Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 550 The road ahead is long and arduous, but I will persevere in my pursuit.
"You bitch~ Hiss~~~"

Jia Lian, who was lying on the bed, struggled to lift his head.

His once handsome face is now completely unrecognizable.

He glared hatefully at Wang Xifeng, who was covering her mouth and laughing gleefully, gritting his teeth, "It must have been you who snitched!"

Jia Lian was dragged back to the mansion from the dinner table, and didn't even have time to wash up.

He reeked of alcohol and was covered in rouge and powder.

Such things wouldn't have been considered a big deal in the past; at most, a few curses would suffice.

After all, the children of these wealthy and powerful families are born to enjoy life.

But now, the Jia family is facing unprecedented difficulties.

Jia Lian not only didn't care, but also spent a lot of money on debauchery, which angered everyone.

Especially his father, Jia She, has been much more restrained these days and hasn't gone out to dine and drink much.

Upon seeing Jia Lian's attitude, he immediately took advantage of the situation and gave him a severe beating.

This beating was enough to keep Jia Lian bedridden for three days.

"you deserve it!"

Wang Xifeng, having avenged her great grudge, couldn't stop smiling.

"They spend all their time looking for dirty and smelly things, neglecting their own families."

"Deserve it!"

Jia Lian was furious and wanted to teach her a lesson.

But the pain in his body and buttocks was unbearable, and he couldn't get up. All he could do was keep yelling and cursing.

"I don't have time to waste on empty talk."

Wang Xifeng turned around, swaying her hips as she went out, saying, "I'm going to find Brother Lin to talk about borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates."

The Jia family learned from Jia Lian that Lin Dao was indeed an extremely wealthy man.

So he arranged for Jia Lian to go find this friend and try to get some money to solve the immediate problem.

In the words of Grandmother Jia, as long as money can be obtained, everything is negotiable.

But now that Jia Lian has been beaten so badly he can't get out of bed, only Wang Xifeng can talk to him.

Once inside the side room by the forest path, Wang Xifeng skillfully closed the door, while Ping'er and Xiao Hong outside dispersed the crowd and kept watch at the door.

This time, Wang Xifeng wanted to do something different.

She took out a silver note and waved it at Lin Dao.

Lin Dao simply shook his head.

"Sister-in-law, please have some self-respect!"

"I'm not that kind of person!"

After saying that, Lin Dao took out a silver note and waved it in his hand.

"Humph!"

Wang Xifeng rolled her eyes, swayed her hips as she stepped forward, and slowly squatted down.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Dao stuffed the silver note into Wang Xifeng's clothes.

"Say it."

Sitting in his chair, Lin Dao picked up his teacup. "What is it now?"

'Gurgle~'

Wang Xifeng, who was rinsing her mouth, spat for a while before finally responding.

"Our ancestor said he wants to use the Rongguo Mansion as collateral to borrow money from you."

"Rongguo Mansion?"

Lin Dao frowned. "This is noble property. How can this be mortgaged? Do you think I don't know anything?"

He personally bestowed countless titles of nobility, and he knew the ins and outs of it all.

This is an attempt to frame him.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Wang Xifeng took out the silver notes and carefully put them away.

This was money she earned through hard work, nodding like she was pounding garlic.

"The old man meant that as long as you can lend him money, anything is negotiable."

Upon hearing this, Lin Dao also smiled.

The Rongguo Mansion has been driven to the brink of despair. They have abandoned their haughty attitude and are now humbly begging for money.

Of course he doesn't need to earn this money.

The sole purpose of pushing this forward was to force the Jia family to truly experience pain and despair.

They should experience the pain and despair that Lin Daiyu suffered in the original story, just as they did.

What does it mean to lose both your money and your life?

It's not time to wrap things up yet.

When the time comes to finish, they will surely be left with nowhere to go.

The deeper you get entangled with the forest path, the more unlucky you'll be in the end.

As for money, it's just a tool.

When Lin Dao returns to fight back, he'll have to pay back everything, including the principal and interest!
"The estates outside the pass."

Lin Dao held up a finger and shook it. "Essentially, it's also a noble property."

“Using the estate as collateral is not acceptable, but the estate’s produce can be used as collateral.”

"For this part, we can borrow 100,000 taels."

"The Rongguo Mansion has many fine things."

He reached out to pinch Wang Xifeng's pretty face, and the fiery Feng immediately opened her eyes wide, her gaze very clear.

Need more money!
"Although you sold me a lot, there must still be quite a few left."

"This part doesn't need to be mortgaged; you can sell it to me at a discount."

"You all know without me saying it that I'm already being incredibly generous by offering half price."

"If you can sell it and get even 10% of the price, you'll be incredibly lucky."

Everyone in the upper echelons of the capital knows that the Jia family is in dire need of money.

If you take something out to sell at this time, you can really drive the price down to the point of tears.

Offering half-price tickets on forest trails is certainly not out of a sudden pang of conscience.

He had no conscience whatsoever towards the Jia family, a noble family that lived a life of debauchery and decadence.

It was simply keeping them hanging on by a thread, causing the Jia family to constantly oscillate painfully between hope and despair.

He took out a silver note and stuffed it into Wang Xifeng's clothes.

Lin Dao's large hand also reached into his pocket and took something.

Although Wang Xifeng still rolled her eyes, she obediently moved closer.

"This part is estimated to be worth three to five hundred thousand taels."

“Not that many.” Wang Xifeng shook her head. “The household doesn’t have that many.”

She adjusted her posture to make it easier for Lin Dao to search. "Over the years, all the inner pouches in the mansion have been turned inside out."

"The things are gradually becoming fewer and fewer."

"As you know, none of the men in this household are capable of handling things."

"The women are the ones who make the decisions."

"They've certainly brought a lot of benefits to their own families."

There are no capable men in the family, so a group of wives run the household.

The practice of undermining one's husband's family to help one's own family, or becoming a "brother-obsessed demon," has existed since ancient times.

They not only dug out the good things in the mansion, but also wanted to add more good things when giving gifts during the holidays.

It says "bowls and chopsticks," but they are actually agate bowls and ivory chopsticks.

More importantly, the accumulated favors and incense offerings of the Rongguo Mansion over the years were also used to help their maternal families.

The Shi family produced two marquises.

Wang Ziteng rose through the ranks.

Are they really that capable?
How can it be!

There are more than dozens of noble families in the capital.

Why is it that a family of historians could produce two marquises?
There are countless people like Wang Ziteng in the imperial court.

Why was he able to rise through the ranks?
Ultimately, it was the depletion of the Jia family's ancestral connections.

"Then let's leave it at that." Lin Dao frowned and thought for a moment. "We'll take as many as we can."

"Furthermore, there is the shop in the Xue family's residence that is being used for business purposes."

"You can mortgage 100,000 taels."

Although noble families are forbidden from engaging in business, these people of the Heavenly Dragons always find a way to circumvent the problem.

Just like the Jia family, they were registered under the Xue family's name.

The Xue family would not dare to embezzle it.

Their family also needs the protection of the Jia family and other families.

The four major families are inherently in a cooperative relationship based on shared interests.

The restaurants and pawnshops that are affiliated with the business are quite valuable, and it's no problem to pawn them for 100,000 taels of silver.

"If you calculate it that way, it should be around four or five hundred thousand taels."

"So much silver," Lin Dao said, holding a grape. "It's more than enough to build two Grand View Gardens."

Indeed, the actual cost of materials and labor is far less than one might imagine.

The real big winners are those who reach out from top to bottom.

Just like the imperial court~
Wang Xifeng, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid, gave him a charming sidelong glance and said, "Not enough."

"At least another 500,000 taels."

"Then there's nothing left in the household to mortgage," Lin Dao said with a smile. "Unless there's someone to mortgage it."

"A person?" Wang Xifeng asked curiously. "What person?"

“Anyone is fine~” Lin Dao laughed again, “Of course, your ancestor is out of the question.”

“Your daughters can easily earn twenty or thirty thousand taels each.”

"Your maids, several hundred taels, several thousand taels, depending on who they are mortgaging."

"If it's someone like Master Zheng and his wife, a mortgage of thirty to fifty thousand taels is fine."

"Nonsense!" Wang Xifeng pulled his hand away. "You're disrespecting the young ladies of the manor!"

Lin Dao smiled but didn't say anything.

In the original novel, your Jia family practically ruined Lin Daiyu to death.

Especially Madam Wang.

This time, Lin Dao will not let her die; he will only make her live the rest of her life in endless pain and despair.

"The maids," Wang Xifeng said, skillfully unbuttoning her clothes, "can be used as collateral."

"I've got it." Lin Dao added, "All of these require Lin Ruhai as guarantor."

Lin Dao was not afraid that the Jia family would renege on their debt, and he asked Lin Ruhai to be the guarantor for the sake of what would happen later.

"okay."

Lin Dao nudged Wang Xifeng, whose clothes had slipped down, and frowned. "I have something to do and need to go out."

"That won't do." Wang Xifeng leaned down to accommodate him, then suddenly raised her head. "I already received the silver notes!"

Just thinking about that bastard Jia Lian, how badly he was beaten and couldn't get out of bed for days...

Wang Xifeng then shouted with great joy.

You big bastard!
This feeling is truly...
So cool!
A few days later, on Rongning Street.

Several carriages slowly came to a stop in front of the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia She, Jia Zheng, and others were already waiting outside the door.

The servants stepped forward to attend to him, and a man stepped down from the carriage; it was Lin Ruhai.

"Brother-in-law~"

"Brother-in-law~"

Jia She and Jia Zheng both stepped forward to greet them.

"My two elder brothers," Lin Ruhai greeted them, his gaze falling on the wide-open main gate behind them, and he sighed repeatedly.

"That's too much, too extreme! Why go to such lengths?"

For a prominent family like the Jia family, the main gate was usually only opened when a truly important person came.

It is likely that Jia Yuanchun was visiting her family, and an imperial envoy came to deliver a decree, or perhaps it was during an ancestral worship ceremony, or something similar.

Now, the doors are wide open to welcome Lin Ruhai!

This prompted Lin Ruhai to repeatedly express his opinion.

For the Jia family, this wasn't excessive.

They were beset by internal and external troubles at the time, and Lin Ruhai was their biggest external help!

The news has spread throughout the capital that Lin Ruhai has returned to Beijing to assume the post of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief!

He was undoubtedly a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

It is only natural that he will be appointed as a cabinet minister in the future.

Besides, his daughter is going to be selected as the Princess Consort of Qin, so what's wrong with opening the main gate to welcome her?

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Ruhai stepped into the Rongguo Mansion once again.

The last time I came here was before I took Jia Minnan to Yangzhou!
In the blink of an eye, everything has changed, and more than ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

He still had the chance to set foot in the Rongguo Mansion again, but Jia Min was buried forever in the Lin family ancestral cemetery.

Thinking of his wife, who died young because of him, Lin Ruhai couldn't help but shed tears.

To be honest, if Jia Min were still alive, Lin Ruhai might not have gone to such lengths.

But all men are the same; they only ever think that what they've lost is the best.

(End of this chapter)