Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 755 - 708 A Strange Forced Marriage (1)

Pei Shenyan nodded, "I can."

Li Yuwen raised her eyebrows, "Great, I must teach that Hu De’an a lesson myself!"

Pei Shenyan held her hand, "Yu Wen, if we catch evidence of his deceit, you don’t need to take action. The people from the government office will punish him."

Li Yuwen shook her head, "I doubt it. If he dares to deceive, he must have thought of ways to evade the law."

.

Things turned out as Li Yuwen had guessed.

In the afternoon, Pei Shenyan followed the address given by Li Yuzhu and found Hu De’an.

But Hu De’an claimed that it was Second Master Wei who took him to the gambling house, not the other way around.

He also said, there were people from the gambling house who could testify for him, and he didn’t utter a single false word.

Pei Shenyan also found the gambling house, and the owner said that he only earned commission from the house. Whoever wanted to gamble and how big the stake was entirely up to the guests, and the gambling house didn’t interfere.

Pei Shenyan returned home and told Li Yuwen what he had found out.

"Didn’t find much. Hu De’an claims that uncle went to the gambling house on his own will." He shook his head, "It’s a tough situation, the willing can always complain but rarely win in court."

"What has uncle done? Why is he being so tightly controlled?" Li Yuwen expressed her dissatisfaction, "No, we need to use some special methods!"

She couldn’t believe Second Master Wei willingly went to the gambling house.

Pei Shenyan was worried that Li Yuwen would go to the gambling house and argue with people, as it was a place filled with all sorts of people, not suitable for her to visit.

"I’ll go ask others, you shouldn’t go."

Seeing him worried, Li Yuwen nodded obediently, "Alright."

But she already had made up her mind.

Pei Shenyan was the type to directly ask people face-to-face.

If Hu De’an indeed cheated Second Master Wei out of his money, he wouldn’t tell the truth and would naturally find various ways to cover it up.

And Pei Shenyan was too straightforward.

So, she decided to conduct a covert investigation herself.

After Pei Shenyan left for work, Li Yuwen called Li Yuzhu, taking Da Chuan and Jisheng along with her, and went out.

On the road, Li Yuwen explained the matter regarding the Wei Family to Da Chuan and Jisheng.

These two grew up in the Capital and already knew the routes of all the markets and streets by heart.

They didn’t need to inquire upon reaching any street or market; they could find the location in the quickest time.

Jisheng drove the carriage, weaving through the markets, and finally, they reached a remote market in the West Market and found Hu De’an’s residence.

Li Yuwen and Li Yuzhu only observed the vicinity of Hu De’an’s residence and did not knock on the door to find him.

Since Pei Shenfang had already come looking for Hu De’an, if they went to find him again, Hu De’an certainly would be more alert.

Li Yuwen surveyed her surroundings and said to Da Chuan, "Da Chuan, stay nearby and find a way to follow Hu De’an. By this time tomorrow, I must know if Hu De’an cheated Second Master Wei out of his silver."

Da Chuan chuckled, "Don’t worry, I will find out."

He looked around, noticed no one was paying attention, and quietly climbed over Hu De’an’s yard wall.

Li Yuzhu widened her eyes, "He’s going undercover, that’s a smart move, Da Chuan is impressive."

Li Yuwen sighed, "If we can’t find anything, we’ll just have to lend five thousand taels of silver to Second Uncle temporarily. Since Sixth Cousin is gone, Seventh Lady can’t have any mishaps."

After mumbling, she started to complain about Second Master Wei.

Li Yuzhu pulled her along as they walked back, "What else can we do? We can’t beat him to death, he’s our uncle."

Li Yuwen sighed, "I’m just complaining."

Li Yuzhu led Li Yuwen to get into the carriage when suddenly Li Yuwen exclaimed, "Isn’t that Eldest Young Madam Pei? What’s she buying?"

Li Yuzhu followed her gaze.

They saw a young woman speaking with a shop clerk outside a pharmacy by the roadside.

By her side, the maid was carrying several parcels of medicine.

"At a pharmacy, she’s obviously buying medicine," Li Yuzhu said casually.

"Wait!" Li Yuwen pulled Li Yuzhu, hiding behind a big tree outside the pharmacy door.

Eldest Young Madam Pei had finished buying the medicine and left the pharmacy with the maid.

The two walked, chatting softly, passing by the big tree without noticing Li Yuzhu and Li Yuwen.

"It’s already the fourth day, why hasn’t Young Master recovered yet? Young Madam, if he doesn’t get better, we should switch to another clinic." The maid glanced at the medicine in her hand and said.

"This place is familiar, they won’t go around telling others. If we switch to another place, people will find out about Young Master’s injury, no, we can’t." Eldest Young Madam Pei waved her hand.

Li Yuzhu softly asked Li Yuwen, "Did Young Master Pei get injured?"

"I hit him," Li Yuwen replied proudly with a raised eyebrow.

Li Yuzhu twitched her mouth, "Did he provoke you?"

"Humph, he tried to take advantage of me. It’s already kind of me not to break his leg," Li Yuwen sneered.

"He’s bold enough to scheme against you? Well done! Well done!" Li Yuzhu clenched her fist and said angrily.

Li Yuwen tugged at Li Yuzhu, "Follow up!"

The two of them jogged forward, trailing behind Eldest Young Madam Pei.

The people ahead were walking and chatting softly, unaware of anyone following behind.

They talked about Young Master Pei being injured, and as the conversation shifted, they began discussing the Yu Wen Family.

"Young Master Yu Wen is also getting treated here, so the doctor must be good. Don’t worry so much," Eldest Young Madam Pei shot a glance at her maid.

"But young mistress, Young Master Yu Wen has been sick for over half a month and hasn’t recovered yet."

"You’re not a doctor, how do you know he’s not better? It’s called ’illness strikes like a mountain, recovery comes like unravelling silk.’"

They passed a row of shops and reached the entrance of the market street.

A carriage was parked there.

Eldest Young Madam Pei and her maid walked toward the carriage.

But at this moment, Li Yuwen suddenly called out to her, "Sister-in-law, out shopping? Oh, whose medicine is that for?"

Eldest Young Madam Pei’s body suddenly tensed up, too scared to move from where she stood.

Her maid glanced at her suspiciously, then turned around to see it was Li Yuwen and bowed, "Fifth Young Madam."

"Who are you getting medicine for?" Li Yuwen pointed to the medicine in the maid’s hand.

The maid stammered, too afraid to speak.

Eldest Young Madam Pei took a deep breath, slowly turned around with a smile on her face, "Oh, it’s my fifth sister-in-law, what are you doing here? Oh my, who is this?" she asked, trying to look relaxed, pointing at Li Yuzhu.

"This is my third sister. We were out for a walk and saw you ahead, so we followed. By the way, sister-in-law, you were just talking about Young Master Yu Wen being ill for many days. What illness is it?" Li Yuwen asked with a bright smile.

Eldest Young Madam Pei’s face gradually turned pale.

She stammered, "Who knows..."

"Sister-in-law’s expression shows you don’t want to tell me the truth?" Li Yuwen glanced at the roadside, "There’s a teahouse here, why don’t we go upstairs to a quiet place and talk?"

To a quiet place?

To close the door and beat her up?

Eldest Young Madam Pei’s legs trembled with fear.

She didn’t dare to follow Li Yuwen to a quiet place; she was terrified.

After thinking about it, Eldest Young Madam Pei had to tell the truth, "I heard a friend say that Young Master Yu Wen has been sick in bed for over half a month, with a fever and sores."

Li Yuzhu raised her eyebrows slightly, sick yet in a hurry to marry?

What’s the logic in that?

She tugged at Li Yuwen’s sleeve, quietly reminding her.

Li Yuwen also thought of it.

"No way, I heard the Yu Wen family is arranging for him to marry a new wife. If he’s bedridden, how can he marry? Wouldn’t that scare the bride away?"

"His family is wealthy, and his father and brother are the Emperor’s favorites. With some tactics, they’ll manage to get a bride somehow, right?" Eldest Young Madam Pei said with an accommodating smile.

Li Yuzhu and Li Yuwen exchanged glances, feeling that the situation was very odd.

"Rushing to marry, could it be that he has no heir?" Li Yuzhu thought of some families’ practices.

When a son is long sick, they hurry to marry off a wife to soon have a child.

To prevent a sudden death of the son, ensuring there’s an heir to inscribe on the tombstone.

Even in modern times, some remote areas still practice this, tricking poor girls into marriage and childbirth.

"His first wife had a daughter, no sons," Eldest Young Madam Pei said.

Li Yuzhu smiled, "Only a daughter, no sons, so in a hurry to marry a wife to have a son? What if she can’t have a son? No, what if before she conceives, Young Master Yu Wen kicks the bucket?"

Eldest Young Madam Pei glanced at Li Yuzhu, then at Li Yuwen, chuckling awkwardly, "You are married women yourselves; there are always ways to ensure a woman conceives, right?"

Li Yuwen, who just tasted the joys of married life, blushed.

As a doctor, Li Yuzhu was not embarrassed by such questions; instead, she felt a chill running down her spine.