Chapter 97 (1/2)
Chapter 97
Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse
According to the dowry list issued by Second Lady Mu, the dowry that Mu s.h.i.+ brought to the Yu house had a large amount of property including fields, manors, shops, and houses, maids, plus gold and silver jewelry, calligraphy and antiques, and so on . It really took a lot of effort to sort things out clearly .
The two mistresses of the Yu house had pa.s.sed away one after another, and the house manager’s bill naturally fell on Jiang Yuezhen . It hadn’t been long since Jiang Yuezhen had just married into the mansion, and she hadn’t even touched the doors of the houses and courtyards . Naturally, it felt very strenuous to such a new wife .
As for the other ladies, according to their status, Yu Qianjiao was the most suitable person to help Jiang Yuezhen manage the family . Yu Qianjiao was still young, had a restless temperament, was more than squeamish, and lacked maturity, not to mention Mu s.h.i.+’s absence was a big blow to her, and it was obviously unrealistic to make her a steward . Although Yu Qianfang was a little older and more cautious in character, she rarely leaves the door because of her lack of hair, let alone disciplines servant women and manages household affairs . Yu Qianliu wanted to control, but just because she was a commoner’s daughter, she was usually tricky and unpopular, so she was not a good candidate .
After Mu s.h.i.+’s death, Jiang Yuezhen unexpectedly took on this responsibility . After only a few days of work, she felt that the affairs in the house were messy and disorderly . She was really powerless, and she was often overwhelmed . The maids and working women of the Yu house gradually complained .
Mama Tian, who was in charge of the warehouse, went back and forth with Jiang Yuezhen this day: “The list sent by the Mu house the day before yesterday says a whole set of red-and-gold hair ornaments, but this warehouse has been confiscated, and the new wife is asked to send someone to find it . ”
Jiang Yuezhen sorted out Mu s.h.i.+’s dowry for several days and knew that these items were not accounted for . Except for the farm shops and such, there were land deeds, which could not be moved . The remaining calligraphy paintings and antiques were taken out from time to time and hung up for enjoyment, and then put away again, or if it was broken, it was compensated for, or it was simply given to another room . It had long since become a mess . As for gold and silver jewelry, it was not necessary to mention it . Some were given to Yu Qianjiao, some were given as rewards, some were given as gifts on New Year’s and some were melted into new jewelry . Even when they were out of silver, they were p.a.w.ned . It was necessary to check them one by one, and that time would never come .
What’s more, Mu s.h.i.+ had been married for so many years that these things have come in and out, and even the ledger had been changed . How would they account for everything?
So Mama Tian said this time that she couldn’t find a set of red-and-gold head ornaments, Jiang Yuezhen didn’t take it to heart . She just waved her hand casually: “I see, I’ll ask someone to ask Mama Cui . ”
Mama Tian left, and Jiang Yuezhen sent a little maid to Mu s.h.i.+’s room and pa.s.sed this to Mama Cui .
Mama Cui had been following Mu s.h.i.+ for many years, and she had a good idea of her clothes and jewelry . Seeing Jiang Yuezhen’s question, she hurriedly came back to Jiang Yuezhen in person: “I have seen that set of red-and-gold hair ornaments, the Lady mentioned it once in the past few years . She said that the rubys’ fineness is excellent, and she would never encounter such a good color in the future, and she wanted to leave it to the Sixth Lady . At that time, I was ordered to send it to the Sixth Lady’s room . After a few days, she thought that and the Sixth Lady was too young to wear it at that time, and she was afraid that she would not wear it properly, so she asked someone to tell them to send them to the warehouse . ”
Jiang Yuezhen’s brows frowned slightly: “The warehouse has just replied, saying that the thing is not there, what’s the matter?”
Mama Cui smiled and said: “This is easy . If you ask someone to check the account, you will know if you are in the warehouse . ”
Jiang Yuezhen once again called the little maid to invite Mama Tian and had Mama Tian bring over the books of the first few years so that she could check it face-to-face .
This time, Mama Tian brought in a few women in the evening . Each woman was holding a thick stack of books . Mama Tian asked the women to put the books on the table, and the dust suddenly rose . Jiang Yuezhen coughed .
Jiang Yuezhen’s dowry maid, Ding Xiang, hurriedly waved away the dust in front of her, and said angrily at Mama Tian: “Why don’t you put it down lightly? You choked the new wife, can you take it easy?”
Mama Tian rolled her eyes and said with an annoyance: “The new wife ordered the maids to bring all the ledgers . The maids sorted out the ledgers for more than a long time before they found them all . No one has asked about these ledgers for many years, and the dust is a bit more natural and inevitable . ”
The implication of Mama Tian’s words was very obvious . For so many years, no mistress has said to check the account books, but Jiang Yuezhen wanted to check, so obviously she did not believe her .
Jiang Yuezhen covered her mouth and nose, frowning and looking at the books on the table . With so many books, it was not easy to find out the whereabouts of a set of red-and-gold hair ornaments .
Mama Cui pursed her lips a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated for a moment, and finally stopped talking .
She wanted to remind Jiang Yuezhen that the ledger of gold and silver jewelry was a separate copy, and it shouldn’t be difficult to find out the approximate year from it .
But looking at this situation, Mama Tian was obviously going to show Jiang Yuezhen her strength, so she shouldn’t help Jiang Yuezhen so obviously . After all, Mama Tian was an old lady in the mansion for many years . It was not easy to offend her . What’s more, Mu s.h.i.+ had just pa.s.sed away, and Mama Cui had no mistress . She still didn’t know how to live in the Yu house in the future and tried to do as little offending as possible .
Besides, Jiang Yuezhen was a new wife, and Mama Cui also wanted to take this opportunity to see what kind of character this new wife was . After understanding the mistress’ temper, the future will naturally be much better .
Therefore, when Mama Tian put on a posture to make Jiang Yuezhen difficult, Mama Cui chose to remain silent .
Jiang Yuezhen drank a few sips of the tea with Ding Xiang to stop her coughing . She looked at the thick account book on the table and looked at Mama Tian, who was obviously disrespectful with her head down . She couldn’t help being a little angry .
She was not a fool . Of course, she knew that Mama Tian’s intention was to embarra.s.s her, but she just took over the housekeeping affairs and didn’t know much about the rules of the Yu house . She wanted to check the account books herself, but she really couldn’t start . She was reluctant to lose her power and punish Mama Tian .
Jiang Yuezhen suppressed this sullen breath and slowed down her voice: “There are so many ledgers, how can I check them all?”
Mama Tian glanced at Jiang Yuezhen, and said in a dull voice, “How can you check it out? I have been working in the warehouse for nearly forty years, and the mistresses have never checked the servants’ accounts . If you want to check, then you have to call the shots . ”
Mama Tian did have the capital to be a servant to bullying her mistress . She had worked in the warehouse for many years and had never made any mistakes . She had organized everything in and out of the warehouse in an orderly manner . Because of this, Lady Yu and Mu s.h.i.+ trusted her .
Jiang Yuezhen really didn’t know the unwritten rules in the Yu house, let alone that Mama Tian was such a difficult person to speak . Seeing the situation in front of Mama Tian, she asked her to check the accounts herself .
Seeing these dusty ledgers, Jiang Yuezhen felt a headache coming . She still had a lot of things to deal with . Was it worth it to waste several days to check these dusty ledgers for red-and-gold hair ornaments?
Jiang Yuezhen thought for a while and asked Mama Cui: “The Lady that she would leave the hair ornaments to the Sixth Lady . When was that?”
Mama Cui thought for a moment, and then said, “It was probably three or four years ago . ”
Jiang Yuezhen nodded: “Leave the accounts for the past two years and take the rest back . ”
Mama Tian didn’t respond . She directly ordered her servant to go forward and flip through . Naturally, there was another dusty wave . Jiang Yuezhen couldn’t stand it, so she got up and got up from the table and stood far away .
Mama Tian left more than a dozen books, took the rest of them, and said to Jiang Yuezhen, “That’s it . ”
Jiang Yuezhen nodded, and before speaking, Mama Tian said again: “Please take a closer look to see if the head ornaments are in the warehouse . The warehouse is also inseparable from the servants, and the servants must take care of everything . If the new wife comes to check today and tomorrow, I will not need to do anything else, and will look after the new wife to find something . ”
After speaking, Mama Tian didn’t ask to be excused and directly took the women away .
Ding Xiang sighed, and Mama Tian spits out: “Unruly old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, I don’t know why the Lady kept her for so long!”
Hearing this, Mama Cui felt a little uncomfortable .
Jiang Yuezhen glanced at Mama Cui, motioned to not speak about Ding Xiang, and then called all the literate maids in the room, divided up the ledgers, and checked them one by one .
The investigation lasted all night, and it was not until midday the next day that the account book was found, and sure enough, the storage record of the red-and-gold hair ornaments was not found .
Jiang Yuezhen had to ask Mama Cui to come again . When Mama Cui heard that the things were confiscated in the warehouse, she felt strange and said, “Could it be that they are still with the Sixth Lady? I remembered that the Lady gave them to the Sixth Lady and the warehouse didn’t get it . I really didn’t know . ”
Without knowing, Mama Cui shrugged off her responsibility . Jiang Yuezhen’s maidservants checked the books all night, but they found nothing .
Mama Tian was ordered to retrieve the ledger, and naturally it was inevitable to ridicule with sarcasm . Jiang Yuezhen knew that she was wrong, and had to endure this tone .
As for the hair ornaments, which were nowhere to be seen, she still wanted to continue searching, Jiang Yuezhen had to send someone to ask Yu Qianjiao’s personal servant girl, hoping to get news about the red-and-gold head ornaments .
It doesn’t matter that she inquired about it . Early the next morning, when Jiang Yuezhen just got up, someone reported that Yu Qianjiao had come in person .
Yu Qianjiao kept her head puffed, she was only wearing a homely honey-colored sprinkling gown, her face was not powdered, and she looked haggard and pitiful . After entering the room, she sat on the couch under the window and wiped her tears away .
“My mother’s things are gone, but my sister-in-law asked someone to go to me and ask if there were any . What does this mean? Is it because I am ignorant of what my mother left behind and didn’t take it out? How impatient I am, at this moment I can’t wait for my children! When my mother was here, no matter what I wanted, she would send it to me without saying a word . My mother has really given me a lot of things, but the red-and-gold head ornaments are really not with me . I don’t need to lie about this . If my sister-in-law doesn’t believe it, she might as well ask someone to search in my room . If it comes out, I will die without complaint!”[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse . com]
Jiang Yuezhen didn’t even think of sending someone to search . Yu Qianjiao had such a big reaction, and she came to her in person . She didn’t have any precautions for the moment, so she was busy ordering people to fetch water and a kerchief to serve Yu Qianjiao and wash her face . She comforted: “If my younger sister thinks this way, it is wrong to blame me . I just called someone to ask for it . If my younger sister doesn’t have it, I can ask someone to look elsewhere—”
Yu Qianjiao twisted her body, obviously refusing to listen to Jiang Yuezhen’s explanation, and continued to cry: “Where else would you look? I’ve heard it’s not with my mother, and not in the warehouse, and I don’t even have it with me . Can a good set of jewelry fly by itself?”
Jiang Yuezhen was distraught from crying, and blurted out, “Could it be that someone stole—”
She hadn’t finished her words, but Yu Qianjiao had already stood up abruptly, her crying red eyes looking straight at Jiang Yuezhen .
“Sister-in-law, what does this mean? Does it mean that the people in our house are not clean? Although our house is not comparable to the sister-in-law’s house, it is also an innocent house . How can anyone have affairs!? You say that people in our house are stealing . Tell me, who stole it and who saw? If there is such a servant in our house, then my mother has been in charge of the house for so long for nothing! Besides, even if there is someone to take it, it’s just petty theft . Who would dare to steal a whole set of hair ornaments? If someone finds out, wouldn’t they be dead?”
Jiang Yuezhen didn’t expect this little sister-in-law to be so eloquent that she could not speak for a while .
Yu Qianjiao wiped the corners of her eyes and sneered: “I also understand what the sister-in-law meant, but I can’t find the hair ornaments . I want to pour dirty water on the servants of our house . Is it possible that the jewelry walked out of the house by itself? My sister-in-law said someone stole it . Look, I’m not sure who it was…”
She looked up and down Jiang Yuezhen, her eyes fell on the half-new pair of bamboo-blue embroidered shoes on Jiang Yuezhen’s feet, and she couldn’t help but smile contemptuously .
“…Now my sister-in-law manages the house, and there will be good times in the future, but my sister-in-law listened to my advice, don’t look for profits on me now, if it is something ordinary, I don’t want it, just give it to my sister-in-law . Just that set of hair ornaments is my mother’s dowry, left by my grandfather’s family . If my sister-in-law wants it, I’ll send someone a new set for my sister-in-law, but my dowry must be returned by my sister-in-law!”
Jiang Yuezhen’s face flushed red with anger, and Ding Xiang on the side couldn’t help but say: “Sixth Lady, you have wronged our new wife too much . The new wife has worked hard all day and night to find you all those dowries—”