114 Biting Each Other
When he suddenly saw Mother Yang, who was dressed in a dark green outfit, Zhou Yongchang pointed at her and shouted, “It was Mother Yang who instructed me to do this. It was Mother Yang…”
Mother Yang was so shocked that she fell to her knees. “Young Miss, I’m innocent!”
Zhou Yongchang couldn’t care less about Mother Yang, who was crying out for justice. “I’m just a small manager of the manor, but Mother Yang is someone who’s well-known to the master of the residence. I didn’t want to lie to the master, but Mother Yang threatened me with an additional lease, so I had no choice but to consider the farmers of Little Zhouzhuang, so…”
When Mother Yang heard this, she cried. “I’m just a servant. How can I threaten Steward Zhou? Whether or not the rent increases is up to the master. Since when did it become my turn to make decisions? Steward Zhou is slandering me. Eldest Miss, please investigate…”
As she listened to the two of them bickering, Yu Youyao asked calmly, “So, you’re using the cold weather and the fact that the vegetables aren’t growing well as an excuse to buy vegetables from outside to hide the money you’re using to buy vegetables? I see that you’re all deceiving and colluding with each other. It’s obvious that you’ve done this a lot…”
Most of the vegetables did not grow well. When the residence asked about it, their answer was just that the weather was not good, so the master could not be too harsh on them.
There were good ones that had been secretly sent into the residence for the master to eat. The money used to buy vegetables was considered fraud.
This method was not very brilliant, but the steward of the residence had colluded with the steward of the village. Furthermore, all of this was instigated by Yang Shuwan, so it was not easy to detect.
Even if they had sensed it, anyone else would have been fooled.
Zhou Yongchang and Mother Yang suddenly stopped talking, their faces ashen.
What else could they say?
Could it be that they had said to Eldest Miss that all of this had been instructed by Eldest Madam Yang, and that they had only done as she had instructed? That all the money they had kept had ended up in Eldest Madam’s hands, and they had only enjoyed a little of it?
Even a smart person would know that these words could not be said.
Eldest Miss’s management had Old Madam’s backing, but she knew a thing or two about filial piety. If Eldest Miss knew the truth, she would only thing they were deliberately biting each other and would become more furious.
With a loud bang, Yu Youyao smashed the teacup in her hand angrily and stood there with a dark expression, not saying a word.
However, everyone present trembled in fear.
Oh my god, Eldest Miss was not even ten years old. She was only a child, but why did she already have such a terrifying aura?
At this moment, Yu Zongzheng had just left the government office and was about to head to the study when he saw the commotion in front of him. He said to Zhao Da, who was beside him, “Go over and see what’s going on.”
“Yes—” Zhao Da quickly went over. Seeing Butler Mo standing at the side, he asked him what had happened.
Butler Mo did not dare to hide anything, so he explained everything in detail.
After hearing this, Zhao Da hurriedly returned to report to Yu Zongzheng, “Eldest Madam is seriously ill. She handed the butler’s key back to Old Madam, but she couldn’t manage the house. Old Madam is also old, so it’s not good for her to work too hard, so she asked Nanny Liu to help Eldest Miss manage the house.”
Hearing this, Yu Zongzheng frowned.
Although Yao Yao was the eldest daughter of the first wife, and although it was her duty to manage the household, she was still young and had never learned how to manage the household properly. He was afraid that something had gone wrong, which was why this matter had blown up. His expression darkened.
On second thought, he thought of Madam Yang!
In the past, although Madam Yang’s management had made some mistakes, it had never been as big as this. It could be seen that she still had some redeeming qualities.
As a result, he thought of the first few days when he had reprimanded Yang Shuwan for not knowing how to manage the house because of the matter of the Tian-tsui. He was afraid that it would hurt Yang Shuwan’s heart and she fell sick the moment he turned around. She couldn’t even manage the house, so he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
Yu Zongzheng was thinking that he would go to the storeroom later to pick out a good item and visit Madam Yang in the main courtyard to comfort her. Then, he heard Eldest Miss continue, “Eldest Miss looked at the account book and realized that there was a problem with the main kitchen’s purchasing account book, so she asked Mother Yang, who was in charge of purchasing. Mother Yang only said that the weather was cold and the vegetables on the farm weren’t growing well, so she had to buy them outside with money. The vegetables outside were more expensive.”
Hearing this, Yu Zongzheng nodded. “Continue.”
Zhao Da said, “After Eldest Miss heard this, she was worried about the harvest in the village, so she met with Steward Zhou, who was delivering vegetables. Eldest Miss thought that Old Madam was the kindest and most understanding of the villagers, and was worried that the crops wouldn’t be good, so she wanted to reduce the rent by 50 copper coins per mu…”
Yu Zongzheng’s expression softened. He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t heard it, but when he heard it, he felt that although Yao Yao was young, she was thoughtful and kind-hearted like her mother.
All these years, he and his second brother had been able to establish themselves firmly in the imperial court because his mother had done good deeds and cultivated Buddhism, giving the family a good reputation that no one could criticize.
Zhao Da changed the topic. “Who knew that after drinking a few cups of rice wine, the few farmers who came with Steward Zhou started making a fuss in the residence. Not only did they scold Eldest Miss’s maidservant, Xia Tao, but they also hit Old Madam Zhang from the outer courtyard. Eldest Miss felt that these people were ungrateful and disrespectful to the main family. She refused to let them continue renting the land in our residence.”
Even Yu Zongzheng was furious. “He deserves this.”
Zhao Da continued, “One of the farmers panicked when he heard that they couldn’t continue to rent farmland. He revealed that Mother Yang from our residence had colluded with Steward Zhou and deliberately managed the farmers poorly. Not only did they not manage the crops well, but they even secretly transported some of the good crops from the village to the residence for the people to eat. This way, the money for the vegetables from the main kitchen’s accounts was embezzled by them!”
“How dare they!” Yu Zongzheng was furious when he heard this. He strode over in his official boots.
Upon seeing the old master of the residence, the servants quickly bowed. Yu Youyao also walked up to her father and called out, “Father!”
Zhou Yongchang’s face turned ashen.
Zhou Yongtian and the other two looked at the old master in the residence. He was wearing a red official uniform and a dignified official hat. Even the shoes on his feet looked mighty. His entire demeanor was so shocking that they did not even dare to breathe loudly. Their tall and strong bodies could not help but tremble.
Yu Zongzheng ignored them and asked Yu Youyao, “What do you plan to do?”
He had thought that there was a slip-up on Yao Yao’s part.
Who would have known that Yao Yao herself was so capable? On the first day, she had discovered that the internal and external managers were colluding with each other and were greedy for the money in the residence. It was obvious that her mother had raised her well over the years. In the past, he had misjudged his eldest daughter.