Chapter 211: How Can It Be Considered Stealing Among Family?

Leng Qing Yu’s remark made Ye Xin Ran unable to hold back the corners of her mouth from curling up into a smile.

Truly, her mother was skilled at this “subtle art of confrontation.”

The words Lu Ting En wanted to say were completely blocked by Leng Qing Yu’s statement.

“I… I didn’t mean to favor her!” Lu Ting En quickly explained.

Leng Qing Yu sighed, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. “That’s good to hear!”

She then turned to the constables and said, “Thank you for your help. Please take this person back and carefully investigate the origins of this hairpin.”

“Please rest assured, Madam! We will uncover the truth! Take her away!”

The constables escorted Ning Yu Er out, and Ban Xia went along to assist with the questioning.

Both Lu Ting En and Lady Lu looked extremely displeased.

Leng Qing Yu turned to the Marquis and said, “The magistrate is still waiting for news from us. Shouldn’t we return to the manor and quickly start inventorying the storeroom?”

“Fine!”

Lu Ting En had no choice but to agree.

However, hearing this, Lady Lu began to feel nervous.

During the time Leng Qing Yu was away, Lady Lu had taken quite a few valuable items from Leng Qing Yu’s storeroom.

Besides the portions given to the second and third branches of the family, she had also used some as gifts to grease palms and build connections.

Now that Leng Qing Yu wanted to take stock of the storeroom, wouldn’t all of this be revealed?

What would she do about the gifts she had given away? She couldn’t possibly ask for them back.

Would she have to take things out of her own storeroom to make up for it?

The thought of dipping into her personal hoard made Lady Lu feel as though a part of her heart was being carved out.

Those were treasures she had painstakingly saved up over her entire life!

But if she didn’t replace what was taken, that wretched woman Leng Qing Yu would shift all the blame onto Ning Yu Er.

Ning Yu Er was such a sweet and wonderful child, how could she be made to suffer such injustice?

And there was Chang Qing, he was such an excellent student and was sure to become a top scholar in the future. A child so outstanding couldn’t have a mother with a tarnished reputation!

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Lady Lu finally steeled herself:

She would have to let Leng Qing Yu have her moment of satisfaction, at least for now.

After all, all of this ultimately belonged to the Lu family.

Not just Leng Qing Yu, but even her children wouldn’t end up with anything in the end!

She Brought the Dowry for Zhi Yi.

The marquis title of the Lu household belonged to Chang Qing.

After Leng Qing Yu’s death, her two children would not be allowed to take a single penny from the Lu family!

Thinking of this, Lady Lu’s mood finally improved a little.

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Upon returning to the manor, Leng Qing Yu immediately ordered her maids to retrieve the dowry list from her wedding and began inventorying the storeroom.

Over the years, Lu Ting En had secretly taken many valuable items from her storeroom.

Leng Qing Yu had always turned a blind eye.

In fact, when she found out that Lu Ting En was taking money from her belongings, she had felt a tinge of happiness, relieved that the marquis no longer saw her as an outsider.

But now, in hindsight, Leng Qing Yu felt increasingly foolish and pitiful.

Thankfully, fate had not been entirely unkind to her. It had allowed her to reunite with her daughter and see this man’s true nature.

While Leng Qing Yu and her maids worked diligently to inventory the storeroom, Lu Ting En grew increasingly restless.

He had taken many items from the storeroom to give to Ning Yu Er. If Leng Qing Yu discovered this and sent someone to search Ning Yu Er’s house, it would all be over!

A sense of foreboding settled in his heart, what had seemed like a well-laid plan was now veering toward an unpredictable and dangerous path.

After much hesitation, Lu Ting En finally decided to visit his mother in the rear courtyard.

Lady Lu glanced at her son with narrowed eyes before continuing to direct the maids to inventory her belongings.

Lu Ting En was surprised.

“Mother, why are you also inventorying your storeroom?”

Lady Lu rolled the prayer beads in her hand and replied, “You’re a marquis, yet you can’t even manage the inner household affairs properly. In the end, I, as your mother, have to clean up the mess for you.

Leng’s dowry is missing so much. Judging by her demeanor today, she won’t let this go. For now, I can only take some items from my storeroom to replenish hers. The rest can be dealt with later.”

Hearing this, Lu Ting En was deeply moved.

His mother had always been protective of her possessions, yet she was now willing to part with them to help him out of this predicament. It was truly a relief.

“Thank you, Mother. I promise I will make it up to you in the future.”

Lady Lu sighed.

“If you had listened to me earlier and dealt with Leng Qing Yu sooner, none of this trouble would have happened.”

Lu Ting En lowered his head. “It’s all because of my greed. If it weren’t for the Leng family patriarch’s treasure map, I wouldn’t have”

“Enough, enough!” Lady Lu interrupted.

The Old Madam understood that her son had his own difficulties in court affairs.

She simply said, “Deal with the immediate trouble first, then worry about other matters.”

“Understood!”

Lu Ting En replied awkwardly.

When Leng Qing Yu married, the occasion was grand and opulent.

Just the carriages carrying her dowry stretched down an entire street.

Now, taking stock of everything was time-consuming and laborious.

Meanwhile, at the county office, Ning Yu Er’s statements kept changing, one moment this, the next moment that.

If Lu Ting En hadn’t already arranged for someone to intervene, Ning Yu Er would have received several beatings with the rod.

The magistrate, caught in a bind, dared neither to release her nor to treat her harshly. All he could do was keep her in custody, ensuring her comfort, while awaiting further instructions from the Lu family.

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Three days later

Leng Qing Yu finally completed the inventory.

Excluding the household expenses recorded over the years and some minor, inconspicuous items, the total value of the missing property from the storeroom was over “30,000 taels”.

“Mother, back at Ling An Temple, you said you had taken items for the second and third households. I asked them upon returning, and they mentioned only receiving a few hundred taels of silver. What happened to the rest? Could it all have been stolen by that woman?”

The Old Madam’s expression darkened.

“How could a mere woman, with no direct ties to our family, possibly have stolen so much?

Your Leng family is one of the wealthiest merchants, why are you making such a fuss over this amount of silver?”

Leng Qing Yu couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

“Mother, while my family is indeed wealthy, our silver isn’t conjured out of thin air.

Yet, it seems you’ve become extraordinarily generous, to the point of not caring about 30,000 taels!

If you’re so well-off, why did you allow the second and third households to cause chaos in the marquis estate over not having enough to eat?”

The Old Madam fiddled with her prayer beads so furiously that the string nearly snapped.

After taking a moment to compose herself, she finally said, “It’s not about generosity. I am guided by Buddhist compassion, seeing all living beings as equals. I can’t bear to let an innocent woman be implicated in the Lu family’s affairs.

The truth is, the missing items from your storeroom were taken by those two good for nothings from the second and third households.

They’re family, and they didn’t take much. So, let’s not blow this out of proportion.”

Leng Qing Yu feigned astonishment.

“So it was Second Brother and Third Brother who did it?

I give them 1,000 taels each month for household expenses, yet they still come to steal from me?”

The Old Madam slammed the table and declared, “We’re family! How can it be called stealing? It’s borrowing!”