Chapter 98 (1/2)
Chapter 98
Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse
Because of the two consecutive funerals, the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Yu house was very low-key . There were neither lanterns nor festoons nor did they set up a stage to sing . Except for the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion banquet that Concubine Mei set up, there was no trace of a lively atmosphere .
Just after Yu Linglong had dinner on this day, a little maid came to report that Concubine Mei asked to see her .
Yu Linglong asked Tong Hua and others to remove the food from the table and called for Concubine Mei to come in .
Concubine Mei was wearing a red apricot-red hibiscus coat, draped in an ocher-colored thin cotton cape, and wore a silver hairpin with magpie and plum on her head .
As soon as she entered the room, Concubine Mei called the woman behind her, put an eight-inch food box on the table, smiled, and said to Yu Linglong: “This is the five-color moon cake I specially ordered the kitchen to prepare for the Fourth Lady . Fourth Lady, try it, how does it taste?”
Yu Linglong nodded faintly and called Ling’er: “Take it first . ”
Ling’er took the food box out, and Concubine Mei also sent her out . Seeing that there was no one in the room, Concubine Mei came forward, took out a new cl.u.s.ter of five-color purses from her sleeve, and put them into Yu Linglong’s hand with a smile .
“Fourth Lady, I just collected the rent for a few shops in Jiexia . This is your 30% . ”
Scanning the purse on the table, Yu Linglong smiled slightly . It seemed that Concubine Mei was really a shrewd person, and she had obtained the accountant authority in the Yu house so quickly .
Seeing Yu Linglong’s expression of satisfaction, Concubine Mei moved forward again and asked with a smile, “Fourth Lady, you are really a clever planner . Last time, how did you find the Sixth Lady’s red hair ornaments?”
If even Jiang Yuezhen couldn’t find it, how did Yu Linglong know?
Yu Linglong didn’t look up at her, lowered her head and took a sip of tea, and then slowly said, “If I let you know what method I used, I won’t be eligible to take 30% of the profits . ”
A set of red hair ornaments looked like nothing, but if you wanted to find such a set of jewelry in the huge Yu house, and then take the opportunity to plot Jiang Yuezhen, this matter would be more involved .
Ever since Lady Yu pa.s.sed away, Yu Linglong had been working to infiltrate the Yu Mansion . With the silver and jewelry sent by Mu s.h.i.+ earlier, she asked Xuan Cao and Ma Changgeng to draw up relations.h.i.+ps and inquire about it . They were placed in key parts such as the warehouse, account room, kitchen, sewing room, and tea room, even the coal room and stables .
Don’t underestimate these little servants . In the Yu house, their information was very useful . For example, what kind of food the mistress of which yard ate, what tea she drank, what clothes she wore, as long as Yu Linglong wanted to know it, someone would tell her . When the mistress went out, where she went, and when she came back; the servants of the stable and the porter naturally knew better than anyone else .
With these sources of information, all the actions of the entire Yu Mansion were under Yu Linglong’s monitoring . Since the day she decided to help Concubine Mei gain the power of the house, Yu Linglong had been looking for Jiang Yuezhen’s omissions and Mu s.h.i.+’s dowry . The list was naturally the best breakthrough .
In the warehouse of the Yu house, there were a lot of things that are said to be less, but not too much . People who didn’t know the details even if they have accounts looked messy from the outside and didn’t know where to start . But the working women who worked in the warehouse all the year-round were different . They collected and moved things in the warehouse all day long, and they were more familiar with every property that was in and out of the warehouse .
For example, for the red-and-gold hair ornaments, the account book only recorded the box of silk that was brought in from the Sixth Lady, who didn’t care to look at what was at the bottom of the box . There was only a careful woman, who was afraid of it being gnawed by a mouse, who deliberately dug out the boxes to inspect, only then found the box of red-and-gold hair ornaments .
Such a trivial matter, even Mama Tian who was in charge of the warehouse couldn’t think of it, but the humble woman knew the whereabouts of these hair ornaments .
This was the big role of little people .
As for several other things, they were all in this situation . The mistresses of the Yu house only knew that they didn’t know how to find them, and if they didn’t know how to find things, how could they find things?
However, Yu Linglong didn’t intend to tell Concubine Mei about this kind of thing . If Concubine Mei knew the trick, she would naturally follow suit and gradually get out of Yu Linglong’s control .
Seeing Yu Linglong refused to say it, Concubine Mei smiled happily and changed the subject wittily: “Fourth Lady, I haven’t been managing for long, and there are many things that are unfamiliar . I hope the Fourth Lady can take care of them . ”
Although she now had the power of a housekeeper, General Yu also trusted her very much, but the Yu Mansion was a big family after all . She was just a little concubine, who was neither famous nor powerful . She wanted to gain a firm foothold in the Yu Mansion, and besides General Yu, she still needed stronger support .
And Yu Linglong, who was smart and cruel, was the best candidate .
Concubine Mei knew deeply that even though Yu Linglong had helped her sit in the position of a housekeeper, she still needed Yu Linglong’s long-term support if she wanted to secure this seat .
Therefore, as soon as she got the rent for the shop, she immediately sent it to Yu Linglong to fulfill her promise to Yu Linglong . In fact, she wanted to get more help .
Yu Linglong saw through her at a glance, but she didn’t reveal it but said indifferently: “Don’t worry . Since I helped you, I will naturally take care of it . ”
This was what Concubine Mei wanted . After receiving Yu Linglong’s affirmative answer, she relaxed, and after chatting, Concubine Mei left .
After Concubine Mei left, Xuan Cao, who was guarding the door, entered the room . Yu Linglong motioned to her to pick up the purse on the table: “See how much money is in it . ”
Xuan Cao unlocked the purse, drew a few silver notes from it, and handed them to Yu Linglong .
Yu Linglong glanced at it and saw that there were two pieces of five hundred taels on the top, and four pieces of two hundred taels at the back, which happened to be 1,800 taels .
Yu Linglong nodded, it was as she expected . The Yu house was not a big family, and it was not bad to have these silver taels .
Xuan Cao collected the cash receipts and said, “Miss, what do you plan to do with the cash?”
Yu Linglong thought for a while, and said, “Let’s buy a shop or a field . It’s a good idea . ”
She had already bought a few houses, and although they were not big houses, they were enough . As for the silver coins on hand, she didn’t plan to save them up and grow mold, but the silver was too small and there was not enough business, so she thought it was more reliable to buy some real estate .
Xuan Cao nodded: “I have been asking the young ladies these days if there is a good field, that would be the best . ”
Yu Linglong smiled faintly: “How is it so easy to find the right one? Speak slowly . ”
As soon as the news that Yu Linglong wanted to buy land was released, within two days, a woman from the village came to report that there was a small village in the eastern outskirts of the capital, surrounded by five hills, and a fish pond and fruit trees . The master wanted to leave the capital, so he wanted to take action .
Yu Linglong heard it and thought it was pretty good . She asked Xuan Cao to reward the lady with a slap of money and took her to see for herself the next day .
Because she wanted to look at the fields, Yu Linglong didn’t ride a horse . She ordered the stable to prepare an ordinary black wagon, for only Ling’er and the woman who led the way and set off for the suburbs .
It was deep autumn, and there were a lot of fallen leaves on the road . The area was spa.r.s.ely populated, and when she left the main road, the fallen leaves under her feet became thicker, and pa.s.sers-by gradually disappeared .
After more than half an hour, Yu Linglong felt something was wrong . She raised the curtain and asked the woman outside: “How long will it take?”
The woman seemed to be taken aback, and hurriedly lowered her head and said, “It’s not far ahead . ”
Yu Linglong watched her words flicker . She suddenly became a little wary . Before she said anything, the woman suddenly clutched her stomach and said in pain: “That…Fourth Lady, I need to relieve myself, and I will be back soon—”
Seeing that the woman turned around and was about to run into the woods, Yu Linglong immediately shouted: “Ling’er, go and catch her!”
Ling’er jumped out of the carriage in response and caught up with the escaping woman in three steps . Regardless of the woman’s begging for mercy, she grabbed her hand and pushed her to Yu Linglong .
Yu Linglong asked the driver to stop the car . Her cold, beautiful eyes looked straight at the woman who led the way, and said coldly: “Tell me, who asked you to lie to me!”
The woman was so crushed by Ling’er that she couldn’t move . Her mouth kept sizzling with pain, but she said, “n.o.body, I really want to relieve myself, oh, please be gentle, it hurts me so much—”
At this moment, Ling’er suddenly shouted: “Miss!”
A large group of officers and soldiers in military uniforms suddenly appeared in front of her . There were about hundreds of people, all holding steel knives, and they rushed towards Yu Linglong’s carriage .
The leading officers and soldiers waved the knives in their hands high and said loudly: “We have been given orders . There are rebels in the carriage, and both men and women will be killed on the spot!”
In the bleak mountain road in autumn, the dense steel knives glowed sharply, and they shot at Yu Linglong coldly . [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse . com]
Yu Linglong squinted her eyes slightly . It was the first time she encountered such a severe situation in such a long time since she had been in ancient times . Hundreds of heavily armed officers and soldiers surrounded her, wanting to chop her into flesh in an instant .
Ling’er was already scared to death, but she still tried to support her not to fall . The woman took advantage of Ling’er’s moment of slack and suddenly broke free from her hand, stumbled towards the officers and soldiers, shouting as she ran . Said: “Uncle Yu’s family ordered me to come, you must not kill me—”
In the clang of spears, Yu Linglong heard these words clearly . She took a deep breath, and her beautiful eyes suddenly shot out an icy light .
Yu Weiwu!
As soon as the woman ran in front of the officers and soldiers, she was chopped on her shoulder with a spear mercilessly . She suddenly let out a scream of horror and fell softly to the ground without moving .
Countless pairs of black official boots stepped on the woman’s corpse and rushed directly to Yu Linglong!