Chapter 35 Another wave rises
As soon as Su Shengsheng finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet and you could hear a pin drop.
But soon, the Fourth Madam's voice was heard loud and clear, "Did you all hear it clearly this time? I've been telling you this girl has ulterior motives, but you just wouldn't believe me. Now you've heard it with your own ears! She thought that by buying some things for the old lady, she could deceive everyone and embezzle the money. What a calculating person!"
Grandma slowly stood up, her eyes fixed on Su Shengsheng. "Sheng girl, I know you're not someone who's greedy for money. What's going on here?"
The Fourth Madam was about to speak when the First Madam stopped her, "Sixth girl, Auntie doesn't believe you'd keep anything to yourself, otherwise why would you wait until this moment? Do you have a reason?"
Ning Yu followed closely behind, kneeling on the ground, her eyes red as she stared at Su Shengsheng's resolute profile.
She took a deep breath and kowtowed, saying, "Old Madam, everything the young lady did was for the Su family, without any selfish motives!"
The reason why Su Shengsheng chose to remain silent was because she knew very well that even if she told the truth, given the Su family's personality, their business would be interrupted.
She had made up her mind not to argue even if she was misunderstood.
The old lady looked at her deeply, "Sheng girl, it's not that grandma doesn't trust you, but there must be a reason for everything you do."
Su Shengsheng's eyes moved slightly, then she lowered her head, put her hands on the ground, and kowtowed slowly, "Granddaughter has nothing to say."
"Did you all hear it clearly? She herself is speechless, and you still don't believe it?" The Fourth Lady said loudly.
At this time, Qing Ning and the other two, who had been repeatedly reminded by Su Shengsheng, were extremely anxious, but they did not dare to go against her wishes.
Just when they were getting anxious, Ji Yanli's voice came from outside.
"Junior knows."
In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn over.
Ji Yanli saw yesterday that only half of the books in the old man's study had been sorted out, so he thought of coming here to help.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived outside the courtyard, he heard the Su family questioning Su Shengsheng repeatedly.
He walked into the room, bowed, and said, "I have already promised Sixth Miss that this matter cannot be disclosed to others. I hope the elders will trust Sixth Miss's character."
Su Shengsheng raised her head, her brows slightly furrowed.
She sighed helplessly in her heart, did he have to butt in?
The room fell silent again.
Although Ji Yanli didn't know Su Shengsheng's specific plan, he believed in her character and didn't want her to be misunderstood by the Su family.
Facing Old Master Su's puzzled gaze, Ji Yanli bowed and said, "Old Master, I originally wanted to marry the Sixth Miss as soon as possible, but the Sixth Miss was concerned about her family and did not agree. If she really had selfish motives, why would she have given up all that money? I hope the elders will understand."
The men had not returned from work yet, and the women didn't say much when they heard about it.
The old lady's eyes were calm. "What is Sheng going to do? Does Master Ji know?"
Ji Yanli's expression was calm, "Sixth Miss just wants to arrange everything for the family"
After hearing this, Mrs. Li breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat back down.
Seeing that the old lady's expression had eased and everyone stopped asking questions, the fourth lady could no longer hold back.
"What serious matter has it happened that requires mortgaging the entire house and shop? And they've borrowed money at such high interest rates. How could they possibly be involved in something that carries interest? Master Ji, please help persuade the Sixth Girl."
There was a hint of suspicion in her words, as if implying that the two of them were in collusion, and she also implied that Ji Yanli knew about her predicament but stood by and watched.
Ji Yanli's words were just an emergency response, and he was speechless for a moment.
But he couldn't reveal what Su Shengsheng said to him in private.
Seeing Ji Yanli fall silent, the Fourth Madam's face lit up with joy, and she immediately asked, "Could it be that Master Ji has also been deceived by Miss Sheng?"
Su Shengsheng didn't want to embarrass Ji Yanli, so she looked up at Su Wenqian and asked, "I wonder how Fifth Sister found out that I was mortgaging the house deed?"
Su Wenqian's face changed slightly, and she looked awkwardly at the few glances that were cast at her.
"Isn't this a coincidence? Fourth aunt was worried about your short thing, so she sent Fifth Girl to check it out. Unexpectedly, she ran into this incident... With such a big thing happening, you can't blame your Fourth aunt for not giving you face, right?" The Fourth Lady took over the conversation first.
Su Shengsheng smiled lightly, "From the bookstore to the pawnshop, one is in the east of the town and the other is in the west. That's really a coincidence!"
Mrs. Li quickly realized something was amiss. "Good elder, if you suspected Sheng'er of embezzling money, you could have confronted her directly. But you actually sent someone to secretly follow your niece. That's outrageous."
Su Shengsheng looked coldly at her panicked fourth aunt.
The best way to fight back is never to keep proving yourself.
Ji Yanli frowned slightly and glanced at Su Wenqian, who looked unnatural.
The Fourth Lady saw that the matter was exposed, and even Ji Yanli showed a look of awareness on his face. She didn't want to lose everything and neither side would gain anything.
So she just gave up and said, "What do you mean my own niece? Such a large sum of money is gone just like that. I have to consider my daughter too, right?"
Seeing that she couldn't win the argument, the Fourth Lady began to play the victim, hoping that the other families with children would think more about whether to give all the money to Su Shengsheng as a dowry.
Later, when she heard no one helping her and saw that Ji Yanli insisted on siding with Su Shengsheng, the Fourth Lady simply started to act like a scoundrel.
She held the handkerchief and wailed, "I can't live anymore. I just want some money to support myself. Is that wrong?"
When the Second Lady saw the Fourth Wife's behavior, she knew that she must have done something wrong and was afraid of being exposed.
"You did something wrong, so you shouldn't use other things as an excuse, and you shouldn't behave so rudely in front of guests."
"What benefit did your second wife get from the sixth girl? You always speak for her." The fourth lady not only did not stop, but also wailed again.
She simply let Ji Yanli see clearly what kind of burden marrying Su Shengsheng would bring, so that Su Shengsheng could not get married and the shop would remain in the Su family.
Because even if Su Shengsheng gets married, given the old lady's love for her, she will give her the shop as a dowry.
Even if Su Shengsheng contributed some money to the Su family after marriage, she still couldn't support dozens of people.
What's more, they have already offended Su Shengsheng. If she gains power, she will not have time to step on them.
The women were having a headache and didn't know what to do when they suddenly heard someone outside asking a question.
"I wonder if this is the residence of the Imperial Tutor, Old Master Su?"
When the visitor mentioned the name of the Imperial Teacher, the Fourth Lady's wailing stopped abruptly, and she looked outside with everyone in the room.
The sun was shining brightly and the windows were open.
There was a beautiful woman in gorgeous clothes standing in the yard, followed by many servants.
After taking a look, the grandmother looked away, and only then realized that Su Shengsheng was still kneeling on the ground.
She stepped forward and helped Su Shengsheng up personally. "Grandma was so angry that she forgot you were still kneeling."
Su Shengsheng's legs were really numb at this time, so she took advantage of her grandmother's hand and was helped up by Qing Ning and others.
Old Master Su had already walked outside. "I am this old man. May I know who this lady is?"
When the Fourth Lady saw the other party's demeanor and saw that he directly mentioned the old master, she immediately restrained her arrogance.
As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. After all, the old man was the emperor's teacher. Maybe some high-ranking officials will come to help him.
"My wife is the wife of the prince of the Ningguo Mansion. She came here specially to visit Old Master Su."
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