CHAPTER 562: CHAPTER 551: THE MARCHIONESS’S MAID

After being granted a marriage, Zhong Jue entered the Hanlin Academy to take up a role dealing with book revisions, an easy and prestigious job that gave him more time to prepare for the wedding.

Because Princess Wenping’s father, Duke Wei, heard that Zhong Huaiwen intended to promote a concubine to his official wife, he specifically took the opportunity to talk to Zhong Huaiwen. Though the details of the conversation are unknown, afterwards Aunt Wei not only saw her hopes of becoming the official wife dashed but also lost her managerial authority. Old Madam Wei, due to her age, could not withstand the strain, hence inevitably Zhong Jue himself ended up managing the affairs.

Not only did he not complain, he was actually very willing to do so, and he also took the chance to check the household accounts. It was only after checking that he discovered such a significant discrepancy in the accounts.

Aunt Wei previously believed wholeheartedly she would not have to relinquish her managerial rights like this, so she was not very secretive about her actions. After Zhong Jue found out, he directly reported this matter to Zhong Huaiwen.

"Father, if the amount weren’t substantial I might let it go, but look, nearly ten thousand taels of silver are missing! And those paintings and antiques grandfather left behind, they have all turned into fakes!" said Zhong Jue, almost laughing out of frustration, he knew Aunt Wei wasn’t honest, but he didn’t expect her to target the family heirlooms!

Listening to Zhong Jue’s accusations, Zhong Huaiwen’s face went livid, then he furiously took the accounts and stormed off to Aunt Wei’s courtyard.

Zhong Jue followed at a calm pace: "After discovering that the paintings and antiques had been replaced with forgeries, I went to the antique street to take a look. Guess what I found? Our family’s things had appeared in quite a few places in Ranxiang Pavilion, and the owner said the person who sold those items to them was none other than Aunt Wei’s own brother, Wei Kuang. I’ve redeemed whatever I could, if you don’t believe it, Father, you can go and ask."

Zhong Huaiwen’s complexion worsened, his face ashen, the hand gripping the accounts was visibly tense.

He was not ignorant of Aunt Wei using her managerial rights for personal gains; he just had never imagined that Aunt Wei would be so audacious!

Moreover, knowing full well his dislike for the Wei Family, she still took his possessions to support her own family?

Those paintings and antiques were passed down from the ancestors! Many were priceless; even when Lan’er got married last time, he couldn’t bring himself to give away a single one as a dowry. But now, he was being told that the paintings and antiques in the storeroom were all fakes?

At this moment, Aunt Wei, who was in the courtyard, was secretly seething with resentment. She had already persuaded Aunt and cousin to promote her to official wife, so why did everything fall apart after Duke Wei took her husband out for a conversation?

Duke Wei and the others were too bully!

It must have been Zhong Jue and Lord Wenping, they must have sabotaged her, yes, it must be them!

"Lady, the master is heading this way," the maid approached to report.

Aunt Wei quickly hid her resentful expression, displaying a sad and aggrieved demeanor instead.

"Master..." Aunt Wei bowed her head, hence she didn’t notice Zhong Huaiwen’s furious expression, her tone still pitiful and gentle.

The maid stood behind and saw it, but dared not step forward or even make a sound to warn her.

"Slap!" Seeing Aunt Wei approaching on her own, Zhong Huaiwen fiercely slapped her.

Aunt Wei was unprepared, and the slap was extremely fierce. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a while, clearly still in shock.

After a while, she incredulously lifted her head and saw the furious expression on Zhong Huaiwen’s face, her heart grew uneasy, and she also glimpsed Zhong Jue standing behind him, resentment appearing in her eyes.

But for now, it was most important to appease Zhong Huaiwen. Without standing up, she weakly knelt halfway, one hand covering her cheek, tears in her eyes already flowing intermittently.

Her tone was very aggrieved: "Cousin, what did I do wrong? Why must you treat me like this? I have followed you since I was sixteen, and I have diligently served you, even giving birth to Yin and Lang for you. To beat me in front of the servants, how should they cope?"

Hearing her say this, Zhong Jue’s expression turned cold, seeing that Zhong Huaiwen’s anger was somewhat calmed, he couldn’t help but admire Aunt Wei’s tactics, but today’s matter couldn’t just pass by like this.

He is the legitimate eldest son; most of the family estate would belong to him in the future. Now Aunt Wei had taken away what belonged to him, how could she be easily let off?

"Aunt Wei, how do you explain this ledger? And how did the items in the storeroom all become fakes?" Zhong Jue threw the bill in front of Aunt Wei.

"All those items were handed down by our ancestors of the Zhong Family, and now they have all turned into counterfeit goods. If word gets out, wouldn’t others say Father is unfilial? If it reaches the Holy Emperor’s ears, I’m afraid it might even harm Father’s impression in Your Majesty’s heart!" Did Aunt Wei think she was the only one with palace schemes? Did Zhong Jue not have any himself?

After so many years, he had also seen clearly. His father’s knowledge wasn’t bad, but he was too pedantic. Otherwise, why would someone who was third place twenty years ago still be just a third-rank Vice Minister now? His peers who were top scorer and second place were now a second-rank Minister of Revenue and a first-rank governor. Only his father was a tasteless and powerless Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

It was one thing to be pedantic, but he was also selfish and gullible. Knowing he did not favor his mother, but still marrying her for her talent and her family’s social standing, and after marrying her, not cherishing her, letting his own mother and the concubine clash.

Aunt Wei could play the part of being weak, and Zhong Lang’s scholarship was highly praised; he believed that in the future Zhong Lang would make him proud, but he disliked that Aunt Wei’s maternal family had too low status, always needing assistance.

In sum, these points show his selfishness, always thinking about his own comfort, always considering his own gains.

Aunt Wei might be tender and considerate, and Zhong Lang indeed good at his studies, but these do not outweigh his wealth and future prospects. Being envious of his contemporaries doing better was exactly why he still married Lan’er off to Marquis Weiyuan after hearing that it wasn’t a good match – wasn’t it just because Marquis Weiyuan’s Mansion was favored by the Holy Emperor, and he wanted to leave a good impression in front of the Holy Emperor?

It’s also why he had once considered making Aunt Wei his official wife, but abandoned the thought after discussing just once with his future father-in-law, because his future father-in-law was Duke Wei and his future daughter-in-law was the granddaughter of the Great Princess, both highly favored.

So Zhong Jue was convinced that Zhong Huaiwen especially valued his reputation, and would not allow a single stain to be exposed; if others spread news about Vice Minister Zhong selling off family assets, where would Zhong Huaiwen’s face go?

Surely enough, upon hearing Zhong Jue’s words, Zhong Huaiwen’s expression, which had just slightly eased, immediately became extremely furious again.

"Don’t talk about other things. You tell me, where did you put all those family heirlooms? Why is there such a big discrepancy in the ledger?"