Chapter 78 A Stack of Blank Paper
Song Hui was filled with resentment, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent.
Imperial Censor Huang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Vice Minister Song.
"Oh, so you don't want to give it? Nine years, ten shops, a hundred acres of fertile land, asking for 100,000 taels is already too little."
And don't even mention the possibility of the shop losing money. If you really think it's too much, I can have the Censorate's accountants check the books. Lord Song, you should think carefully about whether you can afford to do that.
A cold sweat instantly broke out on Vice Minister Song's back.
If the Censorate's accountants were to investigate, they could probably find out everything about the Song family.
His life is over.
Vice Minister Song glared fiercely at Madam Zhang.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get the silver notes!"
Zhang dared not say that all the money had been given to Song Hui, and stammered.
Where am I supposed to scrape together so much silver in such a short time?
Minister Song growled, "If you can't raise the money, go to your shop and get it. Figure it out!"
Zhang dared not say that all the money in the shop had been withdrawn; she could only complain about Song Yi.
"We're all family, why are you pushing us so hard? Can't you give us some more time?"
Song Yi took a deep breath, refusing to back down an inch.
"cannot."
"When you were scrambling for my dowry back then, why didn't you think to take less and leave me more?"
Madam Zhang was furious, but was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.
Li Nanke watched from the side and couldn't help but smile.
My mother is so wonderful.
She really wanted to applaud her mother.
Thinking this way, she did just that.
She tugged at Song Yi's hand, then clapped her hands twice and gave her a thumbs up.
"Mommy is awesome."
Song Yi's heart softened at her daughter's adorable appearance, and her pent-up anger dissipated considerably.
She stood still.
Imperial Censor Huang remained unmoved.
As the crowd of onlookers grew larger, cold sweat broke out on Vice Minister Song's forehead.
Vice Minister Song scolded Lady Zhang: "Go and get the silver notes right now."
Unable to hide it any longer, Madam Zhang could only grit her teeth and say, "I've given all the silver notes to Hui'er."
"Why did you give Hui'er so many silver notes?"
Zhang dared not reveal that he was preparing to profit from the national crisis by collecting grain, and stammered out the answer.
Seeing that Imperial Censor Huang's face was getting worse and worse, Zhao Hong was also starting to feel the strain.
With a dark face, he tugged at Song Hui and said in a low, furious voice, "At a time like this, aren't you ashamed enough?"
"Quickly pay back the money, transfer the shop, and go home!"
Song Hui felt a dull ache in her chest, but she knew that there was no other way but to lose money.
He kept reassuring himself that at least he still had 20,000 taels left.
As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn.
As long as the grain purchase is arranged properly, 20,000 taels can quickly be multiplied into 200,000 taels.
Thinking this way, the heart-wrenching pain lessened considerably, and he turned to instruct the maid to fetch the silver notes.
The Zhao family lived not far from the Song family, and the maid quickly returned with the silver notes.
She handed the mahogany box containing the banknotes to Song Yi with a disgruntled expression.
"Ten thousand taels, make sure you count it carefully, or you'll come back later and say it's too little."
Song Yi gave the mahogany box to Zisu and Zilan.
The two maids quickly counted them.
"Lady of the Heir Apparent, that's exactly 100,000 taels."
Song Yi breathed a sigh of relief, her almond-shaped eyes shining even brighter.
He curtsied to Imperial Censor Huang and said, "Please come with us to the Bianjing Prefecture government office, Lord Huang."
"That's natural."
Since Imperial Censor Huang was going, Vice Minister Song and Zhao Hong dared not refuse.
The group went to the Bianjing government office in a grand procession. Wei Yan happened to be available today and, upon learning of the situation, immediately instructed the yamen runners to expedite the transfer of ownership.
Seeing that Wei Yan had made the arrangements, Imperial Censor Huang left without lingering.
Li Nanke clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you, Lord Wei. You are truly a good person."
Wei Yan smiled as he received another "good guy" card and reached out to ruffle Li Nanke's hair.
This little girl is really something else.
Minister Song's face was gloomy, his gaze shifting between Song Yi and Wei Yan, and he snorted coldly.
"No wonder he was able to bring out all the contracts archived in the yamen; it turns out he had already made arrangements with Lord Wei."
He then glanced sideways at Wei Yan and said, "Without the consent of the parties involved, you arbitrarily allowed someone to retrieve another person's shop contract. Aren't you afraid of being impeached by the censor?"
Wei Yan looked completely bewildered.
"What retrieval contract?"
Li Nanke chuckled and took the stack of papers from Zisu's hand.
He walked up to Vice Minister Song and held the paper up in front of him.
"Grandfather looked closely and saw that the first piece of paper was a fake contract, and the ones below were all blank."
"It was because you, maternal grandfather and grandparents, felt guilty that you admitted it as soon as you saw the contract."
"Lord Wei is a good official; he would never do anything against the rules."
Li Nanke's crisp voice echoed throughout the entire yamen.
As she spoke, she removed the first sheet of paper, and sure enough, the papers below were all blank.
A stack of white paper reflected the dazzling light in the sunlight, as if mocking his stupidity for being fooled by a stack of white paper!
A gust of wind blew by, scattering white paper all over the ground.
One of the papers was blown onto Vice Minister Song's face.
Enraged, Vice Minister Song took the paper down and glared fiercely at Li Nanke.
Li Nanke made a face at him, then hid behind Song Yi with a frightened look on her face.
She cried out, "Mother, Grandfather's eyes are so scary! Is he going to hit me?"
Vice Minister Song...
You brat!
Just as annoying as Song Yi!
With Wei Yan's personal instructions, the yamen runners were very diligent, and in less than half an hour, ten shops and one hundred acres of fertile land were all transferred to Song Yi's name.
The whole process went very smoothly.
As Song Yi emerged from the Bianjing government office, her eyes immediately reddened as she gazed at the freshly printed bright red contract in her hand.
Tears, which had been held back for so long, began to fall, drop by drop.
She couldn't believe she had actually done it!
She took back all the dowry her mother had left her.
"Don't cry, Mother."
Li Nanke shook her hand and pulled her down, then stood on tiptoe to wipe away her tears.
Song Yi half-squatted down, sniffed, and shook her forehead against Li Nanke's.
"Don't be afraid, Mother is just crying tears of joy."
"Mommy was wonderful today!"
Song Yi's wet eyes were sparkling.
"Really? Ke'er really thinks Mommy was great today?"
Li Nanke nodded seriously.
Zilan carefully put away the red contract in Song Yi's hand, her face full of excitement.
"The Crown Prince's wife was really impressive today. Those two slaps you gave Song Hui were so satisfying."
This girl is straightforward and currently very annoyed with Song Hui, so she simply addresses her by her full name instead of calling her "Auntie" as she usually does.
Song Yi smiled slightly, pursing her lips.
"Actually, I was so angry that I lost my mind. It was Ke'er who whispered four words in my ear that brought me back to my senses."
Zilan and Zisu were very curious.
"What did the young lady and the Crown Prince's wife talk about?"
Li Nanke clenched her small fist.
"Mother, hit her!"
Both Zilan and Zisu were amused by their daughter's adorable appearance.
A heavy, cold snort came from behind.
Vice Minister Song and Lady Zhang, Song Hui and Zhao Hong came out one after the other.
Minister Song pointed at Song Yi and angrily cursed, "You wicked girl, from now on, don't even think about setting foot in my Song family again."
"I, Song Cheng, will pretend I never had a daughter like you."
Song Yi's face turned pale.
Even though I kept telling myself it wasn't worth it, hearing those words with my own ears still made my heart ache.
Song Cheng's disownment of her means that she will no longer have a family to rely on.
But where could she find solace in such a family?
She pursed her lips and said softly, "If you don't want to acknowledge it, then don't. I don't care."
Enraged, Vice Minister Song stormed off.
Song Hui stepped forward, raised her chin, and gave Song Yi a sinister smile.
"Does my sister think she can defeat me like this? You're dreaming! We'll see."
Song Yi's expression was indifferent.
"Then let's take a look."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from ahead.
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