"You dare!" Su Mingxuan was so angry that his face turned red. He raised his wooden sword and was about to rush forward, but was stopped by Su Jinli.
Su Jinli took a deep breath and suddenly laughed. That smile was cold and tinged with a hint of sarcasm: "Master Wang, do you think you can threaten me like this?"
Wang Jingan was stunned: "What are you laughing at?"
"I laugh at your stupidity." Su Jinli's voice was low, but it carried clearly throughout the front yard. "You think that blocking me here and making a scene will make me surrender? You'll only show everyone what you are, Wang Erlang—a gambler who lost all his fortune, a coward who only knows how to threaten women with despicable means!"
Her words were like a sharp knife, piercing Wang Jing'an's sore spot. The surrounding members of the poetry club and the servants of the Li Mansion began to discuss:
"So it's Wang Jia Erlang! No wonder he's so arrogant! I heard he's got a ton of gambling debts!"
"That's right, you even want to marry Miss Su to pay off your debts. What wishful thinking!"
"How shameless! You actually came to the poetry club to cause trouble!"
Wang Jing'an's face turned from red to white, and then from white to blue. He looked at Su Jinli's undisguised contempt, listened to the pointing and talking around him, and a surge of anger rushed to his head: "You...you are talking nonsense!"
"Am I talking nonsense?" Su Jinli stepped forward, her eyes sharp as a knife. "The three thousand taels of gambling debt from Jufulou, the redemption money for Miss Hong from Yingchunyuan, and the story of you secretly pawning the family heirloom jade ring, do you want me to tell everyone everything?"
Wang Jingan was hit in the sore spot by her and immediately panicked. He subconsciously took a step back: "You...how did you know..."
"Not only do I know," Su Jinli sneered, "I also know that if you don't leave today, I'll report you to the authorities. By then, the charges of you, Wang Erlang, gathering a crowd to cause trouble and threatening the daughter of an imperial official will probably be enough to keep you in jail for a while."
Wang Jing'an looked at Su Jinli's determined eyes, then at the contemptuous looks of the people around him, and knew he was going to get into trouble. He glared at Su Jinli fiercely and said, "Su Jinli, just wait! I won't let you go!" After that, he walked away in disgrace with his slave, not even daring to look back.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they watched them walk away. Li Xiuyuan said gratefully, "Miss Su, if you hadn't stepped forward today, the consequences would have been disastrous."
Su Jinli shook her head and was about to say something when she saw Lin Wanyue approaching with a hint of embarrassment and apology on her face. "President Su, today's incident... I was inconsiderate and almost put you in a difficult position." She paused, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just bowed and said, "Wanyue admires you."
Su Jinli looked at her and suddenly felt that this always arrogant lady was not unreasonable. She smiled and said, "Miss Lin, you are too kind. This matter has nothing to do with you."
After this incident, the members of the poetry club held Su Jinli in a new light. Some, initially skeptical of the young female club leader, now felt a surge of admiration. The gathering continued, with poems themed "Spring Fun" pouring out incessantly, the atmosphere even more lively than before.
By the time the gathering ended, it was already dusk. Su Jinli returned to the prime minister's residence and had just taken off her hairpins and rings when housekeeper Zhang arrived to tell her that the master was waiting for her in the main hall.
In the main hall, Su Hongye sat on a rosewood armchair, a bowl of ginseng tea on the coffee table before him, but he remained untouched. He looked at his daughter who had entered, his brow furrowed. "I've heard about Wang Jing'an's trouble at the poetry club today."
"Yes, father." Su Jinli replied with his head down.
"I've already sent a staff member to the Wang family to deliver a letter," Su Hongye said, picking up the ginseng tea but then putting it down. "I'm warning them to control their own children and not to harass the Su Mansion again. But Wang Jing'an is so stubborn, I'm afraid he won't give up."
Su Jinli raised her head, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes: "Don't worry, father, I will deal with it myself."
Su Hongye looked into his daughter's clear yet resilient eyes, and suddenly remembered his late wife's last words. He sighed, and his tone softened, "I know you have your own opinions, but while the Wang family may not be what it once was, its foundation remains. Don't underestimate it. Be careful in everything you do."
"My daughter understands."
After leaving the main hall, Su Jinli returned to Suiyuxuan, but didn't rest. She sat at her desk, gazing out the window at the darkening night, her mind reverberating with Wang Jing'an's arrogant words and the contemptuous comments of those around her. She knew that warnings would only work temporarily; if she wanted to completely rid herself of Wang Jing'an's entanglement, she had to eliminate the root cause.
Suddenly, she remembered the novel she was writing, "The Concubine's Shocking Beauty." Since words could hurt, why couldn't they be used against Wang Jing'an? An idea gradually formed in her mind—she wanted to write a story about a gambler, a story about a family torn apart by his addiction to gambling.
"Lü'e, grind the ink." Su Jinli suddenly spoke, with a hint of determination in her voice.
Lu'e, though doubtful, quickly fetched an ink stick and ground it carefully in a white jade inkstone. Su Jinli dipped her brush into the ink and traced the tip across the rice paper, leaving a smooth trail. She depicted the story of a young man from an aristocratic family, falling from high spirits to gambling debt, how he sold his property, mistreated his family, and ultimately ended up deserted and frozen to death on the streets. The gambler in this story bears resemblance to Wang Jing'an, yet even more deplorable.
"Girl, what are you doing..." Lu'e couldn't help but ask as she looked at the plot on the paper.
Su Jinli raised her eyes, a cold light flashing in them: "I want everyone to know how harmful gambling is. I also want some people to understand what the consequences will be if they mess with me, Su Jinli."
Over the next few days, Su Jinli toiled tirelessly, finally completing the storybook, "The Gambler's End." She handed it to Li Xiuyuan, asking him to contact Wenyuan Pavilion, the largest bookstore in Beijing, for publication.
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