Chapter 41: The Wei Family’s Account

Wei Dalang’s expression instantly changed. “Who told you that?”

Wei Jun shrank back under his father’s glare, guilty and timid. “No—no one told me. I just guessed…”

Wei Dalang looked at his son with clenched teeth, hatred and disappointment in his eyes. He warned in a low voice, “You are never to bring this up again!”

“Your mother was beaten because she deserved it—she brought it on herself!”

“Your sister… she just had bad luck…”

Wei Jun’s eyes instantly turned red.

For an eight-year-old child, having his mother sent away and his sister gone felt like a catastrophe!

If not for the servants gossiping and for his mother being carried back covered in bruises, his father wouldn’t even have told him!

And he wasn’t even allowed to go out to search for his sister—his father insisted they’d move away from the capital.

It was all because of those two jinxes!

Although Wei Jun and Xie Yixing were cousins, they had never met in all these years.

But he remembered that last year, his sister had gone to the Marquis’ Manor and returned crying.

Their mother had scolded his sister for being useless, for crying just because someone had scared her.

If someone could scare his sister to tears, did that mean his cousin was really ugly?

It had to be that!

He’d heard the servants say his cousin had a chubby girl with him—fair and fat.

Wei Jun verbally promised Wei Dalang he wouldn’t cause trouble and would behave for the New Year. But in his heart, he was already itching to act—he would get justice for his mother and sister.

Wei Dalang, satisfied, patted his son’s head again and told him to get along with Xie Yixing.

Once they returned to their hometown, they wouldn’t have many chances to see each other again.

---

At this moment, in the backyard of the Wei residence, Xie Yixing was directing servants to move charcoal braziers into the lakeside pavilion.

Even though they’d left the Marquis’ Manor, he had promised Yaoyao he would take her to see a shadow puppet show.

So he had already sent someone to notify a shadow puppet troupe to come perform at the Wei residence that evening.

He had spent all morning picking out a location in the garden and finally settled on the lakeside pavilion.

He ordered the place to be cleaned and arranged ahead of time.

With all these preparations, the morning had slipped away.

When Yaoyao finally emerged from her warm bedding, she stretched lazily.

Nanny Wu saw she was awake and quickly picked her up from the bed, wiping her face with a handkerchief.

The two little buns on her head had come loose, and Nanny Wu was just about to redo her hair when Xie Yixing returned.

The first thing he did upon entering was wash his hands and change his clothes. Once he was down to just a thin inner robe, he noticed the nanny was undoing the buns he had tied for Yaoyao that morning.

His gaze turned cold. “I’ll do it.”

Nanny Wu quickly gave way and placed Yaoyao on his lap.

Yaoyao was very well-behaved.

As she was placed down, her chubby little hands were still holding a piece of pastry, which she was nibbling on happily.

The moment she saw Xie Yixing’s handsome little face, her eyes sparkled like stars. She eagerly tried to feed him the remaining half of her pastry. “Brother Persimmon, have a bite?”

Xie Yixing was already used to Yaoyao feeding him. Though he still didn’t like sweets, he couldn’t refuse anything she offered him.

He took a small bite, then gently ran his long, slender fingers through Yaoyao’s shiny black hair and nimbly tied one of her buns.

Nanny Wu watched as the young heir’s hands moved more and more naturally and couldn’t help but lower her head and chuckle quietly.

Xie Yixing tied white velvet pom-poms to Yaoyao’s two buns, then instructed someone to bring the pearl hair ornaments he had commissioned a few days earlier.

Yaoyao adored the pearl decorations and couldn’t put them down.

Nanny Wu also brought out a jacket that matched them—a light moon-white and apricot-colored padded jacket. When dressed, Yaoyao looked like a little jade rabbit that had run away from the Moon Palace.

She was then wrapped in a thick aquamarine robe embroidered with vivid silver-thread rabbits.

As Xie Yixing led Yaoyao through the plum blossom garden, a pair of resentful black eyes watched them closely from a distance.

Usually, around this time of day, Xie Yixing would be overseeing Yaoyao’s calligraphy practice.

But ever since they left the Marquis’ Manor, he had given her a holiday, letting her enjoy the New Year to the fullest.

As soon as Yaoyao had free time, she would go looking for Madam Wei.

---

Right now, Madam Wei was furrowing her brows, poring over the Wei family’s accounts. The more she read, the heavier her heart became.

If she hadn’t returned to the Wei household this time, she wouldn’t have known how difficult things had been for them in recent years.

Last year, a locust plague wiped out the crops on their estate.

The year before that, heavy rains destroyed their ancestral home, and repairs ate up most of their savings.

Two years ago, Old Master Wei suffered a serious illness, and Wei Dalang spent a fortune seeking medicine.

Then there were the constant bribes to the military camp and covering Wei Sanlang’s business losses.

They weren’t exactly in the red, but money was tight. Even the New Year provisions were limited, not amounting to much.

Especially after having just handled the lavish New Year preparations at the Marquis’ Manor, the difference with her maiden home was glaringly obvious.

Tian Shi didn’t know how to manage a household. The account books were a complete mess, with several glaring loopholes and suspicious losses.

Old accounts were hard to trace, and even this year’s new accounts were full of inconsistencies.

There were definitely leeches in the household, yet no one in the Wei family had noticed.

Though Madam Wei had only learned household management after marrying into the Marquis’ Manor and wasn’t particularly skilled at bookkeeping, she had picked up a few methods over the years.

Still, her experience alone wasn’t enough to handle the Wei family’s tangled mess—it was exhausting.

As she fretted over the accounts, Xie Yixing entered holding Yaoyao in his arms.

Yaoyao’s little dimples deepened as she spoke in a soft, sweet voice, “Auntie Wei!”

The moment she heard the little girl’s voice, Madam Wei’s frustration completely vanished.

The Marquis had gone out to collect his stipend, so only she and Nanny Zhao were in the room.

Madam Wei quickly told Nanny Zhao to fetch some freshly made pastries from Chef Shen.

When Yaoyao heard Chef Shen was here, her apricot eyes lit up.

She loved eating the food Uncle Shen made.

Just as she was licking her lips in anticipation, she noticed the sadness in Auntie Wei’s eyes.

“Auntie Wei, why are you unhappy?”

Hearing Yaoyao’s concern, Madam Wei was momentarily surprised.

Was she being that obvious?

She forced a smile, softening her gaze as she looked at Yaoyao. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

Although she was indeed upset, her problems weren’t ones Yaoyao could help solve.

Besides, Yaoyao was still a young, innocent child. It wouldn’t do her any good to get involved in the affairs of the inner residence too early.

But with Xing’er, things were different. At first, Madam Wei hadn’t wanted him involved in the Marquis’ household affairs either.

Yet to her surprise, Xing’er had a natural instinct for handling such matters. His ability even made her, his mother, feel inadequate.

Like this time, without a word, Xing’er had someone empty out the entire Marquis’ Manor, not even leaving a scrap of meat for the Xie family—letting them spend the New Year in an empty house. It truly relieved her pent-up anger!

If it had been up to her, she’d have hesitated, worried about the consequences, and in the end, let the Xie family take advantage again.

The Marquis was soft-hearted and no better.

Only Xing’er in the entire family had the strength to take charge.

---

Meanwhile, in the rear kitchen, Old Master Wei was standing on a small platform, leaning on his cane, watching the servants go in and out.

Large basins of meat were being brought in, and crispy fried meat was being carried out.

The air along the garden paths was filled with a rich aroma, making his appetite stir.

Ever since his serious illness two years ago, he’d had no appetite—just a few bites would make him full.

But this morning, his appetite suddenly returned. If not for his son and daughter worrying he might overeat and get indigestion, he could’ve eaten another half a bun.

The usually quiet Wei residence had suddenly become lively. Wei Dalang hurried to buy red silk and lanterns to decorate the courtyard—even the stone lions at the gate were tied with big red bows.

Little did they know that outside the main gate, two noblewomen and an old matron were skulking around the Wei residence, pacing suspiciously.