Chapter Fifteen: Embezzling the Family Fortune

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Watching the direction the carriage was heading, two sly-looking youths emerged from the street corner.
“Go have a drink on this!” one of them, dressed in black, tossed a silver ingot to them.
That youth was Lin Quan.
After sending the two away, he followed the carriage.
The carriage turned into a narrow alley, and the servant stepped forward to knock on the door.
“Who is it?” The young servant opened the door with a frown.
Inspector Zhou immediately recognized him as a servant close to his son.
“Where’s Dalang?” Zhou blurted as he rushed inside, grabbing the servant.
“Master Dalang went out!” the servant shouted back to the room.
Zhou slapped him hard across the face. “Stop playing tricks!”
Zhou strode forward with heavy steps.
He never expected this to be a courtyard with two gates.
Just arriving in the capital, having emptied his family’s savings, he had only managed to acquire a three-gate courtyard; where did Zhou Shi get the money for this?
Suddenly alert, Zhou wondered if it was his late wife’s dowry.
With that thought, he kicked the door open.
Hu Xin Niang was startled and dropped to her knees with a thud.
“Sir!”
Zhou cast a cold glance at her—this woman had brought him to such a state.
He snorted coldly, not wanting to fuss over a woman.
His gaze quickly swept the room again and fixed on a carved ebony screen embroidered with intricate patterns.
That was his late wife’s dowry! The bastard!
He also noticed the celadon ice-patterned covered bowl on the table, and the black lacquered square table with carved legs.
The room’s décor far exceeded what Zhou Shi’s monthly allowance could afford—unless he had stolen the family’s belongings to pawn!
This bastard!
Zhou’s blood boiled as he stared coldly at Hu Xin Niang.
“Move everything back!” he gritted through his teeth.
The young servant outside, sensing trouble, took off running.
Zhou didn’t bother chasing; he inspected the inside and outside thoroughly, his anger rising fiercely.
“Go back!”
The second wife and her husband were already waiting in the front hall, having been informed.
Zhou Shi’s keeping a mistress was his private matter, but stealing family money to support her was everyone’s business.

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Therefore, as soon as Zhou’s carriage stopped at the door, the two rushed out.
“Father! I heard that big brother pawned Mother’s dowry!”
Hearing this as he dismounted, Zhou’s vision blurred, nearly causing him to collapse.
“How do you know?” Zhou eyed them suspiciously—did he have spies among them?
“Father, don’t interfere…” Zhou Li waved his hand uneasily, glancing toward the ox cart behind them.
It was filled with items.
Who knew how many things had been pawned already!
“Quiet, we’ll talk inside! Is this something to be proud of?” Zhou waved his sleeve, glaring at the gathering crowd, his expression darkening.
Zhou Li noticed this too, stamping his foot in frustration. “Hurry up and come in!”
Once everyone was inside, the servant hurriedly shut the main door.
Yangliu Alley—
Zhou Shi was gleefully carrying his newly acquired trinket, planning to cheer up Xin Niang.
But upon reaching the door, he sensed something was wrong.
“Xin Niang, I’m home.”
No response came.
He and Xin Niang were already like a true married couple—for every time he called, she would come running to open the door and wait for him.
“Master Dalang! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” a servant came running breathlessly from the other end of the alley.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou frowned.
“Master… the master just came!”
“What?” Zhou’s heart sank as he hurried inside. “Xin Niang? Xin Niang?”
He finally found the person he sought in the bedroom.
The room looked desolate and empty; the woman huddled in the corner, trembling uncontrollably.
Zhou’s heart ached, eyes full of pity. “Xin Niang, I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner.”
“Dalang!” Hu Xin Niang suddenly threw herself at him, as if venting all her sorrow, bursting into tears.
“Dalang, your father… he despises me deeply. Maybe… we should separate!” she lifted her head, letting tears fall freely.
Zhou cupped her face and kissed her. “What nonsense? We will never separate! No one can tear us apart!”
“But your father…”
“I’ll make him accept us!” Zhou steadied himself, looking at the empty room, his gaze growing more resolute.
After settling Hu Xin Niang, he called the servant to guard the door, preventing anyone from barging in.
Just as he stepped outside, he saw the servant beside his father. “The master requests Master Dalang to return!”
Though he had planned to go back, the situation still irritated him.

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Thinking of the tedious words from his father and the second wife’s constant fuel to the fire, Zhou hesitated.
“Dalang, come back early,” Hu Xin Niang timidly called behind him.
“All right.” Zhou forced a faint smile.
Enough! He would endure it.
“Master Dalang, let’s go. The master must be anxious!”
“Hmph!” Zhou swept his sleeve and boarded the carriage.
“What’s this?” There was a book inside the carriage.
“Could it be Father’s?” Zhou found it amusing—his stern father actually read storybooks?
Zhou picked up the book and flipped through it.
“Liang Zhu?”
Many contemporary storybooks were adapted from operas, and Liang Zhu was one of them.
In the story, Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo did not die and transform into butterflies but were stopped by their families at the brink of death.
Their relatives, moved by their love, ultimately allowed them to be together.
Even knowing the general plot, Zhou was captivated.
Wasn’t his love for Xin Niang also frowned upon by society?
Family opposition, public prejudice, and some with ulterior motives—none could stop their love!
Clutching the book, his eyes shone with determination.

—

Because Zhou Shi had stolen family belongings to pawn, Yang Yin was scolded harshly.
“Eldest sister-in-law! How can you manage the household when your husband takes so many things without your knowledge?” Inspector Zhou grumbled, flipping through a ledger.
“I’ve stopped him before, but Zhou Shi said it was his mother’s dowry, so I shouldn’t meddle!” Yang Yin replied, equally annoyed.
“Sis! If you can’t stop big brother, you should tell us immediately! How could you let him empty the house!” Sun Shi angrily retorted.
“Exactly, sister!” Zhou Li nodded in agreement, then suddenly had a realization. “Sister! Could it be that you want big brother to bring Hu Xin Niang into the household so that after pawning, the goods become your family’s possessions?”
Zhou Li grew more confident as he spoke, his gaze turning hostile toward Yang Yin.
No wonder! No wonder Yang Shi wanted that mistress to move in—it was all part of this scheme!
Could this be a conspiracy concocted by the first wife’s family?
The more Zhou Li thought, the more likely it seemed. At first, he thought his brother was fooling around, but now it appeared he was scheming to seize the family’s assets!