Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 15: Mend the Fence After the Sheep Has Rid

Bai Junzhe didn't know how he got back to the Bai Mansion, but he knew what the first thing to do when he got back to the Bai Mansion.

Selling house.

Now the most valuable thing in the whole mansion is this house.

Mrs. Bai cried out to the sky, Lou Xinyue burst into tears, Bai Rouer kept cursing, but no one could stop Bai Junzhe from selling the house.

What do those words of the emperor mean? Just do what you should do.

Should he keep his original position as a fifth-rank cavalry captain and do what he is supposed to do, or should he be demoted and go home to do what he is supposed to do.

He didn't know the emperor. He went to the border when he was sixteen years old. He had seen the emperor once or twice from afar before, when he went to the palace with his parents for banquets, and he couldn't even see his face clearly. Today was the first time he faced the emperor directly.

He had no idea and no one to ask. The only thing he could do was to pay off the debts as soon as possible, hoping that it would not be too late to make up for the loss.

The house was sold for 28,000 taels, a very low price, but there was nothing he could do; he couldn't wait.

All the family's ancestral gold and jade artifacts, bottles and jars, and large pieces of furniture were pawned. Most of the jewelry that Mrs. Bai and Bai Rouer had taken from Zhenbaozhai were also pawned. The servants were sold, and finally all the debts were paid off.

The family of four brought some clothes, small household items, and bedding with them, and moved into a small courtyard in Saozhu Lane, North City. The small courtyard couldn't hold many things, so they had to sell all the things they didn't need at the moment, regardless of their value. There were three main rooms and two side rooms. Madam Bai and Bai Rouer lived in the main room, Bai Junzhe and Lou Xinyue lived in the east side room, and the west side room was the kitchen and the housekeeper's residence.

All the servants in the Bai Mansion were sold, leaving only a maid who did the cleaning. The maid was old, ugly, and clumsy, so she could not be sold, so the man had to keep her for himself.

As soon as Bai Rouer entered the yard, she burst into tears, cursing Qiao Lili for being vicious and Lou Xinyue for being frivolous and seductive. No one could understand how a girl who was kept in seclusion could curse in such a variety of ways, even more uglier than those cursed by the shrews in the market.

She cursed until her mouth was dry and her throat was sore and itchy. She wanted to ask her personal maid to pour some water, but then she remembered that the personal maid had also been sold. In order to make more money, Bai sold her into a brothel.

The only old servant, Li Pozi, poured her a bowl of water. Bai Rouer looked at the ugly, coarse porcelain tea bowl, and then at Li Pozi's black, cracked hands, with black mud between her fingernails. Is this drinkable?

She knew that this Mrs. Li was originally a rough maid who emptied the toilet and swept the floor. How could she drink tea if someone poured it for her with such hands?

A slap knocked the tea bowl over, and it fell to the ground and broke into porcelain pieces. The hot water splashed onto Bai Rouer's skirt. This was one of the few good skirts she had, which she had tried her best to protect. The others had been pawned by her brother. Seeing that this skirt was getting dirty, she felt very distressed.

She was so angry that she had no place to vent, so she grabbed Mrs. Li's hair and started punching and kicking her.

How could Mrs. Li dare to fight back? She could only hold her head, dodging and begging for mercy.

Bai waited for her to hit him for a while, until she had let out some of her anger, and then she scolded her, "Rou'er, stop. If you hit her again and she breaks something, will you clean the yard? Will you tidy up the house? Will you cook?"

Bai Rou'er was also tired of making trouble at this time. She let go of Li Pozi and threw herself into Bai's arms: "Mother, what should I do in the future? What should I do in the future? I have no clothes, no jewelry, I can't go to those banquets, tea parties and flower viewing parties, and I can't invite my sisters to come home to play."

"What should I do if I meet those little sisters on the road? They will definitely laugh at me when they see what I am wearing."

"Woo woo woo, I won't live any longer."

Bai Rouer didn't care about her image and was hysterically making a noise and cursing, but what was the use? Qiao Lili couldn't hear her. Lou Xinyue closed the door of the east wing. She and Bai Junzhe were discussing something and they didn't bother to pay any attention to Bai Rouer.

Just scold me, it won’t hurt you.

*

The person who would take over the Bai Mansion would have to be Qiao Lili. She knew the Bai family too well. She had counted all of the Bai family's assets and estimated the price of the house to be between 25,000 and 30,000 taels. She then left it to Yunwen and Yunwu to decide freely.

It can't be too high, why should we leave extra money for them to live a good life? It can't be too low either, if it's not enough to pay off the debt, Bai Junzhe may have to continue looking for buyers, and the longer the night, the more dreams there are, and there may be some unexpected people who will come out to take over.

Cutting the Gordian knot so quickly and making him pay off his debts, with no money left, wouldn't it be nice to watch them struggle to make ends meet?

The past four years of luxurious living have spoiled your appetite, your body, and your hands and feet. Wouldn’t it be nice to live a self-reliant life with simple meals, linen clothes, and a life of simplicity?

If it weren't for her, they should have been living like this four years ago. Since they don't know how to be grateful, then let's just go back to square one.

What Qiao Lili didn't expect was that her engagement would be cancelled so easily. She felt that the Bai family would be like leeches and would definitely stick to her for a while. She had gathered all her strength and thought about how to get rid of them, but in the end, the emperor's light words made it happen.

Why do I feel a little caught off guard and feel like I’m still not satisfied?

Their engagement was not granted by the emperor, so there was no imperial decree to cancel the engagement. However, the emperor's words were golden, and even if he sneezed, it would be recorded in history, let alone he said with certainty, "Let's forget about the engagement with the Duke Dingguo." So it had to be canceled.

In this way, there was no need to wait for a reply from Qiao Lili's father. The old lady of the Duke struck while the iron was hot and sent someone to return Bai Junzhe's engagement letter, and immediately waited to get Qiao Lili's engagement letter back.

According to the report from the maid who went to handle the matter, Madam Bai refused to let go of Qiao Lili's engagement letter and cried as if her father had died. In the end, Bai Junzhe said, "Are you going to disobey the order? Can you leave your son a chance to survive?"

When Mrs. Bai heard her son say this, she was in a trance for a moment, and then she let Bai Junzhe snatch Qiao Lili's engagement letter from her hand.

Qiao Lili looked at her wrinkled engagement letter, and the heaviest stone that had weighed on her heart since her rebirth fell to the ground. In this life, she would no longer have to step into the devil's den of the Bai Mansion and be tortured to death.

In this way, the engagement letter was retrieved on the morning of the first day, and the title deed to the Bai Mansion was placed on Qiao Lili's desk at noon of the second day.

Qiao Lili looked at the thin piece of paper and remained silent for a long time.