Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 554 Lin Dao: Miss Xue, just have a few more children~
"The Jia family's greatest asset is that they are both dukes of two states."

"Now that you are so deeply involved with the rebels, you can't keep your titles."

I squatted on the roof and watched Chief Constable Qin stagger away.

Reaching into the cloth bag, Lin Dao took out a peach and took a bite.

"I've already said it, the pain and despair that Lin Daiyu suffered from losing everything must be repaid by you murderers tenfold."

"Lin Daiyu lost her inheritance and dowry."

"Then your Jia family will lose all your wealth and be forced to sell yourselves into slavery."

"In the end, Lin Daiyu even lost her life."

"Then your Jia family needs to die enough!"

'Crunch.' One bite, and peach juice splattered everywhere.

Lin Dao rarely does such delicate things; he usually just pushes through with his army.

Faced with overwhelming force, whatever one says goes.

If we were to simply push things along in this world, Lin Daiyu's social class would inevitably make her a different kind of person.

That's how we had the companionship and subtle influence along the way.

Besides, he came here specifically to help Lin Daiyu change her fate.

After eating the peach, I casually threw away the pit.

I came down from the roof and headed towards Rika-in.

Lin Dao was also curious: who exactly killed Xue the Fool?

He really didn't do it.

Even if he wanted to kill Xue Pan, he would openly break down the door.

Poisoned?

Who are you looking down on?

Lin Dao's arrival went unnoticed.

After all, he was dressed plainly and had a friendly demeanor.

The people in the Jia family treated him as an official, and the people in the yamen (government office) also treated him as a member of the Jia family.

First, they arrived at the place where the body was laid to rest and saw Xue Pan, who had already stiffened.

This is the most typical example of a spoiled brat.

They bully men and women, act with impunity, fight and injure others, and commit all sorts of evil deeds.

But there's nothing we can do about them, because they have money and connections.

Lin Dao's decision not to kill him earlier was indeed a rare display of mercy.

Seeing such a villain poisoned to death, Lin Dao simply stepped forward calmly to question the coroner.

"How did you die?"

The coroner did not recognize him and assumed he was from the Rongguo Mansion.

He whispered in response, "Died from arsenic poisoning."

Having determined the cause of death, Lin Dao took one last look before turning and leaving.

Pear Fragrance Courtyard was originally Jia Daishan's retirement home.

The environment is quiet and the area is quite large.

At this time, most of the area was covered by curtains, since Aunt Xue and her daughter were still living there.

Lin Dao strolled leisurely, casually lifted the curtain, and went inside.

Behind the curtain, there were originally quite a few maids, who were crowding around and peering at the constables through the gaps in the curtain.

After all, maids in such high-class families rarely see men outside their households, and even male servants of the family are rarely seen.

Seeing so many men all of a sudden, it was inevitable to peek.

Then he was scolded away by the old women, the kind of scolding that was pretty vulgar.

Don't assume that women from wealthy families are well-mannered; cursing and fighting are common occurrences for them.

They have all sorts of swear words that would make any man blush; there's nothing they won't utter if you haven't heard it before.

Moreover, unlike most women in ordinary families of that era who had only one husband in their lifetime.

Maids in wealthy and powerful families usually go through several hands.

First, the masters and young masters were dealt with. Those who were lucky could stay, while those who were unlucky were directly taken out to be paired with young men.

This is no different from an honest person taking over a bad deal.

But honest people don't want to suffer losses.

They would beat and scold people as usual, but some were so angry that they would kick them out of the house or even sell them.

Don't think they're pitiful.

Many maids, even after they get married, will try every means to seduce the masters and young masters, hoping to one day rise in rank.

Beneath the glamorous facade of wealthy and powerful families lies an ugliness that is often the subject of gossip.

We walked along the veranda to the outside of the main house, where several maids were sitting outside the door, dozing off.

The nannies were all outside keeping an eye on the constables, and the unsupervised maids were letting loose.

Lin Dao turned slightly to listen to the voices coming from inside the room.

He wasn't eavesdropping; he was gathering intelligence.
Inside the room, Aunt Xue, her eyes red and swollen, was cursing Xiangling.

"That wretched, rotten-hoofed woman, she's so heartless, she poisoned Pan'er."

"She must be torn to pieces!"

"Mom." Xue Baochai, who was sitting to the side, also looked haggard, but she defended Xiangling and said a few words, "She was just delivering porridge, she didn't know it was poisoned."

"Pooh!"

Aunt Xue, feeling like the sky has fallen after her son's death, is now attacking anyone she can get her hands on.

Why didn't she take a sip herself first?

"God must be blind! Why didn't He poison her?"

"That shameless slut deserves to be torn to pieces!"

Xue Baochai covered her forehead, unwilling to talk about the matter anymore.

My brother is dead; that outcome cannot be changed.

There are still very important things to do.

"mom."

"Now that my brother is dead, what should be done about the family?"

Among the four major families, the Xue family has the fewest members.

However, the actual number of people was far greater than that of ordinary people.

After all, ordinary people are choosing not to have children because they can't afford to raise them.

But wealthy and powerful families are not short of money, at least not short of money to raise children, so they naturally have as many children as they can.

Just like the Jia family, they not only had many houses behind the Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, but also many houses in Jinling.

Xue Pan's branch of the family has lost its pillar.

However, there were many male members in the other households.

However, the main assets of the Xue family were held by their branch of the family. When the topic of the family property came up, Aunt Xue stopped scolding.

She pondered deeply with a serious expression, but couldn't come up with a solution.

"What should I do?"

"Now that your brother is gone, the other branches of the family will definitely come to fight over the inheritance."

"If we, mother and daughter, don't even have any money to save, how will we survive?"

Without her million-dollar fortune, how could this widow, who had lost both her husband and son, and her daughter, who was still single at an older age, maintain their luxurious lifestyle?
"Bao'er," Aunt Xue grabbed Xue Baochai's hand, pleading through tears, "You've always been clever, quickly think of a way!"

"mom."

Xue Baochai frowned and sighed, "I don't know what to do either."

"What's so embarrassing about this."

A man's voice suddenly came from outside the window: "A posthumous child."

Aunt Xue was stunned, but Xue Baochai's eyes lit up.

"Who~"

"Who's out there?"

The maids outside the door were also awakened by the noise. When they suddenly saw Lin Dao standing to the side, they screamed in fright.

"Where did this madman come from, daring to spy on the women in my house?!"

Amidst the chaos, Lin Dao spoke up loudly, "I am a creditor of the Rongguo Mansion."

"Logically speaking, this courtyard was also mortgaged to me."

“It is only natural for me to inspect my own collateral.”

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai held down the flustered Aunt Xue and lowered her voice.

"I heard that the Rongguo Mansion has mortgaged the entire mansion to borrow money to repair the garden."

"It must be this person."

"His previous words did make some sense."

"Mom might as well talk to him in detail."

Lin Dao was invited into the house, where Aunt Xue sat upright.

Xue Baochai hid behind the screen.

"May I ask your esteemed name, sir?"

"My name is Lin Dao, courtesy name Zihou, and I am known in the martial arts world as Timely Rain."

Lin Dao didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

“I lent money to the Rongguo Mansion to build a garden, and they mortgaged this mansion to me.”

"Having nothing to do today, I'm taking a stroll around the mansion."

"I overheard your conversation by chance while walking here. It was not intentional. Please forgive me."

"Oh, oh." Aunt Xue glanced at the screen instinctively; she really didn't know what to say.

Aunt Xue is only in her early thirties, but she is very well-preserved and has a wealthy appearance.

In the modern world, people who get furious when called "Auntie" are usually those who call themselves fairies.

If we're talking about power struggles within the inner quarters, Aunt Xue is half as skilled as her sister, Madam Wang.

But when it comes to dealing with outsiders like Lin Dao, she's completely at a loss.

There was no other way, so Xue Baochai, who was behind the screen, took over the conversation.

"It was originally Young Master Lin."

"I have long admired Young Master Lin's reputation, but my elder brother has never been able to pay him a visit, which I greatly regret."

Lin Dao laughed at these words.

Your brother, all the visits he's made have been so extensive they've practically burst with juice!
After exchanging pleasantries, Xue Baochai simply asked the question.

"May I ask, Young Master Lin, what was the reasoning behind your previous remarks about a posthumous child?"

Lin Dao didn't bother with any ambushes and simply said, "Your family's problem now is that there's no man in the family, and you're worried that your family business will be seized."

"This is not difficult; all you need is for your brother to have a son."

This kind of thing is very common; in fact, Lin Daiyu in the original novel was like that.

Without a son, the family property will be taken away.

This was true not only in ancient times, but also in the modern world.

Lin Ruhai was clever; he turned most of his family fortune into rare ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques, along with the silver and banknotes he had accumulated over the years, and gave them to Lin Daiyu to take away.

But the Xue family is different. The Xue family's real businesses are shops and caravans in various places.

These things are not easy to sell.

"Although it hasn't been born yet, we can arrange for a posthumous child."

"As long as you have a son, the family property will naturally remain in your hands."

Aunt Xue was puzzled, "But none of Pan-ge'er's concubines are pregnant."

"Besides, how can we be sure it's a son?"

Lin Dao smiled but didn't say anything, inwardly thinking, "Your family is so poor they can't even serve tea."

Xue Baochai, behind the screen, was a wise woman.

"Mom~"

"Who gets pregnant is up to us."

"As for whether it's a son or a daughter~"

Perhaps it was because the young woman was a little shy about bringing up this topic.

Xue Baochai's words were slightly lower in tone: "It will definitely be a son's when the time comes."

If pregnancy can be faked, then childbirth can certainly be faked as well.

Aunt Xue understood now.

"Who can be arranged to be pregnant?"

"The Jia family's daughter isn't married yet, as for those concubines and maids..."

"Of course, it's about being honest, obedient, and keeping to one's place, so that one can be easily manipulated." Lin Dao smiled. "It's about keeping secrets, so that one doesn't actively reveal them, or be used to blackmail others."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai both thought of one person.

Xiangling!

"But after all, he's not of the Xue family bloodline."

Aunt Xue began to worry again, "Could it be that I really have to pass on the family fortune to that child of unknown origin?"

Lin Dao's gaze then fell upon the screen.

"How difficult is this?"

"When Miss Xue gets married and has several children, we can adopt one of them into Brother Xue's family."

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai, who was not yet married, blushed with embarrassment.

At her age, she must have received relevant education.

The thought of the pre-birth process made her blush instantly, too shy to speak.
(End of this chapter)