Lady Wang was already a grandmother, yet at her advanced age she was divorced and sent back to her natal family, losing all face. Her sister-in-law naturally showed no kindness to the divorced sister-in-law who had returned home, especially since it was because Lady Wang had schemed against the Marquis Guanjun’s wife that her son had suffered such great humiliation.

Lady Wang was filled with shame and anger, holding her breath inside. Before long, she fell ill from depression and died within ten days.

Somehow, the saying that whoever offended the Marquis Guanjun’s wife would suffer great misfortune began quietly circulating among the capital’s ladies and madams. Through word of mouth, it spread until almost everyone knew about it.

Upon learning of this, Old Lady Jiang of the Li family’s East Residence couldn’t help but laugh three times, saying to her trusted servant woman: “Though that Third Miss from the West Residence is detestable, being able to curse Lady Wang to death can be considered doing a good deed.”

The trusted servant woman agreed: “Indeed, now everyone says one cannot offend Third Young Madam, that whoever offends her will either die or be crippled.”

Old Lady Jiang was momentarily stunned. Thinking of the incident years ago at Dafu Temple when she had her granddaughter impersonate someone, her heart suddenly grew cold.

The Old Lady was advanced in age after all. After pondering the entire night, she fell ill from fright the next day.

Qiao Zhao naturally didn’t know that the East Residence Old Lady’s illness was because of her. She had already begun ordering people to clean the marquis’ residence inside and out, preparing to welcome Shao Mingyuan’s return.

For newlyweds, such a separation naturally made them miss each other to their very bones.

Just as the Marquis Guanjun was pacifying the northern disturbances and returning to the capital, another group of people quietly entered the city.

This group consisted of tall, sturdy men who walked with purpose. Anyone paying careful attention would know they were not ordinary people.

The group found an inn to stay at. A dark-faced man frowned and said, “Big Brother, when we go find that official surnamed Lan to collect the final payment, what if they refuse to pay using the excuse of not seeing the corpse?”

The man called “Big Brother” had a square face with a scar between his eyebrows, giving him a fierce appearance. Hearing the dark-faced man’s words, a cold light flashed in his eyes: “They wouldn’t dare! That short-lived prince already took a blade and fell into the river—how could he still be alive? Not paying because they can’t see the corpse? Do they think we’re common folk who can be bullied by these officials?”

“Right, if they don’t pay, we’ll make them regret it.” Seeing his big brother’s firm attitude, the dark-faced man breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alright, all of you rest well. Tonight we collect our debt!”

In Lan Songquan’s study, Lan Songquan was instructing his trusted aide: “Those people are all rough jianghu types. When the time comes, say as little as possible and quickly give them the money to make them leave.”

“Rest assured, sir. The banknotes are prepared, all according to what was originally agreed upon. No denomination exceeds one hundred taels, and they can be exchanged at banks nationwide.”

“Go then. Remember not to show your face. Send some unfamiliar people over. Whether to eliminate these few people or send them far away afterwards, you decide.” Lan Songquan dismissed his trusted aide, feeling much more relaxed. He returned to his living quarters and called for two concubines to serve him lychees.

The succulent lychees were peeled, revealing their crystal-clear flesh. A beauty with delicate fingers picked one up and fed it to Lan Songquan’s mouth.

Lan Songquan chewed a few times, then spat the lychee pit directly onto the beauty’s face, sneering: “Useless thing who doesn’t know how to serve properly. Get out and let someone else come!”

The scolded concubine turned pale with fear, repeatedly apologizing before retreating.

Another beauty quickly peeled and pitted the lychees, holding them in her cherry-like mouth before feeding them to Lan Songquan. Only then was Lan Songquan satisfied and began eating contentedly.

“Captain, someone’s coming out.” In the night with high winds, someone outside the Lan residence whispered.

The disguised Shao Zhi gave a signal, and several people quietly followed. When those three people stealthily made their way to a secluded area, they swiftly moved to subdue and drag them to a previously rented civilian house.

Lan Songquan’s men couldn’t compare to those trained in the military. After some interrogation methods, they revealed all the intelligence about where the handover would take place and what the secret codes were.

Shao Zhi had his two subordinates firmly gag and bind the three men, then pocketed the case of banknotes and headed to the appointed location.

The place agreed upon for exchanging the banknotes was an abandoned residence that had been deserted due to ghost rumors. Not only at night, but even in broad daylight, ordinary people would take detours around it, so there was no worry about being accidentally discovered.

Sneaking into the abandoned residence, one of the guards smiled: “It’s thoughtful of them to find such a place.”

“Enough, cut the chatter. Properly handling what the General arranged is what matters.” Shao Zhi scolded quietly.

The two subordinates dared not joke anymore and followed Shao Zhi to the dilapidated main courtyard.

In the main courtyard, one room had a dim light. The three headed in that direction when suddenly a fierce wind struck.

The three forced themselves not to dodge.

“Stop!” Cold daggers pressed against their hearts as a stern shout rang out.

Shao Zhi raised his hands, indicating he carried no weapons.

Soon, the other party cleared his throat and asked: “Are you Erlang Shen?”

Shao Zhi replied seriously: “No, I am Zhao Gongming.”

“Go in.” Having matched the password, the other party withdrew his dagger.

Shao Zhi silently felt proud of himself for not laughing just now, then led his two subordinates inside.

The room had only one oil lamp lit. Seven or eight men, some sitting and some standing, filled the room completely.

As soon as the three entered, the room fell silent. The square-faced man sitting in the center asked: “Did you bring the money?”

Shao Zhi smiled and greeted them before saying, “The banknotes were naturally prepared long ago, but we didn’t bring them this time.”

The dark-faced man suddenly slammed the table: “If you didn’t bring money, what are you doing here? Serving as our drinking snacks?”

Shao Zhi showed some panic but forced himself to remain calm: “Our master said we need to see the person alive or the corpse dead. We can’t just hand over the money because you say you succeeded.”

“So you don’t trust us?”

“It’s not about trust—paying with one hand while receiving goods with the other is a rule that should apply anywhere.”

“Your goods fell into the river. How do you expect us to deliver them?”

“That’s not our master’s problem.” Shao Zhi added fuel to the fire.

With a clang, the dark-faced man drew his blade and pointed it at Shao Zhi, cursing: “You little punk, I don’t think you’re planning to walk out of this door today!”

“Are you planning to kill people? Our master is still waiting for us to return and report. If he doesn’t get word, I’m afraid you gentlemen won’t be able to leave the city either.”

“You—” The dark-faced man raised his blade to strike.

The lead man stopped him and stared coldly at Shao Zhi: “So you’re saying you won’t pay the remaining money?”

Shao Zhi smiled: “As I said, you deliver the goods, we pay the money.”

“I’ll kill you all!”

“Let them go.” The lead man said coldly.

“Let’s go.” Shao Zhi showed relief and quickly left with his two subordinates.

The dark-faced man’s face grew even darker with rage: “Big Brother, they want to renege on the debt!”

The lead man sneered: “Double-crossing and going back on their word is exactly what these officials excel at. Fortunately, we’re not soft persimmons either. If he thinks I’ll swallow this loss, he’s dreaming!”