The whole family is obsessed with love? The princess woke them up one after another.

Qi Zhiyu smiled slightly: "Duke of Wei, no need to be so polite, come, have a seat."

After bowing and expressing his gratitude, the Duke of Wei sat down to the side.

"It's nothing much. I just retrieved some things for someone," Qi Zhiyu said with a smile.

The Duke of Wei bowed and said, "Please enlighten me, Princess."

"Jiang Zhongming has made military achievements over the years, and His Majesty has bestowed honors upon him, along with his salary from the court. Shouldn't these be returned to him?" Qi Zhiyu asked.

Duke Wei froze.

"Of course, don't worry. Jiang Zhongming is a kind man. He remembers clearly everything you've spent on him over the years, from his food and clothing to every penny you've spent on him," Qi Zhiyu continued.

"Those fees should be deducted, and the rest, which belongs to him, I will take back on his behalf."

The Duke of Wei's lips twitched twice: "Princess, you're joking."

"It is a father's duty to raise his son; those things should not be taken away."

"Over the years, Jiang Baihua has indeed been in the wrong. I was also negligent and didn't do my best. Those things should be returned to him."

Qi Zhiyu came to his door in person to ask for it, how could he possibly refuse?

If they don't give it to her, given Qi Zhiyu's temper, she'll definitely make a huge scene.

In the end, the Jiang family lost face, and they still had to pay back the full amount of money... or even more.

Why bother?

He might as well do it more decently; at least it would look better on his own face.

"Hey, Duke Wei, you were his father after all," Qi Zhiyu disagreed.

Duke Wei frowned as he listened.

What does it mean to have "once"?

He always was!

"Since we've severed ties, let's cut them off completely," Qi Zhiyu said earnestly.

"Jiang Zhongming simply didn't want to owe the Jiang family anything. Therefore, he only took back what belonged to him."

"Here, this is the account book, Duke of Wei, take a look." Qi Zhiyu placed the account book on the table.

Duke Wei got up, went over and took it, returned to his seat, and then began to look through it.

The more he looked, the uglier his expression became.

Duke Wei quickly finished flipping through the ledger and was about to speak when Qi Zhiyu preempted him: "If you have any doubts about this ledger, you can call all your servants from back then and confront them face to face."

"To be fair, we can also send them to the yamen (government office) for a proper trial."

"Of course, Duke of Wei, you can stay by my side the whole time, so as to avoid any misunderstanding that you were tortured into confessing."

Qi Zhiyu has already said so much, what else can the Duke of Wei say?

Even if he found it unbelievable, he had to believe it was true.

The Duke of Wei smiled bitterly and said, "Over the years, this old minister... is truly ashamed."

"Whether you feel ashamed or not is none of my business," Qi Zhiyu said nonchalantly. "Anyway, I'm not the one suffering."

"Get your things ready, I'll have someone take them away right away."

The Duke of Wei said in a dilemma, "Your Highness, I'm afraid I don't have enough silver on hand right now."

"That's alright. Shops, estates, fields, medicinal herbs, jewelry... anything can be used as collateral." Qi Zhiyu was quite easy to talk to.

"If Jiang Zhongming wants to move up the ranks, he'll need to maintain these social connections. Those gifts can be given away."

Duke Wei felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest.

Qi Zhiyu said that on purpose, didn't she?

Definitely!

Jiang Baihua was exiled, and his Jiang family declined.

The other sons were delayed because of insufficient resources.

Moreover, with Prince Rui currently enjoying great power, what chance does his son have of ever getting ahead?

Even climbing up is difficult, so what kind of social interactions are there?

The valuable items in the storerooms of the Duke of Wei's mansion were not suitable for his other sons' social interactions.

Qi Zhiyu was certain that his other sons wouldn't need those things because they couldn't climb up.

Duke Wei felt as if a huge rock was lodged in his chest, like a frozen rock placed by the river in winter.

It was really cold and hard, heavy, and made him feel uncomfortable.

Even breathing feels incredibly difficult.

He now realized that Qi Zhiyu was truly adept at killing people by destroying their spirit!

But the Duke of Wei could only force a smile and say, "Please wait a moment, Princess. This old minister will go and prepare the things."

"Okay." Qi Zhiyu had no problem with that, she'd just wait.

It won't take long anyway.

Wei Guo announced his departure to prepare things.

Jiang Shuyi, left in the backyard, kept watching, wondering what Qi Zhiyu was doing there.

A short while later, she saw her grandfather send people to the storeroom to move things out.

Not to mention gold and silver jewelry, those rare and unique calligraphy and paintings are absolutely hard to come by even with money.

Grandfather once said that those things were hard to come by, and they could be used to help her father advance further in his career.

Why did Grandpa suddenly take it out?

Jiang Shuyi didn't think that her grandfather wanted to use those things to smooth things over.

Grandfather hadn't shown any sign of relenting just now, so how come Qi Zhiyu came and... Qi Zhiyu!

Jiang Shuyi suddenly realized that this matter might be related to Qi Zhiyu.

Did Qi Zhiyu come to her house to extort or blackmail her?

Jiang Shuyi was furious. Just as she was about to rush out, she suddenly stopped and withdrew the foot she had just stepped out.

No, if she goes over there, she'll definitely be discovered.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Shuyi decided to sneak over there unnoticed.

Fortunately, she was familiar with the layout of her home, so it was easy for her to avoid people.

Seeing that no one was in the main hall, she hurriedly stepped inside.

"This humble woman greets the Princess." Jiang Shuyi had learned her lesson and dared not neglect the proper etiquette.

Qi Zhiyu put down her teacup and nodded slightly: "Get up."

"Princess, is there something you need?" Jiang Shuyi asked with a smile. "I saw my grandfather preparing gold and silver jewelry; is it for you, Princess?"

Qi Zhiyu didn't say anything, but smiled first.

Her smile made Jiang Shuyi very uncomfortable: "Is the princess mocking me?"

"Yes," Qi Zhiyu readily admitted.

Jiang Shuyi immediately turned pale.

"What have I done that warrants the princess's ridicule?" Jiang Shuyi questioned.

"Does mockery need a reason?" Qi Zhiyu's smile widened. "This is the first time I've heard that."

"Jiang Shuyi, you know what, what you said is actually quite interesting."

Jiang Shuyi's chest heaved with anger: "Princess, why are you taking my family's money?"

"Could it be that the princess is trying to take advantage of the Jiang family's misfortune to extort money from them?"

"Insolence!" Duke Wei, who happened to be outside, overheard this and, before even entering the house, began to curse, "Jiang Shuyi, shut up!"

"Grandfather..." Jiang Shuyi said, feeling wronged, "The Jiang family was already in a bad situation, why would the princess kick us when we're down?"

"Grandfather, you have served the court for so many years, how could the princess force you to your death!"

"If His Majesty finds out about this... ah!"

Jiang Shuyi's next words were replaced by a cry of pain.

She was slapped to the ground by the Duke of Wei, her vision went black, and her ears were ringing.