The door is open.

  Two slender maidservants walked in. One was Bai He, whom An Shun's wife knew, and the other was a complete stranger.

  An Shun's daughter-in-law thought to herself, could it be that Mo Fei was the one who had been slapped by Madame?

  Although this door had to be opened, An Shun's daughter-in-law was in charge of the warehouse and was above the first-class maidservant, so she didn't have to get up to greet her, and could even put on a cold face.

  "Was that you who just spoke?" The wife of Anshun, who was in charge of the warehouse, raised her chin and looked down on the face that was not very clear, which was actually quite ordinary and dusty.

  "Mozhi, this is the warehouse manager's wife, we call her Aunt An." Baihe whispered.

  The female manager of the inner house, in terms of occupation, is equivalent to the male manager of the outer house. She is in charge of the shop and business, and is responsible for handling practical matters on behalf of the women, often having a certain degree of power within the inner house.

  "I know Bai He, but who are you?" An Shun's wife felt a little guilty in her heart because of Mo Zi's words, but she remained tough on the surface.

  "My name is Mozi..." Before Mozi could finish speaking, Anshun's wife burst out laughing.

  "Oh? I see, it's that Mozi who got slapped by the mistress." As soon as Anshun's daughter-in-law finished speaking, the little maids couldn't help but giggle. "What, didn't it hurt enough for you to want to provoke the mistress into slapping you a few more times?"

  Bai He frowned. Although she had only come a few times, she had never seen Anshun's wife speak so sharply and viciously.

  Mo Zi always kept her face slightly lowered, her chin slightly tucked in, and her bangs fell to the sides of her face, blocking out the light. As a result, her mouth was straight, but no one saw the smile in her eyes.

  "What did I say that made the mistress angry? Please, Auntie An, tell me so I won't make a fool of myself again." These melon seeds have been waiting for them for quite some time.

  An Shun's daughter-in-law saw Mo Zi and wasn't surprised by her appearance, thinking she was easy to bully. So she maliciously said, "What kind of nonsense is this 'public' and 'private'? I've never heard such a thing. Whatever is in the warehouse belongs to the Qiu family. As long as it's the Qiu family's, it belongs to the master and mistress. Unless the master and mistress say it's a reward, otherwise taking it out means you have to bring it back. Today, the mistress and grandmother said to seal the warehouse for inspection, so we naturally have to follow orders. Otherwise, I'm soft-eared, things are called yours but not really yours, and your family's daughter can't even give me my monthly allowance. Do you think your family's daughter can persuade the mistress to spare me?"

  "The rules for girls at that time didn't count things borrowed from other rooms." Bai He also knew.

  "You also said that was the rule back then. Nowadays, Third Sister is not in charge of the keys either, and the rules she set were abolished by the mistress, who still uses the old master's rules. We, as servants, listen to whoever holds the keys." Anshun's wife hummed twice.

  Mozhi thought, what a lively dog relying on human power! Why not just say that it only recognizes meat bones and not people?

  "When you first took charge of the storehouse, the rules were changed. Are the rules set by our ancestors also changed?" She said calmly.

  When Mozi followed San Niang into the mansion, she organized the account books of the warehouse that had been kept for generations. A large box recorded the daily income and expenses, as well as the total ledger after clearing up. Because she wanted to understand her surroundings, she carefully flipped through several volumes. In the warehouse of Old Master Qiu at that time, there were really many good things. Nowadays, even a few dozen taels of gold hairpins are treasured and put in boxes.

  "It was your daughter-in-law who changed the rules. The mistress only used the old rules again after she took over." Anshun's wife did not realize that she had already fallen into the trap.

  "In that case, it's settled." Mozi stopped talking nonsense and pulled out a note from his sleeve. "This is what the young lady instructed us to retrieve. Please hand it over to us, Aunt An."

  Anshun's daughter-in-law heard this and couldn't help but jump up, "It's really a pig-headed fool, I've told you that your family's rules don't work for your daughter."

  "I didn't ask you to follow the rules of a young lady, but rather those of a married woman. You said that the rules of a married woman are the same as Master's rules back then, so listen carefully. On the 15th day of the first month in the 16th year of Da Zhou Xuanming, when Third Sister was ten years old, the keys to the front and back warehouses were managed by Master. That day, the warehouse was sealed and inspected. Madame ordered An Mama to take away a pair of jade Ruyi, three famous paintings, and four pairs of porcelain. If you don't believe me, you can go check the account book, it's in one of the top few books in the box."

  Anshun's daughter-in-law opened and closed her mouth, finally calling a servant girl to bring the account book of 16 years ago. She really wanted to check it out, no matter what she didn't believe that a silly girl could remember such things. If she said something wrong, without waiting for the mistress, she would give the girl an ear slap first.

  The book was brought over, she opened the first page, and her face turned white. Mozi surprisingly said not a single word wrong, and there were notes on the management, clearly stating that private items stored in each room were not included in the general inspection, nor were they subject to warehouse restrictions.

  After watching, Anshun's daughter-in-law couldn't stand it anymore and sat down with a thud. What can be done about this? If she doesn't let her take it, she'll slap herself in the face. If she lets her take it, her errand will definitely be withdrawn by the mistress.

  "If Aunt An can't spare anyone, find a little girl to follow us, and we'll go get it ourselves." Mozi slightly lowered her eyes and head, as if the person in front of her was being lifted to an extremely high position.

  The white lotus beside her saw a completely different scene, that was Anshun's daughter-in-law, like a bereaved dog, tucking in her tail and slinking away.

  "Bring it here and let me take a look." A voice said from behind Mozi and Baihe.

  Anshun's daughter-in-law, who had been pale and defeated in spirit, suddenly vanished into thin air. Not only did she stand up straight, but she also walked quickly, her tone was respectful, yet the two consecutive "four nannies" and the trembling hand that handed over the book revealed her tension.

  The white lotus has escaped with half its body.

  Deep purple is more elegant.

  "It's indeed the way to do it." Jiang Suxin handed the book back to Anshun's wife and exempted Baihe and Muzi from their courtesy, "Since that's the case, Anshun's wife, hurry up and get everything San Niang wants to take."

  "Fourth Granny, but wife——" was going to give Third Sister-in-law a show of color.

  "Madam, just give her this book and that's it. After all, she can't blame you." Jiang Suxin actually wanted to clear himself.

  Anshun's daughter-in-law is so shameless. Let her take this book to the mistress, isn't this asking for a beating? She would rather offend Third Miss than offend the mistress who holds her contract of sale.

  "If you hadn't been lazy every day, how would you not even know these things and need others to remind you?" Jiang Suxin was very dissatisfied with Anshun's wife. "Alright, stop crying and looking so pitiful, it's suffocating me. I'll take care of explaining things to the mistress myself. However, although you managed to escape a beating this time, I'm still going to deduct two months' worth of your salary. If you're willing to obey, then just keep what happened earlier to yourself and let me talk to the mistress about it. Whatever I say is true. If you're not willing, then go talk to the mistress yourself, I really don't care."

  "Fourth Granny, I'm willing to accept the punishment." The family didn't even use her monthly allowance for dinner. Losing that bit of silver was worth it to keep a good relationship; not agreeing would be foolish.

  Anshun's daughter-in-law thudded to the ground and kowtowed heavily to Jiang Suxin, then quickly led the little maids to fetch their luggage.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  The Mid-Autumn Festival is over, but the moon is still round, and I still want tickets.