Faced with her mother-in-law’s questioning, Gu Zhen smiled sheepishly and explained, “This year, the raw silk production in Ningzhou is low, and several merchants are unwilling to buy it because it doesn’t meet their requirements. We had already placed an order for raw silk last year, and we were afraid that if we didn’t buy it this year, they wouldn’t give it to us next year, so we put the goods in the warehouse.”
Madam Xie knew that this year’s raw silk production was poor, but she only checked the accounts of the various households once a quarter.
This bad debt couldn’t have been a problem for just one quarter, but the fact that she only saw it now indicates that the accounts she was shown before were false.
Xie was furious.
Although the fourth son wasn’t her biological child, she never thought of being harsh on him. She always arranged for the brothers to learn how to manage affairs and do business.
The same goes for her daughters-in-law.
She knew Gu Zhen wasn’t a particularly clever person, and she never expected her to accomplish anything significant.
But how did she come up with such a stupid idea as concealing losses and falsifying accounts?
In any large family, the biggest fear is an unbalanced account.
Gu Zhen knew her mother-in-law was truly angry, so she quickly tried to make amends: “These past few months, Fourth Master has been busy helping Eldest Master, and I was worried that Fourth Master’s health couldn’t handle it, so I kept an eye on things over there and forgot to tell you about this.”
Xie snorted coldly. That sounded nice, but she used the eldest son as an excuse.
She slammed the ledger on the table. “From now on, you don’t need to worry about these shops.”
Gu Zhen’s face drained of color upon hearing this: “Mother, it was just a momentary lapse in judgment…”
Before she could finish speaking, Xie gave her a cold look, and she immediately shut up.
But I still felt uneasy.
Nowadays, apart from the eldest daughter-in-law, the shops and estates owned by the other sisters-in-law were all acquired from their husbands or mothers-in-law.
Although Xie would look at their accounts every quarter, it was only to see how capable they were.
Gu Zhen had discussed this matter privately with Qin Mingxiang, and the two of them believed that it was actually a test from the Xie family.
The Song family owns many properties. Although most of them will be inherited by the eldest and third wives, even if they don’t receive as much as the eldest and third wives, it will still be quite a lot!
Maybe if I perform well, I’ll get more points in the future?
Moreover, the revenue from these shops and estates all went into their own pockets.
Now that the Xie family wants to take it back, Gu Zhen’s face turned pale at the thought of the money she had almost received disappearing.
She wanted to say something more to plead for him, but then she saw Qin Mingxiang giving her a knowing look that suggested she speak up.
Gu Zhen swallowed her words, feeling an uncontrollable anger welling up inside her, as if her heart was about to burst into flames.
She glanced sideways at Rong Shu, who was sitting upright beside her, and felt even more resentful.
This good-for-nothing is really lucky.
But whatever they might say in private, at least they and Xie are a proper mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, so of course they wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
The atmosphere inside the room was tense; Xie’s anger hadn’t subsided, and none of the people dared to speak.
Rong Shu hadn’t eaten breakfast and was feeling a bit hungry.
She hoped that Xie would let them disperse soon so she could go back and have something to eat.
At this moment, an old woman came in from outside the door and bowed.
Rong Shu recognized her as Zhang Mama from the courtyard.
“Greetings, Madam. The Third Master has something to discuss with you, Madam, and has sent me to inform you.”
These words surprised all four women present, including the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Rong Shu only realized that Song Wenjing was still at the mansion today!
When she woke up and found him gone, she instinctively assumed he had gone to the academy, so she didn’t ask anyone else.
Unexpectedly, this person didn’t go to the academy today!
The other two sisters-in-law were also very surprised.
Song Wenjing had been married for over a year, but he only came home two or three times a month, even on their wedding night.
They all knew that Song Wenjing disliked the marriage, so he naturally neglected Jiang Rongshu.
But having the old women in the courtyard come to find someone was truly a first for me.
This incident calmed Xie down a bit.
She got angry early in the morning, but thankfully her son and daughter-in-law didn’t cause her any trouble.
She waved her hand, “Everyone, you can all leave now.”
…
Rong Shu left the east courtyard, greeted the other two, and headed south.
Gu Zhen glared at her retreating figure: “She really has a lucky life!”
Qin Mingxiang laughed at her, “What do you dislike about her? What makes her better than you?”
In their view, although they didn’t want to admit it, Song Wenjing’s knowledge was undeniable.
This was praised even by the prefect of Lianjiang Prefecture.
It’s almost a given that they’ll be admitted to a prestigious high school through the spring imperial examinations.
But can such a man tolerate a dull, boring woman who has no family background to help him as his wife, and for a lifetime?
Besides, Jiang’s belly hasn’t even started to show any signs of pregnancy yet.
I’m afraid that when the time comes, a letter of divorce will be issued, and Jiang will have no choice but to slink back to her hometown in disgrace.
After hearing this, Gu Zhen thought it made sense. She should think about how to explain the shop being taken back to her husband!
…
Rong Shu thought Song Wenjing had something important to do, so she subconsciously rushed back to Songtao Garden.
Only when I stepped into the courtyard did I bring my jumbled thoughts back to reality.
She must have lost her mind. Even if Song Wenjing wanted to see her, why was she so flustered?
She has lived an upright and honest life in the Song family and has never done anything wrong, so why is she in such a hurry?
Once she entered the room, the maidservant waiting outside the door called for someone to serve her the meal.
Rong Shu saw Song Wenjing sitting at the table, holding a scroll in his hands.
He was dressed in a dark green suit today, looking more casual than usual, and there was no indication that he was going out.
Rong Shu stepped forward and spoke to him, “Third Master, what brings you here?”
Song Wenjing noticed that her hair was slightly disheveled and she was slightly out of breath, so he guessed that she must have rushed back after listening to the servants.
He felt uneasy. Why did he feel like he was some kind of scary person in her eyes?
It’s just about bringing her back; why act like it’s a major crisis?
He put down his book and pointed to a chair next to him, telling her to sit down.
Rong Shu was confused by his actions and felt more and more that he had something important to say.
After she sat down, her bright eyes stared at him without blinking. Song Wenjing said helplessly, “I brought you back for breakfast.”
Rong Shu was stunned for a few moments before she could process his words.
She was already surprised that he had stayed here for several nights in a row.
So what happened today…
Could he be possessed by some evil spirit?
Although she was inwardly complaining, she still nodded obediently on the surface.
The maids quickly brought out breakfast.
Rong Shu suppressed her surprise and served Song Wenjing a bowl of porridge.
She looked at the red beans and peanuts in the porcelain bowl, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Previously, Xie said that her qi and blood were not abundant enough, so she asked the kitchen to prepare more medicinal meals suitable for replenishing qi and blood and send them over every day.
Presumably because Song Wenjing suddenly stayed behind, the kitchen only sent over one type of porridge.
Fortunately, there were several other dishes and snacks, so Rong Shu pretended not to notice, placed the bowl of porridge in front of him, and sat down.
Song Wenjing didn’t have a strong appetite and didn’t think too much about it, but the sweet red bean porridge reminded him that Rong Shu probably had a sweet tooth.
Come to think of it, this seems to be the first time they’ve had breakfast together since they got married…