Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Targeted Cui Lingrong didn't believe a word of it. For the children? Only a ghost would believe that. She knew very well how much Song Shulan valued official rank and academic degree. But she wouldn't explain the matter of Zeyu and the Duke of Dingguo's household to Song Shulan in full detail. After all, Song Shulan couldn't be relied upon. "Does the Marquis know why the Duke of Dingguo's household adopted two sons? When there are more people, there will be contention. Because the Duke and his wife have been at odds for a long time, they each chose different people, and thus support different heirs to the Duke of Dingguo's title," Cui Lingrong said. "This isn't something I can discuss with others, so I never brought it up." "Is that so?" Song Shulan quickly understood. Indeed. Adopting one son would have been enough. Adopting two at the same time—who would inherit the Duke of Dingguo's title later? "Even so, your younger brother should at least maintain appearances and not give others ammunition for gossip!" Song Shulan said. "Why don't you go talk to Zeyu yourself?" Cui Lingrong was tired of hearing it. "If my words had any effect, why would I come to you?" Song Shulan said. "You should go persuade him. A person needs to be more tactful. He used to be in business—he should understand these things!" "Marquis, Zeyu has his own way of doing things, and you can't help him anyway. Meddling too much in his affairs will only drive you further apart." Cui Lingrong hinted that Song Shulan should stop interfering in his younger brother's matters. She could see through his little schemes clearly. She turned the topic to Song Shulan's health. "The Marquis has been busy with official duties lately. Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Should I arrange for someone to prepare some nourishing supplements?" She had already begun adding the medication to Song Shulan's food and drink as You Shuyi had instructed. Hearing Cui Lingrong suddenly show concern for him, Song Shulan was somewhat surprised, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. "I have been feeling a bit fatigued lately. If you're willing, you can arrange some tonic medicine." Song Shulan did indeed feel tired. Seeing that there was a position above him that he could be promoted to, he had been working even harder. After a continuous stretch of time, especially in the last couple of days, he felt especially exhausted. Even when County Princess Rongjia took the initiative to seek him out, he had no mood for that sort of thing and finished perfunctorily after a few token efforts. Hearing Cui Lingrong show concern for him, Song Shulan thought to himself that Cui Lingrong still cared about him in her heart. After all, they had been husband and wife for over a decade—how could she simply stop caring? He was, after all, the head of the household. Song Shulan felt somewhat pleased with himself and began talking about matters of officialdom. Cui Lingrong attended to her own affairs and finally summarized what Song Shulan had said. Most of it was trivial matters, with only one key point: Qin Shaoyuan and others had been demoted, giving Song Shulan another opportunity for promotion. Recently, Prince Rong had been running around busily on Song Shulan's behalf, and Song Shulan felt it was all but certain. Cui Lingrong thought to herself that the trap she had set for County Princess Rongjia had ultimately benefited Song Shulan. But Song Shulan's promotion would bring advantages—when it came time to arrange Yu-jie's marriage prospects, they could aim higher. The couple stayed together for a while, until finally Zhuqing's maidservant came looking for them, saying that Zhuqing was feeling unwell and wanted the Marquis to come see her. Song Shulan liked the spirited quality in Zhuqing—to put it crudely, she was seductive enough. Now that Zhuqing was carrying his child, he was willing to grant her this favor and go see her. As soon as Song Shulan left, Cui Lingrong breathed a sigh of relief. She could settle down to organize the account books, only to discover that in recent purchases, there were some discrepancies in the amounts for fruits and vegetables. "Nanny Qiu, who's in charge of the fruits and vegetables in the kitchen?" Cui Lingrong asked. "It's Nanny Lin," Nanny Qiu said. Cui Lingrong sent someone to summon Nanny Lin, but it turned out Nanny Lin was ill and had said that Nanny Zheng had been managing things recently. "Why wasn't I informed?" Cui Lingrong's face fell. "If Nanny Lin is ill, she should have told me how she's doing. If her illness is serious, the head steward should have reported it, or I should have arranged for someone to help. How did they decide things among themselves?" She sent someone to summon Nanny Zheng. Cui Lingrong had some impression of Nanny Zheng. That day at the gate, she had seen Nanny Zheng speaking with her younger brother Zheng Side. They were both people under County Princess Rongjia. Now the accounts didn't add up, and it was connected to County Princess Rongjia's people. When Nanny Zheng arrived, Cui Lingrong immediately rebuked her: "Nanny Zheng certainly has impressive abilities. How much did you bribe Nanny Lin to have her choose you as her replacement? I didn't even know about this—you people are truly remarkable." "Forgive me, Madam, there's more to this matter," Nanny Zheng hastily explained. "Nanny Lin's position isn't easy to manage. She's maintained her dignity for most of her life and feared that if she fell ill and became useless, you would replace her outright. She only asked me to help for a few days. I was like a duck forced onto a perch—seeing how earnestly she pleaded, I agreed." "Forced onto a perch, was it? So because of that, you pocketed the money?" Cui Lingrong asked. "What money? You can't wrongfully accuse me, Madam. I'm an honest and upright person—how would I dare do such a thing?" Nanny Zheng quickly shook her head, then suddenly had a realization. "Oh, I remember now! These past days, hasn't Concubine Zhuqing been pregnant? She's my niece. Sometimes she'd tell me directly what she wanted to eat, and some things, I forgot to record." She deliberately brought up Concubine Zhuqing to make the First Madam understand that behind her stood not only County Princess Rongjia but also a favored niece serving as a concubine. If the First Madam were sensible, she would turn a blind eye. Cui Lingrong laughed upon hearing this. "Nanny Zheng, have you forgotten? What a concubine eats is all fixed by regulation. Surely Zhuqing didn't give you money that you pocketed yourself?" Cui Lingrong understood the situation at once—using Zhuqing as a pretext didn't frighten her in the least. "Nanny Qiu, go to Zhuqing's quarters and have her carefully recall everything she's eaten these past days and write it all down." Just as Cui Lingrong finished speaking, Nanny Zheng offered to go along and help with the recollection. Cui Lingrong held Nanny Zheng back. "So you can go compare stories with her? Nanny Zheng, it seems you don't know what I'm capable of. You'll wait right here. If she gets two or three items wrong, that's fine—but it can't be wrong every single day!" Nanny Zheng's heart began to race. Zhuqing didn't know the full extent of her embezzlement. Now she had used Zhuqing as an excuse, but the First Madam wasn't giving her any way out—was she trying to drive her to her death? Nanny Qiu took Caiyue with her. The Marquis was still present. So Nanny Qiu spoke pleasantly, "There's been an error in the kitchen's purchasing—they claimed it was the concubine's orders. The First Madam feared others might spread rumors, so she sent me to ask: what dishes has the concubine ordered these past days?" Zhuqing had indeed ordered once or twice. She didn't think much of it at the time and answered directly. But when she saw Nanny Qiu writing everything down, she immediately sensed something wrong. "Nanny Qiu, what are you doing?" "As I just said, there's an error in the accounts, and the First Madam sent me to verify. Since the concubine has confirmed everything, I'll be on my way." Just as Nanny Qiu was about to leave, Zhuqing suddenly realized that her aunt had recently taken over the purchasing job—could her aunt be in trouble? Zhuqing knew her aunt couldn't withstand pressure. If the First Madam interrogated her aunt, she might betray Zhuqing to save herself. She hastily added, "Oh dear, I've been so forgetful since becoming pregnant—some things I can't recall clearly. Perhaps there were other dishes too." "That's fine. If you can't remember, the servants attending you haven't been pregnant." Nanny Qiu wasn't foolish; she wouldn't let anyone exploit a loophole. Zhuqing grew angry. "Nanny Qiu, what are you doing? Are you suspecting me?" She walked over to the Marquis and whined coquettishly, "Marquis, did you hear that? Nanny Qiu shows me no respect at all. Is she targeting me?" Song Shulan patted Zhuqing's hand. "The First Madam is handling things according to regulations. Don't overthink it." He then looked at Nanny Qiu. "Alright, it's just a bit of extra food. I'll make up the difference." Hearing this, Nanny Qiu asked, "Does the Marquis confirm this?" "Of course. Do you think I can't even afford a few taels of silver?" Song Shulan was displeased. How much could Zhuqing eat? At most ten taels of silver. Nanny Qiu said, "Very well. This old servant will collect the money from Qingshan later." She returned and reported everything to the First Madam, then said, "The total comes to seventy-eight taels and three fen of silver. Nanny Zheng, what Concubine Zhuqing said doesn't match what you said at all." Just then, Caiyue entered with people carrying a large bundle of silver discovered in Nanny Zheng's room. Nanny Zheng immediately knelt. "First Madam, you cannot slander this servant. Didn't the concubine say she couldn't remember clearly either?" "But the discrepancies in the accounts began before Zhuqing even became a concubine. She's only been a concubine for a few days—how could she have eaten through so much money? If she were eating ginseng and deer antler, wouldn't I need to be informed?" Cui Lingrong's face was stern. "Drag Nanny Zheng out, give her twenty strokes of the board, and send her to the estate—she is never to return to the Marquis's residence!" "First Madam, spare me! This servant won't dare again!" Nanny Zheng was dragged away, and only when the board came down did she realize begging for mercy was useless. "I want to see the County Mistress and Concubine Zhuqing!" Her cries were pitiful and loud. Cui Lingrong simply granted her wish and sent someone to summon them.