Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

108. Lady Lu’s Confession

Translator: Sissy That Walk

Hearing what Cao Mo said, Xiao Yugui’s face darkened, “It’s time to kill all the parrots in the manor, all of them!”

“Father, that will make such a scene in the manor, people surely will ask a lot of questions.” Cao Mo whispered at Xiao Yugui’s ear, “How about we investigate this in secret at home, me and Yi will contact Prince Xing for more information as well, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the bird and its owner make the next move.”

Xiao Yugui nodded and went back to his own room.

On the other hand, Lady Lu shuddered with fear when Xiao Jin came back and told her what had happened, “Jin, tell me everything you father just said again! Did he really say it concerns our whole family?”

“Yes, mother. Father was so furious, he forbade our whole manor from raising parrots, including Auntie Lu.” Xiao Jin had no idea what had happened exactly, but he kind of knew how serious this was based on Xiao Yugui’s reaction and he was scared.

Lady Lu clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth, “No wonder my good sister has been so well-behaved, she is up to something big, something that will devour our entire family. She herself isn’t happy, she wants everyone to suffer with her.”

“Mother, why would Auntie Lu be so cruel? We are her family after all.” Xiao Jin had no idea why the benevolent Auntie Lu would be so ruthless.

“I’m afraid no one can explain this, it’s just life happens, things didn’t work out in her way I guess. Son, from now on I want you to keep an eye on Magnolia House, report to me about any sign of disturbance or trouble, understood?” Lady Lu was so nervous, she was afraid the Xiao Manor would be in imminent danger of falling down due to her sister.

Lady Lu selected a few nice presents and asked her maid to send them to Magnolia House.

Cao Mo was confused why Lady Lu would send them such nice presents out of nowhere, Xiao Yi guessed probably this was Lady Lu trying to ally with them.

Cao Mo came to Osmanthus House to say thank you to Lady Lu.

Lady Lu invited him in and asked her maid to serve Cao Mo tea.

Cao Mo took his seat and waited for Lady Lu to break the ice.

Lady Lu took a sip of tea and opened her mouth, “Mo, I won’t beat around the bush in front of you. I used to look down upon you due too your humble origins, but you have changed my mind in the past a few months, I will be honest with you from now on.”

With that Lady Lu handed Cao Mo an account book.

Cao Mo took the account book and noticed Lady Lu heaved a sigh as if she had relieved of a heavy load.

“Mo, this is the secret account book that records all the unspeakable expenses in the manor, now I give this to you, this means I will trust you with everything from now on.”

Cao Mo shot Lady Lu a glimpse, “Sounds like you are shirking responsibility to me.”

“When a bird’s nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. Our family now is like the bird nest. I should have told you about this account book a long time ago, but I was counting on one day you would make a mistake and I will once again be the madam of the manor. It turns out I’m wrong, you are doing such a better job than me. I think I should trust you on this for our family’s sake, especially for my son Xiao Jin who I love the most. That’s all.” with that Lady Lu asked Cao Mo to leave.

Cao Mo sneered in his heart, ‘That was some high-sounding remarks for someone who is trying to shirk responsibilities.’

With that being said, Cao Mo still studied the account book carefully after he went back to Magnolia House.

Cao Mo’s eyebrows furrowed harder and harder as he studied the book.

“Mo, what are you reading?” Xiao Yi asked with concern.

“Apparently a secretive account book that records the unspeakable expenses in the family, Lady Lu just gave this to me. Do you know your family had private troops?” Cao Mo asked Xiao Yi while he was doing some math on the abacus.

“I know a little bit about that, it won’t be a large number I expect.” Xiao Yi sat beside Cao Mo and he gasped when he saw the number that Cao Mo had just written down, “This much? No way!”

“This is just the troops in one county, I have five more volumes to go through.” Cao Mo raised his head, “No wonder His Majesty has been hesitant to promote your father to the highest official rank, I’m afraid His Majesty knows about this too.”

Xiao Yi thumbed through the other five volumes and said, “Hmm, these are all bases that have been working for us since my grandfather’s generation, and all the properties as well. We need to keep these account books in a safe place.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I will. Has your Second Uncle written back yet?” Cao Mo put down the brush pen and stretched his arms.

“Not yet, it takes at least five days for him to get our letter and five more days for us to get his letter.”

Cao Mo nodded and rested his head on Xiao Yi’ shoulder, “Yi, I didn’t believe Lady Lu had loved your father until I saw these account books. She must have made painstaking efforts to maintain everything in order for the past twenty years.”

Xiao Yi now understood why Xiao Yugui didn’t punish Lady Lu when Lady Lu spent his late mother’s dowry. It wasn’t easy to maintain private troop.

Cao Mo rubbed his forehead and said, “No way can we separate from the Lus, hmm, I say let’s assimilate them now that we can’t detach ourselves from them.”

“What do you mean?” Xiao Yi was intrigued.

“The Lus have about thirty grain shops, let’s bulk buy from those stores and do some deep processing.”

“What do you mean by deep processing?”

“Ha, I remember you said the thunder in the other day didn’t bode well, this year would be a lean year. I say let’s bulk buy grains in advance and process them into solid food, so we can store them and transport them easily.” Cao Mo smirked.

Xiao Yi kissed Cao Mo on the cheek and said, “How lucky am I to have married you!”

Later that night… …

The parrot flew back and opened the account book, its feet were covered with phosphorus powder to destroy the handwriting on the paper.

Cao Mo caught the parrot in a net when it was about to fly away, “Ha, you are back, you little birdy! Too bad I really have to kill you this time.”

Xiao Yi grabbed the bird from Cao Mo’s hand and said, “Yi, your hands are clean, let me handle this.” with that Xiao Yi strangled the bird and threw it in the yard.