Chapter 3

"She said she was your future daughter-in-law. You couldn't appear personally, so you'd sent her with the authorization. The heir was there too. He signed the sale contract himself."

Chu Chu swayed.

"I only ran an errand. I don't understand these things."

Chu Xing hurriedly said,

"I told her to take it! Mother, if there's a problem, blame me!"

I looked at him.

"Then we'll start with you."

Xu Cheng laid out the receipts from the three shops.

Four thousand taels. Three thousand. Five thousand.

Twelve thousand in all.

"Where is the money?"

Chu Xing gritted his teeth.

"Spent on purchases."

"Which warehouse holds the grain?"

He fell silent.

Manager Qian suddenly cried out,

"He sold me all the old grain in the warehouse too! He said he wouldn't be trading grain anymore!"

A chill rose in my chest.

I'd personally supervised the replacement of that warehouse's beams. When it opened, Chu Xing had been seven. He'd sat on the threshold eating sweets and said that with a whole warehouse of grain, Mother would never go hungry again.

Now he'd sold it all.

From the beams to the grain.

I told Xu Cheng to seal the original deed, ledgers, and documents Qian had brought separately, and send copies to the Capital Prefecture. Qian also filed a complaint.

A disputed warehouse couldn't be donated.

Nor could a defrauded buyer simply be left to accept his bad luck.

Seven days later, the people from Yangzhou arrived.

Chu Xing had been keeping watch outside my courtyard. He thought blocking me would stop everything happening beyond it.

I had the main hall opened and invited him, Chu Chu, and the clan elder to sit.

On the basis of the two complaints, the Capital Prefecture had obtained transaction stubs from the bank. As the person directly responsible for the shops' accounts, Xu Cheng had been permitted to compare the receipts and disbursements. Everything he brought back was a copy.

He laid them on the table.

Twelve thousand taels from the shops. Eight thousand from the warehouse sale.

Twenty thousand in all, deposited into Chu Xing's account.

Eighteen thousand had gone to Zhuyu House to redeem Chu Chu.

The other two thousand had been transferred into her name.

The signed transaction stubs were laid out one by one.

I pointed to the words "purchase of new grain" in the original ledger.

"Where is the grain?"

Chu Xing sprang to his feet.

"I love her! I couldn't watch her remain in a place like that!"

"Why must your love always be charged to my accounts?"

The clan elder lowered his voice.

"Money can be earned again. At least it brought home a grandson…"

"A grandson?"

I glanced toward the door.

Physician Song of Jisheng Hall in Yangzhou entered with an old patient register.

He opened it to the sixth day of the third month and recognized Chu Chu.

"I diagnosed this young woman's pregnancy at the Zhou family's separate residence that day. I visited several times afterward. The medicine charges are all in this same register."

At first, Chu Xing looked blank. Then he shouted,

"You've mistaken her for someone else!"

"I was the one who fetched him every time."

A small, thin maid stood beside the physician.

Her name was Ah Xing. She'd served Chu Chu at that residence. After the trading firm found her, she'd willingly brought her old monthly-expense book to testify.

She could give the exact dates she'd fetched the physician. She could also describe how Chu Chu always complained that the medicine was bitter and asked for another half-spoonful of honey.

But she knew nothing about what had happened after Chu Chu left.

I didn't let her guess.

I merely pushed Chu Xing's disbursement slip toward him.

"On the first day of the fifth month, you left the capital for Yangzhou for the first time. On the twenty-third, you met at a banquet in Zhuyu House. You said so yourself yesterday."

His throat bobbed.

Chu Chu shrieked,

"Physicians can be wrong! You've bribed that maid!"

"Then tell the authorities. The original register, medicine bills, and witnesses can all be checked."

I stared at her.

"Explain that pregnancy record from the third month first."

Her crying caught in her throat.

Chu Xing reached to support her. His hand paused, but then settled on her shoulder.

"Mother, I was deceived too."

Looking at that hand, I felt my last faint hope dissolve.

Xu Cheng opened a copy of a letter.

Capital Prefecture runners had seized the original while searching the deputy manager's home. It was sealed in the case file. Afraid Chu Xing might later deny responsibility, the deputy manager had kept it. Xu Cheng had permission to bring a copy back to question the related accounts.

There were only a few lines.

"Mother hasn't authorized it. Proceed with the approval Chu Chu prepared for now. Once the child enters the household, she'll have to accept it."

Signed, Chu Xing.

I put the letter beside his hand.

"You may have been deceived about the child."

"Did she force your hand when you stole my money too?"

6

He grabbed the letter.

His fingers trembled so badly he could barely hold the paper.