Chapter 38 She Demands Repayment with the Dog in Tow

Chapter 38: She Comes to Collect a Debt with Her Dog

Right after someone asked, Chen Hu stepped forward and said proudly, "You don’t even know who Princess Ye’s father is? He’s Marquis Ji of Yongning Marquis’s manor, a top-ranking court official."

At that, the crowd went silent.

No one knew who reacted first, but someone in the crowd shouted: "What? So this young lady is Ji Yuntang, the bride Prince Ye married to chase away bad luck?"

"Marquis Ji is a top-tier official, and the Yongning Marquis’s manor is a centuries-old noble family. How could they be so shameless as to give only this paltry dowry for their daughter’s marriage?"

Another insider spoke up, "You don’t know yet, do you? I heard Princess Ye is Marquis Ji’s illegitimate daughter, brought back from the countryside, specifically to take Second Miss Ji’s place in the marriage."

"A few days ago, didn’t Second Miss Ji bring a coffin to Prince Ye’s mansion, claiming the prince’s mansion drove her sister to death and she was coming to collect the body?"

"Unexpectedly, Princess Ye not only survived, but also threw her into the coffin and sent her back. I think the Yongning Marquis’s manor has completely lost face for profit!"

Someone started it, and the commoners began to chant: "Yongning Marquis’s manor, shameless! Return Princess Ye’s dowry!"

"Yongning Marquis’s manor, shameless! Return Princess Ye’s dowry!"

"..."

Seeing the effect, Ji Yuntang curled her lips into a cold smirk.

She wasn’t lying. When Ji Nanchuan gave her these three dowry items, he did claim they were worth ten thousand gold, more valuable than Hua Ruyue’s sky-high dowry.

But at the time, the original owner only cared about so-called family affection and fatherly love, not these material possessions.

She believed family bonds could outweigh all worldly goods.

But reality proved the family love she cherished was worth less than a pile of dog poop Liu Linlang collected outside.

Even dog poop was worth ten taels of silver, but in the Yongning Marquis’s manor, it meant nothing.

Ji Yuntang had Chen Hu follow her as she walked her dog toward the Yongning Marquis’s manor.

The news that Princess Ye’s dowry was a stray dog, ducks, and a grass carp quickly spread through the capital.

Naturally, it reached the ears of the Yongning Marquis’s manor household.

Madam Meng’s face went pale, and her gut told her something big was about to happen.

"It’s over, it’s over. We didn’t send Ji Yuntang the silver on time. This must be her payback."

Ji Nanchuan snorted, picked up his teacup, and took a leisurely sip, looking unbothered.

"What’s there to panic over? Even if she comes, I, the Marquis, have nothing to be afraid of."

"She refused to return home, beat her own sister first, and then blackmailed the manor. By all logic, this is Ji Yuntang’s fault. Why should we panic?"

Just then, a servant rushed in, panicked, to report.

"Marquis, Madam, it’s bad! Princess Ye has come with a dog and is causing a scene at the gate."

Madam Meng’s heart skipped a beat. Speak of the devil. Did Ji Yuntang come that fast?

Outside the Yongning Marquis’s manor, the crowd had already blocked the road.

They stared at the little black dog Ji Yuntang was leading, their expressions complicated.

"Look at this dog. It really hates the Yongning Marquis’s manor. It started barking as soon as it got here. You can tell it doesn’t like this place."

"Yeah, dogs are very intuitive animals. This dog was very well-behaved when Princess Ye walked it, but it suddenly got aggressive when it reached the manor. Could it be that the manor people have mistreated dogs?"

"..."

When Ji Nanchuan and Madam Meng came out, Ji Baiyi suddenly broke free from Ji Yuntang’s leash, bared its teeth, and ran at them.

Madam Meng panicked, tripped over her own feet, and fell on the ground.

Ji Nanchuan didn’t do any better. Ji Baiyi bit his pant leg and even peed on his foot.

"You little beast, you’re asking for it!"

Enraged, he ignored the setting and raised his foot to kick Ji Baiyi hard.

But before his foot could land, Ji Yuntang’s whip wrapped tightly around his calf.

"Marquis, my dowry is worth ten thousand gold. If you break it, will you pay me back?"

Ji Nanchuan’s movement halted abruptly, his face cycling through shades of red and purple, slightly embarrassed.

It was indeed he who had told Ji Yuntang that this little black dog was worth ten thousand gold.

But he had also said that their father-daughter bond was priceless and couldn’t be measured by worldly things like gold and silver.

Ji Nanchuan looked at Ji Yuntang’s face, now with fewer dark spots, and felt he could no longer understand this daughter.

He took a deep breath and said reproachfully, "I know you want to show off, but you can’t bring it here to cause trouble. You didn’t even leash it. Luckily, it only startled me and your mother. What if it had hurt an elderly person or a child?"

With one sentence, he shifted all the blame onto Ji Yuntang.

Ji Yuntang sneered inwardly but said innocently, "But Marquis, didn’t you give me Ji Baiyi? Isn’t this its way of showing affection toward you?"

"I, the Princess, am truly envious of you. Ji Baiyi has never been so affectionate with me. It seems my dowry really likes you, Marquis!"

Ji Yuntang’s repeated use of "Marquis" made Ji Nanchuan uncomfortable. Seeing her features, which bore a slight resemblance to his own, he sighed deeply.

"I gave you that gift. Just keep it and stay quietly in Prince Ye’s mansion from now on. Don’t bring it to the Yongning Marquis’s manor again."

Seeing him play dumb and not mention the ten thousand taels of silver he owed her, Ji Yuntang pulled a promissory note from her bosom.

"I’m not here today to reminisce with you and your wife, but to collect the silver."

"This note clearly states that the Yongning Marquis’s manor was to deliver ten thousand taels of silver to me within three days. But it’s already noon on the fourth day. Why haven’t I seen a single tael?"

Seeing the note, Ji Nanchuan barely kept his composure.

He first glared fiercely at Madam Meng—this incompetent woman—then coldly said to Ji Yuntang, "Ji Yuntang, even if you’re married to Prince Ye’s mansion, you’re still my daughter. Qing Qing is your sister. I can overlook you hitting her, but you can’t push your luck!"

"Demanding ten thousand taels of silver at the drop of a hat—do you know how much that is for an ordinary family? They might not earn that in three lifetimes."

Ji Yuntang spread her hands and said innocently, "But the manor isn’t an ordinary family. You have a century-old foundation. You don’t need three generations to earn that money."

"You and your eldest son serve in the court, and your second son does business. As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. If you all pool your resources, you should be able to scrape together ten thousand taels, right?"

Ji Nanchuan: "..."

Why did he feel that this daughter was no longer easy to fool?

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