Song Chaoyu felt her patience with this woman had reached its limit.
Her eyes grew cold, and her tone became unfriendly. "Sowing discord? Aunt Liu, you've placed a rather large hat on my head. As a mere young woman, I don't know what else to say. Thinking about it, in your eyes, there are probably not many good things to be said about the Song family, so why should I care?"
Song Chaoyu was not afraid of dealing with such common folk. "Regardless, Third Sister will not be returning with Aunt Liu today. I repeat my words, return what is owed to Third Sister! You know yourselves who your greatest reliance is in the capital. If my Third Sister is unhappy, I will make everyone in your family unhappy along with her. Aunt Liu, just watch and see if I can do it!"
"You're threatening me?!"
Madam Liu was also angered by Song Chaoyu. "You, a mere girl, dare to threaten an elder? Fine! We'll see! I don't believe that under the Emperor's gaze, you can actually threaten me?!"
With that, she flicked her sleeves and left. wΑp.kanshu伍.net
Only after Madam Liu's figure disappeared did Song Yanrou, who had been eavesdropping from behind, rush out. She looked at Song Chaoyu with some worry. "Fourth Sister, you don't know my mother-in-law's temper; she's truly a difficult person to deal with. I see she's not afraid of us. What should we do?"
Song Chaoyu turned back and asked Song Yanrou, "Does Third Sister still care about her reputation now?"
"Tch—"
Song Yanrou let out a bitter laugh. "What face do I have left? When I was beaten the other day, didn't the neighbors all hear? Now the entire capital is probably laughing at me. What kind of face do I still need?"
Song Chaoyu then smiled. "Then the matter is easily handled. What can Madam Liu do now? At most, she'll speak ill of you outside, crying about how you, Song Yanrou, are unfilial. But you still have injuries, and the neighbors all heard the commotion of her hitting you. Do you think she dares to escalate the matter?"
Song Yanrou finally understood. "Yes! It would be good enough if I didn't report her to the authorities. Naturally, she wouldn't dare to escalate it! Even if she goes out and tells others I'm unfilial, people will believe her! Many people saw me when I ran back yesterday. I thought I had disgraced the Song family, but my mother-in-law dared not do anything."
"That's precisely the logic."
Song Chaoyu knew that Song Yanrou was never a foolish person. "So, you can rest assured here. Their making such a fuss is merely for profit. If they find that continuing to make a fuss yields no benefit, I will make them beg you to return to their home!"
For the first time, Song Yanrou realized that Song Chaoyu possessed such courage.
She couldn't quite articulate her feelings, which eventually turned into gratitude. "Thank you, Fourth Sister. I was truly blind before. If I had confided in Fourth Sister earlier, I probably wouldn't have ended up in this situation today."
Song Chaoyu shook her head. "Let's not mention past events."
She only hoped that the future days would be better.看書喇
Now that the business deeds, land deeds, and property deeds were no longer in that family's hands, Song Chaoyu instructed Tiaohong, "Go and tell our people that starting today, they don't need to deliver goods to their shops anymore. Let them find their own ways to find goods and people. If they are capable, they won't need to beg us."
As she spoke, Song Chaoyu sat down and calculated. "After we get through today, tomorrow we'll withdraw half the staff from the shops, and the day after tomorrow, another half. After all, it was our Song family that propped them up. We'll withdraw a little each day, like a soft knife grinding them. Tiaohong, you handle it yourself. Just make sure they don't have an easy time."
"Alright!"
Tiaohong, the little maid, became excited instead. "I love doing these bad things!"
Song Chaoyu gave her a look. "How can this be called bad? We are helping them become independent!"
"Hahaha!"
Even Song Yanrou by her side broke into laughter through her tears. "Fourth Sister, you are truly amusing!"
As they were speaking, a servant outside led in another group of people.
Song Yanrou, with sharp eyes, was the first to recognize them. "Oh, these are people from the Prince of Chang's mansion again, aren't they?"
Her eyes, looking at Song Chaoyu, held much admiration. "I heard before that ever since Prince Chang and Fourth Sister became engaged, he has had people deliver things to our Song family every day. Now I see it with my own eyes. The way you two are, it truly makes others envious!"
The servant quickly led the people from the Prince of Chang's mansion forward, with Steward Qin of the Prince of Chang's mansion at the forefront.
Upon seeing Song Chaoyu, he cupped his fists and said obsequiously, "Fourth Miss, Prince Chang has sent us to deliver these items, saying they are all things Fourth Miss can use. Please accept them."
Song Chaoyu was becoming a little embarrassed by these repeated visits. "Steward Qin, we have enough things here! Please convey to His Highness that there's no need for such trouble."
"Haha!"
Steward Qin understood Song Chaoyu's meaning but politely declined. "These are all expressions of goodwill from His Highness and our Noble Consort. Please, Fourth Miss, do not refuse. Otherwise, I will not be able to report back to the Prince."
Indeed, many of these items had been procured by the Noble Consort recently.
Song Chaoyu could only nod. "Then thank you, Steward Qin, for making this trip!"
The people from the Prince of Chang's mansion never lingered at the Song family's residence, sometimes even refusing the rewards offered by the Song family.
To outsiders, Prince Chang was a useless person who couldn't walk.
Song Chaoyu, however, knew that he managed the Prince of Chang's mansion with strict discipline.
She wondered if she would be able to achieve that in the future.
"Fourth Sister, Prince Chang treats you so well!"
Song Yanrou stepped forward, her gaze lingering on the fine silks before her. "Such good quality items, even one bolt of this at home would be shown off. I never expected him to send so much directly to Fourth Sister! Alas... if I hadn't been so headstrong before, even if I couldn't compare to Fourth Sister, I wouldn't have ended up in this state today."
Song Chaoyu smiled faintly. "If Third Sister likes them, feel free to pick out two bolts of this silk. I've also spoken with Grandmother these past two days, and you'll be staying at the Song family for a while longer. In a couple of days, when things are ready, I'll arrange for you to visit Second Aunt at the nunnery. You haven't seen Second Aunt in a long time, have you?"
Upon hearing this, Song Yanrou's eyes seemed to brighten. "Thank you, Fourth Sister, thank you, Grandmother!"
Song Chaoyu shook her head and picked out a few more good items to give to Song Yanrou.
Only now did Song Yanrou truly understand that in this vast Song mansion, she should never have associated with Song Yanjiao and the others!
In the past, even when they gave her things, they were stingy and gave her what they didn't want.