The Fierce Illegitimate Miss - Chapter 97

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

According to the dowry list issued by Second Lady Mu, the dowry that Mu Shi brought to the Yu house had a large amount of property including fields, manors, shops, and houses, maids, plus gold and silver jewelry, calligraphy and antiques, and so on. It really took a lot of effort to sort things out clearly. 

The two mistresses of the Yu house had passed away one after another, and the house manager’s bill naturally fell on Jiang Yuezhen. It hadn’t been long since Jiang Yuezhen had just married into the mansion, and she hadn’t even touched the doors of the houses and courtyards. Naturally, it felt very strenuous to such a new wife.

As for the other ladies, according to their status, Yu Qianjiao was the most suitable person to help Jiang Yuezhen manage the family. Yu Qianjiao was still young, had a restless temperament, was more than squeamish, and lacked maturity, not to mention Mu Shi’s absence was a big blow to her, and it was obviously unrealistic to make her a steward. Although Yu Qianfang was a little older and more cautious in character, she rarely leaves the door because of her lack of hair, let alone disciplines servant women and manages household affairs. Yu Qianliu wanted to control, but just because she was a commoner’s daughter, she was usually tricky and unpopular, so she was not a good candidate.

After Mu Shi’s death, Jiang Yuezhen unexpectedly took on this responsibility. After only a few days of work, she felt that the affairs in the house were messy and disorderly. She was really powerless, and she was often overwhelmed. The maids and working women of the Yu house gradually complained.

Mama Tian, ​​who was in charge of the warehouse, went back and forth with Jiang Yuezhen this day: “The list sent by the Mu house the day before yesterday says a whole set of red-and-gold hair ornaments, but this warehouse has been confiscated, and the new wife is asked to send someone to find it.”

Jiang Yuezhen sorted out Mu Shi’s dowry for several days and knew that these items were not accounted for. Except for the farm shops and such, there were land deeds, which could not be moved. The remaining calligraphy paintings and antiques were taken out from time to time and hung up for enjoyment, and then put away again, or if it was broken, it was compensated for, or it was simply given to another room. It had long since become a mess. As for gold and silver jewelry, it was not necessary to mention it. Some were given to Yu Qianjiao, some were given as rewards, some were given as gifts on New Year’s and some were melted into new jewelry. Even when they were out of silver, they were pawned. It was necessary to check them one by one, and that time would never come.

What’s more, Mu Shi had been married for so many years that these things have come in and out, and even the ledger had been changed. How would they account for everything?

So Mama Tian said this time that she couldn’t find a set of red-and-gold head ornaments, Jiang Yuezhen didn’t take it to heart. She just waved her hand casually: “I see, I’ll ask someone to ask Mama Cui.”

Mama Tian left, and Jiang Yuezhen sent a little maid to Mu Shi’s room and passed this to Mama Cui.

Mama Cui had been following Mu Shi for many years, and she had a good idea of her clothes and jewelry. Seeing Jiang Yuezhen’s question, she hurriedly came back to Jiang Yuezhen in person: “I have seen that set of red-and-gold hair ornaments, the Lady mentioned it once in the past few years. She said that the rubys’ fineness is excellent, and she would never encounter such a good color in the future, and she wanted to leave it to the Sixth Lady. At that time, I was ordered to send it to the Sixth Lady’s room. After a few days, she thought that and the Sixth Lady was too young to wear it at that time, and she was afraid that she would not wear it properly, so she asked someone to tell them to send them to the warehouse.”

Jiang Yuezhen’s brows frowned slightly: “The warehouse has just replied, saying that the thing is not there, what’s the matter?”

Mama Cui smiled and said: “This is easy. If you ask someone to check the account, you will know if you are in the warehouse.”

Jiang Yuezhen once again called the little maid to invite Mama Tian ​​and had Mama Tian bring over the books of the first few years so that she could check it face-to-face.

This time, Mama Tian brought in a few women in the evening. Each woman was holding a thick stack of books. Mama Tian asked the women to put the books on the table, and the dust suddenly rose. Jiang Yuezhen coughed.

Jiang Yuezhen’s dowry maid, Ding Xiang, hurriedly waved away the dust in front of her, and said angrily at Mama Tian: “Why don’t you put it down lightly? You choked the new wife, can you take it easy?”

Mama Tian rolled her eyes and said with an annoyance: “The new wife ordered the maids to bring all the ledgers. The maids sorted out the ledgers for more than a long time before they found them all. No one has asked about these ledgers for many years, and the dust is a bit more natural and inevitable.”

The implication of Mama Tian’s words was very obvious. For so many years, no mistress has said to check the account books, but Jiang Yuezhen wanted to check, so obviously she did not believe her.

Jiang Yuezhen covered her mouth and nose, frowning and looking at the books on the table. With so many books, it was not easy to find out the whereabouts of a set of red-and-gold hair ornaments.

Mama Cui pursed her lips a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated for a moment, and finally stopped talking.

She wanted to remind Jiang Yuezhen that the ledger of gold and silver jewelry was a separate copy, and it shouldn’t be difficult to find out the approximate year from it.

But looking at this situation, Mama Tian was obviously going to show Jiang Yuezhen her strength, so she shouldn’t help Jiang Yuezhen so obviously. After all, Mama Tian was an old lady in the mansion for many years. It was not easy to offend her. What’s more, Mu Shi had just passed away, and Mama Cui had no mistress. She still didn’t know how to live in the Yu house in the future and tried to do as little offending as possible.

Besides, Jiang Yuezhen was a new wife, and Mama Cui also wanted to take this opportunity to see what kind of character this new wife was. After understanding the mistress’ temper, the future will naturally be much better.

Therefore, when Mama Tian put on a posture to make Jiang Yuezhen difficult, Mama Cui chose to remain silent.

Jiang Yuezhen drank a few sips of the tea with Ding Xiang to stop her coughing. She looked at the thick account book on the table and looked at Mama Tian, ​​who was obviously disrespectful with her head down. She couldn’t help being a little angry.

She was not a fool. Of course, she knew that Mama Tian’s intention was to embarrass her, but she just took over the housekeeping affairs and didn’t know much about the rules of the Yu house. She wanted to check the account books herself, but she really couldn’t start. She was reluctant to lose her power and punish Mama Tian.

Jiang Yuezhen suppressed this sullen breath and slowed down her voice: “There are so many ledgers, how can I check them all?”

Mama Tian glanced at Jiang Yuezhen, and said in a dull voice, “How can you check it out? I have been working in the warehouse for nearly forty years, and the mistresses have never checked the servants’ accounts. If you want to check, then you have to call the shots.”

Mama Tian did have the capital to be a servant to bullying her mistress. She had worked in the warehouse for many years and had never made any mistakes. She had organized everything in and out of the warehouse in an orderly manner. Because of this, Lady Yu and Mu Shi trusted her.

Jiang Yuezhen really didn’t know the unwritten rules in the Yu house, let alone that Mama Tian was such a difficult person to speak. Seeing the situation in front of Mama Tian, she asked her to check the accounts herself.

Seeing these dusty ledgers, Jiang Yuezhen felt a headache coming. She still had a lot of things to deal with. Was it worth it to waste several days to check these dusty ledgers for red-and-gold hair ornaments?

Jiang Yuezhen thought for a while and asked Mama Cui: “The Lady that she would leave the hair ornaments to the Sixth Lady. When was that?”

Mama Cui thought for a moment, and then said, “It was probably three or four years ago.”

Jiang Yuezhen nodded: “Leave the accounts for the past two years and take the rest back.”

Mama Tian didn’t respond. She directly ordered her servant to go forward and flip through. Naturally, there was another dusty wave. Jiang Yuezhen couldn’t stand it, so she got up and got up from the table and stood far away.

Mama Tian left more than a dozen books, took the rest of them, and said to Jiang Yuezhen, “That’s it.”

Jiang Yuezhen nodded, and before speaking, Mama Tian said again: “Please take a closer look to see if the head ornaments are in the warehouse. The warehouse is also inseparable from the servants, and the servants must take care of everything. If the new wife comes to check today and tomorrow, I will not need to do anything else, and will look after the new wife to find something.”

After speaking, Mama Tian didn’t ask to be excused and directly took the women away.

Ding Xiang sighed, and Mama Tian spits out: “Unruly old bastards, I don’t know why the Lady kept her for so long!”

Hearing this, Mama Cui felt a little uncomfortable.

Jiang Yuezhen glanced at Mama Cui, motioned to not speak about Ding Xiang, and then called all the literate maids in the room, divided up the ledgers, and checked them one by one.

The investigation lasted all night, and it was not until midday the next day that the account book was found, and sure enough, the storage record of the red-and-gold hair ornaments was not found.

Jiang Yuezhen had to ask Mama Cui to come again. When Mama Cui heard that the things were confiscated in the warehouse, she felt strange and said, “Could it be that they are still with the Sixth Lady? I remembered that the Lady gave them to the Sixth Lady and the warehouse didn’t get it. I really didn’t know.”

Without knowing, Mama Cui shrugged off her responsibility. Jiang Yuezhen’s maidservants checked the books all night, but they found nothing.

Mama Tian was ordered to retrieve the ledger, and naturally it was inevitable to ridicule with sarcasm. Jiang Yuezhen knew that she was wrong, and had to endure this tone.

As for the hair ornaments, which were nowhere to be seen, she still wanted to continue searching, Jiang Yuezhen had to send someone to ask Yu Qianjiao’s personal servant girl, hoping to get news about the red-and-gold head ornaments.

It doesn’t matter that she inquired about it. Early the next morning, when Jiang Yuezhen just got up, someone reported that Yu Qianjiao had come in person.

Yu Qianjiao kept her head puffed, she was only wearing a homely honey-colored sprinkling gown, her face was not powdered, and she looked haggard and pitiful. After entering the room, she sat on the couch under the window and wiped her tears away.

“My mother’s things are gone, but my sister-in-law asked someone to go to me and ask if there were any. What does this mean? Is it because I am ignorant of what my mother left behind and didn’t take it out? How impatient I am, at this moment I can’t wait for my children! When my mother was here, no matter what I wanted, she would send it to me without saying a word. My mother has really given me a lot of things, but the red-and-gold head ornaments are really not with me. I don’t need to lie about this. If my sister-in-law doesn’t believe it, she might as well ask someone to search in my room. If it comes out, I will die without complaint!”[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

Jiang Yuezhen didn’t even think of sending someone to search. Yu Qianjiao had such a big reaction, and she came to her in person. She didn’t have any precautions for the moment, so she was busy ordering people to fetch water and a kerchief to serve Yu Qianjiao and wash her face. She comforted: “If my younger sister thinks this way, it is wrong to blame me. I just called someone to ask for it. If my younger sister doesn’t have it, I can ask someone to look elsewhere—”

Yu Qianjiao twisted her body, obviously refusing to listen to Jiang Yuezhen’s explanation, and continued to cry: “Where else would you look? I’ve heard it’s not with my mother, and not in the warehouse, and I don’t even have it with me. Can a good set of jewelry fly by itself?”

Jiang Yuezhen was distraught from crying, and blurted out, “Could it be that someone stole—”

She hadn’t finished her words, but Yu Qianjiao had already stood up abruptly, her crying red eyes looking straight at Jiang Yuezhen.

“Sister-in-law, what does this mean? Does it mean that the people in our house are not clean? Although our house is not comparable to the sister-in-law’s house, it is also an innocent house. How can anyone have affairs!? You say that people in our house are stealing. Tell me, who stole it and who saw? If there is such a servant in our house, then my mother has been in charge of the house for so long for nothing! Besides, even if there is someone to take it, it’s just petty theft. Who would dare to steal a whole set of hair ornaments? If someone finds out, wouldn’t they be dead?”

Jiang Yuezhen didn’t expect this little sister-in-law to be so eloquent that she could not speak for a while.

Yu Qianjiao wiped the corners of her eyes and sneered: “I also understand what the sister-in-law meant, but I can’t find the hair ornaments. I want to pour dirty water on the servants of our house. Is it possible that the jewelry walked out of the house by itself? My sister-in-law said someone stole it. Look, I’m not sure who it was…”

She looked up and down Jiang Yuezhen, her eyes fell on the half-new pair of bamboo-blue embroidered shoes on Jiang Yuezhen’s feet, and she couldn’t help but smile contemptuously.

“…Now my sister-in-law manages the house, and there will be good times in the future, but my sister-in-law listened to my advice, don’t look for profits on me now, if it is something ordinary, I don’t want it, just give it to my sister-in-law. Just that set of hair ornaments is my mother’s dowry, left by my grandfather’s family. If my sister-in-law wants it, I’ll send someone a new set for my sister-in-law, but my dowry must be returned by my sister-in-law!”

Jiang Yuezhen’s face flushed red with anger, and Ding Xiang on the side couldn’t help but say: “Sixth Lady, you have wronged our new wife too much. The new wife has worked hard all day and night to find you all those dowries—”

As soon as Ding Xiang said this, Yu Qianjiao had already stepped forward and slapped her in the face. Her long brows furrowed and she rebuked, “The mistress is talking here, do you have any part in it?”

After finishing speaking, she gave Jiang Yuezhen a fierce look and said: “There is really this kind of maid!”

Jiang Yuezhen couldn’t bear it anymore and stood up quickly: “Sixth Sister, although Jiang’s family is not a rich family, I don’t want to covet my sister-in-law’s dowry as soon as I enter the door. Where are the hair ornaments now? I haven’t found them yet, but don’t worry, there’s always an explanation for my sister, and I will never let my sister lack this dowry!”

Seeing Jiang Yuezhen’s ruthless words, Yu Qianjiao, who was still scornful just now, was startled at first, and then hid her face and cried: “What do you mean? Is it possible that I am fighting for the dowry? If word got out, do I still want to be a human? I can’t find my mother’s stuff here. Is it possible that I don’t even have the qualifications to ask? Oh, I’m going to find my father and eldest brother and let them comment on this for me!”

After all, she ignored Jiang Yuezhen, turned, and ran out.

Several of Jiang Yuezhen’s servants and maids looked at each other. Ding Xiang hesitated to look at Jiang Yuezhen, and asked in a low voice, “New wife, what can we do now?”

Jiang Yuezhen sighed, stood up, and said, “Change my clothes. I have to explain it myself.”

Sure enough, Yu Qianjiao went to find General Yu and Yu Weiwu. Just as Jiang Yuezhen was about to go out, a maid came to invite her over, saying that the uncle asked her for a few words.

Jiang Yuezhen took a few women to go to the room. Yu Weiwu was also just getting up, when Yu Qianjiao broke into the room, crying and making trouble. How does a big man understand the careful thinking of girls? Seeing Yu Qianjiao crying and grieving, and the girl who had just lost her mother, he was naturally partial to his sister. Therefore, before Jiang Yuezhen could explain the ins and outs of the matter clearly, she made a decision arbitrarily.

“Since my mother brought this jewelry from my grandfather’s house, it must be extremely valuable. The people in the house have no such guts to steal it. Yuezhen, order someone to check it carefully. If you can’t find it, you will pay for it.”

Jiang Yuezhen abruptly raised her head and looked at her husband. She had only been married for a little over a month, so she must pay her sister-in-law for her own things? What Yu Qianjiao lost was her dowry, didn’t she bring her dowry?

Only then did Yu Qianjiao become proud, and sneered at Jiang Yuezhen again: “Please take care of my hair ornaments!”

Her tone was heavy on the last three words, like a ball of coal, causing Jiang Yuezhen’s body to tremble slightly.

If you can’t find it, make her pay. Wasn’t it clear that she stole it?

Jiang Yuezhen couldn’t help but stiffen her waist, and her face was no longer as soft and gentle as she used to be, and she said, “Mama Cui said that these hair ornaments were given to you when she was alive. It is unclear whether it was put in the warehouse. If I don’t get anything from my younger sister, I have to ask the people in my sister’s room carefully. My younger sister wants this kind of help. As a sister-in-law, I will try my best to find out.”

This was considered polite, but her attitude was already obvious. You must help find something, but if you can’t find it, Jiang Yuezhen has no reason to pay for it. When this thing was lost, Jiang Yuezhen hadn’t married in yet. Why should she pay?

Yu Weiwu hadn’t heard the overtones of the words. Yu Qianjiao had already sunk her face: “Sister-in-law, did I lose it, or was it stolen by my people?”

Jiang Yuezhen pursed her mouth tightly, her face pale, obviously tacitly acquiescing to this statement.

Seeing that Yu Qianjiao was about to jump up again, Yu Weiwu rubbed his temples and frowned and said to Jiang Yuezhen: “Isn’t it just a set of hair ornaments? Even if you can’t find it, you, the sister-in-law will give another pair to her sister. How about it?”

Jiang Yuezhen took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “Master, you can’t say that. My sister is going to get married, so I naturally have something to give away, but if I give it to my sister like this, doesn’t it mean that I am ignorant of my sister-in-law’s dowry? When the words go out, where do I put my face?”

Yu Qianjiao burst into tears: “My sister-in-law will lose her face like this, so where can I put my face? I don’t even care about what my mother left behind. What face will I show my mother in the future? Oh, mother, why? Just leave me. You have only left for a few days, and I am going to suffer such a grievance—”

Seeing Yu Qianjiao crying bitterly, Yu Weiwu looked at Jiang Yuezhen angrily: “Look at what you did!”

Jiang Yuezhen was even more aggrieved. She remembered that she had worked so hard for the Yu Mansion for so many days, struggling to find Mu Shi’s dowry, but in the end, she had to suffer such a grievance, and she couldn’t help crying: “My sister, do you want me to die? Our Jiang family is also a house of etiquette, how could I secretly take your dowry? You keep asking for an explanation, why doesn’t the Yu family give me an explanation?”

These words kicked the hornet’s nest. Yu Weiwu stood up and sternly shouted: “What Jiang family? You are married to the Yu family, you are from the Yu family! Humph, I see that your heart is not in our house at all! It is no wonder my sister suspects that you took her jewelry!”

Yu Qianjiao got the support of her brother, and she was even more confident. She took Jiang Yuezhen’s hand and forced her to go outside, and said loudly: “Go see my father, let my father make a comment!”

…

In the front, Yu Qianjiao and Jiang Yuezhen had a quarrel, but in the backyard, Yu Linglong sent Xuan Cao to find Concubine Mei.

Seeing that Xuan Cao was coming, Concubine Mei burst into joy, and she let Xuan Cao in: “Girl, please sit inside, come, I’ll make a pot of tea for the girl.”

Xuan Cao said with a smile: “Please don’t bother.”

While she was talking, she looked around. Concubine Mei understood, she pulled out all the maids in the room, and whispered, “Is news?”

Xuan Cao took out a flat gold-and-ebony box from her arms and handed it to Concubine Mei, and said with a smile: “Our lady said it’s almost time.”

Concubine Mei opened the box and looked inside, her face suddenly changed: “This is…”

Xuan Cao beckoned to Concubine Mei, motioning her to come over, and after a few words like this, she gently pushed Concubine Mei: “This is a ready-made credit. Auntie, go ahead, don’t miss the opportunity.”

After hearing Xuan Cao’s words, Concubine Mei’s face was full of joy: “The Fourth Lady is really witty, I have to go over.”

Xuan Cao smiled and put down the teacup: “Then I will go back and wait for the good news from.”

Concubine Mei sent Xuan Cao out, immediately went back to the room to change her clothes, and hurried to her room.

At this moment, the front of the house was seeing a lot of trouble. Yu Qianjiao was disheveled, her face was full of tears, and Jiang Yuezhen was pulling with her hands. She insisted that she was hiding her dowry. Jiang Yuezhen was so anxious that she was incoherent and insisted that she was innocent. Yu Weiwu and General Yu looked at the bickering between their aunts. They were quarreling with each other, but they didn’t know who to believe or how to deal with the matter.

At this moment, a soft voice rang outside the door: “Sixth Lady, are you looking for this?”

Yu Qianjiao immediately stopped fighting and followed her voice. She saw Concubine Mei wearing a peach-colored butterfly and flower spring shirt. The loose waist just covered her slightly raised abdomen, making her look plump. She was calm and composed

Concubine Mei held a rectangular ebony jewelry box in her hand. Yu Qianjiao was immediately taken away by the box and exclaimed in surprise, “That’s it!”

Seeing Yu Qianjiao stretch out her hand to herself, Concubine Mei smoothly handed the box to Yu Qianjiao, and said with a smile: “See if there is anything missing?”

Yu Qianjiao opened the box and counted them. After a while, she smiled and said, “Nothing is missing, great!”

Seeing that the thing was found, everyone in the room was relieved. Only Jiang Yuezhen looked at Concubine Mei suspiciously and asked, “Where did you find this?”

Concubine Mei ignored her. Instead, she walked to General Yu’s side and said with a smile: “I heard that the new wife was going to get the dowry for the Sixth Lady. I have been paying attention. This was originally kept in the new wife’s room. Later, the Sixth Lady was given a reward. The Sixth Lady’s maid put it away and pressed it under the satin box. Because the Sixth Lady was young at that time, the Lady didn’t tell her. Last year, the Sixth Lady’s maid returned home from illness and forgot to tell the Sixth Lady about this. The silk box was sent to the storeroom and registered as silk and satin, so there was no record of the jewelry on the account. The new wife wanted to get it from the huge storeroom. Where can she find this little box in there?”

Jiang Yuezhen’s expression changed when she heard this, and she said in a deep voice, “How did you know?”

Concubine Mei stood beside General Yu, stretched out her hand to pour a cup of tea for General Yu, and smiled: “Since the Lady passed away, there have been so many and complicated things at home. I also wanted to help the master share his worries, so I paid more attention. This sed of red-and-gold hair ornaments, as well as the bergamot beeswax jelly collected by the Lady during her 40th birthday, and the jade cabbage that was given to the Mu family during Lunar New Year the year before, the Lady said that she would leave it all to the Sixth Lady, but it was confiscated in the warehouse and didn’t register either.”

Listening to Concubine Mei’s whispering about the origins of various things and where they are now, Jiang Yuezhen’s face gradually became more ugly. These things she had been looking for but could not find, but at this moment, Concubine Mei said them.

When Yu Qianjiao heard so many good things, she burst into laughter, and said, “Thank you auntie, auntie loves me.” After that, she gave Jiang Yuezhen a fierce look.

Seeing Jiang Yuezhen’s pale face, Yu Weiwu said coldly: “You don’t even consider the Yu house as your home, so why are you willing to do your best for this home? In my opinion, you don’t care about this home!”

When Concubine Mei heard this, a touch of joy flashed across her eyes, and she immediately lowered her eyes, pretending to hear nothing.

General Yu coughed and said, “Your wife is also tired. Just let her rest!”

Although these words were more polite, they already deprived Jiang Yuezhen of the power of being manager of the house. Jiang Yuezhen was startled. Just as she was about to say something, Yu Qianjiao quickly said: “You can’t even find anything, and you still want to manage our home? Hurry up and hand over the keys!”

Tears of humiliation gradually poured out of Jiang Yuezhen’s eyes. She looked at Yu Weiwu with tears but saw that the other party was full of hostility and impatience. It was obviously impossible for him to speak for her.

Jiang Yuezhen paused, moved her hands slowly to her waist, and unlocked a long set of keys. Yu Qianjiao snatched the keys and said coldly: “Sister-in-law, you can be the new wife. My family’s affairs have nothing to do with you!”

Concubine Mei’s eyes kept falling on the keys in Jiang Yuezhen’s hand. She tried her best to hide the desire on her face, but a pair of eyes betrayed her urgency.

General Yu took the keys from Yu Qianjiao, thought about it, and handed them to Concubine Mei at his side: “Mei’er, manage this house for me.”

Concubine Mei beamed happily. She reached out and took the key, and said with a smile: “Master, don’t worry. Mei’er will do it for you!”

The people in the room were all beaming, but Jiang Yuezhen felt that everyone had isolated her, and they didn’t even want to look at her.

Was this her husband, her relatives, her home?

She lowered her eyes slowly, and it took a long time before she forced herself to swallow her tears.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]