Full House Spring

Chapter 113 Killing the chicken to scare the monkey

Kuang Yuru rolled her eyes, tilted her head and grinned:

"What if Cui Yingying is in collusion with Second Aunt? After all, they are aunt and niece."

Xia Li's mouth corners unconsciously rose, and he said with some confidence:
"No, their interests are not aligned. If Cui Chengming can't find a daughter-in-law with a prominent family background, then Cui Yingying will always be a thorn in the Cui family's side."

Cui Yuru immediately figured out the connection. Her sister-in-law wanted to kill the people in the West Courtyard in her own little piece of land. This was a good idea.

Cui Yuru was very perceptive. She turned her head and saw the account book on the table in the room. Knowing that her sister-in-law had something important to do, she found an excuse to leave. After she left, Du Ruo whispered softly:
"Everyone in this mansion says that the eldest daughter is smarter than the second daughter, but I think they are just shortsighted."

Xia Li sat down in front of the desk and said casually, "Yu Ru doesn't want to have much contact with outsiders. She has a strong sense of self-protection. She always looks honest in front of outsiders. People who don't know the inside story are naturally easy to misunderstand."

Shi Mi placed the snacks next to Xia Li's hand and said with a half-chuckle, "Just now I noticed that the way the young lady looked at you was a little strange, as if she was worshipping you. I don't know what she was thinking."

Xia Li paused while flipping through the account book and said casually, "She may be attracted by the strong, so we don't need to pay attention to her. Cui Shi can be so patient. I guess Cui Yulin will try every means to get close to me next. She wants to use my relationship to marry a man of her dreams."

Shi Mi said with disdain, "The people in the West Courtyard really do everything they can. After all, you are the eldest daughter-in-law of the East Courtyard. If there is a suitable candidate, you should naturally keep it for your own people. How can she get it?"

Xia Li shook his head and laughed, saying meaningfully: "You are too absolute. Who can predict what will happen in the future? If she is useful, it would be fine for me to help her. It all depends on how I use her."

Shi Mi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Anyway, the girl is the one playing chess, you can do whatever you want."

Xia Li did not comment. She stopped talking and focused all her attention on the account books. The Kuang family was a small family, and although they had accumulated wealth for several generations, they did not have many account books. Xia Li only needed to spend some time looking through them. She had to know what was going on.

But the more she looked at the account book, the more she felt something was wrong. A dou of rice cost six thousand wen, and a jin of tea cost two thousand wen. Laizhou and Jiaozhou are not far apart, and the price difference between the two places cannot be so great. A dou of rice in Laizhou only costs one to three thousand wen, and even the best refined rice costs less than six thousand. She would never believe that there was no trick here.

Xia Li is not a lady from a noble family who is out of touch with the world and never leaves her house. It is impossible to fool her on this. A cold light flashed in her eyes and she said in a deep voice:
"Bai Guo, Bai Ying, you two go get me a copy of the price list of commodities in Jiaozhou. Some people have deceived their superiors and embezzled a lot of wealth. I have to make an example of them."

Bai Guo and Bai Ying agreed successively. Xia Li had taught them how to make various forms, and they were now adept at doing it. After handing over the tasks, Xia Li took the roster of servants in the mansion and looked at it. She wanted to get a thorough understanding of the servants in each place, including key information such as when they entered the mansion.

Xia Li was never a show-off. When she was with the old lady, she never gave up any opportunity to learn, and her grandmother never hid anything from her. She was no worse than any well-trained lady from a wealthy family.

In just half a day, she had mastered all the useful information and quickly came up with a plan in her mind. The next morning, she ordered all the managers and servants in the mansion to gather in the backyard.

The Kuang family had only eight elderly people serving them, and fifteen more were bought later, making a total of twenty-three people, not as many as Xia Li's companions. When the servants arrived at the backyard one after another, Xia Li had not yet shown up.

Butler Zhu stood calmly in front, while people who entered the mansion at about the same time as him were whispering behind him.

"Yesterday, Aunt Qiu was beaten with 20 boards by the old grandmother's men. Her buttocks were broken. Our new grandmother is not to be trifled with."

"She is just a young girl, don't scare yourself. Aunt Qiu has always been on the same side as the West Courtyard. She must have said something careless and offended the eldest lady without realizing it."

"Then tell me, why did Grandma call us here today?"

"Of course, it's the first time a new official takes office. It won't be wrong for us to be vigilant."

When housekeeper Zhu saw the servant carrying an armchair, he knew that the eldest lady was about to come out. He tilted his head and coughed softly, and those who were whispering immediately stopped talking.

Xia Li was only wearing a plain home-style skirt today, with a few velvet flower hairpins dotted on her bun. She didn't dress to look overbearing, but she had an aura of authority without even getting angry, and no one could ignore her as she sat at the head of the group.

Xia Li glanced around calmly and said indifferently: "I believe everyone knows that the old master asked me to be the head of the family. Yesterday I sorted out the account books and servants in the mansion..."

She paused slightly, but the people standing below didn't dare to breathe. That kind of invisible pressure was something that neither Yu nor Cui had. No wonder the old man kept saying that the eldest grandmother was the real mistress of the family.

Xia Li was very satisfied to see their terrified looks. Knowing that they were afraid would make things easier. She continued:
"Some people work diligently and conscientiously, and I have seen it all. In the future, as long as they do their job well and do not make serious mistakes, in addition to the monthly allowance, there will be additional rewards at the end of the year. Those who perform well can be promoted to managers. If anyone dares to abuse their power for personal gain, they will be taken away by their thugs. Later, we will hold an anonymous vote and re-select managers."

As soon as these words came out, it was like water entering an oil pan, and it immediately began to boil. Butler Zhu did not think that if the eldest lady did this, his position as butler could still be kept. He stood up with a gloomy face and said in a dissatisfied tone:
"As soon as the great grandmother arrived, she wanted to punish us old people. We are all the stewards appointed by the old master himself. Where do you put the old master's face?"

Xia Li was afraid that he would not jump out, so she said with a half-smile:
"Butler Zhu, you are so arrogant. You don't think you can represent the old master's reputation, do you? You are a servant that my Kuang family paid for, not invited back to be the ancestor. If you didn't stand up yourself, I would have almost forgotten that you are in charge of all the purchases in this mansion, right?"

Butler Zhu's eyes wandered, he pursed his lips and pretended to be calm:
"In the past five years, I have been helping the old man with his worries and difficulties. I am indeed in charge of the purchases. I wonder if Grandma has any advice for me?"

Xia Li had a half-smile on her face, making it hard to guess what she was thinking. She said gently and calmly:
"Then please explain to me, Steward Zhu, why is it that a bushel of rice costs only one thousand coins in the market, but Steward Zhu's account book records it as six thousand coins? Also, the prices of salt and cloth don't match up. You are quite good at embezzling money."

Butler Zhu was sweating profusely, his legs trembling and he knelt down involuntarily. He said in a trembling voice: "Grandma, please understand. What I bought are the best things. The prices are higher than the market prices, which is understandable." Xia Liwei raised his chin slightly and said in a low voice: "Oh~ The eggs are ridiculously expensive too. Could they be from chickens that were fed with ginseng and deer antlers?"

Butler Zhu's face turned pale and blue, and he hesitated to explain. Xia Li said nonchalantly: "Since you can't explain the reason, I will confiscate your property."

Housekeeper Zhu said with a dead look on his face: "Grandma, spare me, I was ordered to do this by the Second Madam. The extra money is in her hands. I am innocent..."

Xia Li was not surprised by this answer. She raised her eyebrows and said slowly:
"I will not believe the truth just because you say it, I will investigate this matter thoroughly, and I will start by searching the house. Bai Ying, take people to search the housekeeper Zhu's house, and record everything that is out of the standard, and take the others with you."

Bai Ying raised her voice in agreement, and immediately took the servants and guards with her to escort housekeeper Zhu away. Housekeeper Zhu's mouth was blocked, and he was not given any chance to argue. The rest of the people were intimidated by Xia Li's thundering move, and they didn't even dare to shout at her. They all shrank like quails.

Xia Li glanced at them and said leisurely, "The position of housekeeper will be temporarily taken over by Fang Huai. He is my chamberlain, and any instructions he gives are my opinions. Housekeeper Fang, you will reassign people to various tasks, and then buy a group of servants back."

Fang Huai bowed and agreed neither humbly nor arrogantly. He was the companion carefully selected by Rong for Xia Li, and his ability should not be underestimated. With his presence, the Kuang family's inner house would be transformed in less than a month.

Xia Li made a huge fuss about confiscating property and buying people. The old man and Yu Shi knew about it but did not ask any questions. They completely delegated power and trusted Xia Li extremely. Cui Shi knew that housekeeper Zhu was in trouble, so she didn't dare to say a word, for fear that Xia Li would make her spit out the money she had swallowed.

Bai Ying was very efficient and quickly searched housekeeper Zhu's house and found that there were more than 10,000 taels of silver notes hidden in his room. He must have embezzled a lot of money in the past few years, and he was afraid that Cui had embezzled a lot as well.

Xia Li was not unreasonable. She had to ask the old man's opinion on whether to deal with Cui or not. She sent someone to invite Yu to accompany her to pay respects to the old man. After Yu learned that Butler Zhu had embezzled so much money, her face became frighteningly ugly.

Although she was literate, no one had ever taught her how to manage a household, and she had no idea there was such a big profit here. As she walked, she sighed, "Luckily you married me, otherwise all the money in this mansion would have been taken away by someone else. Butler Zhu is really bold."

Xia Li said calmly, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. No matter if it is our family or a wealthy family, we cannot underestimate these stewards. As long as they have a little power, they can get the oil and water. If we can't stop the loss in time, they will become parasites in the mansion and will sooner or later drag down the entire mansion."

Yu nodded in agreement. In her opinion, everything in the Kuang family belonged to her son. Now that her daughter-in-law was capable, the couple worked together inside and outside the family, so outsiders could not deceive them.

The old master had been in the mansion these days. When he saw Xia Li and her mother-in-law coming over, he said in a gentle voice, "You two can sit wherever you want. You don't have to be so reserved among family members."

Xia Li waited for Yu to sit down before she sat down. She handed the information she had sorted out to the old man and said in a calm tone:
"I think Grandfather knows what I did today. These are all evidences of Zhu's corruption. Second Aunt is also involved. Do you want to investigate? Granddaughter-in-law will follow your instructions."

Old Master Kuang picked up the evidence and squinted at it. He was very shocked. He knew that the purchasing job was lucrative, but he didn't expect that Butler Zhu could make so much money over the years.

The more he looked at it, the angrier he became. He said in a deep voice, "You handled this matter very well. I didn't know there were such parasites in the mansion. We work so hard to work for others. This is really unreasonable."

Yu gnashed her teeth and said, "It's fine if it's an outsider who schemed, but even Cui, a family member, got involved in the corruption. I don't know where all the money she had went."

The old man looked unhappy. He turned to look at Xia Li and said meaningfully:
"I'll take care of Cui's case. The money she embezzled was only used on Chengming. For a family to continue in a stable and orderly manner, the most important thing is the way of balance. A cornered dog will jump over the wall. Do you understand what I mean?"

Xia Li had long guessed that the old man would choose to keep things quiet. From his perspective, she could understand. She showed a light smile on her face and said in a measured way: "Granddaughter-in-law understands that it is best for grandpa to intervene in this matter. I can go back home with peace of mind tomorrow."

The old man looked guilty and said, "Chengrui has a heavy burden on his shoulders and I am sorry that I cannot be with you. You can stay for a few more days when you go back tomorrow and explain to your parents. When Chengrui comes back, you can go and apologize."

Xia Li shook her head and laughed, "Grandfather, you worry too much. My parents are both reasonable people. My husband is going there to protect the peace of thousands of people. We are all beneficiaries. How can we blame him? I don't complain in my heart. I just hope he returns safely as soon as possible."

The old man nodded with satisfaction, turned his head to look at Yu and said, "I have prepared all the gifts for the return visit. You can go and check later to see if there is anything missing. If there is, please tell me in time."

Yu nodded in agreement, and the few of them talked about some matters concerning the servants in the mansion, and then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law came out from the old man's place.

Kuang Yulin was looking for information everywhere. She knew everything her mother had done. She had been worried since she learned that housekeeper Zhu's property had been confiscated. After she learned that her eldest sister-in-law had given the evidence to the old man, she couldn't wait to find her mother.

Cui usually likes to burn incense and worship Buddha. At this moment, she was chanting scriptures while beating a wooden fish. Kuang Yulin came into the room and said anxiously:
"Mother, what should we do? Butler Zhu's property was confiscated and sold off. You are also implicated this time. I'm afraid that grandfather will not let you off easily this time."

Cui raised her eyelids and said indifferently, "Our Second Branch has been suppressed to this extent. Even Yu dared to hit me unscrupulously. What else does he want? Do you think the old man will kick us out of the mansion?"

Kuang Yulin shook his head subconsciously. Although the old master favored the East Courtyard, he would not abandon them. Cui sneered:
"Chengming's education costs a lot of money. We have no source of income in the second house. The money given by the public school is not enough. So what if I embezzled money?"

Kuang Yulin frowned slightly, and said uncertainly: "What if the eldest sister-in-law thinks we are a burden and wants to use this opportunity to divide the family? What should we do?"

Although Cui Shi didn't want to admit it, it was a fact that the Second House had no pillar. They depended on the First House for survival. She said with a gloomy face:
"You don't have to worry about these. Before you and your sisters get married, the old man won't agree to split up the family, and Fang Xiali won't be so impatient."

(End of this chapter)