Qin Zening grabbed the gold and jade bracelet from his sleeve and said with a smile, “Grandma, this is what Grandson ‘purchased’ from the pawn store today.”
Qin Zening had thought that Madam Qin would look shocked when he saw the bracelet. But instead, she looked a little…guilty?
“Ning,” Madam Qin clutched the rosewood Buddhist beads around her wrist and said awkwardly, “We have so many people in the household, and we’ve been spending a lot of silver. Last year, Huaibei was hit by a great disaster and our household’s income was greatly reduced since much of our villages are from there. We have grown short on income, so Xin’er took the initiative to suggest pawning off a few things to subsidize it.”
Qin Zening, “…”
He originally thought that Qin Xin was taking it behind his grandmother’s back to pawn it, but he didn’t expect to hear such an answer.
Madam Qin looked a little guilty while talking about this matter too, but she was their senior. She couldn’t just lower herself down to admit her fault in this matter.
She coughed lightly and said, “Don’t worry, when Gui’er gets married in the future, I will make up for her share. I won’t make let suffer a loss.”
A look flashed past Qin Zening’s eyes but his face remained calm and unruffled. He said, “We’ll talk about this later. For now, let Qin Xin hand over the account books and the keys…Grandmother, please hand the keys to Xiao Gui as well.”
The key to Mrs. Wei’s dowry has always been kept in the hands of Mrs. Qin all these years, so Qin Zening had deliberately taken the matter of the dowry being stolen and pawned off to get Madam Qin to hand over the keys to the treasury as well.
Madam Qin felt guilty about pawning off her daughter-in-law’s dowry to begin with, so she easily agreed.
First, she ordered Granny Cui to call Qin Xin, Qin Gui, as well as Mrs. Su over before assuring him, “Ning’er, about this matter, Grandmother does not…” But saying that, she sighed.
Mrs. Wei’s dowry was supposed to be split between her three children and shared equally.
Supposedly, as the eldest daughter of the family, it was reasonable for Qin Xin to suggest taking out Mrs. Wei’s dowry to supplement the spending of the household without it coming back to bite her in the back.
But right now, the eldest of the main family is Qin Gui, so Qin Xin was overstepping her boundaries.
With that, using Mrs. Wei’s dowry in such a way had become Madam Qin’s neglect.
Ah!
Qin Xin had been managing Mrs. Wei’s dowry for so many years that Madam Qin had forgotten their positions in the family.
Qin Zening did not speak either. Instead, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, quietly waiting.
So, Qin Gui who had just returned to Guan Xiang Court was the first to arrive at Ronghe Hall, followed by Qin Xin and Mrs. Su.
Madam Qin immediately told them Qin Zening’s thoughts.
Qin Xin squeezed her handkerchief and her eyes flickered for a moment. In a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz, she said, “Yes, grandmother. I will have someone bring the account books to Third Sister later.”
“Mother, this is not proper, is it?” Mrs. Su frowned in surprise and said, “What does Gui’er know? Can she read and write? Managing the accounts is not as simple as going to the market and buying two pounds of pork! If she loses all of the dowry, then Ning’er and Yu’er would suffer as well!”
Qin Gui spat out in laughter and said, “Second Aunt, don’t you worry, I will suffer anything but I won’t suffer a loss!” She said, grinning. Then, she picked up a snack from the plate next to her and smiled meaningfully.
“…” Mrs. Su clutched her handkerchief and felt as if her broken teeth were starting to hurt again. This girl really is unpleasant!
“All right.” Madam Qin glanced at Mrs. Su from the corner of her eye and said, “Your sister-in-law’s things should be returned to the siblings, so go get them if I tell you to.”
Mrs. Su looked at Qin Xin, but seeing her silent, she felt a little reluctant, but she had no place to object. Reluctantly, she ordered the maids to get the accounts.
So, Qin Zening and Qin Gui took the keys and the account books and left.
When they left Ronghe Hall, Qin Zening said seriously, “Little Sister, I’ll have to trouble you to look through the accounts, see if anything is missing, then we can go back and ask for it together.”
Qin Zening was very unhappy that his mother’s dowry had been misappropriated in secret, and he had no way to figure out how much of it exactly was lost. So, it was useless to say more now, so he held himself back.
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