As Zhu Ziqian listened to these words, he felt that something was amiss...
Liu Yingying looked at the clan leader and asked with a smile, "Clan leader, Third Uncle, what do you think?"
The clan chief assumed that she was willing to pay the money and readily nodded.
"That's no problem at all, but as for the silver..."
"Husband, since that's the case, why don't you quickly give the silver to the clan chief and the others?" Liu Yingying looked at Zhu Ziqian with a smile.
Zhu Ziqian was displeased, thinking she hadn't understood him, and said again, "Yingniang, we are husband and wife, and I don't have that much money on hand right now. How about I use yours to cover the shortfall?"
"Husband!" Liu Yingying looked at him with feigned surprise, "So you knew you didn't have any money?"
Zhu Ziqian was immediately embarrassed by her question.
The clan elders were all keeping their eyes down at that moment.
They didn't care whether Zhu Ziqian or Liu Yingying paid for it, as long as they could get their hands on the three thousand taels of silver in the end!
"Husband, since you know you have no money, how could you recklessly agree to the elders' request to repair the ancestral graves?"
"Isn't this a breach of your promise? You're supposed to be a scholar, yet you've broken your promise even to your own ancestors. If word gets back to the capital and your colleagues find out, what will they think of you? What will they think of the Zhu family?"
Zhu Ziqian was completely bewildered by her unpredictable questioning.
"Yingniang, listen to me, that's not what I meant..."
Liu Yingying: "Then what do you mean? Ever since I married you, you can't lift a finger or carry anything on your shoulders. You're a grown man, yet you're so weak that I have to do all the farm work and housework."
"You went to the capital to take the imperial examination, and two years have passed without any news from you. Did you ever think that we, your mother and children, almost didn't make it to your return?"
"Who would have thought that you would come back and ask me for three thousand taels of silver? Where am I, a mere woman, supposed to get three thousand taels of silver from you, an official?"
Zhu Ziqian: "Yingniang, keep your voice down..."
After Liu Yingying yelled at him like that, he lost all face at the village entrance today!
The elders opened their mouths, looking as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.
They really wanted to say, "Aren't you, Liu Yingying, running a small business that's booming and making a fortune every day?"
How could he not be able to come up with three thousand taels of silver?
But I held back after thinking about it.
Firstly, Liu Yingying is currently enjoying great popularity, and there will be many opportunities to rely on her in the future.
It's not worth offending her now.
Secondly, Zhu Ziqian was, in fact, a member of the Zhu family, so they should ask Zhu Ziqian for the money needed to repair their ancestral graves.
They didn't care whether Zhu Ziqian could get money from Liu Yingying.
Like I said before, all they care about is getting the money in the end!
Zhu Ziqian suddenly felt exhausted and looked at Liu Yingying with a disappointed expression.
"Yingying, I thought we were husband and wife, but I never expected you to be so wary of me!"
Liu Yingying rolled her eyes inwardly. She never expected that this man could be even more ruthless than a woman when he was being a green tea bitch!
However, it's impossible to get her to spend money today.
Absolutely impossible!
"Waaah... Husband, what do you mean by that?"
Zhu Ziqian never expected that Liu Yingying would sit on the ground and burst into tears.
"Don't you understand why I'm unwilling to pay this money? It's all for your reputation, my husband!"
“No responsible man in this world would ever try to take his wife’s dowry. My savings may not be considered a dowry, but after all, they weren’t earned by you, my husband, right?”
Zhu Ziqian was completely helpless when faced with Liu Yingying like this!
But in his heart, he wanted nothing more than to strangle her right then and there!
This woman really isn't embarrassed enough!
Jin Wu and the others had just finished breakfast and were preparing to go to the farm to harvest sweet potatoes when they heard a commotion at the entrance of the village.
"Isn't that Lady Ning'an? Was she bullied?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Wu gripped his hoe so tightly it cracked; "Hmph! I'll see who's so blind as to dare bully the Lady of Ning'an County!"
"Let's go, everyone, go take a look!"
At this moment, Liu Yingying was acting like a shrew, completely reckless.
"I'm putting this out there today: if you insist on making me pay this money, then have you thought about what will happen if word gets out?"
"This..." The clan chief and the third uncle looked at each other in bewilderment.
Repairing the ancestral hall is a man's job, but now she, a woman, is being asked to pay for it.
It really doesn't sound good.
But the impact of this matter on their clan was secondary; the real impact on Zhu Ziqian was fatal.
He was a minor official of the seventh rank with an annual salary of only one hundred taels of silver. As soon as he took office, he took out three thousand taels of silver to repair his ancestral graves and ancestral hall.
It's hard to guarantee that no one will suspect that he embezzled the money.
Even if he can clear himself of the corruption charges, it is truly shameless for a man with hands and feet to force his wife to ask for money!
"Enough, Yingniang!" Zhu Ziqian could no longer hold back.
No matter how selfish and egotistical he may be at his core, he is still a man after all.
You have to save face!
Zhu Ziqian forced a smile onto his stiff face. "Yingniang, you've misunderstood me. I'm not asking you for money. It's just that we're husband and wife; what's mine is yours. Since I promised the clan chief to repair the ancestral hall, I naturally had to discuss it with you."
Liu Yingying wiped away her tears and immediately stopped crying. "Oh, so that's what it means. Husband, you should have said so earlier!"
After saying that, he patted his bottom and stood up.
Her nonchalant, defiant attitude gave Zhu Ziqian a heart attack.
Things had come to this point, and in order to save face, he had no choice but to come up with the money.
"Clan leader, Third Uncle, please wait a couple more days. This is no small sum after all. Since Ziqian has promised, he will definitely keep his word!"
Although the elders were dissatisfied, what could they do?
Anyway, I'm not going to get the money today no matter what.
There are only two choices in front of you now.
One option is to break ties with Zhu Ziqian, but what good would that do them?
At least for now, Zhu Ziqian is still willing to give them a promise, so they might as well wait a few more days.
"Alright!"
Before leaving, his third uncle gave him a meaningful reminder.
"Don't forget, you are still a descendant of the Zhu family!"
"I will definitely keep Uncle's words in mind!" Zhu Ziqian's smile was almost impossible to keep up.
Turning around, he saw Jin Wu and the others asking Liu Yingying with great concern.
"Lord Ning'an, are you alright?"
"It's alright, don't worry, you guys go ahead and do your work!" Liu Yingying's smile became a little more genuine when she faced Jin Wu and the others.
Jin Wu gave Zhu Ziqian a cold look, then turned to her and said;
“Lord Ning’an, I, Jin Wu, owe everything I have today to you. Now I have no ties in this world, but I have not yet repaid your kindness. If any fool dares to bully you, my lord.”
"I'll kill him!"
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