I m the Farmgirl You Can t Mess With - Chapter 1395: Side Story: Fan Zijin (11)
Chapter 1395: Side Story: Fan Zijin (11)
Editor: Atlas Studios
When Xia Tong returned home, she saw Fan Siwen reviewing Fan Zixiao’s homework as if nothing had happened. Her heart suddenly turned cold. She glanced coldly at the father and son before turning around and returning to the house.
Fan Siwen felt a little uncomfortable. He had been waiting for Xia Tong to argue with him and was even prepared to be beaten up. However, seeing her so calm, he felt inexplicably uneasy.
After some thought, Fan Siwen asked Fan Zixiao to leave and went to look for Xia Tong himself.
However, the main courtyard was already closed. The maidservant guarding the door said to him through the door, “Master, Madam said that she’s not feeling well. Why don’t you go to Madam Liu’s place to rest tonight?”
Fan Siwen’s face turned green and red. This was the first time Xia Tong had turned him away. He was so angry that he flicked his sleeves and left, but he still didn’t go to Madam Liu’s place. Instead, he went to the study.
After thinking for a long time, Fan Siwen finally called the butler over and said, “Get someone to chase after Young Master as soon as the city gate opens tomorrow. They’re most likely going to the military camp to look for the two great-uncles of the Zhu family. Otherwise, he must have gone to look for Young Master Haoran. Split up and give chase in these two directions.”
Fan Siwen felt that he had done enough to appease Xia Tong, so he pulled the blanket over and fell asleep.
However, Xia Tong did not sleep the entire night. As soon as the curfew ended, she got someone to wait at the city gate and split up to chase after her son.
However, Fan Zijin was not a fool. They had already wasted a day yesterday and they were moving at a slow pace. If this continued, they would definitely be caught up. Hence, he decided to take the byway.
Hence, not only did they avoid the two groups of people who came after them, but they also avoided the Wu family’s pursuit.
The two of them, who were on the road, did not know how lucky they were. At first, Madam Wu did not take Qi Haoran’s departure to heart.
Although Qi Xiuyuan’s marriage with the Wu family had to be postponed, she and Qi Feng were equally confident that Qi Haoran would ultimately come back because he couldn’t stand the hardships outside. They could just hold the wedding banquet then.
Having been on the run before, she knew how difficult it was outside. She also knew that it was very difficult for two young teen boys to live comfortably without enough money. Furthermore, how could two youths who had been pampered since they were young withstand that kind of hardship?
Considering the north was too far from the capital, and there were refugees and robbers on the way, Qi Haoran was bound to give up and come home one day.
Madam Wu was very confident.
Therefore, she did not express any opinions on this matter, and simply lived her life as usual.
What later led her to want to have them killed was when the shop sent over this quarter’s profits. As usual, she proceeded to tightly lock up the amount that she siphoned.
However, she realized that her key could not open the lock!
After trying a few times, Madam Wu frowned tightly. Thinking that the lock or key was faulty, she asked someone to pick the lock and planned to change it.
As this wardrobe was filled with fabrics and clothes that weren’t often worn, she rarely opened, perhaps only a few times a year. Every time she opened it, it was when she wanted to retrieve or lock up money. She personally kept the key to the wardrobe, and even her closest servant girl did not know that this was where she kept the money.
Therefore, one could imagine how shocked and furious Madam Wu was when she saw the empty box.
That was more than 50,000 taels of silver, the wealth that she had accumulated for 12 years!
That’s right. Qi Haoran thought that this was the Qi Residence’s money, but it was actually Madam Wu’s private savings.
When Madam Wu was taken in by Qi Feng, she was a Noble Concubine. She only had two boxes of dowry, which contained some clothes and fabric. There was not even a hundred taels of silver at the bottom.
At that time, the Wu family had fled south with the Imperial Court and lost a lot of wealth on the way. It cost a lot to buy a new house in the capital, where land was extremely expensive. This was also the reason why the Wu family was willing to let Qi Feng take their legitimate daughter in as a Noble Concubine.
It could be said that when Madam Wu married into the Qi family, she did not have much dowry. However, ever since Zhu Wan died, Madam Wu had taken control of the Qi family. Every year, Qi Feng’s summer cooling stipends and winter heating allowances would pass through her hands. Every time, she would keep a little and embezzle some of the family treasury’s money. After diligently doing this for 12 years, she’d saved more than 50,000 taels.
However, this money disappeared right under her nose. Madam Wu fainted from anger.
When the servant girl outside heard the commotion, she called out a few times. When she pushed the door open and entered, she saw Madam Wu unconscious on the ground. Panicking, she hurriedly called for a doctor.
The moment Madam Wu woke up and saw Qi Feng, her grievances made her burst into tears.
Qi Feng’s heart ached as he asked, “What’s wrong with you? The doctor said that you fainted from anger. Who made you angry?”
Madam Wu opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything.
Qi Feng knew everything that she had brought into the family back then. Although the Wu family had become much richer in the past few years and had descendants who had become officials, it was impossible for them to give her so much money. If she told Qi Feng that the missing amount was so much, he would know straight away that she had embezzled the family treasury’s funds.
She could only wipe her tears and find an excuse. “I heard some gossip outside that Haoran was forced to run away from home because I, the stepmother, abused him. I felt aggrieved and couldn’t think straight, so…”
Frowning, Qi Feng held her hand tightly. “Who’s so gossipy?”
“It’s just a private discussion among the madams outside who don’t know what’s going on. Coincidentally, I overheard it.”
“Don’t interact with such people in the future. I know that in order to avoid suspicion, you’ve never interfered in the brothers’ matters. It’s fine as long as I know in my heart that you’re a good person.”
Madam Wu nodded slowly and leaned on his shoulder. “I know, but I can’t calm down when I hear others talk about me like that.”
Qi Feng patted her shoulder comfortingly. He naturally knew about the rumors outside. Since others even gossip about him in private, let alone Madam Wu.
Madam Wu managed to muddle through this matter, but she had to get back the money she had lost. She knew that she could not investigate this matter openly, so she sent the wet nurse and her waiting maid to secretly investigate.
However, after investigating for half a day, there was no news at all.
Nanny Wu whispered to Madam Wu, “Madam, it’s impossible for a servant girl to have stolen so much money. They don’t have the guts either. There’s only one person in this family who dares to do such a thing.”
Madam Wu’s expression changed slightly. “But he hasn’t even been to my courtyard, let alone approached my room. How could he have stolen it?”
After some pondering, Nanny Wu said, “After all, Madam Zhu has been managing the household for many years. She might have planted some of her people among them. Perhaps those people were instructed to do it. Madam, they must be certain that you won’t dare to make a fuss.”
Madam Wu gritted her teeth and tugged at her handkerchief. “Nanny, bring someone to search his courtyard personally and see if there’s anything.”
Nanny Wu agreed and used the excuse of tidying up Fourth Young Master’s room to search. Needless to say, she found the deformed lock under the bed. Also, there was a wardrobe in Qi Haoran’s room that was missing a lock.
As Madam Wu looked at the two locks in front of her, her face alternated between green and red. After a while, she said in a hoarse voice, “Go and get the keys to Fourth Young Master’s wardrobe.”
As Qi Haoran usually did not stay in the Qi Residence for long, he did not have many things here. Hence, the servants had backups of the various keys in his house. This was so that they could retrieve whatever he asked them to get without asking for the keys.
With Madam Wu using her power to suppress the servants and coupled with the fact that there were only a few clothes in the wardrobe, Qi Haoran’s servants only hesitated for a moment before handing over the key.
When Madam Wu used the key to open the lock in her wardrobe, what else did she not understand?
Qi Haoran had stolen her money and even changed the lock to his.
Madam Wu gritted her teeth in hatred and said coldly, “In that case, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
