Just as Ming Lingyi was heading to the Jingzhao Mansion to have the documents notarized, Yu Da had already arrived at the Ming Family Restaurant with the gambling den's thugs.
Yu Da had received a tip-off earlier. He didn't bother causing a scene outside the restaurant; he just pushed the main doors right open.
As for who had secretly unbolted the door, that was no longer important.
What was important was that the second branch of the Ming Family had no idea the men from the gambling den could just barge in at this hour. They were completely unprepared.
"Hand over that bastard Ming Fanjiang! If you won't, that's fine too. Pay up! A debt must be paid—that's the law of heaven and earth!" Yu Da roared in the courtyard.
In the back courtyard, only Ming Lingyi's second aunt and cousin were present. Her second uncle was currently rushing back with the house deed.
The appearance of Yu Da and his men terrified Ming Fanjiang.
While gambling at the den, he had personally seen these men chop off the fingers of someone who tried to welsh on their debt.
The bloody scene had been seared into his mind, refusing to fade.
Now that the men from the gambling den had come to his home, he instinctively shoved his own mother forward while crouching down, trying to sneak over to Ming Lingyi's courtyard.
'This time,' he thought, 'no matter what, I have to make that little wench hand over the silver notes!'
But while Ming Fanjiang's scheme seemed perfect in his head, the reality was different. After years of living as the young master at the Ming Family Restaurant, eating and drinking well, his figure was no longer the slender frame he'd had when he first arrived in Shangjing City. He was now as round as a ball.
He thought he could hide, but he was spotted by one of Yu Da's sharp-eyed men the moment he moved.
The next second, Ming Fanjiang was grabbed by the back of his collar and dragged out from under a table.
His legs went weak, a wet patch spread across his crotch, and he wailed with tears and snot streaming down his face, "S-spare me! The money... I'll definitely pay back the money!"
Yu Da sneered and kicked him in the back of the knee. Ming Fanjiang fell to his knees with a THUD, his forehead hitting the bluestone tiles with a dull SMACK.
"Pay it back? What are you going to pay it back with?"
"I... my cousin still has her dowry..."
Even for a gambling den enforcer like Yu Da, who was uncultured and had no moral baseline, hearing Ming Fanjiang's words made him let out a cold laugh.
"You really are something worse than an animal!" Yu Da said.
First, he got his own cousin's father killed. Now, not only did he want her family's property, but he also wanted to take her last bit of dowry for himself. Yu Da had seen his share of shameless people, but a backstabbing, ungrateful wolf like Ming Fanjiang was a rare sight.
Just then, Ming Lingyi's second uncle, Ming Xianggui, finally came scrambling in. He was still holding the house deed, and in his haste, he didn't notice the threshold. He face-planted with a THUD but still held the deed high in the air.
"Here! It's all here! Don't hurt my son! Whatever silver you want, you can have it!"
Hearing his own father's voice, Ming Fanjiang finally let out a sigh of relief.
One of Yu Da's men snatched the deed from Ming Xianggui's hand and glanced at it. "This restaurant is only worth three thousand taels at most. You think you can settle the debt with just three thousand taels?"
Ming Xianggui said, "My niece still has her dowry! I'll go get it right now!"
Yu Da replied, "Then what are you waiting for? If you don't have it, let me be clear. Ming Fanjiang owes our gambling den five thousand taels of silver. We already gave you a seven-day deadline. If you can't pay up today, my brothers and I won't be able to answer to our boss. We'll have no choice but to take one of your son's fingers back with us."
Ming Xianggui scrambled into Ming Lingyi's courtyard. He had already made up his mind before entering: today, even if it meant tearing all pretenses aside, he absolutely had to get his hands on Ming Lingyi's dowry money.
But soon, Ming Xianggui was dumbfounded.
Ming Lingyi's room was completely empty.
The already sparse room now seemed even more desolate.
When Ming Xianggui emerged from the courtyard, he looked as if he'd just lost his parents.
Seeing his father's expression, Ming Fanjiang couldn't help but ask, "Dad, where are the silver notes!"
Ming Xianggui: "..."
He had turned the courtyard upside down. Forget a silver note, he hadn't even seen a single copper coin!
Seeing the situation, Yu Da said, "It seems Manager Ming didn't find any silver notes?"
Ming Xianggui's lips trembled. "Young brother, do you think you could perhaps..."
"No." Before Ming Xianggui could finish, Yu Da cut him off. "Men! Since Eldest Young Master Ming can't repay his debt, we brothers will have to handle this by the book."
The moment Yu Da finished speaking, someone tied up Ming Fanjiang.
Ming Fanjiang went limp as mud, a foul-smelling liquid spreading from the corner of his robe as his eyes rolled back, nearly fainting. Amid his mother's shrieks and his own whimpered pleas, Yu Da's hand rose and the knife fell—
"AHHH—"
"My son!"
A section of Ming Fanjiang's finger fell to the ground. Blood gushed from the stump.
He let out a bloodcurdling scream, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, silent.
Yu Da was long accustomed to such things. "Next seven days. I hope Manager Ming can scrape together the remaining two thousand taels of silver for your son. Otherwise, we'll have to use his hide to settle the score, heheh..." With that, Yu Da tossed down a debt slip marked with a bloody fingerprint and swaggered off.
As Ming Lingyi and Xiao Chun entered the restaurant through the main door, they were met with the sound of her second uncle and aunt's heart-wrenching sobs.
She had just stepped inside when she saw Ming Fanjiang lying on the ground next to a small pool of blood.
Ming Lingyi covered her nose and mouth, a look of disgust on her face.
'He had the guts to gamble and lose, but not the guts to face the consequences. So scared he pissed himself, tsk tsk. How pathetic,' she thought.
The second aunt of the Ming Family was still cradling Ming Fanjiang and wailing. When she saw Ming Lingyi appear, she abruptly tried to stand and lunge at her.
"You wretched little wench! You did this on purpose, didn't you! You saw him in trouble and did nothing to help! It's barely morning, where have you been fooling around? You're an unmarried young lady! Have you no shame? You've brought your older cousin to this state. Are you satisfied now?!"
But before Mrs. Zhu could pounce on Ming Lingyi, Xiao Chun intercepted her.
Ming Lingyi, however, took two steps forward to admire Ming Fanjiang's miserable state up close. "Yes, I am quite satisfied."
Mrs. Zhu, who had been struggling with Xiao Chun, whipped her head around upon hearing that. "What did you say?!"
A vicious light gleamed in her eyes.
Ming Lingyi met her gaze without a trace of fear. "I said I'm quite satisfied with how Ming Fanjiang is right now. If he were missing a few more pieces of flesh, I think that would be even better."
"You!"
"Don't be in such a hurry, Second Aunt, Second Uncle. Surely you don't think I caused this? Then again, you're right. How could ungrateful, backstabbing wolves like you ever feel guilty? Did I hold Ming Fanjiang's head down and force him to gamble? He made this mess himself, and now he's paying for his sins. Isn't that perfectly normal? I haven't even started on you two. Not only are you squatting in my father's house, but now you want to steal the dowry he left for me. Are you even human?" Seeming to find some release, Ming Lingyi took advantage of Ming Xianggui and Mrs. Zhu's stunned silence and viciously kicked Ming Fanjiang where he lay on the ground.
She aimed her kick right at Ming Fanjiang's most vulnerable area, the force of the blow jolting the unconscious man awake with a sharp scream of pain.
Mrs. Zhu and Ming Xianggui were about to lose their minds. Ming Lingyi's kick was clearly aimed at ending their family line!
"You little bitch! I'll kill you! I'll take you down with me!"
"You damned girl, I see you're tired of living!"
Just as the husband and wife were about to attack Ming Lingyi, a sudden, thunderous shout came from the doorway—
"What do you think you're doing!"