Chapter 4: The power struggle within the Chen family.

A series of footsteps sounded outside the door.

She suddenly opened her eyes, jumped off the stool, hurriedly ran back to the table, stuffed the gold ingot in her hand back into the basket, covered it with a red cloth, picked it up and ran to the bedside, stuffed the basket back into the cabinet, and closed the cabinet door.

bump--

Startled, she turned her head sharply to look for the sound.

The door was pushed open forcefully, and a maid led the way into the room, standing by the door with her head held high and hands at her sides.

Li Yang squinted at the girl; she looked somewhat familiar.

Then, two figures appeared, blocking the light from the doorway.

A woman with a slender figure stood backlit, supported by an old woman behind her. She couldn't help but squint her eyes, but still couldn't make out their faces.

As the gaze fell, light from one side shone on the hem of the woman's outer garment, undulating with the footsteps of the two as they entered, the ginger-yellow silk fabric emitting a soft glow.

After the woman entered and stood still, she glanced to one side.

Upon seeing this, the old woman beside her sternly questioned the maid who had entered first, "Caiqing, did you personally witness the young mistress hiding money?"

Picking greens?

It turns out she was a maid from Chen Junbai's study; no wonder she looked familiar at first.

But what exactly was that old woman talking about, 'hiding silver'?

Upon hearing this, Caiqing's eyes lit up, and she quickly replied loudly, "Yes, Granny Sun."

The old woman then gave a rough shout, and several maids rushed in from outside the door, like fierce tigers.

In an instant, Li Yang felt dizzy.

Inside the house, several tigers leaped and bounded about; her bamboo basket was found, and it was unclear who gave the order.

--boom--

Li Yang was slammed to the ground.

"Let me go!"

Her forehead was slammed heavily onto the floor tiles, and her hands were tied behind her back. Her kneeling position was unstable, and her shoulders were pressed down hard. The pain in her joints made her shake her head and shoulders, but the person behind her pressed down on each movement.

"Let me go! What are you doing? Let me go..."

It hurts so much! How could the person behind me be so strong, twisting her so hard that she couldn't move? Her head hurt, her shoulders hurt, her arms hurt, and her back hurt too.

No one in the house paid any attention to her.

The woman in the ginger dress, supported by Granny Sun's hand, slowly moved to the table and sat down.

When she came in earlier, she was backlit and I couldn't see her face clearly.

Now, sitting down facing the door, she saw none other than her mother-in-law, Chen Zhangshi, whom she greeted daily.

Actually, it's not that Li Yang couldn't recognize his mother-in-law.

She went to pay her respects every day as if it were a chore. For four out of ten days, "Madam was unwell," so she was made to stand alone in the room. For another four days, "Young Madam behaved inappropriately," so she was made to stand outside as punishment. Even on the remaining two days, Madam Chen would always have endless complaints, leaving her with no choice but to bury her head in her hands.

On Chen Zhangshi's snow-white face, her dark eyebrows were slightly furrowed. Her long, narrow phoenix eyes were paired with light red lips and lipstick. Her face, as smooth as an oval, was carefully painted with lip rouge. It was not hard to see how beautiful she was when she was young.

Such a beautiful face was covered with a layer of frost.

The maid named Caiqing was dressed in a light yellow outfit, her rosy cheeks puffed out, looking quite pleased with herself.

She pushed the bamboo basket on the table toward Chen Zhangshi, who picked up a yellow handkerchief and lightly brushed it across her nose, looking rather impatient.

Upon seeing this, Granny Sun immediately darted in front of her and began rummaging through the items in the basket with both hands.

Beneath her grass-green blouse, a section of pale white trouser leg peeked out. Her barrel-like figure, extending to her neck, resembled a bunch of garlic cloves. She was loudly announcing the amount, "Madam, the total is fifty-three taels of silver."

After saying that, he threw the copper coin back into the basket. His face was deeply lined with wrinkles, his eyelids drooped into two crooked lines, and his thin lips were tightly pursed, making him look even worse than before.

Don't touch my coins!

Li Yang was terrified and tried to kick his leg, but was pulled back forcefully.

Damn it!

How could the maid in the Chen family be so strong as an ox!

At this moment, Caiqing cleared her throat and said, "Young Madam, you have been caught red-handed today. I advise you to confess quickly, so as not to delay Madam's work."

Seeing Li Yang frown at her, she continued, "Every servant in this courtyard knows that you spend half a day in this room every day, and we can hear you shouting 'silver' and 'copper' nonstop from far away. I think you should just admit it, it'll save you the trouble..."

The girl's voice was shrill, and she mimicked her usual way of counting copper coins in her room perfectly, like a parrot.

I always make sure no one is around before locking the door.

How could a maid from such a wealthy family be eavesdropping?

He was completely unaware of it.

If all this silver were stolen...

Thinking of this, Li Yang's chest pounded, "Acknowledge what?!"

"Young Madam, you've been caught red-handed today. You stole money from the house, and you still want to deny it!"

Granny Sun, being more experienced, pinned the blame on Li Yang with a single sentence, unlike Cai Qing, who chattered on and on without getting to the point.

Li Yang was so surprised that she couldn't speak. She had brought all this silver herself, so how could it be considered stealing silver from the Chen residence?

Unexpectedly, Caiqing exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "That's right, young mistress, are you trying to deny it?"

"But this is my own money, not from the house..." Li Yang quickly explained, coming back to his senses.

The next moment, Madam Chen rolled her eyes downwards, frowned, and said with annoyance, "Madam Li, since you have married into the Chen family, you should abide by your duties. But today you have committed theft. Such behavior is absolutely intolerable to my Chen family."

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and the maid behind Li Yang exerted her strength to drag her away.

"What theft?!"

Li Yang's face stiffened, his eyes immediately widening in fury as he shouted, "Don't talk nonsense! I told you, that's my own money! Give it back to me!"

No one in the house listened to her; one person held her down with one hand and tried to drag her out the door.

"Let go, let go of me! I told you that's my own money, let go!"

Li Yang frantically dug her legs into the floor tiles. She absolutely could not let anyone drag her out of this door today. Putting aside the contract with Chen Junbai, she couldn't afford to lose the fifty taels she brought here.

Thinking of this, she puffed out her chest, exerted force with her lower body, and swung her upper body wildly at the same time. Ignoring everything else, she dug her fingernails into the flesh of her back arm.

As the other person released her grip in pain, she suddenly jumped up, only to find that the other person instantly pulled back to drag her.

Bang--

She landed hard on her bottom, her tail throbbing with pain, tears welling in her eyes. She was quickly dragged in a straight line to the doorstep. Someone grabbed her by the waist, making a move to carry her out the door.

Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!!

"Mother."

A male voice came from the doorway.

"Bai'er, why are you back at this hour?"

Chen Zhangshi forced a smile, her expression changed, and she stood up to ask her son.

"Lord Zhang has sent word that he is going to a meeting, so I'm going back to change my clothes."

The man explained his purpose and stepped inside towards Chen Zhangshi.

A figure in light green glides past Li Yang's side, as bright as the moon, neither fast nor slow.

"What's wrong, Mother?"

In the blink of an eye, he saw Li Yang being captured and twisted at the door, tears in the corners of his eyes, struggling like a carp leaping and twisting.

Chen Junbo narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look at Chen Zhangshi.