After a moment's silence, Chen asked in a cold voice, "Tell me, what exactly is the reason for you to gather so many people to the Marquis' Mansion?"
Hearing this, Ji Nian's face became even stiffer than before.
But as if to save face, Ji Nian's attitude was even stiffer than before, and he said bluntly: "Just because there is nothing wrong, can't our clan members come to the Marquis' Mansion? Chen, you must not forget your roots!"
"What do you mean by forgetting your roots?"
Chen frowned, her expression even uglier than before.
At this moment, she seemed to realize why this group of people came to the old house.
Chen's lips moved and she asked directly, "Are you here to take advantage of me?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ji Nian's face was even uglier than before. "We are all family, how can you call it extortion?"
Chen: “…”
Ji Nian's words left Chen speechless.
At this time, a member of the tribe stood up and continued what Ji Nian said, "That's right, we are all family, how can it be called extortion?"
“That’s right!”
"You can't live a good life, so you forget your roots. Don't you care about the life and death of your family members?"
"That's right, you can't be heartless."
“…”
Everyone was talking one after another, leaving Chen with nothing to refute. Her face looked even uglier than before.
After a moment of stalemate, Chen took a deep breath and tried her best to be patient.
He explained slowly: "If I remember correctly, the Marquis' Mansion has been giving fifty taels of silver to my hometown every month since it came to the capital. After Yunchuan's wedding and Shen Ningyuan's entry, the amount increased from fifty taels to one hundred taels. Isn't this money enough for you to spend?"
"Good of you, Chen. Since you still remember that the Marquis's Mansion is supposed to give the old house one hundred taels every month, then this matter is easy to deal with. Let me ask you, why hasn't that hundred taels been delivered this month? Even the clansmen we sent to collect the money some time ago were chased away by the Marquis's servants."
Ji Nian pointed at Chen and asked very rudely.
Upon hearing this, Chen's face jumped and she asked sharply, "When did this happen? How come I don't know anything about it?"
"Stop playing dumb!" Ji Nian snorted coldly, "Look at what you've done to the man!"
As he spoke, Ji Nian waved his hand, and a young man who was beaten all over walked out of the crowd.
The wounds on his face were obviously from being beaten a few days ago.
Chen's brows furrowed even more tightly. "Nonsense! I never sent anyone to attack anyone back home. The monthly payment of one hundred taels of silver has never stopped!"
"You said you never stopped paying, so show us the evidence! We haven't received a single cent!"
Seeing Ji Nian's arrogant attitude, Chen knew that these people would not leave unless they were given an explanation today.
After thinking for a moment, Chen said slowly, "Wait a moment, I'll send someone to find out."
After saying that, Chen called the gatekeeper and asked him if anyone had come to the old house before.
The servant nodded and said, "Madam, I have indeed been here."
"Then why didn't you report it?" Chen asked in a deep voice.
The servant immediately put on a bitter face and said, "Madam, I reported it, but you were in a bad mood at the time and asked me to send the man away. But the man refused to leave no matter how hard I tried. I had no choice but to beat him up and drive him away."
The servant's voice became weaker and weaker, and it was obvious that he felt guilty.
After listening to his story, Chen's face turned so dark that ink could be squeezed out of it.
She remembered that this was indeed the case.
At that time, she was irritated by Shen Ningyuan, so when the servant came over to talk about this, she didn't let the servant finish his words and asked him to send him away.
After all the fuss, it turned out that the misunderstanding arose at that time.
Seeing Chen's expression, Ji Nian snorted coldly, "Did you hear that? The matter is clear now. It was you who drove them away!"
Chen quickly apologized with a smile, "Clan leader, this is all a misunderstanding. Even if I had a hundred guts, I wouldn't dare to chase anyone away from my hometown. If my Lord finds out, he'll definitely divorce me!"
After hearing this, Ji Nian snorted coldly, "You still know what's good for you!"
"Since this is just a misunderstanding, let it go. I won't hold it against you." Ji Nian changed the subject, "But why did the monthly payments to my hometown suddenly stop?"
Chen quickly denied it, "That's even more impossible. The money given to the old house is paid out every month."
"But we didn't receive any silver." Ji Nian emphasized again.
Seeing that the other person's expression didn't seem fake, Chen frowned even more tightly, tilted her head to look at Nanny Hai, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, what exactly is going on?"
Nanny Hai stepped forward, leaned close to Chen's ear, and whispered, "Madam, you've probably forgotten that after the young master passed away, the young mistress took control of the dowry and even hired a new accountant. I guess it was around that time that the young mistress had the money going to the old house stopped."
Chen's expression tightened, and she gritted her teeth and cursed: "Chen Ningyuan, this bitch, only knows how to cause trouble for me!"
Matron Hai also sighed, "Alas! Madam, the situation is already settled. After the young mistress took the dowry, the Marquis' Mansion doesn't have much money left in its accounts. You should think about what to do!"
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