The man in the lead was the waiter from the restaurant who had escorted Wei Chi home drunk half a month ago.
Seeing Wei Chi deny the debt, the waiter became enraged and pulled out the IOU he had forced Wei Chi to sign and fingerprint.
“Wei Tanhua, you signed this IOU yourself, have you forgotten?”
The thugs behind the waiter stood straight, ready to arrest Wei Chi and report him to the authorities if he dared to deny it.
In the past half month, he had come to collect the debt every five days, only to be turned away or tricked and delayed by the steward, clearly trying to renege on the agreement.
Today, the manager had made it clear that if he didn’t get the debt back, he was fired.
Wei Chi looked puzzled, then suddenly recalled how he had orchestrated the incident where the young lady Mu was rescued by the prince, thus gaining the prince’s favor.
To celebrate, he had invited the prince’s advisors to a lavish banquet at Zuifeng Tower.
Overjoyed by the praise, he generously offered to treat everyone.
“It’s written in black and white that you, Wei Tanhua, hosted the banquet that day.
Your friend booked a girl from Qimengxuan for the night, and you all ate and drank together…totaling one thousand taels of silver.”
The waiter read the IOU word by word.
Wei Chi’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot; the pointing fingers of those around him made him feel utterly ashamed.
“Enough! Here’s the money!”
Wei Chi immediately pulled out ten stacks of silver notes from his sleeve and reluctantly handed them to the waiter.
This was money he had earned over half a month of hard work, intended for renting a room in the inner city.
The waiter received the silver note, counted the amount, and immediately returned the IOU, nodding and bowing with a smile: “Thank you, Scholar Wei. Scholar Wei, please come to Zuifeng Tower often! We’ll be going now.”
Wei Chi thoroughly disliked the waiter’s mercenary manner and told him to get lost.
Already used to the disdain of the nobles in the capital, the waiter wasn’t angry and left cheerfully.
Wei Chi saw that there were still people standing outside the mansion and frowned, “What are you doing here again?”
The jewelry shop and cloth shop owners exchanged glances and took out the records of the Wei family’s debts over the past two months.
When he saw that the debt was one hundred taels of silver and Wei Wan’er’s name was attached, Wei Chi’s eyes went blank, and he almost vomited blood from anger.
He forced himself to stand up and ordered the steward to open the storeroom to give them the money and send them away, then went to the Ciyuan Hospital in a fit of rage.
Inside the Ciyuan Hospital, the mother and daughter looked worriedly at the door.
The commotion of the debt collectors outside was too great for them to ignore, but fortunately, Chi’er was at home and had already gone out to deal with it.
Wei Chi stormed in, his face dark with anger.
He glared at Wei Wan’er, who, bewildered by what had happened, felt uneasy and tried to appease him.
“Brother, why are you looking at me like that?”
He threw down the IOU with Wei Wan’er’s name on it, angrily shouting, “This is what you’ve done!
You owe a hundred taels in two months, and you’re asking me why?”
Wei Wan’er’s face turned pale, tears streaming down her face.
Ever since the shopkeeper started demanding payment every few days, she had regretted listening to Li Xianglan’s advice to buy so many clothes.
Those items couldn’t be returned, and now everyone hated them; the clothes were just gathering dust in her room.
Wei’s mother was also shocked by Wei Wan’er’s extravagant spending, pointing her finger at her and berating her.
Wei Wan’er, utterly ashamed, cried and went back to her room.
“Oh dear, this life is unbearable,” Wei’s mother said, sitting and wiping away tears, regretting letting Jiang Lanyue leave.
If she were still here, these chores would be handled by someone else, and the three of them would still be living happily together.
Faced with household chores, Wei Chi felt somewhat overwhelmed and began to miss the peaceful days when Lan Yue was alive.
Suddenly, his mother suggested, “Chi’er, let’s bring Jiang back.
The position of principal wife will go to the Duke’s daughter, and as for Jiang…”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Wei Chi’s mother’s face, but she gritted her teeth and said, “Let her be a concubine, managing the household and raising An’er.”
Wei Chi froze, his face filled with hesitation.
Shen Jiaxue wasn’t one to tolerate others; if he brought Lan Yue back, Shen Jiaxue would surely make things difficult for her after she married into the family.
He genuinely cared for his young wife.
“You’ve seen how chaotic our household is.
Bringing Jiang back is good for both of us.
If Miss Shen doesn’t like her in the future, she can go back to the estate.”
This was a well-thought-out decision by Wei Chi’s mother.
Once Miss Shen entered the household, she would be in charge of managing the family affairs.
Jiang Lan Yue would be useless, so she could be dismissed.
Thinking of Lan Yue’s unusual behavior after his rebirth, Wei Chi was somewhat tempted by his mother’s suggestion.
If she were truly reborn like him, it would be better to keep her under his watchful eye.
“Listen to your mother, I’ve just started my post at the Ministry of Rites, and I’ll have to trouble you to invite Lan Yue back.”
Mother Wei smiled contentedly, assuring him, “You can focus on your work; I’ll make sure she happily packs her things and comes back as a concubine.”
Wei Chi paused slightly, remembering his mother’s inappropriate behavior that day, and couldn’t help but offer a word of advice.
“Mother, Lan Yue isn’t the same person she used to be.
When you go, please persuade her gently to avoid any arguments.”
Seeing that Jiang Shi hadn’t returned yet, and that her son was protecting her, Mother Wei felt a pang of sadness and nodded unhappily, “I understand.”
…
Regarding the events at the Wei residence, Jiang Lan Yue had already received a letter from Manager Qian.
She couldn’t help but laugh; what other bizarre things could this family possibly do?
The next day, upon seeing the familiar carriage, Jiang Lan Yue couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
Madam Wei smiled brightly, her eyes filled with kindness as she looked at Jiang Lanyue.
Beside her, the wet nurse held Wei Xu’an, making Jiang Lanyue wary.
“Mrs. Jiang, An’er misses you terribly.
He cries every day, begging you to come back.
That’s why I brought him to see you.”
The wet nurse deliberately brought Wei Xu’an to Jiang Lanyue.
Upon seeing Jiang Lanyue, Wei Xu’an teared up in distress.
“Look, An’er misses his mother!
Mrs. Jiang, why don’t you comfort him?”
Madam Wei was displeased to see Jiang Lanyue standing there motionless.
Jiang Lanyue coldly looked at the grandmother and granddaughter, and said indifferently, “Auntie, you’ve got it wrong.
I’m not his biological mother.
This child has nothing to do with me.”
“Now that I’m divorced from Wei Chi, it’s not appropriate for you to call me mother anymore.”
Wei’s mother’s smile froze, and she gritted her teeth to suppress her anger: “Although he wasn’t born to you, this child has been raised by you since birth.
What’s the difference between him and your own child?”
“Jiang, I won’t beat around the bush with you.
Today, Chi’er asked us to take you back.
From now on, you’ll stay home and take good care of the child and manage the household.
Chi’er and I have discussed it, and we’ll give you the title of concubine.”
“Hahaha…”
Jiang Lanyue was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter in anger, staring at Wei’s mother in disbelief: “I’m really curious, what are your faces made of?
They’re thicker than city walls!”
Wei’s mother could no longer maintain her composure, pointing at Jiang Lanyue and scolding, “Don’t be ungrateful.
You’re an orphan girl; it’s already a favor that we’re giving you the title of concubine.”
“Chi’er’s principal wife is reserved for the Duke’s daughter.
For a lowly commoner like you to share a husband with her is a blessing from your past life!”
Jiang Lanyue’s eyes flashed with a fierce light as she pressed closer, causing Wei’s mother to retreat in fear.
“What do you want?
I didn’t enter your estate, nor did I hit anyone.
Reporting to the authorities won’t do you any good.”
“This is the middle of nowhere, no one saw us.
I said you entered, so you entered.
The imperial law states that anyone who trespasses on someone else’s property will be killed without exception.”
Jiang Lanyue pressed down on Wei’s mother’s shoulder, chuckling softly, “Auntie, you seem to enjoy coming here to die so much, today I’ll grant your wish!” “Guards! Close the door and beat the dog!”