He only lets her manage the household because of his reputation. If Mrs. Xie were to be stripped of her authority, he would also lose face. Whatever he does, he always considers the reputation of the Xie family first!

  Fortunately, she didn't have high hopes for these things. As long as her status had risen, she was satisfied with this life. However, she could tolerate Xie Qigong's private rebukes, even if he wanted to take away her power over the warehouse, but she couldn't accept his neglect of Xie Hong!

  "Master, although Hong'er is not your biological son, he has treated you with more kindness than his own father for so many years! Every year, the accounts from outside were all collected by him running back and forth for you. Every time he went out, he would never forget to bring something back for you. Master, whenever you had any discomfort, he was more anxious than anyone else! In these years when Er'er and the others were not around, it was he and Rong'er who served you tea and medicine, have you forgotten all this?"

  "Hong's room is crowded with people, and he doesn't have any assets in his hands. I had no choice but to help him out a bit because of the circumstances. Now if you don't take care of Hong's marriage, what will they do? For so many years, Hong has been busy in the mansion without having his own way, and it's not possible for him to come up with so much money all at once!"

  Xie Qigong's face sank and he didn't speak, his anger was evident even from his back.

  "Master, Aunt Deng has arrived."

  Pang Fu rushed inside the gate and reported.

  Xie Qigong suddenly said: "Not seen!"

  Pang Fugong hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Aunt Deng said she had come about something concerning the master and insisted on seeing him."

  Wang raised her head abruptly, Aunt Deng had not participated in the affairs of the mansion for many years. Let alone interfere with her business, suddenly appearing now. She couldn't help but lift her heart a little higher.

  Xie Qigong also felt a little surprised at Deng Yiniang's actions, as he had always adhered to the rules of not bullying the legitimate wife and forbidding concubines from interfering with household affairs. Normally, he wouldn't have paid attention to it, but since he was currently resentful towards Wang Shi and wanted her to be more obedient in the future, he said: "Let her come in!"

  Aunt Deng still wore a stone-blue wide-sleeved dress, with a black velvet band around her forehead, if not looking at her pretty face and fair skin, she was just an old lady.

  She came in, first glanced at Xie Qigong, silently kowtowed, then knelt beside Wang's body, looking down and said: "The concubine begs the master to spare their lives."

  As soon as these words came out, Wang's family almost fell to the ground!

  Xie Qigong was also startled and stopped stroking his beard, staring at her motionlessly.

  "What did you say?"

  "The maidservant begged the old master, considering that Madame Xie had worked hard for the Xie family for so many years, to spare the lives of the masters."

  Her voice was still gentle and weak, but her tone was very firm, as if saying this sentence was an unavoidable responsibility for her as a concubine.

  Wang's eyes widened, her lips parted, but she didn't know what to say.

  She and Deng Yiniang have not had any direct conflicts over the years. It can also be said that from the beginning, Deng Yiniang has never had the ability to compete with her. However, no matter what, the person who came to plead for Xie Hong should not be her!

  Xie Qigong looked at Deng Yiniang for a while, then sat down in the rattan chair and said, "Why did you come to plead?" But his tone was much calmer.

  Deng Ayi raised her head and said, "I don't want to say much, I don't have any other thoughts. It's just that I remember Master often told us that no matter what happens within the Xie family, we must present a united front outside. No one can drag down the Xie family or bring shame to our doorstep. Only when the Xie family has a good reputation and Third Master's career is smooth can we truly be considered a noble and aristocratic family.

  So the concubine thought that if the master took back the silver given to Huage for his marriage, even if the eldest son borrowed money from outside, this matter in the mansion would still be spread out.

  "Needless to say, others will only say that the old master is unfair. The big brother has been filial for 30 years in front of the old master, but in the end, he only got the title of eldest son. For the old master, isn't this very disadvantageous? In the end, the big brother is still a young master of the mansion, but when it comes to the status of the Xie family, they have to go out and borrow money, which doesn't sound good."

  As she spoke, a bright light gradually appeared in Wang's eyes, and he looked at Xie Qigong with hope.

  Xie Qigong's expression also relaxed a bit, and after thinking for a moment with his eyes downcast, he said: "You mean I can still punish him?"

  Deng Yiniang said, "For the sake of the Xie family's reputation and for Third Master, it can't be punished like this. Even if we don't mention Eldest Master's filial piety to Old Master, just thinking about Madame, in these thirty years, Madame has managed the household chores so neatly and orderly, who wouldn't obey? Who wouldn't listen? If Old Master wants to punish, he must think of a foolproof method, which can neither make Madame, who has taken care of the household for so many years, feel disheartened, nor wrong Eldest Master."

  Xie Qigong grunted and looked at Wang Shi.

  Wang lowered his head and remained silent.

  The room fell silent for a moment, and Xie Qigong stood up, took two steps to the center, and said: "What you said makes some sense. Since that's the case, these three thousand taels of silver don't have to be paid for now. However, I won't let him off scot-free; he'll be exempt from half a year's worth of chores in the main house. As for returning the silver, we'll see how he behaves later."

  There were so many people in the long house, and even if they were exempt from half a year's rent, it would be enough to make Xie Hong's head big. However, no matter how you put it, compared to letting him hand over the remaining three thousand two silver coins within three days, it was already considered lenient.

  Wang's heart sank to the ground, and he hastily said: "Thank you, sir!"

  Aunt Deng helped her up, she looked at her and then turned to Xie Qigong. In fact, I wanted to ask about the silver for Xie Tong's and Xie Qi's wedding, but seeing his dark face, his lips opened and closed again.

  It's already a blessing to have passed this hurdle, as for these things, I can only take it as it comes.

  Xie Qigong finished drinking the tea in his cup and walked out.

  Wang pulled Deng's hand and said in a warm voice: "Thanks to you for helping me out today. I will remember your kindness."

  Deng Yiniang lowered her head and stood up: "To help the mistress share worries and difficulties is a matter of course for a servant. The servant does not dare to expect repayment from the mistress."

  Wang smiled and let her go back.

  Deng's aunt had just walked out of the door when Xie Hong followed closely behind her.

  "Mother, today's trouble was all caused by that girl Wan. She actually dared to force you into such a difficult situation, are you just going to let her off like this?"

  Wang sprang up from the ground. A slap landed on his face: "Shut your mouth!"

  Xie Hong was stunned and stared blankly at her, covering his face.

  Mr. Wang had never hit this son before, and only after he did it did he realize that he had taken action, and suddenly he also fell back into the chair and supported his forehead.

  After a long while, she let out a sigh and sat up straight, saying: "You're telling me all this too late."

  "Even if she had a falling out with me and our conflict became public, didn't you see? When she exposed us, every sentence was about clearing the name of Wei's family. Master won't do anything to her. - It's actually Qi's sister. Go prepare, let her go live in Yuan Yue An for a while. She did this, Xie Zhuang won't forgive her."

  Xie Hong was stunned on the ground and didn't know what to say anymore.

  In the courtyard of the Windy Pavilion, Xie Wan smiled and invited Huang Shi to sit down, letting Yu Xue serve fragrant tea.

  Huang's eyes reddened as she said, "Something like this has happened, and it's laughable. If you hadn't stepped forward to testify today, Wei Jie would have been rumored to be who-knows-what by now. I really didn't expect Qi Jie, being so young, could do something like this. It seems that my kindness towards her in the past was all for nothing, and now she's turned around and schemed against me. As they say, you can't judge a person by their appearance."

  Xie Wan softly advised: "Third Aunt doesn't have to be heartbroken, it's just an accident. I believe in Eldest Sister's character, she is absolutely not the kind of person who doesn't know the rules."

  Huang sighed. Tears rolled down again, "Don't mention this, mentioning it makes me speechless. Wei Gongzi's sister is not that kind of person who doesn't know the rules. But when she reached their age... you're still young, I won't be able to explain it clearly to you. In short, this time the tofu has fallen into the ash heap and can't be cleaned up."

  Xie Wan said: "Anyway, let's wait for San Shu to come and ask again, everything has him in charge."

  Huang nodded, wiped away her tears and stood up: "There's a lot to do at home, I won't stay long either. I just came specifically to thank you for thinking of your sister like that."

  "What did Third Aunt say?"

  Xie Wan hurriedly got up and saw her off all the way out.

  Back in the house, Yu Xue had just finished cleaning up the cups and plates. Seeing Xie Wan, she smoothed out the tablecloth while saying: "Why has Third Madame come here personally?"

  Xie Wan returned to her original seat, picked up the tea she hadn't drunk before and took a sip. She said, "Do you think Big Sister doesn't know why I intervened? We all understand each other's intentions without needing to say it out loud. It's just that I don't want to have a falling out with them, and they don't want to treat me as an enemy for now. If you really think she came to thank me, then you're greatly mistaken."

  Yu Xue walked over and said: "Although we've maintained our relationship with the third house for now, in the end, things have gone sour with Madam."

  "What's there to be afraid of?" Xie Wan didn't think much of it. "Even if this hadn't happened, we would have had a falling out with her sooner or later."

  Yu Xue nodded and said with a sigh: "Madam and Second Young Miss are also being too excessive."

  Qian Zhuang walked over with a thoughtful expression and said: "The second young lady has left the mansion, do you want me to go to Yuan Yue An for a visit?"

  Xie Wan let out a breath and said, "Forget it, anyway I didn't suffer any losses. She can't escape. This time the master will definitely not be able to avoid punishment from the old master. For now, even if we move against Xie Qi, they will only become more vigilant. Let's hold back for now, best is to catch them off guard and take down the entire Long House in one net."

  Qian Zhuang stepped down with dignity.

  Here, Yu Xue was just serving tea to her when Wu Xing suddenly rushed in: "Miss! There's news from the main courtyard that Master originally wanted to fine Big Brother three thousand taels of silver within three days and also ordered that the marriage of Third Young Master and Second Miss would no longer be taken care of by the mansion! As a result, Aunt Deng intervened and pleaded on their behalf, so Master changed his mind and instead exempted them from doing chores for half a year!"

  Xie Wan heard this and narrowed her eyes, a cup of tea paused in front of her chin, her voice rising at the end: "Deng Yiniang?"

  Wu Xing nodded hastily.

  Xie Wan's face turned gloomy. This time, borrowing Xie Qigong to re-handle Xie Hong was something she had planned out in advance. What did this Deng Yiniang want to do?

  "Isn't that letting them off easy?" Yu Xue also found it somewhat unacceptable.

  Wu Xing sighed: "No one expected such a sudden appearance of Cheng Yaojin."

  Everyone in the house is looking at Xie Wan.

  Xie Wan slowly finished drinking the remaining half cup of tea before calmly saying: "Then let's try and see."