“Servants, take them away.” Ning Xueyan did not seem to be annoyed when she spoke this, but she threw hard those account books onto the floor under the bead curtain. Hearing Ning Xueyan’s order, two male servants, who stayed at the gate of the hall, rushed in and were about to take the shopkeepers away. In order to make her granddaughters look mightier, Madam Dowager had specially chosen two strong male servants to help them.
Each of the servants grabbed one shopkeeper in each hand and were about to walk out. If they were dragged out, these shopkeepers’ dismissal would be a foregone conclusion. Besides, the person who had found the problem out was Third Young Lady, who was going to be Third Prince’s principal wife. The shopkeepers were so scared that they could not even stand up. They regretted not having brought the real account books here.
“Third Young Lady, Third Young Lady, I have something to say!” Mr. Wang was so scared that he could not help shouting anxiously, “The accounts in this book are not true, but false!”
“False? Let them go,” Ning Qingshan ordered. “Can the account also be forged?” she wondered.
“Yes, it’s… false. I have turned in the same kind of account books in the previous years, so I brought this one this time…” Mr. Wang explained incoherently.
“What? How dare you turn in a false account book? Servants, take him to the governmental office. A servant who deceives his master will be sentenced to death!” Ning Xueyan said coldly to the two male servants beside her, in response to Ning Qingshan’s words. Although her voice was not loud, the words sounded imposing and determined.
Hearing that he would not only be fired, but also be killed, Mr. Wang waved his hands anxiously. “I didn’t dare to do this! First Madam… asked me to do this. She asked me to make two account books, a real one, and a false one and turn in the false one every year to the manor.”
To save his own life, he could not think that much, but told everything he knew.
With a snap, an account book was thrown out from behind the bead curtain and banged his head. Mr. Wang took several steps backward and almost fell to the floor. “You scum! How dare you frame my mother? Since everything of the manor belongs to her, why did she do this? How could she have done such kind of things? You heard that my mother is meditating at the Buddha Hall, so you shifted all the blame on her on purpose!”
Everyone could feel the killing intent in Ning Xueyan’s words. Hearing every word coming from behind the bead curtain slowly, the shopkeepers who had turned in the false account books could not help trembling.
“His families will also be punished if a servant frames his master on purpose. Mr. Wang, you should think twice before you say something.”
Mr. Wang had accused that Madam Ling was the mastermind, so he was suspected of framing his master. As the Lord Protector’s Manor’s madam, if Madam Ling had really asked the shopkeepers to cook the books, that meant she had embezzled most of the profits of these shops and the consequences could be severe.
It seemed Ning Xueyan did not believe what he said. Mr. Wang became extremely anxious. “I’m not lying. I just did what First Madam told me to do. Fifth Young Lady, if you don’t believe me, you can ask the others. All of them made two account books as per First Madam’s order,” Mr. Wang said loudly, pointing at the shopkeepers beside him.
He was desperate to distance himself from this matter, so he immediately asked the others to prove it for him. Thinking about that in addition to their possible execution, their families would also be implicated, the other shopkeepers immediately confessed, trembling.
“Yes. It was… First Madam, who asked us to do this.”
“All of us would have brought two account books at this time in previous years. First Madam kept all of them, and then gave the false one to the Manor.”
“Third Young Lady, Fifth Young Lady, we are not lying and we are not framing First Madam!”
They were so regretful now. If they had known that the dirty tricks would be found out, they would not have brought the false account books here. They had thought that if they kept the true account books in their hands, Madam Ling would be happy and reward them after she was released from the Buddha Hall. To their surprise, Third Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady were so smart that they had found the problems so soon.
“Why did First Madam ask you to cook the books? Don’t try to fool us. Otherwise, we will put all of you into jail,” Ning Xueyan said coldly.
“Because… because First Madam wanted to keep part of the silver privately,” for fear that they would be put into jail, a shopkeeper immediately answered.
“Since all the shops belong to our manor, why did First Madam want to keep some of the silver?”
“Because… because…” The shopkeepers began to sweat, but they could not give an exact answer for the moment. However, they knew if they could not explain it clearly, they would definitely be put into jail, so they all got ants in their pants.
“You can’t explain it? Fine! Servant!”
“Fifth Young Lady, I know the reason! I know! The shops were Madam Ming’s dowry, but First Madam wanted to take them, so she tried to keep the silver privately.”
Of course Madam Ling had never mentioned this to them before. But the shopkeepers used to meet privately sometimes and they had drawn this conclusion after discussion. They all knew that these shops were Madam Ming’s property, so Madam Ling must have taken them with some evil means. Being cornered by Ning Xueyan, someone blurted it out.
Hearing the words, everyone fell silent at once. Sitting behind the bead curtain, Ning Qingshan froze in the chair and could not say anything. She had vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Everyone outside the bead curtain froze as well at the words. “He said that the shops belonged to Madam Ming in front of Fifth Young Lady’s face! What shall we do?”
“Since these shops are all my younger sister’s property, Marquis, please tell me why you did not give my sister’s dowry to her daughter, but to a woman who took her place?” A snort came from the gate. Everyone turned their heads and saw Ming Feiyong standing at the gate with an angry look. Ning Zu’an stood next to him, looking very embarrassed.
Everyone knew that the dowry was brought from the wife’s side to her husband’s family after the woman got married. If the woman died, her dowry should be left to her children. If she had no offspring, her family could ask her husband to give the dowry back to her family. But now, the only daughter of Madam Ming got nothing, and all her dowry had been taken by Madam Ling.
“There… must be some misunderstanding. These… should not be Madam Ming’s shops,” Ning Zu’an said in a low voice. Under Ming Feiyong’s gaze, he cleared his throat uneasily.
He had been idling about in the manor with Ming Feiyong just now and had never thought that he would have stopped here and heard these words. He could not help but blame Madam Ling for her greed. If she had not tried to embezzle the silver, she would not have asked each shopkeeper to prepare two account books, and Shan’er and Yan’er would not have found it out. Then it would not have come to this.
He and Ming Feiyong had not planned to come to the hall, but they heard it was very noisy here, so they came to check what was happening.
“I will get the evidence to prove that these shops belong to my sister. Marquis, since you are so unfair, don’t blame me! I’ll see you in court!” With that, Ming Feiyong grabbed the two shopkeepers who had spoken just now by the hand and was about to walk out.
The two strong guards behind him followed his suit and dragged the other shopkeepers out, grabbing one with each hand.
Ning Zu’an knew that they were going to take these people to court. If the outsiders heard that he had tried to take his wife’s dowry, Ning Zu’an could never raise his head high again in front of people.
Therefore, he rushed forward, reached out and stopped Ming Feiyong. “Cousin Feiyong, calm down! let’s… talk about it.”
“Talk about what? It’s useless to discuss it with you! That vicious woman is your wife. She has not only taken my sister’s place, but also taken her dowry. I’m going to tell His Majesty about this and ask him to redress justice for my sister!” Ming Feiyong said angrily, shooting Ning Zu’an a glare. He then turned around and said to Ning Xueyan, who ran outside following him, “I have a dowry list, and you should have a copy of it. We can present both of them to His Majesty. He will know that we are not lying.”
“What? There is a dowry list at Bright Frost Garden?” Ning Zu’an was so angry that he almost coughed blood. Madam Ling had told him that all these shops would become the Ning’s property sooner or later and it was unnecessary to worry about it. But now Ming Feiyong had found it out. Besides, he seemed to have evidence. How stupid Madam Ling was! How dare she tell him so confidently that everything would go smoothly and nobody would find it out!
“Cousin Feiyong, maybe Madam Ling mistook these shops for the private property of our manor. Besides, Madam Ming did not say anything about it.” Ning Zu’an gave a far-fetched explanation.
“Because my sister did not say anything, you allowed that woman to take care of her dowry as your manor’s property? Do you regard Yan’er as your daughter? If you don’t, I will take her away along with my sister’s dowry. Then in the future, Yan’er will have nothing to do with the Lord Protector’s Manor!”
Ming Feiyong said with a sneer.
If Ning Xueyan were not Madam Ming’s daughter, Ming Feiyong could take over the dowry rightfully.
“Cousin Feiyong, be patient. Please listen to me! Of course Yan’er is our daughter,” under the pressure, Ning Zu’an said anxiously. He then turned to Ning Xueyan and said, “Yan’er, tell your uncle how I have treated you and your mother? If I don’t take you as my own daughter, why have I let you live at Bright Frost Garden all the time and live a life of luxury?”
Ning Xueyan’s lips curved into a faint sneer. It seemed that Ning Zu’an was really cornered, so he had asked her to defend him.
“Taking me as his own daughter? Maybe for him, I’m just a person he has to raise. The Lord Protector’s Manor is so wealthy and it’s not a big deal for Ning Zu’an to support one more person. Besides, he can save a lot of trouble by raising me. If he can stop raising me without getting involved into any trouble, he might have already kicked Madam Ming and me out of the manor!” Ning Xueyan thought.
It was a pity that Ning Zu’an’s daughter, who had lived a life of ‘luxury’ had already died because of him indirectly. She was Ning Ziying after rebirth, whose soul was in Ning Xueyan’s body, so she was quite different from the former Ning Xueyan.
“Uncle, father, don’t argue anymore. We should discuss what we shall do next. Anyway, we should not make others laugh at us.” Ning Xueyan raised her head, her young face looking calm. Instead of following Ning Zu’an’s words, she began to persuade them.
It reminded Ning Zu’an. While he was auguring with Ming Feiyong, they had already arrived at the gate of the manor. If their conversation was overheard by the outsiders, that would be a terrible thing!
“Cousin Feiyong, stop! I will do everything you want. Tell me now!” Ning Zu’an only wanted to persuade Ming Feiyong to go back.
“Feiyong, calm down. You can negotiate with your cousin for anything. If he did something wrong, just tell me. I will definitely redress justice for you! After all, we are a family. Yan’er is the Young Lady of our manor, so if the manor is laughed at by the outsiders, Yan’er will also be looked down upon.” Hearing what was happening, Madam Dowager showed up in the front courtyard with Mother Qin, panting.
She had come here in a hurry after getting the news from Ning Qingshan. She was very worried when she found that the situation had been out of control and could not help shouting anxiously, leaning on her crutch.
