“What is it about?” Mei Xue looked up and down at the old maid and asked in an unfriendly tone.

The old maid took a few steps forward and looked at the open door, looking very hesitant!

“Close the door, Mei Xue!” Qin Yuru’s hands slowly relaxed, and a trace of coldness appeared on her thin face. Since the old maid wanted to talk with her in secret, she could not be Countess Yong’s person. Moreover, the old maid indeed worked in her dowry shop, but she had never reported to her anything about the shop before.

When Qin Yuru married into Duke Yong’s Mansion, she was awarded several shops which had been Madam Di’s dowries before. But in fact, those shops were still owned by Duke Yong’s Mansion, with some Qin Yuru’s people as their staff.

Madam Di used to leave the capital, so Duke Yong became the supervisor of those shops from then on. After Madam Di came back, Duke Yong’s Mansion once said that the shops were in debt and implicitly asked Qin’s Mansion for money. At that time, Madam Di told Old Madam that she didn’t have much money, so in the end, she was allowed to offer just a little money to support Duke Yong’s Mansion.

But the truth was Madam Di had enough money after she just arrived in the capital city. However, she was unwilling to provide subsidies for her parents’ home. So she lied that she was in a difficult situation and finally got herself out of the responsibility.

She also didn’t ask back the right to take charge of those shops, thinking that it would be troublesome to go through all the formalities. Anyway, they were meant to be Qin Yuru’s dowries. If they became Qin Yuru’s belongings in the future, it would have nothing to do with her whether they would be in debt or not.

However, the shops were owned by her after all. Before Qin Yuru got married, she had already helped Qin Yuru order the dowries. And she repeatedly advised Qin Yuru to arrange for some people to work in those shops so that they could help keep an eye on her possessions, or she could just exchange them for money and invest it in other businesses.

At that time, Madam Di was clear-headed, believing that it was her absence in the capital city for so many years that caused the difficult situation of the shops. If there had been a good supervisor, they wouldn’t have been in debt.

Madam Di felt that it was because Countess Yong paid no attention to her shops that the staff neglected them. The result was that they ruined these shops from which they could have profited a lot.

Madam Di had arranged for several maids to accompany Qin Yuru to her husband’s house early before the wedding. With Qin Yuru marrying into Duke Yong’s Mansion in a hasty way, those maids were arranged to work in those shops.

But during the three years when she lived in the Duke Yong’s Mansion, Qin Yuru had not got any money. She was told that those shops ran behind their expenses.

Although Qin Yuru didn’t live a happy life with Di Yan in Duke Yong’s Mansion, no one dared to slight her, who was under Old Madam’s protection. She was Old Madam’s granddaughter after all. What’s more, Old Madam would give her some awards from time to time. Nevertheless, Qin Yuru didn’t care much about the shops since she had always been busy fighting against Di Yan and his concubines. The shops were still in the charge of Countess Yong.

And she had never seen those maids that followed her to the mansion since they worked in those shops.

“Did something happen to the shops?” After Mei Xue closed the door, Qin Yuru asked the old maid in a stern voice.

With a flustered face, the old maid took out an account book from her arms and handed it over carefully. “Madam, when I saw this account book, I felt… felt that there was something wrong with it…”

“What’s the matter with it?” Qin Yuru asked, as she took over the account book from Mei Xue and flipped through it casually. However, after scanning only two pages, her face suddenly turned pale and she sat up nervously.

“Is it the true account book?”

“Yes. It’s… it’s true. I always believed that the shops were at a loss. But I saw the account book left by the accountant after I entered the shop… and I found… found that something was wrong…” The old maid stammered with her face covered with sweat, “I’m your servant, Madam… My whole family followed you to Duke Yong’s Mansion because of your marriage… so I secretly brought the account books here…”

Qin Yuru flipped the account book again. After scanning a few pages, she directly turned to the last page, on which the profit the shop made last year was recorded. On seeing the surplus of a year, Qin Yuru became furious.

“They are profitable! They have made a huge fortune!

“This is the account book of one shop for a year. There are several shops among my dowries! Mother and Father have been married for nearly 20 years! Countess Yong has stolen so much money!”

Though Qin Yuru was not short of money, sometimes she wanted to buy some good accessories. After hearing her requirement, Countess Yong criticized her, saying that her shops made their mansion sustain losses in business rather than earn money for them, so how could she be so shameless to ask for money for jewelry?

What’s more, Di Yan never spared the money spent on his concubines. Now when Qin Yuru thought of it, she found that it was her money that was spent by them, and her dignity was damaged.

“What a bitch she is!” Qin Yuru became extremely irritated. She only hated that she was too silly, believing whatever she was told, and she regretted that she didn’t check it herself.

When she was in Jiangzhou, she had once helped Madam Di manage the family affairs, so she was quite familiar with checking accounts. She had also helped Madam Di manage the shops in Jiangzhou. A few days before she got married, Madam Di even asked her to deal with the businesses of different shops alone.

So how could she not know how to read an account book? Every number on the one in her hand was true. Each deal was clearly recorded in it.

“Madam, let’s go and tell Old Madam!” Mei Xue was Qin Yuru’s principal maid, who also had a hard time in Duke Yong’s Mansion. She was very angry too after understanding what’s the matter.

“Yes, Madam. Let’s go now!” Meiyan also said in a hurry.

The old maid suddenly knelt down and said, “Madam, my family serve you. Please help us. If we are under Countess Yong’s threat when it comes to that point, I can’t testify for you!” Then the old maid burst into tears.

Countess Yong had great power in Duke Yong’s Mansion, but Qin Yuru was just a daughter-in-law with such a bad reputation. She could not beat Countess Yong.

If the old maid didn’t testify for Qin Yuru, she would probably be trumped up a countercharge by Countess Yong.

Qin Yuru took a deep breath. Although her face was still red, she looked calm. With three-year life experiences, she was no longer impulsive to every situation she met.

Although she was not afraid of Countess Yong and even felt that it was no big deal if they perished together, she couldn’t complain to Old Madam directly now.

Moreover, she did not believe that Old Madam knew nothing about the false accounts.

She always felt that her grandmother was very wise. Countess Yong could hide it from others for so many years but she couldn’t hide it from Old Madam.

But Old Madam had always been partial to Di Yan, so Qin Yuru didn’t believe in Old Madam. If Old Madam indeed cared about her, why had she always been living a glamorous life on the surface? Why could Di Yan’s concubines bully her? And why did Countess Yong dare to try to make her infertile?

She hated Di Yan, Countess Yong, Old Madam, and all the people in Duke Yong’s Mansion!

Qin Yuru gritted her teeth and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t hand you over!”

The old maid breathed a sigh of relief, kowtowed repeatedly, wiped away her tears and snot. Then she said, “Thank you, Madam! Thank you very much!”

“Won’t they find out that this account book is missing?” Qin Yuru asked.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s the account book of last year. It was put on the lid of a box by an accountant when I saw it. It seemed that it was supposed to be put in the box. There is a big basket of books, which should be the account books over the years! …But I also saw another basket, the books in which are those shown to others!”

The old maid was a little confused and looked ignorant when she was saying that.

But Qin Yuru was well aware! Duke Yong’s Mansion must have been making two sets of account books. One with the loss was to fool her and her mother, and the other with profits was the true accounts. “Madam Shi not only wants to oppress me but also keeps robbing me of my money! When I become infertile, she will find another legal wife for Di Yan. At that time, the children of that wife will step on me!”

“And my everything will be left to Madam Di’s children!” Qin Yuru couldn’t stand it anymore when thinking of this.

A plan came into being in her mind!

“Di Yan, Don’t wish to be safe and sound forever if I am not happy! Neither will you, Madam Shi! I am afraid of nothing now, because I have nothing to lose now…”

“Your Highness, here’s Madame Dong’s letter!” Qing’er said with a smile and handed the letter in her hand over. Shao Wanru opened it, read it quickly, and then nodded repeatedly.

Shao Wanru had figured out the fraud involving the two sets of account books early. She urged Fanglan Embroidery Shop to pay back the money. But Fanglan Embroidery Shop couldn’t pay it now, so they invited Madame Dong to talk, hoping that she could wait a little longer. However, Madame Dong refused, saying that she was in urgent need of the money and hinting there was gossip among people that Fanglan Embroidery Shop was in debt. She was afraid that Butterfly Clothing Shop would also suffer the same if Fanglan Embroidery Shop didn’t pay back now.

Of course, Supervisor Xiao of Fanglan Embroidery Shop understood what Madame Dong meant. She knew that someone had whispered to Madame Dong behind. To dispel Madame Dong’s doubts, she showed the account books of the last few years to Madame Dong.

She trusted Madame Dong so much and even showed her the most precious account books because they were often sent to Madame Dong when she borrowed money from Butterfly Clothing Shop in the past. Supervisor Xiao didn’t think it was a big deal to show several books at once to Madame Dong.

Having supported Fanglan Embroidery Shop for three years, Butterfly Clothing Shop had become its mainstay. After making deals with Madame Dong for such a long time, Supervisor Xiao felt that Madame Dong was just a shrewd shopkeeper.

“Butterfly Clothing Shop opened three years ago in the capital city, so it can’t be involved in other forces that have existed for a long time. It is convenient to make use of Fanglan Embroidery Shop. And there is no need to be afraid that our secret will be exposed.

“Besides, it is said that the owner of Butterfly Clothing Shop is just an ordinary businessman with no background, who rarely stays in the capital city. If they find something wrong with our shop, I can directly seal Butterfly Clothing Shop and imprison Madame Dong. It is not a difficult thing.”

Now that they were both merchants, they should calm down and make negotiations as a merchant would do.

Those were the first half part of Madame Dong’s letter, but the second half was not only Madame Dong’s work…