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Chapter 93: Shares

When Liu Suqing returned home with her servants, she found that her older sisters and brothers-in-law were already acting like hosts, directing the household staff to clean up.

The main hall had been burned down, and a coffin stood in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Liu Suqing return, her sisters—who usually had bad tempers and disapproved of her previous profession—unusually greeted her kindly and gently urged her to go inside and rest.

The eldest sister warmly took Liu Suqing by the arm and said, “You must not have rested well yesterday, and you’re carrying a child—how could you bear such strain? I’ll have someone make you a bowl of noodles. Eat first and then go rest. We’ll handle things here.”

Liu Suqing was indeed exhausted and didn’t have the strength to deal with others. Seeing how her eldest sister arranged everything, she simply responded and followed her inside.

As they walked through the courtyard, they passed her husband’s coffin. Liu Suqing lifted her eyelids to glance at it.

The second sister explained, “We couldn’t find a decent coffin right away. It wouldn’t do to leave him exposed like that. I took the liberty to send someone to buy a ready-made coffin from a shop. Once the funeral is over and it’s time to bury him, we’ll have a proper one made.”

Liu Suqing lowered her eyes and replied weakly, “Thank you, sisters, for your efforts. If not for you, we—just a widow and orphans—wouldn’t know what to do.”

The second sister sighed, “We’re all family. If we don’t help you when you’re in trouble, who will?”

Back inside, a bowl of freshly boiled noodles was placed before her.

As Liu Suqing ate at the table, her sisters and brothers-in-law sat beside her and discussed the fire.

The eldest brother-in-law, trying to appear righteous, said, “Such a huge fire broke out for no reason, and Song Lin just happened to disappear.”

The second brother-in-law chimed in, “We should find him and question him properly.”

Liu Suqing didn’t look at them. She simply focused on her noodles, stirring and eating in silence.

The eldest sister questioned, “How are we supposed to find him? When he was hiding here before, even the authorities couldn’t locate him.”

The second sister guessed, “Could he have run back to those people from the Tianli Sect?”

Liu Suqing, picking up more noodles, added, “The fire broke out yesterday, and he sure ran fast.”

“This heartless man must have deliberately harmed our family! My brother was killed because of Song Lin!” the eldest sister concluded.

After all, the servants and Liu Suqing had no apparent motive for murder.

Liu Suqing was a beautiful woman from a poor background. Now that she finally had some stability, why would she kill her own husband?

Besides, while Zheng Qiao might not have been the most devoted husband, he did dote on her. One only needed to see her clothes, her pregnancy, and the child in the maid’s arms to know.

They were an affectionate couple. Liu Suqing would have to be insane to kill her husband.

They didn’t know that Zheng Qiao had been planning a rebellion, which shaped their perspective.

Even if they had known, they would never believe Liu Suqing could commit such a cruel act so quickly.

After all, she was too beautiful, and her tears too heartbreaking—she inspired sympathy even from women.

No one would believe that such a delicate woman could have set a fire to kill her husband.

And previously, she had sworn solemn oaths in front of her sisters. If she had a guilty conscience, how could she dare curse herself like that?

But none of them knew that, while Liu Suqing didn’t set the fire, she had deliberately not saved him.

If she had woken Zheng Qiao in time, he might have survived.

Liu Suqing, exhausted and hungry, fell asleep in one of the rooms that hadn’t been damaged by fire after finishing her bowl of noodles. She slept for two or three hours and woke around dinner time.

After she woke, her sisters and brothers-in-law were going to bring up the matter of the Tianli Sect business.

The servants were still cleaning the burned parts of the house. Liu Suqing’s important jade jewelry and the few dozen taels of silver Zheng Qiao had saved were found.

Originally, there had also been banknotes, but they had all been burned in the fire.

Liu Suqing glanced at the items on the table after waking.

Her relatives wanted to talk, but since she was still in her pre-fire clothing, it was inconvenient.

She changed behind a screen into a clean white outfit, wrapped her head in a white cloth, removed all her jewelry, and wiped off her makeup.

Even so, she was like a lotus emerging from clear water—naturally beautiful and unadorned. The men in the room couldn’t help but stare.

It wasn’t until the eldest sister coughed twice that everyone snapped back to reality.

Liu Suqing came forward, ignoring their thoughts, and opened the dowry box and a small chest of silver in front of them.

“There used to be over a thousand taels saved, but my husband had turned it all into banknotes to hide better. Who knew a single fire would burn it all. This is all that’s left.”

The sisters had married into ordinary families. The eldest’s husband worked at a pawnshop—while they had food and clothing, supporting a family meant they couldn’t save much.

The second sister’s husband came from a family with a shop, but relied on his mother and sister-in-law for money, and anything saved was hoarded.

They had all watched as the money and jewelry were dug up. When they first saw it, they did think about keeping it for themselves.

But considering the potential of the Tianli Sect business, they restrained themselves and handed everything back to Liu Suqing.

This was a long-term strategy.

From what Liu Suqing said, Zheng Qiao earned all that in just over a year. Once they got shares in the sect, what were a few dozen taels?

Their main goal was to have Liu Suqing help them officially take over Zheng Qiao’s business.

After all, Zheng Qiao had many connections in the underworld. A few words from them wouldn’t win trust.

Looking at the jewelry and silver, the eldest sister forced a smile and said, “Sister-in-law, you keep this money for raising your two children.”

The second sister echoed, “Yes, exactly.”

But Liu Suqing seemed to have transcended worldly desires, treating money as dirt.

“I want to hand this over to you and my brothers-in-law—for rebuilding the house and arranging the funeral. I can’t handle it alone. This should be enough for now.

In the future, I just want to raise my children and manage the paper offering shop. As for the Tianli Sect business, I can’t handle it. I’m thinking of selling my original shares.”

Upon hearing this, the eldest brother-in-law said quickly, “If that’s the case, we’ll buy the shares. However much was originally invested, we’ll take over at that value.”

The second sister pinched her husband’s hand.

He hissed in pain and quickly added, “Yes, yes, just let us handle it.”

Liu Suqing hesitated, “If you both want them, I wouldn’t ask for money—we’re all family.”

“Sister-in-law, come now. Even with blood ties, business is business. You’ve done well these past two years—we’ve all seen it. We can’t afford to buy your shares at full value, so we’ll pay the original investment amount.

Let’s make it simple. We’ll each pay fifty taels in silver, get someone to notarize it, and transfer your husband’s shares to us. How about that?”

“This…” Liu Suqing wavered.

The eldest sister, surprisingly reasonable, said, “Don’t say no. You’re alone with kids. You deserve this money.”

As soon as the eldest sister and her husband offered fifty taels, the second sister and her husband exchanged looks but stayed silent.

Fifty taels was manageable for the eldest’s family, but not for the second’s—they’d have to borrow from other branches.

Still, with the eldest taking the lead, they couldn’t refuse without looking bad.

Eventually, four copies of the agreement were made, notarized, and everything was settled.

Of course, having taken Liu Suqing’s money, the siblings-in-law also took full responsibility for rebuilding the Zheng household.

Liu Suqing knew she didn’t really have a say in Zheng family matters.

Eventually, the Tianli Sect shares would have to be handed over. Outsiders were surely eyeing the Zhengs’ wealth after their recent success.

It was better to hand everything over publicly now, leaving just a hundred taels and minor shop earnings for herself and her children.

It wouldn’t be enough to make others envious.

Naturally, Liu Suqing knew exactly how much Zheng Qiao had left behind.

Before escaping the fire, she had already hidden the banknotes and gold jewelry.

What had been found was only what she allowed others to see.

Once the money and shares were sorted out, preparations for Zheng Qiao’s funeral began.

Relatives were invited to pay their respects, and most of the condolence money went to the sisters. Liu Suqing quietly stepped back, making it clear to everyone.

People saw that she truly had little money left.

A widowed woman, overshadowed by her married sisters—people couldn’t help but sigh.

After the funeral, the sisters and their husbands became busy with the Tianli Sect business, leaving Liu Suqing alone.

One morning, after breakfast, Liu Suqing took a maid and the children out, saying she was visiting a friend.

When Zheng Qiao had been alive, her beauty meant he strictly controlled her social life. Visitors came to their home; she was never allowed out.

Now that Zheng Qiao was dead, Liu Suqing finally had some freedom.

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