Chapter Eighty: Unite and Attack

  The Zhang family and Zhao Wei's departure from Beijing was delayed for two days, they had their own reasons for doing so, but as for the servants in the house, especially Lu Dazhou and his wife, the excuse was that it was hot and dry, the water level of the canal had dropped, and there were many luggage to bring back to the south, so the original boat hired was not enough, and another one had to be hired, which took some time.

  Mr. Zhang permitted Lu Dasou to follow him back to Fengxian, not only because he had repeatedly begged for it before, but also because during his stay in the house, there was an incident of losing valuable items, and the host family thought that he was still too young and lacked discipline, so they planned to take him back to the south to let his parents teach him some rules. Lu Dasou had long been looking forward to going with him, although this reason made him a little resentful, but in order to achieve his goal, he didn't care about anything else.

  His wife, however, refused to follow him and scolded him, pointing at his nose: "I said it back then, I married you because your master's family is prominent in the capital, even though you're just a servant. Marrying you would allow me to live a life of luxury, and when your master becomes a marquis, you'll be in charge, with more dignity than some rural landowner. But now that your master didn't get the title, he's taking his wealth back home, and wants to take you with him, clearly not planning to return to the capital. You'll spend the rest of your life as a servant in some small town, what's the point of being with you? Let's divorce! If you don't want a divorce, go tell your master that you won't follow him back south, and redeem yourself. With the private savings we've accumulated, we can start a small business and live a decent life."

  Lu Dasou said angrily: "What are you messing around with at this time? How can I possibly redeem myself and do small business with you? My whole family is doing menial work, if I redeem myself. What about my parents, younger brother and sister?"

  His wife glared: "What do I care about what they do? They can abandon you alone in the capital for so many years, why are you still considering them? Old and young, it's all the same. Even if they were released from prison, they would just be freeloaders, don't expect me to support them!"

  Lu Dazhou was furious. He only needed to do one thing well, and from now on, he could live a good life elsewhere, even his parents and siblings would benefit. But this woman was holding him back at this critical moment. Moreover, he didn't dare tell the truth, was it really that he had fate but no luck? She refused to leave Beijing, even if he succeeded in doing things. Taking his whole family away, she still wouldn't follow, let alone be filial to his parents. What else could be said? He shouldn't have been blinded by her beauty on that day and insisted on marrying her into the family.

  Think about it, his own ancestors were also officials, if not for his grandfather's mistake in surrendering to the enemy during the Qing army's entry into Beijing, after the Qing army was defeated by the previous emperor, he would have been demoted along with other officials who surrendered to the Qing and became an official slave. He is now a young master of an official family, no worse than Wei Ge. He should marry a well-bred girl from a good family as his wife, not this kind of coarse woman. It's really a loss of face for him!

  Lu Dazhou immediately wrote a divorce letter to his wife, not a separation. The reason on the divorce letter was that she was unfilial and disobedient, inciting her husband to abandon his parents and set up his own household. This reason was sufficient, and it was impossible for anyone to find fault with it. Even the woman's natal family did not dare to come and make trouble.

  His wife was shocked, she thought her husband would still listen to her this time, but unexpectedly what she said went too far and triggered a backlash. Divorce is one thing, but being divorced for being unfilial is another matter altogether, how can she remarry in the future?

  She cried and refused to take the divorce paper back home, and ran to Zhang's wife to report, saying that Lu Dasou was caught by her having an affair outside and wanted to divorce her in anger. Zhang's wife loved to reason with her, but sternly ordered her to shut up and let Zhao Wei, her grandson, leave. Seeing this, she knew she had misspoken and immediately changed her words, saying that Lu Dasou had broken the trust by pawning things, stealing from his master's house and selling them outside, accumulating private wealth for himself, and even clearly stated which pawnshop he used, which servant in the mansion was his accomplice. Moreover, she voluntarily confessed that the pawn ticket was hidden in her own dresser.

  Lu Dazhou rushed over and heard her words, his legs softened, looking at Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei's faces, he could only kneel on the ground with cold sweat. Zhang Shi saw him like this, in her heart was both hatred and anger, more was hatred for not being able to make good use of iron, she ordered people to search Lu Dazhou and his wife's room, and found the IOU, this couple, indeed during the previous day when they were clearing out things, the missing cups, dishes, bowls, and plates that were "smashed" on the ledger were almost all here. Because they were all high-quality porcelain, although they were everyday items, they were pawned for 50 or 60 taels of silver, which was a considerable sum.

  It seems that Lu Dasou didn't learn the skills of managing his parents' affairs, but he was well-versed in the art of stealing valuable items from his masters. He wouldn't steal those eye-catching gold and silver utensils, but instead targeted everyday cups and bowls, accumulating a small fortune over time. If the master's family investigated, he would simply say that they were broken and the fragments had been thrown away - who could then uncover the truth?

  Zhang looked deeply at Lu Dasou: "Was the kang screen also lost like that?"

  Lu Dasou's face turned pale as he fell to the ground: "The old lady is wise, I really didn't know about that screen, if I really wanted to take something valuable, why not just choose one of those vases?"

  Zhang didn't believe it, he just didn't plan on making a move at this time.

  Zhaowei slanted a glance at Lu Dasou, only to feel that he had been blind to think of him as a kind and loyal servant before. He sneered: "This is indeed a case of the thief shouting 'catch the thief'! When things went missing, you said it was all because of the other maids breaking them, but in this entire household, whether inside or outside, almost everyone has been accused of breaking two or three cups and bowls, except for you and your wife, who have always been so steady and cautious, not a single one broken. It turns out that everyone else was wronged, and it was the two of you who were stealing from under your own noses!"

  As soon as the words came out, the other maids and wives in the room looked at Lu Dasou's couple with some malice. There have been rumors these two days that the old lady intends to get rid of all the people they bought later, because someone is not clean-handed and does things rashly, they are still wondering who made the trouble and implicated everyone, unexpectedly it was Lu Dasou who framed them! The master of the second house of the Zhao family, although he has been away from Beijing for a long time, which makes it difficult for them to borrow the power of the master's house, but the job is easy and the monthly salary is not small, it's really comfortable. If they are really fired, where can they find such a good job?

  Rumors spread quickly throughout the mansion, and soon everyone was filled with indignation. The person who had helped Lu Dasou's wife smuggle goods in the past became a public enemy overnight, and even their own relatives refused to speak up for them. They were also furious at Lu Dasou's couple for betraying them. A group of people rushed to the main courtyard to beg Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei, telling them how they had been wronged and how loyal they were, and one by one, they exposed the deceitful schemes of Lu Dasou's couple.

  One of the old women's words caught Zhang Shi's attention: "After Old Lady and Young Master returned to Beijing, a woman brought a young girl to ask for an audience, saying she was from the Hou Mansion and had served as a maid. The woman's niece was the wet nurse of the eldest sister, and there was something important that needed to be told to Old Lady. However, because they didn't bring silver to bribe them, Lu Da Shou's wife blocked them at the door. Later, the young girl found Lu Da Shou outside and cried, saying they had important news about the small house and wanted to report it to Old Lady and Young Master. Not only did Lu Da Shou not let them in, but he also told his wife to chase them away, and she ordered us to take a big broom to drive them away. They even reported it to the authorities, saying they were causing trouble at the door and wanted to take them to see the officials. The women only escaped then. It's unknown whether they really had important news to report to Old Lady, but because of Lu Da Shou and his wife's greed for silver, they hadn't been able to see Old Lady's face for almost two months. Hopefully, it won't miss the crucial moment."

  Zhang looked at the old woman and asked: "The old woman you mentioned, did she ever mention her surname?"

  "It seems to be the surname Tu......" The old woman couldn't remember clearly either, and another old woman hurriedly added: "I remember. She said her husband's name was Tu San Yang, and her niece's name was Zhen Zhu Sao."

  Zhaoyi was astonished. Hurriedly he asked Zhangshi: "Grandmother, is this really a relative of Pearl's?"

  "Zhang nodded: "Aunt Pearl indeed has an uncle named Tu Sanyang, who is from the small main house side. However, he has always been in charge of the outer courtyard's carriages and horses, so I'm not very clear about his affairs. His wife's temperament isn't bad; since they didn't have a daughter, she treated Aunt Pearl like her own flesh-and-blood daughter, showing great care until the Duke passed away, at which point the two families stopped interacting." At that time, it was when the small main house and the second house were turning against each other. Even if the lower-ranking servants had connections with relatives on both sides, they couldn't help but temporarily avoid suspicion. This kind of situation wasn't unique to Aunt Pearl's maternal family alone."

  Zhang thought to herself, Chen's family, including his parents and younger sister Spring Grass, all died in the sunken ship, leaving only Pearl's husband Chen Lao San. They had a young son who was only a few years old, as well as a younger daughter, both of whom were servants in the Second Mistress's household. Five years ago, after news of the incident spread to the capital, Chen Lao San not only didn't hold a grudge against the Eldest Young Master but instead took advantage of the good opportunities and new wife arranged by the Eldest Young Master, abandoning his parents', wife's, and younger sister's great enmity and defecting to the Eldest Young Master's side. In recent years, the Eldest Young Master had lost his title, although he was still in the capital, it wasn't as if he could go anywhere with glory, but it was unknown what had become of Chen Lao San and his family. Pearl's aunt and uncle were originally people of the Eldest Young Master, suddenly running to the Second Mistress's household, also didn't know what exactly was going on.

  Lu Dasou knelt in the courtyard, seeing that things were not going well, and struggled to say: "Old lady, don't believe this woman's nonsense! That Tu Sanyang is not a good person. In those years when Master Jiong went south, he was killed by him on the way. This Tu Sanyang was serving on his boat at that time and must have been his accomplice too! I know the inside story of their family, so no matter what they say, I won't let them in the door, it's not because they didn't give me money!"

  Zhang's face changed again upon hearing this. If Tú Sān Yáng had indeed been one of Zhao Kuò's accomplices, then even if he was Zhēnzhū Shěn's aunt and uncle, they couldn't forgive him. Back then, the family members under Zhao Kuò who participated in the crime were all arrested by Guǎng Píng Wáng's men and taken back to the capital for trial. Although it's unknown what happened to them afterwards, one can imagine that it wouldn't be good. Xiǎo Cháng Fáng would worry about Zhao Kuò, and the Jiǎng family would try to rescue Jiǎng Shì, but who would remember these lowly servants? If Tú Sān Yáng was among them and had a grudge against Xiǎo èr Fáng, it's possible that his wife would take advantage of the opportunity to seek revenge. Lú Dà Shòu stopping people wasn't wrong.

  Lu Dazhou looked at the changing expression on Zhang's face, slightly relieved, and secretly glared at his wife who had betrayed him. However, his wife was not willing to give up, and took out a silver bangle from her pocket, saying to Zhang: "Madam, please take a look, this is the silver bangle that the woman surnamed Tu always carried with her. She couldn't see you, and urgently needed money, so she sold it to me. She said before that this bangle was some kind of token, and as soon as you saw it, you would recognize it and know that she wasn't a bad person."

  Zhao Wei curiously walked forward and took the silver bangle, feeling that it was somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall where he had seen it before. He turned around and handed it to his grandmother.

  Zhang picked up the bangle and took a look, her face suddenly changed. This bangle, if she wasn't mistaken, was the one she personally gave to Pearl's sister-in-law.

  Pearl's sister had always treasured this bracelet and never left it behind. When she fell into the water, the bracelet should have also sunk to the bottom of the river. How could it appear in her aunt's hands? Thinking that Pearl's body was still missing, while her uncle was serving on Zhao Jiong's boat...

  Zhang had an astonishing conjecture.

  She remained silent for a long time, then trembled and ordered: "Send someone to find them, find the people from Tǔ Sānyáng's family, bring Tǔ Sānyáng's wife here to see me!"