Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

"The Lin family temple is too small to accommodate such a great Buddha as you, Lord City Lord. Please return." Lin Ping said resolutely.

The city lord understood his stubborn nature and didn't force him, lest things backfire. It was all his fault for making the wrong decision back then, and now it was too late to regret it.

The city lord's wife had been watching silently from the side. At this moment, she glared at the city lord fiercely, as if to say: "Go back tonight and kneel on the washboard. Don't even think about getting into my bed."

She had always thought highly of Lin Ping and knew that he and Jiang Yunying were truly in love. What mother wouldn't want her daughter to be happy, and ideally marry for love?

She didn't want Jiang Lanfeng to take Jiang Yunying away, but unfortunately, the city lord didn't stop him, and as a woman, she couldn't openly make decisions for him.

Although she didn't say it aloud, it didn't mean she wasn't angry.

First, she blamed him for ruining his daughter's happiness and hurting his feelings. Second, she complained that he lacked his own opinions, that he was such a grown man yet still had to follow his elder sister's arrangements in everything.

He is the city lord, a ruler above all others. If he has to listen to Jiang Lanfeng's arrangements for every decision, how can he lead his people to prosperity and strength?

Lin Ping was quite pleased with his mother-in-law, who was ruthless and didn't talk much.

Lin Ping had long understood that the reason why the city lord city had stood firm to this day was not because of men, but because of women.

The city lord's wife was like that, as was Jiang Yunying, and even Jiang Lanfeng made many contributions to the city lord's mansion.

The city lord followed eagerly behind, but the ghost washboard was uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, he has been kneeling frequently these days.

I thought it was because the lady had become irritable, but now I've finally found the root cause. She's blaming me for selling my daughter and losing my son-in-law.

After the main force of the city lord's mansion left, only one person remained, rubbing his hands together and waiting outside the door.

"Brother-in-law, they've all left." The chubby boy walked up to Lin Ping with a grin, waiting for instructions.

Would he not understand the meaning behind Lin Ping's gaze? I deliberately remain silent; after all, my brother-in-law cares about me.

"Yu'er, if you can do this, you can still call me brother-in-law from now on." Lin Ping put his hands behind his back, deliberately pretending to be indifferent.

Jiang Yunyu wasn't a complete fool; he clearly saw greed in Lin Ping's eyes. He felt like he'd fallen into a trap, yet he dared not desperately try to climb out.

Aside from being ripped off and losing her brother-in-law, it's a losing proposition. Even knowing there's a trap, she still took the plunge.

"Brother-in-law, don't worry, I'll go through fire and water for you," Jiang Yunyu said confidently, patting his chest.

To gain Lin Ping's trust, one must be firm in their stance, ideally even believing in themselves.

"Hmm, not bad. Actually... it's not difficult. You've done it before," Lin Ping said with a smile, his cold expression gradually turning cunning.

The chubby boy felt a little guilty. Under Lin Ping's instigation, he had done a lot of bad things, and had even almost been chopped to death by the city lord. He really wanted to quit.

"Brother-in-law is a little..." Lin Ping hesitated for a moment, then quickly stopped and said coldly, "He's a little short of money."

puff……

Jiang Yunyu spat out a mouthful of saliva; he knew it was no good.

He was indeed the heir apparent, but he had very little pocket money. He didn't even have enough money to buy Xiao Hui a gift. He even suspected that this was the main reason Xiao Hui left.

Besides, you, Lin Ping, are a very wealthy man. You certainly wouldn't ask for a hundred or two taels of silver.

"How much...how much is missing?" Jiang Yunyu stammered, his chubby little hands frantically rummaging through his pockets, almost tearing his clothes, before finally managing to find a tael of silver.

"Stop flipping, it's not enough." Lin Ping shook his head, signaling Jiang Yunyu to calm down, because what he was about to say might scare him to death.

"A conservative estimate is that we are short 500,000 taels."

As he spoke, Jiang Yunyu fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Five hundred thousand taels? Do you think selling me would be enough? Pork prices have gone up, so my net worth should have increased quite a bit too.

Jiang Yunyu muttered to himself, "Not to mention I don't have 500,000 taels of silver, I can't even find that much in the entire city lord's mansion."

If Lin Ping hadn't helped the City Lord's Mansion resolve its economic crisis not long ago, it would probably be in the red now.

He concluded that there were no more than 200,000 taels of silver in the city lord's treasury.

"Wow, so much!" Jiang Yunyu stammered, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

He was a real man, how could he say no? He had to swallow his pride and not lose face in front of Lin Ping.

“Brother-in-law knows the current situation of the City Lord’s Mansion. How about this, I won’t cheat you. I’ll just give you two hundred thousand taels of silver to settle this.” Lin Ping acted all understanding, as if someone owed him money.

Jiang Yunyu shuddered again. Not long ago, he had been to the warehouse and roughly estimated the amount of silver inside, which was exactly 200,000 taels.

He seriously suspected that Lin Ping's plan was premeditated, and that he intended to ransack the city lord's mansion.

"Can I write an IOU?" Jiang Yunyu asked with a grin.

"Hmph!" Lin Ping turned away unhappily, leaving behind only a cold sentence: "If you can't bring 200,000 taels of silver to the salt mine by Chenshi tomorrow, then our friendship is over."

Then came the cold sound of the door closing, leaving only the chubby boy lying on the floor crying.

This is outrageous! This isn't taking; it's stealing.

If they are discovered, their legs will be in danger—no, no, no! Their lives will be in danger too.

The city lord was terrified of poverty. He had finally earned a little money, and he would go to the warehouse every day to count it, wishing he could put it all under his pillow.

Jiang Yunyu stole money tonight, and he'll be found out tomorrow morning.

At that point, all that will remain is his affection for Lin Ping. He is determined to sever his father-son relationship with the city lord, and it could really lead to someone's death.

Lin Ping acted as if nothing had happened, went back to his room and fell asleep immediately.

That morning, despite his family's attempts to persuade him to stay, he resolutely decided to leave.

Time waits for no one; he needs to become powerful as soon as possible so that he has the leverage to challenge the imperial court and the strength to rescue his wife.

When we arrived at the mining area, it was just dawn. We saw two furtive figures waiting anxiously at the entrance, both with their hands covering their chests, making their clothes look bulging.

"Brother Zhu, Brother Xu, what are you doing?" Lin Ping was almost amused by the two men's comical behavior.

Upon seeing Lin Ping, the two men immediately perked up and forcefully pulled out a large handful of silver notes from their pockets.

"A full 100,000 taels, count them quickly." Zhu Xiaoji handed the silver notes to Lin Ping with a mournful face, feeling heartbroken.

This was all the wealth the Zhu family possessed; they had even sold off all their land and property, and were just short of selling their worthless house as well.

If he can actually make money in the future, this risk is nothing; if he can't make money, then his life is over.

He used to be a spendthrift, only indulging in gambling on stones and visiting brothels, spending a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver at most. But after learning from Lin Ping, he started spending tens of thousands of taels at a time. He was on the verge of bankruptcy in no time.

Xu Jianren and Zhu Xiaoji were in roughly the same situation, each carrying 100,000 taels of silver, as if they were entrusting their lives and fortunes to Lin Ping.