Chapter 183: Coming to the Marquis’s Mansion to Collect a Debt

Chapter 183: Coming to the Marquis's Mansion to Collect a Debt

Lu Lingyun was fiddling with an abacus in her small courtyard.

The maids were sitting around her, embroidering clothes, tending to flowers, or fanning themselves.

"Isn't Master Cheng acting a bit strange lately?" said Little Wei.

"In what way?"

"Don't you think he's particularly concerned about our cousin's affairs?" Little Wei raised her head, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I've noticed that too!" said Little Tao. "Remember last time, when our cousin scolded him and Miss Huihui, calling them beggars, he didn't get angry. Later, he even helped her out of a tricky situation."

"Not really," Little Rui shook her head, looking very serious. "I think Master Cheng is kind-hearted and didn't bother to argue with our cousin. Look, he volunteered to help today. Which nobleman would do something like that?"

"If he's so kind and helpful, why didn't he help you with your chores or carry water for you?"

"Exactly, when you went to deliver a message to the outer courtyard, did he offer you tea?"

Little Rui's face turned red. "How can I compare to our cousin?"

"Why not? If he can run errands for our cousin, why can't he help you with something?"

"I say, we should just ask Master Cheng directly why he's so eager to help our cousin but not us, Little Rui!"

"Yes, yes, let's ask him later."

"You're all teasing me!" Little Rui, unable to argue back, turned red-faced and ran to Young Mistress Lu, shaking her arm to get her attention. "Young Mistress, look at them!"

Lu Lingyun, who had been lightly flicking the abacus beads, chuckled. "Alright, you bunch of talkative girls, if you keep this up, Little Rui will distract me and mess up my calculations."

As her words fell, the surrounding maids burst into laughter.

Little Rui pouted. "Young Mistress, you're also being mean, bullying me!"

As the group laughed and chatted, the matron came to report.

"Young Mistress, there are people at the door demanding payment for a debt!"

"A debt? Who is it from?" Lu Lingyun stopped smiling, looking puzzled at the matron.

"The collectors are from a gambling house, saying the debt was recorded under our Marquis's name! They've come to collect the money!"

"Who owes the money?" Lu Lingyun found this increasingly strange.

"The debtor is named Du Tai, and he claims his sister is the most favored concubine in the Ningyang Marquisate! All the debts were put under Concubine Du's name!"

Lu Lingyun: "..."

---

Xiaohe Courtyard.

Du Ruo had been enjoying a rare few days of peace.

Her brother hadn't come looking for her, and her relationship with Cheng Yunshuo had become much closer recently.

Every evening, she would act like a pampered child, asking Cheng Yunshuo to feed her, and he would tease her about how she hadn't grown up, but still doted on her. Du Ruo loved hearing Cheng Yunshuo say she hadn't grown up.

It felt as if he was holding her in the palm of his hand.

She tilted her head, thinking about how to act all cute with Cheng Yunshuo tonight, when Xiaoqin hurriedly reported, "Concubine Du, the young mistress requests your presence."

Lu Lingyun wants to see me?

The sweetness in Du Ruo's eyes vanished, and a hint of hostility and reluctance surfaced.

Could it be that she's looking for trouble because I'm favored?

Hmph, I'm not afraid of her!

Du Ruo quickly tidied herself up and made her way to Lu Lingyun's quarters.

When she arrived, she saw several unfamiliar men standing in the middle of the yard. They were dressed in short, coarse clothes, exuding a thug-like air—clearly not decent people.

"Young mistress, what do you want from me?" Du Ruo asked, stepping past them without fully realizing the situation.

Lu Lingyun looked at her, then at the men who had come to collect the debt. "There, this is Concubine Du. You can talk to her."

Hearing this, Du Ruo immediately turned to look at these strangers with suspicion and bewilderment. "Who are you? What do you want?"

They're looking for me!

For a moment, she even wondered if Lu Lingyun had hired a bunch of thugs to humiliate her out of spite!

Shame, anger, and confusion washed over her as one of the men snarled, "Pay up!"

Du Ruo was speechless.

"Pay up now!"

"You owe money, so you pay it back—it's only fair!"

"Who are you?"

Confused, Du Ruo turned to Lu Lingyun for help.

Lu Lingyun sipped her hot tea and said slowly, "They're here to see you because your brother owes money to the gambling house."

Du Ruo was speechless.

Her brother’s gambling debts had somehow caught up with her at the Marquisate!

Du Ruo's face turned red with shame and anger. "How much does my brother owe you?"

"Three hundred taels!"

"Three hundred taels? That’s... impossible!"

"Miss, you should pay up quickly. Your brother left his fingerprint on these IOUs at our gambling house. If you don't repay the money, we'll go to the authorities!" The gambling house people threw down a stack of IOUs, all bearing Du Ruo's and Ningyang Marquisate's names.

"The Marquisate won't stand for this. If this goes to court, we'll make sure anyone misusing our name gets punished," Lu Lingyun's voice came leisurely.

Hearing this, Du Ruo's face turned even redder.

With her brother in debt and the collectors showing up at her in-laws' place, she felt utterly humiliated in front of Lu Lingyun.

The main problem was that her brother had used the Marquis's Mansion's name fraudulently. This was incredibly embarrassing, bringing shame all the way to her in-laws!

"I’ll take care of it!"

After saying these four words, Du Ruo turned and went back to her own courtyard to get the money.

Her dowry wasn’t nearly enough. She had already helped Du Tai repay 160 taels earlier, and now he needed another 300 taels. Her dowry and betrothal gifts totaled only about 300 taels. To cover the remaining amount, she had to use most of her jewelry.

Only then did she manage to pay off Du Tai’s debt, just barely.

"From now on, Du Tai’s debts are no longer my responsibility! Don’t come to the Marquis’s Mansion asking for money again!" After paying the money, Du Ruo tore up the IOUs right in front of Lu Lingyun.

The debt collectors, now paid, grinned and nodded, "Alright, we won’t come back."

After they left, Du Ruo finally breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Lu Lingyun, who had been watching the whole scene as a spectator, and a wave of shame and anger surged up. It was mortifying to be humiliated in front of her!

"I'm done dealing with this! Don't bother me again!"

With that, she ran away from Lu Lingyun's courtyard with a red face.

"Hey, Concubine Du is really becoming more and more improper!"

"Did young mistress tell her to leave? She just left!"

"Probably feeling ashamed! What a disgrace!"

The maids said.

Lu Lingyun, looking at Du Ruo's hasty retreat, shook her head and said, "It's nothing to lose face in front of me. It's when you lose face in front of others that it’s truly bad."

Feeling utterly humiliated, Du Ruo hurried back to her own small courtyard. Sitting in her chair, she alternated between wanting to storm back to the Du family and confront her brother, and wanting to hide away because of the shame she had suffered today.

Just at that moment, Cheng Yunshuo returned.

"What's wrong with you today?" Even after entering the door, Cheng Yunshuo wasn't noticed by Du Ruo, so he couldn't help but ask.

"Master!" Du Ruo, with a flushed face, threw herself into Cheng Yunshuo's arms.

"What happened to you today?"