I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 231 The Method of Asking for Silver

"Tsk!" Yang Nian'er warned: "Just do it. When the person is taken away, you will cry."

"Just take it, he needs me, not me." Lu Mingyang boasted, shaking the book in her hand. If it weren't for this unexpected argument, she wouldn't have known how important she was to him.

Yang Nian'er sat up and sighed, "You said the same thing about Prince Ningyuan. Why does he insist that you bear him a child? It's not like there's anyone who can bear him a child. Apart from forcing you to bear a child, I think he's a good person."

"Silly sister, stop talking." Lu Mingyang slapped his sister down in shame.

In fact, she has been trying to find a suitable opportunity to go back these days, but how come the palace, which was usually so bustling, doesn't even have a palace banquet recently? It's really infuriating.

……

For many days, no matter how hard Yang Tiezhu tried to sell it, no one dared to even look at the exquisitely designed two-story house in such a prime location. No one in the pawnshops in the capital dared to buy it either.

Yang Tiezhu lay in a rocking chair in the courtyard, rocking back and forth. On a nearby table, a teacup rested on the property deed, the cold wind whistling against the fragile paper, sending it fluttering.

Zhang Fengshou squatted on the stone steps of the side room, complaining with his hands in his hands.

"Father, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but I'm the princess now, not some second girl you can beat and scold. Just throwing you two pieces of clothing and headgear would be worth thousands of taels. Why offend her when you can't offend anyone else? Now that we're here, what's the point of guarding this empty house that can't be sold?"

On the corridor, Yang's mother and Yang Pan'er were leaning against the beams, one on each side, their faces uglier than the other.

Mother Yang said, "Master, I've inquired about the donkey cart of things the second girl sent us. Our two fur coats alone cost over a hundred taels. Now it's all gone. The palace guards have all taken away. They've also taken away all the valuables in the house. We don't even have enough money to eat. Think of a way!"

From last night till now, the whole family has been hungry. The delicious food we had a few days ago only appeared in our dreams.

Yang Pan'er covered the fifty taels of silver in her arms and cried silently. She didn't want the fifty taels of silver anymore. She wanted her second sister to take her to see a doctor and give birth to a child. But now, she didn't know where to find her second sister.

Zhang Fengshou said, "Dad, didn't my third sister give you three hundred taels of silver? Take it out and use it for emergencies. Don't hide it."

"Where would I hide it?! I took it to a bank to exchange it, but who knew it belonged to the Chengyang Marquis's bank and wouldn't exchange it for silver." Yang Tiezhu angrily threw the banknote on the ground. "Look, they even stamped it, saying that only the third girl can exchange it for silver if she goes in person."

Zhang Fengshou said again: "Dad, why don't you go and admit your mistakes to the second and third girls? You have raised them for more than ten years, you can't be so heartless."

"I'm the boss, and asking me to admit my mistake to them is ridiculous." Yang Tiezhu sat up, hugging his knees, his face extremely dark. "If you want to go, you go. I won't go."

In fact, he had secretly visited the Chengyang Marquis Mansion and the Ningyuan Prince Mansion, but he was driven out and didn't even see a single person.

Yang Pan'er and Zhang Fengshou Qiqi looked at Yang's mother. Yang's mother wept in grievance and said, "You find the person, I will go and beg for mercy."

The yard became quiet again, and the goldfish in the pond turned over and their bellies turned pale.

Yang Tiezhu slapped his thigh and said, "We still have 1,600 taels!"

After being depressed for a few days, Yang Tiezhu rekindled his hope. He went through great pains to find out the location of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion and rushed there.

In the study of Duke Weiguo's mansion, Wei Luo stared at the coral beads wrapped around his hands in a daze.

He picked up the broken coral beads Yang Nian'er had dropped that day, one by one, and strung them back together. He still remembered the first time he put the coral beads on her wrist, wrapping them around her wrist six times. It was the first time he realized how soft a little girl's hands were. The rosy coral beads set off her slender, fair hands.

Now it was only wrapped around his hand four times, and it looked very bulky.

The attendant opened the door and came in, reporting, "Sir, the people who went to Shangyang Village to investigate are back."

"Send!" Wei Luo covered the coral string with his sleeve and looked at the person who came. The person investigating was none other than the secret guard of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

"Sir, the people in Shangyang Village say that Miss Nian'er does have a bad relationship with her father, but Yang Tiezhu can't be blamed. They say that Miss Nian'er is not only disobedient at home, but also lazy at work. She often disappears in the middle of weeding and runs to the river to catch grasshoppers to eat."

"Grasshopper?" Wei Luo looked at Shishu in confusion.

The secretary said, "Locusts."

Wei Luo's face turned green. He had to be very hungry to eat something like that.

The secret guard continued, "The villagers also said that Miss Nian'er was a good thief."

Wei Luo was furious: "What could a little girl like her steal?"

"She stole sweet potatoes from the villagers' fields, two from one house, three from another. She also stole peaches and apples—anything edible. The villagers also said that Miss Nian'er not only stole from the villagers, but also from her own family."

When his younger brother was two years old, Yang's mother cooked a bowl of longevity noodles with two poached eggs and a chicken drumstick. Nian'er peeled the eggs and secretly ate the two yolks. Unexpectedly, his father found out and beat him up.

"What!" Wei Luo stood up and went out. The secretary hurriedly stopped the master and advised: "Master, Miss Nian'er is fine now, nothing is wrong."

Wei Luo slumped back into his chair, his brows trembling slightly: "No wonder she was so angry."

He knew that she had a hard life in Shangyang Village and had even broken her leg, but he didn't expect her to be so miserable that she would be beaten even for eating an egg.

Speaking of this, the secret guard felt a little distressed. He still remembered the villagers' expressions of approval when they talked about Yang Nian'er being beaten by his father. They said that the beating was a good thing and that since the beating, Yang Nian'er has become much more honest and no longer dared to steal from them.

But the secret guard was worried that the prince would raze Shangyang Village to the ground in a fit of rage, so he skipped the topic and talked about the most important thing.

"The biggest conflict between father and daughter was probably last year's wedding. Yang Tiezhu forced Miss Nian'er to marry Zheng the Butcher, whose wife had died, for the sake of a ten-liang betrothal gift. Not only was Zheng the Butcher old, he also beat his wife to death."

"What did you say?" Nian'er was only thirteen years old, no, she was only twelve years old at that time. He couldn't even bear to kiss such a little girl. Her father could be so cruel. Wei Luo didn't dare to think about it. He picked up the long sword on the wall and walked out with murderous intent.

The secretary fell to his knees, clinging tightly to Wei Luo's legs. The secret guard hurriedly said, "It just so happened that they encountered the conscription, so the marriage was cancelled, and Miss Nian'er didn't marry him."

There was a knock on the door, and a voice came from outside, "Sir, Old Man Yang wants to see you."

With a clang, the long sword fell to the ground, shining with a cold light.