Jiang Li walked out of the front hall and heard the system prompt chime.
[Ding! Detected that the ingrate Yin Ranshuang has become entangled with the playboy Wei Zizhang. Rewarding the host with two Disguise Pills.]
Jiang Li carefully read the instructions provided by the system. After swallowing a Disguise Pill, she could change her appearance to look like another person, or even a face that did not exist at all, for two hours.
This was useful; she might be able to use it one day.
Just as Jiang Li returned to Qinghe Courtyard, she heard a servant bring word that people from the gambling den were causing a scene.
Madam Fan sent a servant to invite Jiang Li over.
Jiang Li found it amusing. She suspected that Madam Fan was still coveting the savings she had and wanted her to fill the hole for Yin Chengzhou.
However, since the servant had come to pass the message, Jiang Li decided to go and take a look, treating it as a chance to witness Yin Chengzhou’s misfortune.
As for making her pay, that was absolutely impossible.
Jiang Li arrived at the front courtyard unhurriedly and saw the people from the gambling den still arguing with Master Yin.
“I don’t care what kind of Yin family you are; I only know the principle of paying off debts. Your son owes a thousand taels of silver at our gambling den, and now it is time for you to pay. If you don’t care, then our gambling den will follow the original agreement and cut off one of his hands.”
Madam Fan shielded Yin Chengzhou behind her, shedding tears in her anxiety: “Master, this won’t do. Chengzhou must have been confused for a moment, which is why he was deceived by them. You must save Chengzhou; you cannot let them cut off his hand. He still has to study; how can he lose a hand?”
Master Yin, Yin Hongcai, had a livid expression and said angrily: “Foolish! If it weren’t for your constant coddling and spoiling, how could you have taught our second son to be like this? The family scraped together money for him to return to the academy, but he secretly went to the gambling den to mess around. Instead of letting him study, it would be better to let these people cut off his hand.”
Even now, Yin Chengzhou did not feel he was in the wrong, and he stiffened his neck: “I just had a streak of bad luck. Give me more time, and I will definitely be able to turn the situation around and win back even more silver. It’s just a thousand taels; it’s nothing at all. I won much more than a thousand taels when I first started.”
If he hadn’t tasted success when he first started gambling and known that he could easily win tens of thousands of taels, he wouldn’t have borrowed a thousand taels from the gambling den.
Besides, a thousand taels wasn’t much. Even if he lost, it wasn’t as if the family couldn’t afford to pay it back.
Yin Hongcai was so angry that he stumbled, rushing over to kick Yin Chengzhou.
Madam Fan blocked her son, and Yin Hongcai’s kick landed on Madam Fan instead.
Madam Fan let out a miserable scream in pain, lost her footing, and fell to the ground.
Yin Hongcai’s anger peaked, and he kicked toward Yin Chengzhou again, but Yin Chengzhou dodged, causing Yin Hongcai himself to fall flat on his face.
Jiang Li had to exert great effort to keep the corners of her mouth from turning upward.
She walked over and asked in a soft, delicate voice: “Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, what is happening?”
When Madam Fan saw Jiang Li come over, she ignored the pain in her body and immediately asked for money: “Ah Li, Mother knows your hands are not flush with money, and that even if I asked you for cash, you wouldn’t have it. But I know you have a dowry. Could you take out items worth a thousand taels from your dowry and send them to a pawnshop? You have seen it yourself: Chengzhou has been deceived. If we don’t produce a thousand taels, they are going to cut off one of his hands. He is a scholar; how can he have his hand cut off?”
Jiang Li blinked, feigning surprise, and looked at the men from the gambling den: “Since my brother-in-law was deceived, we shouldn’t pay this money. Perhaps we should report it to the authorities.”
Madam Fan became anxious immediately and slapped her thigh: “How can we report this to the authorities? Chengzhou still has to take the imperial examinations. If this matter blows up, won’t it affect his future career?”
Mentioning Yin Chengzhou’s career made Jiang Li find the situation even more ridiculous.
In her previous life, it was she who found a better academy for her brother-in-law, Yin Chengzhou, hired famous teachers to guide him, and urged him to study and walk the righteous path, which allowed Yin Chengzhou to become the Prime Minister.
Otherwise, based on Yin Chengzhou’s crooked intentions, he would never have passed the exam.
Jiang Li bit her lip, pretending to be conflicted: “But the family doesn’t have that much silver. Are we just going to swallow this bitter pill?”
Yin Hongcai climbed up from the ground and stopped Madam Fan, who was about to speak.
“Shut up! Is it not embarrassing enough already?”
Even though Yin Hongcai was also eyeing Jiang Li’s dowry, there was no way he would ask for his daughter-in-law’s dowry in front of outsiders, let alone make her go pawn it. He couldn’t afford to lose face like that!
Yin Hongcai said with a cold face to the men from the gambling den: “Come back in three days. We will find a way to scrape together the thousand taels.”
The men from the gambling den looked hesitant. Yin Hongcai continued: “Could it be that you think the Yin family will run away?”
The men from the gambling den thought that made sense. Yin Hongcai was still an official in the Ministry of Justice; they wouldn’t be able to run away regardless.
The other party smiled and said: “Fine, then we will wait another three days. I hope that by then, Master Yin will be able to present the thousand taels in full, and we will return the IOU.”
After saying this, the men from the gambling den left together.
As soon as they were gone, Yin Hongcai looked at Yin Chengzhou with angry eyes: “You brat, are you tired of living? How dare you go to a gambling den? If you don’t want to study, go out and work to pay off your gambling debt.”
Yin Chengzhou looked completely dismissive: “It’s just a thousand taels; it’s not a large sum of money, and it’s not as if our family can’t afford it. Besides, I just had a streak of bad luck. Once my luck turns around, I can earn the money back.”
Yin Hongcai’s face looked incredibly ugly. He wanted to hit Yin Chengzhou but was blocked by Madam Fan.
The family of three pulled at each other, and it became a chaotic mess.
It wasn’t until the Second Young Mistress, Hu Huiniang, arrived that the three of them stopped.
When Hu Huiniang heard that her husband had incurred a gambling debt, tears streamed down her face.
“I have been taking care of our three children at home, while my husband lied that he was returning to the academy to study. He was actually deceiving me. Even though our Hu family is a small and humble household, we are decent people. He must not be allowed to be deceived by others like this! If my husband goes to the gambling den again, I will take the three children and return to my maiden home!”
Once Hu Huiniang said this, the three people in the hall panicked.
Madam Fan hurriedly pulled the second daughter-in-law’s hand and persuaded her softly: “Huiniang, Mother knows you are a sensible child. Second Son was just confused for a moment. He is still young; please give him another chance. Mother guarantees that Second Son will definitely study hard and achieve success in the future.”
Yin Hongcai also added: “Huiniang, don’t worry. If this brat dares to go out and gamble again, I will break his legs.”
Hu Huiniang cried until her tears were falling like rain, saying how difficult it was for her in the Yin family and that her dowry was not as substantial as Jiang Li’s, so she couldn’t help her husband even if she wanted to.
Jiang Li watched silently. Hu Huiniang acted as if she were thinking for the Yin family, but in reality, she was also coveting her dowry.
In her previous life, Hu Huiniang blamed Jiang Li for taking away her two sons, yet she enjoyed everything Jiang Li brought into the family with peace of mind.
Hu Huiniang was just like these people in the Yin family—an ingrate. It was no wonder she could raise three ungrateful sons.