Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

61. Three Years

Translator: Sissy That Walk

“You two, tell me what happened in full detail!” Dowager Xiao brought Xiao Yugui and Xiao Yuzhen to the room.

“Mother, I don’t know what has possessed my Third Brother, he charged in my yard and started to punch me, he has always been a spoiled child!” Xiao Yugui was aflame with indignation.

Xiao Yuzhen didn’t spare Xiao Yugui a look, he looked sideways and said, “Mother, your good son and daughter-in-law have basically embezzled everything in Curio and Treasure Department, and no one has an inkling of this till Mo makes an inventory just now! Heng will be the scapegoat if not for Mo’s quick action, mother, shall we pay a visit to the Curio and Treasure Department now?”

Dowager Xiao was shocked, she was pretty confident Lady Lu wouldn’t be that heaven-daring.

Xiao Yuzhen dragged Xiao Yugui and Dowager Xiao to the Curio and Treasure Department.

Cao Mo and the experienced now had done the calculation, they said the defalcation was about two hundred thousand taels of silver.

Xiao Yugui ordered Xie Yonghe to chase Mingzhu and bring her back, while Mammy Qin brought Lady Lu here for further inquiry. With that Xiao Yugui asked everyone to leave.

Xiao Yi caught Cao Mo’s sleeve, “Father asked us to leave. Let’s wait outside,, they will ask us once they have reached a conclusion.”

Cao Mo was disappointed that he had to miss such a good show, he was dying to see what Xiao Yugui would do.

Cao Mo followed Xiao Yi and waited in a room nearby, and Mohua served them tea once they were seated.

“Yi, why the long face?” Cao Mo pinched Xiao Yi’s cheek.

“I’m thinking about the gifts exchange for Spring Festival with other noble families, we don’t have anything presentable at the moment! To make it worse, I’m at a loss about Lady Lu’s maiden family, should we give them presents or not?” Xiao Yi frowned.

“Yi, there are a lot of seniors in this family, they will come up with a good solution.” Cao Mo comforted Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi nodded, and the next second they saw Xie Yonghe walked in the gate with Mingzhu.

Xie Yonghe brought Mingzhu in the room to meet the elders, however, a corpse which was dripping blood was carried out after a little while.

Cao Mo trembled and accidentally dropped his tea cup.

Xiao Yi cuddled Cao Mo and whispered at his ear, “There there, it’s all right, I should have covered your eyes. Don’t be afraid, I’m right here with you.”

Cao Mo’s voice quavered, “Yi, if I haven’t found this out in time, I will be the one who is beaten to death, right?”

“No! No way! Not over my dead body first!” Xiao Yi squeezed Cao Mo’s hand, “Mingzhu is guilty indeed, even death would not expiate all her crimes.”

“But she is just a maid who takes orders from her master!” Cao Mo replied, his heart was bleeding, it baffled him why Mingzhu was beaten to death while her master Lady Lu who was behind the scene was fine!

Xiao Yi knew what Cao Mo was thinking, he explained, “Lady Lu must have shifted all the responsibility to Mingzhu, and father had to play dumb for courtesy’s sake, it’s the only way to save face, for both Xiao and Lu families. No wonder Lady Lu has been coveting my mother’s dowry, she has embezzled so much money and she is looking for a way out.”

“Yi, I don’t understand, how come she has embezzled such an enormous figure? Ten thousand taels of silver would cover the expenditure of the whole manor, right?” Cao Mo asked.

“You are right, but we’ve encountered two major undertakings this year, one is our wedding, that’s about ten thousand taels of silver, the other is Imperial Censor Li’s impeachment, that’s about five thousand taels. I did some maths, the total expenditure of this year is about sixty thousand taels.” Xiao Yi sighed.

Cao Mo was petrified, “Sixty thousand taels? My monthly allowance is ten taels, oh my! Yi, will they ask us for money?”

Xiao Yi shook his head, then he nodded, “They will ask us to return at least half of it.”

Cao Mo gnashed his teeth, “And they will ask you to return with your mother’s dowry?”

Xiao Yi took a deep breath, “It’s either us or Third Uncle, or both of us, all I know is father won’t compromise.”

Xie Yonghe came to them while Cao Mo was still in shock, “Young Master, Young Madam please come in.”

Cao Mo pouted, ‘Poor us, always the scapegoats.’

… …

Dowager Xiao was seated in the center, she reached her hands to Cao Mo when she saw they walking in, “Yi, my good boy, come sit with me.”

‘Fake!’ Cao Mo murmured and Xiao Yi squeezed his hand hard.

“Thank you grandmother.” Cao Mo was loud in his thanks and sat next to Dowager Xiao.

Xiao Yugui looked at Cao Mo and said, “Mo, you’ve done a good job, great resolution! You keep managing the house, you can turn to your Third Aunt if anything happens, you will learn a lot from him.”

“What should I do with the account books? There are so many accounts don’t tally!” Cao Mo countered. He knew Xiao Yugui was trying to get this over with, but Cao Mo refused to be treated as a fool.

“Mo, now you are managing the house, of course it’s your responsibility to solve this. Don’t let us down!” Xiao Yugui was furious.

“Father, Mo is young and inexperienced, I’m afraid he will let you down this time.” Xiao Yi chimed in.

“Yi, it’s not proper to defend your wife in front of all your elders.” Xiao Yugui gnashed his teeth.

Cao Mo knew Xiao Yugui had coveted Xiao Yi’s mother’s dowry for a long time, no way would he let go of such a great opportunity.

Cao Mo stood up and said, “I can solve this problem, but I have a requirement, no one can interfere in the way I manage the house, all right? Otherwise I will hand in the account books and keys to whoever is interfering!”

Dowager Xiao sneered, “Mo, are you saying that to me?”

Cao Mo smiled, “Grandmother, how dare I! It’s just His Lordship asks me to manage the house, naturally I will do whatever to accomplish this task and I will get confused if someone keeps meddling. Let’s make it clear, two hundred taels of defalcation, I will solve it within three years on the condition of no one meddling!”

Xiao Yi added, “If Mo cannot make it by himself, I will solve it using my mother’s dowry.”

Cao Mo cast Xiao Yi a grateful look.

Xiao Yugui was thrilled but he kept up a show of anger, “Great! No one dares say anything to you about the way you manage the house, you have my word!”

“That’s the deal, don’t judge me or try to interfere!”

Xiao Yugui showed a cold smile, “Consider it done, all I want is defalcation will be gone in three years.”

“I need a some sort of token!” Cao Mo looked at Xiao Yugui in the eye.

Xiao Yugui shouted, “Yonghe, go grab me father’s sword!”

Xie Yonghe produced a sword from the box hidden in the Curio and Treasure Department, it was such a magnificent sword! The scabbard was made from sharkskin and the handle was made from sandalwood and was ornamented with a green gem.