Chapter 426: If You Can’t, I’ll Do It Myself
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Boom! A loud noise was heard. Xiang Hualan was so shocked that her heart jumped to her mouth. She was utterly shocked.
The part of the storage room’s door panel that was fastened by the lock was kicked through. The two door panels then creaked open on their own.
“Give me the lantern.”
Xiang Hualan handed the lantern in her hand to Su Ying. She then carried the lantern and walked in to illuminate a corner of the storage room.
“Go ahead.” Su Ying turned to look at Xiang Hualan.
Xiang Hualan regained her senses and nodded. She walked to the box where the banknotes were placed and opened it, but she found that the banknotes in the box were gone.
Xiang Hualan thought that she remembered wrongly, so she rummaged through the small box in the storage room again, but there was no banknote inside at all. She clearly remembered that she had seen her grandmother put the banknotes in with her own eyes last time. How could they be missing?
Xiang Hualan turned to look at Su Ying, only to see her standing at the door with no intention of coming in. Since Su Ying had already followed her here, if she didn’t have anything to give her, then it would be downright embarrassing for Xiang Hualan.
Xiang Hualan decided to give Su Ying some gold and silver jewelry in lieu of the five thousand taels of gold.
She opened a jewelry box. She remembered that there should be sea pearls in this box that the Emperor rewarded her last time. Each pearl was as big as a baby’s fist.
However, when she opened the box, it was completely empty.
How… how could this be?
Xiang Hualan opened a few more boxes, but they were all empty. The boxes with valuable jewelry and antique jade pieces were all empty, leaving behind only some large objects. She couldn’t possibly let Su Ying carry away a vase that was as tall as a person. Moreover, this vase wasn’t even worth five thousand taels of gold!
Xiang Hualan’s expression turned increasingly more unsightly.
With so much commotion going on in the storage room, Old Mistress Xiang received the news very soon. After finding out that Xiang Hualan had brought people to smash the storage room door, she was so angry that she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
“This girl is really rebelling! She’s is really rebelling!”
“It seems that Eldest Sister is determined to follow the Sixth Prince. She actually wants to move the Xiang family’s things out and give them to the Sixth Prince.” Xiang Shule added fuel to the fire, and her words made Old Mistress Xiang even angrier.
“Let’s see if this unfilial grandchild has the guts!” Old A/Iistress Xiang stood up angrily and led her men to the storage room.
Su Ying was standing outside the storage room. When she raised her eyes, she saw the Xiang family members rushing over aggressively.
“Xiang Hualan, you’re really rebelling. You actually dared to destroy the Xiang family’s storage room. What do you think you are doing?” Old Mistress Xiang looked at the broken storage room door and roared furiously.
Su Ying leaned against the door frame and didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to look at Xiang Hualan, who was still in shock.
Xiang Hualan looked at the empty boxes and came back to her senses. She walked out of the storage room. “Grandmother… where are my things?”
“What things?” Old Mistress Xiang glared at Xiang Hualan and replied viciously.
Xiang Hualan frowned. “The things 1 placed in the storage room. My silver notes, the things that the Emperor rewarded me previously, and the jewelry and title deeds that Mother left behind are all gone. Where are those things?”
Old Mistress Xiang glared at her without any sign of weakening. “Those things are all kept in the storage room. You saw it with your own eyes. Why? You got someone to break the door of the storage room. Now that the things are gone, you want to blame this old woman? How preposterous!”
Su Ying had to admit that these women in the back of the house were really capable of biting back at others. This demeanor was extremely similar to the arrogant behavior of Little Madam Jiang before she was beaten up.
Xiang Hualan didn’t expect that the family she trusted so much, and to whom she handed every single coin without hiding any for herself, would turn out to be the sort of people who brought her this kind of outcome!
“Grandmother, 1 owe my friend money. Initially, 1 wanted to ask you for the key to the storage room to return the money to my friend. But you said that you were not feeling well and told me to wait until tomorrow. I was worried that my friend could not wait any longer, so 1 brought my friend here. But the moment 1 went in, 1 found out that everything had gone missing!”
“You were guarding it and you stole from yourself, yet you are now slandering your grandmother. You are such a heartless dog. Back then, your parents passed away when you were so young and 1 raised you up and wiped your ass personally. Yet now, this is how you repay me!”
Old Mistress Xiang slapped her thighs with both hands and started wailing. Even the shrews in the market would feel ashamed for being inferior to her in this aspect.
The moment the older woman said this, Xiang Hualan was at a loss for words. She was someone who valued filial piety, but she couldn’t go back on her word because of this.
“Now that the storage room is empty, 1 still owe my friend five thousand taels of gold. Grandmother, please lend me five thousand taels of gold first so that I can repay my friend.”
“What kind of friend could make Eldest Sister owe so much money? Are you making use of this friend to send the money to someone else secretly?” Xiang Shule knew very well where the things in the storage room had gone. Only the box of Eastern Pearls was still sitting in her room. They could forget about asking her to surrender that box of pearls.
“Five thousand taels of gold? What did you do to end up borrowing so much money?” Old Mistress Xiang screamed in shock.
Xiang Hualan pursed her lips, “1 encountered danger previously. This friend saved me. I’ve promised her that I’ll give her five thousand taels of gold so 1 can’t go back on my word.”
“Since she’s your friend, why would she ask you for so much money after saving you?”
Initially, Su Ying didn’t plan to get involved in other people’s family matters, but these words were clearly damaging her own interests, so she had no choice but to speak up.
“Do you think it is to be expected as a matter of course for me to help other people?”
Su Ying had been hiding behind the door the entire time. Now that she had stepped out to speak, the Xiang family finally noticed her.
Old Mistress Xiang’s snobbish eyes scrutinized Su Ying up and down. When she saw that she was actually wearing a low-grade coarse linen garment, the disdain on her face was totally unconcealed.
“I was wondering what sort of friend you are. It seems that you have come from some obscure village to scam us. To think that you have the guts to ask for five thousand taels of gold! Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”
So this old hag was cursing her?
The corners of Su Ying’s mouth sank. Those who knew her well knew that she was not pleased now.
She was here to get the money. Not only did she not get the money, but she was also cursed by people.
Hmph!
Were these people toying with her?
Su Ying glanced icily at Xiang Hualan. This look caused all the hair on Xiang Hualan’s body to stand on end instantly. She had a premonition that someone was going to be in trouble.
“You can’t solve this matter?”
Xiang Hualan swallowed. “What… what do you have in mind?”
“What 1 mean is, if you can’t resolve it, I’ll resolve it myself.”
“How do you plan to resolve this?”
“There shouldn’t be a problem taking away something worth five thousand taels of gold from this residence, right?”
Xiang Hualan felt that if she nodded, something terrible might happen, but if she shook her head, the consequences might be even more terrifying.
Xiang Hualan looked at Old Mistress Xiang. “Grandmother, I promised to give Miss Su five thousand taels of gold. If we can’t give this sum to her, then I can only let Miss Su move the things in the storage room.”
“How dare you!” Those were her Xiang family’s belongings. Who would dare to take them!
Su Ying completely ignored the overbearing Old Mistress Xiang and turned around to enter the storage room.
“Impudent! Impudent! Quickly capture this village girl for me!”