roccoschili Chapter 141: Spit Out What You Swallowed
Chapter 141: Spit Out What You Swallowed
The old lady's heart bleeds at the thought of this possibility.
What she took out were all genuine good things, worth thousands of dollars. It would be a huge loss if they were stolen and replaced with other good things.
That was the wealth accumulated by her mansion over many years.
Her nails pierced into her palms, but she still had to keep a straight face:
"Is the Marquis' Mansion short of food or clothes for you? If you are short of money, you can tell me directly. Do you know how precious this thing is?"
Since a fake product has been produced, the real one is most likely gone. And if it is sold secretly, how can it not be discounted?
Thinking that the money was probably embezzled by her and no one knew where it was, the old lady felt as if her flesh was being cut and her head was throbbing with anger:
"If your cousin hadn't really liked it and wanted to find someone to buy one, and hadn't discovered it by accident, our whole family would still be in the dark."
Pointing to the ground, the old lady slammed the table again:
"It's really hard to guard against thieves in your own house, and you still don't tell the truth!"
With a look of shock, bewilderment and sadness, Mu Lianzhi knelt on the ground with a plop:
"Mother is very discerning. If mother hadn't sent it, daughter-in-law wouldn't know it was a fake. Whatever mother sent, daughter-in-law would use. If daughter-in-law doesn't know the goods, how could she get a fake and exchange it for a real one?"
"Let's not talk about my daughter-in-law not having such an idea. Even if she really did, she never leaves the house. Where can I find such a craftsman? How can she have so much time to go back and forth?"
"I have never been willing to use this incense burner before. If there hadn't been a happy event in the mansion a few days ago, and we needed to smoke mosquitoes and burn incense, my daughter-in-law would have thought of this small and exquisite double lotus incense burner because there were so many large incense burners that it took up too much space. I took it out to show off for a few days."
"I didn't expect it to be taken away by my cousin right after I put it on the table. My daughter-in-law didn't even take a closer look at it."
"How could this be a fake?"
"Mother, please forgive me for my treason. If what you gave me before was not a fake, then it must have been replaced by my cousin. If you don't believe me, check it out."
"There are so many gold, silver, jade and rare ornaments. Any one of them my daughter-in-law can sell is worth more than this. Why bother with such a complicated copper incense burner? If my daughter-in-law wants to resell it, wouldn't it be more convenient for her to just have someone dig out the gems?"
"Besides, this looks like the one you asked Madam Kang to give to your daughter-in-law. How can it be a fake?"
"Mother, you have to be careful."
Mu Lianzhi said this while wiping her tearless eyes with a handkerchief:
"My daughter-in-law died unjustly."
At this time, Hua Shuolei also spoke:
"Cousin, please don't blame me or wrongly accuse me. I originally wanted to borrow it because I liked it and then find someone to find a replica and return it. Who could have thought it was a fake? I asked the shopkeeper of Jinyulou to appraise it. He said he had seen similar genuine ones. Depending on the grade of the gemstones, the inferior ones would cost hundreds of taels of silver. It's not that people can't afford it, but generally no one would fake it. The rich can't afford to lose face, and the poor can't afford it."
"If it wasn't you who did it, could it be someone from your courtyard?"
"And your coral is a fake, it couldn't be more fake, it won't break even if you drop it, it's just wood covered in mud, okay?"
As she spoke, she opened a square handkerchief, revealing a coral horn that had been clearly cut from it. The layers inside were clearly visible:
"I picked up two things at random and they were all fake. Your house looks so magnificent, I'm afraid they are all fake, right?"
Speaking of this, Hua Shuolei was extremely angry. She originally wanted to find some valuable items to exchange for some pocket money, but in the end, the price was out of range, and thousands of taels of silver were wasted. Not only was she laughed at, but she also had to pay dozens of taels of testing fees.
Mu Lianzhi stood up suddenly, looking extremely angry:
"Cousin, how many good things have you taken from me over the years? Do you want me to count them one by one? You took advantage of the wedding in the mansion and my absence to take even the coral ornaments and the incense burner in my room. I haven't asked you for an explanation yet, how can you slander me?"
"If all my things were fake, would you take them away without even telling me?"
"Taking something without permission is called stealing."
"According to what you said, you just took it home to have a look because you liked it. Now I suspect that you want to embezzle my genuine products, so you made a few broken fakes to shirk responsibility."
"What have I not given you when you've liked my things over the years? You're really disappointing me."
This time, two golden beans were really squeezed out. Mu Lianzhi turned around and looked at the old lady again, looking angry:
"Mother, this incense burner and coral ornaments are indeed from my daughter-in-law's room. They were not given by my daughter-in-law, but taken away by my cousin without permission. Maybe she wanted to embezzle them and deliberately exchanged the fake for the real. Please understand, mother."
"I will take the past as a lesson for you. I will definitely get these two things back. If you can't tell the difference today, I will report it to the authorities for a detailed investigation."
"I can't take the blame for this. Who handled these two items, who inquired about them, and who sold them? The government will definitely be able to find some clues and clear my daughter-in-law's name."
Although most of her things were fake, she had hardly sold any of the genuine ones. The mansion hadn't collapsed yet, and she wasn't that short of money, so how could she be caught at this time?
She just had the genuine products moved to another place temporarily so she could get a feel for the market price in advance.
When she found out that she had stolen fake goods, she had people replace the fake goods in the house with genuine ones. All the items that could be seen in plain sight and were easy to check were genuine.
The old lady frowned, feeling a little unsure for a moment, and unconsciously tilted towards Hua Shuolei.
Hua Shuolei's face changed as she got anxious:
"Cousin, you can trust her. I admit that I took the things, but I never exchanged the fake for the real. How could I have such a dirty mind?"
She had no intention of paying it back anyway, so why bother?
But she couldn't say this out loud.
Turning her head, she glared at Mu Lianzhi fiercely:
"I picked up two items at random and they were all fakes. There must be more than one fake item in this room. Aunt, ask someone to come and check it out. Didn't you ask someone to invite the shopkeepers of Jinyulou and Wanjin Pavilion?"
Nodding, Mu Lianzhi also expressed his approval:
"What my cousin said is true. I am also wondering, there are so many things in my room, when have you ever come back empty-handed? You took so many things bit by bit and I didn't hear that any of them were wrong, but this time you took them without asking, and they were all big items, and they all turned out to be fakes? Although you are from a poor family, it is really not good to be tempted by money like this."
"I didn't~"
Seeing everyone's questioning looks, Hua Shuolei's voice rose and her face turned red with anxiety.
In the end, it was Jiang who spoke up to smooth things over:
"Mother, I think there needs to be an explanation for this matter. If it is the servants who are not clean, it can be discovered earlier. Why not ask someone to come in and investigate? This way, I can clear my sister-in-law's name and give my cousin an explanation."
She will be a good person, but I don't know if she will regret her decision today in the future.