A Tale of Golden Heiress: Lady Wanjin - Chapter 24

After they left, Wen Weiming finally turned his gaze to the one who had caused all the trouble.

Wen Wan hung her head, picking at her fingers, looking every bit the picture of someone ready to accept a lecture.

Wen Weiming was both annoyed and amused, ultimately sighing in resignation. “I know you’re upset, and I understand. But… they are still your elders. How could you speak to them so harshly?”

Huh?

She had held back.

She had held back a lot.

If it were up to her usual temperament, she would have already sent people to the Qi family to reclaim everything they had taken from the Wen family.

She was wronged!

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—it sounds satisfying. But… in this life, who can truly operate outside the rules? Our Wen family is in business. We encounter all sorts of shady characters. The saying goes, ‘Always leave room for reconciliation.’ If you offend someone too deeply, those petty people will resort to underhanded tricks, and that’s when you really have to watch your back.”

Wen Wan had to agree with that.

Since her rebirth, she had indeed been living too carefree.

In her previous life, plagued by illness, her only option had been to endure.

She endured the pain, the heartache. Even when she fell in the bathroom at night, bleeding from her mouth and unable to get up, she stifled her cries.

If she didn’t endure, her parents and younger sister would have been up all night, scrambling to help her.

So, in her past life, the word “endure” had been her greatest practice.

After reborn, with a healthy body, a fierce appetite, and a group of people who genuinely cared for her, she had indeed wanted to act on impulse.

Thinking back to her time at the real estate company, when delayed homeowners had thrown chairs at her, breaking her head open, she had smiled through the blood dripping down her face, “Dear valued customer, I’m fine. How is your hand? How is your chair?”

Indeed.

After acting like a big shot for too long, she had completely forgotten what it felt like to be the underdog.

This time, Wen Wan’s tone was sincere. “Father, I understand.”

Next time, she would cry on the surface but strike hard behind the scenes.

“Master… Miss! Are you all right?”

Aunt Liu charged in like a firecracker, followed by one, two, three… seven brothers, each burly and towering, their faces twisted fiercely as they ran with cleavers in hand, their chests jiggling like moving mountains.

Wen Wan’s eyes widened.

These must be Aunt Liu’s seven “gourd brothers”!

Look at two of them—their aprons were still stained with greasy streaks of fat.

Had they been dragged straight from the butcher’s stall?

“Aunt!” Wen Wan called out, then curtsied slightly to the men behind her. The seven burly men had never seen such a delicate young lady like Wen Wan before. They blushed, some stepping back, some pretending to be busy, others hiding their cleavers.

Not one dared to look directly at her.

“I heard the Qi family came to cause trouble, so I grabbed a few brothers and rushed over. Is everything all right at home?”

Aunt Liu glanced around, confirming there was no damage before relaxing. Wen Wan also smiled and said, “It’s fine—” Then, mindful of Old Master Wen’s dignity, she added, “Auntie came to congratulate our family. She said she wanted to attend the wedding banquet.”

Having been in the Wen family for ten years, Aunt Liu knew all too well that the Qi family’s hearts and minds were pitch black. But as a Aunt, it wasn’t her place to gossip about the eldest miss, so she simply said, “That’s good. I just ran into them on the main road outside the estate. Their carriage broke down, and they said our family was unlucky, that they wouldn’t let us off—a whole lot of nonsense. I just pretended not to hear it.”

Wen Wan looked at Aunt Liu’s evasive gaze and thought to herself: I don’t believe a word of it.

You probably sent someone to sabotage their carriage!

Wen Weiming, being a merchant, was most particular about avoiding ominous talk. With Wen Wan’s wedding approaching, he couldn’t stand hearing words like “unlucky.” Now, hearing the Qi family gossiping behind their backs, he flared up. “How dare they complain? If they can’t afford a mirror, they can always piss on the ground and look at themselves! If that’s not enough, I’ll piss for them so they can see what kind of trash they are!”

Wen Wan: Dad, stop stealing my lines.

Your persona is collapsing, old man.

And Aunt Liu, what’s with that adoring look?

Love-struck fools are really hard to kill.

After this outburst, Wen Weiming noticed his daughter’s clear, bewildered gaze and felt a bit embarrassed. Oh no, why couldn’t I hold back from talking about piss and shit in front of my daughter?

Awkward.

I need to find a way to smooth this over.

Wen Weiming rubbed his temples, pretending to be weak, and signaled for an old servant to help him back. “This anger is giving me a headache. I must be falling ill again. I need to go back and drink some ginseng soup to keep myself going.”

With that, Wen Weiming made a quick escape.

Aunt Liu’s eyes filled with heartache, and she seemed eager to follow and attend to him, but one of her brothers caught her, “Come on, let’s go home with your brothers. The Wen family doesn’t want you anymore. If you keep clinging to that Wen guy… Dad will definitely break your legs!”

Another burly man hoisted Aunt Liu up. “Big Brother is right. Today, we only came because you said Wen Weiming was dying! Let’s go—home!”

Before Aunt Liu could struggle, her brothers flanked her and dragged her away.

Wen Wan was speechless.

Well… this is someone else’s family matter. I shouldn’t interfere.

For the sake of the Wen family’s asset transfer plan, Aunt Liu would have to endure this for a while.

Once the Wen family’s situation stabilized, she would find a way to resolve Aunt Liu’s issue.

After the commotion, the courtyard returned to its busy state. With the wedding imminent, everyone was running off their feet. The Qi family’s drama passed like a silent breeze, leaving no ripple.

Hong Mei followed Wen Wan, noticing her constant smiles, and couldn’t help asking, “Miss, what are you laughing about?”

“Me? I’m laughing because heaven has eyes. I just wish it would cast a spell so they’d fall into a ditch as soon as they step out, choke every time they eat, and never have toilet paper when they go to the latrine—”

“Huh?” Hong Mei was confused.

In a room not far away, Zhao Heng frowned slightly.

For some reason, he realized his hearing seemed unusually sharp.

The main hall was dozens of meters away from his room, yet he had heard every word of that commotion clearly.

Third Son of the Qi family, is it?

If I had known, I would have just ambushed and killed them on the road. Why bother cutting their axle?

But… was I really just an escort in the past?

It felt as though killing was an instinct buried deep in his bones.

He wasn’t afraid—instead, he felt excited.

Whether the Qi family was in a hurry to return was unknown, but Wen Wan was certainly in a hurry.

While the wedding preparations were handled by Wen Weiming and Nanny Chen, Wen Wan was still swamped. It took her four days to sort through the account books of Anyang County, only to discover that unbalanced revenues and expenditures, chaotic spending, and unclear records were just the basics. The real issue was that the profits of the Anyang County tavern had been steadily declining.

With the wedding set for the next day, Hong Mei, whom she had sent to Accountant Shi’s home to retrieve the account books, returned with shocking news.

“Manager Shi has run away. His wife and children are gone too. I asked the neighbors, and someone saw him moving all his belongings two days ago. He said his mother was unwell and he had to go back to take care of her for a while. I sneaked into the house—it’s completely empty. Not a single pot, pan, or bowl left. It doesn’t look like he’s coming back at all! I even checked under the beds, but I couldn’t find the account books.”