Chapter 126: Stealing Again?

"Snack Auntie!" Tuan Tuan rushed over when she saw Xie Yunshu.

"Hey! Hello, Little Princess!" Xie Yunshu bent down and hugged her, "Have you been to the Crispy Pastry Pavilion lately?"

"I told them that as long as you go, they'll pack all the snacks for you and load them onto a cart. Do you like that?"

Tuan Tuan replied obediently, "Like it! Thank you, Auntie!"

Xie Yunshu stood up, led Tuan Tuan into the Flower Hall.

The table was laden with assorted tea snacks; Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up, and she began eating as soon as she sat down.

Xie Yunshu pushed a stack of silver notes and several thick papers stamped with a vermilion seal in front of Tuan Tuan: "Princess, this is a 'grain voucher' for twenty thousand taels of silver and thirty thousand shi of provisions."

"Please forward it to Prince Ning, either as military rations or disaster relief, as a small token of goodwill from our Yun Que Merchant Guild."

What a grand handwriting!

Xiao Er, standing behind Tuan Tuan, wore a delighted expression; the Marquis's treasury had been ordered by the Gold‑Silver Prince to devote everything to this rare drought, and this year's military rations must be raised separately, so there's no need to worry this time!

Tuan Tuan stared at the thick stack on the table, and before she could speak, a sudden clamor erupted outside the Flower Hall.

"Let me in! I have an urgent matter of cosmic importance to see my elder sister!"

Before the words finished, a young man in a brocade robe, his face flushed, barged in—it was Xie Yunshu's younger brother, Xie Yunchen.

He looked exhilarated, rushed to Xie Yunshu, and shouted, "Elder sister! Quickly, give me all the liquid silver and valuables the family can mobilize!"

"I've found a sky‑reaching money route! I've opened the imperial merchants of Da Xia! This deal guarantees us profit with no loss!"

"In the future, our Yun Que Merchant Guild will become the foremost guild of the empire! Then even the Ministry of Revenue will have to defer to us!"

Looking down, he spotted Tuan Tuan and the silver notes and grain voucher before her; a trace of jealousy flashed across his face, and his tone turned sour: "Elder sister, since you have the spare energy to favor outsiders, isn't it more important to support your own younger brother's business?"

Xie Yunshu's face darkened: "Yunchen! Stop spouting nonsense! Quickly atone to the Princess!"

"Princess?" Xie Yunchen was startled; which Princess was this little child referring to?

Tuan Tuan set down the pastry, her large black‑and‑white eyes wide, and asked Xie Yunchen, "Are you going to sell Snack Auntie?"

Xie Yunshu's expression turned surprised at the words, and she looked at her brother.

Xie Yunchen's whole body stiffened; he forced a laugh, "Princess... what kind of talk is that..."

"That gold hairpin was a gift from you to Auntie, right?"

When those words were spoken, even Xie Yunshu widened her eyes and turned to Tuan Tuan. I realized I had never told Little Princess that the gold hairpin was a gift from Yunchen.

Tuan Tuan's little face drooped: "How could you be so wicked! Harm your own elder sister?"

Xie Yunchen vehemently denied, "You're talking nonsense! How could I harm her? I happened upon that gold hairpin while dealing with foreign merchants; I thought it was exquisite, so I bought it and gave it to my sister to wear."

"She has to wear it for forty‑nine days, right?" Tuan Tuan asked.

"Why..." Xie Yunchen took a huge step back, his face full of terror as he looked at her.

Forty‑nine days! That person indeed said so that day.

"Your sister may be good, but she clashes with your destiny and blocks your wealth. As long as she lives, you will forever be driven by her and never have a chance to rise."

"If you give her this gold hairpin, and she wears it continuously for forty‑nine days, all her wealth will transfer to you."

"Of course, her body will be harmed and she won't live long. But doesn't that suit you? Once she's gone, the guild will fall into your hands, and you can achieve great ambitions."

"How would I know?" Tuan Tuan twisted her little face, looking at Xie Yunshu: "Auntie! If you wear that gold hairpin for forty‑nine days, all your wealth will transfer to him, and then you will die!"

Spot on! Xie Yunchen's face turned ashen; how does this little child know everything?

Xie Yunshu was horrified, turned and stared intently at her brother.

"I didn't! Elder sister, don't listen to an outsider's nonsense!" Xie Yunchen hurriedly interrupted, his eyes flickering, "I truly only gave it to you because the gold hairpin looked unique!"

"Oh? What about the one you're wearing?" Tuan Tuan lifted her small hand, pointing at the brand‑new Pixiu Jade Pendant at his waist.

Xie Yunchen instinctively reached to cover the jade pendant: "This, what's wrong with this? I bought it myself!"

"Second Uncle! Bring that over!"

Xiao Er shifted his posture, and everyone saw a flash as the jade pendant landed in his hand.

"Miss." Xiao Er handed the jade pendant to Tuan Tuan.

Tuan Tuan swung her little arm and slammed it onto the ground.

Snap!

The jade pendant shattered in response.

A few strands of withered yellow hair suddenly emerged from the fragments!

Almost simultaneously, a bone‑chilling vortex sprang from nowhere, swirling around the shards; moments later it lifted the hair strands, rushed out of the hall, and vanished without a trace.

Exactly the same as that gold hairpin from that day!

Xie Yunshu no longer had any doubt; she was so angry her face turned bright red.

Xie Yunchen's complexion drained completely, and he stared dumbfounded at the jade pendant fragments on the ground, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cavern.

"When I broke that gold hairpin last time, you came up with this new scheme to swindle Auntie's silver into your own hands, right?" Tuan Tuan tilted her head, and her words pierced his deepest hidden calculation.

"No! It wasn't me!" Xie Yunchen fell to his knees before his sister with a thud, "Elder sister! She's spouting nonsense! Elder sister! I am your biological brother! How could I harm you? Elder sister! Please, you must not believe her!"

Xie Yunshu looked at her only brother, her heart aching: "Yunchen! You harmed me with that cursed object last time; I spared you because you are the sole son of the family, yet you still dare..."

"I didn't! Elder sister, don't believe her!" Xie Yunchen hurriedly interrupted her.

Seeing the truth exposed, he could no longer conceal it.

He glared at Tuan Tuan: "What do you know! The Da Xia prodigy wields boundless magical power, can summon wind and rain; you cannot compare. He is helping me glorify our family!"

Is that the Tou Shen again?

Stole the dragon's fortune and now comes to steal silver?

"Boundless magical power?" Tuan Tuan pointed at the jade pendant fragments on the ground, "Wearing that cursed thing, you can't even live to see the day you get the money!"

Xie Yunchen's eyes widened: "Impossible! You, you deceived me!" Though his mouth stayed hard, doubts swirled in his heart; the jade pendant concealed such a sinister object, clearly not a good thing—could it be that he truly fell for that person's trick?

Tuan Tuan shook her head: "He failed to harm Auntie, so he just lets you swindle Auntie's silver, and then you die! Auntie's silver will belong to him!"

"You… you…" Xie Yunchen pointed at Tuan Tuan, his finger trembling; he stammered for a long time, but could not utter a single other word.

The iron evidence before his eyes was like a heavy hammer, completely shattering his illusion of the Shen Tong.

It turned out that from beginning to end, I had always been just a pawn that could be discarded at any moment!

His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.

Xie Yunshu inhaled deeply: "Attendants! Take the Second Lord away and keep watch! Without my order, he may not step out of the courtyard even a single step!"

Several servants rushed in and dragged the Xie Yunchen, who looked like a heap of sludge on the ground, out.

Xie Yunshu turned, bowed deeply to Tuan Tuan: "Thank you, Little Princess, for once again saving my Xie family amid collapse."

Tuan Tuan laughed happily: "Auntie! I'm hungry!"

Xie Yunshu, with a face full of indulgence, shouted: "Bring the dishes quickly!"

Very soon, a table laden with exquisite dishes was carried up.

"Wow! So many delicious things! Second Uncle! Sit down and eat with me!" Tuan Tuan tugged at Xiao Er's sleeve.

Xiao Er complied and took a seat.

The three had just finished eating when people from the Ning Prince's Mansion arrived: "Little Miss! The Prince requests that you return to the mansion as soon as possible!"