The Duke's Daughter is Reborn

Seeing An Xiaoyi crying, Song Hongwen felt disgusted, but he couldn't really let An Xiaoyi die in the capital: "Go back home first, and I will discuss this matter after I get back."

An Xiaoyi couldn't let Song Hongwen get away with it like this: "Uncle, those people in the underground money houses are on the edge of a knife, so lend me the money first. When the news spreads to the northwest, Dad will send someone to pay back the money."

Song Hongwen grew up in the capital, so how could he not know the nature of those people in the underground money houses? They really dared to do something ruthless. But now, Song Hongwen only said: "I will discuss this matter after I return home. I have to discuss it with your aunt." After that, Song Hongwen no longer cared about An Xiaoyi and returned to the government office.

An Xiaoyi returned to the Duke's Mansion in a state of despair. Mother Jin had already been waiting anxiously at the door: "Master, you are finally here. Today, someone who claimed to be the head of the Mo family came to the mansion to look for Madam."

The person in charge of the underground bank had already told An Xiaoyi about this matter: "How is my aunt?"

Seeing An Xiaoyi like this, Mother Jin guessed that what Master Mo said today about the debt must be true: "Madam is so angry that she asked you to reply quickly."

Yang Lan had already returned to Qinfang Courtyard from the upper house, and someone had already reported everything that happened to An Xiaoyi today.

"Hmph," Yang Lan sneered, "You're such a greedy person." With just a little capital, he wants to do the jade business and even wants to get involved in the salt trading business.

The jade issue is easy to deal with. The An family must be a royal merchant. Even if they lose money, they can still get the money out.

But the salt trade involves the imperial court, the chamber of commerce and many other aspects. If it were so easy to join in, every mansion in the capital would have wanted to get involved. How could it be his turn?

Nanny Li listened to everything and said, "Miss, where did An Xiaoyi go today? Did he go to ask the Duke for help? If the An family is involved, the Duke will probably go to the Hong family."

Although the underground bank was pressing hard on An Xiaoyi's case, the key to the matter was the Hong family. Hong Hu disappeared with the 50,000 taels borrowed by the young master. Only by finding Hong Hu could the matter be explained.

Yang Lan shook his head: "An Xiaoyi will definitely think of asking Dad for help, but Dad will not intervene for such a small matter as An Xiaoyi."

Although An Xiaoyi is the only legitimate son of the head of the An family, he did not take over the An family's business after all. His father may have some thoughts about the An family, but An Xiaoyi is really despised.

Arriving at the main house, An Xiaoyi looked at his aunt who was rubbing her temple in front of him and said in a crying voice: "Aunt, I was tricked by a villain!"

Hearing An Xiaoyi's voice, An's heart couldn't suppress a burst of anger. She opened her eyes and glared at An Xiaoyi fiercely: "You were cheated. If you weren't stupid, how could you be cheated? You even plotted against me and stole my private seal."

As she spoke, she became more and more angry, and threw the cup in her hand at An Xiaoyi.

An Xiaoyi immediately knelt on the ground: "Aunt, it's my fault, it's all my fault. That Hong Hu said so much that this was a very profitable business. If it works, our An family will definitely be the richest in the northwest. My nephew was really blinded by greed and believed what that thief said!"

Why are all the people from her mother's family useless? An was so angry that she felt her stomach starting to ache.

Seeing that An didn't say anything, An Xiaoyi quickly knelt down and crawled towards An: "Aunt, Aunt, you have to save me. Those people in the underground bank are all ruthless. They said that if I can't pay the money, they will cut off my arms and legs and throw me out."

These words were said by An Xiaoyi to win An's sympathy.

An held her belly, feeling heartbroken. After marrying Song Hongwen, she devoted herself to the An family and repeatedly told Song Hongwen about supporting the An family.

But now it seems, are these younger generations of the An family really worthy of my hard work and help?

Just from the fact that An Xiaoyi stole his seal, An could see that these people would only throw him out to take the blame.

Do I really have to start considering cutting ties with the An family?

An looked at An Xiaoyi who was tugging at the corner of her clothes, and said coldly: "I have already sent the message back to the northwest. I believe my brother will send someone to deal with it as soon as possible. As for the matter of the underground bank, I need to discuss it with the Duke."

An and Song Hongwen both said the same thing, they both wanted to discuss with each other, but neither of them really took a stand. An Xiaoyi was a little panicked, but he was in the Duke's Mansion and he had no position to force An to give him an explanation.

In the evening, after Song Hongwen returned home, he went to An's room and told her about this matter.

An was so angry that she gnashed her teeth. The people from the An family really brought shame to themselves: "Duke, how should we deal with this matter?" They couldn't really let An Xiaoyi be chopped off by the people from the underground money lender.

Song Hongwen did not hesitate. This matter was easy to solve. Things that could be solved with money were not a big deal.

As expected, Song Hongwen's solution was to have the Duke's Mansion pay back the money owed to the underground bank, and then take the IOU and ask An to deliver the money.

The An family is well-off, so they can definitely come up with this much money.

An bit her lip and said hesitantly, "Duke, where can we get such a large sum of money?"

An Xiaoyi talked with An for an entire afternoon, and An now knew that the 50,000 taels of silver were all in the Hong family's hands. The best way was to get the Hong family to give up the money.

Song Hongwen is a duke after all, and now he holds an important position in the court. If the duke is willing to come forward to discuss with the Hong family, then he can definitely make Hong Hu return the money that An Xiaoyi invested earlier. Even if he can't get all the silver, he can still get more than half.

But the salt permit issue was clearly a trap set for An Xiaoyi by someone with ulterior motives. Anyone with a little bit of intelligence would not fall into this trap, but An Xiaoyi was extremely stupid.

If the An family's property is really handed over to An Xiaoyi, I'm afraid they won't have many years of good days left.

Just as Yang Lan predicted, Song Hongwen did not want to stand up for An Xiaoyi. This matter did not benefit Song Hongwen at all.

In a small sense, this matter is a matter between two younger generations, An Xiaoyi and Hong Hu. In a big sense, it is just a fight between two merchant families, the An family and the Hong family.

Based on Yang Lan's understanding of Song Hongwen, he felt that he would not do such a thankless task. Moreover, if Song Hongwen really came forward, the big man behind the Hong family would come forward and refute him, which would be embarrassing and lose points.