After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

Meng Wan took over the conversation and said, "It seems that my people didn't deliver the wrong thing, nor did they order the wrong thing. It must be that the people in the warehouse installed it wrong. And it was installed after we all ordered it. As for whether it was installed wrong or not, I think everyone understands. Your Majesty must not let these people go. They actually did such a thing behind the master's back. It's too abominable."

After hearing what Meng Wan said, Xie Fen hurried over and bowed to Zhou Yiheng, saying, "Your Highness, there are many things to do in the warehouse during this new year, so it's okay to be careless."

Meng Wan looked up at Xie Fen and smiled, "Sister-in-law, you are wrong. If they packed one more or one less, it might be because they were tired or dazzled. But they packed so much at once, and the quantity was the same for all three families. Isn't this too coincidental?"

Xie Fen was stunned, thought for a moment and said, "Then he must have taken the wrong thing. He might have mistaken three bags for twenty. Your Majesty also knows that the women in the warehouse are clumsy..."

"Sister-in-law, as far as I know, the salt and sugar were sent back in big bags. Even our family puts them in jars for daily use, which is convenient for taking out. Not to mention the New Year gifts, which are naturally weighed out before packing. What? Are these old women ignorant of worldly affairs? They can't even tell the difference between salt and sugar when packing them?"

Xie Fen couldn't continue the sentence, so he turned to look at Hu and thought, it's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I don't know what to say.

Zhou Yiheng realized that something was wrong. He was really angry at noon and thought that Meng Wan had gone out to play and had not arranged the servants properly, so the wrong number was counted and the wrong car was loaded. He was so angry that he wanted to take this opportunity to teach the couple a lesson.

Now that they had explained it, there were really too many loopholes. But he didn't believe that it was the storekeeper who made a mistake. After all, with sixty bags of salt, which storekeeper would be so bold as to do that?

Zhou Yiheng had a plan in mind, sighed, and turned to look at Mrs. Hu. Mrs. Hu looked at Zhou Yiheng's face full of understanding, and stood up helplessly. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Zhou Zheng say, "I think what my second sister-in-law said makes sense. Those women must be too ambitious. They want to make more money during the New Year and use this trick to deceive people."

"That's right, third brother is right. This group of power-hungry people, relying on their seniority in the mansion, dare to come up with such evil ideas. I think they must have wanted to sneak the candy out. I'm afraid they bribed the coachman, but they didn't have the chance, so they made such a mistake." Zhou Yu patted Zhou Zheng's shoulder, his face filled with indignation.

Mrs. Hu said quickly, "Oh, it's all my fault. There are so many things to do at the end of the year, and I have been in poor health these days, so such an embarrassing thing happened. Fortunately, it's not serious, but Brother Yu's wife has been wronged."

After saying that, he took Meng Wan's hand and patted it gently, with a look of concern on his face.

Meng Wan blushed and said, "No matter what, it's my wife's fault. My wife, please see how the warehouse fines us, and we will reduce the fine by half at Qinghe Garden."

"Mother Hong, kick out all the women who are counting and packing today. Don't sell them before the New Year. Let's talk about it after the New Year." Mrs. Hu said coldly.

"Princess, you are not convinced by the others." Zhou Yu said with a smile.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"The warehouse has been so busy these past few days, and the housekeeper didn't go to check on it? Didn't she keep an eye on it? Especially since the New Year gifts sent today are from close relatives and friends like the Hu, Xie, and Hong families, and she just let them pretend to be wrong? If you ask me, it's better to catch the leader first, right? However, it is not ruled out that the housekeeper really didn't know, but she can't escape the blame for dereliction of duty. Mrs. Meng, Madam Kong didn't do her job well in the warehouse today, so I think you should just remove her from power."

Meng Wan stepped forward and said, "Yes, I think so too. If I hand the matter over to her, even if it has nothing to do with her, it means she has not supervised it properly. She should bear the responsibility."

Mother Kong stepped forward quickly, looking very submissive, "This old slave is willing to accept the punishment."

After hearing what the couple said, Mrs. Hu was so angry that her teeth itched. Well, they were waiting for her here. She knew that the person in charge of the warehouse was her mother, who she needed to use. What should she do?

"Second brother is right, mother. I think you have to resign from your position as warehouse manager. You have to give an explanation to everyone." Zhou Zheng stepped forward and said calmly.

Zhou Yiheng nodded. This was the most decent way to end the matter. Although he disagreed with Hu's behavior, he had always supported Hu's actions against Zhou Yu. However, the fact was that Hu's actions were too crude and could not stand up to scrutiny.

"And what about the coachman?" Zhou Yu asked again.

"Coachman?" Mrs. Hu's voice rose noticeably by an octave.

"Yes, as I just said, those maids took so much more than the people sent by Mrs. Meng to count without their knowledge, and they must have thought of sending it out with the help of the cart driver. But they probably didn't expect that Mrs. Meng's people followed them all the way and they had no chance to take the money, so they failed. There must be someone who was greedy for a little profit among the cart drivers."

Zhou Ming can no longer play dumb because he was the one who arranged those people.

"Father, I was careless. In this case, let's deal with it like the storekeeper did."

Zhou Yiheng glanced at Zhou Yu and nodded, "Let the eldest wife handle this matter. We cannot keep such a disloyal servant in our house. We can wait until the New Year is over and then choose a good one to come in."

------

"Crash" Mrs. Hu swept all the tea sets on the table to the ground. The splashed porcelain pieces cut the little girl's hand, but the little girl didn't dare to say a word and let the blood flow out.

Zhou Zheng waved his hand at the girl, "Go and ask them to come in and clean up."

After saying that, he picked up a handkerchief and wiped Hu's hands. "I've said it before, there's something wrong with Zhou Yu. Wait for me to report back after investigating him. But you didn't listen. You insisted on giving Meng a slap in the face at the end of the year. How come you've suffered such a big loss?"

Mrs. Hu let her son wipe her hands. Yes, this was a huge loss. She lost the manager of the storehouse and those who worked for her. The drivers and the people following the carriage were all her own people. And because the carriage and stables were under the management of the outer courtyard, she had put a lot of thought into arranging these people. Now, the whole nest was wiped out.

"I originally thought that Meng was stupid, so I just set a simple trap. No matter what happened, Zhou Yu might not stand up for her. Even if he did, the prince might not believe her. So I took this opportunity, even if I didn't assign the power of housekeeper to her, no one else could say a word about me. The most important thing is, when I hand over Wang's dowry book next year, whether she can see it or not, I will have something to say to her. Alas, I thought too simply. If I had known this would happen, I would have been more careful."

"What's the point of saying all this now? You shouldn't have focused your energy on Meng. You knew she was confused, and Chuntao was waiting there. It would be enough to start from there." Zhou Zheng rubbed his forehead.

Mrs. Hu took her son's hand and said, "It's my fault. I'll ask Mother Hong to go check on your wet nurse. If we get the chance, we'll ask her to come in."

"Forget it, don't let her come back. You should have let her take care of herself last time, but you transferred her to the warehouse. Well, she's old anyway, so just go back. If she comes back, she'll be too conspicuous. If Zhou Yu targets her again, it won't be worth it. Her two sons are both busy with important things now, don't let Zhou Yu get into trouble because of her."

The most useful servant around Zhou Zheng now is his wet nurse's eldest son.

Mrs. Hu nodded. "Okay, I'll listen to you. Is this the only thing we can do?"

"How else? This matter is full of loopholes. Do you still think that it will be the same as before, where you only need to tell me the whole story and your father will whip you without even giving Zhou Yu a chance to explain? Mother, such days will never come again. No matter what, Zhou Yu has married. Even if it is done for the Huainan Marquis's Mansion to see, your father will no longer let you say whatever you want and punish Zhou Yu without even asking any questions."

Hu let out a sigh of relief. Yes, it was no longer possible to target Zhou Yu with the same tactics as before. Zhou Yiheng's attitude today made her very worried.

Whenever the prince targeted Zhou Yu in the past, he would either whip him and then deal with him swiftly and decisively without listening to a word Zhou Yu had to say.

But today, the prince not only listened to Zhou Yu's words, but also agreed with him and did as he said. This was not just a matter of giving face to the Huainan Marquis' Mansion.

"Brother Zheng, you said your father treats Zhou Yu differently, what do you mean?"

Zhou Zheng shook his head. "I didn't see what happened specifically, I just had a feeling. When Meng Shi first came in, my father couldn't help but get angry at Zhou Yu. But think about it, since Zhou Yu overturned the stool last time, my father has never thought of whipping him again."

Mrs. Hu looked at her son's meaningful eyes and nodded, "Yes, that's right. This is not good. We have to think of another way."

"That's a matter for later. If anything happens, we must make good arrangements. Okay, mother, you don't have to get angry. It's just a matter of your word for who will be in charge of the storehouse. Maybe she won't do as well as the wet nurse at the beginning, but it will be okay after a while. As for the carriage and horse stables, I will think of a way. My eldest brother and I will send two jars of good wine later. Mother, you should plan everything for the palace banquet carefully now. That is very important."