Volume One, Chapter 10: Such Overwhelming Wealth—They Couldn't Handle It

Su Ziwen yanked it off angrily, glaring at Yun Jinhua.

“Oh, I’m just a step late.” At that moment, Lin Sen entered with a steady and composed demeanor.

“Lord Lin, the Pingyang Marquis’s residence is not receiving guests today,” Su Hao directly issued an order to dismiss visitors.

“I have come regarding that unresolved lawsuit,” Lin Sen said bluntly, plopping down boldly in the seat of honor.

“Marquis of Wuan, Marquis of Pingyang, do you mind if the flower hall of the Su family temporarily serve as my courtroom?” he asked with a serious tone.

“Do as you please, my lord,” Yun Jinhua replied calmly, sitting opposite the matriarch.

Su Hao was so furious he nearly ground his teeth to bits. He couldn’t even assert authority in his own domain!

“The emperor is wise and has permitted the Marquis of Wuan to divorce. That matter need not be raised again. After my verification, the Pingyang Marquis’s household has misappropriated from the Marquis of Wuan over the past few years half a box of gold ingots, one box of silver bars, ten luminous pearls, two chains of pure gold, three purple orchid hairpins, one white jade ring, a pair of phoenix-inlaid carvings, a full set of eight-treasure hairpins and bracelets, as well as ten bolts of brocade, five bolts of raindrop silk, and various daily necessities.

“The aggrieved party demands the return of the gold-inlaid jade eight-treasure collar, the gold hairpin with red agate phoenix tail, the blue jade pendant, and the cloud-patterned ring. Must all be restored to their rightful owner. As for the other valuables, will your household return the items in kind, or compensate with equivalent silver? If cash compensation is chosen, the total is 107,532 taels.”

Lin Sen “kindly” laid out the calculations for them.

“Lord Lin, are you mistaken?” Ling Meijuan’s lips trembled. The cash flow on the Pingyang Marquis’s books didn’t come close to covering that sum.

“If madam harbors doubts, you may check the dowry list or purchase the missing items yourselves,” Lin Sen said candidly.

The amount was unquestionably fair.

“Mother, get the silver notes and give them to her,” Su Ziwen said with a dark expression.

Ling Meijuan bowed her head in embarrassment; she simply couldn’t come up with the money!

“There’s a limit to extortion. How could the Pingyang Marquis’s household have spent this much silver in three years?” the matriarch knocked her cane impatiently on the ground.

“You’ll have to ask the esteemed concubine in the household about that,” Yun Jinhua retorted without hesitation.

She had never eaten a grain of rice nor sipped a drop of tea from the Pingyang Marquis’s residence.

“Jinhua…” Ling Meijuan softened her tone, attempting to ease the tension.

“Madam Su, please address me as the Marquis of Wuan,” Yun Jinhua said with an indifferent expression.

---

“Marquis of Wuan, no household keeps so much ready silver. It can be delivered to your residence another day!” Ling Meijuan tried to maintain her dignity.

“Three days is the limit. Now, return my parents’ beloved possessions!” Yun Jinhua pushed forward an empty tray.

Su Ziwen took off the jade pendant and was about to toss it across. Yun Jinhua raised an eyebrow: “Such priceless items—if you damage them, you can’t afford the compensation.”

Gold has a price, jade is priceless. Su Ziwen dared not be reckless; suppressing his anger, he gently placed the items on the tray.

Yun Jinhua severed the silk cords woven with gold and silver threads, letting them fall to the floor.

If it’s not hers, she would never taint herself with it.

Moreover, such filthy things did not deserve this piece of azure jade.

Much like Su Ziwen did not deserve her pure and immaculate self.

The Pingyang Marquis couple and the matriarch resented Yun Jinhua’s ruthlessness. Under Lin Sen’s watchful gaze, despite their strong reluctance, they had no choice but to return everything intact.

“Taking my leave!”

Lin Sen and Yun Jinhua rose in unison.

They feared that lingering longer in such a filthy place would soil their own purity.

“Mother, why didn’t you produce the silver just now? Are you going to endure her cold remarks when she comes back after three days?” Su Ziwen complained.

He had no intention of seeing Yun Jinhua again.

“Even if it’s ten or fifteen days, we just can’t gather that amount. If worst comes to worst, we’ll have to sell the shops or estates,” Ling Meijuan pressed her temple, filled with worry.

“That’s impossible! How could our family not have over a hundred thousand taels?” Su Ziwen frowned in disbelief.

“The ancestral wealth passed down to us has dwindled to just a few shops and estates, yet there’s a large family to support. Relatives from collateral branches often come asking for money. You still have younger siblings yet to be betrothed—none of these things are without cost. You don’t run the household, so you don’t know the price of rice and firewood; you only know how to ask for silver. If I could, I’d split every single coin in two just to make ends meet,” Ling Meijuan almost twisted the handkerchief in her hand to tatters.

How long had it been since she last worried about money?

It seemed ever since Ling Xuan had come into the family.

“I once thought your niece was a blessing, but instead, she brought a creditor. The money was taken by her; let her bear the deficit alone!” The matriarch lashed out at Ling Meijuan.

Didn’t she know exactly how much silver the Ling family possessed?

---

“Mother, what nonsense is that? Xuan took the money to support the household, not to return it to her natal family. How can she bear it alone?” Ling Meijuan’s heart burned with indignation.

Blessings are shared; when hardships come, must we sever ties with our own Ling family?

“What? You want to talk back to me? If you have the guts, divorce my son and leave the Pingyang Marquis’s residence with your dowry. Let’s see if the emperor will grant you any favor,” the matriarch nearly swung her cane at Ling Meijuan.

Ling Meijuan bit her lip, tears welling up, silent.

Once she left this door, the Ling family would not take her in.

“Grandmother, this is all Yun Jinhua’s fault. Please don’t blame my mother and Xuan,” Su Ziwen frowned deeply.

“It’s all your fault! You knew Ling Xuan was already betrothed but still pursued her. That girl had no self-respect, conceiving before entering the family. If it were up to me, I’d have kept her outside. But you insisted on bringing her in. If not for her, would you have missed a good match?” The matriarch brooded over Yun Jinhua’s abundant dowry and current status, unable to come to terms with it.

Ling Xuan didn’t even deserve to tie Yun Jinhua’s shoes!

Alas, such staggering wealth—the Pingyang Marquis’s household failed to grasp it!

“Grandmother, you agreed to Xuan joining the family, and she bore a pair of children. Let bygones be bygones,” Su Ziwen’s face showed some shame.

He had been disgraceful when drunk, taking advantage of Xuan; now he had to marry her to cover his faults.

Ultimately, it was he who had wronged Xuan.

“Hmph, now that her disgrace is public knowledge, I forbid you from elevating her to wife. The children of a concubine, what nobility do they have?” The old lady even dismissed the newborn great-grandchildren as insignificant.

“Grandmother, that’s unfair to Xuan. I promised I wouldn’t wrong her,” Su Ziwen shook his head firmly.

Without Yun Jinhua as an obstacle, why couldn’t he make Xuan his legitimate wife?

“Do you think the Pingyang Marquis’s household could spend over a hundred thousand taels in three years? Foolish man, investigate where all that silver went. If not for the fact she bore your children, do you think the Su family would still tolerate her?” The matriarch scolded coldly.

Once she thought Ling Xuan was an obedient and filial girl; now she saw her as a disruptive troublemaker!