Chapter 47: Pay with your life?
"How could that be?" Xiao Yi was surprised. "Didn't they say tomorrow at noon..."
"They're pushing us." Rong Ruxiang finally understood. "We have to give them these six thousand taels."
"Mother..."
"Empress Dowager..."
Xiao Yi and Nanny Xian both looked at Rong Ruxiang.
"Mother, we gave them six thousand taels this time. Next time they want nine thousand taels, ten thousand taels...what should we do?"
Rong Ruxiang said faintly, "There won't be a next time."
Xiao Yi was puzzled, "Mother..."
"Don't worry about this matter. Mother will solve it for you." Rong Ruxiang sighed and warned Xiao Yi earnestly, "But in the future, if you have any problems, you must discuss them with Mother. Don't make decisions on your own."
Xiao Yi was not convinced. He was already 24 and would be 25 in just over a month. Why did he still have to report everything to his mother?
But he responded obediently, "Mother, I understand."
"Madame Xian, go get the banknotes." Rong Ruxiang waved her hand.
Nanny Xian walked into the inner room and came out a moment later holding a box and handed it to Rong Ruxiang.
The box was filled with Rong Ruxiang's private belongings. When it was opened, it was piled high with thick banknotes.
Rong Ruxiang counted out six thousand taels of silver notes and handed them to Xiao Yi, "Go as they say."
Xiao Yi took it.
Rong Ruxiang pulled out two more property deeds and said, "These are my two shops on the Imperial Street in the capital. The profits are decent. You can use them to subsidize the palace."
Xiao Yi's nose felt sore and his eyes reddened, "Thank you, mother."
Then he calmly took over the two house deeds.
After returning to the palace, Xiao Yi asked someone to go to the bank to get the silver, but the guard came back and reported that the bank needed time to prepare and it would take until tomorrow morning at the earliest to collect 6,000 taels.
And all these words were seen by Ling Chan.
The teacher understood that she was late in starting, so as long as she didn't make any noise and disturb the other three, the teacher wouldn't stare at her all the time.
So she simply put her glasses on the table and tracked Xiao Yi's whereabouts.
"Tell them to deliver the silver before the hour of Chen tomorrow, and then you should deliver the silver to the same place as last time before the end of the hour of Si."
Ling Chan looked at Xiao Yi's words and began to think in her mind.
Since the Queen Mother knew about this, she certainly couldn't allow Qingyi Tower to threaten her son like this.
She gave the silver now because she was afraid that the news she had Gong Lan spread in the morning would continue to ferment and be detrimental to the royal family.
But she couldn't keep giving money, so there must be a trick.
The first to bear the brunt are the sisters who go to get the silver, and this journey is bound to be full of dangers.
Ling Chan couldn't and wouldn't let her sisters take risks, so she had to think of a suitable excuse to ask the teacher for leave.
But she has only been here to accompany her child for two days and she is already asking for leave. Isn’t that a bad idea?
After Ling Rui left the court, Emperor Xiao Heng kept him there and asked him about the plans for the battle against Da He next year.
He dealt with it with great trepidation and left the palace tremblingly and returned home.
As soon as he entered Ling Mansion, he was stopped by Gong Lan.
"General Ling." Gong Lan stood without bowing. "The princess asked me to remind you that the second day of the three-day deadline has arrived. If the general doesn't deliver her belongings to her courtyard before dark tomorrow, she will beat the drum to report it."
When Ling Rui presented next year's battle plan to the emperor, the emperor and his brother-in-law Rong An raised questions and doubts from time to time.
Rong An even directly mocked him, saying that his plans were the same as last year, the year before, and several years before that, and he had no new plans.
They questioned whether he was leading his troops to fight the enemy with all his heart, and also questioned his ability.
Rong An also suggested to the emperor that he replace him with Deputy General Anyi under General Huaiyuan.
General Huaiyuan was the general responsible for suppressing rebellions and bandits within Daqi, and his deputy generals had never been on a real battlefield.
Besides, he was promoted from a deputy general, and now he is replaced by another deputy general...
This is clearly a slap in his face.
Fortunately, the emperor did not adopt Rong An's opinion, but just asked him to come back and think about it carefully.
God knows how nervous Ling Rui was, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
I was sweating all the way back.
Now after hearing what Gong Lan said and not seeing Ling Chan present, he immediately became angry.
"If she doesn't mind the shame of beating the drum to sue her own father, then let her do it!"
"Where in the world would a daughter settle accounts with her father? How can she be so rude?"
"Even though I didn't give her a monthly allowance, I still raised her to this age."
"If she wants to calculate it so clearly, then fine, then just sever the father-daughter relationship and let her get out of the Ling Mansion."
Gong Lan chuckled, "Even if you want to sever the father-daughter relationship, General Ling, please return the princess's things first."
"By the way, I must remind General Ling that my master's dowry... was a treasure trove of red. In addition to the money given by the Gong family and the royal family, there were also gifts from my master's friends in the martial arts world. Each of those... was a priceless treasure."
"The princess has given you three months, so I advise you to prepare early."
After saying that, Gong Lan turned and left.
Ling Rui cursed behind him, "Evil creature! Evil creature!"
"This is outrageous. Does she even know what father-daughter ethics are?"
Didn't he know that those things were priceless? Because he knew, he knew that he couldn't possibly return them to Ling Chan.
Those things...what could be sold had already been sold by him for silver, which he used to supplement military supplies.
How can he pay it back? With his life?
After standing at the door to vent for a while, Ling Rui returned to his study angrily.
Ruan Yiyu, who knew Ling Rui had returned, came over to complain to him.
"General, Ling Chan slapped Yu'er today and broke all of his back teeth. His face is swollen..."
Ruan Yiyu knows how to read people's expressions. "General, what's wrong with you?"
Ling Rui repeated Gong Lan's words, "This damn girl is determined to get those things back."
"How do I give it to her?"
"Ah? How can I give her those things?" Ling Rui irritably swept the things on his hand to the ground.
Ruan Yiyu picked them up silently, "Those dowries...it's still early."
"Sixteen years of monthly allowances, and the things sent from the palace... Tomorrow is the final deadline."
"If I can't give it to her, will she really go and beat the drum to report it?"
"A daughter beating the drum to sue her own father... this is unheard of."
Ling Rui's face was gloomy. Would he go to beat the drum to report the incident? He thought so.
The current Ling Chan is no longer the same Ling Chan as before. Not to mention beating the drum to report the incident, he even thinks it is possible that she will use a sword to kill him, her father, one day.
Thinking of this, Ling Rui remembered the day when Ling Chan killed those two soldiers in front of him... so... neatly.
"Do you still have the lists of things sent from the palace?"
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