Favoring a concubine and destroying the wife? I'll abandon my husband and children and wipe out

"You and Lianruo together."

Cheng Nanzhi had a sudden thought and added a few more words.

"If you find anything you shouldn't have during the search, take it away immediately."

"Let's start with the old lady's courtyard, and let her know that the money I lost was used to prepare a banquet for Ze Ge'er's apprenticeship ceremony."

Do you have a clear idea of ​​exactly how much money was lost?

Cheng Nanzhi looked at Jianlan.

Seeing that Lan understood immediately, she said, "This servant is in charge of your storeroom, Miss, so I know what I'm doing."

Seeing Lan immediately excuse herself and leave, she found Lianruo outside who was cleaning with a maid. Raising her voice, she announced in front of everyone that she had discovered Cheng Nanzhi was short of money.

He emphasized, "Nearly ten thousand taels are missing! This money is extremely important; it needs to be used for the young master's apprenticeship banquet. Lianruo, quickly gather some people and go with me to search each courtyard. I discovered it in time, and if that little thief is still in the manor, we should be able to find him soon and it won't delay the young master's apprenticeship banquet!"

Lianruo was furious: "How dare someone steal Madam's money! They must have a death wish! Even if we have to turn the whole mansion upside down, we will find this little thief!"

She immediately summoned the servants and maids, and they quickly and efficiently assigned tasks to search several courtyards.

Seeing that Lan also took out the waist token given to her by Cheng Nanzhi to transfer people.

After making the arrangements, she said, "You and I will take some people and go to the old lady's place ourselves. Since the whole mansion is being searched, the old lady's Shou'an Hall will have to be included. Otherwise, wouldn't people have something to say about it and think that the old lady is biased? It would be bad if the thief came from the old lady's place."

Lianruo nodded and immediately went with Jianlan and a dozen people.

Meanwhile, Madam Zhao was sulking in Shou'an Hall.

"What does Cheng Nanzhi mean by this!"

"She bought so many nice things from Jinxiu Pavilion, but she didn't even send them to me first!"

"Did she never even intend to buy me anything? Is this how a daughter-in-law behaves? She's become even more negligent and careless than before. How could I have such a daughter-in-law?!"

Madam Zhao learned what Cheng Nanzhi had bought and brought back from the servants. She assumed it was for her and had been waiting expectantly, but Cheng Nanzhi had never shown up.

They sent someone to inquire, only to find out that Cheng Nanzhi had used it for herself, and Ye Ruyue had even stumbled upon it and knew it belonged to Cheng Nanzhi. Now, there was no chance of giving those things to her!

This was the first time that Madam Zhao had been ignored by Cheng Nanzhi like this, and she felt both uncomfortable and angry.

Granny Zhang also felt that Cheng Nanzhi had gone too far, saying, "In my opinion, Madam has become too wild in the manor and is much less disciplined than before!"

“Take the time since Madam returned to the manor, she has not only rarely come to pay her respects to you, but she also doesn’t seem to care about you at all. I haven’t seen her ask how you are doing. She even takes advantage of her status and doesn’t give you any face. She doesn’t act like a proper wife at all.”

Remembering how Cheng Nanzhi had embarrassed her before, Zhang Mama suggested, "Madam, this can't go on. If things continue like this, where will your dignity as a mother-in-law be? In my opinion, you should set some rules for Madam. Even if outsiders find out about this, you'll still be in the right!"

Madam Zhao wholeheartedly agreed.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

A maid came in to report: "Madam, Miss Jianlan and Miss Lianruo from Madam's courtyard have arrived. They said they want to search Shou'an Hall, and the people they brought have spread out to search everywhere."

"What?!" Old Madam Zhao slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "What does she take this place for?!"

Madam Zhao stormed out and saw Lianruo directing people to search carefully and not to miss any corner.

Zhang Mama shouted, "How dare you! This is the Old Madam's Shou'an Hall! How dare you act without her permission? Do you have any respect for the Old Madam?!"

Lianruo and Jianlan stepped forward to greet them.

"Please forgive me, Madam. It's not that I'm disrespectful, but the situation is urgent, and we can't report it first and then search," Jianlan said respectfully.

Lianruo was much more direct: "Our mistress lost ten thousand taels of silver meant for the young master's apprenticeship banquet! We discovered it in time, but we still don't know who did it. We can only search as quickly as possible and find the person and the silver before the thief realizes what's going on!"

Madam Zhao was slightly startled upon hearing this.

Madam Zhao was surprised that Cheng Nanzhi would spend 10,000 taels of silver to hold a banquet for her grandson's apprenticeship. Did she value her grandson that much?

Madam Zhao's complexion improved considerably, and her anger turned towards the thieves.

"Find it! You must find it for me!"

How dare she steal her grandson's money? She's got a death wish!

The apprenticeship banquet is just a few days away. If this money is really gone, even Cheng Nanzhi probably won't be able to come up with such a large sum of money to organize it in a short time. At that time, the scale of the apprenticeship banquet will definitely be reduced a lot.

Madam Zhao could not accept this, so she ordered Zhang Mama to use her own nameplate to call people to search the place together, and also to block the door so that no one was allowed to enter or leave.

Granny Zhang didn't dare delay and quickly went to do it.

Before long, the search of Shou'an Hall was completed, and nothing was found amiss, but the search of the side courtyard where Ye Ruyue lived had not yet been completed.

Upon hearing that Ye Ruyue was not there, Lian Ruo said, "Even if she is not there, we should still look for her. We can explain to Miss Biao when she returns. I believe Miss Biao will understand such an important matter."

"There's no need for that at Yue'er's place." Old Madam Zhao was afraid they would find something related to Zhao Ye at Ye Ruyue's residence, so she said, "Yue'er rarely goes to Guantang Courtyard, so it definitely wasn't her who did it."

Moreover, Zege'er is Ye Ruyue's own son. How could Ye Ruyue possibly touch the money for her own son's apprenticeship banquet?

“Madam, I will order people not to disturb Miss Biao’s things, but we will still search. Since we are going to search the entire mansion, we must treat everyone equally and ensure that no one doubts Miss Biao’s innocence,” Jianlan said.

Madam Zhao thought to herself that it was still better than finding hidden dangers!

But before she could speak, Lianruo had already decisively led her people to search.

Madam Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and she told Zhang Mama to quickly help her over.

If a search is unavoidable, she can only watch from the scene. If anything they shouldn't find is found, she can help explain it so that the servants won't suspect anything.

"Honestly, where did Ye Ruyue go at this time?!" Old Madam Zhao complained to Zhang Mama in a low voice.

Zhang Mama replied in a low voice, "Madam, why don't I go and invite the master? With the master there, things will be easier, and you won't have to worry about it so much."

Madam Zhao thought it made sense and told her to go quickly.

Upon arriving at the side courtyard, Madam Zhao had a servant bring her a chair and sat down to wait.

Seeing Lan standing beside Old Madam Zhao, Lianruo led people to search.

The servants quickly gathered and reported that no silver had been found.

Madam Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they only looked for the silver and didn't focus on searching other things. It was also good that Ye'er was sensible and listened to her, not having excessive contact with Ye Ruyue in the mansion, and not leaving anything related to him at Ye Ruyue's place.

But the next moment-

"What are these?!"

Lianruo's exclamation suddenly rang out.

Old Madam Zhao's eyelids twitched, and she looked up.

Lianruo led her people out of the side room and carried out several boxes, all of which were open. Inside were some very precious ornaments. One of the boxes even contained a lot of expensive silks, and the silk on the top even looked somewhat familiar.

Madam Zhao paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered.

Isn't that the shimmering brocade bestowed upon us by the Heavenly Court a few months ago?!

She wanted it at the time, but Zhao Ye took it, saying he had other uses for it. She was getting old and didn't really need it, so she gave up.

So... it ended up with Ye Ruyue? Her son didn't give her such precious material; he said it was meant for Ye Ruyue?!

Madam Zhao found it hard to believe.

But the facts didn't allow her much time to think. Seeing Lan Hu stride forward, she said in a deep voice, "What's going on? If I'm not mistaken, this is Floating Light Brocade, isn't it? Floating Light Brocade is rare; there are only a handful of families in the entire capital that possess it. It's even a tribute item. How come Miss has it here?"

"And what about these other items in the box? Is that a celadon ram-head ewer? Is that enamel porcelain with inlaid gold and silver patterns? And what about that jade seal with a dancing figure knob and a jade ring with a double-outlined, stylized kui dragon pattern..."

“I’ve only ever seen these in the lady’s storeroom!”

"When I was taking inventory of Madam's storeroom a few days ago, I found that quite a few things were missing compared to three years ago. I was just thinking of compiling a list and reporting it to Madam for investigation, how did they end up here with Miss Biao?!"

Madam Zhao's heart pounded, and she found it unbelievable.

How come Ye Ruyue has so many good things here? And aren't those from Ye'er's storeroom?!

Well, without her knowing, her son gave Ye Ruyue so many things he never intended to give to her!