Chapter 12

Huo Xiucai exclaimed in disbelief, “You’re nothing but a small attendant, yet you dare to falsely convey the Prince’s words.”

Xiao Deze and Xiao Shunzi came together with the Prince. Although she wasn’t as close to the Prince as Xiao Shunzi, she was still considered a person of some standing.

Now, coming to deliver a message from the Prince, she was immediately accused of lying, making her face darken several shades.

She was both angered and amused by the Huo family’s obtuseness. It was several hundred thousand taels of silver snow; did they have no sense of whether she would dare to embezzle it?

Even with everything exposed, they still dared to be so arrogant!

However, being someone from the Prince’s side, Xiao Deze maintained a polite smile on her face and said:

“This humble one wouldn’t dare to falsely convey the Prince’s words. If the Huo family head doesn’t believe me, you can go and seek confirmation from the Prince yourself. But time is pressing to raise the money. This humble one advises you that instead of wasting time, it would be better to start raising the money early.

After all, if the money cannot be fully submitted on time, no one can bear the Prince’s wrath.”

Huo Laodie hadn’t expected Xiao Deze to show no consideration for their relationship, and immediately questioned:

“You’re nothing but a servant, we Huo family are the Prince’s in-laws, how dare you treat us Huo family like this?!”

Let’s not mention that Xiao Deze’s attitude wasn’t problematic to begin with; it was just that the Huo family was used to being flattered and couldn’t adapt to this treatment now.

Moreover, why didn’t you think about being in-laws when you were embezzling?

Xiao Deze’s expression remained unchanged, but a flash of disdain appeared in her eyes. She said unhurriedly:

“Old Master Huo, this humble one wouldn’t dare to disrespect you. But if you have any doubts about the money, here are the accounts, you’re welcome to review them.”

Ruan Shi listened to Xiao Deze’s words with a pounding heart.

His family had originally wanted to establish a connection with the Prince, which was why they had him marry Huo Bujue.

But after marrying into the family, he discovered that Huo Bujue, relying on her relationship with Huo Zhengfu, was embezzling and falsifying accounts without any restraint.

Openly taking money from the Prince’s purse.

Although his Ruan family wanted to profit, they would never dare to do something akin to robbery, especially when the target was a Prince.

Now seeing that the matter had been exposed, and the Huo family was still trying to argue with Xiao Deze, Ruan Shi hurriedly advised:

“The female official is someone from the Prince’s side, we’ve all met her before, she certainly wouldn’t falsely convey the Prince’s words. Why don’t we think of a way to solve the problem instead? That would be the best course of action.”

Huo Laodie was originally just a common townsperson, thinking he was above others because he had married a scholar, and even more so after his daughter married the Prince.

Now hearing these words, he immediately became displeased and angrily scolded:

“You black-hearted thing, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you believe your wife-master really did such things as embezzlement and falsifying accounts?”

Ruan Shi saw that Huo Laodie spoke with such sincerity, could it be that he really believed Huo Bujue had the ability to earn so much money in such a short time?

Fortunately, Huo Xiucai hadn’t lost her mind along with them and still had some sense. She asked in a deep voice:

“Did you really embezzle so much money?”

Seeing that her mother seemed to be truly angry, Huo Bujue’s eyes kept darting around, and she finally stammered:

“I haven’t calculated it in detail… but I suppose so. But I did it all for this family!”

Huo Xiucai hadn’t expected her usually beloved daughter to do such a thing. Her vision blurred as she berated and scolded:

“How foolish! You’re truly foolish!”

Hearing this, Huo Bujue became indignant and immediately retorted:

“The money wasn’t used by me alone. When you were using the money, why didn’t you say I was foolish?!”

Huo Laodie quickly shielded his daughter and said, “That’s right, this can’t all be blamed on Bujue! Besides, this is the Prince’s money. If she had discovered Bujue’s embezzlement and stopped it back then, how could it have accumulated to such a large amount today?”

Huo Bujue quickly nodded along with her father, “Exactly, exactly!”

Manager: …I should have left earlier.

Ruan Shi: …I wonder if it’s too late for a divorce now.

Xiao Deze: …I’m still here, and you’re discussing the Prince like this right in front of me?

Regardless, the Huo family’s emotions gradually calmed down, and they began to discuss behind closed doors how to resolve this money issue.

Huo Xiucai looked at her daughter with disappointment and said:

“I’ve looked at the accounts the Prince brought, and they seem to be mostly correct. How much money can you gather now?”

Huo Bujue hemmed and hawed, saying, “As soon as I got the money, I basically spent it all. How could I possibly gather five hundred thousand taels?”

Huo Xiucai was so angry that she threw a cup directly at her, cursing:

“That’s a full five hundred thousand taels of silver, not five copper coins. How could you possibly spend it all so quickly?!”

Huo Bujue said pitifully, “Everything in the house had to be the best, buying houses, servants, land – doesn’t all that require money?

Besides, when you were showing off before, renovating the ancestral hall and giving money to the clan elders, why didn’t you say the money was being spent too quickly?!”

Hearing this, Huo Xiucai was so angry she wanted to throw the teapot directly at her, but was stopped by Huo Laodie’s persuasion.

Huo Laodie cried and said, “Don’t blame our daughter anymore, she did it all for the family. It’s not just her fault alone!”

Huo Bujue hid behind her father, sticking her neck out and saying, “That’s right, that’s right. Everyone spent money, how come now that there’s a problem, it’s all blamed on me?”

Huo Xiucai pointed at Huo Bujue with a trembling finger, cursing:

“Indeed, a doting father ruins his daughter. We spent money because we thought our daughter had ability and was giving us money out of filial piety. If I had known where your money came from, I wouldn’t have spent a single coin even if you beat me to death.”

Hearing this, Huo Bujue became displeased. She retorted defiantly:

“Mother, aren’t you just burying your head in the sand? Don’t you know what kind of person I am? What ability of mine? My ability is just to earn the Prince’s money. If you had cared a bit about me, cared a bit about the accounts, how could you not have known?”

Seeing that the Huo family not only wasn’t trying to find a solution but was even blaming each other, Ruan Shi frowned and advised, “Saying anything else is useless now, why don’t we think about how to solve the problem?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole family looked at him.

Even Huo Laodie, who usually didn’t think much of him, showed a ‘kind’ smile:

“Son-in-law, we’re all one family. You see, our family really can’t gather this much money. Why don’t you borrow some from your parents to help us tide over?”

Huo Bujue chimed in, “Yes, yes, we’re all one family, and your mother is an imperial merchant. She must be able to come up with this amount of money. Why don’t you go to your mother and ask around, let our whole family overcome this difficulty together.”

When Ruan Shi married into the Huo family, the Ruan family, fearing their son might suffer in his wife’s family, had indeed prepared an extremely generous dowry.

Ruan Shi had originally intended to use part of his dowry to help the Huo family through this crisis, but he never imagined that while he wanted to overcome difficulties with others, the Huo family was thinking about how to leech off his parents.

Ruan Shi’s demotion from husband to concubine in the Huo family had already caused a huge joke in his clan, worrying his parents to no end.

How could he possibly let the Huo family cling on and suck blood like this again?

Ruan Shi’s eyes immediately turned cold, and he said flatly:

“They say a married son is like spilled water. Since I’m married out, I’m naturally part of the Huo family now. How could I go back to ask for money?

However, if the Huo family is in need, as a son-in-law, I will naturally be generous. I will take out fifty thousand taels of silver from my dowry, which should be considered helping the family through this crisis.”

Fifty thousand taels was no small sum, and Ruan Shi hadn’t received any benefits from the Huo family since marrying in.

For him to take out his dowry at this time was already extremely rare.

However, after hearing this, not only was there no gratitude on the faces of the Huo family members, they even asked with extreme disdain:

“Your family is an imperial merchant after all, how come you’re only taking out this little bit?”

Huo Laodie didn’t forget to add, “That’s right, we’re all one family, how can you stand by and watch at a time like this?”

Huo Bujue also helped, saying, “Your parents love you so much, if you go and cry to them, they’ll definitely be willing to give the money!”

Seeing the Huo family members constantly urging him to go home and suck his parents’ blood, the little warmth left in Ruan Shi’s heart gradually cooled.

He laughed coldly and said, “Husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but they fly apart in times of danger. Not to mention I’m just a concubine.”

Huo Laodie choked on his own words, cursing and muttering:

“Merchant families are indeed only after profit, calculating every penny when it comes to money.”

In the past, when Ruan Shi still had hopes for the Huo family, he would soften his words by three degrees when speaking. But now that he had seen through the Huo family’s true colors and heard them speak disrespectfully several times, how could he still give them any face? He directly retorted:

“This son of merchants can only come up with fifty thousand taels of silver. I wonder how much silver can Father-in-law, being so capable, come up with?

If you can’t come up with any, Father-in-law, it’s alright. I heard your maternal clan also has officials now. Why don’t you ask them to intercede with the Prince? If that doesn’t work, go and cry a bit more, perhaps you can fill the five hundred thousand tael hole!”

Seeing that no more oil could be squeezed out of Ruan Shi, Huo Bujue angrily said:

“Enough! I’ll go find my brother!”