Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 69 - 19: Aftermath

Susu and a few others went to the clothing storehouse, the silk storehouse, and the wool storehouse as well, and they found one-third missing.

The Sixth Miss was truly not bored this time and witnessed firsthand what was meant by "parasites" and the shady ways of siphoning money. Although she had always disliked the First Madam, now she genuinely hated her.

"A gentleman loves wealth and acquires it properly! If she wasn’t thinking for the First Elder, she should at least consider her big brother, shouldn’t she?" Sixth Miss simply couldn’t understand what the First Madam was thinking; after all, this family would eventually be handed over to her big brother. How could he manage with such a mother?

Susu hadn’t expected the First Madam to go so far, and now she somewhat regretted bringing the Sixth Miss here. No matter how bad the First Madam was, she was still the mother of the Princely Heir. How would the Princely Heir face his sisters in the future?

However, recalling the First Madam’s actions and hearing what the Sixth Miss said, Susu sneered coldly in her heart. In the eyes of the First Madam, only the First Miss was her child; it seemed the Song Family didn’t have a single good person. Otherwise, how could she engage in usury and profit from her son’s betrothal gift like this!

Susu told someone to guard the storehouse, and she and the Sixth Miss returned to Sui’an Hall.

Just as they entered the room, they heard the Fourth Miss frustratedly saying, "Now that the wife’s personal servant is not here, the procurement office is in complete disorder. Fortunately, grandmother had the separate kitchens of each room purchase ingredients on their own; otherwise, we might not have even had food today."

Yang Liu also said, "There are barely any supplies in the procurement office’s storehouse. It was only after the First Master gave a stern fright yesterday, and the young lady had a few of the ringleaders punished today, that it was revealed they had been purchasing high-priced items and selling them privately, replacing them with inferior goods. They had taken kickbacks when buying the stuff and made money again when selling it. I really don’t know what else to say."

The Old Madam had long suspected this might be the case, and she wasn’t upset. She just said, "Those who should be bound, bind them; those who should be beaten, beat them. We’ll establish rules for this matter later."

At this time, Susu and the Sixth Miss also entered the room. When people saw their faces looking troubled, they knew things were not right with the storehouse.

The storehouse was extremely important and could not afford any mishaps. The Old Madam asked, "How is the situation? What about the things chosen for your big brother?" Third Miss, Fourth Miss, and Fifth Miss also showed concern, as both of them had lost their previous positions, except for Fifth Miss.

The Sixth Miss shook her head, not in the mood to speak, so she had Susu explain. Susu, still astonished by the First Madam’s audacity and greed, organized her thoughts and reported the estimated numbers: "The antiques and calligraphy are in relatively better condition, but everything else is problematic. The losses are most severe in the jewelry storehouse. We didn’t have time to do a detailed count, but conservatively calculated, it’s at least 200,000 taels of silver, and probably more."

After Susu spoke, the young ladies collectively gasped. Even the Sixth Miss, who knew the First Madam had embezzled quite a bit, hadn’t expected such a huge discrepancy. The Song Family was wealthy, but 200,000 taels was not a small amount for anyone.

There were simply too many deficiencies in the main storehouse, a matter that neither Susu nor the Sixth Miss could handle, so the Old Madam summoned the First Master to deal with it.

Susu finally sighed in relief. She preferred staying within the familiar grounds of Sui’an Hall, as the outside world was too dangerous. Fearing any more issues that might involve her, Susu stayed hidden in the storehouse, organizing her private belongings.

Among the four main maids, Susu had the most luggage. The other three were different: Yun Duo had just been promoted and couldn’t compare; Ning Cui and Yang Liu were from the household, so the valuable items they obtained were sent home early. Only necessary bedding, clothing, and jewelry were taken to the capital with the Old Madam.

However, Susu was alone, so she had all her belongings with her. When moving to the capital, Susu alone had over twenty boxes. Fortunately, Susu pleaded with the Old Madam, so her boxes were stored in a small warehouse; otherwise, countless people would envy her.

These items were all gifts from the masters, legitimately obtained, so Susu wasn’t afraid of gossip, though they inevitably caught attention.

The boxes mostly contained clothing, fabrics, and jewelry, with two filled with trinkets. The possessions taken from Duke Li’s Mansion were all locked in a small box hidden in a secret compartment of the jewelry box. There were also two large boxes of gold and silver ingots and a large box of unmounted gemstones and pearls.

Her monthly salary wasn’t much saved, but during holidays, the masters’ red envelopes were always silver notes. Because the Old Madam cherished Susu, other masters also regarded her highly, giving at least ten taels per red envelope; the Old Madam and the three Masters generously gave one hundred taels each. Just from this money alone, Susu had accumulated several thousand taels in her private savings.

Counting everything together, over her six years at the Song Family, Susu had saved two to three thousand taels in private savings.

Even in Duke Li’s Mansion, masters couldn’t easily obtain boxes of jewelry and gemstones, let alone a maid. However, in the Song Family, the Old Madam was never stingy with Susu; what everyone else had, she also had, and what others didn’t have, she still had.

Initially, Susu wondered why the Old Madam treated her so well, almost like a real granddaughter. Even though Susu was a loyal servant who saved her master, it was excessive.

As time went by, and Susu became closer to the Old Madam, these questions faded. Even if the Old Madam had ulterior motives, admiring her appearance to someday have her repay the Song Family like the Fourth Miss, Susu had no complaints. Once she reconciled with this, Susu let go of her worries and appeared even more radiant to others.

Susu wasn’t too concerned about the aftermath of the internal affairs in the mansion, but she couldn’t escape the most informed person by her side, Yang Liu. Her grandfather and father were the chief stewards of the whole mansion, knowing far too much.

Some items from the storehouse were found in the First Madam’s room. Others, the First Madam divided into two parts: one was given to the First Miss, which was understandable; the other was sent to her natal family, and it was hard to fathom how the Le Family could accept most comfortably items worth nearly 100,000 taels!

Finally, the First Master sent a letter to the First Madam’s natal family, the contents unknown, only that the familial ties were severed, and there was a new occupant in an out-of-town villa, supposedly Lady Shun’an, who needed careful nursing due to health reasons and wouldn’t be disturbed. The Princely Heir was about to take the examination and then marry, so the First Madam wouldn’t be divorced, but her marriage with the First Master ended there.

The household staff underwent a major overhaul; all the lazy, position-holding, non-working were sold off. The Song Family had plenty of household-raised servants, and those who filled the roles afterward were all diligent, fearing more about being sold off with the whole family than losing jobs, mainly because not many masters were as benevolent as the Song Family.

Within a few days, the mansion underwent significant changes. The big maids like Susu didn’t notice much difference, primarily because they just arrived, and no one dared mistreat them. But the original maids and servant women were overjoyed. They not only ate better, but their clothes and jewelry were new; even their cosmetics weren’t the coarse, makeshift kinds anymore.

In Sui’an Hall, the Old Madam was the most generous, bestowing new servants with a pair of two-tael silver bracelets. The maids like Susu who came from Yangzhou also shared their clothes that they had outgrown with the little maids, who in turn offered a prayer. These clothes, mostly made from fine brocade and silk, were old but still seventy to eighty percent new.

Take Susu for example, aside from her annual quota of twelve sets of clothes, the Old Madam would order an additional eight sets as a reward for her. At such a young age, as she was still growing, some clothes became too small before she had the chance to wear them. In the past, in Yangzhou, Sui’an Hall offered the best conditions, and there wasn’t the practice of wearing other people’s old clothes. Now, handing those down to the newly arrived little maids left people astonished, wondering just how favored she must be?

Because of this, Susu became the role model every little maid aspired to emulate.