Chapter 24 What crime have you charged me with?
Inside Yongfu Residence, Jiang and Chu Yian had been waiting for a long time and were already filled with anger.
Jiang was originally just pretending to have a headache, but now she really had a headache because she was so angry.
"An'er, you've seen it too. Mrs. Lu no longer takes me, her mother, seriously."
Chu Yian's face was already covered with dark clouds, and the fists in his sleeves were clenched so tightly that they made a creaking sound.
Nanny Wen seemed to want to say something but hesitated, but finally she gritted her teeth and spoke.
"Master, there are some things that I should not say, but I just can't stand it any more."
She fell to her knees and began to complain in an exaggerated manner.
"Madam summoned the Young Madam this time to discuss wedding banquet purchases. You may not know that for the past three years, all banquets, big and small, at the Marquis's residence have been purchased from the Young Madam's shop for wine, dry goods, and tea. This is to ensure that the benefits flow to outsiders and to support the Young Madam's business."
"This time, the Marquisate also purchased from the young lady's shop as usual, but the purchase was too large, so the Marquisate couldn't pay the full amount at the moment. We'll put it on the account first and make up the difference in a few days. This is just a small matter. Can our Marquisate still refuse to pay that small amount of money?"
"But the Young Madam is using this as an excuse to cause trouble, forcing her shopkeepers to make things difficult for her, saying they only want the goods when they are paid. This is simply showing no regard for the reputation of the Marquisate! Over the years, Madam has treated the Young Madam like her own daughter, never once letting her break the rules. But now, the Young Madam is so disrespectful to Madam. I am truly heartbroken for Madam."
As Nanny Wen spoke, she began to wipe away her tears, and Jiang looked extremely disappointed.
Chu Yian's anger surged in his chest, and he crushed a cup with his bare hands. "Lu Zhiran, she didn't take my words from last night to heart at all! Since she is so ungrateful, why should mother continue to take care of her business? We should just go to other shops for shopping!"
Jiang looked a little embarrassed.
"An'er, you know the situation at the Marquis' Mansion. We really can't come up with that much money right away. Having to pay on credit for the time being is a helpless move. Mrs. Lu saw this and is making things so difficult for us."
Chu Yian frowned, "Didn't Shu Ning take out a large sum of money?"
Jiang, as usual, cried poorly. "That sum of money sounds like a lot, but it's not enough to actually spend. If it were just an ordinary banquet, it would be fine, but this time we've invited the Li family and many other families we haven't been able to connect with before. Naturally, the scale of the banquet will be different from usual. Otherwise, wouldn't it be dignified?"
"The difficulties faced by the Marquis' Mansion are only temporary. The money will naturally be replenished in due time. If Mrs. Lu had been more magnanimous, she wouldn't have deliberately made things difficult for us on such a major matter. She still can't swallow her anger and is deliberately trying to disrupt this wedding banquet."
Chu Yian's anger was aroused, and he stood up angrily, "I'm going to ask her face to face what she wants!"
A calm voice came from the door, "I'm here. What do you want to ask?"
Lu Zhiran walked at a leisurely pace, and her expression was very calm, which formed a sharp contrast with their angry faces.
Seeing that she was still so calm, Chu Yian was so angry that his eyes were spitting fire.
"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"
Before Lu Zhiran could speak, Lu Ying covered her red and swollen face and sobbed softly.
"I was worried that Madam and the Young Master were getting impatient, so I tried to persuade them, but Madam had a servant slap me in the face."
She was born with a beautiful face. At this moment, she lowered her head, revealing her slender neck just right. Her tone was full of infinite grievance, and her red and swollen cheeks made her particularly pitiful.
Chu Yian was already furious, and Luying's provocation successfully irritated him.
"You're so arrogant that you even dare to beat and scold people around my mother!"
Luying lowered her head, a smug smile on her lips.
Lu Zhiran asked back, "According to you, as the wife, I don't even have the right to teach a maid a lesson?"
Chu Yian emphasized, "She is someone close to my mother."
"This maid is using her mother's power to boss me around. She has no manners at all. If I don't teach her a lesson, people will think everyone around my mother is as ignorant of manners and disrespectful as she is."
Luying hurriedly defended herself, "Master, no, I didn't..."
Lu Zhiran smiled faintly, "Look, the servants keep interrupting the master when he's talking. If they don't teach him a lesson, won't they forget how to write the word 'rules' in the future?"
Chu Yian was speechless for a moment.
Jiang's face was gloomy. "Okay, let's get down to business."
Luying was somewhat reluctant to leave like this, but a glare from Nanny Wen made her flinch and she quickly took her leave.
Lu Zhiran was calm and composed. "I wonder why my mother called her daughter-in-law here?"
Chu Yian chuckled lightly, "How dare you ask? Don't you know what you did?"
Lu Zhiran: "From time to time, someone will put a accusation on my head. Who knows what crime they will accuse me of this time?"
"you……"
Chu Yian took a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth, "Did you ask your stewards to make things difficult for the Marquis' Mansion's purchases?"
Lu Zhiran looked puzzled, then suddenly realized, "Are you talking about the incident where Manager Tan refused to let the Marquis' Mansion buy on credit? That's indeed the case."
Chu Yian sneered, "What else can you say? Do you think that using these low-brow means will hinder my wedding banquet with Shu Ning? The more you do this, the more disgusting it becomes to me!"
Lu Zhiran automatically filtered out his confident remarks and said calmly, "I have nothing to quibble about. My manager did nothing wrong in this matter. Money for goods, isn't that the normal rule of business?"
Chu Yian was almost unable to suppress his anger. "The Marquis's family is so wealthy and powerful, how could they refuse to pay you? This sour smell of money is really unbearable!"
Do they have the right to buy things without paying?
Lu Zhiran was practically amused. "Since the Marquis's Mansion is so wealthy and powerful, why would they owe me these small amounts of silver? Wouldn't it be easier if they just gave it to me? If it doesn't work out, we can just buy from someone else. Maybe the owner of that place would be generous enough to let the Marquis' Mansion pay on credit."
Chu Yian glared at him, "If it weren't for taking care of your business, do you think the Marquis' Mansion would be willing to go to your shop to buy things? You really don't know what's good for you!"
Lu Zhiran's tone was cold, "Take care of my business? Why don't you first pay back the money that the Marquis' Mansion owed me in my shop for the past three years before you say that!"
And he's still taking care of her business? How thick-skinned does one have to be to say such shameless things?
She reached out her hand to Dan Yan, who was standing beside her, and Dan Yan handed an account book to her.
Manager Tan is very thoughtful and just sent over the accounts of all the years.
Lu Zhiran flipped through it and read it in a cold tone.
"In March of the fifteenth year of the Qingli reign, the Marquis's Mansion held a spring banquet. They ordered twenty jars of the finest Songling wine from my wine shop, totaling six hundred taels. They also ordered ten packets of the newly released top-quality Biluochun from my tea shop, totaling five hundred taels. They also ordered hazelnuts, pine nuts, peach nuts, and apricot nuts from my dry goods shop..."
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