The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

Liu Zhan frowned and strode over. Mei Yingxue sensed that familiar aura, and her body trembled involuntarily. Fear immediately appeared in her eyes, and she felt an urge to run away. However, she knew that she could not escape. She was afraid that she would never escape this man's torment in this lifetime.

"What? Are you scared?" Liu Zhan stood behind Mei Yingxue, leaned down and whispered in her ear. His breath hit Mei Yingxue's neck, making her mind replay those tormenting nights, and a chill ran through her body.

"Afraid? Don't forget, I am your husband, hahaha!" Liu Zhan's eyes were filled with madness as he watched Mei Yingxue's reaction with satisfaction. The frustration he had felt these past few days could only be relieved when he was in front of Mei Yingxue, where he could find that feeling of being in control of everything.

He grabbed Mei Yingxue's wrist, forcing her into his embrace, and said, word by word, "Tonight... no, perhaps it should be now, let's go to the room where your older brother died... hehe..."

"No!" Mei Yingxue suddenly stood up, and with a strength she didn't know she came from, she broke free from Liu Zhan's grasp, glaring fiercely at him, "You pervert!"

"Perverted? Don't you find it exciting?" Liu Zhan said nonchalantly, his face showing some displeasure at Mei Yingxue's struggle. As he spoke, he walked towards Mei Yingxue, his eyes seeming to want to push her into hell.

Mei Yingxue was filled with fear. She knew that Liu Zhan meant what he said, and he really was going to take her to the room where her elder brother had died... The image of her elder brother's tragic death flashed through her mind, then shifted to the bloodless corpse she had seen in the mortuary that day. Finally, her mind was filled with the nightmares that had tormented her every night. Every night she dreamed that her elder brother came to her to plead his case, repeating how horribly he had died, and questioning her again and again about why she had betrayed him!

She couldn't speak, she could only cry, and every morning she would wake up in fear and tears.

She couldn't imagine Liu Zhan actually taking her to that room to do *that*...

"Liu Zhan, haven't you tormented me enough?" Mei Yingxue's lips curled into a bitter smile as she pondered how to dispel Liu Zhan's thoughts.

Liu Zhan merely smiled dismissively. "Enough? How could it be enough? Then go ask your damned father about his revenge against the Liu family. Isn't that enough?"

At the end, Liu Zhan practically roared, his face contorted in a ferocious expression. Mei Yingxue trembled uncontrollably as she watched Liu Zhan approach her step by step, and could only retreat step by step.

The thought of the Mei family ignited Liu Zhan's anger. He strode forward, easily grabbed Mei Yingxue, and pulled her hard. In the next instant, Mei Yingxue was pinned to the stone table in the garden. His eyes flashed with bloodthirsty madness. Humiliating her in broad daylight would be a wonderful experience!

With that thought in mind, Liu Zhan leaned down and began to bite Mei Yingxue's neck. Mei Yingxue knew that struggling was useless, so she remained still like a corpse, not giving him any reaction.

Liu Zhan was even more displeased and was about to teach this bitch a lesson when he heard a voice behind him...

"Something terrible has happened...something terrible has happened...Young Master..." The steward rushed over, but upon seeing the scene before him, he was stunned and quickly turned away. In the past, if he had encountered this, he would have naturally left on his own, but...thinking of the news he had just received, the steward dared not leave.

"What is it?" Liu Zhan's desire was at its peak, but what could make the steward so anxious must be something serious. In addition, for the past two months, he had been like a frightened bird, and the slightest noise would make him tense all over.

Upon hearing Liu Zhan's inquiry, the steward dared not delay and immediately replied, "Young Master, we just received news from the capital that something has happened at the Yao family's tea garden."

Yao Family Tea Garden? Liu Zhan was startled. All his desires seemed to have been doused with cold water, instantly extinguished. He didn't even bother to straighten his disheveled clothes. He immediately got off Mei Yingxue and strode up to the manager. "Explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by 'something happened at Yao Family Tea Garden'?"

“Young Master, you must hold on! This… this is just news we received. The Yao family tea garden should have been ready for harvest a few days ago, but unexpectedly, in just a few days, tens of thousands of acres of tea that were about to be harvested were all infested with insects. The Yao family patriarch, the young masters, and the skilled tea growers are all at a loss, unable to even find out the cause of the infestation. In just a few days, tens of thousands of acres of tea have been completely destroyed by insects, and not a single pound of tea has been saved. Right now, the Yao family tea garden is in a state of utter chaos. The money that the patriarch invested…” The steward, seeing Liu Zhan’s pale face, couldn’t bear to continue.

He knew that last time, the young master borrowed money from Master Lu to solve his immediate problem, but that money had to be repaid eventually. The young master was counting on the income from the Yao family tea garden, but... who could have predicted that something like this would happen?

Liu Zhan seemed to have been struck by lightning; his mind went completely blank for a moment. What did he hear?

"How could this be? How could this be?" Liu Zhan kept muttering to himself. How could such a thing happen? How could all those tea leaves be infested with insects? Not a single pound of tea leaves could be saved. What did this mean? Had all the money his Liu family invested in the Yao family's tea garden gone down the drain?

"No, but it might." Liu Zhan's eyes flickered, and he shook his head repeatedly. He swallowed hard, slowly raised his head, and looked at the steward. Suddenly, his expression became extremely agitated, and he grabbed the steward's wrist. "Tell me, this isn't true, it's not true!"

Liu Zhan gritted his teeth and roared loudly. He couldn't accept this fact. How could he accept it?

Yao Family Tea Garden was his only hope now, but was he being told that all his expectations had sunk without a trace?

The steward frowned, his face full of helplessness. "Young Master, I know you're upset, and I never expected it to be like this, but... what's done is done. Now we should think about how to repay Master Lu's money. There are only three days left until the agreed date!"

Liu Zhan froze. Yes, Uncle Lu!

He also took the land deed and other ownership certificates of the Liu family's ancestral home from Uncle Lu as collateral. What should he do now? If he can't come up with the money, he won't be able to get those collateral back!

The value of those things far exceeds the silver borrowed that day!

However, at that time he was full of confidence in Yao Family Tea Garden and was eager to borrow money. Little did he expect that Yao Family Tea Garden would catch him off guard!