The First Jasmine - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Seizing the Initiative; Madam Wang Spits Blood
"Look at the splendid mess you have made!"
With a grim countenance, the old matriarch hurled the account ledgers right at Madam Wang's feet. Madam Wang had never imagined in her wildest dreams that what was originally intended as a scheme to punish Ye Li would somehow turn completely against her through a few casual remarks from the girl. Clutching the ledgers, Madam Wang's hands trembled with increasing violence the further she flipped through the pages. In her heart, she felt a wave of profound hatred toward herself for having vastly underestimated this wench in the past. She had clearly never taught the girl anything regarding household management or the exercise of authority, yet these ledgers were so meticulously broken down that not a single trace of her manipulation could be concealed. The girl had even ferreted out the shop's secret secondary books; her methods of controlling and breaking individuals were evidently far from ordinary. "Old Matriarch... Master, this concubine..."
The old matriarch gave a cold snort and remarked, "No wonder whenever I asked you to prepare the dowries, you claimed the estate could not produce any money. It turns out all that silver was taken back to line the pockets of your maiden home?"
"Old Matriarch, this daughter-in-law is wronged! This was entirely due to the greed of the servants below; this daughter-in-law was fundamentally unaware of any of this..."
"Unaware? Unaware that your cousin served as the manager of Shende Pavilion? Unaware that you hastily replaced the managers of several shops in such a frantic rush?" The old matriarch stared at Madam Wang. Having dedicated her entire life to the preservation of this household, what she loathed above all else was Madam Wang utilizing the Ye family's silver to subsidize her own maiden home. This was an offense that no mother-in-law could ever tolerate, particularly since Madam Wang had not entered the household through an honorable primary marriage but had been elevated from the rank of a mere concubine. "Girl Li, where are those ungrateful creatures who bit the hand that fed them?"
Ye Li lowered her eyes, replying respectfully, "Li'er took it upon herself to have those individuals placed under confinement. Those who signed formal servant contracts have each been given ten strokes of the board, while those hired externally are prepared to be delivered to the government office."
The old matriarch knitted her brows slightly and remarked, "You are still far too soft-hearted, my girl. What can a mere ten strokes of the board achieve? Have someone bring up the managers of Shende Pavilion and Cangzhen阁." Shende Pavilion and Cangzhen阁—one dealing in antiques and the other in jewelry—happened to be the two most profitable establishments among the twelve shops, virtually accounting for half of the entire revenue.
A short while later, several individuals bound securely with thick ropes were dragged into the hall. The moment Manager Wang spotted Madam Wang, he began to wail miserably, "Sister, Brother-in-law, save my life...!" Minister Ye glared at Madam Wang with an iron-black face, remaining entirely silent. Madam Wang was both anxious and enraged, shouting continuously, "Presumptuous! Hurry and release the Master's brother-in-law this instant!" Ye Li offered an apologetic smile and said, "So it truly is the Wang family's maternal uncle. Li'er had initially assumed it was merely a joke played by Fourth Sister. Although the Wang family does not rank among the grand clans, they still have quite a few members serving as officials in the imperial court; how could one of them possibly stoop to serve as a shop manager for Shende Pavilion? However... the master craftsman and shop assistants of Shende Pavilion have accused Manager Wang of embezzling over eighty thousand taels of silver from the shop over these past few years. I wonder..."
"This is bound to be a malicious slander concocted by those vile individuals! How could my cousin possibly embezzle silver?" Madam Wang declared with absolute finality.
Ye Li looked at the old matriarch and offered no rebuttal, saying instead, "Since the Madam is willing to provide a guarantee for Manager Wang, how would Li'er ever dare to disbelieve it? In a short while, we shall simply invite Manager Wang, along with the master craftsman and assistants of Shende Pavilion, to take a trip to the Capital Prefect's court to confront one another face-to-face."
Madam Wang's countenance shifted instantly as she countered hastily, "It is merely a minor discrepancy; why must we trouble the Capital Prefect over it?" The newly appointed Capital Prefect, Qin Mu, was widely hailed as the "Iron-Faced Judge." If anyone fell into his hands, they would never see a favorable end.
Ye Li offered an reassuring smile to Madam Wang and said, "Madam may rest easy. If it turns out that Uncle has indeed been wrongfully accused, Li'er shall personally kowtow to Uncle to acknowledge her error and seek forgiveness. Men, drag this ungrateful dog out and strike him with an additional fifty strokes of the board!" Turning her head, Ye Li pointed a finger at the manager of Cangzhen阁, who lay prostrate to the side, her voice entirely bone-chilling. The manager, who had only recently endured the initial ten strokes, instantly turned ashen-faced, crying out, "Third Miss, spare my life! Third Miss... Madam, save me...!" Madam Wang kept her face grim and remained silent. The old matriarch's aged eyes narrowed slightly as she commanded flatly, "Execute it according to the Third Miss's instructions." The gaze she cast toward Ye Li carried several fractions more of profound meaning. Ye Li naturally perceived that the old matriarch was evaluating her, yet she cared nothing for it, staring coldly at the manager as she spoke, "You are different from Manager Wang. You are a servant whose life contract was signed over to the Xu family, serving as part of my mother's dowry. When my mother was alive, she treated you with no shortage of kindness, yet within a mere handful of years, you actually dared to betray your master in such a manner. Even if you were beaten to death this day, no one would dare utter half a word of objection! Strike him with absolute severity!" The manager collapsed weakly onto the floor, his frame shivering uncontrollably. The various individuals in attendance could not help but feel a sudden pang of trepidation in their hearts; they had originally assumed this quiet, unrenowned Third Miss was a naive and easily bullied girl, yet it turned out they had all blindly misjudged her.
"No... Third Miss, spare my life... Madam, save me... Madam, more than half of the silver I embezzled was handed over to you! You cannot simply watch me die without lifting a hand!"
"Bastard! What utter nonsense are you spouting?! Hurry and drag him out of here!" Madam Wang shouted in absolute exasperation and fury.
The manager was dragged out, and before long, waves of agonized wails drifted in from outside. A blanket of absolute silence descended upon the grand hall, broken only by the elegant, measured voice of Ye Li as she spoke softly, "Qingshuang, have someone escort Manager Wang and every member of Shende Pavilion to the Capital Prefect's yamen. Instruct our men to send word to Lord Qin that we have long since heard of his iron-faced impartiality, and we only pray that Lord Qin will return a measure of justice to our Ye family."
"Understood!" Qingshuang complied with a crisp tone.
"Hold on..." Ye Ying stepped forward and said, "Grandmother, Father, this matter absolutely must not be handled in this manner. If we proceed to the magistrate's court and word of this leaks out, the dignity of Consort Ye in the palace and the Prince Li Estate will surely not be preserved... Ying'er... Ying'er will likewise have no face left to marry out. I beg Father and Grandmother to reconsider thoroughly..."
"Mother..." Minister Ye looked toward the old matriarch; he naturally did not approve of taking the matter to the magistrate's court either. At present, the most critical priorities were the status of Consort Ye within the imperial harem and the upcoming nuptials of Ye Ying.
The old matriarch cast a calculating glance at Ye Li, then knitted her brows as she looked upon Manager Wang with a face full of absolute revulsion, saying, "Since we are all relatives after all, it would indeed not look proper for the two families to completely tear away all face. However, these shops belong to Li'er, so the matter cannot simply be swept under the rug either. Whatever silver is missing must be replenished as quickly as possible. After all... we cannot afford to offend Prince Li, and we must likewise be able to offer a proper account to the Prince Ding Estate."
"Replenished?!" Madam Wang blurted out in horror. More than a hundred thousand taels of silver was no meager sum; how was she supposed to replenish it?
"Shut your mouth! As a successor wife, you embezzled the dowry silver left behind by the original wife—does that sound pleasant if spoken aloud? Even if you care nothing for your own face, the Fourth Girl still requires her face, and Consort Ye in the palace requires her face as well! Later, bring the estate's account ledgers over to me; I would truly like to see exactly how you have been managing this household!" Madam Wang's face turned starkly pale; the old matriarch was intending to strip away her authority to manage the household. "Old Matriarch..."
Ye Li stepped forward, interrupting Madam Wang as she spoke softly, "Old Matriarch, the Wang family is, after all, the maiden home of Second Sister and Fourth Sister's mother. Originally, there would be no harm even if this silver were granted to them. It is only that... before Mother passed away, she explicitly instructed that a portion must be reserved to show filial piety to Grandmother, and another portion reserved to serve as the wedding dowries for the younger sisters. Li'er thinks there is no need for an exorbitant amount; currently, only Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, and Sixth Sister remain unwed within the household, so let us allocate ten thousand taels for each of them. Furthermore, we shall present thirty thousand taels to Grandmother as her personal private savings. The total amounts to a mere sixty thousand taels, and that is all." Having finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Concubine Zhao to the side, smiling as she said, "Auntie may rest easy. If there should be any younger brothers or sisters born in the future, Li'er shall naturally replenish their respective portions as well." Concubine Zhao froze; she had originally felt a trace of regret and discontentment, yet hearing Ye Li speak in such a manner filled her heart with immense joy. Covering her lips, she laughed and said, "Then I shall accept the Third Miss's auspicious words. The Third Miss is truly worthy of being a legitimate daughter of our Ye family, displaying an absolute grandeur fitting of a great clan." Whether Ye Li would fulfill this promise in the future was an entirely separate matter; merely hearing Ye Li's words was enough to delight her.
Sixty thousand taels compared to over a hundred thousand taels truly did not sound like an excessive amount, yet Ye Li knew perfectly well that much of that silver had already been utilized by the Wang family to smooth over official advancements or had been completely squandered away. Requiring Madam Wang to produce sixty thousand taels all at once at this moment was more than enough to make her cough up blood. In any case, so long as Consort Ye remained in the palace and so long as Ye Ying was destined to become the Princess Consort Li, it was fundamentally impossible for the old matriarch to truly inflict any severe punishment upon Madam Wang. Therefore, she might as well force the woman to cough up a substantial amount of blood.
Hearing this, Minister Ye naturally felt that Ye Li was exceptionally magnanimous. He nodded with approval and said, "What Li'er says is entirely reasonable; you execute it in this manner." Although he could not do anything drastic to Madam Wang for the sake of the household's stability, in his heart, he ultimately harbored immense displeasure toward her utilizing the family's wealth to subsidize her maiden home. He could not help but recall his original wife, who had meticulously managed every single arrangement for the benefit of the Ye family years ago, and the gaze he cast toward Ye Li grew even more warm and gentle.
The old matriarch was likewise in full agreement. This solution not only preserved the face of both households but also saved several ten thousand taels in wedding dowry expenses from the public coffers. As for the Wang family... they did not yet possess the capability to contend against the Ye family, and furthermore, the Wang family was completely in the wrong to begin with. Even if Consort Ye was a daughter birthed by a woman of the Wang family, she was ultimately still a daughter of the Ye family, and would absolutely never point fingers at her own paternal home out of spite. Looking upon Ye Li with an air of dotage, the old matriarch nodded and praised, "Li'er conducts affairs with perfect measure; this is truly the moral character fitting for the primary mistress of a grand household. In the future, when you cross the threshold into the Prince Ding Estate, your grandmother will have no need to worry. The family discipline of the Xu family is indeed superb." Hearing this, Madam Wang's countenance turned even more unsightly—claiming the family discipline of the Xu family was superb was equivalent to declaring that the discipline of her Wang family was atrocious, was it not? Ye Ying cast a sidelong glance at Ye Li, lowering her head with a face full of grievance. Madam Wang still intended to speak further, but the old matriarch swept a harsh glance over her and demanded coldly, "Or do you truly wish to take a stroll through the Capital Prefect's yamen?"
"This concubine obeys your command; I will certainly replenish the silver as quickly as possible," Madam Wang muttered through gnatted teeth, her heart burning with unyielding resentment.
"In a few days, Ying'er will be marrying out. For these next few days, you simply remain inside your courtyard and properly instruct her on the proper way of being a wife."
"Understood." This was effectively placing her under house arrest, stripping her even of any opportunity to enter the imperial palace to lodge a complaint with Consort Ye.