The day’s lessons had ended, and Lan Ling boarded Ye Jingyu’s carriage to return home.
As they passed by the Civilian Academy, the same old scene played out again: noble young heirs humiliating commoner students. One luxurious noble carriage after another deliberately moved at a snail’s pace, forcing the commoner students to stand on both sides of the road, bowing deeply and remaining motionless.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
“Have the noble heirs of the kingdom already fallen to such shallow and foolish depths?”
The voice carried a distinctly masculine charm: firm yet not overly deep, full of power yet not shrill.
Then, a man dressed in plain cloth pushed through the crowd.
When Lan Ling saw him, he could not help but inwardly applaud. This man truly had an outstanding appearance.
He stood over one metre eighty tall, with looks as handsome as Suo Lun’s, yet his presence was even more commanding.
Because on that jade-like, beautiful face was a pair of eyes as sharp as a hawk’s. Combined with his tall, robust build, he gave off not the slightest hint of effeminacy. He was completely a man brimming with strength and charisma.
Although he wore plain clothes and was clearly a commoner student, his aura alone suppressed many of the nobles present.
Moreover, under his rebuke, a great number of noble heirs actually lowered their heads, not daring to retort.
Lan Ling was curious. Who exactly was this person? A commoner student who could directly intimidate so many noble heirs.
Ye Jingyu said, “This man is called Ling Ao. He is the most outstanding student at the Royal City Academy and the spiritual leader of the commoner students. Even though he has not yet graduated, the royal family has already taken a liking to him. Upon graduation, he will immediately become Prince Zhi Li’s personal attendant.”
An attendant is not a servant, but an assistant. Suo Lun, as the heir to an earl, was already quite prominent. Yet even for him, serving as Prince Zhi Li’s attendant would be considered a step too low. Usually, only the sons of dukes or marquises qualify to become the crown prince’s attendants.
However, Zhi Li had directly chosen a commoner student as his attendant. This was not only unexpected but also extremely domineering.
At this moment, although Ling Ao was not a noble, he was already very prominent. If nothing unexpected happened, in twenty years he would become one of the kingdom’s military commanders, and many of the nobles present would have to live by looking up to him.
Ye Jingyu added, “Ling Ao has another identity in relation to you.”
“What is it?” Lan Ling asked.
“Your romantic rival,” Ye Jingyu said. “He comes from Linhai City, which is the territory of your fiancée. Not only does your future father-in-law Gui Xingfu admire him greatly, but even your future wife Gui Qinshao seems to favour him quite a bit.”
Upon hearing this, Lan Ling’s gaze instantly narrowed. Although he was not Suo Lun, he would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
Whoever dared to put a green hat on him, he would put green hats on their entire family.
“Let us go. You cannot afford to provoke him for now. Let us each mind our own business,” Ye Jingyu said.
Ye Jingyu urged the carriage to speed up, intending to leave.
But at that moment, Ling Ao stepped forward instead and blocked the path of Lan Ling’s carriage.
“Suo Lun, is it?” he said indifferently, his tone as casual as if he were calling out to some random cat or dog.
Lan Ling first lifted the carriage curtain and said, “Yes. Please do not block the way.”
Ling Ao said, “I only want to say one thing to you.”
Lan Ling replied, “Is it something like telling me to give up my fiancée? If so, there is no need to say it.”
“No, it is not about making you give her up,” Ling Ao said. “This swan called Little Shao has never had anything to do with you to begin with. What I hope is that in the future you will never mention Gui Qinshao’s name again. She has a cleanliness obsession, and so do I. Neither of us wants her name to come out of your mouth. I would appreciate it.”
This man’s arrogance was simply off the charts. He even forbade anyone from saying Gui Qinshao’s name. Yet that was Suo Lun’s fiancée, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Ling Ao.
Coldness filled Lan Ling’s heart. He said calmly, “You put on quite a show there. I give you eighty points.”
Then Ye Jingyu accelerated the carriage and drove right past Ling Ao.
……
Upon returning home, Lan Ling immediately saw two uninvited guests: one fat, one thin.
When they saw Lan Ling enter, the three of them quickly stood up and bowed.
“Greetings, Young Earl.”
Lan Ling frowned and asked, “What is the matter?”
At that moment, Suo Ningbing walked out gracefully and said, “Little brother, come here.”
Lan Ling followed Suo Ningbing to the inner room. Seeing his sister’s tightly furrowed brows, he asked, “What happened? Who are those two outside?”
Suo Ningbing said, “They are here to collect a debt. A debt that Suo Lun owed.”
Lan Ling asked, “How much?”
Suo Ningbing replied, “Three thousand nine hundred gold coins.”
“So much…” Lan Ling nearly jumped up in disbelief. “What on earth did that bastard Suo Lun do to owe so much money?”
This was an astronomical sum. Even the annual salaries of a ten-thousand-strong army combined would not amount to that much.
Suo Ningbing explained, “Nine hundred gold coins are gambling debts. The other three thousand are a loan from the gold house.”
A gold house was similar to a bank in ancient times.
Lan Ling asked, “Could there be some trick here? How could he possibly owe so much?”
Suo Ningbing said, “I have checked. All the documents are genuine, bearing Suo Lun’s signature, fingerprint, and the seals of witnesses.”
Lan Ling said, “That bastard Suo Lun. Where did those three thousand gold coins go? Even if he spent it all in brothels, ten years would not be enough to use it up.”
Suo Ningbing said, “During an auction, Princess Zhi Ning took a liking to a piece of calligraphy. To please her, Suo Lun bought it at an exorbitant price and gave it to her.”
Lan Ling asked in surprise, “What calligraphy could possibly cost three thousand gold coins?”
Suo Ningbing replied, “It was a piece of handwriting by the Dragon Emperor himself. Extremely rare. Very few of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor’s ink treasures ever circulate, and after three thousand years, fewer than ten such pieces remain in existence. So the price is normal.”
Lan Ling asked, “Such a precious item, and Princess Zhi Ning simply accepted it without a qualm?”
Suo Ningbing said, “Of course not. She sternly refused Suo Lun’s gift. In a moment of shame and anger, Suo Lun set the Dragon Emperor’s handwriting ablaze.”
Instantly, Lan Ling felt like spitting blood.
That damned Suo Lun really went all out to chase women. Something bought for three thousand gold coins, and he burned it in one go. This was the behaviour of a top-tier spendthrift destroyer.
Suo Ningbing continued, “The key point is that when Suo Lun bid for the Dragon Emperor’s handwriting, he did not have enough money. He borrowed it from the Royal City gold house. Now the time has come, so they have come to collect.”
Lan Ling asked, “And what about the nine hundred gold coins from the gambling den? Was Suo Lun very fond of gambling?”
Suo Ningbing said, “He was not short of money, so he did not particularly like gambling. The reason he went to gamble was for a woman named Yi Yun, the daughter of a fallen noble. Her father loved gambling and owed a mountain of debt, so he planned to marry her off as a concubine to the gambling den’s boss. Suo Lun saw injustice and stepped in, taking on the debt to save the girl.”
Lan Ling said, “At that time, Suo Lun was madly pursuing Princess Zhi Ning, right? How could he go and get involved with another girl?”
Suo Ningbing replied, “This Yi Yun was his classmate and also his former lover.”
Lan Ling immediately gritted his teeth. It was fortunate Suo Lun was already dead. If he were still alive, Lan Ling would guarantee to beat him until he could not take care of himself, and preferably castrate him into a eunuch on the spot.
Suo Ningbing said, “But Suo Lun had no money, so he could only use the name of the Tianshui Earl’s House to write an IOU to the gambling den.”
Lan Ling asked, “If we simply refuse to pay, what can they do to us?”
Suo Ningbing’s face flushed slightly as she said, “Paying back debts is only right and proper.”
Lan Ling replied, “Sister, that depends on what kind of debt it is.”
Suo Ningbing gave him a surprised glance. This little brother was not as honest as he appeared on the surface. He could even talk about defaulting on debts with such righteous confidence.
Suo Ningbing shook her head and said, “It is impossible to default. Both debts are secured with collateral. The three-thousand-gold-coin loan is mortgaged against an estate, and the nine-hundred-gold-coin debt is mortgaged against a shop. Suo Lun stole the duplicate deeds of these two properties from the family.”
Lan Ling’s heart jolted. “These mortgaged estate and shop… they would not happen to be the two properties that were given to Duke Zhi Ting, would they?”
Suo Ningbing nodded. “Exactly those two. Once the deadline arrives and we do not repay, the gambling den and the gold house will take the IOUs and duplicate deeds to the Royal City law court to demand the transfer of these two properties. But these two properties now belong to Duke Zhi Ting, so they will end up suing Duke Zhi Ting to fight over them.”
At this point, Lan Ling suddenly understood everything. A chill ran down his back, and the hairs on his neck stood on end.
Clearly, Princess Zhi Ning had made her move again.
In the first round, when Suo Ningbing went to bribe Duke Zhi Ting, Princess Zhi Ning sensed the danger and made her first move, having Rogge expel Suo Lun (Lan Ling).
So Lan Ling went to find Suo Lun’s former lover, Mentor Niya, and once again captured her heart. With Niya’s intervention, Dean Jian Yong revoked the decision to expel Suo Lun, and Lan Ling safely passed the crisis.
But the moment Suo Lun returned to the Royal City Academy, Princess Zhi Ning’s second strike came—precise, ruthless, and almost fatal.
Although three thousand nine hundred gold coins was a huge sum, these two creditors had never intended to get the money back in the first place.
Their goal was simple: to completely enrage and offend Duke Zhi Ting against the Suo Clan.
Their plan was crystal clear. The Suo Clan could never produce three thousand nine hundred gold coins.
So once the deadline passed, the two creditors would take the IOUs and duplicate deeds to the Royal City law court to demand the transfer of the two properties.
But the properties were now in Duke Zhi Ting’s hands, creating a dispute.
Then the two creditors would go to court against Duke Zhi Ting to fight over the properties.
Once things reached that stage, how furious would Duke Zhi Ting become?
He had accepted the bribe and worked diligently on their behalf, even willing to offend the future crown prince. Yet in the end, the properties the Suo Clan offered him turned out to already have an owner. Were the Suo Clan playing him for a fool? Treating Duke Zhi Ting like some easy mark?
At that point, forget about helping the Suo Clan—Duke Zhi Ting would surely join forces with Zhi Li to crush the Suo Clan alive.
Right now, the Suo Clan had no choice but to stand against Prince Zhi Li. Duke Zhi Ting was their only major backer.
Although this backer was very greedy, he was also straightforward and actually a very good supporter.
Once they offended Duke Zhi Ting, the consequences would be utterly unthinkable. The Suo Clan could barely withstand Prince Zhi Li alone. Add Duke Zhi Ting to the mix, and they would be completely shattered to pieces.
Princess Zhi Ning’s methods were truly ruthless—pulling the firewood from under the cauldron.
Lan Ling asked, “How many days are left until the repayment deadline?”
“Two days,” Suo Ningbing said. “These two creditors deliberately chose this moment to come demanding payment.”
Lan Ling asked, “How much money does the family have left?”
Suo Ningbing replied, “Just over three hundred gold coins.”
Instantly, Lan Ling was genuinely shocked. The grand Earl’s House only had a mere three hundred gold coins left?
With the strength of the Earl’s House, repaying the debt was simply impossible.