These gamblers were all thugs and scoundrels who would stop at nothing to collect a debt.
Before, they had been wary of Ye Heng and hadn’t dared to co demanding paynt. But now Ye Heng was imprisoned, and no one knew if he would ever get out. More importantly—Ye Mingze was dead!
What else was there for them to worry about? They had raised a ruckus all the way here, making a huge scene specifically to collect this debt!
If they didn’t get at least so of their money back now, they feared it would be impossible to collect later!
"If you don’t pay up today, Miss Ye, we’re not leaving!"
Ye Shixian’s mind went completely blank.
’It didn’t even matter if the IOU was real or fake anymore. These people were clearly here to cause trouble!’
Ye Shixian was, after all, a young lady from a prominent family who had been pampered for over a decade. While she had witnessed her fair share of sches within the inner residence, she had never dealt with thugs and ruffians like these.
They reeked of violence and looked utterly reckless.
’What was she supposed to do?!’
Ye Shixian bit her lip, clutching her handkerchief tightly. Each word was a struggle to get out. "Mingze is already dead. The dead can’t testify, so there’s no proof for this IOU. The Ye Family will not acknowledge it under any circumstances!"
Hearing this, the leader of the group didn’t get angry. Instead, he just laughed.
"Now that’s an interesting thing to say, Miss Ye. Ye Mingze wrote this IOU himself. There’s no such thing as a debt disappearing just because the debtor dies! Of course, we’re not unreasonable. If you really can’t pay, Miss Ye, you can just hand over Ye Mingze’s corpse to us!"
Ye Shixian couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ’How dare they make such a demand? They’re insane!’
"Insolent!" Ye Shixian’s voice was shrill. "My father is not dead yet! How dare you think you can walk all over the Ye Family!"
’If she really handed Mingze over, who knew how these people would desecrate his body!’
’What would beco of the Ye Family’s reputation? How could she ever show her face in the Capital City again!’
The thought of such a terrifying outco made Ye Shixian’s body tremble uncontrollably.
The leader scoffed. "Three days! I’ll give you three days. As long as the money is returned in full after three days, we’ll let bygones be bygones. We can even do you a favor and escort Second Young Master Ye to Bao’er Pass. What more could you ask for?"
To hear him tell it, you’d think he was doing Ye Shixian a huge favor.
Ye Shixian’s heart hamred in her chest. Amidst her boiling rage, she couldn’t suppress a wave of deep-seated fear.
"You wouldn’t dare!"
’Bao’er Pass!’
Dozens of miles outside the suburb of the capital lay a stretch of rugged hills, originally called Lingshui Pass. During the previous, corrupt dynasty, a combination of exorbitant taxes and constant natural disasters had left countless commoners displaced. As they fled the Capital City, they had no choice but to abandon the bodies of their infants, who had frozen or starved to death, at the foot of those hills.
Bao’er Pass, Bao’er Pass, the pass no babe could cross.
In just a few short months, mountains of bones had piled up there, and the area beca a dumping ground for corpses—a true mass grave.
A chill rose from the depths of Ye Shixian’s heart at the thought. When she looked at the n and saw they weren’t joking in the slightest, her panic intensified.
The man gave a bone-chilling smile.
"You’ll find out whether we dare or not in three days, Miss Ye."
Ye Shixian was speechless, her body trembling all over.
’Thirteen thousand taels! Where was she supposed to get that much money right now!’
...
"Money is the easiest thing in the world to earn."
Ye Mansion, the front hall.
Ye Chutang sat at the head of the hall, with three guests seated on her left and three on her right.
They were the very sa guests who had sent their calling cards two days prior.
Ye Chutang smiled faintly, her eyes gentle and her voice clear and smooth.
"The trust you have all placed in is infinitely more precious than any gold or silver."
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