Ling Yunzhou dragged Ling Dapeng and Zhou Xiaoyun back from the estate on the third day of the Lunar New Year. After Luneng's visit, Tao Wanniang became very busy, handling accounts and distributing dividends.
So much so that when she saw Ling Dapeng and Zhou Xiaoyun looking like frightened birds, her anger immediately flared up.
"How could I, Tao Wanniang, have raised such a good-for-nothing son? If I had known you would turn out like this, I should have let you go to the countryside separately sooner. You might be dead by now," Tao Wanniang said with disgust.
Ling Yunzhou was taken aback by these words. Was this a sign that the second son was still alive?
"Mother, save me, please save me! I was wrong, we shouldn't have separated, we should have listened to you." Ling Dapeng knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing; he was truly at his wit's end.
"Mother, please help us. From now on, we'll do anything for you, we'll listen to you no matter what," Zhou Xiaoyun pleaded with Tao Wan's mother, tears streaming down her face.
"If I understand correctly, when you say you're helping you, you mean you want me to pay you back, right?" Tao Wanniang scoffed. "Do you think I'm that rich?"
"Mom, if you don't help us, we'll really die. Zhi'er and Dazhuang are still so young, they can't be without their parents!" Zhou Xiaoyun said, tears streaming down her face. After all this, she had lost weight.
"Ha, leaving a six-month-old baby outside the General's Mansion, is this the kind of thing you parents would do?" Tao Wanniang smashed a teacup on Ling Dapeng's head.
“Mother, the debt collectors come to our door every day. We really have no choice,” Zhou Xiaoyun cried. “Mother, we overestimated ourselves. Without you, we simply cannot survive in the capital.”
Faced with Zhou Xiaoyun and Ling Dapeng crying and begging for help, Tao Wanniang glanced at Ling Yunzhou.
"You want me to take these two away?" Ling Yunzhou asked hesitantly. "These two good-for-nothings?"
Tao Wanniang rolled her eyes at Ling Yunzhou, then said impatiently, "Once the gambling den opens, come with me to get revenge!"
Ling Dapeng suddenly looked up. Was his mother going to pay back the money he owed?
"Mother, thank you, Mother. From tonight onwards, if you call me East, I will never go West. I will serve you like a slave." Ling Dapeng immediately kowtowed. "Mother, you are the best to me!"
Tao Wanniang's lips twitched, and she said to Ling Yunzhou impatiently, "What are you waiting for? Take them away."
“Go back to your own residence. The General’s Mansion is not a place for you.” Ling Yunzhou also looked down on it. “Since you don’t want the child anymore, don’t even think about it. In the General’s Mansion, someone will take care of him.”
“But what if the debt collectors come to our door…” Ling Dapeng said worriedly.
"Do you think they're so free during the New Year?" Ling Yunzhou said irritably. He had already spoken to both sides, and at least for the time being, they wouldn't bother Ling Dapeng's family.
“Dad, Dazhuang is still so young. We’re only doing this for the child’s own good. Now that we’re back, how about…” Zhou Xiaoyun pulled Ling Dapeng and looked at Ling Yunzhou expectantly.
"You dare talk about children!" Ling Yunzhou scolded. "Once this matter is over, you're all going to the estate. Staying in the capital will only cause me trouble."
“But…” Zhou Xiaoyun was about to say something, but Ling Yunzhou’s fierce gaze made her swallow her words.
"Mother, the gambling den... then... then can you get Shishi back?" Ling Dapeng's sudden question made Tao Wan's mother laugh in anger.
Squinting slightly, Tao Wanniang looked at Ling Dapeng, then at Zhou Xiaoyun. "Are you telling the truth?" Tao Wanniang couldn't help but ask.
Ling Dapeng nodded, and Tao Wanniang looked at Zhou Xiaoyun, who also nodded.
“Mother, Shishi has gone through all this trouble for us,” Zhou Xiaoyun said.
Tao Wanniang laughed, and Ling Yunzhou laughed too. The two of them looked at Ling Dapeng and Zhou Xiaoyun as if they were idiots.
"Alright, I'll take you there to see her later," Tao Wanniang said. "How's Shishi doing over there?"
"Thank you, Mother!" Ling Dapeng said immediately.
Tao Wanniang glared at Ling Yunzhou again. Why were these two stupid and clumsy people related to her?
Ling Yunzhou picked up Ling Dapeng and dragged him outside, and Zhou Xiaoyun immediately followed.
Tao Wanniang couldn't bear to watch, so she suppressed her anger and went back to her study to continue checking the accounts.
Soon, it was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the day the Golden Toad Casino would reopen.
Ling Yunzhou brought Ling Dapeng to pick up Tao Wanniang early on.
"Are you really going to gamble with people at the casino?" On the way there, Ling Yunzhou couldn't help but question, "If you don't want to pay, the General's Mansion can pay for it."
"Why should we pay?" Tao Wanniang glared at Ling Dapeng in the carriage. "Why should we pay back the money he owes?"
Ling Dapeng was startled. They weren't going to return the money?
"Father, Mother, what do you mean by this? What are you taking me to do?" Ling Dapeng asked, still somewhat frightened.
“Your mother says that nine out of ten gamblers lose, the bookmaker cheats, and she wants to win money for you!” Ling Yunzhou said. “Listen to that, is she even speaking human language?”
Tao Wanniang found Ling Yunche's distressed appearance somewhat amusing, but there was no need to argue. They would settle things once they arrived at the gambling den.
On the first day of business after the New Year, the gambling den was bustling with people. As soon as Ling Dapeng appeared, he was spotted by the gambling den's henchmen.
"Ling Dapeng, you owe money and don't pay it back, how dare you show your face here?" A burly man walked towards Ling Dapeng with a stern face.
"My...my father and my mother are here, please don't do anything rash!" Ling Dapeng immediately hid behind Ling Yunzhou.
"Isn't this General Ling?" The gambling den manager recognized Ling Yunzhou and immediately stepped forward to greet him, "General, are you here to gamble today? Or are you here to pay off your son's debts?"
“I’m here to pay back the money, but before I do, I want to play a few rounds first,” Tao Wanniang said. She looked around and finally settled on a table.
“That one, Pai Gow,” Tao Wanniang said, pointing ahead.
“This lady… seems familiar. But, sister, let me be frank, your son hasn’t returned the three thousand taels yet,” the steward said tactfully, sizing up Tao Wanniang.
"Are you afraid I won't pay you back?" Tao Wanniang took out a stack of silver notes from her bosom. "Before you pay me back, I'll have a few rounds of gambling too. What, you're not welcome?"
The steward's eyes lit up when he saw the silver notes.
"Please, please, this way, ma'am. Look at your radiant face, you must be incredibly lucky. Play whatever you want."
Tao Wanniang snorted coldly, took back the silver notes, and then walked closer to the card table.
"Brother, you lost, get up and let me take your place. You go and clear your head." Tao Wanniang saw a man looking dejected, patted him on the shoulder, and said.
"What are you, a woman, doing playing games? Get out of here!" The man was already angry after losing the game, and when Tao Wanniang said this, he immediately shouted angrily.
Ling Yunzhou stepped forward and pulled the person up, then looked at him coldly, exuding an imposing aura without anger.
"Fine, I'll leave then. What are you glaring at me for?" The man was intimidated by Ling Yunzhou's imposing manner, and he said meekly, lowering his head and walking away.
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