Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play-Chapter 3 Paying Off Debts

The elegantly dressed young gentlemen in the private seats had just mocked Fengyu for being too ashamed to show her face, saying she should wither away on her sickbed and die early to reincarnate, but now they had fallen into an eerie silence.

Lin Xiao slammed the table and rose abruptly, standing by the railing. "Is she crazy? Humiliated to this extent, yet she still dresses up flamboyantly and parades around the streets?"

"Isn't this exactly what Fengyu does? Always flaunting like a nouveau riche."

"She really has no shame. She dares to walk outside like this?"

Not only did Fengyu dare to go out, but she also shopped extravagantly, buying an entire carriage filled with silk fabrics, rouge, and jewelry. Qiuxiang, accompanied by several maids, loaded the goods onto the carriage while the shopkeeper of Linglong Zhuang carried multiple bags with eager enthusiasm to escort her out. After all, a single visit from Fengyu was equivalent to ten days' worth of business for him. The crowd who had just watched the dramatic debt collection scene at the Jiang Residence looked on in envy.

Fengyu really was rich!

The Jiang Family's mother and son somehow heard that Fengyu was at Linglong Zhuang and rushed over to confront her. When Jiang Lin saw the opulently dressed Fengyu, she was so furious she practically smoked from her seven orifices. Having instigated the commotion at their doorsteps and caused their reputations to be ruined throughout the city, Fengyu now radiated with vitality while spending lavishly. The peacock-feathered cloak she wore was a rare treasure that even nobility in the palace might not possess. Jiang Lin's hatred burned painfully in her chest.

"Fengyu, why did you incite others to come and destroy the reputation of me and my son?"

Qiuxiang saw Jiang Lin storming furiously and stepped sideways to shield Fengyu protectively, angrily saying, "Paying back debt is natural and just. You're here to trouble our Miss—how ridiculous is that?"

"I'm speaking to Fengyu. Since when do servants like you have the right to interrupt?" Jiang Lin's sharp gaze lingered on Qiuxiang, noting that the senior maidservant beside Fengyu was dressed better than most young ladies in ordinary families. This filled Jiang Lin with jealousy.

Fengyu gently pulled Qiuxiang aside and stepped forward two paces. Qiuxiang warily followed two steps, like a hen guarding her chick, as Fengyu's radiant eyes shone with innocence and confusion. "You owe money, and I'm collecting the debt. How does that ruin your reputation?"

"Your father clearly said the debt didn't need repaying. You're going back on your word. Have you even consulted him?" Jiang Lin acted confidently. The street was full of spectators, so she put on a sorrowful display to win sympathy. "General Wude saw how difficult life was for us as mother and son and extended his aid, explicitly saying this debt didn't need repayment. The engagement was canceled, yet Fengyu now comes to enforce the debt. This is clearly disregarding General Wude's word, disrespecting elders, and tarnishing the General's reputation—what kind of place does that leave his honor?"

Fengyu smiled, adjusted her cloak, and glanced at the gossiping onlookers with a faint furrow in her brow.

Debt collectors are always in the right!

Jiang Yang saw this, bowed gracefully, and said, "Fengyu sister, the cancellation of our engagement was entirely my doing. It's clearly my fault. I apologize to you. The silver gifted by Uncle Feng has already been spent during my years of exam preparation. Back then, Uncle Feng explicitly promised it didn't need repayment. My mother and I were strangers in the Capital City without any means of income. For me to study, my mother painstakingly wove cloth to sustain us, and at home, we ate coarse grain and lived frugally. Fengyu sister, you've always lived in luxury—how could you understand our struggles? Now you're forcing us at every turn, but isn't it just to save face for this wedding? Truthfully, we're truly unsuitable. I ask you not to pursue this matter anymore and seek another match."

The elegantly dressed gentlemen in the private seats upstairs burst into laughter.

"So that's why Fengyu is forcing the debt repayment—she's trying to save the marriage. Does she have no shame left?"

"Even the top scorer is unlucky to have caught Fengyu's eyes. She's trying to use money to force the top scorer into submission. Tsk, she's bringing disgrace to the Feng Family."

Lin Xiao leaned against the railing, his face full of mocking cruelty and venom. "With Jiang Yang's physique, a single kick from Fengyu would send him to meet King Yan. What could she possibly see in him?"

The crowd began to mock Fengyu as well, accusing her of being shameless in her efforts to save the marriage, even at the cost of disrespecting elders.

Furious, Qiuxiang wished she could claw apart Jiang Yang's hypocritical face. "Ah, spit! Jiang Yang, you're a fraud. You're not even fit to carry our Miss's shoes. Your despicable face truly disgusts me!"

Jiang Yang, still maintaining the demeanor of a top scorer, pretended to retreat strategically.

Fengyu was exceedingly beautiful, still quite young, with traces of childishness in her deliberate innocence, appearing extraordinarily charming. She asked with feigned naivety, "Esteemed uncles and aunts, Fengyu has no understanding of the price of daily essentials, but Mrs. Jiang and her son spent thirteen thousand taels over eleven years while still claiming hardship from weaving cloth and eating coarse grain. Is thirteen thousand taels very little?"

Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang's expressions changed instantly.

A coarse-clothed woman crossed her arms and said, "Our family of six spends only a hundred taels a year, a thousand taels in ten years. Thirteen thousand taels, yet claiming to survive on coarse grain and weaving cloth—who are you trying to deceive?"

"Miss Fengyu, thirteen thousand taels could sustain a family of four for over a century."

Fengyu's eyes widened as she exaggeratedly covered her little cherry-like mouth, gasping, "That much? Oh no, Father was conned!"

From the private seats upstairs, Lin Xiao froze. "..."

Qiuxiang suddenly realized and shouted angrily, "So it turns out you mother and son are shameless, coming to deceive money from the Feng Family year after year! Such audacity, and now you dare accuse our Miss of being infatuated with you? Our Miss has a luxurious life of eating and wearing gold, why would she want to suffer through coarse grain with you? She's not brainless; you are the greedy, shameless ones!"

The crowd's attitude shifted drastically as they began criticizing Jiang Lin and Jiang Yang for their avarice. Jiang Yang and Jiang Lin were overwhelmed with shame and fury. Jiang Yang glared menacingly at Fengyu. "Fengyu, you've gone too far!"

He raised his hand to strike Fengyu, but Qiuxiang and two maids had been on guard and rushed forward to block him. Fengyu stepped back two paces, but she stepped on a bead and suddenly slipped backward, falling to the ground.

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"Miss!" Qiuxiang, while shielding Fengyu, turned back to see her fall and flusteredly shoved Jiang Yang away.

Fengyu, unlucky as she was, fell backward and hit the edge of the flowerbed in front of Linglong Zhuang, dizzy and disoriented. The coral bead bracelet she had always worn broke its thread, scattering beads everywhere.

Qiuxiang took a sharp breath and was stunned on the spot.

Lin Xiao, who had been watching from the private seat upstairs, saw this scene and impulsively kicked the railing in frustration, then turned to rush downstairs. Li Pengfei stuck his head out to watch below. "Lin Xiao, this Miss Fengyu fell with just one push—delicate as a flower. Are you sure she'd have kicked you into the lake? Is this your slander at work?"

"Bullshit!" Lin Xiao ran down without looking back.

Jiang Yang hadn't expected Fengyu to actually fall. Just as he was about to ridicule her, the woman who spoke earlier stepped forward angrily. "You are a newly-appointed top scorer, yet you won't repay your debt and even strike someone on the street. How can someone like you be fit to serve as our magistrate?"

"The top scorer refused to pay his debts and hit someone publicly!" A child shouted, and the rumor spread like wildfire.

Jiang Yang became as frantic as an ant on a hot stove, sweating profusely as he stammered an explanation. "She fell on her own; I didn't hit her! She fell herself!"

Two maids had already helped Fengyu up while Qiuxiang, always protective of Fengyu, crouched down to pick up the scattered coral beads from the bracelet, her forehead beaded with sweat from anxiety. One bead even rolled into the crowd, forcing Qiuxiang to crawl on the ground to retrieve it.