From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 773: Chapter 775: Wife and Concubines

The old servant woman smiled smugly and said, "Aunt Lan, you should know that Madam has officially registered Aunt Liu’s son, the Second Young Master Cen Shuping, under her name. Our Cen Residence finally has a legitimate son! Isn’t this a joyous occasion?

"Aunt Lan, you should tidy yourself up and head over to Madam’s courtyard to offer your congratulations. Who knows, you might even get a red envelope for good luck."

Mu Xianglan was completely stunned. This was not what Master had told her before.

He had clearly promised to register her Dabao under Madam’s name. Why had it changed? No wonder he had stopped at the door today and didn’t dare to come in—he was too ashamed to face her.

"Aunt Lan, now that the message has been delivered, this servant will take her leave. The other courtyards are still waiting for me."

Without waiting for Mu Xianglan to respond, the old woman turned and left.

"Master?" Mu Xianglan stood up and stumbled outward, muttering to herself, "He promised me... How could he go back on his word?

"They are both Master’s sons, so why Cen Shuping?"

Seeing her like this, her maidservants didn’t dare stop her. Mu Xianglan stumbled all the way to the study, where she finally found Cen Gaosong.

The moment he saw her, Cen Gaosong instantly understood why she had come.

However, he had learned of the matter too late, and everything was already set in stone. He simply sat at his desk and sighed.

"Master, is what they’re saying true?"

"Lan’er, I only found out today as well. Madam has already had his name entered into the clan register.

"The Zhang Family single-handedly pushed this through; I had no way to object."

"...Then can our Dabao also be registered under Madam’s name? This is what you promised me." Having formulated several contingency plans on her way here, Mu Xianglan tentatively asked.

"She won’t agree to it." Knowing the outcome without even having to ask, Cen Gaosong saw no need to subject himself to his wife’s anger.

"Then I will go beg Madam." Mu Xianglan looked deeply aggrieved. Her eyes reddened as tears welled up and swirled within them. "If Madam can’t stand the sight of me, I will volunteer to be sent away to the villa. I only ask that she treats our two children kindly."

Cen Gaosong’s heart softened. "Madam is magnanimous. Although her temper is a bit fiery, she has never truly mistreated the children.

"Selecting a legitimate son requires the approval of both her and the Zhang Family. But my love for Dabao and the others remains unchanged. I will make proper arrangements for them."

"But..."

"But what?" Zhang Guihong had long since ordered someone to keep an eye on this courtyard. How could she possibly miss such a good show?

"But they can only blame the fact that their biological mother is nothing more than a lowly concubine. In this lifetime, there is no way for them to be elevated from illegitimate to legitimate.

"Besides, they’ve already enjoyed the treatment of legitimate children for several years. They should be content.

"You must know that the other children in this household have been bitterly hoping that Master would spare them even a few words of affection, or perhaps bring them some local specialties.

"What a pity. Our Master has completely forgotten about those children over the years. It just shows that illegitimate children aren’t that important in his heart. Shouldn’t Aunt Lan be mentally prepared for this?"

Mu Xianglan’s face turned ghastly pale. She hadn’t expected Mrs. Cen Zhang to speak up for those other illegitimate sons and daughters. It seemed the gifts she had secretly intercepted and hoarded over the years were about to be exposed.

Seeing Cen Gaosong pulling Aunt Lan into his arms to gently comfort her, Zhang Guihong’s face still darkened, even though she was already used to it. "Speaking of which, I’ve been terribly bored lately and decided to flip through our old ledgers. I discovered some very interesting things. Would Master like to hear about them?"

"Madam," Mu Xianglan interjected shrilly, "haven’t the previous ledgers already been audited? Even if there were discrepancies, it’s not like I could forge the entries now.

"Why must you cling to the past and repeatedly bring it up?

"Are you trying to force me to my death?"

"Look at how anxious Aunt Lan is," Zhang Guihong sneered. "You must know exactly what you’ve done!"

She found a seat in the study and made herself comfortable. "In past years, the gifts sent back to the Cen Residence were relatively decent and met the standard requirements of etiquette.

"However, I never understood why the other young masters and misses received so little. Sometimes, it was painfully perfunctory.

"At first, I thought Master was simply too busy with work and neglected them.

"As the main wife, I even dipped into my private funds to compensate and comfort them.

"But to my surprise, looking at the actual lists of gifts sent to the residence in previous years—especially the substantial shares meant for those children—things just don’t add up.

"Aunt Lan, since both Master and I are here, why don’t you hurry up and explain?

"Why didn’t those items reach the residence? Where exactly were they sent?

"No matter what, they are still Master’s own flesh and blood. Even I, as their legitimate mother, have never mistreated them. Yet you, a mere concubine, couldn’t stand the sight of them first."

Mu Xianglan’s face turned completely white. Her lips trembled, and she didn’t know how to respond.

Cen Gaosong was also looking at her. Seeing her guilty reaction, what else was there to guess? His face instantly turned frosty as he shoved her away. "Is what Madam says true?"

Mrs. Cen Zhang chimed in, "If Master doesn’t believe me, you can send a letter to the Cen Residence and ask. The gifts you sent back in previous years were always opened on the spot. There are meticulous records of exactly who received what.

"In fact, there were many valuable items listed that I had never even heard of. I wonder where those treasures have ended up now."

Once again thoroughly disappointed in Mu Xianglan, Cen Gaosong demanded, "Speak."

Mu Xianglan felt a surge of intense hatred. Before this old woman had arrived, their family had lived in perfect harmony.

Relying on her official status, she had constantly suppressed her and frequently badmouthed her to Master.

Master might have believed her the first one or two times, but just now, she had seen clear disappointment and suspicion in his eyes.

"The household expenses were high before, and we moved several times. It’s inevitable that some items were damaged," Mu Xianglan argued. "I felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to send damaged goods to the Cen Residence, so I had people dispose of them." She wasn’t completely unprepared; from the moment she first embezzled the gifts, she had already concocted this excuse.

Zhang Guihong gave her a sarcastic thumbs up and praised, "Aunt Lan is truly skilled at managing a household! Every time there’s ’damage,’ it’s always the highly valuable items, while the cheap pots and pans manage to arrive at our new home completely unscathed.

"How did you accomplish such a feat? You’ll have to teach me a few tricks so I can learn from you."

Cen Gaosong was speechless.

"...Is Madam trying to force this servant to her death?" Mu Xianglan sobbed.

"Ah, you’ve finally changed your tune and referred to yourself as ’this servant,’" Zhang Guihong remarked. Having come here specifically to pick a fight, she was naturally going to nitpick everything. "If you had this kind of self-awareness earlier, you wouldn’t have made such a huge joke out of our Cen Residence."

Cen Gaosong remained silent. This house was truly becoming unbearable.

His legitimate wife was aggressively overbearing, and the concubine who had always stayed faithfully by his side was evidently not as innocent and kind-hearted as she portrayed herself to be.

He needed to find a quiet place to sort out his thoughts. Without another word, he abandoned his wife and concubine and stormed out.

"Master, isn’t today your rest day? Why are you still going out?" It seemed Zhang Guihong was determined to provoke him, shouting loudly from the doorway.

"Preposterous!" Cen Gaosong snapped, turning back to scold her. "Does your Master need your permission to go somewhere?

"Just manage the affairs of the inner courtyard properly! Stop acting like a prickly thorn, trying to stab everyone all day long."

Mu Xianglan desperately wanted to ask him to stay and stand up for her. However, with the mess of the embezzled gifts still hanging over her head, she simply didn’t have the courage. She could only watch helplessly as he walked away.