Chapter 1101 - 1103 Debt-Collecting Ghost Rebirth_1
Ling Shan was already dressed as a married woman, and the guards even called her "Madam," which meant that she had become Zhou Jue’s woman!
Of course, she couldn’t possibly be Zhou Jue’s official queen, likely just a concubine as wife. Chengshui Country’s customs differ from those of Danliang Country, where concubines cannot be addressed as "Madam," but in Chengshui Country, concubines can be called such.
A female doctor from Danliang Country, one who was chosen by the emperor himself to be among the first to learn the Suturing Technique, clearly had the emperor’s trust. Yet, after being captured by the prince of Chengshui Country, she became Zhou Jue’s woman. Was it Zhou Jue who was too skilled, or was her will too weak?
Though Ling Shan was blustering, she was still cautious and didn’t linger long before she got into the horse carriage and left. Bai Ruozhu watched her go, then walked out from the Commerce Association and boarded a carriage to leave.
Once home, Bai Ruozhu ordered Jianqi to investigate Ling Shan’s situation, but Jianqi frowned and said, "Zhou Jue and that woman are inside the Traveling Lodge, I’m afraid it’s not a good idea to probe."
Bai Ruozhu thought it over and had to let it go, for the Capital was different from other places; the Traveling Lodge was where the Imperial Court accommodated envoys. Plus, Jiang Yichun had just wounded Zhou Jue, so investigating now could cause unnecessary misunderstandings should anything be revealed.
"Does the Commerce Association have undercover agents in Chengshui Country?" Bai Ruozhu asked after some thought.
Jianqi nodded, "Yes, but we don’t have any key figures, so they’re not very effective."
"No matter, have the Commerce Association spread the news in Chengshui that Zhou Jue was injured in Danliang Country. Just tell the truth, let them know he was harmed by Danliang officials, showing that Danliang has no intention of a marriage alliance." Bai Ruozhu sneered, "I suppose quite a few princes in Chengshui would like him dead."
"Yes, I will take care of it immediately." Jianqi quickly arranged for someone to send the message to the Commerce Association.
After making arrangements, Bai Ruozhu spent some time with her son, as his father hadn’t come home that night, and the little guy was having a tantrum, sullen all morning.
Come lunchtime, the Bai Residence was suddenly rocked by the sound of pounding on the door — and no, it wasn’t a knock, but a pounding.
Outside, Liu Family, feeling that it wasn’t satisfying enough to pound the Main Gate with her fists, lifted her leg and kicked it several times. Her frenzied actions immediately drew the attention of the passersby on the street outside the Bai Residence Gate.
She stopped pounding on the door and, wiping her tears, said pitifully to the Onlookers, "Come judge for yourselves. The master of the Bai Residence is my son. Though not my flesh and blood, I raised him, watching over every bowel movement and every pee. Now that the Bai Residence is prosperous, they refuse to acknowledge me, their foster mother. I, an old woman, don’t wish to disturb them; I just want to return home to enjoy my old age in peace. But along the way, everything requires money, and now that they are living well, isn’t it reasonable for them to support me with a bit of silver?"
Those who didn’t know the truth upon hearing her words immediately began to point fingers at the Bai Residence and even advised Liu Family not to be sad, saying sometimes one ends up raising an ingrate.
When Bai Ruozhu hurried to the door upon hearing the commotion, she hadn’t yet opened the Main Gate but had already heard the comments from outside. She was already in a foul mood with all that had been happening lately, and Liu Family’s ruckus was truly testing her patience.
Wasn’t this all just posturing? Did Liu Family think she was the only one capable of it?
Bai Ruozhu had someone open the door, and the moment it swung open, she immediately burst into tears, rushing over to hold Liu Family and said, "Grandma, father has always treated you like his own mother. Was there ever anything he was unwilling to give you? You wanted to return to your hometown, didn’t he provide you with two hundred taels for your journey? Didn’t he also give you the fields back in the Village? Besides, when grandpa entrusted my father to you, didn’t he also give you a thousand taels in silver to cover the cost of his upbringing?"
The surrounding Onlookers, mostly ordinary folk who might not make two hundred taels of silver in a year, heard this and began to feel that the Bai Residence wasn’t as despicable as Liu Family made it out to be.
Moreover, her biological father had given a thousand taels of silver, so it wasn’t like they had raised him for nothing, right?
Liu Family rolled her eyes, and plopped herself onto the ground, "You earn so much, all buying mansions in the Capital, and you send me off with just two hundred silver? I truly raised your father in vain!"
Bai Ruozhu maintained a face of sorrow and helplessness as she said, "Even if we bought a mansion in the Capital, that’s why we are short on money now, and the whole family is trying all methods to make money. But Grandma, you’re asking for five thousand silver as soon as you speak; where would we get so much? Even if you let everyone scold us for being unfilial today, we still couldn’t come up with that much silver."
Onlookers all inhaled sharply in unison; five thousand silver, the old lady was asking for quite a lot.
The eyeballs of Liu Family swiveled, "You’re slandering me, when did I ever mention five thousand silver?"
"Then how much do you want, Grandma? Now that everyone here can be witnesses, you name your price, and we will definitely do everything we can to raise the funds for you," Bai Ruozhu said.
Liu Family showed a look of delight but also feared being accused of demanding too much, she felt conflicted about what amount would be appropriate to ask for.
"You’ve all spent so much on buying mansions, can’t you even give me half of that amount?" Liu Family asked.
"Aren’t we short on money because we bought the mansion? How about Grandma, you stay and live with us, we will naturally take care of you until the end of your days, no need to worry about returning to your old home or fretting over travel expenses?" Bai Ruozhu said.
At this moment, among the onlookers, an elderly lady interjected, "Big sister, your children’s family is willing to take care of you, how is it that they don’t acknowledge you? I think you should just live well with them, and not always be asking for a few thousand silver, it’s too hard on the children!"
Others also nodded in agreement; a few thousand silver wasn’t something you could just take out at a moment’s notice.
Liu Family naturally couldn’t continue to stay; her main reason for creating a commotion at the gate of the Bai Residence was that the Bo Family was going to send her and the old grandpa back to Mountain Village to reunite with Bai Yibo soon, and Liu Family was unwilling to accept this, hoping to gain some benefits before leaving.
She thought for a moment, then started crying again, "Don’t believe this girl’s words; she is the best at cleverly talking her way out of things. She sounds so nice in front of you all, but she doesn’t acknowledge me at all behind your back. I’ve been here for half the day, where is my adopted son that he doesn’t show up?"
Just as she finished speaking, Bai Yihong and Lin Ping’er had come out. When Bai Yihong heard her words, his face turned somewhat embarrassed and he said, "Mother, can’t we discuss whatever matter it is inside the Yard? I hadn’t intended to leave you waiting at the gate, so I didn’t hurry over straight away."
"You all are so good at acting; if I didn’t leave, who knows how you would mistreat me, shoving me into some secluded yard, where I wouldn’t even have enough to eat three meals a day? If I had stayed, who knows which day I might have died from hunger!" In her urgency, Liu Family started fabricating stories.
The surrounding public was now uncertain who to believe; the old lady looked pitiful enough while crying, but the people from the Bai Residence didn’t seem like the type to be ungrateful.
Bai Ruozhu felt that if she continued arguing with Liu Family, it would never end, so she cut to the chase, "Grandma, please don’t cry, just tell us directly how much money will suffice. Name your price, and we’ll go borrow it right now," she said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Family’s eyes flashed with glee as she hurriedly said, "You don’t have five thousand, but surely you have three thousand?"
Many of those present took another sharp breath; three thousand silver was no small sum either!
Bai Ruozhu suddenly burst into laughter and said, "They say that children are born as debt-collecting ghosts, but our Grandma here is truly the one collecting debts."