Chapter 80: Kicked Out

Xiafu’s face was usually gentle and quiet, but now she looked like a resentful ghost.

Pear Moon didn’t say a word. She picked up the tea cake and went out.

Shen Shi looked impatient and ordered someone to tie Xiafu up and take her to the utility yard, instructing that no one was to gossip about it.

Granny Zhao walked to the corridor, gathered all the maids and old women, and scolded them with a frown.

“Phoenix Ripple Courtyard represents the dignity of the mistress. No one is to mention the theft again! Those in charge of keys and supplies must be strict and careful. If anything from the public stores is lost again, each person will be held responsible for compensation! Do you hear me?”

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd. Instead of blaming the thief, they were blaming the victims?

Granny Fan was the first to grit her teeth in anger.

“Is Granny Zhao playing the corrupt official? Is she siding with the thief? So many things have been lost in the courtyard. We finally caught the thief, but instead of interrogating her, she’s just let off like that?”

Xiang Rui, Dong Mei, and other maids who had lost their jewelry were so angry their eyes turned red.

“Money doesn’t fall from the sky. How can we just let it go? Whether Xiafu stole it or not, at least give us an explanation. Why was she released without any reason? Is there no justice in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard?”

“If there’s nothing in Xiafu’s room, we should search her brother and sister-in-law’s place, or at least call them in for questioning. Why aren’t we allowed to mention this anymore? Is it more shameful for the mistress to have a theft than for her to have a thief?”

Everyone chattered away, unable to hold back their resentment.

Granny Zhao couldn’t suppress them and grew furious. She planted her hands on her hips and scolded sharply:

“Your very lives belong to your masters. The master’s word is the law. You lowly servants don’t deserve to wear gold and silver. I’ll say this now: if any servant in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard hoards private savings or wears jewelry and gets robbed, it serves them right. If anyone dares to talk nonsense or defy their masters again, they’ll be beaten and sent back to the Shen family to be sold!”

These words were utterly unreasonable, and everyone who heard them was filled with anger.

But most of the people in the courtyard were servants brought from the Shen family. Though furious, they dared not speak up and could only remain silent.

Pear Moon stood at the entrance of the tea room and overheard someone whispering.

“With Granny Zhao saying this, isn’t she encouraging people to steal? No other courtyard in Ningguo Mansion is this unreasonable. The mistress’s dignity has long been lost. Who in the mansion still respects her?”

Before the words had even settled, a crowd suddenly surged through the main gate of Phoenix Ripple Courtyard.

Leading them was the steward’s wife, accompanied by four sturdy old women, escorting a young married woman.

“Please come over, Granny Zhao. Is this Xia’s wife from Phoenix Ripple Courtyard?”

Xia’s wife was wearing a dark satin jacket, trembling as she knelt in the courtyard.

“Xia’s wife was sneaking something out the gate. The servant at the second gate asked her a few questions, but she gave vague answers and refused to explain. The servant followed her to the pawnshop and caught her on the spot. They found two gold rings and a Sparrow Tongue Tea cake on her. Granny Zhao, as the person in charge, please bring people with me to search her room. If she stole anything else, we’ll bring it out for confrontation.”

The steward’s wife dragged Xia’s wife without another word and headed toward the servants’ quarters.

This Xia’s wife was Xiafu’s sister-in-law. Granny Zhao wanted to say something but couldn’t cover it up.

This was like a thunderclap out of nowhere. Maids and old women swarmed over to watch.

Especially those who had lost things, they all hoped to find their stolen belongings in Xia’s wife’s room.

Pear Moon didn’t join the commotion. She waited for Autumn Abundance in the tea room.

Xia’s wife went to the pawnshop several times a day—how could the gate servants not know?

Autumn Abundance had used candied fruits to incite a few meddlesome servants, which was how they caught Xia’s wife red-handed.

Just moments ago, Xiafu had claimed her sister-in-law was frail—clearly, thieves know how to spin lies, for Sister-in-Law Xia showed no sign of illness whatsoever.

After a flurry of commotion, over a hundred taels of silver and more than a dozen pawn tickets were seized from her room.

Everyone crowded around to identify the pawn tickets, recognizing many of the missing items.

Granny Zhao’s face turned livid with anger. She snatched the pawn tickets and demanded an explanation for the silver.

Sister-in-Law Xia kowtowed frantically, shifting all the blame onto Xiafu.

“My girl Xiafu would bring things out every day, telling me to pawn them and keep the silver for her. I truly didn’t know she had stolen them. Please, Madam and Granny Zhao, spare me this once.”

Someone sneered, “Sister-in-Law Xia, Xiafu said she stole the silver to pay for your treatment. Running to the pawnshop three to five times a day—no wonder you’ve walked yourself sick!”

Sister-in-Law Xia dared not speak another word. The head stewardess ordered Xiafu to be brought for a confrontation.

The two knelt side by side, blaming each other and confessing everything they had stolen.

Upon hearing this, the victims lunged forward, beating and scuffling in a chaotic uproar.

One was a dowry maid, the other a dowry servant’s wife.

The steward’s office found it difficult to pass judgment, so they left it to Shen Shi to handle.

What had started as a missing cake of tea had now uncovered a hundred taels’ worth of stolen goods.

In front of the steward’s office ladies, Shen Shi’s face burned with shame.

Through the window, she angrily ordered Granny Zhao to strip Xiafu and Sister-in-Law Xia of their clothes and give them thirty lashes each.

Xiafu’s brother was not spared either—he was driven outside the second gate and ordered to receive forty strokes from the servants.

Having a personal maid as the ringleader of thieves was such a disgrace that Shen Shi dared not let word reach her natal family.

Yet she had no ownership contracts for them and could not sell the three.

After a long discussion with Granny Zhao in her room, she ordered all three banished to the Shen family’s estate, never to return.

The seized items and silver were to be confiscated into the Storehouse, and all pawn tickets burned.

The maids and servants trembled with fear, silently cursing Shen Shi for her shamelessness in pocketing even the servants’ money.

It was only after the steward’s office ladies intervened, urging the victims to reclaim their pawn tickets and return the silver accordingly, that the matter was settled.

From afternoon until midnight, when the night watch drum sounded, the courtyard finally quieted down.

The summer night was gloomy, the horn lanterns under the eaves casting a hazy glow.

As Granny Zhao approached the Small Tea Room, Pear Moon was about to lock up and return to her quarters.

“You’ve worked hard, Granny. Aren’t you resting yet?”

“Xiao Yue, how many Sparrow Tongue Tea cakes were there in the tea room cabinet?”

Granny Zhao narrowed her eyes, staring at her with a cold snort.

Pear Moon locked the cabinet, hung the key at her waist, and then smiled as she explained.

“At noon, I noticed a tea cake was missing. Afraid you’d be angry, I borrowed one from the Tranquil Study. Who would have thought Xiafu was so greedy—stealing one wasn’t enough, she even took the borrowed one.”

Granny Zhao was half-convinced, half-doubtful.

She knew something was off but couldn’t figure out the reason.

When maids stole things, as long as they didn’t target their masters, she never cared.

The only thing she cared about was the reputation of Phoenix Ripple Courtyard.

A personal maid and her sister-in-law conspiring to steal, and getting caught by the steward’s office—what face did that leave for Shen Shi!

If Pear Moon hadn’t cried out in the Dressing Room, this matter could have been quietly covered up.

“Madam has lost face, and the fault lies entirely with you!” Granny Zhao scowled, her voice heavy with anger.

Pear Moon glanced at that old face, a faint smile curling her lips.

If Granny Zhao had bothered to investigate when the young maid first lost something, today’s incident might never have happened.

Now that chaos had erupted, she refused to reflect on her own responsibility, blaming only those who spoke the truth.

Xiafu dared to steal so brazenly precisely because she relied on Granny Zhao’s influence.

Now all the maids and old women in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard are gossiping that Granny Zhao and Xiafu are two peas in a pod.

Pear Moon wanted to advise her a few words but ultimately swallowed them back.

When words don’t agree, even half a sentence is too many—she had no need to take this risk.

She wasn’t a dowry maid from the Shen family; sooner or later, she would leave to make her own way.

Thinking of this, she bowed respectfully with a humble expression.

“I am young and ignorant. If I have done anything wrong, please instruct me more, Granny.”

Seeing her so deferential, Granny Zhao couldn’t find a single fault to pick.

Standing there full of anger for a long while, Granny Zhao finally snatched the tea room key from Pear Moon’s waist.

“You are too reckless in your work. Starting tomorrow, you are no longer in charge of the tea room!”