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  Chapter 16: The Cost

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  Kui Xue turned her head away, Zhu Yi Chen pointed at her and clenched his fist in anger towards Zhu Yi Huan. Seeing Kui Xue ignoring him, Zhu Yi Huan coughed and took the initiative to ask her about Bing Pian's matter... "Where were we?"

  Chu Xue finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, hastily saying "I just thought of something that almost got us mixed up"

  "What's the matter?"

  "Will there be so many fake ice slices at Mr. Meng's place?"

  "Yes, I've asked this question too."

  "I suspect that Men took cheap fake ice slabs from somewhere and exchanged them with the real ones in the mansion, letting the fake ones be used by the people in the mansion while hiding the real ones to secretly transport and sell them when the opportunity arises"

  Zhu Yuhuan and Zhu Yu Chen were both stunned, and they exclaimed in unison: "Ah!"

  "It must be so, otherwise there wouldn't be so many fake ice slices?"

  Chu Ke's murmured words of deep thought might really be true... At this moment, she may not have found the person who came to her door yet.

  "Right, this woman is not simple, if she sees that things are not going well, will she die without admitting it?" Zhu Yuhuan asked.

  "It won't work, those fake ice chips are worth over 500 taels of silver, will they let it go that easily? If Madam Meng refuses to acknowledge it, they'll definitely drag her to the yamen, and she wouldn't dare make a big deal out of this." said Zhu Yixun.

  Chu Ke nodded, she might not have thought that these people could find her... Not admitting it would not be beneficial to her.

  "This is also true," said Zhu Yuhuan.

  "I'll go ask." Chu Ke said, looking at both of them, they both nodded, so she called out to Jing Er outside.

  "Jing'er heard the sound and walked in, 'Does young lady have any instructions?'"

  "Qingguo and Baiguo both came in."

  Qing Guo and Bai Guo also came in, Chu Ke asked about the spices, "When we were at home, have you guys ever heard of this? For example, if the spice doesn't smell right or something else, no matter what it is, tell me and let me hear."

  The other two were still thinking, but it was better to ask Bai Guo first. Our courtyard had never been given good incense before. Once my mother heard someone say that Master asked Madame in front of everyone if there was any good ice fragment on the side of Liu Niang and San Guniang, and Madame promised to ask, but then didn't mention it again."

  "Is there anything else? This doesn't seem to work."

  "Madam once complained that the sandalwood incense in the mansion didn't smell right." Jing Er said, "I heard it from the servant girls who attend to Madam's daily needs."

  "What's going on?"

  "The lady had just entered the house, and it was an old servant girl on the upper floor who advised her, saying that since she had just entered the house, it wouldn't be good to go find the old lady about such trivial matters, so the lady didn't mention it again."

  Chu Ke nodded slightly and asked, "Is there anything else?"

  "The maid hastily replied, 'I also heard it once. At that time, the previous madam had just passed away and was still in the midst of funeral arrangements. Someone said that the musk in the mansion had no fragrance and wasn't as good as before, but it was all said by the lower servants. I only listened with one ear.'"

  Chu Ke nodded and asked if there was anything else.

  The three maidservants looked at each other in dismay and shook their heads.

  "Let's go down."

  Three people left, Chu Kei quickly figured out some key points and also thought of a way to deal with the Zhongmen family.

  ……

  The gate was closed, and there was no one at the entrance of the hut. She swaggered in without any problem, but as soon as she entered the courtyard, she felt something was off. Lifting her head, she saw two young masters sitting in the main hall, and suddenly became furious.

  She turned her head to look for Jing'er, but couldn't find her, so she stormed in with a scowl on her face.

  Chu Xue's guess was really not far off. The Door family had indeed done such a thing as stealing the beam and replacing it with a pillar two or three times.

  Men Shi had always been Chu Lao Tai Tai's personal maid, and shortly before Chu Lao Tai Tai got married, she had an affair with a servant and gave birth to an illegitimate child. However, the servant was afraid of taking responsibility and unexpectedly turned against her.

  Mrs. Chu kept the matter hidden, considering Men's loyalty and diligence, as well as her distrust of other maidservants, and the fact that this incident would serve as a means to control Men, who would be even more devoted to serving her from then on. The child was sent back to his maternal grandparents for upbringing, while Men continued to follow Mrs. Chu.

  Men Shi grew up and Men Shi gave him money to open a spice shop outside, but he didn't work hard to learn this skill, his eyes were not good at identifying spices, and he was often cheated into buying fake goods. The first time he bought some fake musk, because the price of this spice was too expensive, he really couldn't afford to lose money, so he could only ask his mother Men Shi for help, Men Shi thought of a trick to steal the beam and replace it with a pillar, exchanging some musk from the house.

  At that time, they were busy with the funeral of Chu Yun's family, and these fake ones mixed in with the real ones. The masters were all busy and confused, so they didn't notice.

  Later, there was another time when it was secretly replaced, and another time when a second-hand item was specifically brought in. The owner went to the door and lied that they had brought in a fake one, asking the owner to replace it with good goods. The owner agreed, of course, but only replaced items from other houses, not daring to touch those from the clever old lady's house.

  Men's family had this way out, and their courage became even bigger. This time the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, so they bought a large amount of ice slivers. Who would have thought that someone would come to Men's family with fake ones? Men's family took one look and saw how anxious they were, not daring to exchange them, but couldn't withstand their repeated pleas, so they could only accept the fake ice slivers and promise to find an opportunity to exchange them for real ones from the government office.

  But she didn't dare to do it, although the house has been very chaotic recently. The ice pieces are not always available for purchase, and the remaining ones from the last time are not many, and they have all been distributed to various courtyards. She can't take action to exchange them, and can only wait until the Dragon Boat Festival's big procurement to buy new ones and then exchange them.

  However, Bingpian's flavor was too strong, she hid in the mansion with bated breath. This time, the old lady sent her to follow San Guniang to offer incense, and she didn't dare leave the fake Bingpian in the mansion, so she brought it along.

  After arriving, I heard other wives gossiping and casually mentioning that once the new madam's mansion bought some inferior spices, which seemed to be fake.

  The old ladies were just chatting, but the listener was unintentional and had a heart. When Men heard it, he was shocked and didn't dare to change the ice piece again. But the ice piece in his hand couldn't come out, and smashing it in his hand was not reconciled. So he thought of an idea, others could cheat her, why couldn't she cheat others? This is Chengde, not Beijing, just sell the ice piece in his hand.

  So she made up her mind, and these days she has been looking for an opportunity to go out. Today, the girl happened to be ill, so she persuaded a few greedy wives to say that they wanted to go down the mountain, making people think they were going to eat meat, but as soon as they went down the mountain, Men Shi separated from the wives and claimed to visit relatives, telling them to take a stroll. They agreed on a time, whoever arrived at the foot of the mountain first would wait.

  Several old women really went to eat meat and fish.

  Men's this time out of the door, brought two good clothes, today wearing a cyan woolen jacket with a mandarin collar, tied a waist with a auspicious flower patterned skirt, dressed like a noble woman, and specially hired a sedan chair, all the way to the city's a fragrance shop door.

  The shop had one owner and two employees, but the owner happened to be out. The two employees took a look at Madam Meng's entourage and thought she was a woman from a wealthy family, so they hurriedly welcomed her in with enthusiasm. It wasn't until Madam Meng brought out a box of ice cream from the sedan chair that they realized she had come to sell something.

  However, this is also a business. Their store often encounters such situations where some servants of wealthy families steal expensive spices and sell them to the store at a low price because they are eager to get rid of them quickly. They do such business in secret, and even if the authorities try to catch them, they can't, as spices don't have any distinct features like ordinary stolen goods, and they mix with regular ones, making it impossible for anyone to identify them.

  They were surprised to see the woman take out ice, and they were even more shocked that it was two percent cheaper than the usual price. The profit margin on this ice was already high, and with such a large transaction, the two partners were a bit dizzy. Adding to their confusion, they didn't recognize the goods due to their lack of expertise, so they made the deal.

  Men's family couldn't help but be delighted, although they lost a bit, but only a dozen or so taels, which was much better than losing hundreds of taels. Moreover, she didn't have to worry about exchanging the real ice pieces in the government office, and she was overjoyed.

  Those two fellows may not be skilled in their craft, but they are cunning as businessmen. After all, it's a big deal and the two of them took charge on their own, so they were particularly careful. As soon as Madam Meng walked out the door, one of them followed her to see where she was going. As a result, Madam Meng ran into those women who like to eat and drink on the street, chatted with them for a while, not only revealing her whereabouts but also calling out their names.

  That fellow waited until the boss was gone, then found that the Ice Slab was fake, and so he went to the front gate of Qingyun Mountain Hermitage.

  Men's family is not yet, she still did not go shopping with those women, but went alone to buy some things that others can't have, and then wandered around to find a restaurant to eat a big fish and meat meal.

  At the foot of the mountain and met with several old ladies, went up the mountain together.

  The three shopkeepers of the spice store, due to Zhu Yuxuan's orders, went to find evidence and left one person on guard. The shopkeeper ordered the remaining partner to keep an eye on Men Shi without startling her, just let her in, and wait for the evidence to be found before catching her. So when the gate-keeping partner saw Men Shi and several women walking up from the small path, he quickly hid.

  Men Shiyu still didn't know, thinking that today's affairs were clean and tidy, and no one would be held responsible. So he walked into the courtyard with his head held high and chest out, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw two young masters sitting in the main hall of the upper house, with Third Sister accompanying them. Suddenly, he became furious and cursed in his heart: "What is this little girl Jing'er looking at?" He strode into the main hall.

  As soon as he entered the door, he saw two men playing chess, and a girl was watching from the side. Mr. Men felt angry in his heart, not playing chess, but running to the girl's place to play chess?

  So he didn't mind disturbing them and smiled as he paid his respects to Third Sister "Third Sister, we've arrived."

  Chu Ke nodded slightly and said, "I heard you went to buy medicine?"

  The door was closed and the heart didn't jump, it was said that the fifth master went to buy something and didn't buy much... However, the third daughter saw a lot of second and fifth masters... What's this?

  Chu Ke looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile, and the old lady's face turned slightly red as she thought of the 150 taels of silver she had received. However, she thought again, the old lady's plan should not be affected, receiving the 150 taels of silver was on the basis that the young lady did not do anything out of line, and helping her if possible, but now this is indeed out of line.

  Then he bowed slightly and said softly to Chu Ke, "Miss, it's getting late, you're still ill, why don't you rest? Please ask the two gentlemen to leave as well?"

  Chu Ke asked, "Mother said so, but what about after this game is over?"

  The girl's attitude was humble and cautious, which made Mr. Men quite satisfied. She had always been a person who left room for future encounters, so she nodded slightly and stood aside to watch.

  However, this game of Go was different, and it seemed to have no end. After standing by the side for half an hour, Meng's patience began to wear thin. Her old arms and legs were tired, and she had just eaten a big meal of fish and meat, so she wanted to sit down and savor the aftertaste with a cup of tea. Being made to stand and wait like this was unbearable, so she thought for a moment before interrupting them.

  Just then, Jing'er, who had been absent for a long time, came in. Madame Door's face immediately fell and she sternly shouted at Jing'er.

  The two people playing chess were startled and looked at her. Mrs. Meng pretended to be unaware, not looking at anyone, but staring at Jing'er alone and scolding: "Where did you go? The young lady is still ill, yet you've been gone for more than half a day without anyone seeing you?"

  Jing'er hastily replied to her mother, "The young lady has sent a servant girl to keep watch. The servant girl saw you, but didn't dare (to approach)."

  Men Sheng did not understand and asked strangely: "What are you saying?"

  Chu Ke coughed and asked Jing Er, "Are you alright?"

  "Quickly, the servant girl said that Qing Guo is over there with them, keeping watch. I'll report to you, those two people have left, please, Second Master and Fifth Master, go out."

  Chu Keqian then said to Zhu Yixun and Zhu Yihuan, "Two elder cousins, please go out and take a look, is it really so? Thank you for your trouble, two elder cousins."

  Zhu Yuhuan and Zhu Yu Chen stood up and said "No need to be polite, sister-in-law." Then they walked out.

  Men saw Jing'er also followed out, "hmm" said Jing'er this little hoof...... She also wanted to follow and take a look, but was stopped by Chu Ke's shout "Mom Men".

  Men stood still, turned around and looked at her, "Girl?"

  "What did I tell Jing Er to go see?"

  Men's inexplicable shaking head, the slave girl didn't know."

  "Chu Ke's mother said that just now three big men came, making a loud noise at the gate of the temple, calling out to Mother to come out. If she didn't come out, they would rush in. I am a weak woman, so I asked Jing Er to invite two uncles to come and mediate."

  She stared at the somewhat tense and suspicious Mr. Men who said those people took a box of fake ice chips, saying they were sold to them by Mrs. Men."

  Men's eyes widened suddenly, his legs softened, and he almost fell. If you like this work, welcome to subscribe, reward on Starting Point (startingpoint.net), your support is my greatest motivation.

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