My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

However, Song Jie returned with two servants in a quarter of an hour.

He spread out everything in his hands, covering the table completely.

Among them were a dozen or so silver ingots, a few gold ingots, and five or six silver notes. The rest were Li Mama's gold and silver jewelry.

Excluding the silver notes, the rest is worth at least five or six hundred taels.

Granny Li knelt down with a thud, crying out, "These are all gifts from the Second Madam. My family are honest people and would never dare to do anything wrong!"

Manager Li kowtowed and cried out his innocence, saying, "This old servant has always followed the rules and has never taken a single penny from the shop!"

Song Chang casually flipped through the silver notes; they were all one hundred taels each, seven in total.

It only adds up to a little over a thousand taels, not a lot.

Their family had served in the mansion for decades, so it was normal for them to have some wealth.

The second wife secretly calculated in her mind and breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the amount of money was not too outrageous!

Song Chen'an thought of Manager Li's son, Li Qingsong, who served him. He was indeed more generous than others. Song Chen'an had always thought it was because he was generous, but he didn't expect that he actually had the financial means to be generous.

Although the amount of money wasn't much, it was enough for their family to live on for many years, not to mention that they also received a monthly allowance.

It should be noted that the annual expenses of an ordinary family in the city are only about ten taels of silver.

Even if they served each other for decades, could three generations of them accumulate so much monthly income?

Song Chen'an frowned slightly, his gaze drifting towards the courtyard gate.

Night quietly swallowed the last glimmer of light, and in the distance, dark shadows flickered indistinctly, indistinguishable as either people or trees.

Seeing that everyone's expressions had softened somewhat, Meng Ruohua turned to Linglong and instructed, "Today, I spent fifty coins on pastries from Heyi Zhai. I bought four or five different kinds, and the portions were generous and the food was delicious. Even a poor family could eat one or two kinds for several days. Also, when you get back, you need to record this in the general ledger. You all just pick up whichever ledger you want to write it down in, and when you're reconciling the accounts, you won't know which ledger to compare it with!"

Granny Li suddenly looked up, her eyes like knives, as if she wanted to cut Meng Ruohua into pieces.

How come I never noticed before that the second young mistress is so eloquent? Every word she says is a trap, she's practically saying outright that they have two sets of account books, one real and one fake!

Granny Li understood, and so did everyone else.

With a wave of his hand, Song Chang sent Song Jie away quietly.

The room was completely silent; so quiet that you could hear the crackling of the lamplight.

Manager Li collapsed to the ground, slowly recalling the events of the day, and realized with shock that he had already fallen into the Second Young Mistress's trap.

Now it's no longer about the second young mistress selling off her old goods, and no one will investigate the actual value of those items she sold!

She came prepared, determined to ruin herself!

perhaps……

He glanced up at the second wife, whose face was ashen, and a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes!

The second wife coughed lightly, breaking the silence. "It's getting late. Let's eat first. We can talk about it tomorrow!"

She gave Song Chang several meaningful glances, indicating that she had something to say.

Hey!

Song Chang sighed inwardly, put down his teacup, and said, "Let's call it a day. We can talk about it tomorrow!"

He glanced at Meng Ruohua, seemed to want to say something but didn't, then looked at the Second Madam.

“Meng, that’s enough for today. You don’t need to worry about the rest,” the second wife said.

Meng Ruohua smiled faintly, "Second Madam, you are overthinking it. Your daughter-in-law didn't intend to interfere in anything; I just offered some suggestions today!" After saying that, she gracefully stood up, bowed, and left with Linglong.

She knew this wouldn't escalate, and in the end, her family resolved it privately.

At the beginning, she asked Uncle Yang to help her investigate the Jinxiu Cloth Shop. She even took out last year's account book to calculate it, and went to Manager Li's house in the middle of the night to inquire for several days, finding out his family's situation clearly. Naturally, she also learned about their embezzlement.

No steward in any household is entirely innocent; it all depends on whether the master pursues the matter. But the Second Madam loves money. She has long considered the Brocade Cloth Shop hers, and how could she allow anyone to embezzle from it? That would be like taking food from her pot!

Meng Ruohua originally wanted to send her own people to search Manager Li's house, and she was sure to search every nook and cranny of his house, but later she felt that it was unnecessary.

She did this partly to get revenge on Granny Li, and partly to get rid of the stewardship. Now that things have developed to this point, Granny Li's fate won't be pleasant either, and she doesn't want to drive people to their deaths.

Moreover, she believed that neither Song Chang nor Song Chen'an would allow their servants to fool them!

Because they are all people who cannot tolerate being deceived!

There were many maids and servants hiding outside the door, watching and trying to find out what was going on, but Meng Ruohua ignored them. In any case, she had no hope for the Song family.

Back at Qingfeng Courtyard, dinner was already prepared and ready to be served as soon as I returned.

Meng Ruohua didn't need anyone to serve her; she waved for them to go eat on their own.

The maids, laughing and joking, pushed and shoved each other as they went out, undoubtedly to discuss matters concerning Rongxi Courtyard.

Although Granny Li wouldn't beat or scold them all the time, she couldn't help but give them verbal reprimands, so none of the maids in the mansion liked her!

I wonder if, once defeated, someone will kick him while he's down!

The next day, Coral got up very early, packed a bag of Heyizhai pastries, and went out.

She's going to gather information!

Coral was a clever girl. She analyzed the situation on her fingers and decided that she was the most suitable person in Qingfeng Courtyard for this kind of thing, so she volunteered to take on the role of a spy.

She volunteered herself, and no one actually mentioned it, including Meng Ruohua. Of course, Meng Ruohua knew about her actions and even secretly supported her; otherwise, why would she always give her a handful of coins?

Encouraged, Coral became even more diligent, running around whenever she had a spare moment, eager to find out the reason for any family quarrel.

Meng Ruohua ignored her and only ordered that food be left behind.

Shanhu returned home satisfied after Meng Ruohua finished dealing with the family matters.

She quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice and then came over to Meng Ruohua.

Yesterday, the Second Madam chased everyone out of the courtyard, closed the door, and chatted with Song Chang and Song Chen'an for half an hour. During that time, a few words of argument could be heard, but it was impossible to hear what they were arguing about.

Before Song Jie could return, Song Chang stormed off, leaving Manager Li and Granny Li unattended in Rongxi Courtyard.

Song Chen'an returned home after having dinner with his second wife, and the atmosphere between the mother and son was relatively harmonious.

Later, after Song Jie returned to the mansion with the account book, Song Chang soon ordered that Manager Li and her family be kicked out of the mansion. The second madam closed the door and ignored Granny Li, letting her cry and beg for more than half an hour, saying that it could be heard outside Rongxi Courtyard. In the end, she had several old women drag her out.

When Manager Li came out of Rongxi Courtyard, he was empty-handed. He didn't let them take any of the things Song Jie brought! They did take their own things, though. The old women all said that Manager Li's family must still have money hidden away, otherwise they wouldn't have left so easily.

It is also said that Manager Li has a daughter who is about ten years old and very beautiful. She has always been pampered and rarely seen by others, as the plan is to bring her into the mansion to serve the Second Master.

Meng Ruohua remained noncommittal. Hoping that her daughter could enter the household as a master was not something shameful, after all, it was their fastest way to turn their lives around.

After hearing what Shanhu said, Meng Ruohua let go of her hand.

After leaving the mansion, life will only get harder for Li Mama's family. Servants who are kicked out by their master are looked down upon.

Whether their pampered daughter is a blessing or a curse is hard to say.