"How dare you! How dare you!"
The eldest master of the Qiao family pointed at Ding San and his men with trembling fingers, his face full of anger.
Looking at the third master of the Qiao family lying on the ground, grabbing his neck and retching desperately, all the members of the Qiao family were equally filled with righteous indignation.
The Qiao family was the local tyrant in their small piece of land in Yangzhou, and they had suffered such insults before.
However, Ding San looked unconcerned, even smiling at the Qiao family members and saying, "Why, is this your first time seeing something like this? That's not right. I heard that when you, the Qiao family, were collecting rent, the disgusting things you did were much worse than what you're doing now."
"That's right. When you were collecting rent, you used this method on ordinary people. Now you are the ones being disciplined. The feeling is indeed different."
Ding San kicked over the table and chairs in front of him and said, "You bastards, how dare you act like a lige in front of me! You don't even know how to spell death, right?"
Looking at Ding San's arrogant expression, the Qiao family's eldest brother said indignantly, "Isn't it just that I owe you some money? Why is it like this? My Qiao family has been passing down poetry and literature for hundreds of years. Why do we have to suffer such humiliation and criticism?"
"Haha, a small amount of money, this gentleman is really talking lightly, your family owes us a full three million taels, what are you going to pay us back with!"
Three million taels are just four words, but their true meaning weighs like a mountain on the hearts of all the Qiao family members.
Yes, that's three million taels, how can they pay it back? If they really sell everything they have to pay back the three million taels, what will be left for their family?
Seeing that the Qiao family members were silent, Ding San sneered again, "Don't blame me for not reminding you, three million taels is just the principal. You'd better pay it back as soon as possible. If you delay it for too long, plus the interest, it will not be a simple three million taels."
"I came here today for no other reason than to ask you: Can the Qiao family repay this debt? If not, I will dispose of all the property deeds and other things you mortgaged to us!"
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Qiao family members all changed. That was something that their Qiao family had accumulated for hundreds of years. If it was really lost, the confidence of their Qiao family in passing on poetry and literature would be gone.
The Qiao family boss suppressed his grief and said, "Please give us a few more days, sir. We will definitely pay you back!"
"Alright, we're all here to make a living, so we should really take care of each other's reputation. And don't say I'm pushing you too hard. I'll give you three days. After that, I'll come back and I'll see the money!"
After saying that, Ding San arrogantly left with a group of his men. After he left, the people from the Qiao family present breathed a sigh of relief, and many of their backs were soaked with sweat.
At this time, a group of Qiao family members gathered around and said in a flurry, "Brother, if you really want to pay back the money, where can we find three million taels of silver?"
The Qiao family's eldest master said with a gloomy face, "If I don't say this, will these people just give up? Go back to the old house immediately. We can't make a decision on this matter, so we still need to ask the old man to take action!"
As he spoke, the eldest master of the Qiao family looked at Qiao Si lying on the stretcher and said, "Take good care of him. Don't let him die! Whether our Qiao family can survive this difficult time depends entirely on him."
With that, the eldest master of the Qiao family brought a group of people back to the Qiao family's old house. In the evening, letters were sent out from the Qiao family's old house.
These letters were sent to the students and old friends of the Qiao family, and one of them was even delivered directly to the Queen.
The Qiao family now has only one meaning: the one who borrowed the money was Qiao Si, and it has nothing to do with their Qiao family. If you, Ding San, want to find someone, then go find Qiao Si.
As for the mortgaged house deeds and land deeds, they were all stolen by Qiao Si himself. The Qiao family wanted to ask Ding San, but Qiao Si was not the head of the Qiao family. Why did Ding San think that Qiao Si could dispose of these things? Could it be that Ding San had discussed with Qiao Si and wanted to join forces to cheat the Qiao family?
Whether this argument is useful or not is left aside for now; at least it can delay the matter for a while.
As long as they have time, they can find ways to do some more operations, such as taking care of the government office handling the matter, or asking other friends for help.
"Elder Liu, please come this way."
In a manor somewhere in the Qiao family, the eldest master of the Qiao family was leading a person around with an attentive look on his face.
This is an old man in his forties or fifties. His face is as dry as tree bark, and a gleam of light would occasionally burst out from his mung bean-sized eyes.
Soon, the two sides arrived at the depths of the mansion. The Qiao family's eldest master attentively pulled out a chair for Elder Liu and said, "Please come this way. I've already asked someone to prepare the wine and food, and they'll be served right away."
Elder Liu nodded in satisfaction and said, "Master, you are thoughtful. The Saint Lady is very satisfied with your arrangements."
The Qiao family's eldest master was overjoyed and said, "It would be great if the Saint Lady is satisfied. Elder Liu, I have a question for you: when do you plan to take action?"
"Don't worry about this kind of thing, my Lord. You know this matter is very sensitive, and knowing too much won't do you any good. You just need to provide us with a place to stay. As for other things, please don't ask."
"Yes, yes, I spoke too much. It's really that Lu Chen, that demon, is pushing us too hard. My Qiao family is almost dead. Otherwise, we wouldn't be so determined to fight him to the death."
"Hehe, sir, please be patient. Ever since we found out that Ding San is Lu Chen's subordinate, many people have wanted to kill Lu Chen. You have to be patient now. Maybe someone will help you solve the problem."
Looking at the old man in front of him who had said a lot but seemed to have said nothing, the Qiao family's eldest master gritted his teeth and said, "Can I ask one more question? After our Holy Church captures that demon, what do you plan to do with him?"
Elder Liu pondered for a while, with a conflicted expression on his face, as if what he was about to say was extremely taboo.
But in the end, he still spoke: "The Saint said that this State Master is from our Holy Church, but he has gone astray. Since we are all brothers and sisters of the Holy Church, it is our natural obligation to bring him back to the right path."
"Once we bring him back, we'll let him know how wrong his previous actions were. Then, in the remaining years of his life, we'll let him use what he's learned to serve the Holy Church well, thereby atoning for his sins."
"A-choo!"
Lu Chen rubbed his nose and looked at Zi Yan in front of him and said, "Do you want to go for a walk in Yangzhou City?"
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