EBE Chapter 130 The Sinister Son's Sister-in-Law 6
Chapter 130 The Sinister Son's Sister-in-Law 6
After returning from Lady Hou's place, Xie Qingyu washed and dressed.
After bustling around doing all that, Tingling finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering her, "Why did Miss give the account books to Madam Hou? Does she really want Madam to manage these shops for us?"
The original owner had never been involved in housekeeping, let alone the maids who followed her.
"Let me ask you, those two shops we went to today, do they look like they're not making any money?" Xie Qingyu was intentionally trying to teach her a lesson, and now she was willing to tell her the secrets.
Tingling thought for a moment and shook her head. "Both of these shops did very well today, especially the rouge shop."
After Ling finished speaking, she glanced at Xie Qingyu's eyes, probably thinking about meeting Qin Lingrong there.
Xie Qingyu noticed but didn't point it out, instead continuing to ask, "So why is the shop making money, but the books show a loss?"
After thinking for a long time, Tingling hesitated before saying, "Could it be that the master and the others left the money behind...?"
Xie Qingyu didn't speak, but looked at her with an affirmative gaze, signaling her to continue.
Looking into Xie Qingyu's eyes, Tingling lowered her head and pondered, "This servant really can't think of any other reason."
“You’re right. The ledger shows the income from the previous two years. If it had really been losing money all along, the shop wouldn’t have been open until now and still be in my possession.” Xie Qingyu first confirmed Tingling’s idea. “Secondly, the shop manager should have come to see me twice in the past two months to reconcile the accounts, but I haven’t seen him yet.”
After Xie Qingyu finished speaking, she looked at Tingling, signaling her to express her thoughts, "Master has his pride, and besides, he's already given you the house and land deeds, Miss. He can't possibly keep the steward around, so the steward should be someone from the Marquis's residence..."
Tingling could only think of this much. Since it wasn't the master, it couldn't be the stepmother either. She looked at Xie Qingyu pleadingly, hoping she could give her some hints.
"The Lady of the Marquis's family is wealthy, so she wouldn't care about such things. Who would care about such a small amount of money?" Xie Qingyu tapped her fingers on the table.
Tingling stared blankly at her movements, then suddenly snapped to attention, "Miss means, the young master!"
"Quite smart," Xie Qingyu praised.
But at this moment, when Tingling saw that Xie Qingyu did not deny the answer, she could no longer care about Xie Qingyu's praise.
"Young master, this is too much!" Tingling almost burst into tears.
She knew best what kind of life her young lady led at home; apart from the jewelry she had inherited from her childhood, she had no extra money to spend.
She finally got married, but the master never mentioned the dowry money he would give her.
The only thing she could rely on was the shop that came with her dowry, but the profits were all taken by her son-in-law.
Thinking of this, Tingling suddenly widened her eyes, "So the young master was able to go directly into the inner room when he went to buy rouge today. It means the shopkeeper treats him like the master of the shop and serves him well... He... he... he uses the young lady's shop to curry favor with the brothel girls."
Hearing Ling say this, she almost cried on Xie Qingyu's behalf, feeling wronged.
"Alright, stop crying. We have Lady Hou, she'll give us the money that's rightfully ours."
It wasn't that Xie Qingyu was particularly confident, but rather that she knew the Lady of the Marquis wouldn't even consider such a small amount of money.
I suppose he just figured out the key point, which is why he left the ledger behind saying he wanted to take a closer look.
No matter how favored Qin Lingrong was, the amount of money he could spend in the accounts was still limited.
The rest we need to ask the Lady of the Marquis for.
Every time he asked for something, Lady Hou would inevitably nag him a bit.
After a while, he would only go to the Lady of the Marquis's place as a last resort.
That's why they were able to intercept Xie Qingyu's shop when she came to visit, but how they persuaded the manager to reconcile accounts with him is unknown.
"The son-in-law is so shameless," Tingling said angrily.
"Who cares?" Xie Qingyu handed her a piece of osmanthus cake, which made Tingling both cry and laugh.
“Your son-in-law hasn’t come yet, how can you get pregnant?” Tingling asked.
"Why are you acting like a nanny?" Xie Qingyu teased.
"Miss!" Tingling's words were completely interrupted by Xie Qingyu.
"Alright, alright, stop thinking about your son-in-law. Think about how to serve your young lady well tomorrow. Have a maid keep watch outside. You should go back and rest." Xie Qingyu only had one head maid, Tingling, by her side. She wasn't allowed to keep watch at night; a maid was always left outside.
Tingling waited until Xie Qingyu was in bed and then tidied everything up before leaving.
Before leaving, I could still hear her at the door instructing the maid on night watch to be careful and not to fall asleep.
The room only quieted down after she left.
Qin Lingrong only came to this house on his wedding day; he never stayed here.
Xie Qingyu's things were placed in every nook and cranny.
At this moment, Xie Qingyu was lying on the bed, and there was an oil lamp burning on the table not far away, with only a little bit of oil left in the wick.
The oil lamp flickered rapidly a few times, giving the room a dim, ever-changing light.
Xie Qingyu's gaze was originally fixed on the pattern on the ceiling of the bed, but she turned her head to look at the candlelight when she noticed the change in the light.
After watching quietly for a while, Xie Qingyu withdrew her gaze and said, "Come out."
The moment Xie Qingyu spoke, she sat up and grabbed the outer robe next to her, putting it on.
Xie Qingyu's words fell silent.
The silence was so profound that it seemed as if Xie Qingyu's words were spoken entirely to herself.
"If you're not coming out, then leave. Don't keep me from sleeping," Xie Qingyu said, slowly buttoning up her outer garment.
The sound of steady footsteps echoed in the room. Qin Shenzhi emerged from the shadows and stepped into the light, making it impossible to tell how long he had been there.
After Qin Shenzhi came out, he looked at Xie Qingyu on the bed and smiled, "Hello, sister-in-law, sorry to bother you so late at night."
Xie Qingyu just looked at him like that. The man's face showed no guilt or panic, as if he was not afraid at all that Xie Qingyu might suddenly call someone in at this moment.
"What brings the Second Young Master here?" Xie Qingyu asked calmly.
Qin Shenzhi's gaze narrowed, and he looked at Xie Qingyu again until he saw that Xie Qingyu's fingers were white from gripping the blanket tightly with nervousness, then he looked up again.
It turns out he wasn't actually afraid; he was just pretending to be calm.
Knowing she was afraid, Qin Shenzhi's wicked sense of humor seemed to kick in.
"I saved my sister-in-law during the day, but she didn't do anything to thank me. I'm a bit naive, and I always thought that I should give her something as a token of my gratitude for saving her. But since she didn't bring me anything, I had to come and get it myself."
As Qin Shenzhi spoke, he looked around at the room's furnishings, as if he were genuinely considering what to take with him.
After looking around, he said, "I wonder what my sister-in-law is willing to give me. If it's something like this, don't try to fob me off."
After Qin Shenzhi finished speaking, he saw the person on the bed turn pale, and his smile deepened.