Waste 08

"Still making excuses! Someone saw you leaving the city with your face covered! Did you think you could hide it from the eyes of the world?"

"Even a vicious tiger will not eat its own cubs. Fang Kui, what ruthless methods you have!"

The Emperor looked at him coldly.

Fang Kui felt incredibly wronged. He had indeed thought about killing Fang Zhiyi, but he hadn't actually done it! Why didn't anyone believe him when he was telling the truth?

"Your Majesty, please see clearly! I absolutely did not kill my son!"

"I will naturally investigate the matter of your son's murder. But before that, listen to their accusations." The Emperor leaned back. Ever since the last incident, he had been looking for an excuse to deal with the Fang family, and he hadn't expected the opportunity to present itself so quickly.

"Fang Kui, return the one million taels of silver to our Chen family!"

"And the one point two million taels to our Li family!"

"Two million to our Zhang family!"

Hearing these words, Fang Kui was clearly dumbfounded.

"What silver? I don't owe you any money!"

A figure jumped out. It was clearly Zhang Shizu, who had been beaten so badly that his face was swollen beyond recognition.

"Fang Zhiyi led us in doing business. We invested money with him, and then you killed him! Where is our money?"

"That's right! Pay us back!"

They finally stated their true purpose.

Whether Fang Zhiyi died or not didn't matter; the money was what mattered. The key was that no one knew what would happen to the Fang family after today, so they had to recoup their losses.

Fang Kui was completely bewildered. He knew absolutely nothing about this.

"Stop playing dumb! Pay us back!"

Seeing the chaotic scene, the Emperor spoke again, "Enough. Fang Kui, I give you one day to resolve your Fang family's debts. After that, I will interrogate you for the crime of murdering your son! You actually dared to kill someone I expressly declared to protect. Do you really think I cannot distinguish right from wrong?"

Fang Kui felt as if his entire body had been thrown into an icy pit.

That rebellious son! Even in death, he left behind such a massive mess!

Looking closely, almost everyone in the grand hall was a patriarch from the various noble families of the capital. Fang Kui's head buzzed.

"What?" Mother Fang looked at the dejected Fang Kui in absolute disbelief. "That piece of trash could cause such a huge commotion? Are those family heads all idiots?"

Fang Kui said nothing, his face full of despair.

Meanwhile, Fang Congyun was still in shock. Was the Fang family finished? He accidentally noticed that Jian Xiaoyu, who was standing to the side, was deathly pale.

"What's wrong with you?"

Jian Xiaoyu was almost in tears. Disregarding all etiquette, she ran up to Fang Kui in two steps, "Father! After you killed Fang Zhiyi, did you search his carriage?"

"I didn't kill him!" Fang Kui was ignited by these words.

Fang Congyun realized something and grabbed Jian Xiaoyu, "You... did you also..."

Jian Xiaoyu's face was filled with grievance, "He was making money! The first few times, I even received my share of the profits! I was just thinking of saving up a bit more money for us, I..."

"How much did you invest?" Fang Congyun's heart sank to the bottom.

"Three... three million taels... I even borrowed some from my mother, thinking I would return it to her with interest..."

Fang Congyun couldn't hold back anymore. He raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

Jian Xiaoyu was stunned by the blow. Clutching her face, she asked, "You... you hit me??"

"Idiot! You are such an idiot!"

"Congyun, you never used to be like this!"

"Shut up!"

Watching his son and daughter-in-law argue, Fang Kui was speechless. How had things suddenly turned into such a complete mess?

At this moment, the butler rushed in hurriedly, "Master, Master..."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Master, the shops you asked me to sell... they, they have all already been sold!"

"What!"

The butler's expression was grim, "The people renting the shops all have the deeds in their hands! They said..."

"Said what!" Fang Congyun had lost his usual composure.

"They said the eldest young master took the deeds and sold the shops directly to them, even giving them a significant discount..."

Fang Kui suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and fainted on the spot.

"Father!"

"Master!"

Peng Huan'er didn't know how to ride a horse, so she could only tightly hug Fang Zhiyi's waist, her face full of tension.

"Young Master, this 'Ponzi scheme' you talked about, swindling so much money all at once... are we going to have to flee to the ends of the earth now?"

Fang Zhiyi, however, looked completely relaxed and carefree, "Fleeing to the ends of the earth is a bit of an exaggeration. At least for now, they all think I was killed by my father."

Peng Huan'er pursed her lips, "Young Master, do you not like your family?"

"They are the ones who don't like me." He paused. "Rather than staying to be humiliated by them, it's better to pull off a big heist and run away."

"If the Master finds out that you stole all the title deeds and sold them, he will be furious."

"I don't care about him. For people like us, unable to fight and with no one to look out for us, if we don't focus on getting money, what else is there?"

Peng Huan'er felt a warmth in her heart. Fang Zhiyi had actually said 'us'. He never treated her with the distance usually kept between a master and a servant; instead, he treated her like a friend. Initially, Peng Huan'er hadn't been very used to it.

"Young Master, what if one of those noble scions had gone back and told their family head? Wouldn't your plan have been ruined?"

Fang Zhiyi laughed, "Impossible. They wouldn't say anything. The ones I sought out were all idle playboys just like me. Besides, they tacitly assumed that the business I was doing was something that could get a person beheaded. With their principal investments in my hands, they were in the same boat as me."

Peng Huan'er didn't quite understand, but whatever the Young Master said must be right.

"Even if someone did say something, so what? Did I ever shortchange them? I don't believe any noble family is so perfectly upright that they would run off to report me." Fang Zhiyi suddenly pulled on the reins, bringing the horse to a halt. "By the way, those people who helped me put on the act, you've settled them all properly, right?"

Peng Huan'er nodded, "Yes, they took their money and flew far away a long time ago."

They traveled in silence until the sky began to turn dark.

"My butt hurts from sitting," Fang Zhiyi muttered. Then he turned his head and said to Peng Huan'er, "Look, we're here."

Peng Huan'er looked to the side. A few people were waiting not far away. Seeing Fang Zhiyi and her arrive, they immediately walked over.

"Young Master Fang, we've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Was your journey smooth?"

These people had respectful expressions and sincere tones. Peng Huan'er recognized them: the juggler Li San, the street peddler Old Man Wang, and... that hunter who was bullied before, Bold Wu.

"Young Master, you said that if we were willing to follow you, we should wait here. The few of us have been waiting for two days."

Fang Zhiyi looked at them, a bit surprised, and suddenly smiled, "Everyone, this journey will be fraught with difficulties. Are you truly willing to travel with me?"

The few of them looked at each other and bowed to Fang Zhiyi one after another, "We are willing!"

"Stop spacing out." Fang Zhiyi patted Peng Huan'er's hand. "Hurry up and get off the horse to rest. We still have to continue our journey tomorrow."

Peng Huan'er was even more confused about what Fang Zhiyi was planning to do, but for some reason, following him made her feel a sense of peace.