Yao smiled sweetly: "As soon as I woke up this morning, inspiration struck."Qingqiu and Ningdong pricked up their ears, listening to their conversation. Thousands of waves surged in their hearts. It...After breakfast, Meng Jinyu put on Qingqiu and Ningdong's clothes and went out. Her legs were all better now, so she could move freely.

It's summer now, time to change into light and thin summer clothes.

Meng Jinyao thought of Meng Chengzhang at Ling Shan Academy, so she went to a clothing store and bought him several sets of summer clothes according to his size.

Afterward, he went to the study and chose a set of high-quality stationery for him, encouraging him to study hard. Just as he was about to have the maid settle the bill, he remembered that Big House's Xiuwen was also studying at the academy, so he bought another set.

Finally, he went to the snack shop and bought some dried fruit and meat snacks that Meng Chengzhang usually liked. Tomorrow, he would have someone send them to Ling Shan Academy.

I see that you've been buying all of these things for Meng Chengzhang. I asked softly, "Madam, why don't you buy something for yourself too"

Meng Jin yao replied, "I have food and clothing at the Hou Mansion. When the seasons change, the embroidery women make clothes for me, so I don't need to buy much. But my second brother... when he's at home, his mother-in-law still pretends to prepare summer clothes for him. She won't bother with that once he goes to the academy."

When she mentioned the Sun family, Qingqiu suddenly remembered something she had to do today. Estimating the time, she reminded her, "Madam, there's still one important matter to attend to later."

Meng Jinyao's steps faltered, her eyes deepening with a mysterious gleam, and the corners of her lips curled upwards: "Let's go, time to close the net. Let's go watch the show first."

Ning Dong also remembered the important matter, her lips curled upwards, a hint of excitement in her eyes: "Madam, let's go quickly. If we arrive early, we can wait a while. But if we arrive late, we might miss it."

Meng Jin yao replied and strode towards the carriage parked beside her.

-

On the other side, two young men desperately ran forward in the alley. However, their pursuers surrounded them, blocking their way. No matter how fast they ran, they were intercepted.

These two men are precisely Qiao Mama's son, Li Cheng, and Zhou family's servant, Lin Rui, who uses the alias Lin Dashi. He is a new gambling friend that Li Cheng has made.

And the people surrounding him were the casino's most trusted thugs. They were owed money by the casino and hadn't paid it back. Besides coming to collect the debt, they would also beat him up every time they saw him. If it was a large sum of money, death was also a possibility.

The boss brandished a vicious grin: “Run I’ll see you run!”

Li Cheng's heart pounded, and cold sweat broke out. He instinctively moved closer to Lin Rui, who looked much bigger than him. He felt a surge of regret deep in his heart, as well as resentment towards himself for not listening to Lin Da Shan's advice and escalating the bets. It would have been better to stop in time.

Lin Rui, seeing people on both sides of him, stood protectively in front of Li, whispering: "Li, you go first. I'll distract them. Don't worry about me, they won't do anything serious to me. It's you who owes the gambling house money. At worst, they'll just beat me up."

Li Cheng listened, and much of the resentment in his heart subsided. He was no longer polite to him and replied: "Then Brother Lin, please be careful later."

Lin Rui nodded, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes.

At that, the leader raised his hand, and those big men immediately rushed forward.

Lin Rui's body was agile. He bent down and slipped out from under one person's armpit, then shouted, "The silver is in my hand! If you want the silver, come after me!" Having said that, he took off running.

Those thugs were caught off guard, and Li Cheng took the opportunity to slip away.

Soon, the hired hands discovered his motives. Half went after Lin Rui, and half went after Li Cheng.

Whether those thugs caught up with Lin Rui was still unknown, but the other half of them quickly caught up to Li Cheng, surrounding him and beating him up mercilessly. Li Cheng begged for mercy after being pummeled.

At this moment, a shrill cry rang out from not far away: "What are you doing In broad daylight, haven't you lost all sense of justice"

The thugs, hearing the sound, froze in their tracks and turned to look. A beautiful young woman leaned out of a carriage window, her eyes blazing with fury at them.

Li Cheng heard a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. He looked up and saw Meng Jin Yao. He didn't have time to think about anything else, he just wanted to survive, so he cried out for help: "Miss, please save me!"

Meng Jinyáo looked at him for a long time, her voice hesitant: "Are you the son of Qiao Mama"

Li Cheng nodded repeatedly: "It's me, young miss, thank you for saving me!"

Meng Jinyao asked in surprise, "Manager Li, what's going on here"

Before Li Cheng could reply, the leader of the thugs kicked him hard in the leg and said to Meng Jin Yao: "Madam, is this your servant If you pay his debt to Yong Sheng Gambling House, we will let him go. He owes us five thousand taels."

Meng Jingyao was shocked upon hearing this, seemingly not expecting Li Cheng to owe the gambling house money. She looked at Li Cheng in surprise and said to the headman, "He is the son of Qiao Mama, the most trusted maidservant of Madam Yongchangbo, and he manages the estate. Could he possibly lack these five thousand taels He will naturally return the money to you tomorrow."

Hearing this, Li Cheng's pupils constricted suddenly. He hadn't even dared to reveal his identity when he was beaten so badly just now, but the eldest lady directly exposed it. Afterwards, people from the gambling den went to Yongchang Bo's mansion. Once the master and madam knew about it, there was no way he could continue as the manager of this estate. only felt resentment towards Sun's misjudgment that nearly killed his son. By the way, Your Lordship, the Li merchant has a good relationship with Chen, the new magistrate appointed after Sun, becaus...