Chapter 43 Armed Men Break In and Injure My Daughter!
Tu had been holding in her anger for half a month, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She realized that Shen Lingyi was clearly using her.
Strangely, there was no response whatsoever from the Shen family.
Shouldn't that brat go back and make a scene, get the money back, and then give Shen Lingyi a good whipping?
"Useless thing!"
Tu slammed her fist on the table. "You don't even dare to take action when you have leverage over us!"
She stood up abruptly, a ruthless glint in her eyes: "Fine, I'll go and meet the Shen family myself, and show them what happens when they offend the Tu family!"
Cloth shop.
Lu Zhaoruo looked at the account book.
The accounts for the past few days have been kept from Shen Qingshu.
Once her brother captures the thief and catches him red-handed, that will be the time for her to confront Shen Lingyi.
Although it is said that the arranged storekeeper will come to the Shen family tomorrow to personally cut off Shen Lingyi's hand.
The shop will also be mine...
But those ten bolts of fine silk absolutely cannot be left unfinished...
We must get it back!
Dongrou stepped lightly into the inner room and whispered, "My lady, my uncle just sent word. These past few days, the investigation into the thieves has been fruitless, but today we happened to run into General Ban of the Navy. Upon hearing about this, General Ban immediately ordered his men to assist in the investigation, and they indeed found the thieves' trail."
She paused briefly, then lowered her voice even further: "The eldest son said... we will definitely capture him before dark."
Lu Zhaoruo's eyes flickered slightly, and she said, "Go and tell them that after you get the man, have General Ban bring the thief to the Shen family. I will invite him to a banquet later."
At the exact hour of You (5-7 PM), dusk was gradually falling.
Lu Zhaoruo wanted to go back and wait as soon as possible.
Abao, standing at the door, cried out anxiously, "Mother, something terrible has happened!"
With Dong Rou by his side, Lu Zhaoruo couldn't speak directly, so he just gave her a wink.
Abao understood and said, "Grandmother stormed into the house wielding an iron scale and beat Shen Lingyi! She's currently being held by the guards in the courtyard in front of the main hall..."
Lu Zhaoruo's heart tightened.
The fact that no one notified them beforehand clearly shows that they deliberately wanted to humiliate Mother even more.
Dong Rou frowned: "Why is Madam so reckless? She broke into the house with a weapon and even hit someone. Isn't she just handing over a handle to the Shen family?"
Lu Zhaoruo said, "Dongrou, go and call Manager Chen and his two sons here. Then go and find my brother and ask him if the thief has been caught."
The courtyard in front of the main hall.
Tu was forced to kneel on the ground by two guards, her hair disheveled, and the iron scale rod rolled to the side.
On the steps stood Zhang Shi and Shen Qingshu, while Shen Lingyi, clutching her arm, shrieked, "What a shrew! How dare you break into the Shen family with a weapon and commit violence! If we don't hand you over to the authorities today, do you really think we're easy to bully?"
Madam Tu struggled to lift her head and spat, "You shameless woman from the Shen family! You deceived me, stole the silk from my daughter's shop, and you even dare to falsely accuse me..."
Shen Lingyi glanced at Shen Qingshu guiltily.
Shen Qingshu narrowed his eyes, his tone icy: "My dear in-law, no matter how wronged you are, resorting to weapons to injure people is not the way to resolve this. Since Zhaoruo is now a member of the Shen family, she should handle family matters herself. Why should I send you here with weapons?"
His gaze swept over the iron scale bar on the ground, and he sneered: "Now that someone has been injured, and the whole courtyard knows about it, if word gets out, it will be a disgrace to both families."
After saying that, he raised his hand and waved it.
The guard pressed down hard, and Tu groaned as her knee slammed heavily onto the bluestone slab.
Madam Tu angrily retorted, "Your good daughter pretended to be close to me, tricked me into sharing the spoils with her! She dragged me into this mess. She stole the silk from the shop to sell and gamble, and now she has the nerve to blame me?"
She glanced at Shen Qingshu and Zhang Shi: "The entire amount of silver for ten bolts of fine silk went into her pocket. Your Shen family has truly raised a 'good' girl!"
Shen Lingyi's expression changed, and she immediately grabbed Shen Qingshu's sleeve: "Father! Mother! She's making false accusations!"
Her eyes reddened, and her fat chin trembled as she said, "How could my daughter steal from our own family? It's her who, a few days ago, took a bolt of Hangzhou silk from the shop, relying on being my sister-in-law's mother. My sister-in-law probably didn't tell you, did she?"
She feigned surprise and doubt: "As for the ten bolts of silk... I've never heard of them. Either you stole them yourself, or your sister-in-law embezzled them."
Tu Shi never expected that Lu Zhaoruo would not expose this matter!
She secretly resented her daughter's weakness, but on the surface she sneered, "My silly daughter is completely controlled by your Shen family, so naturally she doesn't dare to utter a word!"
She glared at Shen Lingyi again: "You shameless woman, you clearly hired a thief to steal the silk..."
"The Lu Clan's Tu Clan!"
Zhang interrupted sharply, her eyes full of contempt: "What a shrewish woman! She barged in with a weapon, injured my daughter, and now she dares to slander me in public? I've truly never seen anything like it!"
She sneered and flicked her sleeve: "Today I'll wait for your 'good daughter' to come back. I want to see how she'll explain herself to the Shen family!"
"I'll give my aunt an explanation right away!"
As Lu Zhaoruo stepped into the courtyard, her gaze swept over Tu Shi's wailing appearance, and a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
This mother is truly foolish; she ruined her plans!
When Madam Tu saw Lu Zhaoruo return, she immediately cried out, "A-Ning, look at how your in-laws treat your mother! Aren't you going to save me...?"
Lu Zhaoruo ignored Madam Tu, and instead, with a docile expression, walked to the steps, knelt down solemnly, and performed the kowtow; "Your daughter-in-law is late, please punish me, Father and Mother."
She slowly straightened up, her gaze sweeping over the trembling servants in the corridor: "With such a commotion in the house, not a single person has come to report it. When did the rules of the Shen family become so lax?"
These are all servants she chose, and they are all here now. It's not that she doesn't want to report it, but that she's being stopped and doesn't dare to.
Zhang scoffed, "They were scared to death, how could they remember to announce their arrival?"
Shen Lingyi immediately chimed in, "That's right! Your mother swung an iron scale rod and beat anyone she saw, scaring everyone half to death."
Lu Zhaoruo calmly said, "Although my mother is quick-tempered, she is not an unreasonable person. I wonder what mistake she made that warrants having the guards forced to kneel?"
Shen Qingshu coldly flicked his sleeve: "Ask her yourself!"
Madam Tu was even angrier. At this moment, she was still being meek and submissive, which made Madam Tu want to swing the iron scale rod at her.
She glared at Lu Zhaoruo and cursed, "Coward! Your aunt ordered thieves to steal the silk from the shop, and you have witnesses but you don't dare to utter a sound! Don't you always complain that I, your mother, don't stand up for you? Fine, today I'll risk my reputation to seek justice for you..."
She glared at Shen Lingyi, her voice hoarse: "But this bitch wouldn't admit it, and instead turned around and accused me of stealing it! She even turned around and said you swallowed it!"
Tu felt aggrieved.
She was still self-aware enough to come with a smile and ask Shen Lingyi in a polite tone about the whereabouts of the ten bolts of silk.
But Shen Lingyi pretended to be clueless, looking completely innocent: "What is my dear in-laws saying? I don't understand."
Tu Shi lost her temper and directly exposed the truth.
Shen Lingyi was not flustered at all. Instead, she smiled smugly: "My dear in-law, please don't wrong me. Since the thief has accused you, isn't it obvious that you stole your own daughter's silk? After all, the last time I saw you, you took a bolt of silk directly from the shop."
She feigned surprise and exclaimed, covering her mouth, "No wonder your daughter didn't dare to say anything... it was her own mother who stole it!"
Madam Tu was so angry that she trembled all over. She suddenly pulled the iron scale bar from her sleeve. She only wanted to scare Shen Lingyi and force her to confess.
How could she dare to actually do it?
Moreover, Shen Lingyi is quite stout; if a fight were to break out, she probably wouldn't be able to budge even a single finger of her opponent!
But Shen Lingyi deliberately bumped into her scales and taunted her with a shrill voice.
In a fit of rage, Tu swung the scale rod and smashed it against her arm...
…………
"It turns out that not only did the good daughter-in-law's mother take away a bolt of fine Quanzhou silk from this cloth shop, but thirteen bolts of silk have also been lost in succession."
Zhang took the tea handed to her by Granny Zhou and looked at Lu Zhaoruo: "Lu Zhaoruo, you really kept it a secret."
Lu Zhaoruo lowered her head and said respectfully, "Your daughter-in-law dares not lie, but we have not yet found out the truth and are afraid of disturbing your aunt and uncle."
Shen Lingyi immediately interjected, "Mother! I suspect that she and her mother conspired to embezzle the money! Otherwise, why would they keep it a secret and dare not report it to the authorities?"
Zhang suddenly smashed the teacup at Lu Zhaoruo—
"You and your daughter have quite the scheme!"
"Smack!"
The teacup shattered on Lu Zhaoruo's forehead, and scalding tea mixed with blood slid down her temple.
She remained motionless, her eyelashes not even trembling, but slowly raised her hand to wipe away the tea leaves and bloodshot veins from her eyelids, revealing her terrifyingly cold eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
