Imperial Capital 8. Strike Back and Wang Vomits Blood

"Look at what you have done!"

The old lady threw the account book at Wang's feet with a gloomy face. Wang never thought that Ye Li was originally going to punish her, but how could she bring the matter to herself with just a few words. The more she turned the account book, the more trembling Wang's hands became. She hated herself for underestimating this girl in the past. She had never taught her how to manage the household, but there was no trace of it in the account book that could hide her. Even the secret account of the store was turned out. It was obvious that the means of controlling people were not ordinary. "Old lady... Master, I..."

The old lady snorted coldly and said, "No wonder you said you couldn't afford the money when I asked you to prepare your dowry. Did you take all the money back to support your parents?"

"Old lady, I am innocent. It's all because of the greed of the people below. I don't know anything about this..."

"Don't know? Don't you know that your cousin is the shopkeeper at Shen De Xuan? Don't you know that you hurriedly replaced the shopkeepers of several shops?" The old lady stared at Wang. She had spent her whole life for this family, and what she hated most was that Wang used the Ye family's money to subsidize her own family. This was something that no mother-in-law could tolerate, not to mention that Wang was not married in a formal ceremony but was brought up from the side room. "Girl Li, where are those things that are taken from the outside world?"

Ye Li lowered her eyes and answered respectfully, "Li'er took the initiative to arrest all those people. Those who signed the indenture were beaten with ten boards each, and those who were hired from outside were sent to the government."

The old lady frowned and said, "You are too soft-hearted, girl. What can ten strokes of the cane do? Ask someone to bring up the shopkeepers of Shen Dexuan and Cangzhenge." Shen Dexuan and Cangzhenge are antique and jewelry stores, and they are the most profitable of the twelve stores, accounting for almost half of all the income.

Soon, several people who were tied up were dragged in. When the shopkeeper Wang saw Wang, he wailed, "Sister, brother-in-law, help me..." Minister Ye glared at Wang with a sullen face, but did not speak. Wang was furious and kept saying, "How dare you! Let my uncle go!" Ye Li smiled apologetically, "So it really is the uncle of the Wang family. Li'er thought it was a joke from my fourth sister. Although the Wang family is not a wealthy family, there are many people serving as officials in the court. How could he become the shopkeeper of Shen Dexuan? However... Shen Dexuan's master and partners sued Shopkeeper Wang for embezzling more than 80,000 taels of silver from Shen Dexuan over the years. I don't know..."

"This must be a slander by those villains. How could my cousin be so corrupt?" Wang said decisively.

Ye Li looked at the old lady and did not refute. She said, "Since Madam is willing to vouch for Shopkeeper Wang, how dare Li Er not believe it? Let's ask Shopkeeper Wang and Shen Dexuan's master and staff to go to the prefect of the capital to confront them face to face."

Wang's face changed and she said quickly: "It's just a few trivial matters. Why should we trouble the prefect of Beijing?" The newly appointed prefect of Beijing, Qin Mu, is known as an iron-faced judge. Nothing good will happen if you fall into his hands.

Ye Li smiled at Wang soothingly, "Madam, don't worry. If I really wronged my uncle, I will kowtow to him and apologize. Someone, take this scoundrel out and give him another fifty lashes!" Turning around, Ye Li pointed at the shopkeeper of Cangzhen Pavilion who was lying on the side and said coldly. The shopkeeper who had just received ten lashes not long ago suddenly turned pale, "Miss San, please spare my life! Miss San... Madam, help me..." Wang said with a dark face. The old lady narrowed her eyes slightly and ordered in a calm voice: "Do as the Third Young Lady ordered." The look she gave Ye Li was a little more meaningful. Ye Li naturally knew that the old lady was looking at him, but he didn't care. He stared at the shopkeeper coldly and said: "You are different from Shopkeeper Wang. You are a slave who sold yourself to the Xu family as a dowry for my mother. When my mother was alive, she treated you well. It's only been a few years and you dare to betray your master like this. Even if I beat you to death, no one dares to say a word! Beat you hard!" The shopkeeper fell to the ground and trembled. Everyone present couldn't help but feel a little palpitated. They originally thought that this unknown Third Young Lady was a simple and easy-to-bully person, but it turned out that they had misjudged her.

"No... Miss San, please spare my life... Madam, help me... Madam, most of the money I have earned has been given to you, you can't just stand by and watch me die!"

"Bullshit! What are you talking about? Drag him out now." Wang shouted angrily.

The shopkeeper was dragged out, and soon there were bursts of wailing outside. The hall was silent, and Ye Li's elegant voice rang softly, "Qingshuang, ask someone to invite Shopkeeper Wang and everyone in Shen Dexuan to go to the prefectural yamen in the capital, and ask someone to tell Lord Qin. We have heard that Lord Qin is iron-faced and impartial, and we beg Lord Qin to give our Ye family justice."

"Yes!" Qingshuang responded crisply.

"Wait..." Ye Ying stepped forward and said, "Grandma, Dad, this is absolutely not allowed. If we go to the government office and this matter gets out, Empress Zhaoyi and Prince Li's family will lose face... Ying'er... Ying'er will not be able to get married again. Please, Dad and Grandma, think twice..."

"Mother..." Minister Ye looked at the old lady. He naturally did not agree to go to the government office. The most important thing now was the marriage of Empress Zhaoyi and Ye Ying in the palace.

The old lady looked at Ye Li, frowned and looked at Shopkeeper Wang with disgust, saying: "Since we are all relatives, it is not good for the two families to tear each other apart. But the shop is Li'er's, so we can't just let it go. The missing money must be returned as soon as possible. After all... Prince Li cannot be offended, and Prince Dingguo's Palace must also be explained."

"Repay it?!" Wang cried out. How could she repay more than 100,000 taels of silver?

"Shut up! As a stepmother, you are greedy for the original wife's dowry. How can you say no? You have no shame, but the fourth girl still has to have some. The Empress Zhaoyi in the palace also has to have some. Bring me the account books in the mansion. I want to see how you manage the family!" Madam Wang's face turned pale. The old lady was trying to take away her power to manage the family. "Old lady..."

Ye Li stepped forward to interrupt Wang and said softly, "Old lady, the Wang family is the maternal family of my second and fourth sisters. Originally, it would not be a big deal to give them this money. But... before her death, my mother instructed that some should be kept to honor my grandmother and some should be left for my sisters as dowries. Li'er thought it would not be necessary to give too much. Now there are only my fourth, fifth and sixth sisters waiting to be married, so I will give them 10,000 taels each. And I will give my grandmother 30,000 taels of money for myself. A total of 60,000 taels will be given." After saying this, she turned aside. She looked at Aunt Zhao on the side and smiled, "Don't worry, Aunt. If there are brothers and sisters in the future, Li'er will make up for them." Aunt Zhao was stunned. She was originally a little regretful and unwilling, but when she heard Ye Li say this, she was happy and smiled with her hands covering her lips, "Then I'll take advantage of Third Miss's good words. Third Miss is indeed worthy of being the legitimate daughter of our Ye family. She is truly a lady of a noble family." Whether Ye Li will fulfill her promise in the future is uncertain, but Ye Li's words alone made her happy.

Sixty thousand taels may not sound like much compared to a hundred thousand taels, but Ye Li knew that much of that money was used by the Wang family to smooth their careers or was squandered. Now asking Wang to pay sixty thousand taels at once is enough to make her bleed. Anyway, as long as Zhao Yi is still around and Ye Ying is still Princess Li, the old lady will never do anything to Wang. So let her bleed.

When Minister Ye heard this, he felt that Ye Li was very magnanimous. He nodded approvingly and said, "Li'er is right. You can do this." Although he couldn't do anything to Wang for the sake of his family, he was still unhappy about Wang using the family's money to support her parents' family. He couldn't help but think of the original wife who had always taken care of everything for the Ye family. His eyes became softer when he looked at Ye Li.

The old lady also agreed very much. It not only saved the face of both families, but also saved tens of thousands of taels of dowry. As for the Wang family... the Wang family is not yet able to compete with the Ye family, not to mention that it was the Wang family that was at fault. Even if Ye Zhaoyi was born to the daughter of the Wang family, she is still the daughter of the Ye family, and they will definitely not point fingers at her family. She looked at Ye Li lovingly and nodded in approval, "Li'er is well-behaved. She is indeed the virtue of a mistress of the house. Your grandmother won't have to worry about her when she enters the Dingguo Palace in the future. The Xu family still has good family education." Wang's face became even uglier after hearing this. The Xu family has good family education, which means that her Wang family's family education is not good? Ye Ying glanced at Ye Li and lowered her head in grievance. Mrs. Wang wanted to say something, but the old lady glanced at her and said coldly, "Or do you really want to go to the prefectural yamen in the capital?"

"I obey your command and will make up the money as soon as possible." Wang said reluctantly through gritting her teeth.

"Ying'er will be married in a few days. You should teach her how to be a wife in the yard these days."

"Yes." This meant that she was confined to her residence, and she didn't even have the chance to go to the palace to complain to Empress Zhaoyi.