Only when Hua Zhi saw her home right in front of her did she realize how much she missed it. She missed everyone at home, and inexplicably she felt homesick.
Hua Zhi laughed at herself in her heart for being like a baby who had not been weaned. She turned around and looked at the people who were leading the horses behind her, "Xiao Liu, it's time for you to go back to the palace."
The Sixth Prince held the reins tightly. He didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to go back before, and he didn’t want to go back even more after this trip.
"You can come anytime you want to, after you've met whoever you need to meet."
The Sixth Prince's eyes lit up, "Can I still come?"
"Of course, unless you don't want to come."
"I'll come. Of course I will come." He said it so impatiently, expressing his inner desire clearly. The Sixth Prince felt a little embarrassed when hearing Shaoyao's laughter, but he was smiling too. As long as he could come in the future, it would be a joke.
Hua Zhi's eyes were full of tender smiles, and they did not change at all when they fell on Yan Xi. This person was one of those people that she wanted to treat gently. "Go and get busy. When you're done, come over for dinner."
As soon as Gu Yanxi opened her mouth, Shaoyao started to make a fuss as if she was vying for favor, "What about me? Huahua, what about me? You won't let me come to dinner?"
"Do you still need an invitation?" Hua Zhi glanced at her, "Can the door of the Hua family stop you?"
"Hehe." Shaoyao was satisfied and glanced at Brother Yan proudly. She was one of them and didn't need an invitation, but Brother Yan was invited!
Gu Yanxi didn't bother to pay attention to her. "The temperature in the north is higher than in the south. Come in quickly. It's uncomfortable to stay in the sun for too long."
"Yes." Hua Zhi stepped onto the stairs. At this time, Xu Ying had already knocked on the door. When the person inside saw that it was the young lady who came back, his voice suddenly became louder, "Young lady, you are back!"
Hua Zhi's heart skipped a beat, and her mind was immediately filled with bad memories. The last time she came back from the north, the servant who answered the door told her that her grandmother was dying in the same way. Could it be that she was dying again this time...
Gu Yanxi also quickly came up and stood behind Hua Zhi, and asked, "What happened?"
The servant was stunned and looked at the eldest girl, not knowing whether to say anything.
Hua Zhi had already prepared herself mentally, and nodded, "Go ahead."
The servant said quickly, "Yes, about half a month ago, Aunt Qiu from the third room stole money from the family. When she was about to flee, she was discovered by the guards. During the interrogation, we found out that this was not the first time. She also learned how to cook several dishes in the mansion and taught them to her family. The third lady decided to lock her up and wait for you to come back and deal with her."
At the door, Hua Zhi did not ask any further questions, but turned around and said, "It's just a family scandal, you can go back."
Gu Yanxi naturally couldn't stay any longer at this time, "Come to me anytime if you need anything."
"Know."
After entering the house, Hua Zhi went straight to the third room. When Xia saw her, she was stunned for a moment, and then she looked relieved. Nothing serious had happened during the time when the eldest girl was away from home, but she still felt uneasy. Now that she was back, she felt a lot more relieved.
"Third Aunt." Hua Zhi bowed.
Xia hurriedly helped the person up. Seeing her exhausted appearance, she felt a little uncomfortable. It was not easy for her to travel outside, but such betrayal happened at home to make her upset.
"It was Aunt San who failed to manage people well."
"You can't guard against thieves in your own home. Who would have thought that she didn't have any thoughts when the Hua family was in the most difficult time, but she couldn't stand it when the Hua family's situation improved." Hua Zhi helped the person to sit aside, took the warm water handed by Bao Xia and drank it all, "Give me another one."
Only after drinking two cups of water did Hua Zhi feel her throat felt a little better. She didn't even dare to drink more water as she was afraid there would be no place to relieve herself on the way back.
She looked up and was about to speak, but unexpectedly she saw Xia wiping her eyes. She suddenly understood that for the women in the inner house who lived in seclusion, it was unimaginable how hard it was for her to run around outside like this, but they couldn't even manage the inner house. They probably blamed themselves.
She said she wasn't tired but no one would believe her. But she really didn't feel tired. Maybe she was used to it. Apart from the bumpy ride which was a bit uncomfortable, everything else was fine. But it was good to think this way. At least she wouldn't feel that everything she did was natural.
"I just heard what the concierge said, but I still don't know what happened. Yingchun and Nianqiu have always been in charge of the family's money. They are both cautious people. How did Aunt Qiu steal it from them?"
Xia took a deep breath, coughed lightly and cleared her throat, saying, "Not long after you left, Aunt Qiu came to me and said she wanted to do something to help the family. The other concubines also said so. Your fourth aunt and I thought it was a good thing, so we decided to let them help tidy up the house. Your yard is not restricted to people, so she can go in and out there legitimately and no one can say she is wrong. Our Hua family is now working together and everyone gets along so well. Who would have thought that she would have evil intentions? First, she learned a few cooking methods from the cook, and then she got to know the working and resting habits of Yingchun and the others. She stole 1,200 taels of silver notes from them for three consecutive days. If she hadn't left in a panic that day and the guards hadn't noticed something was wrong and stopped her, I'm afraid she would have succeeded."
The root of the problem lies in management. It was like this in the past. When Yingchun and Nianqiu were busy, they would only do the accounts once every few days, and the silver bills would be put in a box. Because there had never been any mistakes when entering the accounts, she did not require them to enter them every day. This bad habit still needs to be changed.
If the funds had been deposited into the account daily from the beginning, it would have been impossible for the theft to go on for several days without being discovered.
"Has anyone come to her house?"
"No, I asked someone to go out and find out. The Qiu family has rented a shop in the east of the city. It looks like they are planning to start selling those kinds of food."
Do you want her to suffer this loss in silence? Hua Zhi sneered. If Aunt Qiu came to ask her for the recipe for her family's livelihood, she would give it to her. If she could get it this way, she would not let them get what they wanted.
Just as she was about to speak, footsteps were heard outside the door. Soon, Zhu and Wu appeared at the door one after another. Hua Zhi hurriedly stood up and knelt down to pay her respects to Zhu.
Mrs. Zhu was unwilling to torture her daughter. She pulled her up before she could even kneel down, muttering, "Why have you lost weight again? You're already so thin. Are you tired? Are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen now..."
"Mom." Hua Zhi called out in a soft voice and hugged her mother who looked a little flustered. "I'm fine. I didn't do anything wrong outside. I'm just a little tired from riding horses these days. I'll be fine after two days of rest."
Zhu held her daughter, who was so thin that it hurt her hands, and tried hard to suppress the urge to cry. She choked with sobs and forced a smile, saying, "It's good that you didn't lose anything. It's good that you didn't lose anything."
Hua Zhi felt distressed but was helpless. She could take care of all the affairs of the Hua family, but she could not stop the change of the family's situation. Her mother was simple but not stupid. She could not help, so she could only try her best not to become a burden to her children. For example, now, tears were welling up in her eyes but she was still smiling. Compared with before, she was so strong that it was impressive.
PS: I will go through the outline today and update three times tomorrow.