Volume 1, Chapter 18: Seizing the Dowry, Kneeling in the Ancestral Hall

The moment these words were spoken, Xie Wanqing snapped her head up, her eyes wide with shock and fury.

Lady Luo was confused for a moment, but her expression quickly turned terrifying. "Where is the surplus silver from the accounts?"

She abruptly stood up and marched toward Xie Wanqing, the atmosphere heavy with the threat of an impending storm. Xie Wanqing’s arms trembled as she whispered, "It's, it's..."

"Nanny Zhong, take some men and search the treasury!" Lady Luo shouted, slamming her hand onto the table. "Xie Wanqing, you had better give me an honest account!"

Lady Luo had always prided herself on her composure, even when angry, but now that she had truly lost her temper, the fearful Xie Wanqing was left trembling, unable to utter a single word.

Xie Mingyue added fuel to the fire from the side, "Madam Hou, you have managed this household before; surely you understand where the surplus silver has gone."

Lady Luo’s temples throbbed as she looked at Xie Wanqing. "Did you take the money to practice usury?"

Xie Wanqing remained silent, and Lady Luo knew she had tacitly admitted it. She thought of a distant relative of the Luo family who had once lent out funds from the treasury, only for the venture to collapse. Unable to recover the money, that relative had scrambled to cover the debts, creating a scandal that spread all the way to the capital. But the Shunqing Marquis Mansion was not in decline, and she had never been harsh to the younger generation; how could Xie Wanqing have stooped to such a thing?

Nanny Zhong soon returned with her subordinates. "Madam, only one chest of silver remains in the treasury. The other large trunks are empty."

The world spun around Lady Luo.

"Mother, please calm your anger. I know I was wrong. I will send someone to recover the funds immediately, and I shall use my dowry to cover the deficit," Xie Wanqing pleaded, kowtowing in desperation.

"It cannot be recovered," Xie Mingyue said with a detached smile. "Sister-in-law, you may not know, but the morning courier reported that the Baotong Bank has declared bankruptcy. The people behind the bank have absconded with the money."

As she spoke, she mused to herself that she finally understood why Qi Jinshan had told her to wait two days before bringing this up. It seemed he had been watching Xie Wanqing’s secret activities and the movements of the Baotong Bank all along. Had she exposed this earlier, Xie Wanqing might have retrieved the money, and the matter would have been swept under the rug.

Xie Wanqing’s eyes widened. "That’s impossible!"

The Baotong Bank was a newly opened establishment. She hadn't believed in it at first, but the interest rates were so high that she had been swayed by greed. She wasn't actually in financial trouble, but human greed is bottomless. Seeing the silver pass through her hands every day, and watching Qi Jinshan constantly bring Xie Mingyue rare treasures, she had grown envious. Her private expenses had spiraled to the point where even the second branch could no longer hide them.

Xie Mingyue ordered someone to bring the courier report for Lady Luo to see.

"You... you!" Lady Luo felt a wave of darkness wash over her vision; she could have devoured Xie Wanqing alive.

"Fifty thousand taels of silver, all squandered by you!"

Xie Wanqing had never expected this outcome; she could do nothing but weep, at a loss for words.

"Madam Hou, please do not ruin your health," Xie Mingyue said, sitting down slowly. She offered a cold sneer at the maids and nannies behind Xie Wanqing who were glaring at her. "The day for distributing the household stipends is approaching. The priority is to figure out where the money will come from, so as not to unsettle the servants."

"It shall be deducted from her dowry, of course!" Lady Luo’s face was ashen.

Xie Wanqing cried uncontrollably, "Mother, my dowry is not nearly enough to cover all that!" Between the first branch's funds and what she had lent out, it totaled eighty thousand taels. Even in a large mansion like theirs, the annual net profit was barely over ten thousand.

"Although you misappropriated the first branch's silver, we must stabilize the household. How about this: let us make a deal. You won't have to pay back the thirty thousand taels that belonged to the first branch." Xie Mingyue rested her chin on her hand.

Xie Wanqing loathed her, but she could neither jump up to berate her nor strike her, as she was forced to rely on her to resolve the crisis. She spoke bitterly, "Tell me, sister-in-law, what kind of deal?"

Xie Mingyue gestured in the air. "Sister-in-law, give me those two grain and oil shops from your dowry."

Those two shops had originally belonged to Lady Xie’s dowry. Although she hadn't yet managed to reconnect with the Xie family, Xie Mingyue trusted that her mother would never abandon her. She knew full well that Xie Wanqing was the imposter, and she would not allow her mother’s dowry to remain in Xie Wanqing’s hands for a moment longer.

Xie Wanqing froze, then bit her lip hard. Those shops were unremarkable compared to the flashy silk stores and cosmetic shops in her dowry, but they were immensely profitable, quietly bringing in several thousand taels a year. To think Xie Mingyue wanted those very shops—yet she had no choice but to comply!

"You... you aren't even a member of the Xie family anymore, how can you covet my mother's shops..." she muttered. Xie Mingyue heard her, and a sharp, cold glint flashed in her eyes.

"Why do you still hesitate? Do you expect me to use my own dowry to fill your hole?" Lady Luo glared at Xie Wanqing’s petty behavior and scolded her. "Hurry up! Your father will be here soon. Do you want this scandal to reach the front courtyard?"

Before she finished speaking, the solemn voice of the Shunqing Marquis came from outside the door. "What is this? Are you not planning to let me know?"

Everyone in the room was startled. Lady Luo had not expected the Marquis to arrive so quickly; she hadn't even had time to send anyone to intercept him. Behind the Marquis followed Qi Xiuyu. Seeing him, Xie Wanqing’s tears flowed even more fiercely.

Qi Xiuyu had never imagined that his wife, who had always been gentle, virtuous, and diligent, would be involved in something as vulgar as usury behind his back. The sight of her tear-streaked face now seemed far less appealing to him.

A servant stepped forward and whispered the events to the Marquis. The Marquis’s calm expression gradually turned to one of anger. He slammed his hand onto the table. "How foolish! You of the second branch—thanks to Mingyue’s willingness to help, what are you crying about? If not for your own greed, would we be in this mess today?"

He had not lost his temper in a long time, and when he turned red, even Qi Xiuyu felt a chill.

"Father," Qi Xiuyu said in a soothing tone, "Wanqing is in the wrong, but please do not anger yourself. The most important thing now is to replace the public funds. However, given the current difficulties, how can sister-in-law take advantage of the situation to seize Wanqing’s dowry?"

Qi Xiuyu knew perfectly well that Xie Mingyue had orchestrated everything. Not only he, but Lady Luo and the Marquis knew it too. But if Xie Wanqing hadn't done something so foolish, Xie Mingyue would have had no way to provoke the situation!

Seeing that his son was still hung up on the petty squabbles between the two branches, the Marquis shook his beard in frustration. "What do you mean 'seize'? It is an exchange for the thirty thousand taels she embezzled from the first branch!"

Qi Xiuyu felt that his father was favoring the first branch again. He was the future heir of the mansion, yet the Marquis was partial to a son who should have been born of a concubine. Thinking this, he felt a spark of anger. "Father, my recent promotion still relies on the Xie family’s influence in the court." Therefore, Xie Wanqing could not be punished now.

At these words, Xie Mingyue let out an enigmatic laugh.

That laugh left the Marquis red-faced and choked with indignation. He was a man of leisure with no real weight in the court; his eldest son had earned his own position, yet this legitimate son he had raised from childhood was constantly clinging to his father-in-law’s influence. He gripped his prayer beads tightly and demanded, "Without the support of your wife’s family, you cannot accomplish anything? You useless thing! All those years of training were for nothing!"

Qi Xiuyu turned pale under the reprimand. The Marquis ordered sternly, "The first branch is willing to help you—do not be ungrateful. If this matter blows up and shames the mansion, all of you can get out!" He pointed at Xie Wanqing. "For daring to commit such a shameful act, you are to go to the ancestral hall and kneel. No one is to let her rise until I say so!"

Under the gaze of her in-laws and husband, Xie Wanqing tearfully handed over the deeds to the shops to Xie Mingyue, before being escorted away by Qi Xiuyu to kneel in the ancestral hall.

Xie Mingyue had obtained what she wanted and was about to leave when the Marquis whispered something to Lady Luo. They looked at her, then suddenly ordered the servants to withdraw, leaving only the three of them in the room.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, stay a moment. We have some private matters to discuss," the Marquis said, gesturing for Xie Mingyue to sit. "About what happened back then... it was our fault."

What happened back then?

Xie Mingyue’s ears pricked up instantly.