Chapter 4

"I only wanted to bring her home first. If you'd agreed sooner, none of this would have happened!"

I raised my hand and slapped him hard.

No one in the hall dared speak.

His face turned with the blow. A long time passed before he looked back.

"You hit me?"

"I should have done it sooner."

I pointed to the red mark on his cheek.

"That slap was for shoving me."

Then to the ledgers on the table.

"The silver is a separate account."

Chu Chu rushed over and clung to his arm.

"Madam, he's your own son. You've hit him and scolded him. What more do you want?"

"For him to repay the money."

Her tears fell harder.

"He spent it on me willingly. When a man gives me something, must I investigate where every gift came from?"

"You needn't."

I looked at her.

"But who had my authorization written for me?"

Her lips trembled, but she stubbornly denied it.

"I don't know your handwriting."

A voice came from the door.

"You brought me an old letter of hers and told me to copy it."

Capital Prefecture runners escorted a copyist inside. Behind them came the official who had accepted the complaint.

The copyist kept his head down, not daring to look at Chu Xing.

"She said Madam feared offending the clan and couldn't openly give her son money, so the handwriting had to be imitated. I wanted the fifty taels she promised, so I wrote it."

"And the seal?"

"I only did the writing. I wasn't there when it was sealed."

The official recorded that statement and didn't let him go on guessing.

Manager Qian again identified the person who had delivered the letter. The official took his testimony on the spot, to be checked against the sale contract and original letter already in the case file.

Chu Chu refused to admit guilt, claiming I'd directed both the copyist and buyer.

The official didn't argue. He produced a certificate of deposit for two thousand taels seized from her lodgings.

"This money is sealed pending investigation. Whether it was a gift or your share of the fraudulent sale proceeds, explain it at the hearing."

At last, she gripped Chu Xing's sleeve.

"Your Lordship, say something!"

His lips moved.

The clan elder rose first.

"It's a family matter! Let her return the two thousand, and consider it settled. Why make ourselves a laughingstock?"

Manager Qian's face reddened with anger.

"Are my eight thousand taels your family matter too?"

Ignoring him, the elder turned to glare at me.

"Lady Bai, do you still want this son or not?"

I met his gaze.

"Third Uncle, when my son treated me as his mother, you weren't here."

"When he treated me as a purse, you arrived faster than anyone."

The runners read out the summons and urged them to rise. Chu Xing tried to use his status as heir to intimidate them. The official raised the detention order, and he fell silent.

Because Chu Chu was pregnant, female staff supported her as she went. No heavy cangue was put on her. The physician summoned earlier confirmed she had no critical condition, and her prescription went with her.

I watched her leave. I didn't pursue her to curse the child.

The child had never reached for my money.

None of those who had would be allowed to hide behind it.

7

Xu Cheng put away the copies we'd been permitted to retain and asked whether to keep tracing the remaining money.

"Yes."

Holding my swollen, aching lower back, I spoke through my teeth.

"The people entering the court office doesn't mean the money has returned to the accounts."

When trouble struck the household, the first to grow agitated wasn't Chu Xing.

It was the relatives who collected money at the beginning of every month.

They gathered at the outer accounts office, blocking Xu Cheng and demanding to know why their stipends hadn't been paid.

He brought out my private ledgers from previous years.

Third Uncle's house repairs. Fifth Aunt's daughter's wedding. The fourth branch's business losses. Each payment bore the recipient's signature.

"Madam's properties are being transferred to the authorities. These transactions must be classified clearly as past gifts or outstanding loans."

Fifth Aunt rushed forward first.

"They were all gifts!"

"Then any future gift must also be Madam's voluntary choice."

She choked on her words.

The clan elder pointed his cane at Xu Cheng in fury and threatened to drive him out of the residence.

Xu Cheng calmly gathered the ledgers.

"I work for Proprietor Bai. She pays my wages. If Third Master wishes to dismiss me, please first settle three months' regular pay."

At the mention of paying, the elder was the first out of the accounts office.

Xu Cheng told me that evening. I laughed for a long time.

All those years, they'd dared order servants about because the commands were theirs and the money was mine.

Now that they had to reach into their own pockets, half their authority had evaporated.

They went to Principal Clerk Zheng next.

They said the Bai widow had gone mad donating the family estate and must be stopped.