Reborn, I was pursued by the Prince of the Broken Sleeves

Hearing the noise, Su Tinggui turned around and knelt beside the bed, holding Madam Qian's hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, his eyes welled up with tears. "Mother, don't worry, your son has already bought nourishing pills for you to take. Your health is much better now."

His father died early, and he and his mother wandered from place to place since childhood, developing an unusual dependence on her.

"Okay!" Old Madam Qian choked with emotion as she agreed, having survived the ordeal.

“Aunt…” Madam Lin’s eyes were red as she rushed to the bedside. “Aunt, you’ve been unconscious the whole time. Do you know how worried I was?”

"Grandmother, Jiaojiao is so worried about your condition that she can't sleep at night." The two said affectionately, sobbing softly.

Granny Lan glanced coldly at the mother and daughter, then turned her head away.

Madam Qian's gaze fell coldly on the two of them, and she said indifferently, "Alright, I'm not dead yet, don't cry here, it's disheartening."

"aunt……"

"grandmother……"

"You may leave," she commanded coldly.

Aunt Liu and her daughter exchanged a glance, noticing the old lady's aloofness. They were puzzled and dared not ask any further questions, so they simply acknowledged and left.

When only the two of them remained in the room, Old Madam Qian sighed softly, "Tinggui, my son, you are my only son."

She used to treat Aunt Liu like her own daughter, saying more than once, "If you call me aunt, then aunt is like mother."

This incident completely broke her heart.

“Su Tinggui, I misjudged her before. Aunt Liu comes from a small place like Tianxinzhuang. The power of managing the Su family affairs is not suitable for her.”

"If it weren't for her extravagance over the years, how could our Su family's accounts be so empty? We wouldn't even be able to come up with a few thousand taels of silver."

"The Lin family comes from a general's family. They were exposed to the ways of the household from a young age, and their ability to manage the household was taught from childhood."

“In the past, she was sick and in poor health, so we didn’t want to trouble her.”

"Now that she's recovered, it's time to hand over the management of our Su family's household affairs to her."

Madam Qian's sudden change in attitude greatly surprised Su Tinggui, who blurted out, "Mother, my relationship with Lin Shi has broken down, and now she is determined to divorce me."

"Divorce? Cough cough cough..." Old Madam Qian coughed a few times, and Granny Lan hurriedly handed her a cup of tea.

She took a sip of tea, cleared her throat, and said, "Over the years, you have been busy with official duties and have indeed neglected Lin Shi. Now that there is a vacancy in the household, Aunt Liu is not up to the task, so we still need her to be the head mistress."

“This…” Su Tinggui hesitated.

“My son, harmony among relatives is the foundation of a good family. I am doing this for your own good. Go back and think about it carefully.”

After talking for a while, Madam Qian got tired and waved her hand, "Go."

As Su Tinggui left Yixiang Garden, the image of his mother's wounded eyes and forlorn expression kept flashing before his eyes.

That wretched woman, Aunt Liu, caused my mother such heartache just for money.

He was feeling angry when he ran into the steward, Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang bowed and reported, "My lord, I have investigated the matter on South Street last night."

The bloodshed on South Street last night happened to occur in front of Aunt Liu's shop, causing the shop's prices to drop by almost half.

In the past, the shop wouldn't have been in a hurry to be sold. After a while, when people had forgotten about the murder, the shop's price would have gone up.

But he couldn't wait and wanted to sell quickly. Some people were wary of this, so the shop was not only difficult to sell, but the price was also low.

So, after he returned to his residence, he asked Zhang Liang to go to the streets and find out what was going on.

Zhang Liang recounted the storyteller's tale in detail.

Su Tinggui was furious when he heard this.

That girl Su Manman is still out playing wildly even after dark; she really doesn't respect the Su family's reputation.

But upon hearing the rest, he felt a surge of secret joy.

If that's the case, Xiao Ao and the soldiers of the patrol battalion owe that girl a favor.

As her father, he naturally earned their respect.

And why is His Highness Prince Qi still with Man'er even though it's dark?

Could it be two people...?

He looked down on that brat, but if she really caught the eye of Prince Qi and could marry into the Prince Qi's mansion, it would be a great thing for the Su family.

Thinking of this, he recalled his mother's advice and murmured, "I should treat Lin better."

He beckoned to Zhang Liang and whispered a few instructions.

Zhang Liang looked troubled and stammered, "Master, there isn't that much silver in the manor's public accounts?"

Su Tinggui didn't believe it, "There were clearly three thousand taels of silver yesterday."

Zhang Liang nodded and lowered his head, wishing he could disappear into the ground. "Yesterday at noon, Aunt Liu sent someone to take away two thousand taels of silver."

"What does she need so much silver for?"

Zhang Liang shrank back. "Aunt Liu didn't say anything, only that she would return it later, but it hasn't been returned yet."

Upon hearing this, Su Tinggui was instantly enraged. He flung his sleeves and headed towards Lanxin Garden.

"Crack!" Just as one reached the doorway, the sound of porcelain shattering on the floor inside the house was heard.

When the gatekeeper maid Donglian saw the master, she was so flustered that she wanted to kowtow to announce his arrival. Su Tinggui glared at her fiercely, which frightened her so much that she knelt down on the ground, nodded and lowered her head, not daring to utter a sound.

"How could the master be so selfish?" came the hysterical voice of Aunt Liu from inside the room. "He sold off my private property without saying a word to buy medicine for that old woman, and what about me?"

"Without those industries, how will I survive?"

"Mother," Su Jiaojiao said softly, trying to persuade, "Grandmother's illness cannot be delayed, and Father had no other choice."

"He only makes things difficult for my daughter and me." Aunt Liu said indignantly, her voice trembling with tears, "Madam Lin has money, but he doesn't want it. He insists on selling our private property. What kind of logic is that?"

“My elder sister speaks sternly and is not easy to talk to. Even if Father speaks up, I'm afraid we won’t get anything out of her.”

“The master only bullies the weak. It’s only because my daughter and I are kind-hearted that we are bullied like this. Is he perhaps old and senile, that he would do such a despicable thing?”

In her moment of anger, Aunt Liu unleashed all the pent-up frustration on Su Tinggui.

"Bang!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was kicked open with great force. In the blinding sunlight, Su Tinggui stood outside the door, flames around him seemingly visible to the naked eye.

"Aunt Liu, you shameless woman, how dare you speak ill of your mother-in-law and husband behind their backs."

Aunt Liu was so frightened that her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, stammering, "Master, you...you've come."

How long had he been there? How much of what she had just said had he overheard?

Aunt Liu was terrified. She staggered to her feet, carefully grabbed Su Tinggui's sleeve, and said softly, "Master, I was angry for a moment and spoke nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."

"My lord, please come inside and rest. I've made your favorite lotus seed soup. Have some. Donglian, go and serve it..."

“Who wants to drink the rubbish you cook…” Su Tinggui flicked his sleeve and threw her to the ground.

He glared at her and demanded, word by word, "Yesterday, you withdrew two thousand taels of silver from the accounting office. Where did you spend it?"

When questioned, Aunt Liu turned pale and panicked even more. "Master, please let me explain. I only wanted to use it to get rid of Hu Niang and then get the silver back. Who knew that the silver would be stolen by villains halfway through..."

“Yes, Hu Niang happened to be caught in the ambush on South Street, and the silver was stolen by the villains. This… the silver wasn’t retrieved, sir… this is truly not what I wanted…”

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"