After a while, He Shuijin was led in. As expected, as Mrs. Zhuang said just now, her eyes were still slightly red. However, his expression had calmed down. After seeing the ceremony, he sat down, exchanged a few words, and then said, "I am here to apologize to my fourth aunt!"
Mrs. Zhuang said unexpectedly: "What's wrong?"
"I went out to inspect a few shops today. There were a few items in one of the pawn shops that looked very familiar. My nephew asked someone to bring them to me for a closer look. I felt that they were very similar to some of the items in my eighth sister-in-law's dowry back then." He Shui After Jin Cai said this, Mrs. Zhuang's face turned ugly.
"My niece was afraid that she might have made a mistake, so she asked the shopkeeper who had taken it as a pawn - after such an investigation, she actually found our house!" He Shuijin looked apologetic, "A nephew has taken over the business since he entered the house. Internal affairs, if something like this happens in the house, no matter who did it, the nephew is responsible! Secondly, the nephew did not expect it to be the dowry of the eighth sister-in-law at first, and did not clear the place during the investigation. I was afraid that there would be some news about this matter! … Anyway, it’s my nephew’s fault, so I beg Fourth Aunt to punish me!”
Mrs. Zhuang's face was as dark as water: "Who did it?"
He Shuijin looked like it was inconvenient to say it. When he saw Qiu Yilan not far away shaking his head slightly at him, indicating that she should not try to tempt Mrs. Zhuang's appetite here, he said: "It's... Bage's concubine!"
"Mother Chang, go and drag out all the concubines in Xiaoba's yard. Give each of them a hundred sticks and sell the ones who are alive!" Mrs. Zhuang gave the order without even asking who they were!
He Shuijin was dumbfounded by such a straightforward and neat treatment. After a while, he said calmly: "Then concubine..."
"You came across these things by chance!" Mrs. Zhuang interrupted her coldly, "Since one concubine did this, do the others must be innocent? Maybe how much of An'er's mother's things were sold - dowry We, as husbands in the Jiang family, dare not touch these things. It shows how wantonly they are! If these things are left in the backyard, even if they don't do anything now, they will definitely cause trouble in the future! It’s better to deal with it as soon as possible to save worry!”
Also called Qiu Yilan, "Although you are an aunt, An'er has been raised under your knees. Before he grows up and can handle his mother's dowry on his own, you should find a place for him when he suffers a loss! Let him regain his place!" Mom and the others will accompany you to Xiaoba's place, take your eighth sister-in-law's dowry list, check the items one by one, and seal them up in the main house! Kill them all and find out where they went!"
Mrs. Zhuang couldn't help but slapped the table, and said with gritted teeth, "My wonderful wife is gone, and my poor grandson lost his mother just after he was born! Now even the things left by his mother are being manipulated by others, and they are still a group of disloyal people. The obscene thing on the table! If we don’t get to the bottom of it, is there even a word for ‘rules’ in this house?”
Qiu Yilan was not surprised by Mrs. Zhuang's reaction. Over the past few days, she had long known how much Mrs. Zhuang valued her concubines over her concubines. No, it couldn't even be said that she looked down upon concubines. In her eyes, there was basically no place for concubines. Jiang Yadan's legitimate son An'er is not loved enough by Mrs. Zhuang all day long. Until now, none of her children have been able to meet their grandmother!
Let alone her son’s concubine.
Although He Shuijin had also heard about Mrs. Zhuang's style, he was not like Qiu Yilan who followed her mother-in-law all day long. After being slightly surprised, his eyes showed envy. But he regained his composure in an instant and reminded softly: "Fourth aunt, there are many shops and villages in the eighth sister-in-law's dowry. The income in the past six months..."
Obviously she had offended Jiang Yadan's concubine anyway, and she didn't care if she offended her even more - besides, as the third wife's direct daughter-in-law, she wasn't afraid of her eldest brother-in-law's concubine having children with his concubines! After all, Mrs. Zhuang’s attitude is here. If these people want to get ahead, they must first get past Mrs. Zhuang!
Mrs. Zhuang frowned slightly when she heard this: "I will take care of checking An'er's mother's dowry list. Yilan, you are pregnant now, so it is not easy for you to take care of it."
If He Shuijin was just envious just now, the loss in his heart now is beyond words: "Why am I not lucky enough to have such a mother-in-law?"
However, she came here to pick this matter today not to see that the fourth aunt and her daughter-in-law were as close as mother and daughter, so she quickly composed herself and said with a smile: "If the fourth aunt doesn't dislike it, my nephew is willing to help the nineteen younger brothers and sisters. It seems that My nephew thinks he has some experience with accounting books."
Qiu Yilan didn't want her mother-in-law to worry about it. After all, Mrs. Zhuang had just been sick not long ago. She also said: "Mom, why not let the fourteenth sister-in-law help my daughter-in-law? My daughter-in-law is in good health! And mothers say that she can move around during pregnancy. It’s better to move around!”
Mrs. Zhuang looked at her daughter-in-law's rosy face, pondered for a while and then said: "In that case, let's leave it to you!" She also warned, "If you feel that you can't hold it in, don't force it! If anyone doesn't If you are interested, come and repay me!"
... The two sisters-in-law resigned and left the house, and Shui Jin chuckled: "Nineteen brothers and sisters are so lucky, and the fourth aunt loves my daughter-in-law so much!"
"What's wrong with you today?" Qiu Yilan asked in a low voice, looking at her red eyes that had not completely faded away until now.
He Shuijin's eyes were dazed for a moment, but he shook his head: "Nothing."
"If you have anything to say, just say it." Qiu Yilan said suspiciously, "Although Sixth Brother is gone, because of Sister Eighteen, Nineteenth also offended your mother's family a lot before. But now that the matter has passed, if there is anyone who can help It’s a busy place, so don’t go outside!”
"Of course." He Shuijin laughed at himself, "Aren't I here to trouble you now? If I hadn't come to talk about this matter today, why would you have needed to make this trip? And you would be hated by others."
Qiu Yilan shook her head: "It's about the eighth sister-in-law's dowry, which belongs to An'er! As my mother said, An'er is under my knees now, how can I not show him his things?! Thank you for telling me. , otherwise, when An'er checks and finds that something is missing, where can we find it clearly?"
They had already arrived at Jiang Yadan's yard while they were talking. Chang's mother went ahead and was waiting for them at the door: "Madam asked the old slave to invite the Eighth Young Master to come over and talk."
This would avoid the embarrassment of Jiang Yadan's sisters-in-law coming to the house now that he has no wife at home. It also prevented those concubines and concubine children from crying and making trouble in front of him, and asked him to come out and stop them.
He Shuijin and Qiu Yilan thanked Chang's mother for informing them and went in together - by this time, the inside was already in a mess!
I think so. In the past, when Mr. Tao was there, there was no binding force on the backyard. These people were used to being carefree. How could they not be in a state of panic when something so cruel suddenly came
However, Chang’s mother and Qu’s mother were very good at calming the scene. They caught the most favored concubine these days and slapped her twice until her nose started to bleed. They ordered her to kneel down and followed the same pattern with a few others who were usually in the limelight. Those who came down were so frightened that they did not dare to disobey.
But then Qiu Yilan announced that she would conduct a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of little Tao's dowry, and the crowd burst into excitement again. This time, Chang's mother did not take action, but announced sadly: "By Madam's order, the Fourteenth Young Madam Count the eight young ladies in the dowry with the nineteen young ladies, but any one who refuses to obey and provokes trouble will be beaten to death on the spot!"
Having already seen her cruelty, she immediately calmed down!
... This investigation went very smoothly, mainly because Qiu Yilan didn't tell them about Mrs. Zhuang's treatment of people who were tainted with Xiao Tao's dowry property—almost every concubine was unclean. According to Mrs. Zhuang, these people must die!
He Shuijin and Qiu Yilan have no sympathy for them. Just like Mrs. Zhuang said, no husband's family who is more sophisticated these days will touch their daughter-in-law's dowry, let alone you, a concubine? ! Little Tao was bullied by these people when she was alive. Now that she is dead, do these people still want to continue bullying An'er, who is still in her infancy? !
"Just do what mother wants!" Qiu Yilan looked at the list in her hand and said calmly.
In the end, Xiao Tao's dowry was not fully recovered, mainly because many of them had been sold long ago. Where can I get it back at this moment
Some were simply broken - for example, the tenth grandson Jiang Jingheng and the eleventh grandson Jiang Huizhu revealed to each other that they had deliberately smashed several flower and bird porcelain vases that were part of the dowry of the young Tao.
Looking at the pearls, clothing materials, medicinal materials, and treasures found in various houses... Lian Heshuijin sighed and quietly said to Qiu Yilan: "Bago, in this backyard, if you don't marry someone more aggressive, the 'rules' are for both of you. Don’t even think about it!”
"Fortunately, mother is a person who respects rules!" Qiu Yilan felt panicked. She didn't know how tolerant little Mrs. Tao was, and could she live in such a backyard for so many years
If it were left on her, he and Jiang Yadan would have perished together long ago!
"Please ask the two mothers to clean up here. My fourteenth sister-in-law and I will go back to our mother first!" Qiu Yilan saw that she couldn't recover more on the spot, so she wrote down the whereabouts of the parts that those people told her to sell, and then got up. Talk to Chang’s mother and Qu’s mother.
The two mothers said nonchalantly: "You two young ladies, go ahead. These things don't taint the eyes of the two young ladies." Qiu Yilan didn't say that, and they planned to make the same request. The young lady was pregnant. If the execution scene scares her and something happens to her, even if they are Mrs. Zhuang's right-hand man, they cannot bear the responsibility!
"The house is so bold. How can we talk about Zhuangzi and the shop?!" Back in the main hall of the fourth room, Mrs. Zhuang looked at the things presented by her daughter-in-law and niece-in-law. She was so angry that her whole body was shaking and she couldn't help it. He picked up the whisk at hand and beat Jiang Yadan who was sitting below, "You are a good man! Look at your backyard! It's strange that your wife went there at such a young age! I just looked at it for a while and felt like I had to live less. several years!"
After Jiang Yadan grew crooked, he was like a piece of meat. With so many elders in the Jiang family, it was only Duke Qin who really scared him. But my mother was different after all. She obediently allowed herself to be beaten and scolded, and only said awkwardly: "What did mother say? Mother is a blessing to live a long life!"
"If you really want me to live a long life, what will you do to these people?!" After Mrs. Zhuang hit her a few times, Shuijin and Qiu Yilan grabbed her sleeves to intercede. Think about it, the eldest son also has At such an old age, and being watched by his two sisters-in-law, he really shouldn't be too embarrassed, so he threw the fly whisk down angrily.
Jiang Yadan, who can't distribute the lychees to the backyard satisfactorily despite his hard work, and simply doesn't give a single lychee to him, can he have any good advice on how to deal with it? He smiled and said, "Children listen to their mother in everything!"
"Do you really listen to me?" Mrs. Zhuang sneered, "Then I don't want any of those concubines!"
Jiang Yadan didn't even think about it: "Listen to mother!"
"Anyone who has stolen An'er's mother's dowry will have their children's share of the family property, dowry, and daily share reduced by half!" After Mrs. Zhuang said this, she saw that Jiang Yadan seemed to hesitate, and she became angry again. shouted, "What? They bullied An'er's mother to be honest, bullied her to death, and now they bully An'er for being young. You, the biological father, in your eyes, the dignity of a wife and legitimate son is just a few scumbags. Can I pay for it with my life?”
Jiang Yadan said: "Yes!"
Seeing that he was obedient, Mrs. Zhuang's anger subsided a little, and she said happily to He Shuijin: "Everyone in the house has checked An'er's mother's dowry. The one who is missing has also sent someone to check! But outside Those Zhuangzi shops still have their accounts, but they have to trouble you to run away!"
The implication is that you don't believe the reported account books - after all, the government has gone so far. Who knows whether those account books are true or false? Not to mention checking each place one by one, at least check a few randomly!
This would definitely not allow Qiu Yilan to go. Even if she went in and out by carriage and only went to places to do business, she could not bear the trouble of being five or six months pregnant.
It's not easy for Mrs. Zhuang herself to go. Firstly, she can't help but bumpy at her age, and secondly, she has a lot to do! There is no suitable person in the fourth house, so naturally we can only entrust him with water money. You Qi He Shui Jin is an expert in this field - her efficiency and results will definitely be better than Mrs. Zhuang's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law!
"What did the fourth aunt say?" He Shuijin said respectfully, "The fourth aunt doesn't care about my nephew's recklessness. My nephew is already grateful! Besides, the eighth sister-in-law took great care of her nephew during her lifetime. The nephew can still have something for her." An'er chats and tries his best to get what he wants!"
Mrs. Zhuang was very satisfied with her attitude. She took off the bracelet she was wearing and admired it: "Go back and tell Third Sister-in-law that I want to borrow it from you. If you have any trouble, just come to me!"
Qiu Yilan remained silent, thinking in her mind: "What are you trying to do with Shuijin in bringing up such a thing?"
She didn't believe that He Shuijin was afraid that he wouldn't report it, and that Mrs. Zhuang would be in trouble if she found out that little Tao's dowry had been stolen into her own shop. With the means of He Shui Jin, you can hide it as much as possible. After all, she didn't need to keep it secret for long. Mrs. Zhuang would have to go to Northern Xinjiang if she couldn't live in Beijing. Even if it was revealed by then, she would deny knowing that she didn't know, and wouldn't it be over after just a few scapegoats
"Although she is not afraid of the trouble caused by this matter, with her character, she cannot offend people like this if there is no benefit... What exactly does she want to do?"
Qiu Yilan returned to her yard, still thinking about this matter, and quietly called Su He to come over, "Go to the Ruan Mansion to borrow some strangers, and so on... tell them to keep a close eye on them, but not to be noticed! "