The next day, the old lady brought Yu Miaoqi and Mrs. Lin to continue to visit the Prince's Mansion, and Yu Xiang and Yu Siyu walked together. The princess's throat was also burnt, and the Lin family was sent to the side hall to listen to the training after only a face-to-face meeting. They communicated with the old lady Yu Xiang and others with notes, and there was no grudge between the words. .
In the next half month, a group of people visited the poisoned female guests one after another. Because the queen and the princess had forgiven them generously, they didn't dare to be aggressive, and they only wanted to mention a few words. But the reputation of Yu Miaoqi and Lin's is still bad. In the past, there were still a few acquaintances in the Yu Mansion, but now the Yu Mansion is empty.
All the dignitaries alienated the Yu family intentionally or unintentionally, trying to push the Yu family out of the circle of top elites in Shangjing and completely isolate them. This action was exactly in line with Yu Pinyan's intentions, and without human relations, he would be able to do it without distraction when the emperor cut off the great families in the future.
Cheng Kangdi is even more happy to see his success. Yu Pinyan is now a loyal minister, a good minister, a lonely minister, and an invincible general. He not only wants to make the best use of this treasured sword himself, but also wants to leave it to the prince. It doesn't matter how bad the reputation is, as long as the ability is not bad.
Therefore, although this incident had some impact on the Yu Mansion, it did not damage Yu Pinyan's status in Emperor Chengkang's heart.
This day I visited the last family, and the old lady summoned everyone to the main courtyard for discussion.
As the weather became colder and colder, a fire cage was burned in the hall, and a table was set up on it and a quilt was covered. The old lady was weak after being poisoned, and she was huddling in a quilt to keep warm. Seeing her grandchildren, she quickly asked them to sit around the fire cage.
After Yu Pinyan put down his sister, he sat down next to her, and Yu Siyu sat on the other side of the old lady, and the four of them happened to fill up the seats.
Seeing Mama come in with a box in her arms, Yu Xiang asked, "Want to play mahjong? I happened to bring some golden melon seeds."
Hearing this, Yu Siyu also went to pick out her purse, with an excited expression on her face.
Yu Pinyan smiled and untied the purse from his waist and handed it to his sister, but inside it was not golden melon seeds, but fried five-spice melon seeds. Yu Xiang was even happier than getting golden melon seeds. She poured them all out, spread out another handkerchief, and raised her jaw at her brother, "Peel out the melon seeds and put them together. I like to chew them in big mouthfuls. Then Call Xiang!"
Yu Pinyan pinched the tip of her nose, and peeled a melon seed according to his words. Yu Xiang didn't dare to hide his secrets, so the first peeled melon seeds were naturally fed into the mouths of the ancestors.
"What about me?" Yu Siyu was annoyed.
"Peel it off yourself, don't you have hands and feet?" Yu Xiang waved her hand, took the box, opened it, and sighed, "So it's not mahjong tiles."
The old lady's mood improved a lot after she made a fuss, and said with a smile, "I didn't call you here today for fun. This is the account of Yu Miaoqi's housekeeper. I reconciled the account in front of everyone today, and then let Lin Pack up your things and leave."
As soon as the voice finished speaking, someone outside the door reported, "Old Madam, Madam and Second Miss are here."
Lin walked in front, followed by Yu Miaoqi. Both of them were wearing plain clothes, with a little powder applied to cover up their haggard complexions. Standing beside Yu Miaoqi were two majestic nuns, followed by four maidservants. If someone who didn't know the inside story saw her, they would think that she was very respected in the Hou's mansion.
The two of them half-kneeled to salute, seeing that there was no room left beside the fire cage, they had to pick up two cold stools and sit down.
The old lady's throat has healed, and she said in a deep voice, "Sit closer, and hand over the accounts in front of everyone, and then Lin will go back with the dowry."
The four nuns are going back to the palace after all, so what's the difference between checking accounts in front of them and exposing Yu Miaoqi's face on the spot? She is really powerless to manage such a large Hou's mansion, but in order not to lose to Yu Xiang, she can only do everything possible to support it. And she is the most selfish, when the dowry and the interests of the Marquis cannot be satisfied, she naturally chooses to make up for the dowry by donating from the air.
She grew up in the Shen family, and is very proficient in accounting, no matter how many holes in the account book, she can fill it up. It would be fine if it was just the old lady reconciling accounts, but the old lady even called Yu Pinyan and Yu Xiang along.
Leaving aside Yu Xiang's eyesight, Yu Pinyan has arrested countless corrupt officials and reviewed countless elaborate fake accounts. They only need to flip through the account books, and they can bring her back to her original shape.
Thinking of the sums she was short of, Yu Miaoqi's heart turned cold, a thick layer of sweat broke out on her back in the cold weather, and the cold wind outside the door made even her soul feel a bone-chilling chill.
"Look at you shaking like that, come here and enjoy the fire." Yu Siyu smiled and waved at her, but there was endless malice in her eyes.
"Grandmother, I suddenly feel unwell, can I go down and rest first, and reconcile the account tomorrow?" Yu Miaoqi tried to delay the time, and then persuaded Lin to help her take the blame. Because Lin is still in the dark about this matter, he will be shocked when he hears it at first, and then let others see the clue.
"You go back, Mrs. Lin stays." The old lady took out the account book from the box and looked at Yu Siyu, "I heard that you are in charge of taking care of those villages in the countryside. Let the old ancestors see if you have made progress today." .”
Yu Siyu readily agreed, and Yu Xiang also picked up a stack of account books. Yu Miaoqi didn't dare to go back alone, so she had to send the four nuns and four maids away with nice words, and walked over with Mrs. Lin to sit down.
"Mother, please give your daughter-in-law another chance, mother, daughter-in-law..." Lin tried to beg the old lady for mercy. In her heart, she didn't think there was a problem with the account books, she just thought it was a mess caused by the gang of slaves who cheated and had nothing to do with her daughter. But at that time, those slaves pushed the blame on her daughter in front of all the guests, and she was powerless to refute her words, so she had to bear it all.
The old lady interrupted her sternly, "Shut up, come talk to me after the account is checked!" As she spoke, she asked someone to bring three abacus.
The matter of middle-feeding has never been related to men, Yu Pinyan did not participate in it, and only smiled at his sister's serious side face. Sensing his scorching gaze, Yu Xiang looked at her ancestor, and found that she was engrossed in settling accounts, not paying attention to herself, her moist red lips pursed slightly. This was her usual gesture when asking for a kiss from her brother, and at the end she gave a very provocative little look.
Yu Pinyan's hand holding the teacup tightened suddenly, if it wasn't for the crowds in the hall, he really wanted to hold the little fairy in his arms so that he could love her a lot.
After Yu Xiang teased her brother, she opened the account book and looked seriously. Her browsing speed was extremely fast, and others only read half of it. She had already read four or five books, and circled the suspicious places with a Chinese ink pen. Half an hour later, after reading all the account books, she took out the abacus and fiddled with her fingers quickly. For a while, only a series of crackling sounds were heard in the hall.
The old lady and Yu Siyu had already stopped their movements, and when she finished counting one volume, she handed over another volume, which was as fast as lightning.
The fine sweat on Yu Miaoqi's forehead had condensed into sweat droplets, which flowed down her hairline to her neck. This was the first time she saw Yu Xiang managing accounts with her own eyes, and her sharp eyesight and incredible speed made her startled. It was precisely because Yu Xiang was so capable that her competitive spirit was aroused, and she desperately wanted to surpass her.
However, after more than half a year of tossing, she discovered to her dismay that the gap between her and Yu Xiang was not as she had imagined, only between siblings. She doesn't seem to be close.
She moved her arm quietly, pulled Lin's hand over, and wrote stroke by stroke in Lin's palm, "Mother, help me!"
Lin didn't understand, so she glanced at her.
She wrote it again, with deep despair and pleading in her eyes. Lin suddenly realized something, his eyes widened, his pupils contracted, and he asked silently with his mouth: "Did you really use the middle feed?"
Yu Miaoqi had no choice but to nod in recognition. She originally only wanted to embezzle a little bit and return it when the shop made money. Unexpectedly, the shop loses more and more money, no matter how much money you spend, you can't hear it. That's when she became anxious, but she was powerless to recover, so she could only make up things and move around to make up for it. If there was no other way, she would never dare to put her mind on the old lady.
Lin Shi was so frightened that she trembled all over. She originally thought about asking the old lady to check it first, but after checking it, she found that there was no problem with the account book, so maybe she just kept it after begging a few words. But if the daughter is really greedy for money from the public, she may have to leave the house. This is her and Junjie's home, and there are many beautiful memories. She is reluctant to leave, and even more reluctant to lose the title of Junjie's wife...
If she couldn't be buried with Junjie after death, where would she go to find him in Huangquan? Thinking of this, Lin Shi actually developed endless resentment towards Yu Miaoqi, but seeing her eyes full of fear, Lin Shi's heart softened again, her internal organs seemed to be scraped by a steel knife.
When the two exchanged glances, Yu Xiang closed the last account book and let out a sigh of relief. Yu Pinyan rubbed her sore fingertips, and fed her another cup of tea.
"Yu Miaoqi, do you know that you look like a groundhog?" No one expected her to say this in the first sentence.
The old lady and Yu Siyu were stunned, and Yu Pinyan also showed an inexplicable expression.
Yu Miaoqi was not sure what the words meant, so she forced a smile, "Sister, are you kidding me?"
"I'm not kidding." Yu Xiang patted the account book, "Look at you, you dug a hole here, a hole there, filled a handful of soil here, filled a handful of soil there, and you dug countless holes in one piece , do you think you look like a groundhog?"
Yu Miaoqi understood this time, and her expression turned pale.
Yu Xiang's brisk tone suddenly turned severe, "If you don't have the ability, don't take over such a big business. If the dowry shop loses money, you can close it and go out of business. Why use public money to make up for it? Your public money is your private property I have seen many people of all kinds. This is the first time I have seen someone as incompetent, prodigal, and greedy as you. In just half a year, you have been greedy for 68,448 taels of silver. You said it yourself Tell me what to do."
"No, Qi'er didn't take the money, it was me!" Before Yu Miaoqi could reply, Mrs. Lin had already rushed to the old lady's feet. She lost her husband, her son, and could no longer lose her daughter.