Chapter 410 Selling the Daughter Again
"One hundred taels of silver?" Aunt Tao's lips trembled, her steps faltered, and she said angrily, "Isn't this robbery by the He family? My daughter has only been here for less than half a month, how come she has already spent a full seventy taels of silver?"
With a gloomy face, Butler He took out Tao Meiyu's accounts from the past few days. "Madam Tao, look carefully and see if it is indeed seventy taels of silver."
Aunt Tao snatched it away, her hands trembling as she flipped open the ledger. She saw that it listed daily bird's nest, daily shark fin, and so on.
She suddenly looked up at Tao Meiyu and asked, "Did you really eat all those bird's nest and fish bones?"
Tao Meiyu lowered her head somewhat guiltily.
Butler He cleared his throat and replied, "It was indeed Miss Tao who ate it. Moreover, Miss Tao not only eats bird's nest every day, but also uses the finest cosmetics and face powder."
Upon closer inspection, Aunt Tao found that they were indeed all top-quality rouge and face powder. Even the Zhou family had already used seven or eight bottles of their anti-aging cream, which was no small amount.
The final account showed that a total of seventy-eight taels were spent.
Steward He pointed to these words and said, "Our master, out of consideration for his relationship with Miss Tao, has waived the eight taels of silver. You only need to give us one hundred taels of silver in total."
Aunt Tao's legs went weak, and she clutched the account book tightly, saying, "Our daughter came to your family as a concubine, how can we expect her to pay back the money!"
Butler He said coldly, "Indeed, there is no reason to return the money, but the premise is that Miss Tao is our master's concubine. Now that Miss Tao is making a fuss about leaving the He family, we naturally have to take this money back."
"You..." Aunt Tao was so angry that her teeth chattered. "You've gone too far!"
Butler He smiled and said, "Madam Tao, we are just following the rules. If you don't want to return the money, then let Miss Tao come back with us."
Once the money for buying a concubine is given, it naturally has nothing to do with the bride's family.
Whether Aunt Tao agrees or not, the He family has a reason to take Tao Meiyu back today.
Tao Meiyu hid behind her aunt and burst into tears, "Mother, you must beg my mother, I don't want to go back!"
Aunt Tao's heart softened when she saw her daughter's pitiful appearance.
Seeing their hesitation, Steward He glanced into the room and ordered the servants behind him to get to work.
The servants didn't arrest Tao Meiyu, but instead captured Tao Laosan, who was hiding inside watching the play.
"What are you doing? Why are you arresting me?" Tao Laosan struggled.
The servants held him tightly, preventing him from moving.
Tao Laosan was so frightened that he shouted, "If you're going to arrest someone, arrest Tao Meiyu! Why are you arresting me?!"
The lead servant swung a club at him forcefully.
Tao Laosan cried out in pain.
Butler He said slowly, "If Young Master Tao shouts again, we'll slap your mouth next."
Upon hearing this, Tao Laosan endured the pain and immediately shut his mouth, letting the servant drag him backward.
Aunt Tao chased after them quickly, shouting, "What do you want? Why did you kidnap my son? You just want the money back, right? We'll pay it back, but you have to let my son go first!"
Butler He sneered, "We've talked so much just now, and I haven't heard you mention returning the money. Now, after just one slap on your son, you're so scared that you immediately agree. It seems that your son is much more important than your daughter."
Aunt Tao lowered her head, feeling guilty, and didn't reply.
Tao Meiyu stared blankly at Aunt Tao, her eyes instantly filling with tears.
"Someone, bring Young Master Tao back to the manor," Steward He loudly ordered the servants.
Aunt Tao was shocked and tried to stop them, but she was stopped by the servants of the He family.
Butler He wiped his hands with a handkerchief and said solemnly, "Madam Tao, our master said you have three days. Within three days, either send your daughter back or return the money to us, or you can wait to collect your son's corpse!"
Aunt Tao paused, standing there as if she had lost her soul.
Steward He turned around and led everyone into the carriage and left.
Tao Laosan, who was being held captive in the carriage, kept calling out for his mother.
Aunt Tao chased after him while crying.
After the He family left, Tao Meiyu slowly stood up and said to Aunt Tao, "Mother, are you really going to use me to exchange for Third Brother?"
Aunt Tao turned to look at her, "Meiyu, don't worry, Mother will definitely raise the hundred taels of silver."
Tao Meiyu said frankly, "Mother, even if we sell all the land in the house, we still can't raise a hundred taels of silver."
Aunt Tao lowered her head, not daring to meet Tao Meiyu's gaze.
After a long silence, Aunt Tao looked up at Tao Meiyu and said, "Meiyu, since you've chosen to go to the He family, why don't you..."
Tao Meiyu took two steps back and said with a bitter smile, "As expected, Mother, you don't care about me at all. You only care about my second and third brothers. Do you know what kind of life I'm living in the He family?"
"Look at my hands, look at them." Tao Meiyu pulled up her sleeve to reveal the scars underneath, tears streaming down her face, and said, "If I continue to stay in the He family, he will beat me to death."
Aunt Tao could still hear her son's voice echoing in her ears. She gritted her teeth and said, "Meiyu, it's not that I'm sorry, it's all your own fault. I told you back then that you shouldn't go to the He family mansion, but you wouldn't listen. You wanted to live a life of luxury and wealth."
Tao Meiyu slowly stood up, panting with anger. Pointing in the direction where Tao Laosan had been taken away, she angrily rebuked, "Mother, isn't all of this my third brother's fault? If he hadn't secretly spent those fifty taels of silver, would I have gone to the He residence?!"
Aunt Tao got angry and raised her hand to slap her.
With a loud slap, Tao Meiyu's face swelled up.
Tao Meiyu cupped her face in her hands and said, "Mother, hit me!"
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