The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 139: Compensation Fee

No matter how Mrs. Shu threatened and cajoled her, Jin Ling’er would never hand over the token of engagement and the marriage contract.

Finally, Mrs. Shu lost her patience and gave a direct order.

"You ungrateful thing! You had to do this the hard way!

Men, restrain this little brat and search her!"

Immediately, two servants rushed in, moving to grab Jin Ling’er.

Jin Ling’er’s face went pale with fright. She pulled her brother back, retreating step by step.

Just then, Li Ji kicked out, sending the low table next to them flying.

The teapot and cups on it crashed to the floor, sending shards of porcelain flying everywhere.

The shock drained all the color from Mrs. Shu’s face, and she let out a shriek.

"Ah! What are you doing?!"

The two servants were also startled and hastily retreated to avoid being cut by the flying shards.

The Gao family steward hurried out to call for help, quickly returning with a large group of Protectors, each armed with weapons like clubs and staves.

They intended to use their superior numbers to crush Jin Ling’er’s group of four.

The result, however, taught them the meaning of quality over quantity.

Li Ji was agile and a master of martial arts. Even with his arm injured, this rabble was no match for him.

Even alone, he was more than enough to beat the Gao family’s Protectors to a pulp.

The room filled with the miserable, piercing cries of the Protectors.

Hearing this, Mrs. Shu and the steward felt their scalps tingle with fear and their legs turn to jelly.

Just as the two of them were about to slip away unnoticed, Hua Manman stepped directly in front of the door, blocking their escape.

With her hands on her hips, Hua Manman asked with a wide grin,

"Where might the Young Madam be off to?"

Mrs. Shu said stiffly, "I-I have some business to attend to. I won’t be able to entertain you any longer. Please, feel free to do as you wish."

She had originally assumed these four were just common refugees who would be powerless to resist her bullying. She never expected a peerless martial arts expert was hidden among them.

She had truly picked a fight with the wrong people, and she regretted it immensely.

Hua Manman called the Jin siblings over and asked them what they wanted to do next.

Jin Sinian was so scared he hid in his sister’s arms, his thin body trembling uncontrollably.

In truth, Jin Ling’er was also terrified.

But as the older sister, she had to stay strong.

So she forced herself to calm down and quickly think of a plan.

By now, she understood completely. The Gao family looked down on her and wanted to annul the engagement.

’It’s not a big deal to annul the engagement, really.’

’In my current situation, I truly wasn’t good enough for the Gao family’s young master. Even if I had managed to marry into the family, I likely wouldn’t have come to a good end.’

That was why she had prepared for the worst before coming to the Gao family.

If the Gao family refused to acknowledge the marriage contract, she would take her brother and leave, find a new place, and start a new life.

However, the reality was even worse than she had imagined.

The Gao family not only tried to trick her out of the token and contract, but they also attacked her and her friends with extreme viciousness.

If she hadn’t brought Li Ergou and his wife with her today, she and her brother would have just had to curl up and take a beating, with no strength to fight back at all.

The mere thought of that scene made her tremble with anger.

Even a worm will turn, and she was a living, breathing person.

Jin Ling’er looked at the evasive Mrs. Shu and said angrily,

"You want to annul the engagement, don’t you? Fine, I can agree to that!"

Mrs. Shu was delighted. Just as she was about to agree, she heard Jin Ling’er continue.

"But you have to give me a sum of money as compensation for our losses."

Mrs. Shu nodded without hesitation.

’She’s just a little country girl. How much money could she possibly ask for?’

’Toss her a few dozen taels of silver, and she’ll probably be ecstatic.’

This time, Jin Ling’er had learned her lesson.

She knew she was inexperienced and didn’t understand many things, so she turned to Li Ergou’s wife and asked softly,

"Sister-in-law, do you think this is a good idea?"

Hua Manman answered without a second thought, "It’s a great idea! This is exactly what you should do!"

’Compared to some worthless man, gleaming silver is obviously much better!’

Jin Ling’er felt relieved and asked cautiously, "Then how much money do you think I should ask for?"

Hua Manman held up one finger.

Jin Ling’er hesitated. "One hundred taels? Isn’t that too much?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Shu sneered to herself. ’What an ignorant little country girl, scared by the mention of one hundred taels.’

’Although one hundred taels was more than she had expected, it was an acceptable price to get rid of this pair of poor siblings.’

Just then, they saw Hua Manman shake her head.

"Wrong. One thousand taels."

Jin Ling’er was completely stunned.

O-One thousand taels?!

That was an astronomical sum she wouldn’t have even dared to imagine!

Mrs. Shu was also taken aback.

The Gao family was a major clan in Fu’an County with numerous properties, but they were hardly a prestigious house with wealth comparable to a nation. For them, one thousand taels was no small sum to be produced on a whim.

Mrs. Shu wanted to haggle, but Hua Manman cut her off before she could speak.

"This concerns the happiness of your brother-in-law for half his life. One thousand taels is already a very cheap price. If you’re not satisfied, we can raise it. How does one thousand two hundred taels sound?"

Mrs. Shu hurriedly said, "No, no, no, don’t raise it."

Hua Manman held out her hand. "Then pay up."

Mrs. Shu said with difficulty, "One thousand taels is not a small amount. I have to go ask my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Hua Manman waved her small hand. "Go on."

Mrs. Shu scurried off in a panic to find Mr. and Madam Gao.

When Mr. Gao and Madam Gao learned of the matter, they were both incensed. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

But the other party held the token of engagement and the marriage contract, and they had a powerful expert on their side. The Gaos couldn’t trick them and couldn’t beat them, so they had no choice but to swallow their loss.

In the end, Mr. Gao, suppressing his boiling rage, ordered someone to bring silver notes worth one thousand taels and deliver them into Jin Ling’er’s hands.

It was ten silver notes, each with a denomination of one hundred taels.

Jin Ling’er had never seen so much money before.

As she left the Gao family residence with the silver notes tucked away, she still felt a little dizzy.

But she hadn’t completely lost her head.

She took out five of the silver notes and handed them to Li Ergou’s wife.

"This was all thanks to you. We wouldn’t have gotten this much money otherwise. We should split it evenly."

Hua Manman only took one silver note. "This is enough for us. Keep the rest and hold onto it tightly. You have a long life ahead, and you’ll have plenty of need for it."

If she weren’t so desperately poor right now, she wouldn’t have even wanted that one silver note.

Jin Ling’er was very embarrassed, feeling that she had taken great advantage of them.

Normally, this would be where they parted ways.

But the Jin siblings had nowhere suitable to go for the time being, and Hua Manman was worried the Gao family would lie in wait for a chance at revenge.

So, she told the siblings to continue following them and that they could part ways after leaving Fu’an County.

Naturally, the Jin siblings were overjoyed.

They first went to a clinic to find a doctor to bandage Li Ji’s wound.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside the clinic.

Hua Manman and the others walked to the doorway and looked out curiously, only to see many government soldiers outside.

The soldiers all looked fierce and menacing.

They were herding all the commoners on the streets back to their homes, going door to door to issue a warning: the Crown Prince would soon be entering the city. All citizens were to behave themselves, stay indoors for the next few days, and not speak carelessly. Violators would be severely punished!

...

I’ve been rewriting this section over and over since this morning, so the update is late. I hope everyone can forgive me. *bows*~