Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 340 Begging Her

Upon hearing the words "persuasion to surrender," Liu Yuechu was somewhat surprised.

It's only been a short time, and you're already planning to back down?

However, considering the Crown Prince's cowardly nature, Liu Yuechu was no longer surprised. "Before anything even happened, things were already in chaos internally, and it was the son who was defying his own father. If this battle is won, how will the Crown Prince and these court officials save face?"

"They're convinced they can't win; they have no confidence in winning at all." Suozi's wife said disdainfully, "They curse merchants all day long for being greedy and despicable, but when disaster strikes, they're the first to back down. If I were from Chu or Yan, I'd be looking for trouble too."

"Anyway, it's just a matter of talking, and you can get people and money. Why not take advantage of this trick?"

……

Liu Yuechu felt even more pessimistic and helpless. "But it's quite unexpected that the Left Chancellor's Mansion is willing to support the Crown Prince this time. But thinking about it carefully, I'm still afraid of dying."

They were probably afraid that His Majesty would actually send the Third Prince to reinforce the war in the southwest, since many people from the Left Chancellor's office had gone to Huai Prefecture with him.

Suozi's wife couldn't think of any of this; she only saw the ugly side of it all. "Recently, quite a few people have been secretly going to the shop to buy and sell things. They're all trying to exchange money for cash, so they can run away if things go wrong."

She hasn't had time to pay her respects to Liu Yuechu lately because she's been too busy.

Liu Yuechu asked in surprise, "What do you sell?"

"They sell everything: furniture, jewelry, houses, land, and even servants are sold directly to brokers, so they no longer keep any servants at home."

When Suozi's wife brought up this matter, she was also looking for Liu Yuechu's advice. "Suozi said he told me to ask the master if we also have a fixed arrangement? The trading company has taken in too many items these days, and I'm afraid that if something unexpected happens in the future, we won't be able to get them back..."

Liu Yuechu really didn't expect this to happen.

What does "lock" mean?

"He felt it was worth taking a gamble. Even if we lost, the people would still have to make a living. But he didn't dare to bet all his savings, since we didn't know when we would make a profit, and he was afraid it would ruin our business," Suozi's wife said truthfully.

"Let him collect it, I'll pay for it." Liu Yuechu's mind raced, and she started thinking about ways to make money again.

Since everyone thinks Daqi will lose, why doesn't she bet on Daqi to win this time?

Suozi's wife was a little worried, "Then why don't we focus on collecting a few types of things? We don't need to put down silver for the trivial things."

"Focus on houses and land; you can handle the rest of the smaller items." Liu Yuechu called over Granny Fang and told her to fetch the silver notes. "Ten thousand taels—collect them all on this day."

"One hundred thousand?!" Locksmith's wife was shocked. "Isn't that too much?"

She knew roughly how much of Liu Yuechu's private savings were; he had already invested a considerable amount in the Huaizhou mines. Recently, the palace was short of money, and the outstanding payments to officials and merchants had not yet been settled, so the mansion didn't have much silver available.

Liu Yuechu reassured her, "Don't be afraid, just do as I say, and our money will be back soon."

Fang Suozi's wife felt that the matter was too serious, so she quickly sent someone back to summon Fang Suozi and listen carefully to Liu Yuechu's instructions...

At this time, in the Zhenning Marquis's residence, Li Shu was also planning whether to take the opportunity to sell some shops and servants to keep some money in hand.

The Guan family had bought many shops to maintain a respectable image. But now, with people in a state of panic, all the shops have closed down and are just sitting there empty with no income. The tenants on the estates outside the capital can't even pay their grain taxes, and the family's resources are dwindling.

Since Wei Gongming was reprimanded by Emperor Qi Xiao, fewer and fewer people have come to his residence to deliver gifts.

Moreover, the county magistrate's faction began to act arrogantly and domineeringly in the county government, and no longer took Wei Gongming seriously...

But as soon as she mentioned the prices offered for shops outside, Guan went crazy!

"I bought this shop for a thousand taels of silver, and now it's only worth two hundred taels? This is outrageous!" Guan Shi was furious when she saw Li Shu. "So you don't care how much money you lost since it wasn't your money? That's my life savings! Let's see who dares to touch it!"

“Mother, no one is renting those shops now. We need to send people to repair them regularly and find someone to look after them. We really don’t have any spare change.” Li Shu mentioned the servants in the mansion. “We’ve sold off all the ones that could be sold. There’s no one who’s just sitting around doing nothing. These days, every household is afraid that something big might happen, so they’re keeping some gold and silver on hand just in case.”

"Are all the people in our household starving to death? Can't we buy rice? Can't we get any food?"

"We can manage to get through the New Year, but it's hard to say what will happen after the New Year. Moreover, after the New Year, I'm afraid no one will want the shops, and we won't even be able to sell them for two hundred taels."

Guan chuckled, her fleshy face, upturned eyebrows, and narrow eyes looking at Li Shu with disdain and coldness, "You are the wife of the Marquis's heir, shouldn't you be using your dowry to supplement the household income at this time?"

Li Shu's heart skipped a beat, and she bit her lip, "All the money I could give has already been given to the household; I really have no private savings..."

“If you don’t have any savings, go ask your parents for it! Your brother is back and still working in the Ministry of Works, so he certainly doesn’t lack money.” Guan told her directly to ask her family for it.

Li Shu's face turned ashen; she was utterly shocked.

She and her older brother had a falling out over Wei Gongming, and her mother-in-law actually told her to ask her older brother for money to support the family.

Seeing Li Shu's expression, Madam Guan snorted coldly, "It was you who insisted on marrying into the Marquis's mansion, not us who begged you. Don't look at me with such resentment, as if I've bullied you."

With tears welling up in her eyes and her voice choked with sobs, Li Shu said, "My father is an upright and honest official, not a corrupt one, and he doesn't have much money on hand, so I'm afraid he won't be able to provide any support."

“Your father is honest and upright, so honest that he refused to help his son-in-law and just watched Ming-ge’er get bullied!” Guan Shi was angry just thinking about it.

When Wei Gongming was investigated by the Court of Judicial Review and punished by Emperor Qi Xiao, Vice Minister Li did not say a word, let alone take the initiative to plead for him before the emperor.

Li Shu was unable to refute it for a moment.

Because Wei Gongming was also neglecting her because of this matter.

He was the one who made the mistake, so why did she have to bear all the blame?

"Actually, your father is quite wealthy. Isn't he preparing to send people to Mongolia?" Guan Shi's mind raced, and she urged Li Shu to beg her father to sell a few spots for money. "I do have someone here who wants to go to Mongolia but can't find a way..."

“My father isn’t in charge of this matter. His word doesn’t count. The final decision is made by Yuan Cuo, so he has no say in this,” Li Shu immediately refused.

Guan scoffed, "What do you mean you can't say anything? It's just that you're unwilling. Weren't Liu Yuechu your best friend before? Go and beg her, do you think she'd refuse?"

"Besides, she's rich. It's better to ask her to sell the shop than to sell it to a pawnshop. Maybe she'll be generous and my shop won't lose money; I might even make a profit."

The more Guan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. "Yes, let's go find her. Go now."

Li Shu stood there in shock, tears instantly streaming down her face. "Begging her is worse than killing me!"