There was a loud noise and everyone looked over. The red sandalwood jewelry box was turned over, and because it was not closed, it could be seen that the inside was empty.
Nothing
An empty jewelry box
Everyone was shocked
"This... this is what the second young lady and I put in together. Where is the set of jeweled jewelry? This... this was given to Madam by the uncle. It was Madam's favorite to wear in the past!" Madam Duan stood up suddenly, pointed her finger at the jewelry box above the ground, and stammered.
This set of jewelry was Dai Yue's favorite in the past and she would wear it often. Those present were all of the same generation and many of them had seen it before.
When Ji Hanyue put these things in that day, several people here also saw it. It was indeed that set of jewelry, but now the box has been turned out, but there is nothing in it
"Madam, that painting... the painting is wrong!" A maid who followed Madam Duan suddenly screamed. She was so frightened that she spoke in a panic. She lost her usual sense of propriety and directly exposed the matter. "The painting has been replaced. Who stole the jewelry and replaced it with Madam's painting?"
Madam Duan walked forward quickly, picked up the half-exposed scroll, opened it and asked in a trembling voice, "What...what is this? This is not Madam's painting. Where...where did this come from?"
Xiao's face turned pale with shock and he also stood up, but he couldn't say a word.
"Sister-in-law, you have always been in charge of the affairs here. Tell me, what happened? Where are those paintings and jewelry? Were they stolen? This... It has only been a short time since it happened. Before, when the uncle and the second young lady were here, everything was fine." Madam Duan turned to Xiao and asked.
That is to say, this didn't happen last year, but it happened now.
This matter is still managed by the Xiao family. Although the title of Ling'an Earl's Mansion now belongs to the eldest branch, the second branch still has the upper hand overall.
Some things don't allow for too much thought. Once you think about them, everyone can't help but think in that direction.
"I... I don't know..." Xiao was also panicking at this moment. Looking at everyone's suspicious eyes, he hurriedly explained, "Here... I don't come here either... I..."
"Mrs. Xiao, you are in charge of this matter. Now something like this happened in front of my aunt's spirit tablet. You didn't know about it, but you explained it? Madam Duan had been in seclusion before, and you are the only one in charge of the mansion. If you can't give an explanation for my aunt's matter, I will definitely report this matter to the government."
Qu Moying flicked his sleeves and said in shock.
"But... but I really don't know." Xiao was panicked and anxious, sweating profusely, and asked Xiao Haitang anxiously, "Haitang, what's going on? Where are these things?"
“I… I…” Xiao Haitang looked at Xiao, then at everyone else, and began to panic as well. Her hands and feet became weak, and it was obvious that she was really scared. Tears fell from her eyes, “Aunt…Aunt…I…I don’t know!”
The last words "I don't know" were spoken through gritted teeth.
"You don't know? How could you not know? Isn't this what you are in charge of? I asked you to be in charge of the worship here, how could you not know?" Xiao raised her voice. She was really anxious at this moment.
“Aunt, I… I really don’t know… It’s all what aunt said… I… what I did, and this worship ceremony only happened in the past few days… I… I really don’t know…” Xiao Haitang cried out of fear, her body trembling, at a loss.
"Check, check immediately, check who else has moved here!" Xiao said sternly.
Something like this happened in the mansion. If we don't get to the bottom of it, it will be difficult to resolve.
As soon as she said this, the two trusted maids beside her ran out immediately, ready to interrogate each person one by one.
"Madam Xiao, there's no need to investigate. If you want to investigate, just ask yourself!" Qu Moying glanced at her and said, "Anyone who is capable of stealing things here must have someone capable in the mansion. Even if the jewelry is small, you can carry it in your pocket, but what about the scroll? A scroll is always a large item!"
"What does Fourth Miss Qu mean?" Xiao asked anxiously and panickedly, gritting her teeth.
"It's nothing special. I just heard my cousin talking about the painting that was enshrined in front of my aunt's coffin. What's more, a few days ago, my eldest brother actually bought such a painting from someone else and said it was passed down from our ancestors."
Qu Moying said.
"What? Sold out?"
"It was handed down from our ancestors. This... this is outrageous!"
“Who dares to steal here?” When the ladies heard the news, they immediately started whispering, but the sound was not small.
"Do you... have any evidence?" Xiao gritted her teeth.
Qu Moying nodded, and Yudong walked forward with the sacrificial basket. He opened the tall lid of the sacrificial basket and actually saw a painting.
Qu Moying took it, opened it, and showed it to the ladies, "Ladies, please help me take a look. Is this the painting? My eldest brother spent several hundred taels of silver to buy it. It is a family heirloom."
This painting was once loved by Dai Yue and was hung at his home. Many people saw it, and when it was later placed in front of the coffin, several people witnessed it on the spot.
At this time, when they saw the pattern clearly, they all nodded.
“It’s this one.”
“It is this one.”
Someone boldly asked, "Did Miss Qu Si check who bought this painting for Mr. Qu Da?"
"I have inquired about it. Coincidentally, the man's wife is actually a maidservant of Madam Xiao. She was sent out to marry someone else before, and she would occasionally come back to visit Madam Xiao."
Qu Moying said lightly.
"You're talking nonsense... I didn't know about this. It must be someone else in the mansion who colluded with that bitch." Xiao shouted angrily, her mind was in a panic. Until now, she still couldn't figure out why this matter had become like this.
"It seems that Madam Xiao and I have the same idea, which is to report this matter to the Ministry of Justice. Well then, Madam Xiao and I can go together!" Qu Moying said, raising his leg to walk out, as if he really wanted to take Madam Xiao with him.
Xiao panicked, and her tone softened unconsciously: "We need to investigate this matter thoroughly... It's just that the servants in the mansion are not clean..."
"If it's not clean, forget it, but if it's not clean enough to be in front of my aunt's spirit, and the scroll is sent to my eldest brother, it's not a small matter. It's okay if Madam Xiao doesn't want to, then I will go alone. Anyway, the final victim of this scam is my eldest brother, so I can be considered a victim."
Qu Moying said slowly.
"One thing is already here, let's see where the other thing is! Since I am also a victim, if Madam Xiao doesn't go, I will go!"
After saying that, Qu Moying raised his leg and walked out.
Everyone looked at each other, but could not say anything to stop it. This matter did start from the Ji Mansion, but Miss Qu Si did have the right to report it, because
Because she is a victim, and a victim with solid evidence.
"Miss Qu Si... please... please stay!" Xiao Haitang suddenly spoke with difficulty. Although her voice was trembling, her eyes were firm.
Qu Moying stopped, looked at her silently, and waited for her to speak.
She walked in front of Xiao and suddenly knelt down with a plop: "Aunt... I... I have no choice, I should... I should tell you! This matter... This matter actually doesn't need to be made into such a big deal, it's... it's just a small mistake..."
As he said this he started crying.
"You...what nonsense are you talking about?" Xiao had a bad feeling and scolded him harshly, "Why don't you get up and get out of the way."
"Aunt... although you took the things and sent them here, they are now in my house. You... you said it was a betrothal gift from my cousin, but now... now such a big thing has happened. Aunt... you should accept it! I... we don't dare to accept this betrothal gift!"
Xiao Haitang continued to cry.
The meaning of these words shocked everyone present, and they all looked at Xiao as if they had seen a ghost.
"What do you mean by engagement and recognition? I don't know what you are talking about." Xiao blurted out, and stretched out her hand to pull Xiao Haitang, cursing, "Are you possessed by a demon? How can you say such things? Hurry up and get up!"
"Aunt... I... I didn't say anything nonsense, you... you should just admit it!" Xiao Haitang didn't get up, but just collapsed at Xiao's feet, "Not only do I know about this matter, even my parents and eldest brother know about it, so why shouldn't Aunt deny it!"
There was a look of extreme panic on Xiao's face. She stared at Xiao Haitang as if she was meeting Xiao Haitang for the first time, but she soon calmed down.
"Someone, help Haitang out to rest. She is insane. What is she talking about? What betrothal gifts? What jewelry? What does this have to do with me?"
Two servants came over, one on each side, and tried to drag the man out.
"Wait a minute!" Mrs. Duan spoke, and the two maids beside her came over and pushed the two previous maids away, standing in front of Xiao Haitang.
"What do you mean?" Xiao asked sternly after seeing this situation.
"I just want to find out the truth. If these things were really taken by my sister-in-law, she should give Madam an explanation as to why she did this. My sister-in-law was so short of money that she actually stole the offerings in front of Madam's spirit tablet?"
"I..." Xiao was speechless when asked.
"My sister-in-law has been involved in this matter. No matter whether it is true or not, it is not appropriate for her to intervene at this time. I should investigate this matter." Mrs. Duan said again.
The ladies nodded repeatedly. At this time, Xiao had no reason to intervene anymore. Moreover, they felt that it must have been Xiao who did it, otherwise Xiao's niece, Xiao Haitang, who always listened to Xiao, would not have said such a thing. Besides, the matter of betrothal gifts was not something that could be decided by one person.
In the past, Xiao had repeatedly brought Xiao Haitang with him. Didn't that mean he wanted to marry Xiao Haitang
Therefore, this marriage rumor must be true!
Since this is true, what Xiao Haitang said must also be true...
"Someone, go and ask Madam Xiao to come over!" Seeing that everyone was nodding, Madam Duan gave the order and sent someone to notify Madam Ji.
At this point, we can’t really ask the government to investigate, family disgrace should not be made public…