Chapter 119: Bloodshed
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Chase a debt?” First Elder was so angry that he laughed. “What does she want to chase?”
The pageboy staggered backward in fear. “S-She says that you haven’t given her things you promised to give in the agreement you signed when splitting the family assets previously… She also wants to claim the dowry her mother brought when she married into the family…”
The pageboy’s words shocked First Elder because he had almost forgotten about it. That day, he was driven to his grave by Chu Liuyue and did not even look at the details before signing the agreement.
After thinking about it now, the items he agreed to give to her were worth a huge sum of money. Just the dowry that Chu Liuyue’s mother gave to them alone was worth an extravagant amount. If he really returned all of the items to Chu Liuyue, the Chu family would lose a lot of money.
First Elder staggered backward in frustration as he glanced at the scattered account books on the table in the corner of his eyes. This put him in an even worse mood. The Chu family was currently losing money, and taking out this sum of money was akin to adding oil to the fire.
Why is Chu Liuyue so thick-skinned, daring to come to our residence and demand the items directly?
“First Elder, you should hurry up and go take a look. Chu Liuyue says that if she doesn’t get the money today, she’s not leaving… They have already blocked the entire gate…”
“Useless!” First Elder howled and walked outside with big steps.
Can a mere Chu Liuyue really take down the entire Chu family?
…
First Elder walked to the main entrance and almost fainted in anger upon seeing the scene in front of him. Chu Liuyue stood at the main entrance, and a group of curious onlookers surrounded her.
She was currently talking to the people around her in a sad tone. “…Yeah, when I was young, my mother left the world first, leaving my father and me to depend on each other. I think all of you know that my father got injured while serving the Emperor, so he couldn’t cultivate any longer. The Chu family said that my father and I had no ability to take care of my mother’s dowry, so they passed all of it to Lu Yao…”
“It has been so many years, and my father and I have finally made it big in life. I feel that everything else doesn’t matter. However, that dowry belongs to my mother, and it’s the last thing my mother left for me. If I don’t get it back, I’ll feel extremely uneasy…”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Chu Liuyue and Chu Ning were considered ‘famous’ in the Imperial City, so the public always talked about them in private. They knew that Chu Liuyue was speaking the truth. Actually, everyone clearly knew that the Chu family had done this to take over the dowry of Chu Liuyue’s mother.
The Chu family looked like they ran a big business on the surface, but they were very greedy on the inside.
“Yes, yes! The dowry is yours! Other people shouldn’t take it. You must get it back!”
“Exactly! The Chu family is one of the four biggest families. It’s too much if they refuse to return you the dowry.”
“That’s true… If the Chu family really does that, they’re shameless.”
The crowd broke into discussions, and First Elder’s face turned green. He hollered, “Chu Liuyue, what are you doing?”
Chu Liuyue looked over and lazily glanced at him. “Oh, Chu First Elder, don’t you know what I’m doing here? Previously, you agreed to split the family assets and claimed that you’d send the things that belonged to my father and me to us. However, nobody showed up after such a long wait. I didn’t even see the items’ shadows. I thought that you were probably too busy and didn’t have time to arrange trivial matters like this, so I specifically brought some people over.”
Chu Liuyue raised her hand and pointed at the few people behind her. “These two are Zhen Bao Pavilion’s managers, and they’re very proficient at reading through account books. They’ll help us check on the assets later and will definitely not miss anything out. These four people are Zhen Bao Pavilion’s pageboys, and they’re very strong. Therefore, they can help carry the items away, and we won’t bother the Chu family members. Chu First Elder, what do you think of this arrangement?”
First Elder was so angry that he could not say a word. This Chu Liuyue has it all planned out. She brought people along with her to block the gate and is determined to bring those items away. If I do not accede to her request, she will directly snatch the items away from me.
“How dare you! This is the Chu family residence, not somewhere that you can mess around in.”
Chu Liuyue retorted, “Why wouldn’t I dare to do this? I just came back to take back the things that belong to my father and me. Why can’t I do that? Chu First Elder, are you planning on going back on your words? Hah, many people have witnessed what happened this time and the previous time, so it won’t look too good on you if you act in this manner.”
Her smile faded slightly. “Of course, I know this is the Chu family residence. If it weren’t because you didn’t carry out your end of the agreement, I wouldn’t have come. I’m afraid that coming here too many times would dirty my eyes.”
“Chu Liuyue, what are you talking about?” scolded Lu Yao, who had rushed over once she heard the news. Hatred flashed across her eyes.
Whenever she saw Chu Liuyue’s face, Lu Yao would remember her daughter’s disfigured appearance and miserable wedding.
“Even though you don’t have anything to do with the Chu family any longer, everyone here were your elders previously. Did you lose your manners after leaving the Chu family?” With Lu Yao’s last strand of rationality, she did not scold her loudly in public as she knew that it was better not to do things the hard way with so many people watching.
However, Chu Liuyue did not buy her tactic and was too lazy to even be superficial. “Lu Yao, you came here at the right time! My mother’s entire dowry is with you. Even if you needed to check the stocks, the time given is more than enough. Since I have already come here personally, return the entire dowry to me. Or… are you unwilling to give it up?”
Lu Yao could not refute Chu Liuyue’s words in front of so many people, so she could only forcefully frown. “How can that be? Not mentioning the big businesses the Chu family runs, I—Lu Yao—am from the Lu family, so why would I covet your things?”
“That’s great.” Chu Liuyue interrupted her and took out a list from her sleeves. Chu Liuyue passed the list to the two people behind as she said, “This is the dowry list my mother brought with her when she married into the Chu family. Later, I’ll pass it to Manager Wu and Manager Zhang to check through them. Those are all things that my mother left behind, so I won’t take it lying down if even half an item is missing.”
Lu Yao was dazed. That list is something from more than ten years ago. How does Chu Liuyue have it?
Something seemed to be stuck in Lu Yao’s throat as cold sweat drenched her back.
She did touch those items after all these years… At first, she thought that Chu Liuyue and Chu Ning could never make a comeback for the rest of their lives, so she righteously claimed the items as her own. Who knew they would make a comeback?
Now, Chu Liuyue even wanted to check on the items meticulously.
What should she do?
While looking at Lu Yao’s expression, Chu Liuyue clearly knew her thoughts and could not help but sneer in her heart. If I don’t skin the entire Chu family alive today, they won’t know that I, Chu Liuyue, am not someone to be messed with.
“Xiao Wen, bring a chair over,” commanded Chu Liuyue, and a muscular young man behind her immediately obeyed her order. He hurriedly walked to the horse carriage, took out a purple chair, and put it behind Chu Liuyue.