Chapter 181: Just More Useless Trash

Chapter 181: Just More Useless Trash

"I don't believe it!" Su Youyue was indignant.

There must be some mistake!

She had been planning to find a way to annul this marriage, so how did it suddenly become a done deal?

Xie Yuan seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, his smile not leaving his lips. "What would Miss like to eat? I'll have someone buy it for you."

Snapping back to reality, Su Youyue couldn't help but want to remind Xie Yuan again not to push his luck, that she would never marry him.

As she gathered her thoughts to speak, another person arrived outside the courtyard.

"Sir."

Two tall and lean men dressed as guards entered, the taller of the two stepping forward to report, "Sir, His Majesty has summoned you to the palace."

Xie Yuan, seemingly having anticipated this, remained unperturbed. Without responding to them, he turned to Su Youyue. "I'll send over the money for the deed another day. I'm heading to the palace now."

With that, he turned and left with the two men.

Su Youyue continued to look at the guards, recalling that these two were indeed the ones who accompanied Xie Yuan in her previous life. The taller one was named Gao Sheng, and the leaner one was Li Ying; they were considered Xie Yuan's confidants.

In addition, he had a team of secret guards under the 'Zhe' name, led by Zhe Jing and Zhe Ying. These two spent much less time formally accompanying Xie Yuan compared to Guards Gao and Li.

In her past life, she had spent some time by Xie Yuan's side and could clearly recognize these people.

But in her momentary distraction, she missed her chance to speak. The men's steps were swift, and in the blink of an eye, they were out of the courtyard.

"Miss, did you still want to say something to Sir Xie?" Chunya noticed that she had more to say and asked.

Feeling stifled and short of breath, Su Youyue certainly wanted to tell Xie Yuan that it would be best if the engagement was called off.

But now that he was gone, what was there left to say? Xie Yuan didn't listen to her when she was right in front of him; she couldn't expect him to listen through a message from Chunya.

"Forget it. I'll talk to him next time I see him. Why hasn't Jin'er returned yet? Send someone to ask about her."

Seeing that her mistress didn't want to talk about it, Chunya asked no further, responded affirmatively, and walked out.

Outside the Su residence, Xie Yuan had just reached the gate when he handed the Lu family's deed to Gao Sheng. "Go sell the house to General Xiao of the Five Cities Military Commission. Regardless of the offer, make sure to supplement it up to eight thousand taels for Miss Su."

Xie Mansion had a good relationship with General Xiao Hao of the Five Cities Military Commission, which Gao Sheng naturally knew. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he needed capable hands, so he naturally favored his trusted people first. Thus, General Xiao had summoned the second branch of his family, who had secretly provided information to the Emperor from their home in Hexi, to the capital.

Although General Xiao wasn't short on funds, suitable residences for officials in the capital were scarce. They had to be large and have a history; otherwise, they would be ridiculed later.

The Lu family's residence came at just the right time.

However, that house wouldn't really sell for eight thousand taels. This was all just to please his future wife, heh heh.

Gao Sheng chuckled and asked, "Sir, should I deliver the money to Miss Su today, or should you come personally?"

Xie Yuan glanced at him, seemingly aware of his mischievous intentions, and instructed, "I'll deliver it myself in two days, but this deed must be in General Xiao's hands within half an hour. Have them take the deed and start cleaning up the house immediately."

"Yes!" Gao Sheng dared not tease his master any further and hurried off to do his errand.

Just as Xie Yuan's group disappeared from sight, Chunya arrived at the gate and ran into Jin'er, who was returning.

"Chunya!" Seeing Chunya coming out, Jin'er happily ran over.

Seeing her cheerful demeanor, Chunya knew that things had probably gone well and smiled. "Why did you return so late? Miss is eager to hear the news."

"Hehe, the commotion at the Lu family was too entertaining. I couldn't resist watching for a while longer. Come on, let me tell you as we walk."

Jin'er's eyebrows were filled with joy.

After going to Mr. Li's shop, she learned that Mr. Li had already arranged everything for today. Those people had already gone to cause trouble at the Lu family's shop.

So she ran to the Lu family's shop to watch. After a night, Lu Song had managed to gather some silver, but it was only enough to pay half of the debt.

Those people weren't satisfied and forced Lu Song to repay the money on the street, almost beating him up. In desperation, Lu Song could only sell the shop to pay the debt, while Kang Yun cried incessantly, unable to help at all.

At this point, Miss's goal was half accomplished. Then, the people Mr. Li had arranged stepped forward to take over the shops.

Unexpectedly, just as Mr. Li's people started negotiating the price of the shops with Lu Song, Lu Song's illegitimate son, Lu Wen, suddenly appeared, looking at Lu Song in shock, seemingly finding it hard to believe.

Jin'er couldn't help but be curious. If she remembered correctly, the child was only three years old, yet he didn't seem anything like a typical three-year-old, instead appearing quite thoughtful.

Lu Song had planned to sell the shops cheaply since it wasn't easy to find buyers at short notice. Finding someone who could take over all the shops at once, he naturally wanted to sell quickly.

But then, Lu Wen suddenly stared at the man preparing to buy the shops and asked, "Are you one of Su Youyue's people?"

Jin'er, eavesdropping, was startled. She hadn't expected the child to guess Miss's move!

Fortunately, the man sent was a good actor. After some deception, he bought all the shops at a low price.

Jin'er had tried to collect these shops before, although unsuccessfully. Knowing their original prices, she could clearly see that the shops were being bought back at a much lower price than what the Lu family had paid.

Lu Song, eager to pay off his debts, sold the shops at a low price.

In the end, the shops that Miss had initially targeted ended up back in her possession, much to Jin'er's delight.

Most importantly, before leaving, she saw Old Lady Lu return. Upon seeing her, she grabbed Lu Song's sleeve and cried, saying that the Lu family's ancestral home was gone.

Hearing this, Jin'er knew that Miss's other plan had also succeeded, so she hurried back.

After recounting the events to Chunya, she entered the courtyard and told Su Youyue the same story, then took out the deeds for the shops. "Miss, look!"

Su Youyue wasn't particularly interested in the deeds for the shops. They were originally hers, and now she was simply getting them back.

Yet she was also surprised by Lu Wen's astonishment.

She had assumed that the boy must have been in the know, considering it was surely his ideas that had fueled Lu Song and Kang Yun's business ventures. To her surprise, however, he hadn't been involved in their subsequent endeavors at all.

After all, he had learned the ropes of business from her, yet he hadn't applied any of those skills.

It seemed that his three-year-old body was indeed holding him back in more ways than one.

Su Youyue couldn't help but scoff inwardly.

Even if Lu Wen wasn't trapped in a three-year-old's body, his current family background and his own intellect would never make him a match for her.

In his previous life, he had neither literary nor martial prowess, and he had an aversion to learning. Reborn into this world without the aid of his family's influence, he would only prove himself even more useless.