Su Qingyu carried the three paintings and led the others into Qingyuan Residence. Xiangdong was about to shout when Feicui stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth.
"If you disturb the old lady, ten lives will not be enough to compensate you." Su Qingyu warned coldly.
So even though the handkerchief was quickly spit out, she still didn't dare to make any sound.
The servants of Qingyuanju were also shocked, thinking that on the first day as the housekeeper, the Third Madam was already targeting the Old Madam's people?
But no one dared to speak, and everyone pretended not to see Xiangdong.
The servant lifted the curtain and Su Qingyu walked in.
When the old lady saw Su Qingyu come in, she thought she had encountered difficulties on her first day as housekeeper.
He quickly beckoned her to come forward and sit down, "Why are you here at this hour? What happened?"
Su Qingyu handed the three paintings in her hand to the old lady and said, "These are the paintings prepared by the warehouse today. They said they would choose one as a gift for the second young lady to go to the Zhang family tomorrow."
"You'll know what's going on if you take a look at it."
The old lady only took one look at the scroll, and her face changed. She picked up the painting and opened it gently. It was just as she expected.
After examining the three paintings one by one, the old lady asked in a deep voice, "Who prepared this?"
"Xiangdong."
The old lady was startled. How could it be Xiangdong? If it was a little maid, she might have taken the wrong thing. How could Xiangdong, such a steady person, make such a mistake?
Su Qingyu sighed, "Xiangdong told me that these three paintings were all chosen by my second sister-in-law. She asked me to choose one from them and give it to my second young lady tomorrow as a gift for her to go to the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion."
"At first I didn't know whether this was an authentic work from when my father-in-law was alive, or whether it was told to me by the maid in the storeroom."
"I just realized now that I almost made a big mistake."
The old lady's chest heaved with anger. She knew without thinking that Xiangdong did it on purpose.
She took Su Qingyu's hand and comforted her, "Good child, I was negligent and didn't tell you these things."
"I think we should let Aunt Hua stay with you for a while and help you take over the business."
Su Qingyu said quickly, "That's unacceptable. Aunt Hua is used to being ordered around by Mother. I can sort things out slowly. There's no need to ask Mother for help."
She didn't know how to use any of the people in Qingyuanju. If there were too many people around her, many things would be difficult to handle.
The old lady was particularly satisfied with this daughter-in-law. On the one hand, she loved her daughter-in-law, and on the other hand, Su Qingyu was very tactful in her words and deeds. She was not ostentatious, but she could do everything she was supposed to do.
Su Qingyu continued, "My daughter-in-law heard that Xiangdong was from Qingyuanju, so she wanted to ask mother what to do with him."
While the old lady was pondering, the first lady, Mrs. Chen, walked in.
Su Qingyu guessed that she came here because she heard the news.
Sure enough, Chen came in and asked, "Why is Xiangdong kneeling outside? What happened?"
Su Qingyu then told Chen what had just happened.
Chen glanced at the old lady's expression, took another sip of tea, and then spoke.
"Is there some misunderstanding here? Xiangdong used to follow her mother and wouldn't do such a thing."
"Since my third sister-in-law has brought someone here, why not call her in and ask her."
Su Qingyu nodded. "I think so too. I have to ask clearly."
Soon, Xiangdong was brought in and knelt on the ground.
Chen was the first to speak, "Xiangdong, tell me, what's going on?"
Xiangdong knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to the old lady. "Old lady, you must help me. I am wronged."
The old lady said calmly, "Don't cry out for injustice yet. Tell me what happened first."
Those servants who were beaten to death cried out for justice louder than the other, it was just their instinct for survival.
If the old lady trusted Xiangdong five points, then she trusted Su Qingyu nine points.
Xiangdong took two deep breaths and spoke.
"Two days ago, the Second Madam said that the Second Miss was going to the Zhang family to attend a flower party, but she hadn't decided what gift to give. I was originally planning to ask the Second Madam about this, but when I heard that the Third Madam was the housekeeper now, I hurried to ask the Third Madam."
"I took the Third Madam to the storeroom and showed her the booklet. I asked her to make the final decision on this matter."
"The little girl in the middle got into some trouble, so she called me away. When I came back, the Third Madam had already taken out these three paintings and said we should choose from them."
"I immediately explained to Madam San that this was the old master's original work and could not be given away."
"But the Third Madam scolded me, saying that I had offended her in public."
Having said that, Xiangdong crawled two steps towards Su Qingyu and knelt in front of Su Qingyu to beg for mercy.
"Third Madam, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just anxious for a moment."
"I know that the Third Madam just wanted to establish her authority, but you can't wrongly accuse me."
Su Qingyu almost laughed at these words. It was exactly what she expected.
Chen sighed, "Third sister-in-law, you are too impatient. Even if you want to establish your authority, you can't hit your mother in the face."
"Xiangdong is loyal to mother and served her well in Qingyuan Residence. Otherwise, we wouldn't have let her come into the mansion to serve as a steward after her husband died."
After Chen finished speaking, she whispered to the old lady, "Mother, I think Third Brother's wife was just confused for a moment. Let's not spread this matter. Let Xiangdong suffer a little, and then tell everyone that she offended Third Lady, and the matter will be over."
Chen acted magnanimous and thoughtful of Su Qingyu. Now that the matter had reached the old lady, her goal had been achieved. As for whether it would spread outside, it was likely that it had already spread.
Su Qingyu smiled lightly, "Sister-in-law is too impatient. Someone who doesn't know would think Xiangdong is yours, and you are protecting her so much."
"Now that we each have our own story, we need to find a witness."
Chen said sarcastically, "Third sister-in-law, are you talking about your maids? They can't testify for you."
Su Qingyu shook her head. "How could that be possible? I really have a witness."
Then he said to the old lady, "Mother, please let Aunt Hua and my maid Zhenzhu go together."
The old lady knew what Su Qingyu meant. If Zhenzhu went alone, she would be suspected of bribing the servants. If she brought Nanny Hua with her, no one would question her.
"That's fine, Aunt Hua, please come with us."
Chen's face changed slightly. How come there was suddenly a witness?
She subconsciously looked at Xiangdong, and Xiangdong also looked at her in panic, full of surprise.
Su Qingyu calmly sat aside drinking tea. After Xiangdong was beaten to death, the rest of the things would be much easier.
But she didn't think this matter could be implicated by Chen, and Xiangdong, for the sake of her family, wouldn't drag Chen into it. She heard that she had a younger brother who was preparing for the imperial examinations and depended entirely on Xiangdong's monthly salary from the government office for his livelihood.
If she took the blame, Chen would send some money to her family. But if she exposed Chen, she would be killed, and her family might even be retaliated by Chen.
Su Qingyu didn't expect that the subsequent development of the matter was far different from what she expected.
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