The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Where’s the Money?

SLAP—!

A sharp, crisp slap echoed as Ye Heng swung his hand, sending Han Yao sprawling to the ground.

Ye Heng had put his full force into the blow. Caught completely off guard, Han Yao took the hit squarely. Half his face swelled up instantly, and blood even started to seep from the corner of his mouth.

”This is the Ye Family! How dare you act so insolently!”

Ye Heng was clearly furious. His face was ashen, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.

He looked as if he wished Han Yao would simply vanish on the spot.

Han Yao’s head spun, and he tasted the coppery tang of blood. The sensation made his temples throb.

When he realized what had just happened, all the blood rushed to his head.

”Ye Heng, you dare to hit me?!”

Growing up, no one other than his own father had ever dared to treat him like this!

But Ye Heng seemed even more enraged. ”I’m teaching you a lesson on your father’s behalf!” he roared. ”If you don’t know what can and cannot be said, then I’ll make you understand today! Resorting to any means to achieve your goal, slandering people with baseless accusations... I really don’t know where you learned such underhanded tricks!”

Every word implied that Han Yao’s earlier claims were nothing but slander against him.

Before Han Yao could retort, Ye Heng grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him outside.

”You are not welcome in the Ye Family! From this day forward, do not come back! The life and death of your Han Family has nothing to do with me!”

Han Yao struggled to break free from Ye Heng’s grip, but Ye Heng, despite being middle-aged, was surprisingly strong. He seemed to be acting with immense determination, his aura overwhelming. Han Yao, who usually spent his days idly, had also been hit by a series of blows recently, leaving him haggard and weak. For a moment, he was no match for Ye Heng.

He opened his mouth to say something more, but the tight collar choked him, making it difficult even to breathe, let alone speak. His face turned the color of beet root.

Everyone standing around was stunned into silence.

No one had expected Han Yao to show up today, much less that Ye Heng would resort to physical violence, making such an ugly scene.

Ye Heng’s expression was grim. A heavy weight seemed to press down on his chest, and his entire body was wound tight with tension.

’Get Han Yao out of here immediately! Those words absolutely cannot come out of his mouth!’

But just then, he suddenly heard Ye Jingyan’s voice from behind him.

”Second Uncle, it looks like Mr. Han has something to say. And... it seems to be related to my father. Why not let him finish?”

Ye Heng said coldly, ”He’s spouting nonsense. There’s nothing worth hearing!”

As he spoke, he didn’t slow down, continuing to drag Han Yao outside.

Suddenly, a powerful force stopped him, preventing him from taking another step.

Ye Heng looked back in astonishment to see that Ye Yunfeng had appeared behind him at some point. One of his hands rested on Han Yao’s shoulder, a smirk on his face. ”Second Uncle, isn’t this a bit too heartless? Not long ago, you were singing Mr. Han’s praises, insisting that my older sister marry him. How is it that in the blink of an eye, you’re trying to throw him out? If word of this gets out, people will surely whisper that you’re ruthless and disloyal. That would sound so unpleasant, wouldn’t it?”

Ye Heng had no desire to deal with him and secretly applied more force, only to discover with a shock that he was no match for Ye Yunfeng.

On the surface, Ye Yunfeng’s hand was just resting casually on Han Yao’s shoulder. In reality, he had the man in a death grip. No matter how hard Ye Heng pulled, Han Yao didn’t budge an inch.

’This Ye Yunfeng... what brute strength!’

Ye Heng was powerless. He could only frown and say coldly, ”This is a matter between myself and the Han Family. It’s not your place as a junior to interfere!”

”I couldn’t be bothered to meddle in your two families’ affairs, but didn’t I just hear that my father is involved?” Unlike Ye Jingyan, Ye Yunfeng wasn’t one for reasoning. The moment he heard Han Yao’s words, he knew he’d made the right choice in coming today.

’If I can’t pry something useful out of Han Yao, this won’t be over!’

Completely ignoring the ugly expression that instantly appeared on Ye Heng’s face, Ye Yunfeng patted Han Yao’s cheek with the back of his hand.

”Hey. What you just said—repeat it, honestly and word for word.”

Although he was a few years younger than Han Yao, his roguish, devil-may-care aura was hard to resist.

Han Yao could finally breathe. His face was flushed, and his breaths came in short, ragged gasps.

Ye Heng was already trembling with rage. He turned to Ye Jingyan, his fury unconcealed.

”Is this the wonderful brother Ye Chutang raised?! Do you people have any manners at all? Do you understand the rules?!”

Hearing this, Ye Yunfeng tilted his head. His long, dark eyes, cold as if quenched in ice, shot a look at him.

”What a coincidence. Whether I have any manners depends on the other person. If someone shows me an inch of respect, I’ll show them a foot. But if someone messes with me, sorry, I’ll pay them back a hundredfold!”

Hearing that chilling tone, Ye Heng shivered involuntarily and took half a step back.

Realizing his loss of composure, he grew furious from embarrassment and barked at Ye Jingyan, ”Ye Jingyan! Is this the sincerity you show when you come to ask for my help?!”

”A Feng.” Only then did Ye Jingyan dust off his clothes and speak calmly. ”This isn’t our home, after all. Be more courteous to Mr. Han.”

Ye Yunfeng raised an eyebrow. ”Got it.”

’After all, he was still waiting for Han Yao to say something he wanted to hear.’

How could Ye Heng dare let Han Yao continue speaking?

He took a deep breath. ”You don’t need to waste any more time on Han Yao. You can’t believe a single word he says right now! Besides, didn’t you just come for those shops and properties? I’ll give them to you!”

As he spoke, Ye Heng’s gaze fell on Ye Jingyan once again.

”The items are all in my study. Follow me to get them.”

...

「Time passed.」

As noon approached, Ye Chutang finally separated the last page.

The weather was scorching hot, and the damp paper dried quickly. Aside from a slight yellowing, the ink characters were still clear and legible.

Xiao Wu looked at Ye Chutang with eyes full of admiration.

’Older Sister is amazing!’

Once everything was in order, Ye Chutang made a separate copy just to be safe.

Xiao Wu squeezed in next to Ye Chutang, leaning close to carefully scan the writing on every page of the book.

As she looked, a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.

”What is it? Did you figure something out?” Ye Chutang asked, tilting her head.

Xiao Wu nodded, her expression hesitant.

’If this is the real ledger, then it means this pawnshop has earned quite a bit of money in the last three years.’

’Ye Heng deliberately created a fake ledger to make people think the shop was barely breaking even. So what happened to the extra money?’

’Did he hide it all away?’

’But was that really necessary?’

’Before they returned to the capital, Ye Heng, like everyone else, thought they were all dead and would never come back to fight him for the inheritance. He could have just pocketed all the profits. Why go through the trouble of hiding it like this?’

Xiao Wu looked down and squeezed her own flat purse.

’That was... so, so much silver! It could fill so many of her purses!’

Ye Chutang smiled. ”Silver doesn’t just vanish into thin air; it flows. You spent your money buying things for your third and fourth brothers, so now you don’t have any, right?”

Xiao Wu nodded emphatically. ’That’s right! My money flowed to my third and fourth brothers—’

Wait. She suddenly widened her large, dark eyes.

’Does Older Sister mean...’

’...that the money missing from the ledgers flowed out of the Ye Family and into someone else’s pocket?’