Chapter 219: The Farce of the Cheng Family

Old Mrs. Cheng felt so exhausted that she waved her hand at her son, "Go find your wife, and then go find the second and third sons, and ask them to call their wives as well.

Now that the mansion has run into difficulties, we need their help right away. Call them all over and I will talk to them in person.

In addition, please gather all the banknotes from all the courtyards and rooms in the mansion and send them to me to see how much silver is left and whether I can fill the gap."

"Yes...son, go call for help right away."

Boss Cheng turned to leave, but Old Lady Cheng called him back again: "Don't forget to check on your lifeblood. His yard has also been robbed. Go and comfort him and let him stay in the yard with peace of mind. He will need his money to spend.

It's just that things have been going on a lot lately, so let him be quiet and don't make any more trouble at this critical moment. Once this is over, let him do whatever he wants."

"My son understands."

After coming out of Old Lady Cheng's yard, Old Master Cheng first went to find Old Master Cheng II and Old Master Cheng III and told them what the old lady had instructed them to do.

After that, he didn't care about their reactions and hurried to look for his wife.

Madam Cheng was not Boss Cheng’s original wife. She was Boss Cheng’s second wife. Boss Cheng’s son was not born to her, but to his deceased wife.

She had been married for just ten years, and because she looked down on Old Master Cheng for being stupid and lustful, she seldom let him spend the night in her yard.

Therefore, over the years, she only gave birth to a daughter.

Now that silver had been stolen from the house, after checking that her belongings were not lost, Mrs. Cheng wisely kept her head down and stayed in the yard to avoid attracting attention.

But I didn't expect that someone would still keep an eye on me.

She looked coldly at Boss Cheng who didn't dare to look at her, and sneered: "You Cheng family are really calculating. You are very careful about your money, for fear that we, the daughters-in-law, will take it away from you.

Now that your house has been robbed, you have too much money to spend, and you are targeting us daughters-in-law. Ha! All the good things in the world have been taken by your Cheng family!"

Boss Cheng was so angry at the mockery that he said, "What do you mean your family and my family? You are the daughter-in-law of the Cheng family! The Cheng family is your family! Now that your family is in trouble, you should help them!"

"That's better than singing!" Madam Cheng slammed the table and stood up. "The thief only stole the cash! The other property and banknotes were left untouched! If you really need money, just sell some of it!

You are holding on to your own things and are unwilling to sell them, but you are always thinking about other people's things! When it comes to scheming, no one can compare to your Cheng family!"

"You!" Boss Cheng raised his hand angrily.

Madam Cheng was not afraid of him: "Go ahead and hit me! If you dare to touch me today, I will fight to the death to deliver a letter to the Shen and Bai families!"

Boss Cheng's face turned pale and he panicked instantly: "How do you know about the Shen and Bai families?"

"So many boxes, and they were sent in without even a cover. The same goes for your Cheng family. You accepted them openly without a cover. I've never seen anyone as bold as you!"

It was also because of this that Madam Cheng immediately sent a letter to her parents' home, informing them that the Cheng family had accepted tributes from the Chen and Bai families, and that they were keeping their family property for them.

At the same time, she also proposed a divorce, hoping that her parents' family would send someone to preside over the divorce.

Calculating the time, the reply from home will soon arrive.

Regardless, Mrs. Chen's threats were very effective.

Boss Cheng lowered his raised hand again, his face turning ashen.

He knew his wife's abilities and that her family was not simple. If he really angered his wife, no matter how powerful the Cheng family was, they would have to be courteous.

"I've already told you. It's up to you whether you want to go or not!"

After saying this, Boss Cheng flicked his sleeves and left angrily.

Mrs. Cheng was not scared by this. She said she would not go and that meant she would not go.

She knew that Boss Cheng was in a state of impotent rage, and at this moment, he could only utter harsh words.

Compared to the toughness of Madam Cheng Da, Madam Cheng Er and Madam Cheng San are not so tough.

They have neither sons to support them nor a well-off family to support them.

Therefore, when they heard that Old Lady Cheng was asking them to come over, they knew exactly what she meant.

This is to fill the hole and they are eyeing their dowries!

The two sisters-in-law were angry and panicked, but they didn't dare not go.

After hesitating for a long time, the two sisters-in-law brought their maids and servants to Old Lady Cheng's room.

Old Mrs. Cheng knew that they had guessed why she was looking for them, and she also knew that they would definitely not come soon, so she thought they would have to delay for a while.

Unexpectedly, two people came after waiting for a while.

Old Mrs. Cheng glanced at them and found that the one who was not there was the eldest son's wife.

"Didn't you invite your sister-in-law along when you came?"

The two sisters-in-law were stunned for a moment, "Didn't the eldest sister-in-law come?"

Madam Cheng's yard was a little far from their yard, and they had waited for so long on purpose, so they thought that Madam Cheng should have arrived a long time ago.

"I guess you were busy and forgot about it." Old Mrs. Cheng said in a light tone, and she didn't sound angry. She called the maid who was waiting outside and asked her to go and invite Madam Cheng again.

The maid outside responded and quickly went to look for Madam Cheng.

"Please sit down." Facing her daughters-in-law, Old Mrs. Cheng was unusually gentle today.

The two sisters-in-law were not relieved, but their worries became even higher.

The more gentle it is, the greater the request may be.

Sure enough, the two sisters-in-law put their butts on the stools, and Old Lady Cheng told them half true and half false stories about the situation at home.

"…The cash that was lost is nothing to our family, the big silver notes and other valuables are not lost.

It would be great if the cash can be found, but it doesn’t matter if it can’t be found. To our family, it’s just a small amount.

It is almost the end of the year. When the shopkeepers and the managers of the farms send us the profits for the second half of the year, the family will have enough cash again. "

Hearing this, the two sisters-in-law breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other secretly. From the tone of his voice, it seemed that he was not going to take their dowries. Could it be that they had misunderstood?

Just when the two were puzzled, Old Lady Cheng changed the subject and talked about something.

"If there were no other problems, as I said, our family would not be sad because of the loss of silver.

Unfortunately, a few days ago, the Empress in the womb sent back a message saying that the Third Prince would soon set up a residence. The Empress was worried that the Third Prince would not have enough money, so she sent a message back, asking the family to immediately prepare 200,000 silver coins to be sent to Kyoto. "

The two sisters-in-law were disappointed. They had no idea about the Cheng family's annual harvest and thought that the Cheng family was no different from other wealthy families.

When he heard the empress in the palace ask for two hundred thousand taels of silver, he immediately felt dissatisfied!

Does the Empress in the Palace think that the Cheng family is a money house?

Just one word is two hundred thousand taels! How could the Cheng family, who had just lost the silver, possibly come up with it?

Old Lady Cheng didn't look at the changing expressions of her two sisters-in-law, and said directly: "The Queen and the Third Prince are our family's greatest support. Only when the Queen is stable, our Cheng family will be stable.

Since the queen has asked for it, I have no choice but to give it to her. I thought I would borrow some silver from you first, and then give it to the queen. When the harvest arrives at the end of the year, I will return it to you then.”

Old Mrs. Cheng finished speaking slowly, picked up the tea bowl on the table and took a sip.

Before the two sisters-in-law could speak, the voice of the eldest maid came from outside the door: "Madam, the eldest lady said that she is not feeling well, so she will not come. She said she will come to pay her respects and talk to you when she is better..."

The two sisters-in-law in the room were stunned. Why was the eldest sister-in-law so tough today?

The old lady asked her maid to go and invite him personally, but no one came.

I glanced at the old lady stealthily, and saw that her face was dark and her eyes were cold.

The two sisters-in-law shuddered and thought something was wrong.

Old Mrs. Cheng, who was humiliated by her eldest daughter-in-law, was extremely angry!

But now is not the time to be angry.

She turned her gaze to her two sisters-in-law: "Since your eldest sister-in-law can't come, I will go there myself later! What about you? What do you two sisters-in-law say?"

How to say it?

They also wanted to stay away from her like their elder sister-in-law.

It’s a pity that they don’t have the confidence.

But two hundred thousand taels was too much. Even if both of them took out all of it, it would still be far from enough.

Madam Cheng hesitated for a while, then gritted her teeth and asked, "Since the queen is waiting for money, the mansion should take it. But... I don't know how much the gap is?

You also know that my third brother's wife and I cannot compare to my eldest sister-in-law. If it is only tens of thousands, I can take it out, but more than that, I really can't take it out..."

This made Old Lady Cheng very dissatisfied!

What's the use of eight thousand?!

What she wants is for them to hand over all their dowries, no matter what they are. After that, she will find a way to sell them for silver!

But selling the daughter-in-law's dowry was neither easy nor pleasant to say, and Old Mrs. Cheng originally wanted to wait for them to know what was good for them and hand it over themselves.

Now it seems that she still has to speak frankly.

"The mansion just lost some silver, so the shortfall is huge! I thought you could hand over your dowries and sell them to get the silver to solve this urgent problem. Afterwards, the mansion will return you double the amount, and you won't suffer any loss."

The two sisters-in-law changed their expressions instantly!

So the government didn't intend to take their money, but wanted them to sell their dowries to fill the hole in the family? !

The two sisters-in-law were so angry that they felt dizzy!

Mrs. Cheng San was about to turn her face away and say it was impossible, but Mrs. Cheng Er, who was standing by, secretly kicked her and signaled her to stop making trouble for the time being.

Mrs. Cheng San paused and swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

Madam Cheng Er took a deep breath and said, "Mother, this is a big deal. Please let us go back and think about it..."

Old Mrs. Cheng knew that it would be difficult for them to accept it for the time being, so she agreed to let them go back and think about it.

"Go ahead, think about it carefully. The mansion is having a hard time right now, but we just need to hold on for a while. When the time comes, the mansion will definitely remember your kindness."

This sounds better than singing.

The two sisters-in-law had stiff faces, forced a smile, bowed to Old Lady Cheng, and left the house one after the other.

After leaving Old Lady Cheng's yard, the two sisters-in-law dared to show their displeasure, their faces turned ashen!

I have never seen such a shameless person!

If you want to sell things for money, just sell your Cheng family's things. No one will stop you. How can you force a daughter-in-law to sell her dowry? !

No matter how you explain it, this doesn't make sense!

"Second sister-in-law, what should you and I do?" Mrs. Cheng San was angry and panicked, and couldn't think of any solution for a while.

Madam Cheng was silent for a while, then pulled her to another road: "Let's go find our eldest sister-in-law and ask her for her attention!"

Mrs. Cheng San's eyes lit up, remembering that her eldest sister-in-law hadn't even come, yet she dared to go against the old lady. There must be a way to resolve the situation!

"Let's go! Let's go quickly!"

Madam Cheng had already expected her two sisters-in-law to come, and she had been waiting in the warm room.

After the maid came in to greet them, she asked her to stand guard outside, and then asked her two sisters-in-law a question.

"Is the old lady planning to take your dowry?"

The two sisters-in-law were stunned. She really guessed it right.

Madam Cheng sighed, "Just now the old lady said that the queen in the palace sent a letter asking for silver, saying that the third prince will soon open a mansion, and she is worried that the silver will not be enough, so she asked the mansion to raise 200,000 taels of silver and send it to Kyoto."

"Two hundred thousand taels?!" Madam Cheng screamed, "Does the queen in the palace think that the Cheng family is a bank that only takes in money but never gives out money? The mansion just sent 100,000 taels of silver in the first half of the year, and now they want another 200,000 taels? Even a bank can't stand such a demand!"

"The Cheng family can give their money if they want to. We, the daughters-in-law, can't enjoy it anyway."

Madam Cheng's face turned grim as she spoke, "When my third brother's wife and I went there, we thought the old lady wanted us to give some money to help out.

Who would have thought... the old lady actually asked us to hand over all our dowries, saying she wanted to find a way to sell them for silver!

They said that the gap of 200,000 taels was too big, and the money we had was not enough to fill the gap. We could only fill the gap by selling our dowry!"

"Bah!" Madam Cheng spat, "I'm afraid the old lady is just kidding you! The Cheng family's current financial shortfall is much more than just two hundred thousand. By then, we may be able to pay it back even if we sell all the family property!"

Madam Cheng San was so shocked by these words that she stood up and staggered two steps: "Why do you say that, sister-in-law? But what do you know? If you know something, please save us, sister-in-law!"

As she said that, she lifted up her skirt and knelt down!

"Third sister-in-law!" Madam Cheng held her back, "Why is it necessary to do this? We three sisters-in-law have always gotten along well with each other. I didn't tell you before because I thought things might not get out of hand.

I didn't expect the money in the mansion to be stolen. This is troublesome. Sooner or later, the incident will come to light!"

"What's going on? Please tell us, sister-in-law, so that we can be prepared." Mrs. Cheng's face was pale and she was obviously frightened.

Madam Cheng lowered her voice and told the two about the affairs of the Shen and Bai families. Upon hearing this, the two sisters-in-law slumped down in the round chairs.

“…Although we don’t know exactly how much silver there is, dozens of boxes containing silver have been moved into the warehouse one after another!

There are so many boxes, and I don’t know whether there is silver or gold inside. If it is gold, how much would it be if it was converted into silver?

Now they have all been stolen by thieves. My idiot has released the guards and hired constables to search the whole city for the strangers.

Now the news has spread outside, I guess it will sooner or later reach the ears of the Shen and Bai families! When the time comes, the Shen and Bai families will definitely come to our house to ask for money, what will the mansion give them?"