Madam Yu frowned.

Today she had borrowed from everyone she could. Through sweet talk, harsh words, and even threats, along with promising that the silver would count as their future investment returns from the Song family, she had barely managed to borrow sixteen hundred taels.

After all, those who sought their patronage weren’t exceedingly wealthy. Families like the Ye family, who had reached a certain level of wealth, also had their influence and didn’t need to rely on a mere provincial graduate. The small landlords only had a few dozen taels of ready cash each. Under her various tactics, they had already borrowed all they could, and there was simply no way to squeeze out more.

“Why don’t you go to Magistrate Wang?” she suggested. “Explain your difficulties and see if he can lend us some silver. If not, perhaps he could act as a mediator and persuade the Ye family to accept less money?”

Seeing Song Yifeng’s hesitation, she instructed earnestly, “Son, you must understand that the crying child gets the milk. Didn’t you say Magistrate Wang appreciates your talent and treats you like his own son? When a son faces difficulties, shouldn’t he confide in his elders? Even if he can’t lend you money, he could at least put in a good word for you, right? And even if he can’t help at all, he’ll still feel guilty about it.”

Song Yifeng suddenly brightened and looked at Madam Yu with admiration. “Mother, you’re right. I know what to do now.”

What they wanted wasn’t Magistrate Wang’s money or mediation, but his approval and sympathy.

“Mother, I’ll skip dinner. While it’s still light outside, I’ll visit Magistrate Wang first.”

“Go ahead, go ahead.” Watching her son leave, Madam Yu returned to her room satisfied. After some thought, she entered her bedroom, retrieved a small box from her bedside, and used the key hanging around her neck to unlock it, revealing several pieces of gold, silver, and jade jewelry inside.

These ornaments were naturally those given to her by the original Ye Yaming. Since they were breaking off the engagement, there was no need to keep these accessories anymore. She planned to pawn them if Song Yifeng couldn’t borrow enough money.

After his departure, Song Yifeng returned very late, with the smell of alcohol on him.

Madam Yu asked delightedly, “Did Magistrate Wang invite you to drink?”

“Yes.” Song Yifeng was somewhat tipsy.

“Did you secure any money?” Madam Yu asked in a lowered voice.

Song Yifeng’s face immediately darkened. “Magistrate Wang advised me to sell the land first and purchase more when I have the means in the future.”

After a pause, he added, “I sold the land to Magistrate Wang.”

Madam Yu was stunned and urgently asked, “For how much silver?”

“A thousand taels.”

“What?” Madam Yu’s voice suddenly rose.

Land around Linan City was difficult to acquire. Over the years, she had invested significant effort and energy to purchase these plots and had gone to great lengths to consolidate them in one location for easier management.

The land she had purchased was of medium to high quality, totaling 124 mu (about 20.5 acres), worth at least thirteen hundred taels. Because they were contiguous, they could fetch up to fourteen hundred taels after negotiation.

Yet Magistrate Wang had taken advantage of their predicament and bought all this land for merely a thousand taels—how was this any different from cutting out her heart?

“You agreed?” she stared intently at Song Yifeng.

His mother’s shriek and anxiety sobered Song Yifeng somewhat.

He nodded without addressing his mother’s concerns, walked into the room, sat down, and instructed Xiao Xiang to pour tea.

After gulping down two cups of tea to clear his remaining intoxication, he finally spoke: “Once Magistrate Wang made the offer, with others around encouraging it, I had no choice but to agree.”

Having experienced difficult times himself, Song Yifeng valued money as much as his mother did.

Losing three to four hundred taels for nothing, especially during this critical period when they were most in need of funds, made Song Yifeng very unhappy as well.

“It’s fine,” he comforted his mother and himself. “What we’ve lost today, I’ll earn back many times over in the future.”

Previously, he had been focused on comparing the Magistrate’s daughter with Ye Yaming.

But perhaps because of the impending broken engagement, and because Magistrate Wang had taken advantage of them for three to four hundred taels, his perspective suddenly broadened.

Having gone through such effort to break off the engagement and reach this point, why should his sights be limited to marrying into a family of an eighth-rank minor official? What was Magistrate Wang after all? Merely a school director, an eighth-rank official. Once he passed the metropolitan examination and achieved success at a young age, there would be countless third and fourth-rank high officials in the capital wanting to marry their daughters to him.

It would be better to endure for a couple more years and wait until he passes the metropolitan examination before considering marriage.

After he became a jin shi (metropolitan graduate), and married a high official’s daughter, he would surely make Magistrate Wang pay back today’s advantage many times over.

However, he didn’t plan to share these thoughts with his mother yet.

He still needed to maintain his connection with Magistrate Wang. He worried that his mother might not be able to keep these matters to herself and might inadvertently reveal them during conversations with others.

Madam Yu misunderstood his meaning, thinking he meant to recoup their losses through the Magistrate’s daughter after marriage. Besides, at this point, did they have the courage to back out?

She sighed and said, “This is our only option now.”

She called Xiao Xiang to bring the box from her bedroom and place it on the table. She opened it herself and said, “For the remaining five hundred taels, tomorrow I’ll pawn these accessories. That should be enough to gather the full three thousand taels.”

Song Yifeng looked at the jewelry and frowned, asking, “Are these the accessories Ye Yaming gave you?”

“Yes.” Looking at these ornaments and thinking that they would soon no longer belong to her, Madam Yu felt a dull pain in her heart.

She turned away, trying not to dwell on it, and said to her son, “Although Ye Yaming probably won’t account for these, I’m showing them to you so you’re aware. Just in case the Ye family mentions these accessories, you’ll be prepared to respond. The same goes for the money spent on buying this house.”

After a moment of silence, Song Yifeng nodded. “Alright.”

“What about that thousand taels?” Madam Yu asked.

Song Yifeng took out a bank note from his pocket and handed it to Madam Yu.

“Can it be exchanged?” Madam Yu asked anxiously.

“It should be. If you’re concerned, you can try exchanging it tomorrow,” Song Yifeng wasn’t completely confident either.

“Alright, it’s getting late. You should rest early,” Madam Yu said.

The next morning, she indeed took these accessories to pawn.

Knowing that the largest pawnshop in Linan City was run by the Mei family, she deliberately traveled further to the western part of the city and found an unfamiliar pawnshop. Because of this, the jewelry was undervalued, and she only received three hundred taels in return.

“Here’s fifteen hundred taels of silver. Keep it safe. I’ve converted the other thirteen hundred taels into bank notes, which you should keep on you. If possible, try not to give this thirteen hundred taels; if the Ye family demands it, offer an IOU instead. We’ll need this money for many things in the future. Only as a last resort should you produce these thirteen hundred taels,” she carefully instructed Song Yifeng.

Song Yifeng nodded and placed the banknotes in his pocket.