PNB Chapter 170: From Light to Dark
Chapter 170: From Light to Dark
Shen Shuyi's guess was correct. The man kept kowtowing and said, "I know my guilt! I know my guilt! My mother was seriously ill at the time and I had no other options, so I was so bold..."
Zhang said rudely, "Your mother is seriously ill and yet you dare to take the money from the mansion. If everyone follows your example, what will become of our Shen Mansion?"
Qin Xuerong stepped forward and said in a gentle voice: "Mother, it is indeed my daughter-in-law's fault for not investigating this matter, but Liu Da has been working in the mansion for many years, so it is better to give him a light punishment and a heavy warning."
"Are you too kind, sister-in-law? You are so easy to talk to, no wonder the head of the family makes mistakes so often!" Zhang said bluntly.
Old Madam Shen frowned, thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Liu Da is dismissed from his post as a purchaser, and is severely punished with twenty strokes of the cane. He is ordered to return all the money he embezzled. Considering that you are a family child, he will be fined one year's salary."
Liu Da breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed several times: "Old Madam, please be merciful! Old Madam, please be merciful!!!"
Liu Da was dragged away and beaten with a stick. Zhang said in dissatisfaction: "Mother, this is too unreasonable, this..."
Before she finished her words, Old Madam Shen raised her hand to stop her from saying anything.
Zhang looked unhappy and unwilling.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Madam Shen said, "I asked you and Xuerong to learn how to run the household together. Now that my birthday banquet is coming soon, how about this? You will be responsible for the purchase and arrangement of the banquet utensils this time."
Upon hearing this, Zhang's eyes suddenly brightened up and she smiled more: "Thank you, mother. Don't worry, I will definitely organize a grand birthday banquet for you!"
After saying that, Madam Shen looked at Shen Shuyi again and said in a gentle voice: "Sister Yi did a good job today. It's a good opportunity for you to exercise. Sister Yi will be responsible for purchasing meals for the kitchen."
"Yes, grandma." Shen Shuyi responded in a gentle voice, gracefully and generously.
Qin Xuerong's face looked a little ugly for a moment, but she still managed a smile and said, "With the help of my sister-in-law and Sister Yi, my daughter-in-law can finally have some free time."
Madam Shen said gently, "There are so many things to do in the mansion. It's not easy for you to raise children and manage affairs at the same time. Your sister-in-law and Sister Yi are inexperienced after all, so you need to give them more advice."
"Yes." Qin Xuerong responded obediently, lowering her head slightly to hide the gleam in her eyes.
Seeing his mother finish handling the affairs in the mansion, Shen Jingchuan looked at Qin Xuerong again and asked, "What's the matter with those two paintings?"
Qin Xuerong's heart tightened, but she thought that this must be a coincidence and Shen Shuyi couldn't possibly know the ins and outs of this.
It's just that this bastard is luckier. He heard about those two paintings from somewhere.
Qin Xuerong was ashamed and whispered, "Every New Year, the family has to deal with people, so we always have to buy some things. But I am not familiar with this, so I wonder if I have been cheated?"
Qin Xuerong's words were uncertain, with some uneasiness and worry in her eyes, as if until this moment, she had no idea what the problem was with the two paintings.
Shen Jingchuan frowned and asked, "Where are those two paintings now?"
Qin Xuerong immediately said, "The Qingqiu Scholars is too valuable, so it should still be stored in the storeroom. Zheng Shiru's calligraphy should have been given to Lord Zhou some time ago."
Shen Jingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the painting he gave away was an authentic one. Although he had spent a high price on the fake one, it was still in his mansion.
Shen Shuyi remained calm and sneered in his heart.
The fake goods bought at a high price are still there, which is clearly a disguised form of bribery, while the genuine goods bought at a low price have been given away, which is bribery after being bribed.
Tsk, it seems that Qin Xuerong has more secrets than she thought.
I don't know what she did secretly by taking advantage of Shen Jingchuan's official position.
*
Qin Xuerong returned to Ruixueyuan, rested her elbows on the table, and supported her forehead with her fingers.
Nanny Wang couldn't help but whispered, "Madam...are we really going to divide the power of the household between the Second House and the Second Miss?"
Banquets have always been the most profitable, but now at the old lady's birthday banquet, this good thing was given up for nothing. Nanny Wang didn't even dare to imagine how Qin Xuerong felt now.
But the expected rage did not come. Qin Xuerong sneered and said faintly, "I was just going with the flow. How do you know that I didn't do it on purpose?"
Besides, the kitchen and this house are basically all populated by her people. Do Zhang Jinping and Shen Shuyi really think they can cause any trouble?
Nanny Wang reacted quickly: "During this period, the second young lady and the second house have been pressing hard and targeting Madam. If Madam holds on to them tightly, it will be bad. It is better to take this opportunity to change from open to covert..."
Seeing that she understood what she meant, Qin Xuerong's eyes flashed with ruthlessness: "Sometimes having a big appetite is not a good thing. I want to see how they shoot themselves in the foot!"
"Madam is wise." Nanny Wang responded immediately.
Qin Xuerong's eyes were gloomy and she was still in a bad mood.
What she was thinking about now was not the old lady's birthday party, but that bastard Shen Shuyi.
This bitch is really evil. Not only can she check the accounts, she also knows Zheng Shiru's masterpieces and "The Picture of the Elegant Scholars in Qingqiu".
She really underestimated her!
But she really couldn't understand how she could understand all this after being helpless in the Jade Buddha Temple for many years? How could she even be better than Lan Jie'er?
Qin Xuerong felt very upset when she thought of that headgear.
"Go call Hongying over. I want to ask her what Shen Shuyi has been doing in the Jade Buddha Temple in the past few years!"
"Yes."
Soon, Hongying knelt in front of Qin Xuerong nervously, trembling with fear: "In the past few years, the Second Miss has always been hiding her incompetence. I really didn't see any difference in her. But in the past six months, the Second Miss seems to have become a different person. She is so powerful..."
Nanny Wang frowned and asked, "You are always by her side, don't you notice anything strange?"
Hongying was speechless for a moment: "I...I really didn't see it...but it's true that the Second Miss likes to read. Although she lives in poverty, she can always get a few books and read them every day."
Qin Xuerong asked some more questions and waved her hand: "Okay, go down."
After Hongying withdrew, Qin Xuerong's eyes flashed with thought, and she slowly said, "Could it be that there really is a genius, a reincarnation of Wenqu?"
Nanny Wang said thoughtfully, "I still feel that even if she is a genius, she would not be like this. This Second Miss... is really evil."
Qin Xuerong frowned and said, "Look at her today. Does her hand look injured?"
Nanny Wang paused, thought carefully, and shook her head.
"The Second Miss didn't use an abacus, but she looked through the accounts very quickly, and occasionally she picked up the pen very smoothly. There was nothing wrong with it."
Qin Xuerong sneered, "Humph, I guess she is just pretending to be injured. Since she is so good at pretending, wait for her to have a chance to shine at the old lady's birthday party!"
Nanny Wang couldn't help but say, "The Second Miss is very thoughtful and cunning, Madam should be more cautious."
Hearing this, Qin Xuerong said in a deep voice: "You are right. Don't worry, I have my own way to verify it."
Outside the door, Hongying deliberately slowed down her pace. After hearing these words, she quickened her pace with a hint of struggle in her eyes.