Zhao Xiaofei and the platoon leader arrived at their family compound, a typical Huizhou-style building. Its size was almost as large as a prince's palace. This was clearly not what he wanted from a house. Zhao Xiaofei had seen the specifications of a prince's palace in the capital before. He walked to the main hall. Xiao Si came up and said with a smile, "Master! You're finally here! I've been waiting for so long!"
"Isn't this house a bit oversized?" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"You are the prince consort, and our prince consort's mansion in the capital is the most shabby! Now that you come to Nanjing, we can't let you live in a shabby house anymore. This is also what the young lady wants." Xiao Si said.
"Where is she? Take me to find her!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Madam is listening to the reports from the servants. There has been a lot going on recently." Xiao Si said.
"Oh! Take me to see!" Zhao Xiaofei suddenly wanted to see what Li Sihong looked like in front of other people when he was not around.
"According to the rules, I can't enter the inner house! You go in by yourself. The small building at the innermost part is the young lady's residence!" Xiao Si said, pointing to a building.
Zhao Xiaofei looked up. Is this the small building? Its two floors were almost as tall as a four-story building. He sneaked in and saw Li Sihong sitting upright, flanked by two maids, Zhao Cai Jin Bao. (Zhao Xiaofei thought, if each of them held a peacock feather fan, she'd look like the empress!) Below them stood two rows on either side. Wu knew them, Ning also had a memory of them. He didn't recognize the rest of them at all.
Li Sihong put down the account book in her hand and said, "This money is not only earned, but also saved. Xier! Why is the loss of this pastry shop so great? The more it sells, the greater the loss! Tell me! Is there any room for improvement?" After saying that, she glared at the girl named Xier.
"I deserve to die! I didn't keep an eye on the kitchen! As a result, they wasted a lot of food during the process!" Xier said as she knelt down.
"How much can be wasted just by doing this? You put all the blame on them, but you are quite good at shirking responsibility. It's a waste of talent to come to our Prince Consort's Mansion. You should go to the prefectural government and be a legal advisor! Give advice to those officials!" Li Sihong said sarcastically.
"I deserve to die! I deserve to die!" Xier kowtowed and said.
Li Sihong suddenly raised her voice and said, "You've only had a few days of full meals, and you don't know who you are anymore? You actually colluded with the people in the shop and sold the excess flour!"
"I deserve to die! My brother is sick and has no money to see a doctor. I was confused for a moment, please have mercy on me, madam!" When Xier saw that the madam had revealed what she had done secretly, she immediately confessed and knelt down to beg the madam for mercy.
"Is my Prince Consort's Mansion so mean and ungrateful? Your brother is sick, and there are doctors in my Mansion who can treat you for free. If it is a serious illness, you can owe the money first. You can pay it back slowly by working in the future!" said Li Sihong.
"Madam, please have mercy on me! Madam, please have mercy on me! I was wrong! I was blinded by greed!" Xier kowtowed.
"Help come here!" After Li Sihong said that, two strong middle-aged women came out from both sides. Xier was frightened when she saw the two strong women.
"If she dares to leave the manor, kick her brother and her mother out too!" said Li Sihong.
"Yes!" The two strong women agreed, picked up Xier and dragged her out.
"Madam, please have mercy on me! Madam, please have mercy on me!" Xier's voice became increasingly distant.
The maids standing below shuddered in fear as they watched Xier walking away. They were all refugees, with elderly parents and young children. Being driven out of the Prince Consort's Mansion would basically mean no good outcome. Begging would be the best option, but being sold to the lowest brothel would be a life worse than death. There would be no good outcome for the family either, as no one would take them in, and there would be no work for them to do. Xier's brother had no other way out except dying of illness. Her mother was too old to even be sold. She could only beg for food, and if her brother died, her mother would probably go crazy and would be close to death.
But then again, Madam's actions were quite lenient. Any other family would have beaten her to death. Simply kicking her out without demanding compensation was already a gesture of compassion. No one would sympathize with Xier. Everyone had just finished their meal and was doing what the master told them to do. How could she steal from the master's property? If anyone had any questions, go to the front yard and ask Mrs. Wu, the wife of Mr. Xiao Si. If Mrs. Wu was unsure, she could go back to Mr. Xiao Si for advice.
Seeing Xi'er being dragged away, Li Sihong said, "Mrs. Wu, go back and tell housekeeper Xiao to kick out those slave girls from the shop."
"Yes, Madam!" Mrs. Wu replied.
Li Sihong looked at the people on both sides and said, "Wang Xier is the first, but she will definitely not be the last. Every time I get greedy, I think about when I was hungry and what my background was like! I'm tired, everyone, get out!"
"Yes!" The women on both sides responded in unison and saluted. Then they filed out, their momentum rivaling that of a court appearance.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself, Wang Xier! Fortunately, her last name is Wang. If it was Yang, wouldn't her family have become Huang Shiren? Seeing that everyone had left, he walked out from the shadows. Li Sihong was being helped up by Jinbao when she suddenly saw Zhao Xiaofei and couldn't believe her eyes. The serious expression on her face immediately disappeared, and she looked like a wife who was eager for her husband to return.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? And why are you sneaking around like that?" Li Sihong said coquettishly. She felt a little embarrassed that her husband had seen her scolding someone just now.
"If I hadn't come here secretly, I wouldn't have seen your domineering side! Madam! Your ability is comparable to..." Zhao Xiaofei wanted to say comparable to Wang Xifeng. However, Wang Xifeng's ending was not good, so she couldn't be compared.
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