Chapter 144 - 145: Coming Knocking
Tian Lanfen raised her hand, and Wu Chan quietly returned to her side.
"I’ve been more than benevolent as the main wife all these years. You just look at the illegitimate daughters in other mansions. Which of them lives as freely as your precious ’second daughter’?
You wouldn’t let me get involved before, and now, I wouldn’t deign to.
I’m only here this time for you to make your stance clear. Our eldest daughter is the face of the entire Xiao Mansion. After all, no matter how much you dote on an illegitimate daughter, who will truly respect her?
And don’t forget, our own legitimate daughter is marrying into a prominent family in Shangjing. You don’t want to leave her with lasting resentment, do you?"
As she said this, Tian Lanfen never once glanced at Xiao Wanyu.
"Well..." Xiao Yunhai glanced at Xiao Wanyu. "You may all leave. I have something to discuss with your Madam."
Having vented some of her anger, Tian Lanfen had no desire to push him over the edge. She gestured for her own people to withdraw first.
Under Xiao Yunhai’s gaze, Xiao Wanyu stomped her foot and turned to leave.
"Shiyu’s dowry is already more than generous. Besides, I need to leave us a way out. I don’t even know if my life can be saved this time. I’ve already had people make several contingency plans."
Tian Lanfen said, "If you give your daughter a larger dowry, do you really think she won’t help you when you’re in trouble?
From what I know, you still have a sum of money on hand, don’t you? I’m not asking for much. Give me twenty thousand taels, and I’ll stop making a scene."
Xiao Yunhai’s heart skipped a beat. ’How does Mrs. Tian know my affairs so clearly?’
"Don’t tell me you don’t have it," Tian Lanfen sneered. "A lowly illegitimate daughter... even if you find her an excellent marriage, do you really think someone with her character can handle anything of importance?"
Xiao Yunhai quickly denied it. "This has nothing to do with Wanyu. I’m saving that money for other purposes."
"I wish you really meant that. Also, you sent people to try and break up that couple. Aren’t you afraid that when the truth comes out, it will deliver a fatal blow to our already precarious family?"
"I didn’t do anything of the sort!" Xiao Yunhai’s eyes widened. "I only sent people to gather information. You can’t just make baseless accusations."
Tian Lanfen looked at Xiao Yunhai and suddenly laughed. "So this is the ’good daughter’ you had Aunt Liu raise personally. She has no other talents, but she’s certainly mastered the art of feigning compliance, just like her mother.
You don’t know, do you? A couple of days ago, I intercepted your confidant, Bai Hua. He claimed that on your orders, he was to give that young lady a ’quick end’.
In the past, I wouldn’t have meddled. But now, the lives of my two children and I are on the line, so I cannot allow it."
"That’s impossible. I sent Bai Hua to take some things back to our ancestral home." Xiao Yunhai looked at Tian Lanfen with suspicion.
"I still have him. Shall I have him brought here for a confrontation?"
Seeing Tian Lanfen’s confident expression, Xiao Yunhai staggered. "What... what is she trying to do?"
Tian Lanfen sneered. "Isn’t it obvious? She saw that the top scholar is young and promising and wants to secure a bright future for herself.
She naturally has to kick away the stepping stone blocking her path.
It’s a shame she’s all ambition and no brains. To think she’d pull a stunt like this when so many eyes are on our family... she’s trying to drag us all into the abyss.
This is the precious daughter you dote on, the one you favor over your own legitimate son and daughter.
I don’t care what you were thinking before. The path to the palace is blocked now. You’d better find someone to marry this menace off to, and fast."
Hearing Tian Lanfen’s every word disparaging Xiao Wanyu, Xiao Yunhai couldn’t find a single thing to say in rebuttal.
"Enough. I’ve wasted enough breath on you. Hurry up and give me the silver notes. I have a mountain of things to deal with in the inner court." With no outsiders present, Tian Lanfen simply held out her hand, waiting for the notes.
Weighing his options, Xiao Yunhai gritted his teeth and pulled a stack of silver notes from a drawer. "Can I just give you ten thousand? Wanyu is my daughter, after all. This is what I promised her."
Tian Lanfen snatched all the notes from him. "She’s an illegitimate daughter who has been treated like a legitimate one all these years—sometimes even better. This family has done more than enough for her.
Besides, hasn’t Aunt Liu skimmed off her fair share over the years? With what her mother has stashed away for her, she might have even more than this."
Without another word, Tian Lanfen ignored the look on Xiao Yunhai’s face and turned to leave.
As her hand touched the latch, she glanced back. "As for Bai Hua, I have no use for him. I’ll have someone send him over to you in a bit."
Unaware that she had just inexplicably escaped a disaster, Jin Qianqian stared speechlessly at the person before her.
"We really don’t have any more. If you don’t believe us, there’s nothing we can do."
They never would have imagined Ouyang Bing’s destructive capabilities were so great. It hadn’t been long since he’d taken the outdoor lamp, and he had already managed to completely wreck it.
This was a solar-powered outdoor lamp; there was no such thing as the battery running out.
And it was a professional outdoor brand, meant to be extremely durable. How long had it even been?
"Then do you know where you met this merchant? Or you could just describe his features to me. I’ll have my men find him."
Jin Qianqian was starting to get a headache. ’How am I supposed to describe that to him?’
Ancient Wen Heng picked up a fragment from the counter and asked curiously, "Did you just smash it?"
’With this kind of material, how much force would it take to destroy it so completely?’
Behind Ouyang Bing, Mudou quickly hid the sword in his hands behind his back, but not before Ancient Wen Heng caught the movement. It seemed that was one of the culprits.
"What made you decide to take it apart?" Jin Qianqian asked, curious.
"Well, I saw how bright it was. It gave off no heat, yet it could turn night into day. My hands just got itchy. I wanted to see what was inside that could create such an effect.
Who knew the thing didn’t have a single seam? I just wanted to pry open a small crack to peek inside, but before I could, the whole thing fell apart."
Ancient Wen Heng remarked, "But this is a bit too thorough, isn’t it?" ’If this were a living thing, it would be akin to being drawn and quartered.’
"Well, since it was already open, I figured I might as well get to the bottom of it. But I really do love this thing. I hope you two can help me think of a solution."
Ancient Wen Heng shook his head. "You know we were fleeing a famine when we got here. It’s been so long, there’s nothing we can do."
"What about the man’s appearance? My restaurants are located in several major cities. Just give me a portrait, and I won’t have to trouble you anymore."
Jin Qianqian hadn’t expected him to be so persistent. ’It looks like if we don’t get rid of him today, he’ll keep pestering us in the future.’
Ancient Wen Heng understood this as well. He turned directly to Jin Qianqian. "Go to the room and get some paper and a charcoal pencil. Draw a picture of that outlander we met for Boss Ouyang. Maybe he’ll be lucky enough to run into him."