Seeing that Shen Wei was truly angry, Jiang Shi could only bite the bullet and reply, "They were all gifts given to my husband by others."
"Others?" Shen Wei slammed his hand on the table. "Who are they?"
"There are...there are the soldiers under my husband's command, as well as Minister Wang and Assistant Minister Liu from the Ministry of Revenue, and Ministers Chang, Zhang, and Tian from the Ministry of War..."
As Jiang finished speaking, she gradually lost her confidence, because she knew that many of these people were people that Shen Wei disliked associating with.
By the end of Jiang's speech, Shen Wei's face had become beyond ashen. His expression darkened, and he said sternly, "When did I ever allow you to accept their gifts?"
"I……"
Jiang opened her lips, but couldn't utter a single word in defense.
Shen Wei did not allow her to accept gifts in private, but those nice things... why not take them if they're free!
Having probably discerned what Jiang was thinking, Shen Wei said, "I'll give you two days to find all these gifts that you shouldn't have accepted and return them!"
Return it?
Since I've already accepted the gift, there's no reason for me to return it.
Jiang knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down her face like broken beads. "Husband, I know I was wrong. I will never do it again!"
The implication was that the matter of the gifts she had received in the past should not be pursued, and that she would change her ways in the future.
"Dare not?" Shen Wei sneered. "If someone else brought in a chest full of gold and silver treasures, could you resist the urge to accept them?"
Jiang raised her head and wiped away her tears, "I...I..."
Seeing a hint of hesitation in her eyes, Shen Wei shook his head in disappointment. "You used to not care about these mundane things at all."
These words struck Jiang's heart like a boulder, instantly creating a huge uproar.
She stood up agitatedly, pointing at Chen Wei: "The past, the past again! Why do you keep bringing up the past? So much time has passed, why can't you look forward? What is it that you can't forget!"
Seeing Jiang's agitated state, Shen Wei closed his eyes, his voice carrying a sense of desolation.
"Guards, take the lady away. She is not to leave the Martial Virtue Courtyard!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Shen Yuan: "Yuan Yuan, you've just taken over the household, and your father is already making you work so hard. These past few days, I've had the trouble of taking stock of all those items of dubious origin and returning them all. If there are any items whose source cannot be traced, then send them to the Ministry of Revenue for confiscation!"
Shen Yuan rubbed her hands together: "Okay!"
After giving his instructions, Shen Wei left Wude Academy first.
His personal servant went into the room to get a few changes of clothes, and then followed him out.
Seeing that Shen Wei was going to move to the study again, Jiang collapsed to the ground, shaking her head repeatedly as if mocking herself, while laughing, but her smile was full of bitterness.
Shen Yuan coldly observed this scene. It turned out that even the loving couple who were described by outsiders as having a deep affection and harmonious relationship could not escape being estranged and having different dreams while sleeping in the same bed.
Seeing the expression on Shen Yuan's face, Jiang suddenly stood up, supporting herself on the chair leg: "Are you laughing at me? What right do you have to laugh at me? Do you think you can drive me away?"
"What good would it do me to get rid of you?" Shen Yuan shrugged speechlessly, then turned around and gave the servants of Wude Courtyard a sharp look.
"Men, search the entire premises!"
Jiang was taken aback: "Search for what?"
Shen Yuan's lips curled slightly, "How am I supposed to know how many gifts you've received over the years if I don't find the gift list?"
Jiang's eyes widened in shock, and she smashed a teacup on the table with her hand, shouting in a shrill voice, "You wild girl, what right do you have to search my house?"
Shen Yuan: "Since I have the authority to manage the household, can't I even search a courtyard?"
"Ha!" Jiang shouted coldly, "Let's see who dares to search my courtyard today!"
Seeing that Madam Jiang was angry, the maids and nannies of Wude Courtyard were so frightened that they dared not breathe. Most of them were Madam Jiang's people, so how could they dare to search Madam Jiang's room?
Seeing that the maids and nannies in her courtyard did not listen to Shen Yuan, Jiang Shi curled her lips in a smug smile.
A mere girl trying to compete with her? She's too green!
Faced with Jiang's smugness and disdain, Shen Yuan remained calm and glanced back at the servants in the courtyard.
"Think carefully, everyone. I am now in charge of the household, and I am also the one who can arbitrarily dispose of servants and sell slaves!"
"Since you don't obey my orders, then the General's Mansion doesn't want servants who don't listen to their masters!"
"Bai Zhi, fetch their indentures and send them away!"
Bai Zhi immediately went to carry out Shen Yuan's instructions.
Seeing this, the servants of Wude Courtyard dared not disobey Shen Yuan any longer and hurriedly rolled up their sleeves to rummage through chests and cabinets to find the gift list.
Apart from Jiang's two dowry maids and nanny, whose contracts were not in the mansion, they were not afraid of Shen Yuan and rushed out to protect Jiang's belongings, preventing Shen Yuan from searching them.
However, they were outnumbered and weak. As soon as Shen Yuan raised her hand, two servants rushed out from the corner and pinned them down.
This time, Shen Wei not only issued a ban on Jiang Shi, forbidding her from leaving Wude Academy, but also forbidding Shen Yunjin and the two brothers Shen Qingshu and Shen Changshu from entering or leaving Wude Academy.
Therefore, the Jiang family was isolated and helpless.
Shen Yuan quickly found what she wanted in Jiang's bedroom.
She took the gift list to the storeroom and inventoried all the items on it.
If the warehouse didn't have it, she led her people to the Jiang residence to move it.
After two days of busy work, Shen Yuan actually managed to take inventory of quite a few things.
During this time, Old Madam Shen came to visit with some people. She was extremely disgusted by Jiang's behavior: "Our Shen family has an iron will, three generations of soldiers. The honor we enjoy today was earned by fighting on the battlefield! She is almost erasing such a good reputation! She is really greedy!"
After saying that, Madam Shen added with some concern, "If we return these things untouched, we might offend quite a few people. But if we don't return them, it won't be easy to explain to your father either; he's a very stubborn man!"
What Madam Shen considered, Shen Yuan naturally also considered.
She smiled faintly: "I will personally bring these gifts to their door and explain the reason, so I will not offend them."
Hearing Shen Yuan say this, Old Madam Shen looked at her in surprise. This girl had clearly grown up in the countryside since childhood, but through the management of the household these past few days, she found that this girl was more like a young lady of the General's Mansion than Shen Yunjin, who had always been raised in the General's Mansion.
She was not only skilled at managing her subordinates, managing to keep the servants in the mansion in line within just a few days, but she was also good at accounting and bookkeeping. She possessed all the household management skills that a young lady from an official family knew.
Madam Shen couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for Shen Yuan: "That old woman Liu Yingjun has really taught you very well!"
In fact, Shen Yuan learned these skills not from Granny Liu, but from a mansion that was even more magnificent and treacherous than the General's Mansion.
But Shen Yuan did not explain.
She asked, "Madam, was my grandmother a servant in the General's Mansion before?"
"Yes and no."
What do you mean by that?
Madam Shen sighed and explained, "She was the midwife your father specially hired for your mother before he went to war. I also asked someone to find her. I kept her in the manor to take care of your mother and ensure her safe delivery. But she wasn't a servant I bought, so there's no indenture for her in the manor!"
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