Chapter 41: Settle the Account
Lin Tingfeng gritted his teeth and said, "Except for our divorce, I can agree to any of your requests."
Without waiting for Song Yanxi to say anything, he hurriedly added: "My marriage to Shihan is also an exception."
Seeing him look as if he had made a great sacrifice, Song Yanxi couldn't help but find it funny.
She couldn't help but ask, "No one has ever praised you before. Does the general have a good face?"
Lin Tingfeng frowned, "What do you mean?"
His intuition told him that nothing good came out of this woman's mouth.
Song Yanxi raised the corner of her lips and said, "General, you are so shameless. It's a pity that you don't use it to guard the city walls."
"Song, you are looking for death!" Lin Tingfeng's face suddenly darkened, his eyes dangerous.
Not only was Song Yanxi not afraid, she laughed even more happily, and even fearlessly stretched her neck forward to make it easier for him to attack.
His attitude was so arrogant and his appearance so conceited that even the bamboo branches next to him felt uncomfortable watching him.
Looking at that slender white neck, Lin Tingfeng's eyes darkened. He gritted his teeth and asked, "What do you want?"
"I don't want to do anything, I just have a score to settle with the general." Song Yanxi said coldly.
"You calculate!"
"The accounts at the General's Mansion are in a state of deficit. Since I took charge of the accounts on the second day after I married into the General's Mansion, I have paid at least eight thousand silver coins to the Duke. My mother-in-law always said that she would make up for it when the General returned. Now that the General has returned, it's time to repay the money."
"Eight thousand taels, why don't you go and rob it?" Lin Tingfeng's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
His annual salary, excluding the rewards for his military merits, was only eight hundred taels. She asked for ten years' salary from him at once. Did she really think that the money in the general's mansion came from the wind?
Song Yanxi raised an eyebrow, with surprise in her eyes, "Who told the general that it was eight thousand?"
Hearing this, Lin Tingfeng's expression eased slightly.
But before he could be happy, Song Yanxi seriously corrected him, "I just estimated the amount with the general. Maybe it's 11 or 12, or 14 or 15,000. It's all possible."
Lin Tingfeng's face darkened even more, his brows furrowed so tightly that they looked like they could pinch a fly to death. "When my mother and sister-in-law were housekeepers, they only spent two thousand taels at most. Are you trying to embellish everyone in the mansion with gold and silver?"
Song Yanxi nodded, "General, you're right. Just the clothes my mother-in-law is wearing today cost two or three hundred taels."
Afraid he wouldn't believe her, Zhuzhi took a half step forward and began to quote, "The Shu brocade the old lady is wearing is thirty taels per piece, the smoke gauze used for her outer tunic is twenty taels, the embroiderer's labor is ten taels, and the Dengyun sandals on her feet are eighteen taels."
That inconspicuous dress is actually worth seventy taels?
Lin Tingfeng just felt a pain in his flesh.
But this is only seventy taels, where did the remaining one hundred taels go?
Facing Lin Tingfeng's questioning gaze, Zhuzhi asked directly, "General, do you think my daughter has embezzled the money from the General's Mansion?"
Without waiting for his answer, she continued, "The headpiece the old lady is wearing was sold by the Treasure Pavilion for eighty taels. The emerald earrings on her ears cost twenty-eight taels, the gold bracelet on her hand cost sixty-eight taels, and the ring cost twenty-six taels."
Lin Tingfeng didn't know about the other things, but he had bought the gold bracelets. He only spent thirty taels to buy a pair as gifts for Zhuang Shihan.
He looked at Song Yanxi with disgust in his eyes and said coldly, "We are husband and wife. If you are short of money, just tell me directly. There is no need to teach your maid to lie."
Song Yanxi frowned, "General, do you think Zhuzhi lied about the price?"
Lin Tingfeng didn't say anything, but his look of extreme disappointment in her said it all.
Zhuzhi was so angry that she wanted to explain, but Song Yanxi reached out and grabbed her.
Worried that she would continue to suffer in silence like she had done before with Mrs. Lin and her daughter, the little girl was so angry that her eyes turned red.
Just as she was getting nervous, she heard Song Yanxi say coldly, "The purchases made in the mansion are all accounted for and can be checked. Zhu Yu has all the receipts. The general can send someone to compare them one by one."
"No need." Lin Tingfeng's face turned pale and he looked at her gravely, not knowing what he was thinking.
Song Yanxi didn't care what he was thinking, she just wanted to know when he could pay her back.
Given the shamelessness of this family, if these matters are not settled before the divorce, it will not be easy to get them to admit it later.
Seeing her thoughts, Lin Tingfeng was so angry that veins on his forehead jumped. "Why are you so anxious? Can the General's Mansion not pay you back this little money?"
Song Yanxi pursed her lips, her voice not loud but just loud enough for him to hear, "That's a nice thing to say. Everyone in the mansion knows that we're almost broke."
Zhuzhi nodded hurriedly, with a strange expression on her face, "The old lady has been talking about giving money to the young lady since the beginning of the year, but it's been almost half a year, and she hasn't even seen a penny."
"Okay, stop talking." Song Yanxi seemed to realize that Lin Tingfeng could hear her, and scolded him softly.
She said with disapproval, "How could such a huge general's mansion be so short of our tiny amount of money?"
As she spoke, Song Yanxi couldn't help but look at Lin Tingfeng, and said very sympathetically: "It doesn't matter if the general really can't come up with it. After all, we are family. Why should we divide it so clearly?"
"Who said I can't produce it?" Looking at her smiling face, Lin Tingfeng suddenly became furious.
He was a tall and strong man, and a general of a country. How could he be looked down upon by a woman in the harem?
This was the sentence Song Yanxi was waiting for, and the smile on her face instantly became more sincere.
Seeing her brilliant smile, Lin Tingfeng suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.
Sure enough, the next second he heard Song Yanxi ask, "When do you plan to return, General?"
"Do you have to do this?" Lin Tingfeng's expression was a little complicated.
He suddenly realized that everything he had thought before was wrong, extremely wrong.
The reason why Song Yanxi proposed divorce to him in public was not because she was angry as he thought or because she was jealous as Shihan said, but because she really wanted to leave the general's mansion.
Otherwise, with her intelligence, she would never make such a mess for a mere ten thousand taels of silver, making the already bad relationship between husband and wife even more distant.
Meeting his gaze, Song Yanxi frowned slightly, "General, are you trying to shirk your responsibility?"
The regret in Lin Tingfeng's eyes disappeared, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You are the daughter of the Marquis's family, and you keep talking about money. I don't know where you got this smell of money from.
Look at you, you don't look like the mistress of a general's mansion at all."
"General, why didn't you tell me when I asked for the key to my vault? Now that you're talking about paying me back, you smell the stench of money on me."
Song Yanxi's eyes were full of sarcasm. She was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and said directly: "Princess Shihan will eventually marry you. Since you are husband and wife, it doesn't matter if I ask her for the money."
She said, turning to leave.
"Stop!" Lin Tingfeng grabbed her wrist and warned her coldly, "As long as we remain together, you will be the general's wife."
Song Yanxi turned her head, the corners of her lips raised, "Yes, as long as I am the general's wife, your Princess Shihan will be your concubine."
"You!" Lin Tingfeng was extremely angry, but he couldn't refute.
Song Yanxi impatiently broke free from his hand and asked, "So, General, have you made up your mind? Who will pay for this?"
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