Chapter 93 Collapse
The newly grown, delicate skin was extremely sensitive. As warm, gentle breath brushed against it, Xie Qi couldn't help but straighten up.
It felt like tiny ants were crawling all over my back, a slightly itchy and uncomfortable sensation that crept up my spine and down to my neck.
Xie Qi felt the downy hair on his neck stand up, and his waist suddenly went limp.
He tilted his body strangely, his reddened ear tips seeming to steam with scalding heat, forcing him to hastily rub them away.
Shen Yuanzhu saw that he had a sullen face and his lips were tightly pursed, as if he was unwilling to be violated.
"..."
She stood up straight, looking dejected.
"I'll have the wet nurse apply some medicine to your wound. Don't let it get wet."
Xie Qi mumbled an unclear "hmm," and seeing Shen Yuanzhu lean back as if trying to distance herself from him, he grabbed her hand without thinking.
"Go to Yujintang first, and we'll treat the wound when we get back."
He grabbed the person and strode towards Yujintang.
Along the way, Shen Yuanzhu's steps were repeatedly jolted off course by his pressure, but Xie Qi seemed oblivious, keeping half of his body pressed tightly against hers.
"you……"
She looked up, intending to make Xie Qi move away from her, but Xie Qi turned around and stared at her intently with watery eyes.
Shen Yuanzhu seemed to sense a hint of seduction, which made her swallow back the words she wanted to say.
Xie Qi's heart was pounding, and his palms, gripping the Shen Yuan Pearl, were damp with sweat from nervousness.
He was nervous, worried that she would find him unpleasant, but he refused to let go no matter what.
The two finally reached Yujin Hall, and Shen Yuanzhu was covered in fine sweat from his close contact.
Fortunately, Yu Jintang was in complete chaos at this time, and Xie Qi's attention was also drawn to it, so Shen Yuanzhu took the opportunity to shake him off.
She took a handkerchief from her sleeve and carefully wiped her palms behind her back, then rolled up a clean corner and pressed it to her forehead.
"How dare you? That's not just three or five thousand taels of silver. How could you steal money from the account and secretly send it to Jiang Hong?"
Xie Chengzhi knelt in the center of the hall. Soon, all the Xie family members arrived, and Shen Yuanzhu understood what had happened.
It turns out that Xie Chengzhi wanted to curry favor with Jiang You and secretly gave the Jiang family a lot of benefits. Now that Jiang You is in prison, all that money has naturally gone down the drain.
Xie San Niang's face was ashen, Xie Boyu's face was flushed with anxiety, and Hua Nanzhi stood to the side with her eyes downcast, occasionally revealing resentment.
Among those present, Xie Xuchuan and Jiang Wansu had the most pleasant expressions.
Every time Jiang Hong or the Jiang family was mentioned, Jiang Wansu would shrink back and hide behind Xie Xuchuan, while Xie Xuchuan stared blankly at the two who entered hand in hand.
Thinking of his suspicions, Xie Qi subtly stepped in front of Shen Yuanzhu.
Shen Yuanzhu poked his back and whispered expressionlessly, "You're blocking my view of the show."
Xie Qi turned around, lowered his head, bent down slightly, and brought his ear close to her face.
The two acted intimately, which made Xie Xuchuan's eyes turn red.
"How was I supposed to know that Jiang You would be a prisoner when he was perfectly fine? Besides, Jiang Hong is no good either. I gave him the job, and he just took it!"
“Taking advantage of our family’s kinship, he ruthlessly exploited me…”
Xie Boyu said, "It's already widely known in Suzhou that the position of the Imperial Textile Commissioner may be replaced. Why are you still going to join in at this time?"
Xie Chengzhi knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face: "It's because that position is going to be changed, so I wanted to take advantage of the fact that Jiang You's words still carry some weight, and that our families are related by marriage, to get him to find me a position in the Textile Bureau at this last moment."
As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Wansu, then quickly crawled on his knees a few times before turning around: "It's your damned father. Of all the people he could scheme against, he had to scheme against his own family."
"If he hadn't patted his chest and said with absolute certainty that he could definitely get this done, would I have secretly withdrawn so much money from the account?"
After Xie Chengzhi finished speaking, Zheng Shu also started to wail and waile: "My second master thought that once he entered the textile and dyeing bureau, our Xie family would have a powerful backer. How could he have imagined that Jiang Hong would be so shameless as to accept the money so easily?"
"Who would have thought that old eunuch Jiang You would collapse so quickly? This Jiang family girl is such an unlucky choice to marry; not only did she not gain any benefits, she also deliberately deceived her own family!"
Zheng Shu pounded the ground with both hands, sounding like she was crying and howling, but her voice was melodious and varied, making people feel only amusement and not sympathy.
Jiang Wansu was scolded so badly that she trembled like a leaf in the cold wind, clutching Xie Xuchuan's belt.
She was already in dire straits at the Xie family's house, walking on thin ice every day. Who would have thought that her father, who was away from home, would cause her such trouble?
Thinking of the mistreatment she had suffered in the Jiang family in the past, Jiang Wansu couldn't help but grit her teeth and sob softly.
The whimpering sound was like the annoying mosquitoes in summer; it wasn't loud, but it was hard to ignore.
Suppressing his frustration, Xie Xuchuan turned and whispered a few words of comfort.
Seeing this scene, Zheng Shu was even more furious: "Brother Chuan only knows how to protect his wife, but he doesn't even think about how his father-in-law is treating my family like fools."
“I don’t care. Let this jinx go back to the Jiang family. She can only enter my Xie family again when she returns the money her father swindled away.”
Xie Chengzhi nodded repeatedly: "I'm telling you, Chuan-ge's daughter-in-law, your father is a dishonest person. You won't have an easy time in the Xie family from now on."
"If the silver is returned, the old lady will forgive and forget."
Xie Chengzhi had stolen the old lady's private seal to withdraw money from the account, but he turned around and pinned the blame on Jiang Wansu.
Since Xie San Niang and Hua Nan Zhi already disliked Jiang Wan Su, upon hearing this, they naturally began to take their anger out on her because of Jiang Hong.
Xie Sanniang stroked the carved cane in her hand, her tone icy: "Second brother is right. Jiang Hong knew that Jiang You was in big trouble, but he still used all his sweet words to deceive my Xie family. If it were an outsider, it would be fine, but now our two families are related by marriage. He really doesn't respect my Xie family at all."
"As a member of the Xie family, you should give the Xie family an explanation for this matter."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Wansu panicked and said, "Grandmother, I knew nothing about what Father did. Besides, when we were young, Father always favored my elder sister more. I have little influence in the Jiang family..."
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she touched her lower abdomen, feeling flustered and helpless: "Even if I go back to the Jiang family, my father won't listen to a word I say."
The Jiang family had many children. Apart from the first wife and her children, the rest of the family members were treated no differently than maids and servants.
How could Jiang Hong possibly return the money he had swindled into his pocket?
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Wansu slowly knelt down.
The Jiang family will not support her, and her great-uncle has fallen from power due to infighting in the court. Without a backer, her life in the Xie family will only become more difficult.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wansu bit her lip and suddenly said, "It was my father who wronged the Xie family, and I am indeed incompetent. But..."
She paused, then gritted her teeth and said, word by word, "But doesn't our Xie family have capable people? The second young master's batch of faded red silk caused quite a stir in Suzhou Prefecture, with literati and scholars in the city vying to buy it."
"That batch of red silk must have sold for a lot of money. Using it to cover the deficit in the accounts will be just the right thing to solve our immediate problem."
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