Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 533 - 531

Chapter 533: Chapter 531

Gu Hongxia lowered her head, her eyes darting nervously. "I only found this one document."

That blueprint was taken by Chu Die and had been purchased for ten taels of silver.

"Who do you think you’re fooling! The documents and the blueprint were held together, if you found the documents then you must have found the blueprint too! Hand it over now!" Du Yijin demanded angrily.

"Miss Chu bought that blueprint for ten taels."

"I lost the blueprint." Mrs. Gu and Gu Hongxia spoke simultaneously, but their words contradicted each other.

"Sold it for ten taels! You’re just desperate for money!" Du Yijin was so angry that she slapped Gu Hongxia across the face.

How dare she sell her blueprint!

"You dare to hit me!" Gu Hongxia stormed towards Du Yijin, aiming to scratch her face.

Du Yijin yanked Mrs. Gu in front of her to shield herself, and Gu Hongxia ended up scratching Mrs. Gu’s face instead.

Three fresh marks appeared on Mrs. Gu’s face, beads of blood oozing out immediately. The burning pain made her instinctively touch her face. As she felt the wetness and pulled her hand back to look, the sight of the red liquid on her fingers made her scream in alarm.

Gu Hongxia was equally stunned.

"Du Yijin, you’re audacious, such disrespect towards your mother," Mrs. Gu gritted her teeth. She wondered if her face was permanently damaged.

"It wasn’t me who scratched her!" Du Yijin looked at the scratches on Mrs. Gu’s face, feeling a surge of dread. She was relieved it wasn’t her face that had been marred. She hadn’t expected Gu Hongxia to be so ruthless, knowing that she had taken Mrs. Gu as a shield, yet showing no mercy.

While Gu Hongxia was still in shock, Du Yijin acted quickly and snatched the purse from Gu Hongxia’s waist. Inside, as expected, was a piece of silver - ten taels - along with a few copper plates.

Du Yijin grabbed the silver and tossed the purse back to Gu Hongxia.

"How dare you steal my money!"

Gu Hongxia quickly scrambled to pick up the copper plates that had fallen onto the ground, then lunged at Du Yijin, trying to snatch back the ten taels of silver.

"Is this your money? This is the money from the sale of my blueprint!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

At this moment, Du Zhongkai returned. Seeing the tense situation, he furiously turned to Mrs. Gu, "What trouble have you stirred up again!"

If not for his youngest son holding onto his ailing mother while crying and begging him not to divorce her, he would’ve already sent her packing back to her maiden home to stop her from causing further troubles!

He really pitied his youngest son, practically raised on medicine due to his weak constitution. His mother hardly cared for him, yet he still spoke up for her. This ungrateful woman concerned him little!

"Dear, this has nothing to do with me, look at what Yijin did to my face," Mrs. Gu meekly turned her head to reveal her wounded cheek.

"Dad, I didn’t scratch her. It was Gu Hongxia!"

"It’s because you used me as a shield that Hongxia ended up scratching me!"

Du Yijin then explained the situation to Du Zhongkai.

"Thank you, dearest maternal aunt, for blocking that scratch for me. You have truly protected me," Du Yijin thanked Mrs. Gu insincerely.

Mrs. Gu: ...

"A mother should protect her daughter!" Du Zhongkai huffed. Mrs. Gu had brought this on herself.

Mrs. Gu’s expression twisted with frustration: "Don’t get hung up on the wrong issue!"

Du Zhongkai looked at Gu Hongxia, who had retreated into herself, and scowled, "Didn’t I say no one from the Gu family is allowed to step into Du Mansion again? Both families should sever ties completely."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Gu hurriedly interjected, "Dear, Hongxia has done our family a huge favor!"

Du Yijin scoffed.

Du Zhongkai couldn’t believe his ears and asked indifferently, "What favor?"

It would be fortunate if the Gu family didn’t continue to leech off them. He couldn’t dare to entertain the thought of them offering help. He just hoped they wouldn’t make matters worse.

Mrs. Gu then explained the situation.

"Dear, think about it. An extra 120 taels per year, how wonderful would that be!"

Du Zhongkai gave a wry smile. In the past, 120 taels wouldn’t have meant much to him, but now his wife was willing to stain Du Yijin’s reputation for it!

"People with no credibility are worthless! The Countess of Rui’an has already made an agreement with Yijin, so we certainly cannot renege on our promise."

"We can pay the liquidated damages if we break the agreement!" A penalty of 1,000 taels. If she were the Countess of Rui’an, she would certainly hope for a violation of the agreement! That way, she wouldn’t have to lift a finger and could earn 1,000 taels. What a profitable deal that would be!

Because Du Zhongkai held a position in the Imperial Court, he was privy to more information. He knew that both Miss Chu and Princess Ling’er did not get along with the Countess of Rui’an. They clearly harbored ill intentions.

When gods fight, it’s the mortals who suffer.

However, considering who the Countess of Rui’an was destined to become - the future wife of the Sixth Prince - she was not someone they could afford to offend!

"We don’t need that extra 120 taels. The villa was left to Yijin by her mother; she can do whatever she wants with it. Even if I were to voice my opinion, it wouldn’t matter."

How could they not need that additional 120 taels! If they could save that much every year, in two years they would have 240 taels... After ten years, when Chunkang turns fifteen, they would have accumulated 1,200 taels for his wedding!

Mrs. Gu was so furious that she didn’t even feel the pain on her face anymore. "Dear, you’re well aware of our family’s financial situation; if we could have an additional income of ten taels every month, it would make Yijin and her siblings’ wedding ceremonies more presentable, wouldn’t it?"

"So long as you don’t use the money I earn for the Gu family, there won’t be any problems with the funds for their weddings."

"Husband, that’s my maiden family! I can’t just abandon my own mother, can I!" Mrs. Gu stomped her feet in anger.

"The money you’ve given your family is enough to provide for your mother for two or three lifetimes. I’ve done my moral duty. From now on, my money will only be used to support my own children." After he finished speaking, he took out a money bag and handed it to Du Yijin, "This month’s salary was just issued, take good care of it."

Du Yijin accepted it without hesitation and nodded.

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Gu and Gu Hongxia felt as if the sky was falling.

Was this implying that Mrs. Gu would no longer be managing the household?

"Dear, how can you entrust all the money to Yijin!" If that was the case, whenever she needed money in the future, she would have to ask Du Yijin for it! But how could she face such humiliation! If word got out, people would laugh at her! What kind of household lets the daughter manage the finances while the mother is still present!

This was tantamount to declaring her incompetent!

"Uncle, if word of this gets out, it’ll damage my cousin’s reputation!" Gu Hongxia, too, was worried that if Mrs. Gu lost control of the finances, their family would be left out in the cold.

However, both of them simply ignored their words.

"Father, I need to go to Marquis Shengping’s Mansion and return the ten taels to her."

"What ten taels?" Du Zhongkai was confused. When did his daughter start owing the Countess of Rui’an ten taels of silver?

Gu Hongxia quietly shrank back.

"Why return it? Since the blueprint was given to you, it’s yours! And thus, the silver is rightfully ours." Mrs. Gu insisted.

The blueprint was hers, hence the silver was theirs! Mrs. Gu sure knew how to twist words to her favor.

Du Yijin recounted the incident of the ten taels of silver.

"Go quickly then, don’t delay. We want to avoid being sabotaged by anyone with ulterior motives." Du Zhongkai implored urgently.

Du Yijin naturally understood this, so she didn’t waste any time and immediately arranged for a carriage.