Chapter 402: The Important Thing is to Trick You

etings to the esteemed Matriarch! Most humbly invite the Matriarch, Young Master, and Eldest Miss to attend the New Year's Eve court banquet in the palace!"The three bowed together, representing the...The Xiao family was in chaos inside and out. Inside, Mrs. Gu led Lian Shi and Yun Chen to ransack the old mistress's courtyard, while outside, the steward led people to explain one by one that it wasn't as Night Fifth Miss said, and the old mistress had already agreed to pay compensation. 。This is well said. Agreeing to pay silver means admitting that their daughter stole something. 。 Stealing! I didn't expect that the prestigious Ningguo Marquis's Mansion would raise such a daughter, it's truly a disgrace to their family. 。To not mention the outside, let's just talk about home. 。Under Gu's leadership, Lian Shi and Yun Chen led a group of Ziyi Palace people. They not only turned over Xiao Lao Fu's courtyard house upside down but also found two small secret rooms, and from the secret rooms they dug out quite a lot of valuable things. 。And there are even more things like deeds, land titles, and floor plans, filling up four or five small boxes. 。Gu shi looked at these things and became suspicious. Seeing Lian Shi about to take the things and leave, she hurriedly grabbed Lian Shi's arm, "Wait..." 。" Lian Shi was not happy about this. He was the chief eunuch of Yanhuagong, who could anyone just mess around with But thinking that Gu Shi had always stood firm and resolute, Lian Shi suppressed his anger and asked, "What's wrong Lady Ningguo, is there something wrong with these things"Gu Shi immediately nodded, "Indeed, there is something wrong" 。I know the old woman has a lot of good things, but there's absolutely no way she would have this many. 。Just like those deeds, even if she'd saved some money over the years, it wouldn't be enough to fill five small boxes! Are they all completely full inside" She craned her neck to look, and a palace maid opened one of the boxes. They were overflowing. 。“Too much” 。“Too much, where did she get all these things from” Gu sighed and shook her head. “She couldn’t have stolen them from the school, could she” But then again, that was impossible. The school had always been under her control, every expense meticulously accounted for, there wouldn't be any discrepancies... 。If it wasn't taken from the public, where else could it have come from Could it be that through Xiao Shuwai, she took advantage of a first-rank general's mansion But before, the head of the General's Mansion was the eldest house, and Xiao Shuwai himself didn't have any advantage!

She turned her head and saw Ye Wenyan walking over. Ye Chulian was also brought back by the steward, while she walked and looked around at the things in the courtyard, and heard Ye Chulian say: "Is this worth the silver note I didn't expect Old Madam Xiao to be so rich, I feel that our grandmother doesn't have such a lavish>>> 。Gu felt even more uneasy. 。When Lian Shi saw that she wasn't speaking, she asked again: "Madam Ningguo, can these things be moved or not" Gu shi was a bit unsure what to do. She told Lian Shi: "Grandfather, please wait a moment, I'll call our Master Hou over here to take a look." 。After Gu finished speaking, she hurried away. When she returned, Lord Ningguo Xiao Fang had also arrived. 。Mrs. Xiao's things are still in the yard, Gu pointed at those things and said to Xiao Fang: "Look, are any of these familiar to you Think carefully about things when you were young" 。I always feel that our old lady shouldn't be so wealthy, and I really can't figure out where she could be getting more money from. 。Just now, I suddenly remembered what you said before. Although your biological mother was the old marquis's concubine, she couldn't have been an ordinary peasant to be able to become a concubine in the Marquis's mansion. 。Didn't you say your maternal grandfather's family was very wealthy And that your birth mother used to show off all her dowry when she was alive, with good things piled up room by room, not even one small storeroom was enough. 。But later, how things disappeared, you don't know either. Now take a look, are there any of those objects that vanished back then 。"So, Xiao Shubei stole things because it's genetic!" Ye Wen said, understanding. Then, he turned around just as Xiao Shubei was helping the old lady into the courtyard. 。She waved to them and said, "Auntie Two, come here quickly. We might have found the reason why you love to steal things." 。"

Mrs. Xiao's face was very ugly, and Xiao Shubic also looked at her mother with a strange expression. " 。 Ningguo Hou Xiao Fang carefully went through all these things, including the land deeds and property records in the box. The more he looked, the darker his face became, and the stronger the anger in his eyes grew. 。...He went straight to the end, and then decisively picked up a box and slammed it onto the ground, right at Mrs. Xiao's feet. Mrs. Xiao cried out in alarm, "Ouch!" 。Xiao Fang pointed at him, his hand trembling, "Such a wicked stepmother, such a noble Lady Ningguo! Back then, you forcefully separated me from my mother and raised me under your roof..." 。These years, I have cherished the kindness you showed me growing up and have always treated you with respect. 。But what have you been doing behind my back My aunt's dowry, which covered half of Lin'an City back then, why is it all in your house" "I..." Old Madam Xiao panicked and instinctively looked at Xiao Shubi. 。Xiao Shubi could naturally understand what was going on. Of course, he had to turn to his own mother and said loudly, "Since the concubine has passed away, her belongings should naturally be kept in the house." 。At first, Mother was still the mistress of Ningguo Mansion, the main wife. These things were naturally under Mother's control. 。"Bah!" Mrs. Gu was exasperated, she yanked Xiao Fang hard, pulling him behind her. 。"A woman's words, the Marquis need not interfere! Xiao Shubei, do you still have a face Can you come up with such a twisted argument It is true that an heirlooms of deceased concubines should be kept by the house, but it should go to the public, not to her own room!" 。Furthermore, any dowry a woman brings from her family upon marriage belongs to her children even after she passes away. It is unheard of for the principal wife to inherit it. 。The mistress said, "At this age, why has she never thought of taking things out and giving them back to the master Even though I've been his daughter-in-law for so long, why didn't she tell me to take these things and give them to me If it weren't for Yanhuagong raiding our house today, we wouldn't have known these things were here!"Mrs. Gu said angrily, "What the fourth young lady of Ye says is absolutely right! Xiao Shuwai, you inherited your thieving ways from your mother! Your mother was a thief, so you are also a thief! And your daughter stole someone else's marriage, she's a thief too! It seems like I've fallen into a den of thieves! Damn it, if I had known that the Xiao family was a den of thieves, my old lady wouldn't have married into this family!"After saying this, she turned to comfort Xiao Fang: "This has nothing to do with you. You weren't born by her..." 。Then she glared fiercely at Old Madam Xiao, her gaze so sharp that Old Madam Xiao jumped in fright. Old Madam Xiao took two more steps back, truly fearing that if Mrs. Gu lost her temper, she might grab something and hit her. 。Mrs. Gu's given name is Gu Chunhe, which sounds quite peaceful, but her personality is completely the opposite. She is neither gentle like a spring breeze nor warm and kind. 。She's the type who has a fiery temper and will call someone out on the spot if they get on her nerves. If she doesn't like them even more, she'll just start yelling at them. 。As for whether someone is elder or younger, she never considers those things. In her eyes, there's only one principle that matters. 。She is a person of strong morals, so she and Mrs. Xiao are naturally incompatible. 。Even though she was a stepmother, the elderly matriarch still held a position of authority. Being not a biological mother created a distance between them, making their relationship as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law far from harmonious. 。Gu Shi had been annoyed with her stepmother from the very beginning. Her stepmother always put on airs and looked down on everything; whatever she did, she would be criticized a few times. It was as if her stepmother wouldn't feel dignified unless she said a few harsh words. 。 It wasn't so bad on its own, but this stepmother had a wicked heart. Not only did she bring up the old marquis's former concubines at every turn, she even instigated Xiao Sh beyaz to have Yè Hóngzhuang take over Yè Wēn yán's marriage. 。Unfortunately, she only found out about this later. If she had known sooner, she would have definitely reported it and prevented them from making this deal. 。To tell the truth, when she first married into the Xiao family, she still intended to put on a show. After all, as a new bride, she hadn't developed any feelings for her husband. If she also quarreled with her mother-in-law, her life would be difficult. 。After less than five days of being married, she couldn't bear it anymore. On the sixth day, she had a fight with the old matriarch. 。From that point on, her reputation as a fiery and difficult daughter-in-law was established. Even Old Madam Xiao understood what kind of person she was and didn't dare to confront her head-on easily. 。After so many years, I never expected that today such a thing would happen again. This is a big deal, it's related to her husband's face and her mother-in-law's face! It absolutely cannot be settled easily! Gu shi thought this way in her heart, her eyes glared fiercely at the old madam and Xiao Shūbai, “Yanhuagong wants you to compensate, it’s also for you to compensate with your own things…” 。Nothing in the Ningguo Hou Mansion's Inner Quarters can be moved, nor can anything belonging to my lord marquis's own mother be moved. 。We'll just pick out everything here. As for whether the rest is enough to cover the damages, that's your problem. 。Besides, about the matter of stealing the concubine’s belongings from the manor, once everyone has left, we will settle accounts properly behind closed doors!” She finished her last sentence and immediately turned back to Xiao Fang, saying: “Turn everything over! Dig up all of your stepmother's belongings!”Xiao Fang was a little embarrassed and asked her in a low voice, "Some things are hard to distinguish, aren't they" After all, he was still young back then, and he wasn’t very good at telling which ones belonged to his step-grandmother and which ones belonged to his biological mother. 。Gu Shi stomped her foot, "What does it have to do with you Just follow our lead and tally everything!" The two of them immediately began rummaging through their belongings, and the people around them joined in the search. 。Madam Xiao's heart ached at the sight. She wanted to stop them, but besides her and Xiao Sh beyaz, no one was on her side. How could she possibly stop them Then she looked at Ye Wenyan, who was truly enthusiastic, even helping to flip through the documents and reminding Madam Gu, "Some shops may have changed hands over the years, but the deed still has dates written on it. Just pick those after your aunt's passing and take them." 。Gu Shi thought this was a great idea. 。Xiao Shu Bai was in a hurry: "Ye Wen Yan, are you stupid You let them take everything away and what are you going to use to compensate Yan Hua Palace Are you here to get your own things back, or are you here to help them take things"Night Wen Yan smiled and said, “Who I'm helping doesn't matter, the important thing is to pit you all…" 。" Xiao Shubi: "… Aren't you too direct >d be slaughtered because they will forever remember their hatred. 。"But why doesn't he recognize me" The long princess's soul pearl trembled incessantly, and cracks even appeared on its surface. 。Ye...