Exchange back IOU

  The second lady left the main courtyard with a warm hand in hand with Pei Ye Zhen, taking her own daughter Xie Wen Yu to Zhao's house to admire the flowers.

  The second lady left the yard, and the old lady's heart was on fire, unable to bear it, she wanted to smash everything around her.

  Fortunately, I restrained myself.

  "Go down!" The old lady's tone returned, and she spoke warmly to the two personal maids beside her, Dongxue and Qiujie.

  After Dong Xue and Qiu Ju retreated, the old lady took out a calligraphy work by Xi Yibi, a watercolor painting by Yan Qing, a jade Ruyi, and a set of golden headdresses.

  Xie Yu Yi was a master calligrapher who emerged during the most glorious period of the Xie family. His final works are worth a thousand gold, but unfortunately, only one book of his thousand-character posters was left for his own family. It is also difficult for outsiders to get even one character from him. Until now, his characters on the market are still hard to come by and worth a thousand gold.

  Yan Qing and Xie Yu Yi were famous people of the same era, his ink painting is also extremely valuable, it's said that Xie Yu Yi exchanged one thousand words for this painting back then.

  "Take it and pawn it, don't let others see where you came from. Take the silver note and go exchange the IOU I wrote for me."

  The old lady took out these things with a gloomy face.

  These things, except for a set of golden hairpins that are her own property, the rest belong to the Zheng family, even the jade scepter is something that has been passed down through generations in the Xie family.

  But for now, it can't be helped. That Doctor Jia has an attitude of "if I die, the whole family dies with me", and he can't let himself be harmed by him. If his reputation is also ruined, then he'll have no way to survive.

  After doing all that, if there is still some money left over, use that leftover money to buy rice and store it away. When the price of rice skyrockets, sell it off once, and you should be able to redeem those things that were pawned off in a fit of anger without anyone noticing.

  Mrs. Li nodded solemnly and carefully put away these precious things one by one.

  A total of 100,000 taels of silver were borrowed, 50,000 taels of silver tickets were spent, the IOU in Jia's hands was redeemed, and returned with 50,000 taels of silver tickets.

  "Old lady, this is the 50,000 debt note retrieved from Mr. Jia's place, and here are the remaining 50,000 taels of silver bills."

  The old lady's face was gloomy, and these days, she had been burning with anger, without a single thing going right.

  "Go to Li's rice store and buy 50,000 catties of rice. Store it there until the price doubles, then sell it out. I hope the price rises soon so that I can redeem those things back as soon as possible."

  The old lady was able to have such an idea, both because she was forced and also because her aunt's words gave her the courage.

  Xie Wenjing's aunt suggested at that time that her family buy rice and store it, saying that when the price rose, she would sell it for her family.

  The price of rice has indeed changed every day for the past few days. At this rate, it won't take half a month to at least double in price. The old lady is full of confidence.

  "Hmph, isn't it just buying and selling rice? Who can't do business with money? And you don't even need to show up in person, having Li's wife by your side is enough. Who cares about the Du family?"

  In just half a month, I can quietly wipe out the deficit of Zhong Gong.

  The second lady arrived at the Zhao family home, and the mistress of the house indeed had a somewhat stiff expression.

  Xie Wenjing has arrived. She may look down on it, but she dares not come, which is a loss of face for herself.

  "What's wrong? Is Wenjing sick again and can't come over?"

  Mrs. Zhao asked the question very urgently. She had a small fire burning in her heart. As soon as she saw that neither of the two girls led by the second lady was Xie Wenjing, Mrs. Zhao couldn't wait to see the courtesy and blurted out the question.

  "How can she be ill every day? Is she as seriously ill as her father for many years? This child is still filial, taking her father and mother with the people of Hangzhou Du's family, back to Hangzhou, saying that the Fajing Temple there is very efficacious in praying for blessings."

  "Yezhu, Wenjuan, come quickly to pay respects to Madame Zhao!"

  The second lady laughed very warmly, as if she couldn't see the dissatisfaction in Mrs. Zhao's eyes.

  "Hello, Mrs. Zhao!" Pei Yezhu called out softly and intimately, with an extremely respectful attitude.

  "Mrs. Zhao!" Xie Wenyue called out politely, her attitude not as humble as Pei Yezhu's, but by no means impolite.

  "Oh, isn't that the lovely and demure Ye Zhu? Now that you're here, don't be shy, take a good look at our Zhao family's garden, there are many flowers inside that you've never seen before!"

  Mrs. Zhao warmly held Pei Yezhu's hand, as if showing off, without treating the second lady and her daughter as one thing.

  The two madams smiled indifferently, humph, what's so great about the Zhao family? Until now, haven't you failed to produce a single official in the capital? Aren't you still just like your own husbands, mixing around in Yangzhou?

  My husband is likely to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar this year. At that time, I will look at you with disdain, what are you going to be arrogant about?

  I came here today, not specifically for your family, nor to see those ladies from noble families. I don't need to care about your attitude?

  After showing off, Mrs. Zhao threw Second Mistress and others to her own maid to lead them, while she herself went to entertain other ladies.

  "Madam Zhao, you're hosting a flower appreciation party today. Are you showing off the flower that will be your future daughter-in-law? Don't keep her hidden away, bring us to meet her and take a look at this 'flower' of yours!"

  The prefect's wife was also invited, but the prefect's wife was very reluctant to come. Because of her face, she had to come. After arriving, she deliberately said this to provoke Zhao's wife who liked to show off.

  Mrs. Zhao's face suddenly stiffened, and she was even more resentful of Xie Wenjing. How did she get confused and agree to this marriage in the first place?

  Xie Jia is out of tune, and Xie Wenjing is even more out of tune, which made herself ridiculed by others this year.

  "Haha, Wenjing that kid has a heart of filial piety, accompanied her father to Fajing Temple in Hangzhou to pray for blessings, I heard that the Buddha of Fajing Temple is very efficacious!"

  "Is it? Madam Zhao can't say that Fa Net Temple is efficacious in front of them, they believe in our Yangzhou's Da Ming Temple the most!"

  The wife of the county magistrate again provokes Zhao's wife.

  "It's definitely, our Daming Temple in Yangzhou is the most effective, what's that Fahua Temple in Hangzhou? I've never even heard of it!"

  The wife of the county magistrate's sycophant hastened to echo her.

  Madam Zhao's face turned even more unsightly, fortunately another elderly lady couldn't bear to watch and intervened, after all it was Madam Zhao who invited the guests, she couldn't let her lose too much face.

  "The Buddha's compassion is great; if we believe in our hearts that there is a Buddha, then every place is a Buddha."

  "Yes, yes, the old lady is absolutely right, thank you for teaching me!"

  Madam Zhao went down the stairs given by Old Madam, but in her heart she was even more angry and resentful towards Xie Wenjing. If it weren't for her, would she have been ridiculed by Madame Prefect?

  Besides, the second lady brought her daughter to watch along the way and greeted other ladies and young misses from noble families. From afar, she saw Zhao Qiusheng leading a dozen or so young men towards them. The second lady took a glance and didn't think any of them were worthy of consideration.

  Good-looking ones are either not available or don't match the home's style. Those with a solid foundation, almost all of them are ugly and mismatched, forget it, this trip was a waste of time.

  The marriage of his own daughter can wait for the time being. If her husband passes the exam this year, the whole family will go to Beijing, and among the noble families in Yangzhou, none of them are worthy of their own daughter.

  The second lady carelessly took her daughter and let go of those young men. Pei Yezhu saw Zhao Qiusheng from afar, knowing in her heart that as long as she could make him like her, even if she became his concubine, it would be the best outcome.

  Bai Ye Zhu took advantage of the second lady's conversation with another lady to slowly slip out.