The door opened.

Two slender-figured maids walked in. One was Bai He, whom An Shun’s wife recognized, and the other was an unfamiliar face she had never seen.

An Shun’s wife thought to herself—could this be Mo Zi, who received a slap from Madam?

Though this door had to be opened, An Shun’s wife was the storehouse steward, with status above first-rank maids. She naturally didn’t need to rise to greet them, and could even put on a stepmother’s face.

“Was it you who said those words just now?” Chin raised, An Shun’s wife, who controlled this important storehouse location, looked down on that face she couldn’t see too clearly—truly quite ordinary and grayish-looking.

“Mo Zi, this is the storehouse steward woman. We call her Auntie An.” Bai He whispered.

The inner quarters’ steward women held positions equivalent to male stewards and housekeepers in the outer quarters, or shopkeepers and managers in shops and businesses. They specifically handled practical affairs for the womenfolk and often held certain authority in the inner quarters.

“I know Bai He, but who are you?” An Shun’s wife felt somewhat shaky inside due to Mo Zi’s words, but her expression was unyielding.

“My name is Mo Zi…” Before Mo Zi could finish, An Shun’s wife laughed out loud.

“Oh? I know now—you’re that Mo Zi who got slapped by Madam, right?” As soon as An Shun’s wife finished speaking, young maids giggled. “What, it didn’t hurt enough—you want to provoke Madam to slap you two more times?”

Bai He frowned. Though she had only come a few times, she had never seen An Shun’s wife speak so meanly and harshly.

When Mo Zi didn’t want to attract attention, her face always hid downward a bit, her jaw slightly tucked in, leaving more hair on both sides to block the light. Thus though her lips were straight, no one saw the smile in her eyes.

“What exactly did I say to earn Madam’s slap? Please tell me, Auntie An, so I don’t keep being confused.” All these melon seed shells on the ground—they’d been waiting for them quite a while, hadn’t they?

Seeing Mo Zi’s unremarkable appearance and that she seemed quite easy to bully, An Shun’s wife’s courage grew from malice. “What public property, what Miss’s property—since I took over the storehouse, I’ve never heard such talk. Everything in the storehouse belongs to the Qiu family. Whatever belongs to the Qiu family belongs to the master and madam. Unless the master or madam say it’s been bestowed, anything taken out must be returned. Today Madam and Fourth Madam said to seal the storehouse for complete inventory—naturally we must follow orders and do our work. Otherwise, I’m soft-hearted, and if things are taken by you, it’s not your miss who pays my monthly wages. If I get punished by Madam, can your miss plead for me?”

“Miss’s rules at the time didn’t count items loaned to various households during inventory.” Bai He also knew this.

“You yourself said those were the rules at that time. Now that Third Miss no longer holds the keys, the set of rules she established was long ago abolished by Madam, reverting to those passed down when the master was in charge. We’re servants—whoever holds the keys, we listen to. ” An Shun’s wife snorted twice.

Mo Zi thought to herself—what a vivid display of a dog acting fierce because of its master’s power! Why not just directly say you only recognize meat bones, not people?

“When Miss initially managed the storehouse, those rules changed, but have the rules established by the ancestors also changed?” She remained calm and composed.

When Mo Zi first entered the mansion with Sanniang, she had organized the storehouse’s record books from over the years. A whole trunk of them, recording routine withdrawals and deposits, and comprehensive tallies after inventories. Because she wanted to understand her environment, she had carefully read through several volumes. In the time of Old Master Qiu, the storehouse truly had many good things. Now, even a gold hairpin worth dozens of taels was treated as treasure and stored in trunks.

“The one who changed the rules was your miss. After Madam took the keys, she just reverted to the former rules.” An Shun’s wife didn’t realize she had already fallen into a trap.

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.” Mo Zi wasted no more words and pulled a list from her sleeve. “These are the things Miss instructed me to retrieve. Please get them for us, Auntie An.”

Upon hearing this, An Shun’s wife couldn’t help jumping up. “What a pig-brained fool—I already told you your miss’s rules don’t work anymore.”

“I’m not asking you to use Miss’s rules, but to use Madam’s rules. You said Madam’s rules are the master’s rules from that time, so listen carefully. On the fifteenth day of the first month in the sixteenth year of Xuanming of the Great Zhou, when Third Miss was ten years old, the keys to both front and back storehouse were held by the master. On that day, the storehouse was sealed for complete inventory. Madam sent Mama An to retrieve a pair of jade ruyi scepters, three famous paintings, and four pairs of porcelain that were in storage.” Seeing An Shun’s wife’s mouth hanging half-open, Mo Zi added, “If you don’t believe me, you can go look at the ledger—it’s in one of the volumes at the very top of the trunk.”

An Shun’s wife’s mouth opened and closed, closed and opened. Finally she called a servant woman to fetch the ledger from the sixteenth year of Xuanming. She really wanted to check—in any case, she didn’t believe a stupid maid could remember such things. If she was wrong, she’d give the maid a slap herself without waiting for Madam.

The ledger was brought and she opened the first page—her face turned pale. Mo Zi was exactly right, and there was even a steward’s notation clearly stating that private items stored by various households weren’t counted in the complete inventory and weren’t subject to storehouse sealing restrictions.

After reading, An Shun’s wife couldn’t stand anymore and sat down with a thump. What was she to do now? If she didn’t let them take the items, she’d be slapping her own face. If she let them take the items, Madam would certainly remove her from this position.

“If Auntie An can’t spare the hands, find a young maid to follow—we can get them ourselves, it’s all the same.” Mo Zi’s slightly lowered eyes and slightly lowered head seemed to elevate the person before her to an extremely high position.

But Bai He beside her saw a completely different picture—that of An Shun’s wife like a homeless dog slinking away with her tail between her legs.

“Let me see that.” Behind Mo Zi and Bai He, someone spoke.

The defeated expression on An Shun’s wife’s face suddenly vanished like smoke. Not only did she stand straight, she also walked quickly, her tone respectful, yet her two consecutive calls of “Fourth Madam” and her trembling hand handing over the ledger revealed her nervousness.

Bai He hurriedly performed a half-curtsy.

Mo Zi was more composed.

“So this is indeed the practice.” Jiang Suxin handed the ledger back to An Shun’s wife and excused Bai He and Mo Zi from the formalities. “Since this is the case, An Shun’s wife, quickly go gather the things Third Miss wants to retrieve.”

“Fourth Madam, but Madam—” wanted to give Sanniang a hard time.

“As for Madam, take this ledger and show it to her. I imagine she won’t blame you either.” Jiang Suxin was actually going to wash her hands of it.

An Shun’s wife’s face fell. Having her take this ledger to Madam—wasn’t this delivering herself to be beaten? She’d rather offend Third Miss than offend Madam, who held her indenture contract.

“If you hadn’t been lazy usually, how could you not know these things and need others to remind you?” Jiang Suxin was very dissatisfied with An Shun’s wife. “Enough, stop that mourning face—looking at it makes my heart heavy. As for Madam, I’ll explain. However, though you’ll escape one beating, I still must fine you two months’ wages. If you accept this, then rot what just happened disgracefully in your belly and let me speak to Madam—whatever I say, you agree to. If you don’t accept it, then go tell Madam yourself—I truly won’t care anymore.”

“Fourth Madam, I’m willing to accept the punishment.” Her family didn’t depend on her monthly wages for meals. Losing that bit of silver yet keeping this lucrative position—she’d be stupid not to agree.

An Shun’s wife dropped to the ground with a thud, knocked her head heavily to Jiang Suxin, and quickly led the young maids to fetch the items.