diskusbooks Chapter 162 It's a Hot Potato
Chapter 162 It's a Hot Potato
She originally had money.
And it must be quite a lot; it was her mother's dowry. After her mother passed away, that dowry should have belonged to her.
Thinking of this, Ye Qing'an immediately summoned Granny Wei.
"Go ask Sixth Aunt for me. I asked her to organize my mother's dowry list and check how much is left in the storeroom. Has it all been organized and checked?"
Granny Wei accepted the order and left, returning shortly afterward with Sixth Concubine.
Ye Qing'an raised her eyebrows, somewhat surprised: "I just asked Granny Wei to ask Auntie if the dowry lists had been compiled. Auntie said she was going to compile them, and it seems like it's been a while. Auntie could have just asked Granny Wei to bring the lists to me; why did you have to come all this way yourself?"
The sixth concubine sighed, "It's not that I didn't tidy it up properly, I did, it's just..."
"But what?" Ye Qing'an pressed.
The sixth concubine frowned deeply: "But I don't know how to explain to the eldest young lady that the madam's dowry is still quite a bit on the inventory list, but many items that are clearly on the list are nowhere to be found in the storeroom..."
The sixth concubine took out the list and handed it to Ye Qing'an: "The lady used some of the dowry she received, but not too much. There should still be at least 80% of the items in the storeroom, and that's exactly what the list says."
"But when I went into the storeroom to take inventory that day, at most only 10% of the items recorded on this list remained."
Ye Qing'an raised an eyebrow: "So, it's on the list but not in the warehouse?"
"Yes."
Ye Qing'an glanced at the list: "After Madam gave you the keys to the storeroom, didn't you take a careful inventory?"
The sixth concubine frowned, looking somewhat at a loss: "When Madam handed over the things, she handed over a lot of things all at once, including various account books in the mansion, as well as various estates and shops outside the mansion. I don't have any spare people who can read the account books and count the things, so I can only check them slowly by myself."
"There are just too many things. I haven't finished checking them yet."
Ye Qing'an was somewhat surprised: "Why didn't Sixth Aunt mention this before? Shouldn't Sixth Aunt have reported to Father that you don't have enough manpower?"
"Report to the master?" Sixth Concubine looked bewildered. "But this concerns the inner quarters!"
Ye Qing'an sighed: "Although it is a matter concerning the inner palace, it is of great importance, and you cannot do this."
"Tell me, apart from the items in the warehouse not matching the list, are there any other problems with the things you've been checking?"
Sixth Aunt shook her head: "Everything else is fine."
"That's it." Ye Qing'an frowned. "Then let me ask you another question: the warehouse is so much less than the inventory list, what are you going to do?"
"I..." Sixth Concubine bit her lip: "I will report to Master after I have checked everything carefully."
"If I were Liu Xueying, I would say that everything matched when I gave it to you. Now that the list and keys have been with you for so long, you're only now saying it doesn't match. Did you steal it yourself and keep it all to yourself?"
The sixth concubine's eyes widened immediately: "It wasn't me? How could I do such a thing?"
Ye Qing'an nodded: "Yes, you certainly wouldn't do such a thing, but logically speaking, once the items are handed to you, you should have taken people to verify the quantity of all the items on the same day, or at the latest within three days, and raise any issues promptly."
"Furthermore, the entire process should be conducted with the other stewards of the mansion present, in their presence."
"And you, all alone, without any witnesses, and after so much time, are you saying the numbers in the warehouse don't match? Who would believe that? Who would accept that?"
Seeing the sudden deathly pale face of the sixth concubine, Ye Qing'an couldn't help but sigh softly.
No wonder Liu Xueying was so confident when she was at Xingguo Temple. It turns out she had already planned and set a trap.
Unfortunately, this sixth concubine, probably because of her humble birth and because she had always served as a maidservant to her mother, couldn't think of so many things.
And because he suddenly gained the power to manage the household that he had long dreamed of, he wanted to hold onto power tightly and was reluctant to delegate tasks...
Liu Xueying had planned everything perfectly.
"Then, Miss, what... what should I do?"
Upon hearing Ye Qing'an's words, the sixth concubine suddenly panicked: "I really didn't take anything from the storeroom! I don't know where those things went!"
"If this crime were pinned on me, I... I wouldn't survive."
Ye Qing'an glanced at the sixth concubine and casually flipped through the list.
The sixth concubine suddenly knelt on the ground: "Please, Miss, save me! Please, Miss, save me..."
"As long as Miss saves me, I will listen to everything Miss says from now on. I can also hand over all the power to manage the family."
The sixth concubine was truly terrified. When she discovered that the list did not match the items in the storeroom, she was actually secretly pleased, thinking that she had something on Liu Xueying. She was even scheming how to bite Liu Xueying in front of Ye Qing'an and Ye Qinghao.
That is why she delayed in reporting this matter to Ye Qing'an.
She originally intended to report the matter directly to the head of the family.
Now that Ye Qing'an has said this, and after thinking about it carefully, she realized the hidden danger in it.
This power of managing the household affairs is now a hot potato for her.
“Those dowry items originally belonged to the madam, and logically, they should now belong to the eldest daughter. Why don’t you go and tell the master that you took them and used them?”
Ye Qing'an slammed the list on the table: "Me? Is Sixth Aunt planning to push me out as a scapegoat?"
"What if Father asks me where I spent all those things? And wants me to show him? What should I do?"
The sixth concubine bit her lip and remained silent.
Ye Qing'an laughed: "Sixth Aunt said she'd listen to everything I say, but I see no sincerity in her at all. On the contrary, I feel like she's trying to harm me just to save her own life."
The sixth concubine's forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat: "I, I didn't mean that."
Ye Qing'an remained silent. The sixth concubine knelt on the ground, looking somewhat flustered. After a long while, she bit her lip and said, "Regarding Liu Xueying, I do know some things..."
"As long as... as long as Miss is willing to help me, I can tell Miss everything I know."
Ye Qing'an nodded, then glanced at the list placed to the side: "You and Granny Wei used to serve Mother. Do you recognize what these dowry items look like?"