Chapter 20 Failure in Offerings
"There's no need for veiled attacks and insinuations here. You can just say you suspect me directly!" Shanxi's cold voice suddenly came from the side like a cold wind.
Her face was as cold as frost, and her eyes revealed an unquestionable majesty. Behind her followed Old Master Chen, who looked furious.
When Old Master Chen's gaze swept over the delicious dishes laid out on the table of Shan Mingyuan and his daughter, he was first slightly taken aback, and then couldn't help but burst into laughter. His laughter was unrestrained and arrogant: "Hahaha! I was just thinking to myself that the Shan family had fallen into such a state of decline, but I never imagined that it was not the Shan family that had fallen into decline, but that the people below had become so audacious that they had rebelled against the heavens!"
That's utterly outrageous!
The head of the household was given plain porridge and side dishes, but a son-in-law and his mistress were given delicacies.
Ah... this Shanfu is really interesting.
“Old Master Chen, we treat you with great courtesy because we respect you as a guest, but aren’t you overstepping your bounds and meddling too much?” Shan Mingyuan stared at Old Master Chen with a gloomy look.
This so-called Old Master Chen is clearly a traitor who betrays his own people!
He accepted his second uncle's thousand-year-old ginseng, but ended up helping Shanxi, a good-for-nothing.
I wonder what benefits the old man promised him to make him help Shanxi like this!
Shanxi's voice was clear and crisp, like a mountain stream: "Yesterday, you said there wasn't enough time to make arrangements, so I didn't hold it against you."
"But what about today? Could it be that the servants were blind and served the food to the wrong place?" Shanxi coldly glanced at the breakfast on Shanmingyuan's table, a mocking smile on his lips.
The butler's eyes darted around, and he instantly understood what was going on.
He forced a helpless smile and said with a wry smile, "Miss, you've really wronged me."
"You were the one who gave the order, saying you only wanted plain porridge and a few side dishes. I've always followed your instructions strictly."
Upon hearing this, Shan Yurou almost burst out laughing: "Yes, Grandpa, the steward has been with our Shan family for so many years. Even if he hasn't made any great contributions, he has certainly worked hard. How can you believe just one side of the story from an outsider and start doubting the steward?"
"You keep calling me an outsider, speaking so softly. Do I have to remind you who the outsider in this family is?" Shanxi sat sideways on the armchair, her posture languid and casual, yet she exuded an innate noble air.
Shanming couldn't bear to see his precious daughter being wronged, so he immediately stepped in front of Shanyu Rou: "Shanxi! Don't go too far!"
"Father has promised Yu Rou that as long as she wins the competition, she will be the heiress of the Shan family!"
"As for you, you shamelessly withheld Yu Rou's betrothal gifts, and now you still have the nerve to say that Yu Rou is an outsider? If she is an outsider, then you should return her betrothal gifts!"
Shanxi gave Shan Mingyuan a cold look, as if he were looking at a clown: "Have the rules of the Shan family been forgotten?"
Shan Mingyuan was stunned and hadn't yet understood what Shanxi meant when Old Master Shan kicked them both in the knees: "Who are you yelling at? You have no manners! Quickly pay your respects to the head of the family!"
Shan Mingyuan: "..."
How could he forget that Shan Xi is now the head of the Shan family!
Shan Mingyuan and Shan Yurou reluctantly bowed to Shanxi.
Before she could even stand up and speak, Shanxi coldly shouted, "She has been using the identity of my Shan family's daughter for a full eighteen years. Do you want me and you to calculate the resources of those eighteen years?"
Shan Mingyuan: "..."
Seeing that Shan Mingyuan was speechless after being rebuked, the butler quickly spoke up: "Young master, I appreciate your kindness. I have worked diligently for the Shan family for decades. I believe that the master will believe me."
After saying that, the butler raised his head and looked at the old master with pleading eyes, looking like a little dog waiting for its master's pity.
But then Old Master Shan's eyes widened in anger, and he kicked the steward hard in the head, shouting, "I don't believe you for a second!"
The butler staggered a few steps after being kicked, almost falling to the ground. He covered his head, his face full of fear and grievance, but dared not utter another word in defense.
Old Master Shan was so angry that he put his hands on his hips, glared at the butler, and kept cursing, "It was because I trusted you too much that you made such a mess of the Shan family!"
"You dare to be negligent even in offerings to the ancestor, what else wouldn't you dare to do?"
What?
Shan Mingyuan and Shan Yurou exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.
Neglecting the offerings?
That...that's a grave crime of failing to provide adequate support!
This is no small matter; if it is confirmed, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Let alone a benevolent family, even if this matter were to be brought before the emperor, it would be a serious crime that would be severely punished!
The butler was surprised that the old master knew about this, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
However, providing for someone in a proper manner is a serious crime, and the steward hurriedly denied it, saying, "Master, I'm innocent!"
“I have worked diligently all these years and have never slacked off in the slightest. Besides, there is no one to guard that ancestral hall. Maybe the offering was made too early and it just went bad when you went there later?”
The butler's mind raced; he remembered that the master had never been to the ancestral hall.
If he were to go, he would prepare in advance, and there's no way he would be discovered!
“Grandpa, we can’t even get into the ancestral hall. Isn’t it a bit biased of you to say that?” Shan Yurou said cautiously.
Shan Mingyuan frowned as well: "Father, providing for your parents is a serious crime, and without evidence..."
"Haha..." Old Master Shan was so angry that he laughed.
My great-grandmother lives in the ancestral hall; isn't her word evidence?
"Since I dare to say this, I must have evidence. What? You think I can't do anything to you without evidence?" Old Master Shan narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them. "Guards!"
"The steward has been properly cared for! Eighty strokes of the cane! As a warning to others!"
"To outwardly comply while inwardly defy, and to be expelled from the virtuous family!"
What?
Upon hearing this, everyone raised their heads.
Only Shanxi, slowly and deliberately, picked up the tea brewed by Old Master Chen, took a small sip, and smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad, much better than the rubbish of the Shan family."
Grandpa Chen took the teacup, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile: "Of course! This tea is a treasure I carefully selected."
Old Master Shan: "..."
"Guards! Check the steward's accounts from all these years. I want to see where all the money the Shan family has spent has gone!" Old Master Shan was so angry that his cane was trembling.
His dignified Shanfu, the foremost family in the dynasty, couldn't even produce decent tea. He had to rely on that old man Chen to bring tea from the Chen family to honor his grandmother. What a disgrace!
Upon hearing this, Shan Mingyuan and Shan Yurou turned pale and nearly knelt on the ground.
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