nucmednet Chapter 85 A Warning to Others
Chapter 85 A Warning to Others
Qiao Qingshu stared at Liu Wan'er meaningfully for a while.
A mischievous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"What you said makes some sense."
The smile was incredibly bright, but it sent shivers down Liu Wan'er's spine, and she involuntarily trembled.
Her brows furrowed involuntarily as she wondered if Qiao Qingshu was about to cause her trouble again.
Qiao Qingshu turned to look at Xu Yunlang again, smiling freely.
"Since he is Aunt Xu's brother, he is considered a relative of our Marquis's mansion, so naturally we should offer him a good price."
Xu Yunlang had just bargained the price down to three hundred taels, and now that he saw her say this, he assumed that Xu Biyun and Qiao Qingshu had a harmonious relationship on the surface.
Given that, he was certain that he could acquire those three estates at a reasonable price.
Xu Yunlang rubbed his hands together gleefully, a sly smile typical of businessmen spreading across his face.
“Yes, since we’re all family, things will be much easier.”
“Young lady, if you name a reasonable price, I will definitely not bet anymore. Whatever you say is the price.”
Qiao Qingshu walked around the room with light steps.
With a smile always on his face, he pondered for a moment and then held up two fingers in front of Xu Yunlang.
Xu Yunlang's eyes widened with delight, and he slapped his thigh excitedly, thinking that Qiao Qingshu had directly promised two hundred taels of silver.
He excitedly shouted at Xu Biyun,
"Biyun! Look how kind this young lady is! If you had known this would happen, why pretend you didn't know her? After all, it's easier to talk to family."
"Two hundred taels of silver for us? Young lady, you are such a kind and generous person! Hurry up and thank you!"
Xu Biyun scratched her face, wondering with a puzzled look, "Is this girl really planning to sell to me cheaply?"
He hesitated for a moment, then glanced at his daughter, Liu Wan'er.
Seeing Liu Wan'er frowning as she stared at Qiao Qingshu, who was all smiles, she noticed that Liu Wan'er was looking at her with a furrowed brow.
Liu Wan'er asked warily,
"Cousin, are you really that kind?"
Qiao Qingshu turned around gracefully and sat back down in the main seat.
She picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and then looked up, speaking sharply.
"It's two thousand taels."
"I won't sell it for a single penny less."
Liu Wan'er narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. She knew that Qiao Qingshu would not let them off so easily.
At this moment, she even felt a bit of resentment towards Zhou's mother. If it weren't for her meddling and loose tongue, her uncle might have already bought those three estates for three hundred taels of silver.
He couldn't help but glare fiercely at Zhou's mother.
Zhou's mother's originally happy face froze when Qiao Qingshu said two thousand taels.
She frantically looked down and clasped her hands, seemingly realizing that she had done something wrong despite her good intentions.
Xu Biyun's shrill voice broke the silence in the room.
"Qiao Qingshu! Are you out of your mind for money? Two thousand taels is enough to buy ten or so estates, all of them fertile and of good quality. You dare to sell these three pieces of wasteland for two thousand taels? If you don't want to sell, just say so! Stop trying to bully people by asking for exorbitant prices!"
Liu Wan'er stepped forward to pull her mother away, but her mother shoved her away.
"Wan'er, don't pull me! If you're not going to buy it, then we're not going to buy it! What's so great about this piece of land? Do you really think I absolutely have to buy it?"
Qiao Qingshu wasn't annoyed; she just tilted her head and coldly watched Xu Biyun lash out.
Seeing the significant difference in expression between Liu Wan'er and Xu Biyun, he guessed that the little fox Liu Wan'er must not have told her mother about the gold mine yet.
Xu Biyun was furious and dragged Liu Wan'er and Xu Yunlang out of the house.
"Don't want her shabby clothes! Let's not buy them! Let's go!"
As soon as they stepped out of the door, dozens of soldiers with swords in hand blocked their way.
The leading officer, a burly man with a thick beard, growled sternly.
"Get inside! Sir, we're here to arrest criminals!"
The sound was so loud that Xu Biyun's legs went weak, and she held onto the door frame, too afraid to move.
He hunched over and pulled the foot that had been extended back in.
She grabbed Liu Wan'er's hand in a panic.
"Wan'er, what... what's going on?"
When Liu Wan'er heard that the soldiers had come to arrest people, she was even more panicked than her mother.
After all, she was the murderer who destroyed the farmland.
She cautiously took a few steps back.
He watched the swarm of soldiers rushing in with a wary expression, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Catch her!"
With a loud shout, the bearded officer at the head of the troops swarmed forward and surrounded Zhou's mother.
Startled, Zhou's mother turned pale and collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Ah! Sir, no! Sir, no! Waaah..."
They cast pleading glances at Liu Wan'er and Xu Biyun.
"Young lady, madam, please save me! Please save me!"
Qiao Qingshu stepped forward and bowed to Zhou's mother.
“Aunt Zhou, you still won’t admit it? You destroyed the three estates of the Qiao family. You can’t deny it.”
As they were talking, the shopkeeper who sold paraquat and the servant who had followed Liu Wan'er and Zhou Mama that day were brought up.
The shopkeeper, already terrified by the soldiers, pointed at Zhou's mother and yelled...
"It was her! It was her who bought half a kilogram of paraquat from my store!"
The servant also lowered his head and said...
"That day, I saw Zhou Mama carrying a bag of things and heading towards the village in the early morning. When she returned in the evening, the bag was gone."
Zhou's mother was so frightened that tears and snot streamed down her face, and she collapsed to the ground, feeling as if a great disaster was about to befall her.
She rushed forward, threw herself onto Liu Wan'er's leg, and cried out.
"Girl, save me! Girl, save me!"
At this moment, Zhou's mother did not intend to expose Liu Wan'er. She still wanted to protect Liu Wan'er, but only hoped that Liu Wan'er would speak up to save her.
But when Liu Wan'er saw that neither of their testimonies mentioned her, she was certain that she had escaped a calamity.
They were even determined to make Zhou's mother the scapegoat.
She kicked out hard, knocking Zhou's mother to the ground.
“Mrs. Zhou, you’re so foolish to do something like this! No matter how dissatisfied you are with the Qiao family, you shouldn’t have done something like this.”
“I know you’ve held a grudge against the Qiao family for years, complaining that your monthly salary is too low and the work you do is dirty and tiring. But if you’re dissatisfied, you should have told me, or you could have told your cousin. Why did you do something so vicious!”
"I can't protect you now, so you'd better pray for yourself."
Liu Wan'er was determined to abandon Zhou Mama to save herself, and her words were extremely cold.
Zhou's mother was completely stunned and couldn't speak for a long time, her voice hoarse.
Qiao Qingshu raised an eyebrow and said,
"Oh? So my cousin didn't know about this? I thought she had instructed Aunt Zhou to destroy our land so that your uncle could buy it at a low price."
Liu Wan'er immediately distanced herself from the situation, trying to absolve herself of all responsibility.
“Cousin, you’ve really misunderstood us. My mother and I would never scheme like that. We’re just young ladies, we don’t know how to manage a estate, what use would it be for us to scheme against the Qiao family’s estate?”
"It's quite a coincidence; we didn't know our uncle had come to the capital to buy land."
After saying that, he pointed at Zhou's mother and cursed.
"Mother Zhou has been constantly complaining in recent years, always grumbling about this and that. My mother and I have already taken extra care of her, but who would have thought that she would harbor such malice and do such outrageous things to the Qiao family!"
"Even if my cousin shows her pity, I will not allow it. I will punish her severely as a warning to others!"