Yu Mama quickly arrived with several prominent household managers in tow. Yuzhen followed behind them, looking dejected.
In front of everyone, Yu Mama first severely reprimanded Yuzhen, and then praised Tuo Niang. She then asked Tuo Niang and the others, “What else did she give to Daqing’s wife?”
Tuo Niang, being straightforward, recounted everything, down to the smallest details. Haitang chimed in with additional information. As they spoke, Yu Mama’s expression grew increasingly grim. By the time they finished, she was furious. She instructed a woman surnamed Huo beside her, “Go fetch Daqing’s wife.”
Huo Mama hesitated for a moment before leaving.
Daqing’s wife arrived wearing a silk summer blouse and gilded earrings, her mercenary nature evident. Sensing the atmosphere, she immediately shifted all blame onto Yuzhen. “…She said she wanted to become my sworn sister. It’s common for sworn sisters to exchange gifts, and they were just small items, so I didn’t think much of it. Who knew Yuzhen had taken them behind Fourth Miss’s back?” As she spoke, she turned to leave, saying, “I’ll return everything she gave me right away.”
“Stop right there!” Yu Mama coldly rebuked her. “The Seventh Master entrusted me with managing the inner household, which is an honor for us servants. Don’t think you can act recklessly in this mansion just because you’re my daughter-in-law…”
Dou Zhao had no interest in hearing more. She only needed to know Yu Mama’s handling of the situation to understand her attitude towards it.
Dou Zhao returned to her inner chamber, with Moli following close behind. Dou Zhao laid out rice paper to practice calligraphy while Moli ground ink nearby.
The commotion outside continued for a while before quieting down.
Tuo Niang entered with Haitang, who was still grumbling angrily. “…Yuzhen only got docked two months’ wages. According to Dou family rules, someone like her should be beaten with a board in front of everyone and expelled from the household. As for Yu’s sister-in-law, she’s been saying for a while that she doesn’t want to work for the Dou family anymore. Now that Yu Mama has relieved her of her duties and banned her from entering the mansion, it might be exactly what she wanted!”
Tuo Niang replied, “What’s the use of talking about this? We just need to take good care of Fourth Miss. In the future, you need to be more alert and not let anyone take advantage of Fourth Miss again.”
Haitang nodded repeatedly.
Dou Zhao, however, paused her writing upon hearing this.
In her previous life, she had relied on people from the countryside and the Cui family. They had followed her from Zhending to the Jining Marquis’s mansion. Those who remained by her side in the end were all loyal and astute individuals.
In this life, she had planned to use her former staff again. However, given her young age, hastily gathering these people around her might backfire. It would be better to wait two or three years; by then, if anyone found her behavior suspicious, she could easily dismiss it as being “precocious.”
She hadn’t expected much from her mother’s staff, thinking that in her previous life, Wang Yingxue was her stepmother. Cleaning up the rear courtyard, suppressing some while winning over others, was what every new wife would do. At that time, she had been young and naive, without a brother to support her. It was understandable that her mother’s staff, seeing no prospects, would eventually develop their agendas over time.
Understanding was one thing, but it didn’t mean she could forgive.
Thus, Dou Zhao had adopted a somewhat laissez-faire attitude. As long as everyone could muddle through these two or three years before her people took over, she was willing to turn a blind eye, considering it as gratitude for their service to her mother.
But now, it seemed she had been mistaken.
The Yu family were mere servants, so what right did Daqing’s wife have to declare she no longer wished to work for the Dou family?
It was nothing more than looking down on the salary from working for the Dou family after lining her own pockets while helping her mother manage household affairs.
A nameless anger ignited in her heart.
When her mother passed away, Yu Mama cried as if her heart was breaking. Dou Zhao believed in Yu Mama’s feelings for her mother, but considering Yu Mama’s handling of Yuzhen and her daughter-in-law, she also trusted her judgment.
Perhaps in her previous life, Wang Yingxue had been able to manipulate her mother’s staff precisely because she had leverage over Daqing.
Thinking of this, Dou Zhao put down her brush and instructed Tuo Niang, “Bring me the box with the peony design.”
As Tuo Niang went to fetch the box, Dou Zhao asked Moli and Haitang, “Can you tell the difference between beeswax and yellow jade?”
Both items were yellow.
Moli and Haitang were somewhat surprised. The Fourth Miss rarely spoke to them.
After a moment of silence, Moli shook her head. Haitang hesitated for a few breaths before also shaking her head.
Just as I thought! Dou Zhao frowned slightly.
With her mother’s sudden death, the inner household had fallen into disarray. These newly arrived young maids hadn’t received proper guidance, and her young age was a fatal weakness. Even if she wanted to use them, they wouldn’t be up to the task. Moreover, in this household, she trusted no one except Tuo Niang! Unfortunately, Tuo Niang had only learned to recognize a few characters after joining her service. This meant that Yuzhen, who could read and write, was the only suitable candidate to manage her quarters.
Tuo Niang returned with the box.
Dou Zhao took out a stack of gift lists stored inside.
Her experiences from her previous life had cultivated a bold yet cautious approach to handling matters. She had habitually kept all the gift lists, which now proved useful.
If the servants had ulterior motives, the most direct and effective method would be to comply outwardly while defying in secret, not recording items on the inventory, and stealing without anyone knowing.
The food, clothing, and daily necessities in her quarters all came from the public stores, with the accounts kept by Third Uncle. Her mother’s belongings were inventoried under her aunt’s supervision, with one copy of the accounts with her father, one with her aunt, and one with Yu Mama. The only things Yuzhen could tamper with were the rewards she had received in recent days.
It seemed she would have to inventory these rewards herself.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t done this kind of task in over a decade.
“You may all leave now,” Dou Zhao said to Tuo Niang and the others. “Just make sure Yuzhen doesn’t barge in.”
Tuo Niang acknowledged and went to the outer room.
Haitang, who had been following Tuo Niang along with Moli, stopped at the doorway.
“Fourth Miss, are you going to inventory the items?” she asked nervously. “My grandmother once served the Old Madam, and we have a few old items bestowed by her. My grandmother often takes them out to polish…”
Dou Zhao replied, “In that case, come and help.”
Haitang happily agreed and sat down to assist Dou Zhao with the inventory.
With just a brief explanation from Dou Zhao, Haitang quickly learned to distinguish between agate and amber.
With some more experience, she might become usable, Dou Zhao thought to herself, nodding slightly.
During this time, a servant boy from Dou Shengying’s side came to report: “The Seventh Master says he has business with the Sixth Master for the next few days, so Fourth Miss should practice calligraphy on her own.”
Dou Zhao, who didn’t want to see her father anyway, nodded and had Moli reward the servant boy with a few copper coins before continuing the inventory with Tuo Niang and the others.
By the afternoon, they discovered that a gold-plated hairpin with garnet stones symbolizing many children and blessings, and a string of agarwood prayer beads were missing.
Dou Zhao instructed Tuo Niang, “Go tell Yu Mama to retrieve these two items.”
Tuo Niang was furious, exclaiming, “Yuzhen is too bold! You can catch a thief for a thousand days, but you can’t guard against one for a thousand days. I think we should inform the Seventh Master about this…”
“That won’t be necessary,” Dou Zhao said. “Just get the items back.”
Seeing Dou Zhao’s stance, Tuo Niang had no choice but to let Yuzhen off the hook. She took the gift list and stormed off to Yu Mama’s quarters.
Dou Zhao had other plans.
The reason Yuzhen was so bold was because she thought she could take advantage of Dou Zhao’s young age, and Yu Mama was in charge of the inner household affairs.
If this matter were brought to her father’s attention, given his personality, he would at most have Yuzhen beaten and expelled. He wouldn’t think much beyond that.
It seemed all men were like this, seemingly blind to the scheming within the inner household.
She might as well handle it herself.
As Dou Zhao and Haitang were tidying up, Xuancao rushed in.
Seeing only the three of them in the room, she immediately became animated: “Let me tell you, there’s a fight going on in Qixia Courtyard!”
Dou Zhao was stunned.
Moli and Haitang eagerly asked, “What happened? Xuancao, tell us quickly!”
Xuancao loved gossip, for which Tuo Niang often scolded her. Seeing everyone looking at her expectantly, she felt quite proud and said, “Just now, Concubine Wang’s elder brother and sister-in-law came to take her away, but she refused to go. Her elder brother slapped her so hard that half her face swelled up. Then her second sister-in-law accused her elder sister-in-law of being cruel-hearted and inciting her elder brother to hit her. Concubine Wang’s elder sister-in-law got so angry that she started arguing with the second sister-in-law. Then Concubine Wang hugged Young Miss Ming and threatened to kill herself…” She clicked her tongue and continued, “It’s quite a scene over there. With the Seventh Master not at home, the Old Master had to go and mediate.”
“No way!” Moli and Haitang exclaimed in unison. “How do you know all this?”
Xuancao proudly replied, “Not just me, but also Wan’er from Madam Ding’s side and Qinghai from the Seventh Master’s side were all hiding there watching the commotion! Qinghai even got caught red-handed by the Old Master, but luckily he was quick-witted. He said the Seventh Master had instructed him before leaving to check on any disturbances in Qixia Courtyard. The Old Master was in a hurry to get to Qixia Courtyard, so Qinghai managed to slip away. The Old Master then sent him to the east mansion to find the Seventh Master.”
Dou Zhao was dumbfounded. “Concubine Wang argued with her elder brother and sister-in-law in front of the Old Master?”
Xuancao nodded repeatedly.
Dou Zhao sneered.
She had seen stupid people before, but none as stupid as Wang Yingxue.
How had she ever considered Wang Yingxue a worthy opponent in her previous life?
She instructed Xuancao, “Go back and see if there’s any more excitement.”
This was exactly what Xuancao wanted to hear. She agreed and dashed off.
The commotion didn’t die down until it was time to light the lamps.
Xuancao sighed, “…Who would have thought that someone as beautiful and gentle as Concubine Wang had suffered so much in the past.”
Moli and Haitang immediately surrounded her, and even Dou Zhao let out an interested “Oh,” eager to hear more.
Xuancao then recounted how Wang Yingxue had tearfully described her pain when the Lei family broke off their engagement, how grateful she was that her sister-in-law had married into the Wang family, how she had secretly vowed that even if she had to eat chaff and drink gruel, she would never let her sister-in-law and nephew go hungry, and how difficult it had been for her to do business outside all these years… Her words left Wang Zhibing and Gao Shi speechless.
“Her second sister-in-law is so fierce!” Xuancao said fearfully. “Not only did she speak up for Concubine Wang, but she also cursed the Seventh Master and the Old Master. She threatened to report the Seventh Master and the Old Master, saying she’d make sure the Seventh Master couldn’t continue as an official and that the Old Master would lose face… The Old Master was so angry he couldn’t speak. Concubine Wang’s second sister-in-law even sent her maid to call her brothers, saying she wanted to sue the Dou family!”
Dou Zhao burst into laughter.
Pang Yulou had always been so adorable!