Chapter 58: Go to the Great Prison and Keep Company with Nanny Xue

When Xiang Xiang Junzheng dragged the Lady back to the residence, the sun had already set behind the western hills; it was nearly the hour of You.

Xiang Xiang Junzheng had originally intended to order a maid to escort the Lady back to the Emerald Jade Courtyard, but the blue swelling on his forehead, caused by the Lady's shoe, was still throbbing faintly, constantly reminding him of the humiliation he had suffered in public that day.

In a fit of rage, he simply dragged the blood-covered Lady back to the Emerald Jade Courtyard himself; along the way, the servants of the residence, terrified by the scene, scattered to avoid them. After dragging the Lady to the courtyard, Xiang Xiang Junzheng flung her viciously onto the ground.

At this moment, the Lady had long lost her former authority; her hair was disheveled, her face streaked with blood, and her eyes filled with fear and resentment. Xiang Xiang Junzheng glared at her ferociously: "Stay properly within this courtyard; if you dare step one foot outside, do not blame me for being merciless!" Xiang Xiang Junzheng flicked his sleeve, turned, and left, while the Lady collapsed sitting in the courtyard, her heart burning with even deeper hatred.

Upon receiving the news, Jun Jun Yiyi was greatly alarmed; the moment the Lady saw Jun Jun Yiyi, she could no longer hold back, hugging her daughter and bursting into loud wails—

"Jun Yiyi! Your mother is now under house arrest; you must help your mother! Your mother's face is ruined like this, and your uncle has been thrown into the great prison by that wretch Jun Jun Zijin, locked away for five whole years! Your uncle was at least an official of the eighth rank; how could they treat him this way, locking him up just like that?"

Jun Jun Yiyi temporarily had no good solution; given her own current predicament, what method could she possibly have? She gently patted the Lady's back to soothe her, saying:

"Mother, do not worry; we must plan carefully for the long term."

The Lady lifted her tear-streaked face, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes: "If that wretch is not eliminated, we mother and daughter will never know a day of peace."

Speaking of which, today was the final deadline for the Lady to hand over the land deeds and the dowry; Wu De had been beaten half to death at the Jingzhao Prefecture and had been forced to hand over the account books, leaving only the land deeds and Fang Fang Mengru's dowry outstanding.

The Lady was unwilling to accept this; she had intended to cause another scene, but now that she was in this state, Xiang Xiang Junzheng showed absolutely no mercy, and as for the Old Lady, needless to say, the only daughter-in-law in her heart was Fang Fang Mengru; when had she ever shown the Lady a kind face? The Lady had no choice but to temporarily suppress the fury in her heart and extremely reluctantly hand over the land deeds.

Whatever the Lady was thinking held no interest for Jun Jun Zijin, who said unhurriedly:

"Mother, today I will take my mother's dowry list to the warehouse to take inventory; please trouble you to produce the warehouse key."

Two days ago, when the Lady handed over the management of the household, the key to the main warehouse had been handed over together to the Old Lady; Jun Jun Zijin had already gone to look, and Fang Fang Mengru's dowry was not inside. Back when Fang Fang Mengru married, Fang Fang Jizhou had only this one daughter and had nearly emptied the Fang residence to provide her dowry; every bit that the Wu clan had monopolized and swallowed over so many years must be spat back out, down to the last copper coin.

Hearing these words, Wu Shi's expression grew even uglier; Fang Fang Mengru's dowry had been stored in her own small warehouse, some sold off, some given away; after several years, I'm afraid less than half remained. The Lady forced a calm demeanor and said:

"Hmph, now that I have returned the shops to you, I simply cannot find the dowry list. Besides, so many years have passed, and the warehouse has been renovated; who knows if the items are still complete?" How could she be willing to hand over the key just like that.

"There is no need to trouble Mother to search for the list; I have already prepared it." Jun Jun Zijin took out the list and waved it in her hand.

"As for the warehouse renovation, I imagine the items would only increase rather than decrease; after all, Mother has managed the household for so many years, surely there were some 'extra' incomes added into it."

"Of course, if Mother is truly short of money, I suppose gifting you a few items would not be impossible, but for Mother to use my mother's belongings to reward others is indeed Mother's fault." Jun Jun Zijin looked at Wu Shi with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Wu Shi was so enraged that her whole body trembled; pointing at Jun Jun Zijin, she said:

"You little beast, how dare you speak to me like that; regardless, I am still your mother, you uncultured thing!" Since the facade was already torn apart, the Lady did not even bother to pretend anymore, launching straight into curses.

The corners of Jun Jun Zijin's lips curled into a cold sneer:

"My mother died early; I was sent to the farmstead since childhood, so no one ever taught me what 'cultivation' or 'manners' are; besides, if you wish to scold me, then scold me, but why are you scolding my father?"

As she spoke, Jun Jun Zijin turned to ask Xiang Xiang Junzheng, who had remained silent all along:

"Father, Mother called me a 'little beast'; since I was born of you, I wonder who exactly she is insulting?"

Xiang Xiang Junzheng frowned tightly, turned his head to glare at the Lady, and rebuked:

"Enough! What a disgraceful spectacle!"

Then, he added in a deep voice:

"Wu Shi, since you agreed to return the dowry, do not cause further trouble; hurry up and hand over the key." After speaking, Xiang Xiang Junzheng flicked his sleeve and departed.

Wu Shi completely deflated; she had no choice but to take out the warehouse key and hand it to Jun Jun Zijin with extreme reluctance.

Jun Jun Zijin accepted the key, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, her voice cool and clear:

"Please trouble Mother to designate a reliable person to accompany me there; after all, the items in the warehouse are numerous and valuable; if anything were to go wrong, it would be difficult to explain." Having said this, she walked toward the warehouse.

The Lady was so angry she nearly fell backward; she grabbed a teacup, intending to smash it viciously onto the ground. Suddenly, her movement froze; the Lady abruptly remembered that the household management had now fallen into the hands of the Old Lady, who had never liked her. If she truly smashed this teacup, acquiring a new one would not be so easy. Thinking of this, the fury in the Lady's heart surged upward even more fiercely, burning until her heart and lungs felt consumed. Yet even so, she could only forcibly suppress the resentment in her heart and slowly loosen her hand gripping the teacup.

Jun Jun Zijin brought Winter Nanny and Miaozhu, who had specially rushed back from the shop today, to the warehouse door, where Qingyu, sent by the Lady, was already waiting.

The young servant guarding the door opened it; Jun Jun Zijin held the list and checked carefully, noting that many bolts of famous silks were missing, numerous pieces of antique porcelain were gone, and jewelry and ornaments were nearly depleted.

Qingyu stood to the side, her eyes flickering; Qingyu was the Lady's personal maid, and the Lady had sent her here to retrieve items far more than once or twice. What else could Jun Jun Zijin not understand? She sneered inwardly but showed nothing on her face.

Jun Jun Zijin raised her eyes to look at Qingyu and spoke lightly:

"Do you know where these items have gone?"

Qingyu's body trembled slightly; wringing the corner of her clothes with both hands, she hastily replied: "Second Young Lady, this servant does not know."

At this moment, Miaozhu suddenly remembered seeing a jadeite bangle on Qingyu's wrist; since that bangle resembled an orchid, was crystal clear, and did not look like an ordinary object, Miaozhu had glanced at it a few extra times back then. It was quite possible that it was the Orchid Jade Bangle lost from the Lady's dowry.

"Young Lady, I seem to have seen Qingyu wearing an Orchid Jade Bangle before," Miaozhu said suddenly.

Hearing this, Qingyu subconsciously pulled her hand back.

Jun Jun Zijin grabbed Qingyu's hand in one swift motion, revealing clearly on her wrist a glass-variety jadeite bangle shaped like an orchid.

"As expected, it is with you!" Miaozhu exclaimed in surprise.

Qingyu's face turned pale; she argued defensively:

"Second Young Lady, although this servant is a lowly subordinate, how many such jade bangles exist in this world? It is not the only one."

Jun Jun Zijin's eyes darkened:

"This jade bangle on your hand is no ordinary object; tell me, where did you get it?"

"The Lady gifted it to this servant," Qingyu replied defiantly.

This jade bangle was indeed one that the Lady had taken off her own hand to gift to Qingyu; it was an extremely rare, top-grade glass-variety jadeite bangle. The Lady had originally been reluctant to gift it away, but at that time, harboring the intention to curry favor with Qingyu, she had gritted her teeth, removed the bangle from her own wrist, and placed it onto Qingyu's.

Jun Jun Zijin's eyes darkened again:

"Winter Nanny, come and see if this Orchid Jade Bangle is part of my mother's dowry?" While holding Qingyu's hand, Jun Jun Zijin beckoned to Winter Nanny.

Winter Nanny slid the bangle off Qingyu's hand and turned it over carefully to inspect it:

"Young Lady, this is indeed the Orchid Jadeite Bangle from the Lady's dowry; your maternal grandfather spent a great sum of money to specially commission it for the Lady. Young Lady, look here; on this one, there is the character 'Ru', and on the other, the character 'Meng'. The bangles were originally a pair; since this one is on this servant's hand, I wonder where the other one is?" Winter Nanny pointed to a character inside the flower stamen of the bangle.

Jun Jun Zijin examined it closely; it was indeed the character 'Ru'. This character was designed to resemble a flower stamen, making it difficult to recognize without careful inspection. Jun Jun Zijin pondered silently that the other one was most likely still in Wu Shi's possession.

Jun Jun Zijin let out a cold laugh, her gaze icy as she looked at Qingyu.

"What audacity; stealing my mother's dowry and yet daring to frame the Lady."

Qingyu's face turned deathly pale; she threw herself to her knees with a thud:

"Second Young Lady, spare my life; the bangle was indeed gifted by the Lady; this servant did not know that this object was actually the Lady's relic."

Jun Jun Zijin looked at Qingyu expressionlessly,

"Are you implying that the Jade Bracelet was stolen by the First Lady? Do you have proof? How could the First Lady of the noble Jun Manor be a thief? If you cannot produce a reason, you will go to the dungeon to keep Xie Nainai company!"