Old Lady Zhu took the receipt that Mrs. Shen had handed her. It took her a full quarter of an hour before she finally shifted her gaze away from it.
"Feng'er, what's going on?" Old Lady Zhu murmured, as if talking to herself but also seeking Mrs. Shen's opinion.
"I really have no idea what's going on with this matter! More than half a month ago, Shen Feng came to me asking for fifteen thousand taels of silver. He said that you, Father and Mother, sent him to ask me for the money to renovate our mansion!"
"At that time, I didn't have that much silver on hand, so I gave him eight thousand taels first. Later, I sold some shops and scraped together another seven thousand taels and gave it to him, telling him to take it to you, Father and Mother, for the renovation of the mansion. Today, I just wanted to come and see how the renovation of the yard was going, so I came back. But then..."
After hearing Mrs. Shen's words, Old Lady Zhu only pondered for a moment before shouting at the maid outside, "Where's the Second Lady? There's a guest at home, but I haven't seen her come out. Go, call her here to meet the guest!"
In Old Lady Zhu's mind, although her son wasn't very capable, he didn't have any devious schemes. But now that he dared to deceive both sides, there must be someone inciting and bewitching him.
As for who that person was, Old Lady Zhu first suspected Mrs. Liang.
Although her daughter - in - law, Mrs. Liang, was intelligent and capable, a master at managing the inner courtyard and handling affairs, she had a fatal weakness: greed! She was insatiable. On a daily basis, she was always thinking about how to gradually move the family's money into her own hands.
Given Mrs. Liang's personality, it was quite possible for her to do such a thing.
As soon as Mrs. Liang entered the room, she noticed the scrutinizing looks that both Old Lady Zhu and Mrs. Shen cast on her.
Mrs. Liang pretended not to see anything and still stepped forward respectfully and warmly to pay respects to Old Lady Zhu and Mrs. Shen and said, "So it's my younger sister - in - law who's come. I was wondering what kind of guest it was that Mother even told the maid to call me over. I didn't expect it to be such an important guest as my younger sister - in - law!"
"Shut up!" Old Lady Zhu gave Mrs. Liang a cold look. At first, she could barely tolerate the first half of Mrs. Liang's words, but the latter part took on a different meaning, so she had to give Mrs. Liang a warning.
Hearing this, Mrs. Liang obediently sat there and stopped talking.
Mrs. Shen immediately stepped in to ease the atmosphere. "Sister - in - law, I don't really have anything important this time. I just came to check on Father and Mother's health. We're all family, so you don't have to be so polite."
When Mrs. Liang heard Mrs. Shen say "family", a flash of disdain and contempt quickly crossed her eyes. But she was afraid that Old Lady Zhu would notice, so she immediately lowered her head to hide her thoughts.
"Sister - in - law, how's Feng'er recently? I haven't seen him for a while. Why, isn't he in the mansion today?"
"Well... he went to work today. There are some things he needs to deal with!"
Not only did Mrs. Shen not believe Mrs. Liang's words, but even Mrs. Liang herself didn't quite believe what she had said. Everyone knew that Shen Feng held a sinecure in the court. Whether he was there or not made no difference.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Shen immediately showed an understanding expression. "Oh, I see!"
"It's a pity this time. I still wanted to talk to him today about the silver he borrowed!"
"Borrowed silver? When was that?" Due to her surprise, Mrs. Liang's voice unconsciously rose. As soon as she realized it, she immediately smiled and said, "Sister, Mother, what I meant was, when my younger sister - in - law mentioned silver, what silver was she talking about?"
"What, sister - in - law, you don't even know about this? Didn't Shen Feng tell you?"
"I... I know. The master mentioned it to me briefly, but I just couldn't remember it for a moment!"
Hearing this, Mrs. Shen took out the receipt again and showed it to Mrs. Liang. "This is it. Before, Shen Feng came to me and took fifteen thousand taels of silver, saying it was for the renovation of the mansion."
Looking at the big words "fifteen thousand taels" on the receipt, Mrs. Liang felt as if her eyes were not working properly and she couldn't see clearly, so she wanted to pull the thing closer to take a look.
But just as she stretched out her hand, Mrs. Shen immediately tucked the receipt into her bosom. "Since sister - in - law already knows about this, I don't need to hide anything!"
"Recently, I've been really busy with Miao'er's wedding. I've been preparing the dowry and managing relationships. I really don't have enough silver on hand. So I was thinking that you all could return this money to me first. After I've prepared Miao'er's dowry, I'll lend it to you again!"
"This..."
Seeing Mrs. Liang looking so distressed and not knowing how to handle the situation, Mrs. Shen couldn't help but find it funny. Judging from Mrs. Liang's reaction just now, it seemed that she was also unaware of the fifteen thousand taels of silver. So it was Shen Feng who had deceived all three parties.
Just then, the curtain of the hall was lifted, and in came Shen Feng, the protagonist of this incident. "Mother, what did you want me for? Sister, why are you... here?"
Shen Feng had thought that it was probably Old Lady Zhu who had something to talk to him about, so he came without any precautions. But he didn't expect to see Mrs. Shen, who had suddenly returned home.
Seeing Mrs. Liang desperately winking at him, Shen Feng already wanted to back out. "Well, you all talk first. I still have some things to deal with. I'll take my leave first!"
"Stop!" Before Shen Feng could slip away, Old Lady Zhu shouted loudly, "Where do you think you're going? Come in here! Do you want me, an old woman, to invite you in?"
Old Lady Zhu, with a grim face, leaned on her walking stick and stared fixedly at Shen Feng.
"Mother, well, I really have some things to do. Well! After I've dealt with them, I'll come right back!"
Seeing that Shen Feng still wanted to sneak away, Old Lady Zhu stepped forward herself. She strode up to Shen Feng, grabbed his hair, and pulled him towards the door.
Don't be deceived by Old Lady Zhu's usually frail appearance, as if she always needed someone's protection. But now, when she walked, she was like a middle - aged person in his forties, walking with brisk steps.
"What? Still trying to run away? Are you feeling guilty?"
"Ouch! It hurts! Mother, how could I be running away? I just have some urgent matters. How could it be that I'm feeling guilty?" Shen Feng still tried to be glib.
Old Lady Zhu dragged Shen Feng into the room and then let go of him. Shen Feng sat down opposite Mrs. Shen by himself. Although there was still a smile on his face, his eyes were full of dissatisfaction.
"I'm asking you, did you take this fifteen thousand taels of silver?"