Chapter 362: The Liu family shouldn’t be this despicable, right?

Chapter 362: The Liu family shouldn't be this despicable, right?

In high spirits, Dowager Marchioness Weibei unceremoniously took the seat at the head of the room, leaning on her maid, Nan Yan.

Suppressing his anger, Liu Qingyuan sat in a lower seat, his face rigid as he spoke, "Dowager Marchioness, there are underlying reasons for this..."

Dowager Marchioness Weibei didn’t give Liu Qingyuan any face and sneered, "Underlying reasons? What underlying reasons? Is it the reason you gave your own daughter to the useless son of the Cui family as a concubine? Or the reason you gave your distant cousin's daughter to the notorious Count Taining as a second wife? Or the reason you bullied the orphaned girl from the second household, who has no parents, and seized her property? ... Absurd, utterly absurd! Since Grand Scholar Liu retired and returned to his hometown, all sorts of scoundrels have emerged! How tragic that a once prestigious scholar's residence has sunk so low!"

Dowager Marchioness Weibei's lengthy tirade was scathing. Given her noble status, she had always looked down on Liu Qingyuan's actions, and now she didn’t spare any face for him or the Liu family.

Liu Qingyuan and the Liu family elders were so embarrassed their faces turned as red as boiled shrimp.

Although Dowager Marchioness Weibei's scolding also targeted the Liu family, Ah Wu secretly felt extremely pleased, thinking that this Dowager Marchioness was truly formidable.

She should learn well from Dowager Marchioness Weibei!

Xingxing also looked at Dowager Marchioness Weibei with bright eyes.

Feeling a bit lightheaded under the admiring gazes of the two beautiful young women, Dowager Marchioness Weibei coughed and steadied herself, "...So, have you all decided how to handle this?"

Liu Qingyuan and the Liu family elders were already defeated by Dowager Marchioness Weibei's scolding. Hearing her question, their faces remained stiff as they said, "...Dowager Marchioness, this is after all a private matter of the Liu family..."

Dowager Marchioness Weibei glared, "Did I not make myself clear earlier? I was invited by your family's patriarch, clearly to prevent you wolves and tigers from bullying this young girl! Now you want to drive me away? Are you feeling guilty? Have you already decided to bully your orphaned niece?! Then just say it, and I'll leave immediately. I'll make sure to spread the word about how the Liu family bullies a young girl who has lost both parents!"

Liu Qingyuan's face twisted, almost spitting blood!

Ah Wu is already in her twenties! She's even had a son! This old woman keeps calling her a young girl, as if Ah Wu, that fool, is so pitiful!

But... no matter how furious Liu Qingyuan was, he knew he couldn't afford to offend this old woman. He had to grit his teeth and force a smile, "How could that be? Ah Wu is fortunate to have your care, Dowager Marchioness. It must be her good karma from a past life..."

Dowager Marchioness Weibei snorted impatiently, "Enough. I don't want to hear your empty words. Just tell me straight, how do you plan to handle this?"

Ah Wu also said, "Yes, Uncle. Grandfather and I left the capital seven years ago, and you never sent any income from the shops and estates to the manor in Mapo Town. We thought they were truly losing money. But now it seems someone has been deceiving us."

Xingxing chimed in softly, "Losing money is one thing, but the dual-entry ledgers clearly show that someone has embezzled the money. My aunt and I were going to send these embezzling stewards to the authorities, but it was Master Liu's people who came and told us they would give us an explanation, so we brought them back. Little did we expect that Master Liu would start blaming my aunt for this and that, never mentioning repaying the money."

"Now that Dowager Marchioness Weibei is here, Master Liu surely won't renege on the debt, right?"

Liu Qingyuan gritted his teeth.

In Liu Qingyuan's mind, once the assets were in his hands, he was unwilling to give them up.

He was the head of the Liu family; what was wrong with taking the assets of the second household?

But...

Now it seemed that Ah Wu, that fool, had made such a big scene, and even the old man had invited Dowager Marchioness Weibei to protect her. He couldn't avoid paying a price—

Liu Qingyuan clenched his teeth, "...Ah Wu has been away from the capital and doesn't know how difficult things have been for the Liu family these years. I took some income from the shops to build connections, all for the sake of the Liu family, not for personal gain. Ah Wu is also a member of the Liu family, she should..."

Before Liu Qingyuan could finish his sentence about "contributing to the family," Dowager Marchioness Weibei sharply retorted, "You're not going to say that this money should be paid by Ah Wu, a young girl who returned to her hometown early, are you? ... Liu Qingyuan, people can be shameless, but not this shameless! A group of grown men, living in the bustling capital, indulging in luxury, while a young girl like Ah Wu returned to the countryside early with her grandfather, enjoying none of the Liu family's glory, and you want her to foot the bill for you men in the capital?"

"Liu Qingyuan, don't tell me that the Liu family relies on Ah Wu, a young girl with no parents, to support it?"

"Not to mention Ah Wu married long ago! I've never heard of a family forcing a married daughter to contribute her own wealth to 'support the family'! The Liu family shouldn't be this despicable, right?"

Dowager Marchioness Weibei's scolding was powerful and relentless, not even pausing for breath.

Ah Wu's eyes lit up, and she couldn't resist applauding Dowager Marchioness Weibei.

Liu Qingyuan and the elders of the Liu family were scolded so severely they couldn’t sit still, their faces burning with embarrassment, wishing they could find a hole to crawl into!

Liu Qingyuan’s face turned beet red, and he stammered in his defense: "...No, it’s not like that... Mrs. Zheng, you’ve misunderstood. I, I just wanted to say that the family has had a tough time these years, which is why these mistakes happened. I swear, I’d even sell everything I own to make up for the money owed to Ah Wu!"

Mrs. Zheng snorted and turned to ask Ah Wu: "Ah Wu, dear, do you know how much money has disappeared from the accounts over these years?"

Mrs. Zheng actually didn’t come alone this time. Ah Wu, an orphan, and Grandfather Liu, who is bedridden, are clearly in a tough spot.

She brought along three accountants from the Marquis of Weibei’s household to help Ah Wu go through the account books.

However, Mrs. Zheng didn’t expect that as soon as she asked, Xingxing spoke up: "Madam, I’ve already calculated. Over the past few years, the accounts of my aunt’s shops have shown a total of nine thousand three hundred taels missing."

Mrs. Zheng furrowed her brow upon hearing this.

So much!

Almost ten thousand taels!

And Xingxing hadn’t even included the losses from Grandfather Liu’s properties!

After all, Liu Qingyuan is still Grandfather Liu’s son.

Liu Qingyuan was also shocked by the huge amount, his complexion changing abruptly.

He had only been embezzling a little each year, never imagining that over six or seven years, it would accumulate to such a large amount!