My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 315 Banquet (VIII)

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "I have also heard about this matter."

Madam Zhao glanced at Lord Xu and Madam Xu and said, "But who would have thought that Madam Xu would not agree to it, and when she visited Sixth Madam, she cried and complained about the drastic drop in the price of pepper. Now not only is there no way to sell the pepper and return the money, but she also forced Sixth Madam to take out her private money to make up for the shortfall, saying that it was Sixth Madam's fault that Zhen Jie'er got lost. For Sixth Madam's sake, the Xu family swallowed their anger and listened to Sixth Madam's words before buying pepper. Sixth Madam was already sick and weak, how could she bear this? She vomited blood on the spot, and I couldn't stop her."

Madam Xu was horrified and said anxiously, "Nonsense, this cunning servant is talking nonsense. I have never said such a thing."

Lord Xu also glared at Madam Zhao with his eyes wide open.

Nanny Zhao was fearless.

Madam Xu screamed in defense, "When my sister-in-law wakes up, you can ask her in person. I didn't know that my sister-in-law was seriously ill and couldn't stand the provocation. She blurted out that the peppercorns were falling sharply and she was short of money and couldn't sell them. She was afraid that the peppercorns would be wasted. My sister-in-law was so anxious that she vomited blood. This wicked servant added fuel to the fire and hurled insults at me."

It's as good as saying nothing. Who would ask Sixth Madam again?

What will happen if I vomit blood again?

Qin Yuan did not try to persuade them, but only asked: "Who else was in the room at that time?"

Aunt Zhao shook her head and said, "There is no one else."

Madam Xu said, "I was worried that my sister-in-law would not like crowds and would be annoyed, so I didn't bring the maid in. Who would have thought that there wouldn't even be anyone to testify."

Having said that, Qin Yuan already understood what was going on.

Qin Yuan asked: "How much did Sixth Brother's wife pay for the pepper, and how much did the Xu family pay?"

Madam Zhao said, "Sixth Madam paid more than 27,000 taels of silver. I don't know how much the Xu family paid."

Madam Xu spat and said, "Bullshit, the Xu family paid more than 27,000 taels of silver, and my sister-in-law only gave more than 2,000 taels of silver. Together with the contributions of the housekeepers in your mansion, it is only 3,000 taels of silver."

Zhao Ma's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets with anger, and she shouted, "I have always been a decent servant. Even if I spit, I can make a hole in the ground. If I tell a lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death."

Qin Yuan picked up the teacup in her hand and took a sip of tea slowly.

Madam Xu and Madam Zhao glared at each other like fighting cocks.

Seeing her actions, Lord Gu asked, "Yuan'er, do you have an idea?"

Qin Yuan nodded and said in a distressed tone, "I have understood this case, but I don't know whether I should speak frankly. Madam Zhao is protecting the reputation of my sixth brother's wife, so many things cannot be said openly."

Lord Gu stood up, pulled her up with his backhand, and said, "My wife and I have something private to discuss. I'll be right back."

Without waiting for anyone to reply, Lord Gu pulled Qin Yuan out of the hall, stood under a cluster of oleander outside the room and asked, "What do you mean?"

Qin Yuan said, "It's clear that the Xu family wanted to swallow up the money Sixth Sister-in-law used to buy pepper, which forced Madam Zhao into a corner, so she made a scene. No one dared to ask Sixth Sister-in-law about this matter again. Either someone will make up the money for Sixth Sister-in-law, or they will have a falling out with the Xu family and get the pepper back."

She originally didn't want to get involved in this matter, but tracing back to the source, the pepper incident was caused by her.

Qin Yuan sighed.

Gu Jinghui said, “That’s what I guessed, but…this matter is that Sixth Brother’s wife took the money to let the Xu family do something, and used a name to do it. Why didn’t Aunt Zhao say it out loud, and is still covering it up? With this behavior, how could the Xu family be willing to give up the money?”

Qin Yuan said, “If the Xu family is willing to sell their pepper at a low price, I am willing to buy it. I will just take the pepper back from the Xu family and slowly grow it. I will make money in the future and I won’t lose anything. But now I have to deal with my sixth brother’s wife who is seriously ill and cannot be stimulated, so it is really troublesome.” After saying that, Qin Yuan looked at Gu Jinghui.

Gu Jinghui thought for a moment and said, “Sixth brother’s wife is just short of tens of thousands of taels of silver. It’s okay for the mansion to make up for it. But the Xu family is acting this way. If we just let it go, how will the Marquis’ Mansion and the Xu family get along in the future?”

It was already very clear that the Sixth Madam had colluded with the Xu family to use the money in the Marquis's mansion's account to lend at high interest rates.

This business has been broken.

The Xu family hated the Marquis's Mansion for losing Xu Zhen and wanted to swallow up the Sixth Lady's money.

Gu Jinghui couldn't help but sigh. He didn't want to care about this matter. After thinking about it, he asked the little maid guarding outside to call out Master Gu Liu.

Mr. Gu Liu walked out with a sad face and weak eyes.

"Third brother, third sister-in-law, you are talking here, but what have you discussed?"

Seeing his expression, Qin Yuan asked, "What do you think about this matter, Sixth Brother?"

Gu Liuye said angrily, "What else can I think? The lice on the monk's head are obvious, but Xu vomited blood, and no one dared to ask her again. What can the argument between the old woman and Madam Xu bring to light?"

Gu Jinghui said calmly: "There is something I have been hiding from you."

Master Gu Liu looked at Gu Jinghui warily and whispered, "Third brother, if it's not a good thing, don't tell me. I'm in a mess right now."

"But this matter is the Sixth House's business. If I don't tell you and make the decision on my own, I'm afraid you will blame me in the future."

Gu Liuye stamped his feet and sighed, "Well, go ahead and tell me what happened. It's just what Xu did again."

Qin Yuan looked at Master Gu Liu with sympathy.

Gu Jinghui said, “Sixth brother, your sister-in-law embezzled a lot of money while she was the housekeeper. The Xu family was going to make a big fuss about Xu Zhen, but after seeing this account, they dared not say anything. They were worried that your sister-in-law would be divorced and everyone would lose face, so they stopped the fuss.”

Master Gu Liu said woodenly: "I know about this matter."

Gu Jinghui continued, “It’s obvious that the Xu family holds a grudge against this matter. Sixth sister-in-law previously transferred the money that entered the mansion’s account to the Xu family for interest. Now your third sister-in-law’s housekeeper has found out about this matter. The conspirators, Zhang and Sun, have confessed to the conspiracy. The Xu family now wants to take over Sixth sister-in-law’s money. As her husband, what are you going to do?”

Mr. Gu Liu was shocked at first, then stunned for a while, and finally laughed at himself.

"Third brother, if the Xu family hadn't caused this incident today, would you still be planning to hide it from me so that we can be husband and wife?"

Gu Jinghui pulled the corner of his mouth, met Gu Liuye's gaze, and said, "How many children do you have? She's not in good health, so we can only take care of her slowly. What do you think I, her uncle, should do?"

Gu Liuye squatted down, slapped his head, and said angrily: "Why did I marry Xu?"

Gu Jinghui said helplessly: “When it came to this marriage, Mother listened to Madam Wen’s advice.”

Mr. Gu Liu sighed even more helplessly.

"What should I do now? I am in a state of confusion."