8. Ms.Wang Gets a Taste of Her Own Medicine
"Look at the trouble you've caused!"
The old lady tossed the account book at Ms.Wang's feet with a sullen face. Ms.Wang hadn't expected that the punishment originally meant for Ye Li would land on her instead. As she flipped further into the account book, Madam Wang's hands began to shake more violently. She deeply regretted her previous underestimation of this girl. She had never taught her anything about managing a household, yet Ye Li seemed to be able to detect every irregularity in the accounts. She had even uncovered the secret bookkeeping, demonstrating her uncommon skills. "Old lady... Master, I..."
The old lady interrupted, "So that's why you claimed there wasn't enough money in the house when asked to prepare the dowry. In reality, you were funneling the money to your birth family, weren't you?"
"Old lady, I've been wronged! It was all done by greedy servants below. I didn't know anything about it..."
"You didn't know? Would you also say you didn't know that your cousin was managing Shende Pavilion? Or that you hurriedly replaced several shopkeepers?" The old lady stared at Ms.Wang. Having given her life for this family, she held the deepest grudge against Ms.Wang for using the Ye Family's money to subsidize her birth family—a matter intolerable to any mother-in-law. Especially considering that Ms.Wang was not the official wife but had been raised from the position of a concubine. She questioned, "Li'er, where are those double-dealing creatures?"
Ye Li kept her eyes downcast and respectfully answered, "I have taken it upon myself to lock them up. Those who had signed service contracts were each beaten with ten planks. Those hired otherwise are prepared to be sent to the governmental office."
The old lady frowned. "You're too soft-hearted, girl. What can ten planks do? Have the managers of Shende Pavilion and Treasure Collection Pavilion brought here." Shende Pavilion and Treasure Collection Pavilion, one selling antiques and the other jewelry, were among the most profitable of the twelve shops, contributing nearly half of the entire income.
Before long, several tightly bound men were dragged in. Upon seeing Ms.Wang, Manager Wang began to wail, "Sister, Brother-in-law, please save me..." Minister Ye gave Ms.Wang a stony glance but remained silent. Ms.Wang was both furious and embarrassed. She loudly commanded, "Presumptuous! Release Uncle at once!"
Ye Li smiled apologetically. "So it's true that he's a relative of the Wang Family. I thought Fourth Sister was joking. Although the Wang Family isn't considered upper class, they still have quite a number of officials in the court. How did one of them end up as the manager of Shende Pavilion? Yet, Shende Pavilion's apprentices and shopkeepers accuse Manager Wang of embezzling over 80,000 taels of silver over the past few years. I wonder..."
"This must be slander from those crooks! How could my cousin embezzle silver?" Ms.Wang cut in decisively.
Ye Li glanced at the old lady, offering no rebuttal. She said, "Since Madam is willing to vouch for Manager Wang, how dare I not believe it? Let's ask Manager Wang, Shende Pavilion's shopkeeper, and his apprentices to go to the Governor of Capital City for a face-to-face confrontation after this."
Ms.Wang's face changed. She quickly argued, "All this fuss over a petty matter! There's no need to bother the Governor of Capital City, is there?" The newly appointed Governor of Capital City, Qin Mu, was known as the iron-faced judge. No good would come to those who fell into his hands.
Ye Li smiled at Ms.Wang in reassurance. "Madam, rest assured. If Uncle is indeed wronged, I will naturally personally apologize to him. Guards! Drag this double-dealing creature out and give him fifty heavy blows!" Turning, Ye Li pointed at the manager of the Treasure Collection Pavilion lying on the side and said coldly. The manager, who had just received ten heavy blows not long ago, went pale instantly. "Third Miss, spare me! Third Miss... Madam, help... Madam, I gave most of the money I took to you! You can't just watch me die!"
"Nonsense! What are you babbling about? Drag him out this instant!" Ms.Wang yelled, flustered and exasperated.
The manager was dragged away, and before long, cries of distress were heard from outside. The hall fell silent, and then Ye Li's gentle voice rang out, "Qingshuang, tell someone to get Shopkeeper Wang and all the people from Shende Pavilion to the Governor of Capital City's governmental office. Inform Lord Qin. It is said that Lord Qin is impartial with an iron countenance. We hope that Lord Qin will give justice to our Ye Family."
"Yes!" Qingshuang replied crisply.
"Wait..." Ye Ying spoke up, "Grandmother, Father, this is absolutely unacceptable. If we go to the governmental office and this matter gets out, neither the face of Her Highness Zhao Yi nor Prince Li's Mansion will be preserved... I... I won't be able to marry with dignity. I beg my father and grandmother to reconsider..."
"Mother..." Minister Ye looked at the old lady. Of course, he did not agree with the idea of going to the governmental office. The most important things right now were the affairs of Her Highness Zhao Yi in the palace and Ye Ying's marriage.
The old lady glanced at Ye Li and, wrinkling her brow, looked disgustedly at Shopkeeper Wang. "Since we are all relatives, it is not good for either family to have a falling out. But the shop belongs to Li'er; it cannot just be forgotten. The missing silver should be returned as soon as possible. After all… we cannot offend Prince Li, and we have to give a proper explanation to the King of Ding Kingdom's Mansion."
"Return it?!" Ms.Wang cried out. Over one hundred thousand taels of silver was not an amount that could be easily returned. How could she return that?
"Quiet! You, as a concubine, embezzled the dowry. You think it's proper? Even if you don't want face, our Fourth Daughter still wants face! Even Her Highness Zhao Yi in the palace wants face! Go back and get the account books from the mansion. I want to see how you run this household!" Madam Wang's face turned pale. The old lady was about to take away her right to control the house. "Grandmother..."
Ye Li stepped forward and interrupted Ms.Wang. She spoke gently, "Grandmother, after all, the Wang Family is my Second Sister and Fourth Sister's maternal family. It's not a big deal to give them this money. However... before my mother passed away, she instructed me to leave some to honor you, Grandmother, and some for my sisters' dowries. I'm not asking for much. Right now, only Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, and Sixth Sister are waiting to be married. Let's just give them ten thousand taels each. And another 30,000 taels as pin money for Grandmother. That's just a total of 60,000 taels." She finished speaking, then looked at Concubine Zhao and smiled. "Concubine Mother, please rest assured. If there are any future brothers or sisters, I will make up for their share."
Concubine Zhao froze for a moment. At first, she felt regretful and unwilling, but hearing Ye Li say this, she was inwardly delighted and covered her mouth to giggle. "Then I will count on your auspicious words. It is true that you are the legitimate daughter of our Ye Family. You truly possess the demeanor of a noble lady." Whether Ye Li would fulfill this promise in the future was one thing. Just her words were enough to make Concubine Zhao happy.
Sixty thousand taels did not seem like much compared to over one hundred thousand taels, but Ye Li knew that a lot of that silver had been taken by the Wang Family either to curry favor for official careers or spent extravagantly. Now, asking Ms.Wang to produce 60,000 taels at once would be enough for her to cough up blood. Regardless, as long as Zhaoyi was still there, as long as Ye Ying was still Princess Consort Li, the old lady would not possibly do anything drastic to Ms.Wang. So, let her cough up some blood.
On hearing this, Minister Ye indeed felt that Ye Li was being very generous and approvingly nodded. "Li'er makes a good point; let's do it that way." Although for the sake of the family he could not truly disadvantage Ms.Wang, he was nevertheless dissatisfied with how she had used the family money for her own natal family. Involuntarily, he remembered his former wife who had always diligently managed things for the Ye Family. His gaze towards Ye Li softened even more.
The old lady also agreed wholeheartedly. This way, both families' faces were maintained, and they could save tens of thousands of taels in dowry silver. As for the Wang Family… they were not powerful enough to compete with the Ye Family, and besides, they were unquestionably in the wrong. Even though Ye Zhaoyi was born to a daughter of the Wang Family, she was, after all, still a daughter of the Ye Family. She definitely would not speak ill of her home. The elderly lady looked at Ye Li affectionately and nodded in approval. "Li'er is measured in her actions, truly displaying the attributes of a Madam of House. When you enter the King of Ding Kingdom's Mansion, your grandmother will not have to worry. The Xu Family's upbringing really is excellent."
On hearing this, Ms.Wang's face grew even darker. If the Xu Family's upbringing was good, didn't that mean her Wang Family's upbringing was bad? Ye Ying glanced at Ye Li and lowered her head, feeling wronged. Madam Wang wanted to say something else, but the old lady glared at her, coldly saying, "Or do you really fancy a trip to the Governor of Capital City's governmental office?"
"I shall obey your commands and will definitely replenish the silver as soon as possible," Ms.Wang grumbled unwillingly.
"Ying'er will be married shortly. These days, you should stay in your courtyard and properly instruct her in the ways of being a wife."
"Yes." This was confining her to her courtyard, so she wouldn't even have the opportunity to go to the palace and complain to Her Highness Zhao Yi.