Remarried to a top-tier playboy, her reborn ex-husband is filled with regret.

"You...you're trying to extort money!"

Gu Jinghuai gritted his teeth and glared at Doctor Mu, forcing himself to shout:

"This ledger was something you and she conspired together! I'm going back to ask Mother!"

He was about to turn around when Yun Shuyao called him back.

"Young Master Gu, don't rush off. Now that the accounts have been investigated and the grand pronouncements have been made, there must be a result."

Yun Shuyao looked at the surrounding people and said loudly:

"Did everyone hear that?"

The heir of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion said I don't need to pay out of pocket, but I still have to repay the 72,000 taels for the medicine!

The people nodded in agreement, and someone shouted:

"Yes, we all heard it!"

"If the Marquis's family tries to renege on their debt, we'll let the people of the capital know the truth!"

Gu Jinghuai's back hunched over, and the gaze falling on him felt like needles pricking him.

He gritted his teeth and didn't dare to answer again, leaving almost in a panic, with even the servant unable to keep up with him.

Watching him disappear around the street corner, Doctor Mu sighed.

"Shu Yao, you may feel better now, but you'll have a lot to suffer when you marry into the Marquis's household..."

"Don't worry, Uncle Mu."

Yun Shuyao looked up at the vast sky, her voice soft yet firm.

"I will never marry into the Marquis's household!"

Doctor Mu didn't try to persuade him further, he just shook his head.

In this world, how easy is it for a woman to break free from her father's control?

Yun Shuyao did not explain further.

No one will understand that someone who has died once has nothing to fear anymore.

She wants to live every moment of her life according to her own wishes.

Yun Shuyao bowed to the people.

"The Marquis's mansion will certainly not repay the money, so please spread the word about what you have seen and heard today."

As a token of gratitude, there will be an unlimited supply of plain congee for a whole month.

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds and fell on Yun Shuyao's face, making her appear somewhat unrestrained and flamboyant.

She knew this battle to annul the engagement wouldn't be easy to win, but no matter how much resistance she faced, she wouldn't back down!

Yong'an Marquis's Mansion

When Gu Jinghuai pushed open the main room door, Madam Su was trying on an exquisite hairpin in front of her dressing mirror.

That was sent by Yun Shuyao last month; she said it was a new style from Jiangnan.

Hearing the noise, she slowly turned around, her eyes filled with reproach.

"How old are you? Can't you announce your arrival before coming in?"

Mrs. Su glanced at her son's reddened eyes and realized something was wrong.

Gu Jinghuai ignored her questioning, his chest heaving violently.

"Mother, Yun Shuyao said that she paid for all your medical expenses over the past five years?"

Su paused for a moment, her fingers still holding the hairpin, then chuckled and tucked it back into her hair.

"So what if she is? She's going to be my daughter-in-law in the future, so isn't it only natural for her to offer me some medicinal herbs?"

"It's only natural?"

Gu Jinghuai slammed his hand on the table, knocking over the teacups.

"Do you know how much silver was spent in these five years? Seventy-two thousand taels!"

"How many?"

Su's voice suddenly rose, and she jumped up as if she had been pricked by a needle.

"That's impossible! They're just some tonics for treating heart ailments, why would you need so many?"

Is she trying to extort money from our Marquis's mansion?

"Extortion?"

Looking at the panic in her eyes, Gu Jinghuai felt a chill run down his spine.

"Dr. Mu's account books are kept very clearly!"

Five years ago, you suffered a heart attack. That "thousand-year-old blood ginseng" was something she asked someone to find for you from beyond the Great Wall... the spring before last... last winter...

With each word he spoke, Su's face paled further. Finally, she simply turned her face away and said stiffly, "..."

"So what if she spent the money? It was her own choice!"

She rushed to deliver it to me back then, and now she's bringing up old grievances and demanding repayment? That's utterly unreasonable!

Besides, if she hadn't bought such expensive medicinal herbs, would she have spent so much money?

If we buy it ourselves, we probably won't even spend a tenth of it.

Moreover, my condition hasn't improved much in recent years, which shows that the so-called "Divine Doctor Mu" is just a name without substance!

"Voluntary? No improvement?"

Gu Jinghuai's voice trembled as he recalled his past and present lives, not knowing what to say about his mother's increasingly rosy complexion.

He suddenly remembered Yun Shuyao's pale, emaciated face when she died in front of him, and felt a sharp pain in his chest as if pierced by an ice pick.

"Mother."

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his surging emotions.

"Our son has already publicly agreed to her request, so our Marquis's mansion must repay this money."

"Are you crazy?"

Su stared at him as if he were a monster, her voice sharp and piercing.

"More than 70,000 taels! Where am I supposed to get that much money for her?"

The Marquis's mansion's treasury might not even have seven thousand taels of silver left!

If she dares to force you, I'll go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and make a scene, so everyone in the capital can see how she's forcing her future mother-in-law!

"Are you going to cause trouble again?"

Gu Jinghuai closed his eyes, the laughter of the people in front of Jishengtang still seemed to echo in his ears.

Do you know how many people gathered outside Jishetang when the accounts were settled today?

At this moment, probably everyone in the entire capital knows that the Marquis's family spent their future daughter-in-law's money on medical treatment!

If you continue to cause trouble, do you want people to point fingers at the Gu family and call us shameless?

"I don't care!"

Su Shi simply started throwing a tantrum, plopping down in a chair and slamming her hand on the table, shouting:

"I'm not paying back this money!"

If she knew what was good for her, she should obediently continue to pay for my medicine!

"You dare to hold a grudge against me? Wait until she marries into the family, then I'll see how I deal with her!"

"That's enough!"

Gu Jinghuai roared suddenly, startling Su Shi, who stared at him blankly.

He pointed to the door, his voice sterner than ever before.

"Now is not the time to talk about these things!"

Father values ​​the reputation of the Marquis's mansion most. If he finds out that you took advantage of Yun Shuyao, and it becomes public knowledge...

Upon hearing the mention of the Marquis, Madam Su's shouts abruptly ceased, and the arrogance on her face was instantly replaced by panic.

She knew better than anyone that her husband, though seemingly gentle, valued the reputation of the Marquis's mansion more than his own life.

If the Marquis finds out about this, she probably won't be able to keep her position as the mistress of the house.

Just as they were frozen in place, the butler's panicked voice came from outside the door:

"Madam! Prince! Something terrible has happened!"

The curtain was lifted, and the steward led eight or nine managers in, all of them pale as death.

The head manager, Liu, was holding an account book, trembling like a leaf.

"Madam, Young Master... Miss Yun visited eight or nine shops yesterday, and... she also checked the accounts..."

Gu Jinghuai was taken aback.

"On what grounds does she have to audit the accounts at the Marquis's residence?"

"Because she owns the shop!"

The other shopkeeper had a long face.

"Miss Yun said the shop was part of her dowry... All the fake accounts we made have been exposed."

The amount of silver she embezzled over the past few years adds up to more than 700,000 taels!

They even said that if we didn't fill the hole within three days, they would go to see the authorities!

"More than 700,000 taels?"

Su almost fainted, but was saved by her maid.

She pointed at the shopkeepers, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"You...you bunch of useless trash! What am I keeping you around for? You can't even handle a little girl?"

The shopkeepers dared not argue and kept begging for mercy.

"Please, Madam, save us! Miss Yun said that if we don't make up the deficit, she'll send us to Shuntian Prefecture to jail!"

Where would the Su family come up with 700,000 taels? She turned to look at Gu Jinghuai, as if she had grasped at the last straw.

"Jinghuai! You have to think of something! We can't let your father know! If he finds out I've embezzled so much money..."

Gu Jinghuai ignored her; his mind was blank.

More than 700,000 taels? Adding the 70,000 taels for the medicine, the total is nearly 800,000 taels.

"How come the nine newly added shops belong to Yun Shuyao? Aren't those properties of the Marquis's mansion?"

Gu Jinghuai muttered to himself in disbelief, his face turning bright red with embarrassment.

When he heard that number, he was also stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

Where was the arrogant attitude he had displayed in front of the clinic, publicly saying that Yun Shuyao was throwing herself at him?

Finally, only one sentence remained to be repeated.

"So much silver...how are we going to pay it back?"

"What do you mean, 'repay'?!"

Su roared, her face contorted with rage:

"Yun Shuyao's maternal grandfather is the richest man in the capital. Would she care about a mere 700,000 taels of silver?"

She's just throwing a tantrum; why don't you go and comfort her?