After the Gu of the Red Chamber

Mrs. Li hurriedly sent someone to look for the prince, but the prince hadn't returned outside the mansion. She waited until midnight before he came back drunk.

Mrs. Li suppressed her anger, stepped back, and personally waited on Tu Mingyu to wash and wash. Seeing that Tu Mingyu was very drunk, she couldn't help complaining: "Aren't you going to collect debts? Why are you drinking?"

She even thought maliciously, maybe the prince drank the money collected from debt collection?

"What do you know!" The prince was really drunk, and he said triumphantly, "I have finally done something important for my father. Shouldn't I be celebrating!"

It was his first time to do an errand, and he did it beautifully. Even his father praised him. Based on this alone, isn't it worth celebrating?

Li's disdainful flat mouth is nothing more than bullying her natal family's weakness, and she has no one to help her in the court.

If it weren't for the fact that her natal family's official position is not high, and there are no powerful relatives and friends in the court, Tu Mingyu dared to come to her natal family to bully her family. If she really had the ability, she would go to the Duke of Qi's mansion to ask for debts. She is not a believer. Ming Yu dared to go to the Duke of Qi's mansion. ask for money.

Disdainful, Li Shi still explained in a soft voice, explaining why the family owed so much money in the first place, and then begged Tu Mingyu for a few days, and after she sold the dowry, she would pay back the money.

Tu Mingyu was very drunk, and scolded impatiently: "Who told you Li family to be greedy, you obviously don't have that ability, but you want to fight to be a prince and concubine, you deserve it!"

Li's face paled instantly, "I...I..."

If she could, she didn't want to be a concubine, but she had no choice... the sacred order was hard to break.

Li's heart was miserable, and she couldn't help crying immediately.

Seeing Li's tears, Tu Mingyu became more and more annoyed. He also had some impressions of the dowry that Li brought into the mansion back then. The Li family thought they had given up everything, but it was not enough for the royal family. Not to mention that compared with the other sister-in-laws, even Concubine Chen is far inferior. When he greeted his relatives back then, he was ridiculed by many brothers overtly and secretly.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, "You deserve to owe money, not only your family has no face, but I also have no face!"

As the son of a court lady, his mother's family doesn't show much at all, and even his wife's family doesn't show any strength, so he will only lose face. If the emperor didn't see that the Li family was really ugly, he wouldn't point out the Chen family to him later. him as compensation.

And Concubine Chen is indeed a caring person. She not only gave birth to him a son, but also gave him her dowry for him to spend. If it wasn't for the support of Chen's dowry, she would rely on Li. Such a big prince's mansion!

The only regret is that Mrs. Chen's heart was too big and she killed her. Otherwise, he would have intended to straighten Mrs. Chen up after he ascended the throne. Compared to Mrs. Li, Mrs. Chen is more suitable to be his wife regardless of her status or other things. .

In the past, Tu Mingyu just kept this idea in his heart, secretly dissatisfied with Mrs. Li, thinking that she was interposed between him and Mrs. Chen, which was really an eyesore. After Gong Zhiyi, this dissatisfaction was magnified several times immediately.

Since you have no intention of entering the palace, why go to the general election?It also caused him to marry a poor family and was ridiculed.

Tu Mingyu kept thinking: "Why do you insist on participating in the general election? Harm others and yourself! Harm others!"

Tu Mingyu was so drunk that he kept yelling at Li Shi for being a villain. Li Shi's face was pale, his lips were tightly pressed, and he couldn't help shaking, as if he would faint in the next moment.

Not only Li Shi's complexion is ugly, but even the faces of those who serve Li Shi are extremely ugly.

Nanny Li was so angry that she trembled all over, but she saw Li Shi's expression was not good, she quickly supported Li Shi, and comforted her: "Madam, the prince is very drunk, and he has no intention of speaking, you must not take it to heart. "

Even though she said so, Madam Li's voice was blunt and flat, which showed that she was very angry.

"Where there is no heart?" Li smiled wryly, "This is telling the truth after drinking!"

She wiped away her tears, "No wonder no matter what I do, the crown prince still doesn't like it, no wonder the crown prince doesn't pay attention to Brother Huan's death, it turns out the crown prince has always been annoyed that I would lose his face."

It turned out that the crown prince hated her so much, and even blamed Wu Jiniao on Brother Huan.

Harmful!She was really an evil spirit, she harmed her own son, made the crown prince ashamed, and caused her family to owe such a large sum of money, implicating her father and brother.

"Your Majesty!" Nanny Li said urgently, "Don't take what the prince said to you. You are the royal daughter-in-law. If there is something wrong with you, His Majesty will definitely decide for your empress."

Even if it is the prince, he has to worry about his reputation. If he wants to spoil his concubine and kill his wife, he has to wait until he sits in that big position.

Mrs. Li wiped away her tears and smiled miserably, "Don't worry, mama, I won't let it go." She smiled wryly, "It's a serious crime for a concubine to kill herself. I have already hurt my father and brother, so I can't do them any more."

As a member of the royal family, life and death are not up to her. The palace cannot allow a concubine to commit suicide. If she dies, it will be settled, but her family will be implicated by her. I dare not gamble.

She didn't have much hope for the prince, and now... it's just more desperate, it's nothing.

Nanny Li sighed, although she breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart became more and more sad, when will this kind of day be the end.

Mrs. Li smiled miserably, looking into the distance, as if she was looking at her natal family on the other side of the capital, "How to say, I have to help my natal family pass this test first."

The crown prince is benevolent and ungrateful, his mother's family is not visible, and his adoptive mother An's family has fallen again. Right now, it is all supported by the dowry of his wives and concubines and a little money scattered between the fingers of the Holy One.

If she really can't think about it for a while, and the family will not be involved, and maybe the crown prince will take her dowry, then the Li family will not be able to pay their debts, and it will be really over.

Mrs. Li said decisively: "Come here! Open my box and take out all my private rooms!"

Her whole body was bestowed by her parents, and it's time to repay her.

"Your Majesty!" Mother Li was startled, and anxiously said: "My Lady, Your Majesty's life is already difficult, if there is no dowry, the days to come will be..."

The crown prince blindly favors the Chen family, even though the empress is the fourth concubine, but in fact in this prince's mansion, the housekeeper is the Chen family, and the empress only gets that little share, and if she wants something occasionally, she has to give it a try. In addition, spend money to buy it. If there is no dowry, I am afraid that life will be difficult in the future.

Li Shi smiled desolately, "I can live in any way, how can I say that I am still the fourth prince's concubine, how harsh can she be?"

To put it bluntly, would Mrs. Chen dare not give her what she should eat, what she should drink, and what she should wear?It's just that things may have been dropped by someone, jewelry is old-fashioned, clothes don't fit well, and fabrics are occasionally out of season.

At least in terms of saving face, Mrs. Chen didn't dare to go too far.

"Your Majesty!" Li Momo said anxiously: "Where can the things sent by Mrs. Chen be used? There must be something wrong with those things! Doesn't Your Majesty want to give birth to another son for the Prince? Will change my mind."

The Li family is just from a poor family, unlike the Chen family who was born in the Duke's family, and they don't know the twists and turns of eating, but as time goes on, they have more or less noticed it.

It is said that it is according to the rules, but most of the food made by the chef is cold and cold, which is not good for the offspring, or there are some ingredients that are incompatible, forcing the empress to have to spend money in private to let the chef make some warm palace food It's just that there is no evidence for this matter, and they can't testify against Chen in front of the prince.

"That's no problem." Li Shi smiled indifferently, her eyes were slightly cold, "Do you think I still want to give birth to children for the prince?"

Whether it is Chen's hands and feet while eating, mourning is greater than heart death, and her heart... is already dead.

Nanny Li couldn't help wiping her tears with the corner of her clothes, her poor mother, everyone said that marrying the prince would bring endless glory and wealth, but who knows the pain behind marrying the prince.

Not only did Mrs. Li give up her heart to the prince, but she also couldn't bear to see her father and brother suffer because of her, so she asked her to sell her dowry.

It's just that some things are expensive to buy, but they can't be sold at a high price when they are sold. In addition, Mrs. Li is in a hurry to sell them, so it is really difficult to bargain. Mrs. Li has almost sold out her dowry. The unmarked rewards received from the palace, as well as some relics left by brother Huan, had to be sold off, and the debts were still not fully repaid after all.

In the end, it was the Li family who borrowed money from relatives and friends everywhere, and then reluctantly filled the hole. Although it was filled, the Li family was completely poor from then on, and the Li family's house was also moved out. Live in a small house on the street.

The eldest brother of the Li family even missed the delay in medical treatment because of debt repayment, and his ailment suddenly became serious. According to the doctor, the elder brother of the Li family has become tuberculosis, and he can only take care of him carefully in the future. As for the imperial examination, it is no longer possible.

Even Li's father became ill with anger, but in just a few days, he appeared to be in the next world. The two pillars of the Li family both fell ill, and the Li family also completely blamed Li.

When they thought about it, since the father-in-law borrowed most of the money back then, Li Shi should have some money in his hands. Besides, Li Shi had been the fourth prince's concubine for many years, how could he not have any private house?

Besides, since the Li family and the prince are husband and wife, there is nothing difficult to say between the husband and wife. Maybe the prince will be happy to forgive the Li family's debts.

Unexpectedly, Li Shi really ignored the suffering of his father and brother, not only did not intercede with the prince on their behalf, but also sent back such a small amount of money, he did not care about his family at all, and the Li family disappeared in the prince's mansion ever since. No more contacts.

The Li family sold the dowry so generously, so it is natural that they are no match for others. The first person who knew about it was Emperor Pingkang. I couldn't help but feel unbearable, and said a few words.

Although Emperor Pingkang was kind, but Tu Mingyu had long been prejudiced against Li Shi, and felt that Li Shi's move was to save his face, and became angry and scolded Li Shi severely, and even started to spoil Chen Shi again.

Not to mention that Tu Mingyu always brought Chen Shi and Tu Xun with him, acting as if they were a serious family, which forced Li Shi to become more depressed and wanted to die. On the other hand, the crown prince violently collected debts, and the first It was his wife's family who were begging for it, and the news spread like wind all over Beijing.

Not only many people in the capital are discussing this matter in private, even Tu Lei and Dai Yu are also discussing this matter.

Daiyu said in disbelief: "I never thought that Fourth Uncle would actually go to collect debts!"

Most of the officials in Beijing have borrowed money from the state treasury. After all, everyone borrows money. If the new officials in Beijing don’t borrow money, they will lose face. Even the Lin family followed the crowd and borrowed a few thousand taels of silver, which is quite a lot. It's not much, and it's not eye-catching.

After learning about the Crown Prince's debt collection, Lin Ruhai also quietly asked someone to prepare the silver, but he didn't want to be the first person to do that. He never expected that since the first family the Crown Prince went to collect the debt was his father-in-law. !

This matter was really beyond her expectations. She thought that the fourth uncle would come to escape from illness, or be more ruthless and directly cut off his limbs, so as to escape this matter. I took it, and the first one was to find my wife's family for surgery.

Tu Lei flattened his mouth in disdain, "It's just a soft persimmon."

The fourth aunt is a pitiful person, regardless of her past life or present life, she has a bad life, but she married the fourth uncle, a scumbag. Not only did her son die unexplainably, she was also bullied by concubines, and finally died in depression.

However, this life is worse than the previous life. At least in the previous life, the person responsible for collecting debts was the uncle, not the fourth uncle. In a certain way, the uncle is much easier to talk to than the fourth uncle. If it is so vicious, what method of installment payment will be used, so that it will not hurt people's muscles and bones.

Don't look at the Li family repaying the debt, but the Li family is really empty, even Li's father fell ill, and he was a little worried that the Li family would not know how to live in the future.

Daiyu said bluntly: "The crown prince's move can be regarded as killing a chicken for the monkey to see. The tighter he pushes the Li family, the more we can see his determination to collect debts, but after all, he is not as good as the eldest uncle."

Don't look at the uncle's handling of things is much more messy than the fourth uncle, but he is also a careful person. Back then, the uncle really wasted a lot of effort and divided the debtors in the court into third, sixth, and ninth grades.

The first class, of course, are those who have money to repay, like the Lin family, who borrowed money at the beginning but just followed the crowd, and the amount of money they borrowed was not much, and they can repay it with just one sentence, without pain or itching, It doesn't hurt the bones at all; and there are people who have property but don't have enough money, like the Rongguo Mansion.

The most troublesome ones are people like the Li family who are really poor and unable to repay their debts.Like the Li family, it is also the most troublesome. Back then, the uncle still used some installment payment, and also helped the Li family find side jobs, such as substitute teachers, business trip subsidies... and other methods, which made him The Li family returned the money.

Even so, it took several years for the Li family to pay back the money, which shows that the Li family has had a hard time.

Tu Lei said bluntly: "It's also because the fourth uncle was lucky that he didn't force anyone to death. In addition, the Li family is the fourth aunt's family, so no one speaks, or put it in someone else's house..."

Tu Lei let out a disdainful heck, obviously looking down on Tu Mingyu's methods.

Tu Lei said coldly: "This Li family is a soft persimmon, that's all, but fourth uncle wants to pass this level, it is not so easy."

How much money can a mere Li family borrow? 1 taels would be enough, but military expenditures and flood control cost at least a million taels of silver. It is difficult to make up for the gap of the fourth uncle.

Daiyu also understands this reason. Back then, she also witnessed how the eldest uncle worked hard to collect debts. In order to help the uncle, she and cousin Zhu used their little Jinjin and little Honghong at that time. It's so easy for the uncle to investigate the family background of those people.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, and asked with a smile: "You said that the fourth uncle will look for the Shan State Duke's family next? Or the Qi State Duke's family?"

The Shi family of Shan Guogong is the natal family of the crown princess, that is, Tu Lei's uncle's family. With the jealousy and hatred of the fourth uncle for the deposed prince, it is impossible to let the crown princess's natal family easily.

And the Chen family is naturally the Qi State Mansion, and also the natal family of the concubine Chen who is one of the most favored in the Prince's mansion. The Prince has even taken action against his wife's family, so there is no reason to let his side concubine's natal family go.

Tu Lei flattened his mouth in disdain, "In my opinion, it is more likely that it is the Shi family."

After all, with his fourth uncle's small-hearted temperament, it is inconceivable not to trouble the Shi family. As for the Duke of Qi's mansion, unless the fourth uncle even wants his last supporter, he will ask the Chen family to collect debts up.

You know, the family of the fourth aunt and the family of the wife are not visible. Most of the time these years, the Duke of Qi has come forward to help, so the fourth uncle has to reciprocate no matter what.

but……

Tu Lei's eyes were slightly cold, "This matter is not so easy."

Although the emperor's grandfather became more suspicious as he got older, but in the early years, he really loved his father, not only caring about food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also worrying about marrying a wife and taking concubines.

His mother may not be the most beautiful person among the aristocratic daughters, or she may not be considered the most stable person among the aristocratic daughters, but overall, his mother is definitely the most suitable position for the crown princess, or even the future mother of a country woman.

Not only his own conditions are good, but even the Shi family is not troublesome. Among the four kings and eight lords, the Shi family can be said to be the least one to lend a hand to the treasury, and the money they borrow is not much. If the Shi family is ruthless It is not difficult at all to sell some properties and really want to repay the money.

But no matter how easy it is, will the Shi family make fourth uncle happy so easily?

Such a thing, of course, does not exist.

Daiyu raised her eyebrows slightly, pursed her lips into a smile, and waited for a good show with Tu Lei.

Sure enough, shortly after the Li family returned the money, Tu Mingyu went to the door of the Crown Princess's natal family---the mansion of Duke Shu.