The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 105

Chapter 105 Pawn Silver Taels
As soon as the Lantern Festival passed, news of the eldest son of the Duke of Zheng, Zheng Lu, colluding with Northern Desert to seek rebellion came from the northwest, causing the government and the public to tremble. Consort Shen hadn’t come up with any countermeasures yet. Another piece of news was sent back to the capital. Loyal and courageous, Xiao Qi had been ordered to go to the northwest to exterminate the rebels and take back the horse market.

The disturbance in the capital was endless, but there was a different scene in the Sparse Shadow Pavilion of the Marquis of Loyalty.

Xiao Xiwei sat in front of the couch. Manager Lin, who was in the next room, was reporting all the expenses he had incurred in the past year to Xiao Xiwei. Xiao Xiwei, however, lowered her eyes and smiled as she looked at the ball chasing after the hydrangea in the room.

After a winter of careful care, the ball has grown a circle, round head is very cute.

Manager Qian occasionally raised his eyes to look at Xiao Xiwei as he reported the bill. Seeing that she had been looking at the little tiger playing in the room, he couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied. However, he didn’t dare to say anything else. He only accelerated the pace of reporting the bill.

Finally, the account was finished.

Xiao Xiwei finally shifted her gaze from Qiu Qiu to Steward Qian. Her clear voice slowly sounded, “5,721 taels.”

Steward Qian was stunned and looked at Xiao Xiwei in confusion.

Xiao Xiwei leaned to the side and picked up the tea on the table next to her. Her slender eyelashes lowered and she gently opened the lid of the cup and took a sip of the sweet tea. “I said, you’re mistaken. All the expenses add up to 5,721 taels.”

Steward Qian knitted his brows, “No, it can’t be …”

Xiao Xiwei still lowered her head and sipped the tea. On the other hand, Bi Yun couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and say, “Will Steward Qian count it again?”

Manager Qian doubtfully and discontentedly flipped through the books again and added up all the expenses, only to discover that all the expenses added together were actually 5,721 taels.

How … how is this possible?

Before he came, he had clearly calculated everything. How could he have made a mistake? What surprised him even more was that Second Miss had been staring at the little tiger in the room from beginning to end. She didn’t even listen to him telling the number. How could she calculate the total so quickly without an abacus?

“How is it, Manager Qian?” Seeing Steward Qian’s expression, Bi Yun couldn’t help but speak in a foreign voice.

Steward Qian lowered his head and said, “I was a little careless.”

Xiao Xi smiled and said, “The Marquis of Loyalty has to spend more than twenty thousand taels of silver every year from Steward Qian. I personally thought that Steward Qian should be a strict and meticulous person.”

A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. Steward Qian lowered his head and didn’t know how to respond.

“Let’s just do this. If there’s nothing else, you can go back to your work.” Xiao Xiwei put down his teacup, got up and walked a few steps. Then, he bent down and picked up the ball that was still playing.

“Yes, yes.” Manager Qian replied in a low voice. He was still terrified. Suddenly, a ray of light flashed across his mind and he couldn’t help but raise his eyes to look at Xiao Xiwei. “Second Miss, there is one more thing … I wonder if this little one should say it?”

He didn’t hold the ball for a few days and felt that he was much heavier than before.

Xiao Xi turned around and swept his gaze over Steward Qian. “What is it?”

Steward Qian knitted his eyebrows. “Two days ago, when I was shopping, I accidentally saw Concubine, the girl beside Third Cui Zhu … She went to the Yong’an pawnshop on South Street.” After saying that, Steward Qian carefully raised his head and sized up Xiao Xiwei’s expression.

Xiao Xiwei’s slender eyelashes dropped. She reached out and gently stroked the soft hair on the ball. The corner of her lips curved into a faint smile. “Isn’t Steward Qian making too much of a fuss for not going to the pawnshop?”

Steward Qian was stunned and hurriedly lowered his head.

Xiao Xiwei’s words really made him unable to guess what she meant. Originally, he wanted to commit a crime, but now it seemed that she did not appreciate it.

For a moment, Manager Qian didn’t know whether to leave or stay, so he could only stand there awkwardly.

“Go back to your work.” Finally, Xiao Xiwei’s voice sounded again.

“Yes, the little one will leave now.” Steward Qian hurriedly turned around and walked out like an amnesty.

Xiao Xi bent down slightly and put the ball in his arms down.

“Young miss, don’t tell me. Just a few days ago, Er Ya from the kitchen also told me that she saw Cui Zhu carrying a bag of things out of the mansion. Do you think San Concubine is in a hurry to use money?” Bi Yun whispered to Xiao Xiwei’s ear.

Xiao Xiwei raised his eyebrows, “You’re so curious, why don’t you go to Luo Yuxuan and ask San Concubine personally?”

Bi Yun stuck out her tongue and said, “Miss, you think I’m stupid!”

Xiao Xi smiled and turned to look at Hongyu. “Hongyu, ask around and see who the people beside Third Concubine have been contacting recently.”

Third Concubine, a concubine who lived in the back of the house, had a monthly meal and clothing allowance. She rarely had the chance to go out on weekdays. Even if she really needed to buy something, she still had a monthly allowance. Why would she need Cuizhu to sneak out and run to the pawnshop to be used as a pawnshop? Unless it was because of her twin brother Qian Xiao. Now that the Lantern Festival is over, it won’t be long before they arrive at the triennial Spring Festival. Could it be that Third Concubine wants to gather money to pave the way for Qian Xiao? However, there was still a period of time before Chun Wei, so even if she wanted to gather money, there was no need for her to be so anxious, right?

In the next few days, Xiao Xiwei went through the accounts sent by the houses in the mansion, and pushed all the other matters to Xiao Xichun and Zhou Concubine. She enjoyed herself leisurely playing with the ball in the yard every day.

Perhaps Qiu Qiu was used to Xiao Xiwei’s smell and treated her as her mother. The moment she saw Xiao Xiwei, she rolled around and acted cute. Xiao Xiwei took a step and wagged her tail to follow behind. Xiao Xiwei stopped as well, causing the girls in the room to laugh happily.

On this day, Xiao Xiwei picked up a flower ball and teased it in the room. She threw it out, and the ball quickly ran over to fetch it back. This way, one person and one tiger had a lot of fun. Suddenly, a girl rushed in and said that Concubine Zhou had invited Second Miss to the Rain Pavilion.

Xiao Xi smiled and picked up the embroidered ball on the ground and threw it a few times in his palm.

Looks like Concubine Zhou has already made a move.

Luo Yu Xuan was not far from Sparse Shadow Xuan. He passed through a garden, walked through two corridors, and turned a corner to arrive.

In the Rain Pavilion, Third Concubine Lady was standing at the side with a panicked expression, while Concubine Lady Zhou was sitting on a chair made of red sandalwood. Seeing Xiao Xiwei enter, Concubine Zhou hurriedly supported the girl’s hand and stood up to greet her. “I have seen Second Miss before.”

“Concubine’s body is heavy, so there’s no need for these gifts.” Xiao Xi smiled and stretched out his hand to caress Zhou Concubine.

“Look at what Second Young Miss said. How can I be such a person who doesn’t know the weight of things? Besides, it’s only been four months now. How can I be so delicate that I can’t even give you a bow?” Concubine Zhou smiled.

Xiao Xiwei smiled at Concubine Zhou, “I wonder why Concubine Zhou asked someone to invite me over?”

‘”Actually, it’s not a big deal. Master and Miss trust me to leave the warehouse to me to take care of. Years ago, in order to add some joy to the manor, I took some things from the warehouse to exchange for them. No, after the new year, I thought that some things were fragile, so I wanted to put them back. I didn’t expect that, but I found that Third Concubine’s courtyard seemed to be missing something.” Concubine Zhou smiled.

Xiao Xiwei glanced sideways at Three Concubine.

Third Concubine’s face was snow-white. She clenched her teeth and didn’t snort.

“Concubine Zhou, do you know what’s missing?” Xiao Xi said.

“A little red coral ornament, and a vase of green flowers and plum branches from the previous dynasty. It wasn’t really anything valuable, but Third Concubine insisted that it had been broken by her accidentally. My body thinks, since it is broken, Well, there’s gotta be some shard or something, However, Concubine Zhou only said that she had thrown away the item and asked where she had thrown it, but she said that she did not know … “At this point, Concubine Zhou sighed.” Actually, it’s not that I don’t trust Third Concubine. However, since this item has entered the warehouse’s books, I have the responsibility to clarify the matter. Otherwise, I would have betrayed the trust of Master and Miss. ” “Second young miss, do you think that’s true?”

Xiao Xi smiled and turned to look at Third Concubine. “Third Concubine, since Zhou Concubine said so, then tell her where those fragments were thrown?”

Third Concubine took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. She faced Xiao Xiwei’s gaze and said forcefully, “I said before that the thing was accidentally broken by me. If Second Miss wants to blame me, blame me. In short, I can’t take it out.”

“Third Concubine doesn’t know where the item is? Nobody around him knows either?” Xiao Xiwei’s gaze slowly moved and finally landed on Concubine, who was beside Third Cui Zhu.

Cui Zhu’s body trembled and she hurriedly lowered her head. “This servant doesn’t know either.”

“Don’t tell me none of you know?” Zhou Concubine stood beside Xiao Xiwei and swept a circle around Luo Yuxuan’s girl.

All the girls lowered their heads and remained silent.

Concubine Zhou smiled. “This is strange. Since it’s broken, someone should clean it up! You all don’t know. Could it be that people from outside ran in to clean it up?”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Concubine Zhou smiled, “Actually, those things weren’t broken by Concubine Zhou, but pawned by someone!”

Third Concubine’s expression changed. She gritted her teeth and couldn’t help but feel her body shake.

“My body is also accidental girls talk, said someone outside our loyal and courageous hou manor urgent shortage of silver, let people to pawn a lot of jewelry items. At first, I thought it was someone else’s misinformation, However, after listening to it for a few times, she felt that if this really happened, wouldn’t it affect the reputation of our Marquis Manor? That’s why she thought of such a method to check whether there was anything missing in the manor. However, it was just a coincidence. There were many other courtyards, only the third concubine’s room was missing … “Auntie Zhou smiled and said softly.

As soon as Concubine Zhou finished her sentence, Third Concubine staggered and forcefully supported Cuizhu’s hand to barely stabilize her body.

“Third Concubine, did you really take those things for granted?” Xiao Xiwei said coldly as he stared at Third Concubine.

Third Concubine raised her head. She glanced at Xiao Xiwei and then at Concubine Zhou. Gritting her teeth, she straightened her body forcefully and faced the gazes of the two of them. “Didn’t you already know? If that’s the case, then what else do you need to ask?”

“Concubine has been married to Marquis Mansion for so many years. He has always followed the rules. Why would he suddenly pawn things for no reason? Is Concubine short of money?” Xiao Xiwei suddenly raised his eyebrows and said.