Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

53. A Great Way Out

Translator: Sissy That Walk

“What do you want to do?” Xiao Yi was startled.

“Third Aunt wants us to solve this for her, you know? And we will, we need to stop this before it gets out of control, the servants are too rampant, and we need too help Third Aunt to establish authority, you know?”

Xiao Yi asked with a big frown, “Do you have a plan already?”

“Yes, I will solve this peacefully with Mammy Xie, she needs to surrender ill-gotten gains.” Cao Mo looked dead serious.

Soon Mammy Xie and her husband Xie Changfu were here.

Cao Mo asked Xiao Yi to hide away before they arrived.

Cao Mo asked Moqi to bring them in the room, he sat by the table with his legs crossed, “Sorry to disturb you at such a late hour mammy and Changfu, but I noticed an interesting thing in the account book, I have to ask Mammy Xie about this, otherwise I cannot fall asleep tonight.”

Mammy Xie was all smiled in a fawning way, she answered, “Young Madam, I’ve heard about Mammy Liu, it’s all her fault, how stupid she is indeed, she deserves to be send to Laundry Department. If you are unhappy about this, I can report to the Third Lady and sell her.”

“Mammy, that’s not the reason why I asked you to come.” Cao Mo put on a smile, “Mammy, it looks like we have a lot of wine in our cellar, right? The interesting is there would be more jugs recorded on the account book every time after we hold a gathering, how interesting indeed, it looks like you can make wine yourself.”

Mammy Xie rolled her eyes and forced herself to keep calm, “You are joking, Young Master.”

Cao Mo tapped on the table, “Am I? There are 188 jugs of wine out of nowhere is recorded on Lotus House, can you explain this to me?”

Mammy Xie’s heart fluttered in fear, one jug of wine was worth ten tales of silver, 188 jugs were one thousand and eight hundred tales! She clenched her fists and said, “Young Madam, the Third Lady is in charge of the domestic affairs now, and he didn’t say anything. I suggest you should focus on your case before you meddle in this.”

Xie Changfu lowered his head, trembling, but he kept silent the whole time, hmm, somebody had married a shrew.

Cao Mo smiled, “Thank you for your concern, mammy. I’ve got all the evidence now, so it’s just a matter of time before my case comes out in the wash. I am still the Young Madam in Xiao Family, I have every right to inquire you about this, aren’t I? Or do you want me to ask Moqi to bring Uncle Yonghe here?”

Hearing that, Xie Changfu slumped on the ground, he grovelled on the ground and kowtowed to Cao Mo, “Young Madam, please have mercy, don’t let my father know about this. The wine… It’s me who has drank all the wine, please punish me, my wife has nothing to do with this.”

Mammy Xie brimmed with tears, she was touched that the weak husband in her heart put himself forward and took the blame for her. She also kowtowed to Cao Mo, “No, Young Madam, it’s me, I will patch up the losses on the account book. Please don’t let my father-in-law know about this.”

Cao Mo sneered, “Easier said than done, you and your husband earn three tales per month, am I right? How are you going to patch up? Starve yourselves to death?”

Moqi thumped his head on the ground and begged Cao Mo, “Young Madam, please give the wrongdoer a way out! They are my parents, I cannot… I cannot…”

Cao Mo had always deemed Moqi as a good boy, seeing tears coursing down on Moqi’s face, Cao Mo’s heart softened, he picked Moqi up from the ground and said, “I’m not finished yet, what’s this utter cries of anguish about?”

“I know it’s out of the question to ask your parents to make it right immediately, but it’s okay, I’m willing to give them a second chance. Changfu, I will arrange something else for you to do, please don’t disappoint me. I’m doing this for your parents because Uncle Yonghe is my father-in-law’s most trusted servant, and I don’t want my father-in-law to know about this scandal, is that clear?”

Mammy Xie shed tears of gratitude, “Thanks you so much for the second chance, Young Madam, me and Changfu are willing to toil like beasts of burden for the rest of our lives, we will do whatever to make it right.”

“I’m glad to hear that, mammy, what you did was absolutely wrong, some punishment is needed. I will suspend your payment, but you need to work as hard as before, understood?” Cao Mo asked.

“Yes, Young Madam!” Mammy Xie nodded repeatedly.

“Great, mammy, I’m giving you and Changfu a new job in the kitchen, you two are in charge of the leftovers, Changfu can recycle the grease and mammy you can raise some pigs on the leftover food, I know it’s a hard job, but trust me, you will have more proceeds on that.”

Mammy Xie had been enjoying in affluence in the family, she frowned on “raising pigs”, but she had no choice but to say yes.

Cao Mo asked Moqi to walk his parents out after he was done with giving orders.

Xiao Yi now walked out from the inner chamber, “Mo, Mammy Xie used to hold some power in the kitchen, and now you ask her to recycle leftovers and raise pigs, she must dislike this idea.”

“You silly, I’m giving her money by asking her to raise pigs, she will thank me later.” Cao Mo winked at Xiao Yi.

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

“I know she used to hold power and stuff, but all the money she embezzled ended up in Lady Lu’s pocket, but she can make a huge profit by raising pigs by herself. You have no ideas how many leftovers per day in our general kitchen and how many pigs she can raise.” Cao Mo’s eyes sparkled as he explained.

“Mo, you know pork isn’t necessarily expensive, right?” retorted Xiao Yi.

“Haha, pigs are of extensive use besides ended up being a dish on the table, we can use the grease in so many ways, they are walking silver.” Cao Mo explained to Xiao Yi, resting his head on Xiao Yi’s shoulder.

“The porcelain bottle you gave to Third Uncle, ha, the content is made from lard oil too, I guarantee you Xie Changfu will make a fortune in no time. Don’t underestimate anything, we can also make soap out of lard oil, so many by-products we can play with.” Cao Mo’s voice got lower and lower, he fell asleep on Xiao Yi’s shoulder.

Xiao Yi gasped in astonishment, he couldn’t believe the little treasure they had been using was made from lard oil.