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  This remark hit the weak point of Mrs. Han, more than 10 million taels of silver! Who would believe that this money was earned honestly? If the truth were told, it would spread and Li's family borrowed money to invest in a mine, resulting in a huge loss. She might not be worried to death, but Master Li would strangle her to death. Mrs. Han's attitude softened, after all, Mr. Gu now had the initiative, how to minimize the loss was the key.

  "Mr. Gu, I'm not trying to deceive you, but the truth is that my family's livelihood depends on the few properties we acquired in the past, which bring in some income. This time, investing in the mine has used up all our savings and most of it was borrowed. Mr. Gu, I really am in a difficult situation, can you think of a way out? I really can't afford to lose any more." Han said with a low and humble tone.

  Mr. Gu sneered in his heart, this woman was threatening just now and now she's pretending to be pitiful. He knew the Li family's situation very well, no need for her to explain, it wasn't their silver to begin with, what's there to cry about being poor or pretend to be pitiful?

  "Mrs. Li, it's not that I don't want to help you, but this is really a difficult matter to handle," Mr. Gu said with a bitter smile. "I estimate that even if we dig through the bottom of the earth, the output still wouldn't be enough to cover the labor costs."

  Han's face turned pale, gritting his teeth to support himself, barely avoiding collapse. He trembled and said: "What can be done? The silver was just thrown away like that?"

  Mr. Gu's face didn't look good either, and he let out a sigh.

  Mr. Han took a deep breath and said resolutely, "Mr. Gu, I've already told you the situation at my house. Now, I don't care how much silver we can make, but this money must be returned to me. If not, I'll forget about saving face and take it to court. You promised me a thousand times that everything would be fine, that's why I trusted you."

  Mr. Gu was taken aback for a moment, and a disdainful laugh came out of his nose: "Mrs. Li, are you accusing me of cheating?"

  Han said coldly: "Let the authorities decide everything at that time."

  Mr. Sun was anxious and wanted to persuade Mrs. Li, but Mr. Gu's gaze stopped him. Mr. Gu said calmly: "Mrs. Li, doing business always involves gains and losses. If you want to do a business that is guaranteed to make a profit without any risk, it's hard to find such an opportunity in this world. I had warned you beforehand that this matter carries certain risks. Who says wealth and honor are not obtained through danger? The contract for investing was signed by you yourself, and the seal was stamped by your own hand. Did I coerce you? You also have a copy of the mining documents, you can take it to the government office to verify whether it's fake or not. I'm just a lonely man, a nobody, what am I afraid of? If you want to report me to the authorities, please feel free to do so, I guarantee that I will follow the summons wherever they may lead. Mr. Sun knows where I live."

  "Mr. Gu, my wife was just momentarily flustered. What's the point of reporting to the authorities? Can it turn an abandoned mine into a gold mine? Let's all sit down and discuss how to minimize our losses."

  "Exactly, exactly... there will always be a way..."

  Han's flying knife went over, what method would there be? Even a three-year-old child would become useless, what method could there be?

  "Mr. Gu, didn't you have any silver left over?" asked Mrs. Jiang.

  Mr. Gu said, "The coal mine is almost gone, about 70% of it has been taken away. We still need to build some relationships, hire miners, and transport the coal, but there's not much left." Mr. Gu handed a ledger to Mrs. Jiang: "All expenses are recorded in here, Madam Li will know at a glance."

  Mrs. Jiang handed over the account book and transferred it to her husband, smiling very warmly: "Mr. Gu, our Li family's situation is different from others, other families can afford to lose this little silver, but we Li family can't afford to lose it, Mr. Gu, you see, can you distribute all the remaining silver to our Li family?"

  Han was also holding her breath, anxiously looking at Mr. Gu, just now she had used both soft and hard tactics, but they were all refuted by Mr. Gu, who was a seasoned veteran of the jianghu world, having been through thick and thin, and having seen it all; if anyone could be more ruthless, she would definitely be the loser. But Jiang Mama's suggestion rekindled her hopes - even twenty thousand taels, no, ten thousand taels of silver would be good too.

  Mr. Gu frowned and said, "This is really hard to handle? All expenses have detailed accounts, the other two families will know how much is left after calculation, how can I distribute it among you?"

  Han and Jiang's mother were both heartbroken and filled with despair.

  "But Gu Gong said again: 'Let me think of another way'"

  Mr. Sun went to see off Mr. Gu, and Mrs. Han suddenly felt weak and collapsed onto the chair, murmuring absent-mindedly: "It's all over, this time it's really all over, everything is all over..."

  Mother Jiang didn't know how to comfort her, now it's too late to say anything, the loss has already been settled, and the old capital is gone. But what about the 700,000 taels of silver that need to be repaid? The interest alone is over 40,000 per month, and there are still 200,000 taels due next month... Almost everything in the warehouse that could be sold has been sold, but the eighteen shops at Dongzhimen can't be sold without Young Master Er's face. What should we do now?

  "Mother Jiang? What should I do? I never dreamed it would end up like this, all my hopes, my heart's blood are gone... If Master finds out, he'll surely kill me... Now I'm really at the end of my rope!" Han Shi cried out helplessly.

  Mrs. Jiang patted her back lightly and said bitterly, "Ma'am, don't panic first, didn't Mr. Gu say he would think of a way?"

  "He just giving me all the leftovers is still far from enough"

  "Madam, it's better to discuss this with the master, hiding it won't work. Even if the master gets angry, you are his legitimate wife, he won't ignore you." Jiang Mama advised, but the situation had already gone beyond the madam's control. Those who were owed money by the printing shop all had powerful backers and were ruthless villains who would stop at nothing to get their money back. The authorities even feared them a little, and if things escalated, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Han raised her head, looking at Jiang Ma with a worried expression: "But... I'm afraid, I don't dare to. The master has been impatient with me for a long time, and he can't wait for me to die so that I won't be in his way. If I tell him about this, he'll take the opportunity to divorce me..."

  Jiang's mother wiped away her old tears, really wanting to say... If I had known today, why bother with the past. But since Madam is already so miserable, how can she bear to mention her husband's mistakes again?

  "Madam, the paper can't wrap up the fire. Rather than waiting for others to come and find out, it's better if you explain things to the master yourself. The master is indeed cold towards you now, but you still have young master and miss, even if the master doesn't care about his relationship with you, he won't ignore them because of young master's face."

  Han's heart wavered slightly, and he shook his head again, saying sorrowfully: "Mingzhu is already in such a state, and it's hard to protect herself. Ming is also so weak, how can I rely on them?"

  "Perhaps I should discuss it with the young mistress, her dowry is worth at least 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver, and next month's interest on the 200,000 taels will be due."

  Han hesitated and asked: "Will she agree?"

  "She may not agree, but she has to agree. This woman is just a follower of her husband, whether it's a chicken or a dog. If you, madam, are having bad luck, then the young master will also be treated poorly. She won't get anything good out of this either. As long as we help you get through this difficult time, there will come a day when things turn around again." said Jiang Mama.

  Han thought to herself: "It's still not good, if we touch Ruo Yan's dowry and let Mrs. Ding know about it, with her fiery temper, she will definitely go around the city and make a big fuss, making things even worse."

  As they were talking, Mr. Sun came back and stood in the middle of the hall with his head hung low.

  Han wiped away her tears and glared at him fiercely, her angry eyes almost spitting fire. She grabbed the cup on the tea table and slammed it to the ground.

  A crisp cracking sound scared Mr. Sun so much that his legs went soft and he knelt down.

  "This is the reliable and steady person you found for me, this is the lucrative business you introduced to me. Now, go think of a way to get the silver back, go!" Mr. Han scolded, pointing at Mr. Sun's nose.

  Mr. Sun knocked his head twice: "Madam, please calm down, I didn't expect things to turn out this way either. To be honest with you, Mr. Gu has also invested all his family's property and the silver he earned from running around Jianghu for half his life is all gone."

  "What does it have to do with me? Even if he's dead, it has nothing to do with me. I just want my silver back. If you can't think of a way to get it back for me today, I'll accuse you of colluding with outsiders and cheating your master." Madam Han said angrily.

  Mr. Sun was sweating profusely, and Mr. Gu had indeed shown great foresight.

  "Madam, how dare I commit such an act of deceiving my master and forgetting righteousness? Madam, please enlighten me." Mr. Sun repeatedly kowtowed.

  "If it weren't for speaking nonsense in front of the lady, could this silver be used to make a splash? A splash can still make a few sounds. Hurry up and think of a way for the lady, if we can't get past this hurdle, none of us will be able to escape, we'll all be unlucky."

  Mr. Sun lifted his head in a fluster, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and stammered: "There is a way...".

  "Come on, don't be hesitant, just say it."

  "Madam, why don't we just sell these two abandoned mines... " Mr. Sun said after calming down: "Anyway, outsiders won't know they're abandoned mines, as long as our plan is thorough."

  Han's eyes lit up and he straightened his back, saying: "Speak clearly."

  Mr. Sun stood up, took two steps forward and said in a low voice: "I also heard it from Mr. Gu, he wants to find a merchant to transfer his shares and then leave for another place, who can still find him at that time?"

  "He's alone, it doesn't matter where he goes, but we can't"

  Mr. Sun's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning, and he chuckled: "Ma'am, if you entrust all your shares to Mr. Gu, wouldn't that be it? Who would know you have a share then? If anything happens, others will only look for Mr. Gu, and we... won't be related."

  Han's eyebrows gradually relaxed, and he looked at Jiang Mama. Jiang Mama nodded, thinking this move was feasible.

  However, I'm afraid it won't sell for a good price, but in my opinion, being able to get back some of the money is better than nothing," said Mr. Sun.

  Han slowly got up and walked back and forth in the hall, with Mr. Sun and Jiang's mother's eyes following her as she turned around.

  After a long while, Mr. Han stopped and said, "Go tell Mr. Gu to help me transfer my share as well, whatever amount I can get back is fine."

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