Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Why can't anyone prove it? I have plenty of ways."

Seeing Feng Yucai's relentless attitude, Shen Zong thought that this matter today would not be easily resolved. He sighed and said, "Please give me some advice, Master Feng."

Feng Yucai pointed a hairpin at Shen Zong and said, "Aren't these pieces of jewelry all printed with the name of Linlang Pavilion? As far as I know, every piece of jewelry sold by Linlang Pavilion is recorded. Just ask the owner of Linlang Pavilion and you'll know."

Shen Zong nodded after seeing it.

Lord Wang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the two had reached a consensus, and quickly ordered the yamen runners to invite the manager of Linlang Pavilion.

In just a quarter of an hour, Manager Xu of Linlang Pavilion came hurriedly, followed by servants carrying more than a dozen camphorwood boxes.

But along the way, more people were attracted to Jingzhao Prefecture to watch the excitement.

Lord Wang explained the situation to Shopkeeper Xu, who picked up the box of jewelry and flipped through it. "Your Excellency, these are indeed the jewelry sold by our Linlang Pavilion. Judging from the style, they should have been made in the tenth year of Mingde."

Lord Wang then asked, "Can you tell which family ordered it?"

"Let me check." After saying this, Shopkeeper Xu walked to a box with the number "10" written on the seal, opened the seal, took out the account book and started flipping through it.

The account book detailed the style of each piece of jewelry, and also recorded to whom it was sold and how much silver it was sold for.

Shopkeeper Xu stopped after flipping through the eighth book, and took out the jewelry from the box and compared them one by one.

"This is it." Shopkeeper Xu handed the account book and the jewelry to Lord Wang. "Look, sir, this is it, and these are all the jewelry that the Duke of Qing's mansion made for the young lady's dowry in the tenth year of Mingde."

Feng Yucai also came over to take a look. "The daughter of the Duke of Qing's mansion is the Imperial Concubine Qin in the palace. How could Imperial Concubine Qin's jewelry be leaked out of the palace?"

"Could it be that your lover is the Third Prince? Did the Third Prince give you the jewelry from Concubine Qin?" Feng Yucai looked at Xiangxue and said, "It doesn't seem likely. She's a middle-aged woman, but your daughter is too young."

Shen Zong was already sweating profusely, because she knew that the Duke of Qing's mansion had more than one daughter. The legitimate daughter had married into the palace, and the illegitimate daughter was currently in the Shen Mansion. Shen Zong regretted getting involved in this mess today. "Master Feng, please be careful with your words and actions. Be careful with your words and actions. How can we criticize the Empress of the Palace?"

At this moment, Shopkeeper Xu of Linlang Pavilion spoke again, "No, I remember now. Back then, the Duke of Qing's Mansion prepared dowries for the two young ladies in the mansion. One solid set was for the eldest daughter, born to the Duke's wife, and the other hollow set was for the second daughter, born to the concubine in the mansion."

Shopkeeper Xu took the jewelry in the box one by one and weighed them in his hands. "These are the jewelry of the second daughter of the Duke of Qing's mansion."

There were voices of discussion coming from the crowd watching outside Jingzhao Prefecture.

"The Duke of Qing's family is so wealthy, yet they also do things like say one thing to your face and another behind your back? I remember that the Duke of Qing's wife was rewarded by the Empress Dowager for treating her illegitimate children well. I didn't expect it was all just a facade."

"Oh, these wives of the first wives hate the concubines and illegitimate children so much, how can they really treat them well?"

"Which family did the second daughter of the Duke of Qing marry into?"

"It seems that she is marrying the third son of the uncle of the emperor. Isn't this the housekeeper of the Shen family here?"

"How could Third Madam Shen's dowry be in the hands of Old Madam Shen's relatives? It doesn't make sense no matter how I think about it."

"I don't know if you've heard, but there were rumors a while ago that the Third Master of the Shen family was secretly keeping a mistress."

"I also heard that my cousin's second aunt's daughter-in-law is serving the concubine in the other courtyard. It is said that Mr. Shen San is going to the concubine every day."

"Is this the concubine? She doesn't look pretty either. But the girl is pretty. She looks like a member of the Shen family. The sons of the Shen family are all outstanding people."

"Tsk tsk, this is just the beginning, you haven't seen the Shen family yet"

"That's impossible. The Shen family has always boasted of being upright and honest. The masters in the mansion don't even have concubines."

"Why not? If the mansion doesn't allow concubines, can't we secretly keep one outside? Didn't you see that he stole all the wife's dowry and gave it to his mistress?"

"Haha, I don't think they're secretly raising the child outside. The Shen family came right after the incident. Look, the child is already that big, how could the Shen family not know about it?"

Shen Jingwan knelt on the ground, and she was filled with hatred when she heard these people talking. Not only did her cheap father give her little money, he even stole his wife's money to support a mistress. Although she was the mistress's child, she still despised such behavior.

If this happened in the era before she traveled through time, her cheap father would have been cyberbullied.

Feng Yucai finally understood what was going on. "Butler Shen, since this is your family affair, I will not get involved."

"Master Wang, I'll bother you again some other day."

After Feng Yucai finished speaking, he walked out of Jingzhao Prefecture with his followers.

……

Shen Mansion, Songhe Hall.

Shen Qingjiang knelt on the ground, "Mom, this matter is spreading all over the capital now, what should I do?"

Old Madam Shen threw the teacup in her hand at Shen Qingjiang. The teacup bounced off Shen Qingjiang and fell to the ground, with fragments splattered all over the floor.

"You've become successful. You can even steal your wife's dowry."

Shen Qingjiang quickly explained, "No, mother, it was Xiangxue who forced me to do this. She said that if I didn't give her the money, she would come to the mansion to make trouble."

"Then just give me the silver. Why do you want to steal my wife's dowry?"

"No... no money."

"You've never paid a penny of your salary home, and you still receive a monthly allowance from home. Mother gives you some money from time to time, thinking that you have to support Jingwan. How come you have no money left?"

"On a daily basis, I always have to drink and play cards with colleagues, and exchange favors and gifts. Money is always needed."

"Eat, drink and play cards? I think you are going to have fun and gamble." Old Lady Shen was so angry that she picked up the fruit plate on the table and smashed it on Shen Qingjiang's forehead.

Shen Qingjiang's forehead suddenly swelled up. "I went to gamble because I wanted to earn more for Xiangxue and Jingwan, didn't I?"

"It was mother who insisted on keeping Xiangxue and Jingwan. Don't blame your son." Shen Qingjiang said with his neck stiff.

"Third Master, please stop talking. You're making me angry." Aunt Gui said as she patted Old Madam Shen on the back. "Old Madam, you should be trying to find a solution now. It's useless for you to scold Third Master."

Shen Qingjiang nodded after hearing what Nanny Gui said. "If you ask me, just bring back a sedan chair. After a while, the novelty will wear off and those people outside will stop talking about it."

"No."