Chapter 49: Severing Shen Lingyi's Hand! Land Deed in Hand!
Shen Lingyi suddenly flew into a rage, her face contorted with rage: "You damned, filthy scoundrel! How dare you play tricks on me..."
"Whoosh!"
The blade flashed, raising a cloud of blood mist.
A large, fleshy arm wrapped in embroidered sleeves slammed onto the stone slab with a thud.
At the same time, Lu Zhaoruo closed her eyes.
"ah!!!"
Shen Lingyi's screams were heart-wrenching.
Her large body crashed to the ground, blood gushing from her severed arm, instantly soaking half of her skirt and staining the stone slabs red.
Zhang rushed forward, but her face was smeared with gushing blood.
She sobbed, "Yi'er, my Yi'er..."
Lu Zhaoruo opened her eyes, her gaze falling on the severed left hand...
Her words from the ancestral hall echoed in his mind: "What? You want to cut off my hand?"
Look.
Isn't this a cut?
hehe.
She straightened her back subtly, a hint of satisfaction playing on her lips.
Shen Qingshu turned deathly pale and nearly fainted.
Shi Tou quickly helped him up, quite frightened.
The servants retreated, and one of the timid ones let out a scream.
On Wednesday, he flicked the blood off his knife and sneered, "If you don't hand over nine hundred taels, I'll cut off her other hand!"
At this moment, Granny Zhou stood frozen under the eaves, holding her money bag, her old eyes wide open.
The bag of fifty taels of silver fell to the ground with a "thud".
Zhang finally came to her senses and shouted in a panic, "Quickly, go and get a doctor! Go and get one!"
A maid stumbled and ran out.
Zhang then lunged at Zhou San, her face a mixture of blood and tears: "Master Zhou, please have mercy...we'll raise the money right away."
Turning to Shen Qingshu, she cried out, "My lord! Quickly, think of a way!"
Shen Qingshu: "Where did you get nine hundred taels?"
Lu Zhaoruo stepped forward at the opportune moment, her face covered in tears, her voice trembling: "Please...please, Steward Zhou, grant me the time it takes for an incense stick to burn..."
Turning to the maid, he said, "Greenie, go to my room and have Dongrou bring the jewelry that the master gave me last year, as well as the two strings of cash from the hidden compartment in the dressing case."
After Lü'er left in a hurry, Lu Zhaoruo said to Zhang Shi, "Take the money from your daughter-in-law's dowry to pay off your sister-in-law's debts."
Upon hearing this, Zhang shouted at Granny Zhou, "What are you all standing there for! Go and get the silver ingots from the lacquered box under my bed! And bring all the jewelry too."
at last.
They managed to scrape together two hundred and twenty taels.
On Wednesday, he poked at the silver ingot with the tip of his knife and sneered, "Tsk tsk, this little bit of silver isn't even enough for interest..."
Shen Qingshu's hands, clenched beneath his robe, turned white: "Plus the inventory from the two shops on West Street..."
Lu Zhaoruo said softly at the right moment, "The cloth shop has silk, fine linen and other materials in stock, worth about 150 taels. The tailor shop's ready-made clothing materials... are also worth about that amount."
Zhou San sneered, "At most, this is only five hundred and twenty taels..."
Suddenly, the conversation shifted, "Don't you still have the land deeds to the shops? Why don't you sell those two shops at the current price? That'll be exactly four hundred taels, and you'll still have twenty taels left to live on, enough to keep you from starving."
Lu Zhaoruo hurriedly stepped forward, tears welling in her eyes: "Absolutely not! If the shop is sold off, what will happen to my uncle's medicine, my aunt's meals, and the food for all the servants in the house? Moreover, it's a perpetual sale contract; how will we redeem it later?"
"How about we mortgage this house?"
"No!"
Shen Qingshu sternly shouted to stop him.
He glanced at Lu Zhaoruo out of the corner of his eye. This house was ancestral property. If it were mortgaged, not only would he lose face, but he would also have nowhere to stay in the future.
If the shop is sold off, the daughter-in-law can start from scratch, and after Master Gu returns, she can borrow some money and re-establish the business...
"Then cut off your right hand!"
He spoke impatiently on Wednesday.
Shen Qingshu said loudly, "We will sell those two shops outright."
Lu Zhaoruo said urgently, "Uncle, please think it over!"
Suddenly, Zhang erupted in anger, shouting, "You wretch! My Yi'er's arm has been cut off, and you're still thinking about your two shops? Besides, are those shops yours? They're the Shen family's property!"
yes.
It will soon become my, Lu Zhaoruo's, family business.
Lu Zhaoruo burst into tears: "Daughter-in-law... but..."
She looked at Shen Lingyi's bloodied severed arm and choked out, "Let's do as Steward Zhou says, sell it for free..."
Zhou Sandao slapped his palm with the back of his knife: "Then why doesn't Master Shen hurry up and produce the land deed?"
Shen Qingshu personally brought out the original land deed stamped with the county government's red seal, as well as the "land deed book".
On Wednesday, he snatched the old land deed from Shen Qingshu's hand and examined it closely in the sunlight: "The third shop on West Street, fifteen steps long..."
He grinned maliciously, "You're quite a piece of fat meat."
Finally, he threw the knife on the ground, took out a roll of green paper from his pocket, and spread it on the stone table: "Since Master Shen has agreed, let's draw up a 'bone-breaking contract' for these two shops..."
He grinned and said, "I'll sell you to me, Zhou, forever. I'll take care of your life and death from now on, and I'll never regret it!"
Shen Qingshu then realized that this person had planned this all along!
They must be envious of their own two shops!
But there was nothing he could do.
He first signed the new contract and pressed his vermilion handprint on it.
He then wrote "This property is no longer for sale" on the back of the old contract and drew a cross, a drop of sweat falling onto the words "no longer for sale."
He glanced at the unconscious Shen Lingyi, his eyes filled with anger and helplessness.
On Wednesday, he deftly folded the old and new contracts and stuffed them into his pocket. He glanced at Lu Zhaoruo and nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Walk!"
He turned to his thugs and shouted, "Go to the county government to get the 'red contract' done, and this matter will be over..."
At this moment.
"The doctor is here!"
The maid dragged the doctor, who stumbled and rushed into the courtyard.
Zhang rushed towards Shen Lingyi, who lay in a pool of blood, crying out, "Quickly, save my Yi'er!"
"Bang!"
Lu Zhaoruo suddenly fell backward.
"Madam!"
Greenie knelt down on the ground, crying out, "Quick, come and see my wife!"
Zhang kicked Lü'er: "What are you looking at? Is she more important than my Yi'er?"
Zhenjingzhai.
Lu Zhaoruo stood by the window, where the winter plum blossoms outside were in full bloom despite the cold, shining brightly.
Suddenly, a winter wind arose, and plum blossoms fell like snowflakes, scattering across the sky.
Lu Zhaoruo gently raised her hand, and a petal fluttered down, landing perfectly on her fingertip.
A smile gradually appeared on her lips, as bright and beautiful as a flower.
"Mother's plan is brilliant! Abao admires Mother so much!"
Suddenly, Abao jumped onto the windowsill, his emerald green cat eyes filled with admiration and worship.
It tilted its head and lowered its voice, saying, "Last night, Abao sneaked into that old hag's house, intending to scratch her face all over, but before he could even make a move, a teacup suddenly flew in through the window and hit her right on the forehead!"
Lu Zhaoruo paused, her fingertips pausing.
She did hear the commotion in the ancestral hall last night.
Who made this move in secret?
On the opposite rooftop, the cold wind suddenly froze.
The young man in black knelt on one knee on the gray-blue tiles, a cold iron mask covering most of his face, revealing only his pale jawline. He stared at Lu Zhaoruo in the courtyard as if looking at a distant, unattainable light, even his breathing was extremely soft...
It was as if just one glance from her could ignite a silent fire within him in the biting winter.
"Sister Lu..."
A soft call dispelled the stagnant chill.
He suddenly chuckled, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion beneath the iron mask, "Truly... a brilliant plan."
The tiles clattered softly, and by the time the iron bridle under the eaves clanged and icicles fell, the roof ridge was already empty.
late at night.
The courtyard of Shen Lingyi was still brightly lit, and her wailing could be heard from there.
Lu Zhaoruo wrapped herself tightly in a dark purple cotton-padded cloak, the fur collar covering half her face, and quietly slipped out through the side gate, holding a hand warmer in her hand.
She met Wednesday.
On Wednesday, he gave Lu Zhaoruo the old and new contracts for the shop and signed a new exclusive sale agreement with her.
On Wednesday, rubbing his hands together, he chuckled and said, "From now on, both of these shops will be renamed Lu..."
Lu Zhaoruo took out ten taels from her two hundred taels of silver and handed them to Zhou San.
On Wednesday, he hurriedly refused: "No, no, Master Gu has already given me a reward. I dare not accept this money."
Lu Zhaoruo: "You've had a hard day, and there was even blood. With New Year's Eve just around the corner, take this to wash away the bad luck."
On Wednesday, Lu Zhaoruo finally clutched the money tightly, her words of thanks still lingering in the wind, before she turned and left...
The land title has been obtained.
The money is in hand.
"Two more steps..."
She murmured silently, her footsteps crunching through the snow.
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