An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

If the Sang family girl argued a few words, she could still find some mistakes in her words. But in front of the old man, she just smiled and agreed. If she said a few more words, it would seem like she was deliberately targeting her. Shen had to keep silent. She knew what kind of mentality Grandpa Nie had towards the family now. If she didn't know, she wouldn't have taken advantage of the old man's guilt and tricked Wu Xiulian several times.

Besides, Nie Ce is still here. If we talk too much, who knows if he will start to make trouble again. If that happens, everyone in the room will be competing with each other, and the old man will be embarrassed.

She also knows when to stop.

The money had been deposited into Wu Xiulian's treasury anyway, and when the time came to settle the accounts, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would turn against each other, killing two birds with one stone, and everything would be settled. Thinking of this, Shen suddenly felt refreshed and just shook her head at Zhang.

Except for Nie Guang, the adult men in the family didn't care much about housework. As soon as Nie Taigong returned to the back room, Nie Zhongxu and Nie Shudi left the house early, and the rest of the people left in order of seniority.

Nie Ce nodded to his elder brothers in turn. Although Sang Ling stood up, he did not move his feet. Instead, he glanced at Zong Xiang who was waiting in the corridor.

Shen looked back and noticed that Zhang and Nie Guang and his wife, who were behind her, were unable to move and were also staring at them.

"Isn't my second nephew's wife leaving?" Zhang asked first.

Sang Ling then respectfully performed the usual formalities for everyone and said, "I want to talk to my grandfather."

After hearing this, Shen finally noticed the two scrolls of bamboo in Zong Xiang's hand. "What are you holding?"

"It's the account book." The Sang family girl answered calmly.

"How about the account book?" Shen turned around and walked straight to Zong Xiang. Just as she stretched out her hand to take it, the Sang family girl immediately stood in the middle, "Second Aunt, this is for Grandfather."

"What account book?" Shen raised her eyebrows and softened her tone slightly.

A teenage girl like this is too naive to play tricks on me. If she really plays with fire too much, she won't be as easy to talk to as she is now. ——It's not a big deal for her to have a new bride die in the mansion without her knowing. Besides, the Sang family's daughter doesn't have any children yet. Even if she dies suddenly, the grandfather won't touch them. Nie Ce is at the right age and is a favorite of the emperor. If he wants to marry again, hundreds of families will only come to him, so why would they care about her alone?

"Forgive my nephew's wife for being rude. I cannot show it to you, aunt."

The calm spring water in the pool was rippling slowly, not quite smiling, but making people feel creepy. Shen couldn't help but tremble all over, and she opened her hand to forcefully push her away and grab the scroll. Unexpectedly, as soon as she touched her sleeve, another big hand grabbed it.

"Second Aunt, Fourth Aunt, Big Brother - take care." Nie Ce had the same polite smile on his face as his wife.

He released Shen's wrist and gestured towards the garden gate.

This was the first time that Nie Ce had taken action in the Marquis's mansion - although compared to him, it might not be considered a fight. But it was different among the female relatives. Besides, Shen was his aunt. Nie Guang took a deep breath and smiled flatteringly, "During the time when my sister-in-law was in charge of the family, I think there were many small accounts that were not settled clearly, so I just want to ask grandfather for advice."

The person caught in the middle is the most difficult to deal with. On one side is his mother, and on the other is his sweetheart. He was still hesitating about what to say, but who knew that Nie Ce would just wave his hand and call in his tall and mighty attendant.

The attendant was also equipped with a sword about five feet long.

"Xuanwen, what are you doing!" Shen was horrified. Zhang and Su were both young women after all, and their faces turned pale.

Even Nie Guang paused. Although he was not as frightened as those women, he was still frightened. He hesitated for a while before going forward to continue the greeting, "It's just a small matter, why did you make such a fuss? Mother is concerned about me. If there is any misunderstanding, just explain it clearly."

"No need to see me off, big brother." But Nie Ce did not appreciate his kindness.

"Xuan——" Nie Guang was still hesitant to say anything, but saw Nie Ce directly pulling people into the inner room.

*

This action today was probably the most outrageous thing Nie Ce had ever done at home. At least it was the first time Sang Ling had seen it since he entered the mansion.

She had never thought that Nie Ce would take action, especially since they had a conflict a few days ago. From his perspective, he only knew about alienating Nie Guang and Zhang Shi, and knew nothing else. And judging from his behavior in the past few days, he should still be angry. She couldn't help but look at the person in front of her - it would be fine if Nie Jialang didn't care, but if he intervened, she would feel guilty again.

Originally, each side held its own, and she could still handle the situation by herself, but as long as Nie Ce showed up, she would naturally become a concubine. This was good, saving a lot of trouble, but it was not good - although she couldn't seem to say what was wrong, she always felt uncomfortable. She couldn't help thinking that if he left for half a year again, and she got used to his protection, then it would be really over.

A corridor connected the front and back yards of the hall. Most of the trees in the courtyard were evergreen. The most unique dragon claw locust tree had also sprouted new branches. A few red carps swam in the porcelain jar. Everything here seemed to have not changed much since they got married. Two boys with high buns were waiting at the door of the back room. They bowed to the couple and went in to answer their questions.

The two of them went in together. Dark green gauze curtains were hung on both sides of the inner room. A green pine bonsai was placed on a high table in front of the window. The morning sunlight cast the shadows of the people in the room on the gray and yellow walls. The boy raised his hand to lead the way, and Nie Ce stopped beside the bead curtain with his hands behind his back, with no intention of going in again.

Sang Ling paused for a moment, then led Zong Xiang quietly inside.

Mr. Nie knelt behind the desk and withdrew his attentive gaze from the silk painting. He probably guessed the purpose of the visit - his grandson's wife had something to say but she didn't say it just now. She had to come alone at this time, which showed that the two families had some dispute again.

"Is it still about last year's account?" The old man's voice was low and his emotions were unrecognizable.

As expected of a long-time patriarch, he was also a seasoned veteran in the court. He could tell the truth about the minor quarrels in the family just by looking up. Sang Ling bowed and gestured to Zong Xiang to hand over the account book.

"Grandfather, these are two volumes of account books, the old and new. The new volume was calculated just two days ago. The East Mansion—" She swallowed deliberately, "The money that the East Mansion owed Old Man Nie was secretly put into the Madam's treasury through Aunt Xing. The Madam didn't know about it, and my grandson's wife only found out a few days ago. Please take a look."

There was no direct indication of who was right or wrong in his words, but he simply explained what had happened in detail. Master Nie put down the silk painting, and a boy beside him spread out the account book, but he only glanced at it roughly and could not say that he took a detailed look.

"How is the account book?" Even though he already understood it in his heart, he still pretended not to understand and asked again.

Sang Ling had long known that this old man loved to stir up trouble, and he did not intend to make a decision right and wrong right away. The birds were chirping outside the window, and the atmosphere in the house was rarely cheerful. The kneeling daughter was also calm and composed. She did not seem to be rushing to complain.

She repeated patiently, "There is a woman named Xing who works for the eldest lady. She falsified the accounts. Last year's birthday banquet account was one of them. She recorded too much money for our supplies. Another one was the money paid back by relatives from our hometown. My grandson's wife checked that account and found that it was paid back by the second aunt through the relatives. It was paid into mother's private treasury through Xing, but it was not recorded in the account book."

The voice slowly fell to the ground. There was no movement inside, but the people outside could no longer sit still. Nie Ce walked around the high table, sat down next to Sang Ling, and quickly pulled her sleeve.

It's not that she didn't understand the meaning of his action, she was just worried that the old man would cover up his mistakes again and target her as the one who caused the conflict.

To be honest, Sang Ling had no idea how Master Nie would handle the situation.

But since she had taken the risk to do this, she was prepared for both advance and retreat.

Either Grandpa Nie would try to smooth things over and refuse to make a decision, in which case the first wife would no longer be blamed for the mistake; or Grandpa Nie would take action against the Shen family, and the problem would be solved once and for all, without any future troubles; there was also a third possibility, which was the worst outcome, in which Grandpa Nie decided not to touch the West Mansion and used Sang Ling as a shield, while Madam Zhaoyu and Nie Ce ignored them... Then she would have no choice but to get involved with Nie Guang.

In short, there are as many solutions as there are possible problems. No matter what, it is better than being indifferent.

"Who do you say cooked the accounts?" Nie Taigong was silent for a while before speaking.

"Xing Ai, she followed the eldest lady in her early years."

Then she heard Mr. Nie make a "hmm" sound, and then there was a long silence. No one was walking in the room, and there was no sound at all. She just lowered her head and immersed herself in this inexplicable silence until the sound of dripping water came from outside the room.

It's another light rain in early spring.

The wood beside the corridor gave off a damp smell, and there was also the smell of grass from the land, mixed with the sandalwood in the house, all rushing into her nose. To be honest, this mixed smell was not pleasant. She shrugged her nose and moved her knees to change her legs to bear the weight - sitting with knees folded in this era was really tiring, to put it bluntly, it was kneeling. When greeting in the hall, it was fine. Several hosts were there, and there were tables and tables on the banquet table in the hall, which were all used for people to bear the weight. But now that she came here on a whim, she only had a soft mat to finish.

She let out a light breath and was about to glance at the young man beside her when she heard the old man suddenly speak.

"Go back. I understand."

This answer was within her expectations, so she responded while pulling her legs apart. In fact, she didn't necessarily fall, but her movements were not as smooth as before, which made Nie Ce pay attention and even freed up his hands to help her up.

"Xuanwen stays, and my grandson's wife goes back first." Grandpa Nie said again.

As he spoke, a boy rolled up the account book on the table, tidied it up and put it in Zong Xiang's hand.

Sang Ling had no choice but to bow and leave. Before leaving the room, she glanced at Nie Ce again. The fellow knelt down again. Before she wanted to look at him again, two boys came up and lowered the partition curtain.