Wu Caiwei suddenly patted her head in annoyance. She had been too busy recently and had completely forgotten about her. Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to keep an eye on her herself.
In a gambling house in the capital, the man, though reluctant, pressed his fingerprint onto the gambling debt IOU. In a short while, he had lost it all again.
"You must repay the gambling debt within three days. We are old customers, and you know the consequences of not doing so. Don't make us come to your house to collect, or it will strain our brotherhood," the gambling house staff said, looking at him with disappointment.
The man nodded. The person in charge of the gambling house was his good friend. When he had first arrived, his friend had wanted to send him away, but he had stubbornly insisted on playing here. In the end, he had lost everything and was now heavily in debt.
Walking on the street, he was not worried at all and began to hum an unknown tune. If Jiang Yin were there, she would recognize this man as the one who had asked her for money.
The next morning, Jiang Yin saw a familiar letter and felt a headache coming on. Her good mood for the day was gone. However, thinking about the leverage the other party held, she dared not refuse the meeting.
The location was still by the small river. Wu Caiwei followed from a distance. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, she could tell from their expressions that Jiang Yin was extremely agitated. Wu Caiwei was happy whenever Jiang Yin was unhappy, clearly indicating that the man held some leverage over her. Wu Caiwei seemed to be enjoying the show.
At this moment, Jiang Yin looked at the man in disbelief, her voice filled with anger. "It's only been a day, and you're already asking me for money. Where am I supposed to get it for you?"
"Madam Kong has quite a temper. No wonder she's out of favor. Five thousand taels of silver is an astronomical sum for commoners like us, but for a lady of a prominent family like yourself, especially with a renowned merchant family as your maiden relatives, it's nothing. There's no need to be so stingy," the man said with a cheeky grin, completely unfazed by her anger.
"You're well-informed. You must know that the Jiang family has encountered trouble recently, and I've lost favor. Five thousand taels of silver is truly not a small sum for me. Give me some more time." Although her words carried a hint of pleading, her tone remained proud.
"Tomorrow, at this time tomorrow, I want to have the money. Otherwise, I will make public what you have done. I always keep my word," the man said with a half-smile, looking at her. He could have waited, but the gambling house couldn't.
Jiang Yin watched his retreating back with a gloomy expression. Although she had already started preparing the money, the jewelry she had bought was very expensive, but not worth much when sold. She had already sold a lot, keeping only a few sets for appearances. She had only managed to gather a little over three thousand taels, and she was still short of over a thousand taels. Where was she supposed to get it?
Wu Caiwei felt that this man could be a significant breakthrough. As the man left, she followed closely behind.
Seeing him enter an inconspicuous small courtyard, Wu Caiwei quickly inquired about him from nearby residents. To her surprise, everyone looked at her with frightened eyes and waved their hands, indicating they knew nothing.
This was interesting. Someone who made everyone so eager to avoid must not be a good person. So, that night, under the watchful gaze of Huangfu Yunkun, she donned her night-traveling clothes and returned to her old ways as a thief.
"Brother, the gambling house people will be here to collect the debt the day after tomorrow. Do you think that woman will give us the money?" another man with a sly, rat-like appearance asked, drinking wine and looking at his elder brother with admiration.
"Don't worry. She's the prefect's wife now, married into an official family. She wouldn't gamble. Besides, it's not like she can't afford five thousand taels. Those with nothing to lose are not afraid of those who do. She'll definitely give us the money. If she really doesn't give it to me, I'd dare to reveal what she's done," the man said, taking a bite of food, his face full of pride.
The rat-like man immediately gave him a thumbs-up and asked curiously, "I haven't been in the capital long, and I only met you recently, brother. Could you share with me what she's done? Let me broaden my horizons."
The man immediately wiggled his index finger and said meaningfully, "Some secrets are not to be revealed. You just need to know that she has done something that involves killing people. If we are ever short of money in the future, we can just ask her for it."
After speaking, he quickly changed the subject. "Eat up, eat up. Why keep talking about that woman? Let's go to Chunxiang Lou later and have some fun. Tomorrow morning, we'll just collect the money."
Wu Caiwei listened to their crude talk and figured there would be no more useful information, so she quickly left.
The next morning, she went to the man's courtyard and followed his footsteps back to the small river.
"Did you bring the money?" the man asked, looking at the chest placed before her with surprise. The chest seemed odd. If it were filled with silver ingots, how could such a small chest hold so much? And she, a woman, wouldn't be able to move it. But if it were filled with banknotes, why would it need to be so large?
"I brought it. Open it and see for yourself," Jiang Yin said calmly.
The man found it strange, but he, a grown man, wouldn't be afraid of a woman. He strode towards the wooden chest and suddenly opened it. A clump of white stuff flew towards him. Before he could react, his eyes were met with a burning pain.
"Ah, my eyes, my eyes..." At this moment, Si Qin, Jiang Yin's personal maid, emerged from the bushes. The two women exchanged a glance and, with a coordinated effort, threw their full strength into shoving the unprepared man into the nearby river.
The man knew how to swim. After falling into the river, he instinctively tried to swim towards the bank. At this moment, the mistress and maid, each holding a large bamboo pole, repeatedly struck him on the head.
"Jiang Yin, you bitch, you're playing dirty! Do you think it's over if I die? To tell you the truth, before coming here, I told others. Besides, I've been in the city for so many years, and I haven't gotten into trouble because someone was covering for me..." He tried to surface, but they wouldn't let him. Every time he spoke, they pushed him back underwater. He gulped down several mouthfuls of water and then resurfaced to continue speaking. Unfortunately, before he could finish, there was no more movement on the water's surface.
Looking at the calm water, the two women unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto the ground. They had exerted all their strength in their concerted effort and were now completely exhausted.
"Miss... Miss, he wasn't lying, was he?" Si Qin looked at her worriedly. She had been following her mistress for many years and had already stained her hands with blood. Adding one more life wouldn't matter, but she feared her mistress would be exposed, and in that case, she too would have no place to be buried.
"You believe his scare tactics?" Jiang Yin shook her head in exasperation. In reality, her heart was also uneasy. Who knew if he was telling the truth or lying? But the matter had come to this. Even if she brought him up, it would be too late. She could only go down this path to the end.