XuanRong was sitting lazily inside her courtyard when Housekeeper Wang barged inside the room without performing any curtsey.
"Da XiaoJie!!!"
When he entered the room, Housekeeper Wang was fuming mad as he stared at XuanRong with anger in his eyes.
Being the one who controlled the manor for years, Housekeeper Wang was able to accumulate a huge amount of wealth from the monthly profit of the jewelry shop.
But ever since XuanRong took over and managed the manor personally, the manor's finances were tightly monitored by her. Housekeeper Wang could no longer withdraw money inside the treasury for his personal gains.
He could only secretly harass the workers and force them to hand half of the profit in selling jewelry before it reaches XuanRong's hand, but when he arrived at the jewelry shop this morning, he was greatly shocked when he found out that the shop's door was tightly closed and the production of goods was stopped.
When he thought that he could no longer embezzle money from the shop, Housekeeper Wang exploded in anger. He immediately left the shop and stomped towards XuanRong's courtyard. Even if XuanRong now holds the authority in managing the entire manor, Housekeeper Wang still wouldn't put XuanRong in his eyes. For him, XuanRong, who was an unwanted Young Lady of XiangFu, was beneath him.
"Housekeeper Wang, is this how you behave as the head servant? Screaming and barging inside a lady's courtyard like a hooligan! This Lady almost went deaf because of your scream. Why are you screaming like a shrew early in the afternoon?"
XuanRong was still reclining on the chair inside the outer room, looking at Housekeeper Wang who was almost breathing fire as he stared daggers at her. Her mocking words were icy and cold as she berated Housekeeper Wang's attitude.
She beckoned YuYing to come closer. She whispered something to YuYing before the maid servant left and disappeared from the scene, leaving YuLi inside to accompany XuanRong.
Housekeeper Wang realized his mistake. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.
"This servant pays respect to Da XiaoJie. Please forgive this servant for lack of manners. This servant is only anxious and wants to ask something from Da XiaoJie."
"Oh? What is it? Speak."
"This servant wants to know if Da XiaoJie was the one who decided to close down the shop?"
"Mmm. Indeed, it is This Lady's decision to close the shop. Why? Is there a problem?"
Housekeeper Wang almost vomited blood when he heard XuanRong's apathetic words. The anger that he was trying to suppress once again erupted like a volcano.
"Da XiaoJie! Were your thoughts muddled? How can you close the shop without consulting this servant? If the shop closes, where would we get the money to pay for the manor's expenses? Da XiaoJie! Ignorance is a crime! Da XiaoJie is very incompetent in managing the entire manor. Seeing Da XiaoJie's lack of knowledge and wisdom, do not blame this servant if I will retrieve the manor's authority from your hands!"
XuanRong tutted. She shook her head as if she was greatly disappointed with something.
Housekeeper Wang opened his mouth to continue with his monologue but before he could utter a single word, XuanRong's poisonous tongue immediately mocked him unceasingly.
"Consulting 'you'? Do I, the Eldest Young Miss of XiangFu and the only granddaughter of Great General Chen, must pay heed to my servant's thoughts before making a decision? Heh. Seems like Housekeeper Wang is very dedicated ah. This Lady almost thought that the owner of the shop is Housekeeper Wang and not This Lady. Don't tell me, Second Mother gave the store ownership to Housekeeper Wang without This Lady's knowledge?"
Housekeeper Wang's face paled when he heard her words. Due to his anger, his thoughts became clouded and he forgot to remind himself that XuanRong was now different than before. He was already accustomed to not care about XuanRong's status and treated her like a spineless Young Miss. He was fuming with anger that he forgot to 'respect' XuanRong, giving her the opportunity to criticize him.
"I--- This old servant---"
"Housekeeper Wang, Is This Lady's surname-- Xuan? If yes, then why is Housekeeper Wang acting like this? Have you eaten leopard's guts?"
Without any other choice, Housekeeper Wang bowed his head in front of XuanRong to ask forgiveness but deep inside, his belly was full of anger. XuanRong kept on humiliating him but he could not retort back.
"Forgive this servant's misconduct. This---"
"Enough. This Lady doesn't want to hear anything from you."
XuanRong waved her left hand to stop Housekeeper Wang from speaking pretentious words that would make her vomit.
At the same time, YuYing arrived carrying a bunch of books piled together in one straight line.
When XuanRong saw the original accounting records, she smirked at Housekeeper Wang who was still lowering his head.
Because Housekeeper Wang was staring at his feet as he continued to curse XuanRong inside his heart, he was not able to see the books that YuYing was carrying. He only heard a loud 'thud' as if someone placed a heavy object on the table.
"Housekeeper Wang... Do these books look familiar?"
XuanRong unhurriedly walked towards the table and picked one book, she then opened it and flipped the pages slowly.
Because of XuanRong's question, Housekeeper Wang raised his head and looked at the book in XuanRong's hand. Seconds later, his eyes widened as if he had just seen something scary. His eyes immediately turned towards the books on the table. He almost staggered backwards due to nervousness. Luckily, he was able to calm himself and pretended to feign ignorance.
"Forgive this servant but this servant is unfamiliar with those books."
Housekeeper Wang didn't know how XuanRong was able to find the original accounting records that he hid inside the hidden compartment under his bed. But even if it kills him, he would never admit that he was familiar with those books. Even if XuanRong insisted, he could pretend that it was fake, and he was just framed by someone.
XuanRong wouldn't be able to make a fuss since she didn't have any evidence aside from the records and the fact that it was found inside his room. Denying everything was the only way for him to survive.
"Oh? You are not familiar with it? Are you sure?"
XuanRong raised her left eyebrow as she asked Housekeeper Wang. Her eyes sharpened as she tried to suppress the sneer trying to show on her face. The hand that was slowly flipping the pages stopped but once again resumed moving after few seconds interval.
'Heh. What a shameless old goat.'
Housekeeper Wang shook his head, but his eyes were secretly glancing at the accounting records that were neatly stacked on the table.
"This servant was incompetent for not recognizing the books. Is Da XiaoJie---"
*BAAAM!!*
Housekeeper Wang fell on the ground, clutching his head that was bleeding. He suddenly saw tiny stars hovering above his head and heard birds chirping in the background. He dizzily stared at the book lying beside him that was smeared with blood. He was still unsure of what happened a while ago. The next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain assaulted his head and he fell backwards.
As he was denying everything, the book that was on XuanRong's hand suddenly flew towards him, hitting him on his head and knocking him off his feet.
If he was alert, he could've dodged it, but he was caught off guard. He never thought that XuanRong would basically throw the book on his face. Although the force was not strong enough, it was still able to knock him down because he was hit by the book's sharp edge.
Talk about being lucky.
"Housekeeper Wang, This Lady gave you the chance to come clean [2] but you just wasted the opportunity This Lady gave you. Do not blame This Lady for being unmerciful."
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[1]. Treating someone as an insignificant person.
[2]. Admit everything and ask forgiveness.
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Edited and Proofread by: Prikkrang and Supremetobs