Chapter 84 - You still owe me a dare (1)

Everyone paused in his or her movements and uniformly looked at Nie Sangyu. There wasn’t panic on her face. Instead, she friendly held Qi Siling’s hand and asked, “Younger sister, is your lost money in the form of silver ingots or is it banknotes?”

Qi Siling paused, cast a glance at the shape of the bag, and said, “Fifty in silver ingots and fifty in banknotes.”

“What union was the banknotes from?” Ji Man asked another question.

If this was a few days ago and she was still a concubine, Qi Siling would definitely ignore her question and say that she was just quibbling. But, her status had changed after all. She was now a secondary wife and was half a step above her. Nie Sangyu’s questions were asked in such a friendly tone; Qi Siling couldn’t refuse to answer.

And so, Qi Siling could only put on a bold face and said, “It’s probably Feng Hui Union. Songlan was the one that exchanged the silver taels for the banknote, so this concubine doesn’t clearly remember.”

The largest two unions in the capital were Feng Hui Union and Hui Tong Union. And so, it was only a coincidence that Qi Siling had guessed correctly.

Ji Man waved her hand to indicate for the servants to open the bag. The silver ingots spilled out and the banknote on the bottom was revealed.

“Why is there so much?” Surprised, Qi Siling covered her mouth after seeing the money.

It seemed that Qi Siling hadn’t been the one that was trying to frame her. She was just taking advantage of the situation for her own benefit. Why? If she were the one that had Muxu plant the evidence, then she definitely wouldn’t have spoken the wrong amount.

Three hundred sixty silver taels was a large sum of money. Right now, Ji Man’s monthly allowance was ten silver taels. This amount would be enough to last her for three years.

Muxu kneeled down and explained, “This servant didn’t steal Mistress Ling’s money.”

“Of course you couldn’t have been the one that stole the money.” Seeing that Marquis Moyu was about to speak from her peripheral vision, Ji Man spoke before he could. Having planned in advance, she looked at Qi Siling and said, “Didn’t younger sister Ling say that there was a thief in the middle of the night? The thief must have stuffed all of his stolen money into Muxu’s room. But... this amount doesn’t match younger sister Ling’s amount of a hundred silver taels.”

Qi Siling froze in surprise for a moment, then she pursed her lips and said, “Perhaps, this money isn’t the concubine’s. This concubine’s monthly allowance is seven and a half silver taels. It took this concubine a long time to save up a hundred silver taels. It absolutely couldn’t become this much.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ji Man raised her eyebrows. She picked up the banknote and handed it to Marquis Moyu.

Ning Yuxuan took the banknote and looked at it. Feng Hui Union’s mark was clearly at the top.

When Qi Siling had been managing the inner court’s accounts, Ning Yuxuan knew that it wasn’t possible for Qi Siling to completely keep her hands clean. But, he hadn’t expected that she would have this much money after only managing for four years.

There wasn’t much anger on Marquis Moyu’s face. Instead, he asked with a great deal of interest, “It’s strange. The thief had stolen money. Why did he stuff the money into Muxu’s room instead of running away or putting the money into Sangyu’s room?”

Qi Siling’s expression wasn’t good, but she still spoke, “My lord, this isn’t this concubine’s money.”

“Then, tell me. Where did the money found in Muxu’s room come from?” Ning Yuxuan looked at her as he asked. “A servant girl’s monthly allowance is only one silver tael. Muxu has only been in my residence for six years. When all is said and done, she could have only saved seventy-two silver taels at the most.”

Qi Siling glanced at Nie Sangyu and quietly said, “Perhaps, older sister Sangyu had bestowed her this money.”

With a face full of innocence, Ji Man pointed at her wardrobe and jewelry box. “Younger sister, take a clear look. My monthly allowance just increased. My jewelry and clothes are all very plain and simple. I only have ten silver taels saved up in my jewelry box, without any other exceptions. Where would I have the money to reward a servant?”

Qi Siling felt as if she had fallen into a trap. She was truly experiencing suffering that she couldn’t defend herself against. Why were they saying that this found bag of money was hers? There truly had been a thief in her courtyard tonight. Marquis Moyu has also been there. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a great number of servants carrying out this search everywhere. She had just wanted to take advantage of this situation for her own benefit. It would have been good to place the crime on Nie Sangyu. But, for an inexplicable reason, she wasn’t about to outtalk Nie Sangyu.

Nie Sangyu’s mouth was becoming increasingly clever.

Muxu was kneeling by their side and repeatedly kowtowed. “These silver taels have nothing to do with this servant. Marquis, please investigate!”

Seeing her panic-strickened expression, the corner of Ji Man’s mouth faintly curved up.

She didn’t know who was trying to harm her. Fortunately for her, she had accidentally seen part of their plan before it was executed and avoided it. Otherwise, if they had also found banknotes in her room, the matter of the thief in the residence would become a small matter. The other people would most likely stand around in a circle as they watched Marquis Moyu punish her.

She had been very lucky.

“As for this money, how about a hundred silver taels will be given to Ling-er, the rest will be confiscated by Steward Qian?” Ning Yuxuan lightly said.

Qi Siling was very unsatisfied, “My lord...”

“You don’t need to say anymore. This trouble has lasted for such a long time. You should go back to rest.” Marquis Moyu sat down and said, “Ling-er take the money and go back to your room.”

She was going back by herself? Qi Siling’s heart turned cold. She had finally received the chance to be favored. The marquis had said he would be resting at her place tonight. After a thief had broken into her courtyard and they had come to Feiwan Courtyard, the result was that he ended up staying here instead.

Inwardly, Qi Siling was vexed. She had suffered a double loss after trying to harm her enemy. But, she still put on a proper smile. “Then, this concubine won’t bother the marquis with his rest. This concubine will send the marquis a tasty, light breakfast in the morning.”

“En.” Ning Yuxuan nodded. He waved his hand and all of the servants they had brought also withdrew from the room.

Seeing that this matter had been so simply settled, Muxu was somewhat stunned and amazed. But, she still packed up the rest of the money and followed Marquis Moyu’s order by leaving to go and deliver the money to Steward Qian.

Ji Man was slightly distressed about losing her money. She had lost three hundred sixty silver taels just like that. How many cold creams would have to be sold for her to earn back that money, ah? However, after thinking about, she decided that she could accept using money to avoid misfortune.

Translation Ramblings: Wait, what happened to Errong? The author seemed to have forgotten about her. I find it hard to believe that she would have been able to stay silent in this recent conversation.