Pei Musheng looked at the two women in front of him with a smile, whose expressions suddenly changed, and raised his hand to smooth the bright yellow silk draped casually on his arms.
"You two have worked hard these days. It's just that I thought that running around shopping was very hard, but I didn't expect that you two have gained a lot of weight in just a short period of time."
The two women looked at each other, their smiles gradually stiffened, and panic overflowed in their eyes.
"It's a blessing for me to be able to work for the third girl, but I can't say it's hard work!"
"Yeah?"
Pei Musheng looked at Song Jinyin next to him and saw that she took the old book from the maid's hand and put it on the table, along with the new one, and spoke slowly.
"Third Miss, the maids and boys who just came back can match everything they found. These two women have never been to nearly half of the shops in the booklet. In private, most of the items are used Shoddy stuff.”
"Even if they have to let the chef go through the entrance to eat, they have found substitutes. Some of them are not bad, but I asked the cook in the small kitchen of Zhuyayuan. Those things are not as good as the third girl. Everything is decided in the slightest.”
The two women next to them looked like they were in collapse, but as the incident was approaching, refusing to admit their guilt was their only way out.
The two broke free from the restraints and knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately.
"The slaves have been in the third room for many years, and they are determined not to do anything about this kind of thing. I ask the third girl to keep a close eye on it!"
"Yes, Miss Three! How dare this old slave, how dare you have such thoughts! Miss Three must never believe this girl's words. After all, she is not from our Third House. Maybe she is the person behind her. I want to see What a joke for our third bedroom!”
Pei Musheng was so noisy that his brain ached. He flipped through the two booklets at random, as well as the evidence of the signatures of the shopkeepers hidden underneath. Then he tapped his fingertips and said, "The two of them really don't seem to have such courage. After all, there is something wrong here." There are quite a few differences.”
"Yes, Miss Three!"
The two women dragged their knees and moved forward, "Girl, think about it, the slaves have done a good job in the three-bedroom courtyard. When they are about to be buried, they will be much more glorious than the women outside. There’s no need to do such a bastard thing!”
"There must be some people with evil intentions who want to make the third room uneasy during the banquet so that they can follow the wishes of the other two rooms and let outsiders see the joke!"
After saying that, the mother-in-law glared at Song Jinyin fiercely.
But Song Jinyin still had a faint smile, and even tilted her head with interest, looking at her mother-in-law's coat.
The maids and slaves in the mansion have their own rules for dressing, but those with higher status or those who are willing to pay, in addition to the rewards from their masters, can also buy one or two more sets of good materials to keep them warm in winter.
Although the clothes worn by the two women in front of them are still mainly blue, if you look carefully, the embroidery and dyeing patterns on them don't look like random things. They must be newly spent money.
It's just that these clothes don't look cold-resistant, and they have to be changed after wearing them for half a month at most. Thinking about it this way, these two women are indeed rich.
"Third Miss, you must not be fooled!"
The commotion became louder and louder, and the mother-in-law was filled with indignation, as if the person responsible for the heinous crimes was Song Jinyin.
"Who knows who is listening to someone's orders? They know people but don't know their hearts!"
Hearing this, Song Jinyin, who had originally not planned to waste words with them, came back to her senses.
Thinking that this matter might reach Pei Yanzhou's ears at any time, she finally moved her lips.
"Two nuns, there is no need for some people to say who is behind this slave. Is it possible that there are still people in the Duke's mansion who don't know?"
Seeing the two people's expressions paused, Song Jinyin recalled the arrangement they made to her behind her back that day, and hid her lips in sarcasm.
"Speaking of which, the nuns may know better than the slaves, how the slaves manage this big maid, and now they are talking about it in a roundabout way. I don't know, I thought you two were jealous."
Song Jinyin chuckled lightly, but if she looked closely, she could see that the smile did not reach her eyes, but instead added a bit of sternness to her brows.
"As for whether this servant was under the instructions of someone behind the scenes... Your Majesty has been busy with a lot of errands recently, and you don't have time to see who is making jokes in the house. Mothers should be careful what they say."
It was the first time that Pei Musheng saw Song Jinyin's sharp-tongued appearance. When he saw her on weekdays, he would mostly lower his head, speak softly and carefully, and not make any mistakes.
At most, it was the last time she faced Liu, and she replied coldly.
Not like this moment.
Those clear water eyes became fierce at some point, her back was straight, and even the green maid's shirt couldn't hide the aura she exuded.
Standing next to Qinglu, who was also a maid, she instantly compared her with him.
As expected of someone who came from Zhuya Courtyard.
Pei Musheng pondered secretly, nodded repeatedly in her mind, and admired her mother's plan to ask Song Jinyin to help her even more.
"Slave, this is not what I mean. How dare you arrange for the crown prince..."
The mother-in-law looked gloomy, but thinking that this third girl was rich and easy to fool, she felt hopeful again.
But before she could start her calculation, Pei Musheng raised her hand.
"Although I think you may not have the courage, but in order to clear your innocence, we still have to investigate."
"But don't worry, my three brothers are all businessmen. In order to make money, they have always been friendly with others. Blood is rarely seen in the courtyard. As long as what you said is true, money compensation will be indispensable."
"But, if you have really deceived me... I looked at my eldest sister a few days ago, and it doesn't seem like a big deal if a maid dies."
The people next to them got the instruction, detained the two women again, and dragged them out of the yard.
...
It was quiet in Fuluyuan.
After Song Jinyin entered the room, she stepped aside, lowered her head and stared at the ground in front of her toes.
This is the first time she has come to the old lady since the last time, and the people on the high seat still have kind eyes.
It wasn't until she heard Pei Musheng's words that the old lady's expression changed. Her eyebrows were heavy and her face was cold, which made people feel uneasy.
"Why are there three copies of the booklet you mentioned?"
"Going back to my grandmother, the person my granddaughter sent to implement was afraid of being bitten back. After writing down the list again, I asked the shopkeepers to sign. The shopkeepers just thought it was a complicated purchase in the house and were not suspicious. As for the other... ..."
Pei Musheng picked up the golden book in the middle, opened it, and nodded with his jade finger.
"This book contains all the items I have ordered for this banquet. From the food to the utensils, the amount of money allocated to each item is clearly recorded. Grandma can take a look and see if there is any difference between a shoddy item and a good one. How much money did you get?"
The booklet was opened, and the room fell into a brief silence.
The mother-in-law's face turned pale, knowing that it would be difficult to get rid of the money, so she shivered uncontrollably.
"Old, old madam, this servant is also trying to save money for the third girl. I don't dare, I don't dare to have other thoughts..."
Pei Musheng reached out and tapped the number marked at the back of the booklet, "Jin Yin and I went through it several times, and the difference was nearly 23,000 taels. It really saved money, but I didn't get a penny back from this money. Son."
"That's Song Jinyin talking nonsense!"
The mother-in-law looked at Song Jinyin in panic. They usually handled shopping and were used to being favored by slaves. Now they did not dare to confront the third girl directly, so they subconsciously wanted to pick someone with a low status.
"The old lady knows clearly that the slaves have been in the third room for many years, how could they do such a thing as digging their own graves!"
"If you restrain yourself in the next few days, you might just be talking nonsense today."
Song Jinyin finally took a step, but compared to their excitement, she looked at them, too calm to be the person in this room.
"The third girl sent to follow you this time, in addition to a few people from the third room, there is also a boy from the prince's courtyard. And the twenty-three thousand taels were not calculated by this servant alone."
Hearing this, one woman fell to the ground, while the other's eyes widened, full of eagerness and anger, and pointed at Song Jinyin: "You little bitch, how dare you frame me! How is that possible? There are twenty-three thousand taels..."
Song Jinyin didn't listen to the mother-in-law's scolding anymore. When the old lady raised her eyes to look at her, she stepped back to one side.
This amount of money is indeed just a temporary sum. No matter how courageous the two women are, they would not dare to get so much money. Even the second wife, Qi Shi, may have to wait several times before she dares to do it, but that is not important. Even the golden book was something she had temporarily filled in for Pei Musheng in the past few days.
As long as the two women confessed the Qi family in panic, the matter would have achieved its goal.
Song Jinyin thought of Pei Yanzhou's meaningful stop before going to court a few days ago, and laughed and said that her ability to settle accounts was not bad, and she suddenly thought of Biyu.
Biyu didn't tell him about the encounter with her mother-in-law that day, but Pei Yanzhou seemed to know everything.
She lowered her eyes and pursed her lips, inexplicably recalling his comfort today, and the wall built in Song Jinyin's heart felt faintly blown by the breeze.
