A whirlwind marriage: The real heiress marries a warlord.

The Lan family has been very quiet these days.

It's too quiet.

The masters each had their own troubles, and everyone was burdened with their own problems, yet no one noticed that something was amiss with each other.

They all seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

Mrs. Lan, Du Jia, was the busiest; she was almost overwhelmed with work.

Lan Changming wanted to talk to her about her daughter, and she immediately mentioned "Rongjia Bank".

"Back then, my sister-in-law came and made a scene, insisting that I give the bank to my eldest brother. That bank was opened when my eldest brother was adopted, so it has a different significance. How could I possibly give it away?"

I know my elder brother has been preoccupied with his own agenda these past few years; the family fortune hasn't increased at all under his management. He seems quite capable, but he's spent his money on politics.

"Now I know that my sister-in-law's commotion wasn't about the bank; she just wanted me to stay out of the accounts. I was so angry I had a heart attack, and I impulsively let go. Who knew my brother-in-law was so ruthless, secretly plotting against us?" Du Jia said angrily.

When Lan Changming heard the words "overseas Chinese" and "donation of one million silver dollars," his head was about to explode.

This matter will cause a huge upheaval.

Du Rongfei's schemes were not only directed at Du Jia, but also at Lan Changming and the military governor's mansion behind him.

"He's utterly depraved and inhumane; it's not your fault," Lan Changming said. "What about the bank accounts?"

"The manager wouldn't let me investigate, saying to wait for the boss to come back. The king of hell is missing, but the underlings are a handful. If we insist on taking a hard line, we're afraid we'll make things even worse," Du Jia said.

Lan Changming was deep in thought.

He helped Du Jia come up with a solution.

After much deliberation, the only way to break this deadlock is to seek help from the military governor's office; there is no other way.

"I'll go and tell the warlord," Lan Changming said.

Du Jia: "I'm willing to pay to settle this matter, as long as it doesn't escalate. I don't want to bear the anger of the overseas Chinese. That would incur public wrath and make me a traitor to my country."

Not only did she suffer, but Lan Changming's reputation was also completely ruined, and even the military governor might not escape unscathed.

The responsibility is too great.

Lan Changming said, "Good."

Du Jia thought for a moment and said, "I can offer two hundred thousand silver dollars as a reward to the governor. As for that donation, if it is indeed in Rongjia Bank, I can cooperate with the governor to put on a show, and the money will go into the governor's private treasury. I will handle the matter."

If this money can be recovered, the warlord can receive a benefit of 1.2 million silver dollars.

That's enough for him to buy a new batch of equipment.

The warlord should be willing.

Lan Changming didn't even bother to change his clothes: "I'll go to the Governor's Mansion first."

After he left, Du Jia sat alone, feeling dejected.

She couldn't help but think back to those days.

Du Jia inherited the best features from both her parents, making her very beautiful. However, her eyebrows and eyes don't resemble her parents'; instead, they resemble her grandfather's.

When the child was being adopted, her parents immediately took a liking to Du Rongfei from the clan, simply because his eyebrows and eyes resembled those of Du Jia.

Their grandfathers were cousins.

In short, Du Jia's parents believed it was fate, and that this child might be destined for them.

One of my uncles said, "The seventh son and his wife are not of good character, so this child might not be a good person at heart. Should you reconsider?"

The seventh son mentioned by his uncle is Du Rongfei's parents.

As for their bad character, it refers to their poverty and greed, having done two things that involved both taking and eating, which earned them criticism.

Du Jia was young, and she disliked Du Rongfei at first sight. She thought his eyes were too sharp, and he looked a bit like the "cunning and sly" young shop assistant her father used to talk about.

She liked another cousin from the third wife's side very much. That cousin had a handsome appearance, bright eyes, and seemed very upright.

Her parents hesitated after hearing about Du Rongfei's biological parents.

Several more things happened afterward; the clan almost had a murder case because of the adoption of their branch of the family; and the cousin that Du Jia had his eye on, his parents were reluctant to give him up.

After much deliberation, it became clear that everyone involved had their own vested interests. Ironically, Du Rongfei's family was simply too poor and lacked resources.

Du Jia's father said, "He's only ten years old this year. With some time, he'll be able to correct some of his bad habits."

He added, "We need to finalize this quickly. We need to plan for A-Jia. This isn't something that can be done in a year or two."

Her father indicated that turning the family property into her mother's dowry required some work.

For many years afterward, Du Rongfei was a good person, diligent and filial.

He started causing trouble after Mrs. Du entered the family.

The servants privately cursed Mrs. Du, saying she had married a troublemaker.

Du Jia's parents said, "Rong Fei has been well-behaved all these years, and finally found a suitable accomplice. His nature is hard to change."

Du Rongfei wanted fame, family fortune, and money, so he directed his wife to cause trouble.

Mrs. Du entered the family only three months after Du Jia got married.

While his adoptive parents were busy preparing for Du Jia's wedding and didn't have much energy to deal with his affairs, Du Rongfei chose Mrs. Du.

Du Jia's mother sent someone to investigate.

On the surface, no problems could be found with Mrs. Du; all that was known was that she and Du Rongfei had known each other for many years. She was a relative of Du Rongfei's biological parents.

He comes from a slightly lower social class, but his family background is respectable and he is clever.

Unexpectedly, I misjudged the situation.

It was unexpected that Du Rongfei was so cunning. He was calculating, and it was hard not to fall for his tricks.

When Du Jia was five years old, her father went out and was kidnapped, which was a terrible ordeal. From then on, her father lost his ability to have children.

It was from that time on that my father had to consider how to protect his vast fortune.

Clans are cannibalistic.

The larger the clan, the more complex and difficult it is to manage. Under the policies of the imperial court, the clan head's power is even greater than that of the county magistrate.

Many things fall under the clan chief's jurisdiction. If a family doesn't adopt a son, it will become extinct, and Du Jia's marriage will be decided by the clan chief.

That was the real dead end.

Therefore, when her parents were alive, they always comforted Du Jia, saying, "You need an adopted son. If you can't have him, you'll have to choose someone else. No one is perfect."

The adoption of the son solved part of their predicament; at least the right to dispose of the family property was largely due to the adoption of this son, which was in accordance with clan rules, allowing them to keep the property in their hands.

Du Jia has always been tolerant of his older brother.

She never imagined that, even now, at fifty years old, she would still encounter such hardship.

Du Jia was furious. She slammed her hand on the table to vent her emotions when her children arrived.

The second and third sons, a married couple, came over.

"Mom." The children seemed frightened by her, their faces filled with panic.

"Mom, don't be angry," Lanxiu said.

Du Jia sighed deeply. Her heart was overflowing with unspoken words, and she couldn't help but say, "It's so hard for me not to be angry. Your uncle is really..."

As she spoke, she felt that the matter was too complicated and might be related to a huge amount of wealth, so it was not appropriate to tell anyone other than her eldest son, Lan Zheng.

She held back.

The children exchanged glances.

"My uncle deserved to die, it wasn't Mrs. Cheng who harmed him," the second son suddenly said. "Mom, you..."

Second Young Mistress Ning Hui tugged at his sleeve: "Uncle is not dead, what nonsense are you talking about? He's just missing."

Du Jia is not in the mood to care about his illegitimate daughter right now.

I had no interest in investigating the matter further.

Anyone burdened with a "debt" of millions of dollars would have no time to deal with household chores.

But she didn't want to scold the illegitimate daughter either.

In her heart, this matter was a secret.

Therefore, she said to the second son, "You are not allowed to have the young mistress of the governor's mansion. I warned your sister before, and now I have to warn you too?"

Everyone: "..."

Once outside, they began to whisper amongst themselves.

Madam Cheng's scheme against Du Rongfei has implicated the Du family, enraging Madam Cheng.

You are not allowed to mention her at this time.

"How did things turn out like this?" Lan Er couldn't help but complain.

Lanxiu immediately scolded him: "You know it's only been a day and you almost let it slip. I've known for months and haven't said anything wrong. You shouldn't have told you."

Lan Er: "..."