Favoring a concubine and destroying the wife? I'll abandon my husband and children and wipe out

Wang Kesheng explained, "I really don't know how that undergarment ended up in the box I brought back! I didn't take it!"

"Are you implying that I did it myself?! We've never met before, why would I do such a thing? What good would it do me?!"

Ye Ruyue's tears fell without warning.

"That's not what I meant! I swear to God, I have never done such a thing!"

"It was just the two of us at the time. If it wasn't you, then who else could it be? Fine, you still want to slander me! I'll make sure everyone sees through your despicable nature!"

After saying that, Ye Ruyue was about to rush out, looking resolute.

Wang Kesheng tried to stop her, but Ye Ruyue punched and hit him, and even shouted to the people outside, as if she wanted to say it directly!

He panicked and tried to cover Ye Ruyue's mouth, but she bit him back, making him gasp in pain. He hurriedly said, "Please calm down, Miss! I'm willing to make amends! This matter concerns your reputation, there's no need to escalate it!"

Ye Ruyue then stopped, pretended to consider, and said, "Then I want ten thousand taels!"

"What?! Girl, do you think I, Wang Kesheng, am a sucker trying to extort money?!" Wang Kesheng glared.

Ye Ruyue sneered: "Isn't this money enough to buy your future and my daughter's reputation?"

Wang Kesheng clenched his fists, almost grinding his teeth to powder.

"I told you, I really didn't take that thing!" Wang Kesheng tried to convince the other party.

Ye Ruyue said, "Then is it me? Or do you think it has grown legs and ran into your box by itself, Steward Wang? Do you think that's possible?"

Wang Kesheng was unable to defend himself.

Ye Ruyue said, "I'll count to ten—one, two, three..."

Wang Kesheng's face turned ashen.

Ye Ruyue quickly counted to ten, then abruptly stood up to leave, calling out, "Sanmei—"

"Wait!"

Ye Ruyue stopped. "It seems Manager Wang has made up his mind?"

Wang Kesheng gritted his teeth and said, "I don't have that much money, can you give me less?"

"No way!" Ye Ruyue refused decisively. "I'm a kind person, so Manager Wang can give me whatever amount he has, and write an IOU for the rest."

Wang Ke stared intently at her.

Ye Ruyue looked up and met her gaze without flinching.

The atmosphere quickly became tense.

Finally, Wang Kesheng suppressed his anger, asked the shop assistant to bring in paper and pen, and personally wrote an IOU and pressed his fingerprint on it.

"Manager Wang also needs to give me one of your personal belongings as collateral. Otherwise, what use is a piece of paper to a weak woman like me if Manager Wang runs away?" Ye Ruyue said unhurriedly.

Teacher Wang closed his eyes, pulled the jade pendant from his waist, and placed it on the table. The IOU was already written; one more step wouldn't matter.

When Ye Ruyue reached out to take it, Wang Kesheng suddenly stopped her.

"I forgot to ask, who is this young lady? And what is her relationship with the Zhao family?"

Ye Ruyue was no longer afraid to tell him, "My name is Ye Ruyue. I am Zhao's cousin who came from afar to seek refuge. Everyone in the manor knows this."

Wang Kesheng looked pale upon hearing this.

That's it. Even if he tries to play the victim and beg the madam to intervene, she'll protect the orphan's reputation and won't side with him!

Ye Ruyue carefully put the things away and smiled slightly: "Thank you, Steward Wang, for giving Yue'er these things to put my mind at ease. I hope Steward Wang will repay the money as soon as possible and not keep Yue'er waiting for too long."

Wang Kesheng's expression became increasingly interesting. He watched helplessly as Ye Ruyue took Mu Li and left. He slammed his hand heavily on the table.

This whole thing about the bellyband is so strange; it clearly has nothing to do with him!

But just like that woman said, the other party has no reason to use his reputation to slander a stranger like him!

Who could have done that? Could it have been the madam?

Wang Kesheng's pupils contracted slightly, then he denied it again. The woman had said that she had changed the undergarment at the last minute, so it couldn't have come from the madam's place.

But what else could it be? Was he really going to have to suffer in silence like this?!

Wang Ke angrily threw everything on the table to the ground, startling passersby.

On the other side, after Ye Ruyue left, she asked the coachman to drive her to the money exchange on West Street. She looked at the large bag of silver in her hand and smiled.

Sanmei couldn't help but ask, "Miss, are you going to use this money to change the young master's seat? But isn't this enough?"

Ye Ruyue said, "Who said I wanted to exchange it? This is money I earned through my own abilities, of course I want to keep it for myself! As for the money that Ze-ge'er needs..."

She weighed the jade in her hand and scoffed, "Isn't this it?"

Sanmei subconsciously said, "But that Manager Wang is an innocent person."

"He's Cheng Nanzhi's man, so he's not innocent!" Ye Ruyue's face darkened. "Sanmei, if I ever hear you sympathizing with Cheng Nanzhi's people again, you'll face the consequences!"

Sanmei lowered her head and agreed.

When Ye Ruyue arrived at the West Street money exchange, she didn't let Sanmei follow her. She went in discreetly, first depositing the money she had swindled from Wang Kesheng into her usual account, and then whispering to the clerk that she wanted to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates.

Although everyone was involved in usury, it was still something that couldn't be done openly. So the waiter secretly took Ye Ruyue to the backyard and met the manager in a separate room.

"I want to borrow 10,000 taels of silver at exorbitant interest rates in the name of Wang Kesheng, the new manager of Zhiwei Pavilion!" Ye Ruyue took out Wang Kesheng's jade pendant. "This is his token. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to Zhiwei Pavilion to ask. The staff should have seen it, and Wang Kesheng himself will recognize it."

Ye Ruyue dared to do this because she was certain it was usury. The people from the former money exchange wouldn't ask openly; they would only hint at it indirectly.

Even if you ask Wang Kesheng himself, he will admit that he just owes her a favor.

The manager looked at Ye Ruyue with a probing gaze, said "Please wait a moment," noted down the design of the jade, and then left.

This was still a gamble, and Ye Ruyue clenched her fists, feeling somewhat nervous.

About 15 minutes later, the steward returned with the contract.

Ye Ruyue had no intention of paying it back herself, so she didn't care about the specific rules. She just glanced at it and wrote Wang Kesheng's name on it. Of course, she deliberately wrote the characters in a distorted way so that they were not recognized as her handwriting.

The manager quickly sent someone to bring the amount of money.

Ye Ruyue was overjoyed and, after confirming the news, happily led the group away.