Chapter 186 It’s time to change the manager
Xiao Jun heard that Mengxi had not received her full monthly allowance in the two years since she married into the mansion, and he was shocked and asked angrily:
"Who is so bold as to treat my wife like this?"
"I went to the storeroom to inquire. The people there said that they had to follow orders from above and no one dared to say anything. They also mentioned that one year, Zhixia went to the house because her monthly allowance had not been paid. By chance, she was seen by the current concubine Cui. At that time, she was still the head maid beside the first wife. She also went to collect the monthly allowance. There was a quarrel on the spot. Concubine Cui even ordered people to beat the two maids, Zhixia and Zhidong. Later, I don't know how Concubine Cui responded to the first wife. The first wife actually called the second wife and made her kneel in front of the housekeeper for nearly an hour. This matter was said by the chief steward An who was drunk occasionally. At that time, he also said that the first wife would sooner or later drive the second wife out of the Xiao Mansion and asked everyone not to respect her too much."
"what else!"
"The silver room also mentioned another incident. That year, the Second Mistress wanted to leave the house. The old lady agreed and asked the Second Mistress to go to the account office to withdraw some silver. The Second Mistress sent Zhichun to withdraw 50 taels. Steward An secretly forbade her to give it. Zhang Rui, the manager of the silver room, felt that she was the young mistress after all, and it would be embarrassing not to give her money, so he secretly paid 30 taels. He was scolded by Steward An for this, and he never dared to secretly help the Second Mistress again after that. I have inquired about it, and it was after that incident that the Second Mistress pawned her hair and jewelry, and Zhichun and Zhiqiu began to frequently go out of the house to buy daily necessities for the Second Mistress..."
Veins bulged on Xiao Jun's forehead at this time. His mother, the mother he had always respected, the kind mother in his mind, actually humiliated Xier like this in front of the servants!
For the first time, the balance of my heart tilted towards the two people I loved closest to me.
Xier had suffered a lot of injustices, although it was not caused by him, but he had an unshirkable responsibility to some extent. If he had not been so indifferent to Xier at the beginning, would the servants dare to treat her like this?
But she never told him all this. Did she never think of him as her support?
Once again, Xiao Jun was heartbroken over what he had done. Would Mengxi have the patience to wait for him to pick up the broken mirror again, glue it together, and then tell her that the repaired mirror was as good as a new one?
Mengxi wouldn't, he knew too well this woman whom he had wanted to conquer with coercion? Mengxi's calm eyes appeared in front of him again, and he finally understood why he hated her calm eyes so much in the beginning, because there was no trace of nostalgia or emotion in her eyes. If he still had the confidence to win back Mengxi's heart before, after hearing this, he was really desperate.
A heart-wrenching pain from the bottom of his heart shook the deeply rooted ethical ideology he had been taught since childhood for the first time. Filial piety comes first in everything, but should we still listen to our mother even if she is wrong ? Are the words of saints always right? Do women have to rely on men to survive? Then why didn't Mengxi rely on him?
After a long while, he slammed his fist on the desk and said word by word:
"It's time to change the steward of the Xiao Mansion"
"Second Master, you can't do that. We need to think about this matter carefully. Second Master, do you think there is any servant who dares to bully the mistress so blatantly? He must be acting on orders."
The Second Master knew all this, but what could he do to his mother? Seeing that the Second Master was silent, Xiao Xia continued:
"Butler An has been following the old lady in the mansion since he was young. It was the old lady who brought him up. The eldest master was also raised by Butler An. They have a very close relationship. Although others in this mansion do not respect the eldest master, they respect Butler An and treat him as an elder. The eldest lady has been in charge of the affairs of the mansion for so many years, and she relies on Butler An. Butler An cannot be touched!"
"If the Xiao family keeps such a villain, he will be a disaster sooner or later!"
"Second Master, think twice. I understand that you are angry about this matter, but it is not worth it to anger the old lady, the eldest master and the eldest wife just for a moment of anger, and bear the stigma of being unfilial. In my opinion, Second Master should go and give Steward An a lesson so that he will not dare to act so presumptuously in the future and stop hurting Second Madam."
"Besides the affairs in the mansion, has Xiao An taken care of any affairs outside the mansion in the past two years?"
"In the past two years, the Second Master has not been at home, and the Third Master has not been in charge of the affairs. The First Master is too busy to take care of everything, so he has entrusted the repair of some of the properties outside to Chief Steward An. The servants in charge of foreign affairs in the mansion are jealous and try to curry favor with him, vying to recognize him as their godfather."
"Good, very good. With so many disciples, they seem more powerful than me, the future head of the family. Mother is in charge of the affairs in the mansion, and we cannot touch them at all. Immediately send someone to check the businesses handled by Xiao An outside the mansion. Use the excuse that I just came back and want to take over these businesses. Bring the accounts back and check them carefully for me. Pay attention to two points. First, keep it confidential and don't alarm the old lady, the first wife, and the first master. Second, don't let Xiao An feel that we are investigating him."
"Second Master, you can't do that. Even if you find out that Steward An embezzled, as long as the amount is not large, the Master and the Madam will just reprimand him. Instead, they will become enemies because of this. Besides, if Steward An really embezzled, the money might have been used to honor the Madam. The Madam knows it very well. Even if she doesn't say it, she will definitely protect him in her heart. I heard that it was the Madam who whispered in the Master's ear that Steward An was in charge of the renovation of the properties outside the mansion. If Steward An is really moved, it will be as bad as exposing the truth."
"Just do as I say. Oh, and go to the pawnshop and redeem all of Second Madam's pawned items. Don't leave anything behind. Do you hear me?"
Seeing that he could not persuade the Second Master, Xiao Xia had no choice but to agree. He thought that the Second Master was angry and he would slowly persuade him later. But when he heard the Second Master asking him to redeem Second Madam's headgear, he secretly groaned and hurried forward and said:
"Second Master, I forgot to tell you that all the items Second Madam had pawned were dead and cannot be redeemed. Besides, it has been almost two years. I went to the pawnshop to inquire, and most of them have long been sold to the public. Fortunately, the jade pendant awarded by the eldest master, although it was also pawned, has the mark of the Xiao Mansion on it, and it is very valuable. I heard from the pawnshop owner that no one paid attention to it at the time, and only later discovered that it was something from the Xiao Mansion. They thought it was stolen and pawned by a little maid, and no one dared to take it, so it has been kept until now. I have already redeemed it. As for the others, I think they can’t be redeemed.”
"Go find the shopkeeper and ask for the pawn ticket. Then, follow the list on the ticket and get back the items one by one. If there's one item missing, you're the only one who'll be held responsible!"
"Second Master, this is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also very expensive. I heard that the head ornaments that Second Madam wears are not worth much money. Second Master has gone through so much trouble, and the money alone can be used to make several sets of fine head ornaments for Second Madam."
"Stop talking nonsense and do as I say!"
Xiao Xia had no choice but to respond with a sad face and retreat.
Mengxi's dowry was the witness of their marriage. Mengxi pawned it without hesitation, and even pawned it until her death, which meant that she gave up this marriage without hesitation. If he could get the dowry back, maybe he could save his failed marriage, Xiao Jun thought superstitiously.
No, he would never let go, even if it was just a straw, as long as it could save his marriage with her, he would not give up.
…
Sitting on the chair , Mengxi and Zhiqiu looked at the Second Master who was leaning on her bed reading her book, and they looked at each other speechlessly. What happened to this Second Master? It would have been fine if he came to the East Wing to sit when he had nothing to do, but now he was occupying her bed without any hesitation. Mengxi wanted to kick the Second Master flat and throw him out, but looking at his size and then at herself, she knew she could not beat him. There was nothing she could do but to endure it!
Sitting there staring at Zhiqiu.
The Second Master glanced at Mengxi out of the corner of his eye, and seeing her sitting there with an unnatural look on her face, he couldn't help but smile.
It turned out that these days the Second Master discovered that Mengxi was actually playing hypocritical games with him, saying one thing and doing another, just like a few days ago, she had clearly promised him that every day when he returned home, she would go to the upper room to greet him, but he had never seen her go to greet him once. It would have been fine if she didn't greet him, but he ordered Hongzhu to come and tell her, but Mengxi was even more ruthless, making him wait for half an hour and then timidly said to him, "I'm late, please punish me, Second Master." He was so angry that he really wanted to grab her and spank her hard.
The most hateful thing was that he had asked her countless times to call herself concubine and call him husband, but she just went against him. Every time he got angry, he couldn't show it when he saw her delicate look. He was really worried that he would be the first person in the history of Da Qi to be angered to death by his wife.
The Second Master suddenly realized that Mengxi just wanted to provoke him. After thinking it over, he made up his mind. Instead of sending someone to pass the message and waiting for her in the upper room, he might as well come directly to the east wing. If Qingshan doesn't come to me, then I will come to Qingshan.
So the scene just now happened. Since Mengxi was rude to him, he didn't be polite either. He came to the east wing and directly occupied Mengxi's bed. Seeing Mengxi sitting there with a deflated look, the bad mood of the past few days finally eased a little.
They were destined not to be together. The affection that the Second Master had shown these days frightened Mengxi and accelerated her pace to leave the Xiao Mansion. These days, she tried various methods to provoke him, hoping that he would take the initiative to divorce her, but to no avail. There was no point in wasting time, so it would be better for her to take the initiative to start the fight.
Mengxi thought of this, glanced at the Second Master who was leaning on the bed, coughed and shouted:
"Second Master"
"What's up"
Hearing Mengxi's call, Erye put down the book and stood up.
"A few days ago, the eldest wife mentioned that I have been married for two years and have not had any children. This makes me feel guilty. Filial piety comes first in everything. I have not had any children for two years, which has delayed the Second Master's offspring. This violates the seven rules for divorce. It is my fault that Second Master has been labeled as unfilial. I am willing to ask to be divorced. I beg Second Master to give me a letter of divorce so that I can take Zhiqiu and the other three away from the Xiao Mansion."
She finally brought it up. After hearing what Mengxi said, the Second Master was shocked and sat there speechless for a long time. After a long while, he looked up and said to Zhiqiu:
"Zhi Qiu, get out!"
"Second Master!"
"go out!"
After all, he was the master. No matter how hot-tempered Zhiqiu was, she dared not openly resist the Second Master. She glanced at the Second Mistress, only to see Mengxi nod at her and say:
"You go out first."
"Second Grandma"
"Go ahead."
Zhiqiu turned around and walked out helplessly.
Seeing Zhiqiu go out, Erye stood up and walked to Mengxi, lowered his head and looked into her eyes, and said word by word:
"After what mother said the other day, I also looked up the law. Among the seven kinds of abandonment, childlessness refers to a wife who is over fifty and childless. Xier, you brought this up today. Are you blaming me for not doing anything for you in the past two years?"
