Spring Mansion Intrigue 025 Making Enemies

  "Lu said to let me choose a clever and small one from the village, and want Xiao Gouzi to follow him." Seeing that Shen Huan and others seemed not to recognize, he quickly added, "It's the child who helped Xī Jiě (West Girl) suck out the poison when she was bitten by a venomous snake while playing in the village last year. He is 13 years old this year, very clever, and also an orphan."

  "Wow!" exclaimed Chen Huan, "His name is Little Doggy, I should thank him properly."

  Qin Yu said, "Mother has already rewarded him with 2 taels of silver. That child is indeed very clever, if he hadn't reacted quickly and cut off the snake's head with a hoe at that time, who knows what terrible consequences there would have been."

  "He is outside right now. Shall we let him come in and pay his respects to you masters?"

  "Kneel down and thank him properly." Shen Huan shouted. "Qian Yu, hurry up and let the little dog in."

  Qian Yu lightly groaned and turned around to lift the curtain, "Little dog, hurry up and come in."

  The little dog almost bounced in, and as soon as it entered, it knelt down on one knee, calling out crisply, "Little Dog greets the three masters."

  Chen Huan reached out and pulled him, "A man has gold under his knees, he kneels to heaven and earth above, and to his parents below, don't be so quick to kneel."

  Jian Chen was so delighted that he nodded vigorously and stood up, bowing again at them.

  "Hey, I'm telling you, little dog, you're my lifesaver. If you bow again, I'll have to bow back at you." Shen Huan pouted.

  The little dog scratched his head with embarrassment, blushing and smiling, "Fourth sister wants to tease me."

  "Little dog, are you willing to go to the silk shop?" Qin Yu saw that he was clever and also very fond of him.

  The little dog's head nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "Willing, willing, willing, too willing."

  "That's good, follow Zheng Yu and learn well."

  "Alright, alright, don't worry, young master."

  Chen smiled and said, "Since we're being serious partners now, big brother will give little dog a grand name."

  Qin Yu thought for a moment, "It's spring now, let's call it Chun Lei."

  "Wah, I'm called Chun Lei now, what a loud name, thank you young master." Chun Lei went down with a thud and solemnly knocked his head on the ground.

  He smiled and pulled him, "Here we go again, another knock on the head for silver."

  Chun Lei scratched his head, "I can go to the silk store, even if I don't get paid for a month."

  "Nonsense! If you don't get paid, what will you eat and drink? At least 200 yuan a month."

  Chun Lei heard Shen Huan's words and widened her eyes.

  Chen Huan tilted his head to look at Qin Yu, "Brother, didn't you say that Brother Zhou's store manager gets 500 coins a month, and his assistant gets 200, right?"

  Qin Yu's mouth opened slightly, did he say something? When did he say it? How come he didn't know?

  In front of so many people, he immediately patted Zhou Zhengyu's shoulder with a loud slap, "Yes, if it's done well, I'll give you a big red envelope at the end of the year."

  Zhou Zhengyu and Chun Lei's eyes lit up instantly, this was more than twice the money they made working on the farm for a month.

  Chen Huan raised an eyebrow, not bad, brother is quite good at climbing the pole, and the year-end red envelopes are all out.

  "Brother." A soft and timid voice came from the doorway.

  Chen Huan hastily ran to the door and pulled in Zhou Ziling, who was a bit shy, "Come in quickly."

  Zhou Zhengyu saw his sister, his eyes reddened, and he affectionately stroked her head. "Zi Ling must take good care of the young ladies, don't be naughty."

  Qin Wan said softly, "Zi Ling will follow Xiao An more often in the future and run around outside, so she can see her brother more often."

  Zhou Zhengyu was overjoyed upon hearing this, "Thank you, big sister."

  Chen Huan looked at Zhou Zhengyu's eyes and knew the position of Zi Ling in his heart.

  To capture people's hearts, you must grasp their needs, and she was very clear about this.

  "Yan Cui, I have a piece of green silk ribbon and light yellow fine gauze fabric here. Let's make a new jacket and skirt for Zi Ling. At the Qin Manor, we can't let our clothes be inferior to theirs."

  Zi Liang held up the most beautiful satin and soft cotton she had ever seen, didn't know what to say, her eyes were red, excited to tears.

  Zhou Zhengyu was filled with gratitude, suddenly pulled Zi Ling down to her knees and knocked her head heavily on the ground.

  This time, Chen Huan didn't pull them up. The people she wanted to use always needed to understand the rules and obey willingly.

  On the other hand, Qian Lü's wife received something from Yun Shang and was quite perplexed. When she asked Yun Shang about it, Yun Shang couldn't explain either, only saying that Young Master and Fourth Miss brought it back after going out, and that she should understand.

  Qian Yun returned home for dinner and saw his wife staring blankly at two pieces of cloth. He walked over to her, "What's wrong?"

  His daughter-in-law frowned and said, "The fabric must be problematic, but what does Zhang Fang's children mean?"

  "What's wrong with the fabric?" Qian Ling asked strangely.

  She pointed to a white piece, "This is the pure cotton fabric commonly used in our mansion. As spring has just passed, we will soon prepare for new thin quilts for summer, so I ordered thirty pieces of thin cotton fabric to be used as lining for the masters of each house."

  Qian Ling picked up the yellowish piece and took a look, "This fabric is obviously made of moldy cotton thread."

  "Right, if the fabric has been replaced with a different material, I can tell at a glance that it's inferior."

  "Let's talk about it tomorrow when the fabric arrives, you check the goods carefully, just don't let the inferior fabric be hidden among the good ones." Qian Ling stretched his waist, "I'm too tired these past few days, the mourning is finally over. Luckily San Ye has returned, Lao Ye hasn't been willing to leave the house for the past few days, chatting with San Ye about important matters all day, I can take it easy for two days."

  His daughter-in-law put away the cloth and said softly, "I'll go prepare some hot water for you to take a bath, have a good rest."

  Qian nodded his head, "Good."

  Qian's daughter-in-law walked to the door, suddenly stopped in her tracks, with a look of displeasure on her face. "You say it's infuriating or not infuriating, but today Lü Dao's family actually took that tattered old dress to the tailor's shop and pointed fingers at me, saying I chose poor fabric, and the undergarment I made for the mistress fell apart after one wash. That dress was clearly torn to shreds, where did it get washed to shreds?"

  Qian Ling sneered, "Lv Dao thinks that with his wife backing him up, he can be lawless in the Qin Mansion. One day, he will fall flat on his face."

  His daughter-in-law said angrily, "I've been in charge of Yan's wife's clothes and jewelry for a long time, and I've been doing the housekeeping for almost ten years. I can tell good from bad at a glance. You're bullying people right to their faces!"

  "Don't be on familiar terms with her, Madam wants to replace you, but it depends on Master's mood, doesn't it? When my mother was alive, Master treated her like his own mother. I've been following Master for decades, what is Lü Dao worth? A poor relative." Qian Long hummed, "Alright, don't bother with this kind of person, go quickly, I'm exhausted."

  Qian Ling's wife's expression eased a bit.

  Two days passed.

  Lu Zhuangui took Zhou Zhengyu and Chun Lei to the silk shop, using his usual method to scare the two apprentices, and then revealed the fact that Qin Zhongju had asked them not to keep accounts of their transactions. The apprentices were also cunning, in order to divide the spoils evenly, they secretly kept an account for themselves, which happened to record the money they had privately divided over the past two years very clearly. After careful calculation, it turned out that hundreds of taels had been embezzled over the past two years.

  Qin Yu placed the heavy account book in front of Qin Gongxun, "Sir, Mother's silk shop hasn't been handed over to us for two years, but the income from the shop should also be included in the family's accounts. By doing so, he not only doesn't put you in his eyes, but also embezzles public property!"

  Qin Gongxun's face turned iron-green with rage, pointing at the account book and staring at Qin Zhongju, "How do you explain this?!"