Chapter 163: Carrying Out the Confiscation of Property to the End

"The keys. As of today, this household is managed by me."

"You!" Lady Wang was furious.

"Ping'er, take her!" Wang Xifeng said calmly. In the past, Wang Xifeng would have undoubtedly used sharp words first, followed by schemes, influence, and wit to force Lady Wang into handing over the keys. However, ever since she began practicing martial arts, Wang Xifeng preferred the most direct and forceful approach.

Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng belonged to the same Wang clan and were aunt and niece by blood; under normal circumstances, things would not have reached this point. Recently, however, Lady Wang had pushed Wang Xifeng to her absolute limit. During her time secluded in her small courtyard, Wang Xifeng had thoroughly sorted through all past events and finally seen through Lady Wang's hypocritical facade and malicious intentions.

Take the matter of usury, for instance. It was Lady Wang who had instigated it, playing the benevolent benefactor while leaving Wang Xifeng to take the blame. If things had blown up, Lady Wang would have emerged unscathed, whereas Wang Xifeng would have been utterly disgraced. Since Lady Wang showed no kindness, Wang Xifeng felt no obligation to show loyalty. Moreover, as a master of martial arts with immense confidence, Wang Xifeng simply did not care about Lady Wang's threats.

Ping'er showed no hesitation. Stepping forward, she instantly seized Lady Wang's vital pulse point and applied a slight pressure, causing Lady Wang to break out in a cold sweat all over from the pain.

"Madam, you had better hand them over quickly, lest you suffer physical torment!" Ping'er said coldly in Lady Wang's ear.

Just as Lady Wang wanted to scold Ping'er angrily, Ping'er instantly increased her grip. Lady Wang attempted to scream in agony, but Ping'er swiftly sealed her mute acupoint. Unable to make a sound, Lady Wang was terrified and hurriedly, tremblingly handed over the keys.

After receiving the keys, Ping'er released Lady Wang's pulse point, nonchalantly unsealed her mute acupoint, and returned to Wang Xifeng's side.

"How is the Old Dowry Matriarch?" Yang Xin asked casually.

"It is nothing serious. The old lady was overcome by a sudden surge of anger, but she will wake up in about another quarter of an hour," Imperial Physician Li said hurriedly.

Yang Xin sighed, "Such a misfortune upon our household, with wicked servants running amok. Furthermore, my father was pressured by my grandmother using filial piety, insisting that I pass on my noble title to the second son of the second branch of the Rong Mansion. It is not that my father refused, but rather that our Great Qian dynasty has never seen such a precedent since its founding. Alas! Yet my grandmother is advanced in years, and my father cannot reason with her, leaving him no choice but to go into hiding. To make matters worse, wicked servants have revolted. Her elderly self should never have been troubled with this in the first place. This is all our fault."

Lady Wang's eyes widened in fury, and she pointed a trembling finger at Yang Xin, yet she was unable to utter a single word. Wang Xifeng let out a muffled snort of laughter. She had never imagined that her own husband could be so shamelessly roguish. Right in front of an outsider, he was explicitly declaring: The Old Dowry Matriarch is senile, biased, and devoid of benevolence.

Imperial Physician Li was also a sharp-witted man and quickly chimed in, "The General need not grieve. Every household has its misfortunes. Fortunately, the General employed thunderous methods to purge the pests, and there is no need to worry about the Old Dowry Matriarch's condition. Once I return to the Imperial Medical Academy, I will discuss the Old Dowry Matriarch's case in detail with my colleagues to see if we can prescribe a standard remedy to keep on hand." With that, Imperial Physician Li left his prescription and scurried away like a wisp of smoke.

Jia Zheng and Lady Wang were even more enraged. What talk of formulating remedies with colleagues? This was clearly broadcasting the Old Dowry Matriarch's lack of benevolence far and wide. If this truly spread, while Lady Wang Shi would not be completely disgraced, the reputation of being a foolish dotard would certainly stick to her. When that time came, trying to suppress others with the banner of filial piety would be virtually impossible.

Besides wielding filial piety like a weapon, what else could women confined to the inner chambers possibly do?

Yang Xin then turned to Yuanyang and said with a stern expression, "Clever and virtuous Golden Yuanyang, you have never bullied your masters in the past, so I shall spare you this once. Alas, the Old Ancestor has been angered to this state by wicked servants and family thieves. You must tend to the Old Ancestor with utmost care. Should there be any further misconduct, I certainly will not forgive you!"

Lady Wang shouted indignantly, "I wonder just who it was that angered the old lady to this extent!"

"It was precisely those sticky-fingered servants who emptied out the storehouses of my Rongguo Mansion! How can such traitors who betray their masters be tolerated?" Yang Xin declared, and then strode away.

Wang Xifeng chuckled softly and swept away alongside Ping'er, leaving a roomful of people staring blankly at one another in utter shock.

Lady Jia suddenly bolted upright and shouted, "This beast..."

Vengeance should not wait overnight. After Yang Xin had eaten his fill, rested for a bit, and evening approached, he led his men straight to Lady Wang's quarters. Like a starving tiger, he demanded the account books. The keys had been handed over, but the accounts had yet to be settled.

As the master of the Rongguo Mansion, Yang Xin intended to audit the accounts and find out precisely how much wealth those audacious and reckless corrupt servants had embezzled from him. He also wanted every single household indenture of the estate's servants.

At that moment, Jia Zheng was still sulking in the outer study, while Lady Wang's face was as dark as the bottom of a cooking pot. She attempted to use her status as an elder to suppress Yang Xin, but Yang Xin paid her no heed whatsoever. Instead, he smiled brightly and said, "Before absolute martial power, all reasoning is merely a paper tiger. True justice exists only within the range of one's fists."

With that, Yang Xin lightly brushed his hand across a solid wood table, reducing it to fine powder. This display frightened Jia Zheng and Lady Wang so deeply that their hearts quaked with terror, fearing that the unhinged Yang Xin might direct such a blow at them.

Yes, Jia Zheng and Lady Wang genuinely believed that Yang Xin had lost his mind. If he hadn't gone mad, how could the obedient lackey who used to let them beat and scold him at will have suddenly become so terrifyingly savage?

Yang Xin, however, cared not a whit what they were thinking. That very night, he busied himself taking inventory of the estate's storehouses, sorting and categorizing the assets: transferring a portion to Wang Xifeng's private treasury, and heavily rewarding those who had rendered meritorious service. As for the servants, they were put through rigorous interrogation—the useful ones were kept, and the useless ones were sold off immediately. Dozens of summoned accountants worked through the night by candlelight, their abacus beads clicking away in a continuous, flowing rhythm.

Furthermore, Yang Xin cared not that it was already nighttime as he summoned the managers and stewards of all the shops and manors, showering them with heavy ingots of silver. Under the persuasive power of gold, he forced them to audit the ledgers of past years.

Following this thorough overhaul, seven or eight out of every ten servants in the Rongguo Mansion were gone, and all the key positions in the external shops and manors were replaced by Yang Xin's own men. Those who lacked competence were simply forced to learn or had capable personnel hired from outside. Since the high and low stewards of the mansion had all been sold off or detained, they were entirely replaced by people Yang Xin had brought up from Yangzhou.

Jia Zheng sighed heavily, completely at a loss for a solution. The Old Dowry Matriarch and Lady Wang were both angered into falling ill, while Wang Xifeng was beaming with radiant joy. The rest—the three Spring maidns and Li Wan—held their breath in quiet terror, not daring to utter a single extra word. Only Jia Baoyu continued to call out all day long for his precious Cousin Lin, utterly oblivious and bewildered as to what had transpired.

Yang Xin gathered the low-value scattered silver pieces and silks into the public accounts while swallowing everything else whole, transferring it all straight into Wang Xifeng's private vault. In an instant, Wang Xifeng transformed into a fabulously wealthy goddess of fortune.

That very night, Wang Xifeng offered herself to his bed. Since Yang Xin had inherited Jia Lian's karmic ties, certain duties naturally came with the territory. While engaging in unspeakable nocturnal activities, Yang Xin serendipitously discovered a hidden function of the Blood Bodhi.

A Blood Bodhi could heal injuries when one was wounded, and increase internal energy when one was uninjured. Moreover, the fundamental property of the Blood Bodhi was that it could heal any physical damage whatsoever to the flesh—surely a certain localized rupture would also count as physical trauma...

Wang Xifeng drove herself wild for half the night before finally drifting into a deep sleep, but Yang Xin found himself somewhat restless. He felt that this particular world left him feeling somewhat out of place.

Unable to sleep, Yang Xin simply stepped up onto the clouds, looking down at the Rongguo Mansion under the moonlight. Right beside the Rongguo Mansion sat the Ningguo Mansion; together, the two Ning and Rong mansions occupied the entirety of Ningrong Street. As the premier entities among the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, they emanated a strange sense of tranquility under the nocturnal moon.

Suddenly, Yang Xin's ears twitched slightly. He caught the sound of muffled cries for help—the sound was faint, and had he not acquired Daredevil's superpower of listening to all things from the Marvel universe, he truly would not have been able to catch such a subtle plea. Yang Xin activated his Byakugan and gazed downward.

The cries for help were coming from the Ningguo Mansion, and the person crying for help was none other than... Qin Keqing!