Four days later.
The merchant convoy arrived at Qing Bei City. After sending the merchant's family home safely, the people from the Shenwei Escort Agency bade farewell and left. Before they left, they specifically reminded Lu An to drop by the Shenwei Escort Agency when he had the time so that they could play the role of host.
After the people from the escort agency left, Lu An accompanied Madam Liu, the accountant, and a dozen servants to bring the butler to the magistrate's office. Madam Liu wanted to kill the murderer on the spot but was stopped by the accountant. Once the butler was dead, there would be no evidence. If someone were to slander Madam Liu, no one would be able to defend themselves.
The magistrate's office quickly accepted the case. After four days of torment, the butler did not quibble and the case was settled on the same day.
At night, everyone returned to the Liu residence. Liu Jincai's body was still lying in the main hall. When the woman saw it, her eyes were filled with tears.
Even though four days had passed, she still could not accept the fact that her lover had left. For the past four days, she washed her face with tears day and night. In the end, she cried until she had nothing to cry for and her eyes were swollen.
After the accountant asked for Madam Liu's opinion, he quickly informed the relatives and people close to the Liu residence of the news of the death. A memorial service would be held the next day to send the old master off.
The next morning.
The originally grand Liu residence was now covered with white cloth. Everything was black and white. Anything with other colors had been taken away. The entire residence was filled with sadness.
Madam Liu and her daughter, Shuang 'er, stood at the side and received the condolences and sympathy of every guest. However, Madam Liu's sadness did not diminish. She kept hugging her daughter as tears fell.
Lu An stood in the corner. He was not a member of the Liu family and could even be considered a passer-by. However, he had witnessed everything with his own eyes and saw the meaning of a person's life.
Liu Jincai was dead, leaving behind a widow and daughter. It would be difficult for Madam Liu to support the huge Liu residence alone.
Looking at the people coming in and out, the Liu Residence had quite a number of friends on a daily basis. He had also heard the accountant's description of the Liu residence. Although the Liu residence was not considered a first-class family in Qing Bei City, it was at least a wealthy one. The family was in the antique business and the competition between the industries was not intense. They never made enemies, so they did not waste money on worshipping the Taoist masters.
Looking at the looks of regret on every guest's face, it was obvious that Liu Jincai was a popular person when he was alive. Lu An shook his head. In this world, it seemed that good people didn't live long.
Just as Lu An lowered his head in thought, two pairs of middle-aged men and women crossed the threshold and entered the mourning hall. When Madam Liu saw the four of them, she was stunned and her face stiffened.
These two pairs of men and women were husband and wife. The four of them came to the center of the mourning hall. They each lit two sticks of incense and then came before Madam Liu.
"Sister-in-law, Jincai left too suddenly. I'm sorry to have wronged you." One of the middle-aged women shook her head and sighed as she said, "We're all women. How are you going to live without a man?"
"Yeah!" The other pair of men opened their mouths and said, "My brother has been doing good deeds and treating people so well. Everyone in the village calls him a great philanthropist, but the heavens don't have eyes and actually let him die so early …"
When Madam Liu heard this, her eyes reddened and tears were about to flow out again. She slightly squatted down and bowed before saying, "Elder sister-in-law, younger brother-in-law."
Lu An watched this scene from the corner and frowned slightly. He stretched out his hand to stop a servant who was passing by and asked, "Who are those four people?"
That servant glanced at them and quickly answered, "The four of them are the master's biological siblings. That short and fat woman with short hair is the master's biological sister, called Liu Jinde. The tall and thin man is the master's biological younger brother, called Liu Jinshang. "
After thinking for a while, this servant said, "Although these two people are the master's biological siblings, the master rarely interacts with them. Moreover, the master has always disliked them. Even during the New Year, he didn't visit the two of them and didn't let them enter the house. I also heard that back then, the master left home alone because he didn't like his original family. He started this business from scratch with the purpose of severing ties with them! "
When Lu An heard this, he was startled and turned to look at the two people. When these four people entered the door, he was a bit wary. As the saying goes, one's appearance is born from one's heart. These four people had sharp mouths and monkey cheeks with greedy faces. Lu An felt that he was quite good at reading people.
After the servant left, Lu An watched the four people from the corner. After the four people and Madam Liu exchanged some simple pleasantries, Liu Jinde's eyes turned and he opened his mouth.
"I say, younger sister-in-law!" Liu Jinde held Madam Liu's hand and said emotionally, "Actually, there are some things that aren't appropriate to say today, but they have to be said today. The earlier you say it, the earlier you can make a decision, right?"
Madam Liu frowned and looked at Liu Jinde and said, "Elder sister-in-law, what do you want to say?"
Liu Jinde's fat face revealed a smile and said with a mischievous laugh, "It's like this. My younger brother passed away, so such a big family business can't be abandoned, right? After all, the Liu Estate is still surnamed Liu. I think it's better for me, the elder sister, to take over and continue to take care of the business. When the time comes, you and Shuang Er can live carefree lives like before. What do you think? "
When Madam Liu heard this, her face suddenly changed and she looked at her elder sister-in-law in shock. However, before she could recover from her shock, Liu Jinshang on the other side also opened his mouth.
"My sister is right. The Liu Estate is still surnamed Liu, so it belongs to the Liu Estate. However, my sister is a woman after all. If she were to take care of such a big family business, it would be too difficult for her to take care of it. Why don't you give it to me? I'll definitely take care of it well. When the time comes, you can continue to enjoy life. I'll work like a cow and horse to not let you and Shuang Er suffer!" Liu Jinshang patted his chest and said.
Madam Liu turned her head and looked at Liu Jinshang in shock.
However, before Madam Liu could say anything, Liu Jinde on the side disagreed. He turned to look at Liu Jinshang and asked with a frown, "I say, Jinshang, what do you mean by this? As your elder sister, I'm not as good at business as you? I've lived five years longer than you. When I was in charge of the accounts at home, you were still wearing diapers! "
Liu Jinshang heard this and his face changed. He immediately said, "It's meaningless to talk about this. Moreover, the Liu Estate is surnamed Liu. Although your surname is Liu, if it were really given to you, wouldn't you take your husband's surname? When the time comes, what would it have to do with the Liu Estate? Wouldn't it also be given to the maternal family? "
"How is that the same?" Liu Jinde suddenly became angry. He pointed at Liu Jinshang and said, "At least I'm still surnamed Liu, so I have the qualifications to manage it. At most, I'll have another child with the surname Liu! Look at you, you've been ignorant and incompetent since you were young. If the Liu Estate were to be given to you, wouldn't it be gone in a few days? "
"How is that possible?! I'm also running my own business now. If I didn't know how to do business, wouldn't my family have starved to death? "Liu Jinshang retorted loudly.
"You didn't starve to death because our father has been giving you money. Do you think I don't know?" Liu Jinde said sarcastically, "How much money father gives you every year, don't you know in your heart?"
"…"
The two of them quickly started arguing loudly in the mourning hall. Their respective spouses also joined in. For a moment, the two families quarreled without end. No one was willing to back down.
"Enough!" Suddenly, an angry shout resounded through the mourning hall, stopping the quarrel between the two families.
The four of them all turned their heads to look to the side. They saw that Madam Liu's face was filled with anger. Her fists were clenched tightly, like a volcano about to erupt.
"My beloved's corpse hasn't even turned cold. As his blood related sister and brother, you actually quarreled in front of his mourning hall. And it's over his family property. Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing this?!" Madam Liu shouted loudly, the veins on her face showing.
Everyone could see that Madam Liu was really angry. She even said the word 'retribution', which meant that she didn't want to leave any face.
Sure enough, Liu Jinde and Liu Jinshang's faces immediately darkened. Liu Jinde directly turned around and said impolitely, "I say, what do you mean? This Liu Estate originally belonged to my Liu Family. What's wrong with me and my brother discussing how to divide it? Don't forget that your surname is Li. You're not a member of my Liu Family! "
"That's right. Don't tell me you want to swallow this Liu Estate?" Liu Jinshang seconded and said loudly.
Madam Liu saw how shameless these two people were. She was so angry that her whole body trembled. She said loudly, "This Liu Estate was built up by my beloved from scratch. What does it have to do with you? He already announced to the public that he has nothing to do with you two. This is something that everyone knows. Do you think he'll agree to give this estate to you two? "
"Why wouldn't he agree?" Liu Jinde shouted loudly, "As long as his surname is Liu, he'll never be able to escape from this Liu Family! This Liu Estate is also Liu Family's property. It must belong to us surnamed Liu! "
"That's right!" Liu Jinshang shouted loudly, "Moreover, you can say that he doesn't recognize the two of us. But he has to recognize Dad! Before we came, we already asked. Dad agreed to let us take over the Liu Estate. Don't tell me he won't even recognize Dad? "
Madam Liu's whole body trembled. She widened her eyes and asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
"I said, even Dad agreed to take back this estate. What right do you have to object?" Liu Jinshang shouted loudly, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Dad yourself!"
Hearing Liu Jinshang's words, Madam Liu's body went soft. She took two steps back and sat on the ground. Her eyes were empty and she couldn't say a word.
"Madam!"
"Madam!"
The bookkeeper and servants rushed up and surrounded Madam Liu. Everyone's face was full of worry. They were afraid that something would happen to Madam Liu.
"Mom …" Shuang Er was frightened by this scene. She threw herself into Madam Liu's arms and cried. She already lost her father. She didn't want to lose her mother too.
"There's no use pretending to be weak. This property belongs to the Liu Family. Outsiders can't take it away!" Liu Jinde raised his head and looked at everyone around him. He said in a sharp voice, "Tomorrow I'll send someone to take over this place. I'll see who dares to disagree!"
"Me."
Before he finished speaking, a cold voice came from the corner.
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