"That's why I made up the excuse of a Feng Shui ceremony." Chen Weiwan's fingertips traced the cinnabar seal on the deed. "Butler, I want to use this as an excuse to take inventory of the warehouse. I'm afraid Liu has already stuffed it with contraband, or even planted spies."
The old housekeeper pondered for a moment, then fished out an oilcloth bag from his sleeve pocket. "Miss, to be honest, after you left yesterday, I felt something was amiss, so I secretly checked the warehouse's income and expenditure records." He unfolded the oilcloth, revealing a stack of yellowed ledgers. "Look at this piece of brocade. It was recorded as twelve pieces when it entered the warehouse, but fifteen pieces were recorded as leaving. Three pieces are extra for no reason..."
Shen Weiwan took the account book and traced her fingertips over the blurred figures. In her previous life, she had trusted Liu too much and never checked these accounts. It wasn't until the general's mansion was emptied that she learned the truth. She closed the account book and looked at the old housekeeper. "Housekeeper, at midnight tonight, take someone you trust and we will quietly enter the storehouse."
As the old housekeeper left, a dark figure suddenly flashed past the window. Shen Weiwan stood up suddenly, opened the back window, and saw a little maid in a green cloth dress hiding in the corner. She recognized the figure - it was Lu'e, the most favored maid by Liu's side.
"Stop!" Shen Weiwan took a deep breath and chased after him, her embroidered shoes making a crisp sound on the gravel road. Lu'e ran very fast, but as she turned the moon gate, she tripped over a bamboo pole on the ground and fell on the mossy stone bench with a cry of "ouch".
"Tell me, who sent you?" Shen Weiwan pinched her wrist, and the strength of her fingertips made Lu'e grimace in pain.
"Yes... yes, Madam..." Lu'e was so scared that tears streamed down her face. "Madam told me to keep an eye on you. If I see you discussing the storehouse with the old housekeeper, I should report it immediately..."
Shen Weiwan let go of her hand, looked at the purple mark on Lu'e's wrist, and suddenly smiled: "Do you want to change the way you live?"
Lu'e looked up blankly, only to see Chen Weiwan pull out a silver ingot from her sleeve pocket and wave it in front of her: "Do something for me, and this silver is yours. If you fail..." She pointed to the dry well next to her, "Liu hates people who betray their own family the most. What do you think she would do to you if she knew you helped me?"
Lu'e shuddered and kowtowed fiercely: "I will obey the orders of the young lady!"
When the moon was at its zenith, Lu'e tiptoed into Liu's room. Under the candlelight, Liu was furiously looking at her account book. Seeing Lu'e return, she immediately asked, "How's it going? Is there any movement from that little hoof of Shen Weiwan?"
"Madam," Lu'e gasped, pretending to be panicked, "the eldest lady and the old housekeeper are going to the warehouse tonight! They said...they said they would empty it out and send it to the farm outside the city!"
Liu stood up suddenly, not even noticing the pearl hairpin falling to the ground: "What? She dares!"
"I heard it with my own ears!" Lu'e lowered her head, hiding the panic in her eyes. "The eldest lady also said that after the storehouse is emptied, she will report your embezzlement to the government..."
"What a rebellion!" Liu grabbed the jade bracelet on the table and stuffed it into her sleeve pocket. "Come on, follow me to the storeroom! If I don't make her hand over the key tonight, I won't be called Liu!"
The third watch gong rang, and Liu, accompanied by four burly maids, arrived outside the warehouse. The door was ajar, revealing a dim candlelight. She sneered inwardly and kicked the door open: "Chen Weiwan, you give me..."
She froze in her tracks before she could finish her words. In the center of the warehouse stood an incense table, where the old housekeeper and several servants were offering incense to the tablet. Shen Weiwan, dressed in plain white mourning clothes and holding a thick account book, slowly raised her head when she saw her come in: "Auntie, you came to the warehouse so late at night. Do you want to help me burn incense for Daddy?"
Liu looked at the general's tablet on the incense table, then at the sticks in the hands of the servants around her, and suddenly realized something was wrong. Lu'e had retreated outside the door at some point and was winking at Shen Weiwan.
"Aunt, what are you doing?" Shen Weiwan put down the account book and picked up the cinnabar pen on the table. "Just now, the housekeeper and I were counting the warehouse and found some interesting things. For example, this piece of brocade. Twelve pieces were put into the warehouse and fifteen pieces were taken out. I wonder if Aunt knows where the three extra pieces went?"
Liu's face turned pale, and she was speechless. Shen Weiwan stood up, walked slowly to her, and said in a voice as light as a feather: "Didn't Aunt say that the warehouse was going to collapse? How come now it seems that it is the 'warehouse' in your heart that is about to collapse?"
The moonlight shone through the window lattice and fell on the corners of Shen Weiwan's smiling eyes. Liu looked at the girl in front of her, who was only fifteen years old, but her eyes were as sharp as a knife. Suddenly, she felt a chill down her spine. She seemed to have never understood what kind of thoughts this legitimate daughter, who had been trampled under her feet for so many years, was hiding.
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