyes. Just as he was about to make a move, he was stopped by the girl beside him.
Tao Tao stood up, stepped on his bruised neck, and looked down at him with eyes that seemed to regard him as trash.
Feeling deeply humiliated, Xie Ming's blood boiled, and his face turned sinister. He pulled out a dagger from behind his back and stabbed it at her ankle. In the nick of time, she managed to stab the dagger into his palm and then into the ground.
He was in so much pain that his face contorted in agony, his body twisted, and he screamed incessantly.
The screams attracted the attention of those outside. The wooden door was slammed open, and a swarm of thugs rushed in.
Leng Qiao's expression was stern. He moved forward, blocking Tao Tao's path, and drew a long whip from his waist, swinging it directly at the crowd.
In an instant, everyone was thrown to the ground, their faces contorted in pain, and cries of agony filled the air.
Xie Ming was furious when he saw how useless they were. He had just made a sound when he suddenly realized that someone was stepping on his neck. He could barely breathe, let alone make a sound.
Immediately following, a piercing pain shot through his numb palm, causing him to gasp for breath.
Tao Tao took out a token from her waist and waved it in front of him, "I am the Princess Huaimin, personally appointed by the Emperor. How dare you be so insolent?!"
He strained to open his eyes wide and make out the token placed in front of him, and his expression immediately changed drastically.
She muttered to herself, "How is this possible? Impossible! How could you suddenly become a county princess?! You're just a merchant's daughter who runs a funeral shop, how could you possibly be a county princess..."
In his mind, funerals were the dirtiest and most unlucky business. She was a woman, full of yin energy, and not even beautiful. How could she possibly transform into royalty?
This is absolutely absurd!
"Impossible? Looks like you're still not awake."
She sneered and then stomped her foot harder.
He immediately turned pale with pain, and his hands involuntarily struggled. As a result, another wave of excruciating pain washed over him.
The thugs at the gambling den scrambled to their feet, looking tense. Just as they were about to make a move, they saw their owner lying on the ground like a dead dog and immediately dared not make a move.
"Spare...spare my life...Princess, spare my life...Heh...Heh..."
Xie Ming tried to breathe through his open mouth, his words almost silent, but Tao Tao could still tell what he was saying from his appearance.
She slightly relaxed her stance and asked, "This county princess asks you, what is your relationship with the stream at Chu Feng Pavilion?"
Lying on the ground, Xie Ming was panting heavily, veins bulging on his neck and temples. Hearing the question, he hurriedly swallowed hard, his throat swollen and painful, and said with difficulty, "The relationship between...a creditor...and a debtor..."
How much money does he owe you?
"...Five hundred taels!"
Tao Tao nodded seemingly unintentionally. It seemed she understood, but she needed to confirm it further.
"So he impersonated Qing Lin to deceive Tu Miaoling. Tu Miaoling was drained of her money by him and had no choice but to borrow money from Wan Guirong. As a result, the interest compounded and she couldn't repay the money. Perhaps it was at Wan Guirong's suggestion that the gambling den came down to try to make more money through speculative means."
"Who knew that Tu Miaoling would lose more and more until she had nothing left to lose? Then you appeared again, lent her some money, and encouraged her to win it back in the next round. But because of your words, she ended up losing everything and had no choice but to mortgage her house to a pawnshop."
After losing money at the gambling den and being desperate, Xi Quan happened to learn that Tu Miaoling was in love with her son, Qing Lin. He then devised a plan specifically to target her. He would take advantage of her feelings and write letters to her in Qing Lin's name, saying ambiguous things to make her fall even more in love with him.
He then went on to gain her sympathy and, without ever meeting her, swindled her out of all her money, subtly hinting in his letters that she should prepare more.
Isn't this just like the online scams of later generations, where people use attractive female profile pictures to find unsuspecting men for online romances, only to end up losing everything?
Xie Ming's face turned ugly after hearing her words. He knew everything, but he still stubbornly insisted: "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't force her to come to the gambling den. It was all her own choice."
This really has nothing to do with him. He just lent her money to continue gambling. What Xiquan says or does is none of his business.
"Besides, it's a fact that Tu Miaoling lost money. There's no law in the Celestial Empire that says you can't lend money to others to gamble, right? So I haven't done anything wrong at all, and you can't arrest me and take me to the authorities."
She smiled slightly, looking at him with a half-smile. She hadn't expected him to be so arrogant even after being beaten up like that.
"You shall see whether I, the county magistrate, have the ability."
Tao Tao flicked off imaginary dust from her clothes, tossed her wide sleeves, and said calmly, "Leng Qiao, put the silver away."
She then walked gracefully toward the door, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. She was a county princess, and the host had not spoken, so for a moment they did not know whether they should stop her.
Leng Qiao turned around, took the silver from the table, and strode after the girl in front of her.
They didn't even dare to stop Tao Tao, let alone her. They could only watch helplessly as the two of them walked slowly downstairs through so many thugs.
When Xie Ming saw that the silver had been taken away, he was so angry that his eyes rolled back and he was about to start cursing. But his throat, which had just calmed down, started to hurt terribly again.
Seeing this, everyone rushed over to greet her, asking if she was alright: "Boss, are you alright? Should we chase after her? But that person said she was a county princess..."
"Boss, boss... we can't afford to offend the county magistrate..."
"Boss, let me go and fetch a doctor to take a look at you..."
They surrounded him so tightly that there was no escape. He never expected that, just like before, with only two women, they were both terrified.
As soon as I stepped outside, I heard a commotion coming from downstairs. The people were so excited that their cheeks were flushed, and they kept shouting. The commotion upstairs hadn't distracted them; all they could see was the dice in the dealer's hand.
With such a frenzied state, they won't stop until they've lost everything.
She scoffed softly, and couldn't help but think of her father, who was the same way, and even more heartless, abandoning his wife and daughter to face the debt collectors alone, and running away, probably enjoying himself somewhere right now.
It's best if she doesn't find you, or she'll turn on you and betray you.
She will go to settle accounts with Tu Miaoling. Before that, she needs to get the letter from Chu Feng Pavilion. In fact, regardless of whether the letter Xi Quan gets was written by Qing Lin herself, she has a strategy to deal with it.
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