Chapter 041
Chapter 41: Throwing Out the Bait
Wasn’t Xia Meng Yan supposed to like him? Then why press so hard? The Lin Family had plenty of gold and silver; a mere two hundred thousand taels was nothing.
Lin Ye Lan felt like he was on a hot iron plate, anger and pain twisting together. The moment he saw the Censorate men, he knew this would not end well. He kept telling himself: [Be rational.]
A Censorate lord picked up a gold brick, looked it over, then glanced at the lined-up chests. He shot a mocking look at Lin Ye Lan and said: “Marquis of Ping An, even if you saved your stipend for a lifetime, you could not gather this much silver. Think hard about how you will explain this to His Majesty.”
The Censorate lord left after throwing down those words.
Standing beside his daughter, Xia Ping Yuan blinked as if to say: [Daughter, hurry and praise me.]
Xia Meng Yan smiled. She had said she would report to the yamen, but she did not expect her father to take it all the way to the Censorate. And the man just now was Lord Qin, the Censorate’s upright iron judge. If he got hold of this, someone would be skinned even if they did not die.
“Scholar Xia,” Lord Wang called. The two men traded a look and walked to a quiet corner.
Xia Ping Yuan put on a puzzled face as he said: “Lord Wang, why are you here? Compared to the Royal Family’s villas, the Marquis Manor is small. Did you come to support my daughter?”
As Minister of Works, Lord Wang usually only moved for repairs to the Royal Family’s estates. Normal projects were handled by his underlings.
Lord Wang smiled and said: “Lord Xia, let us speak plainly. I came here on business. You understand.”
Xia Ping Yuan lifted his brows and glanced around as he said: “The Marquis Manor needed repairs big enough to call you? It seems the Marquis of Ping An has some pull.”
“Xia Ping Yuan,” Lord Wang said, his tone cooling when the other man would not play along, “since you know I should not be here, you should also guess that my work is tied to that silver.”
Xia Ping Yuan widened his eyes and asked in disbelief: “Do you mean the Marquis of Ping An also stole silver that belonged to other lords?”
“Are you playing dumb?” Lord Wang knew Xia Ping Yuan was slippery. He did not expect the man to pretend not to know even now.
“I truly do not know what you mean,” Xia Ping Yuan said with an aggrieved look. “My madam’s dowry was stolen. I just want it back. As for other matters, I would not dare touch them.”
Lord Wang was about to retort when a thought struck him. He tested the waters and asked: “So you mean, you want only your madam’s dowry back?”
“Of course,” Xia Ping Yuan said. “Where the rest of the silver came from is for Lord Wang to investigate.”
Lord Wang’s eyes flicked as he recalled he had only seen five gold bricks. If they gave those five back to Xia Ping Yuan, he would not care what happened to the rest. “Lord Xia, do you mean that?”
“Naturally. I won’t take ill-gotten gains.”
“Lord Xia is clean and honest. I admire that,” Lord Wang said. Now that the mess was public, the gold bricks stamped with Madam Lin’s crest were the most obvious pieces. If those were gone, the remaining gold, silver, and jewels would still be up to His Majesty. Relief loosened the knot in his chest. They could not get all two hundred thousand taels back, but tens of thousands would still be something.
Lin Ye Lan grew more anxious as he watched outsiders decide the fate of “his” silver. He wanted to hug the chests and vanish. He turned to Xia Meng Yan and said: “Meng Yan, whatever happened before, you and I were husband and wife. You are carrying my child. If I fall, you and the child will lose face too.”
He pinned his hopes on her. If she admitted she had given the things willingly, His Majesty could not seize them.
Sitting on the stool Chun Yue brought, Xia Meng Yan answered in a calm voice: “The marquis’s face is not something my child and I can hold up. Instead of arguing with me, use your time to think how to explain this to His Majesty.”
“You and I both know that silver was a donation from the Xia Family for the army’s pay,” he said.
“I donated it,” Xia Meng Yan cut him off. She looked at him like he was foolish and said: “I just said my mother’s gold bricks went missing. I am taking my own bricks back. No one can fault me for that.”
He stared at her, still not understanding. Then, seeing the sly light in her eyes, it hit him and he breathed: “So that is your two birds with one stone.”
“The marquis flatters me,” Xia Meng Yan said without arguing.
From the start, she knew the full two hundred thousand taels would never come back. So she aimed only for those few gold bricks. As for the rest, that would depend on who won the struggle. She had thrown out the bait so they would fight. That was her goal.
Once he grasped her plan, Lin Ye Lan stopped pestering her. If he reported the rest of the silver truthfully, with no Lin Family crest on it, His Majesty’s suspicion of the Huo Family’s army would grow. But if he lied, that would be deceiving the throne. A chill ran down his spine, and he hunched. The Ping An Marquis Manor was finished.
Things were unfolding just as Xia Meng Yan expected. Now she only needed to wait. [Just wait.]
Grand Madam Lin wanted to make a scene again, but Lin Ye Lan stopped her.
Lord Wang led men to carry the chests away.
Xia Ping Yuan followed the chests into the palace, saying he was guarding his madam’s dowry.
Satisfied, Xia Meng Yan stood to leave, but Grand Madam Lin blocked her and spat: “Wretch, this is all your fault. Why won’t you just die?”
Xia Meng Yan laughed and said: “The big fire did not kill you. Why should I die?” Seeing both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law blocking her path, she found it funny. Madam Jiang and Grand Madam Lin looked united, but each had her own plans. A little push, and they would fall apart.
Grand Madam Lin puffed up her chest like daring Xia Meng Yan to hit her.
Xia Meng Yan stepped back, her voice so calm it was scary as she said: “Old madam, instead of giving me trouble, you should ask your own son why you have facial paralysis.”
Grand Madam Lin froze, not understanding.
At those words, Madam Jiang went pale with fear and stammered: “Stop trying to sow discord. You are just getting back at us for making things hard for you back then.”
Xia Meng Yan did not argue. She only smiled.
That smile looked like mockery in Grand Madam Lin’s eyes. Once the seed of doubt was planted, it began to sprout. She turned to Madam Jiang and asked: “Are you hiding something from me?”
“No,” Madam Jiang said too quickly, her eyes darting as she backed away. Her smile turned stiff as she added: “Mother, don’t listen to Xia Meng Yan’s nonsense. You breathed in too much smoke, that is why your face is paralyzed. It has nothing to do with us.”
“It was not you. It was the eldest son,” Grand Madam Lin said, staring straight at Madam Jiang as if to see through her.
Madam Jiang’s mouth opened and no words came out. That was answer enough. Grand Madam Lin now knew Xia Meng Yan had not lied. She said sharply: “So I have facial paralysis because of the eldest.”
“Mother, no, that’s not it…”
“Silence. I am not senile yet. Tell the eldest to come see me,” Grand Madam Lin barked, slapping the cushion beside her.
Outside the manor, Chun Yue helped her mistress along as they headed home and said: “My lady, that was so satisfying.” She had long disliked the Marquis Ping Yang Manor. With a mistake this big, even without the Xia Family’s hand, His Majesty would punish them.
Xia Meng Yan did not feel the joy of winning. Instead, a bad feeling crept in as she said: “Lin Ye Lan came back to the Capital to heal. Even if there were mistakes, His Majesty might show mercy. Most of all, the Huo Family will not abandon him.”
She thought for a moment and added: “The Huo Family is a century-old military noble house, but in this generation, there are only a few strong officers. Lin Ye Lan is someone Marshal Huo raised by hand. After so much work to lift him to where he is, they will not give him up easily.”
Hearing that, Chun Yue frowned and said: “But embezzlement is a grave crime. If merits can erase it, then the Huo Family might as well have a Golden Imperial Pardon Token.”
Xia Meng Yan arched a brow and said: “That makes sense.” [So we need a sharper blade next time.]