The Pang family had a good reputation in front of Xie Qigong, and Wei Cai knew that after staying at the Xie residence for so long. At this moment, although he was feeling annoyed in his heart, when he heard what Pang Sheng said, he could only think about it and then said: "The tea stove in Cuixi Pavilion is indeed an octagonal small copper furnace, but whether it's from the large kitchen or not, I don't know."

  "That's it!"

  Pang Sheng's family walked up to Xie Qigong and said, "Last night, the second young lady said she was brewing tea in Cuīyì Xuān, but Wei Gongzi saw an octagonal purple bronze stove. This kind of stove is only available in the mansion, so if it wasn't the one that the second young lady borrowed from the main kitchen, where did it come from?"

  Wang heard this and his hands and feet were already cold: "Pang Shengjia, what nonsense are you talking about?! When did the second lady ever go to Cuixuan Hall?!"

  Madam, please forgive me. Whether or not Second Young Mistress has gone to the Emerald Pavilion is a matter for the masters and mistresses to deal with. I don't have the nerve to interfere. I just need to do my job properly. Now it's almost time to prepare lunch, so I'll hurry back with the purple copper stove to make soup for Master. Please, madam, would you mind?

  The Wang family was so shocked that they couldn't speak a word.

  Xie Qi suddenly panicked and stood up, saying: "I didn't take the stove from the big kitchen! If you want to find a stove, go look somewhere else!"

  Pang Sheng's family looked at Xie Qigong with difficulty and could only stand there without speaking.

  Wang gave a signal to Su Luo, and Su Luo walked over. Wang quietly instructed her for a few sentences, then Su Luo left.

  The already tense atmosphere was made even more awkward by the sudden interruption of the Pang family, which led to Xie Qi's departure. Xie Qigong looked at one person and then another, his eyes darting back and forth uncertainly, seemingly lost in thought.

  At this time, two people suddenly walked in from outside the door. They were Lin Si Niang, who was leading the big kitchen of the Zhou family, and someone else. When Lin Si Niang saw Mrs. Pang, she said: "Sister-in-law, you can go back now. The small copper stove has been found, it's in the small warehouse where you cleaned up this morning. It seems that sister-in-law made a mistake in her hurry and forgot about it, but then remembered to put the blame on Second Miss."

  Lin Si Niang was the sister-in-law of Yin Zhu, who had been beaten by Xie Qi Gong for offending Xie Wan. After Yin Zhu recovered, Wang Shi didn't dare to keep her and married her off to a lower-ranking servant, who is now in Shang Wutou Village. Since Yin Zhu's downfall, Lin Si Niang naturally didn't need to think about leaving the Peng family anymore and was still working in the large kitchen.

  Lin Si Niang suddenly appeared, and the Pang family was stunned. They immediately looked at Xie Wan, not knowing how to respond to Lin Si Niang's words.

  The purple bronze stove in the big kitchen was indeed hidden by her in a small warehouse, and her purpose for appearing was only to remind Xie Qigong and everyone present that last night at Cuixuan Hall, Xie Qi and Xie Wan were cooking tea. But now that Lin Si Niang has turned it over, she has become the one who is framing and deceiving others. What other way can they use to deal with Xie Qi?

  She glanced at Xie Wan several times, but Xie Wan sat there with a tea bowl in her hand, looking very calm. Just like an outsider watching the show.

  "Now that you've found it, hurry back! In the future, be more careful when serving, don't think that just because you're a member of the Pang family, you can disregard your master!" Wang's stern voice scolded Pang Shengjia, whose face turned beet red with anger. He bowed his head and apologized, then prepared to leave.

  "Old master!" At this time, someone rushed in from outside the door. "The workers in the main house are about to fight with the masters! They rushed into the master's room and turned everything upside down. Among them, one person saw a purple copper stove in the second daughter's room and was fascinated by it. He refused to let go of it, saying that if he wasn't paid, he would take that as payment for his labor!"

  "What's with the purple copper stove?" Xie Qigong furrowed his brow, "Where did this purple copper stove come from again?" After finishing speaking, he walked to Xie Qi and sternly asked: "Did you really not borrow a stove from the kitchen to boil tea?! Was it on your way through the backyard or were you originally there?!"

  Everyone's attention suddenly focused on Xie Qi. Xie Qi opened his eyes wide, biting his lips, and his gaze was scattered and at a loss.

  Xie Qigong stared at Xie Qi, "What's going on?!"

  Xie Qi was forced to ask with no way out, and could only stutter: "I have another stove... But that stove was bought by my father himself, not borrowed from the main kitchen! I didn't embezzle anything, you can ask Xuan Gege, I've used that stove to make tea with him several times, isn't that true?"

  Ren Yun's face turned red with embarrassment, and he couldn't utter a word.

  Is this something that an outsider can intervene in? Xie Qi pulled him down, and he was 120% unwilling. Originally, he felt that she and Xie Wei's identity as young ladies were not quite right, if they were the legitimate misses of the manor, why would they need to clear themselves so hastily and with such a red face just because of a furnace worth only a few dozen taels of silver?

  Xie Wei actually still did this kind of thing with Wei Xiao.

  His respect for the Xie manor immediately dissipated by several points. At the same time, he had even more reverence and affection for Di's legitimate daughter, Xie Wan. His eyes were indeed good, only the upright and virtuous Xie Wan was worthy of his devotion.

  "Is this stove bought by your father?"

  While he was lost in thought, Xie Qigong again heard something from Xie Qi's words. Staring at her for a moment, he said: "This purple bronze furnace is worth at least twenty or thirty taels of silver, where did your father get the spare money to buy this furnace?"

  Xie Qi only picked out words from Pang Sheng's family at the time, but unexpectedly exposed his horse's hoof and changed his face color.

  Wang's eyes widened in shock, and her pinched fingers almost bled.

  She couldn't have imagined that Xie Qi would still be dragged in, and this wasn't even the worst of it - what was even more disastrous was that her private use of public funds to help Xie Hong would also be exposed. In the past few days since Wei Cai came, Xie Qigong had given her a total of 1,000 taels of silver for hospitality, and this account was completely fabricated. Now that Xie Qigong suddenly asked about the stove, how could it not make people panic?!

  She couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Xie Qi, it's really that a mouse belly can't hold three or two ounces of oil, with two coins in hand, he is showing off vigorously!

  Xie Qi's temperament, how could she not know? Although she is not a proper young lady and the main house doesn't have much family property, usually she still makes a fuss about wanting clothes and jewelry! This purple copper stove was said to be bought by Xie Hong, but more than half of it couldn't withstand Xie Qi's extravagance. Usually, a few pieces of clothing would be fine, but this thing worth tens of taels of silver, can it be casually shown off? Now it's good, finally someone has taken notice!

  Wang's anger was burning, but at this moment she had to endure it, and with a vicious move of her hand, several scratches appeared on the surface of the tea table.

  One wave after another, what's happening is really too bizarre!

  Xie Hong couldn't possibly owe the workers their wages, and even if he did, it's impossible that they would come to demand payment halfway through. So why are they causing trouble at this time? And yet, they somehow managed to barge into the young lady's chambers in the mansion, and what they found was precisely the evidence from the Pang family - the purple copper stove that Xie Qi used to make tea in the Cui Yi Pavilion last night!

  She had a faint feeling that someone was manipulating things behind her back, but who was it? And what were they after?

  Xie Qigong's doubts were written all over his face, and he was so flustered that he couldn't continue to think deeply.

  "Go and get grandfather and grandmother over here! Let them bring along the account book for the expenses of building the house these two months!"

  Xie Qigong pointed at Pang Fu, his voice already having uncontrollable anger.

  Mr. Wang hastily leaned back against the tea table, so he could stand up straight.

  She had only been concerned about not letting Xie Qi get involved, so as to avoid the ugly truth from being exposed and making Ren Jun know that it was all her doing, thus losing the opportunity to form an alliance with the Ren family. What she didn't expect was that there were things ten times more serious waiting for her!

  Xie Qigong would have spared the mother and son if he had known that she privately deducted money from the silver given to entertain Wei Cui to make up for Xie Hong.

  Who is so cruel, can't even get along with her?!

  Xie Hong and Ruan Shi soon arrived, the two people who were usually neat and tidy, now had disheveled hair and clothes, with mud stains on their faces, looking extremely disheveled.

  Pang Fu handed the account book to Xie Qigong, and Xie Qigong didn't say a word before flipping through it. The more he flipped, the uglier his face became, and the more violently the two of them trembled with rage.

  Although the hall was packed with people, no one knew which direction things would take, whether to continue surrounding Wei Jiao and Xie Yu's private affairs and insist on a result, or to shift attention away from Chang Fang's account by investigating the purple copper stove held by Xie Qi. So no one spoke up, but instead closely watched every move of each person who participated.

  "Great, not bad!"

  Xie Qigong's speed in checking the accounts became faster and faster, until finally, he almost closed the account book with a glance. However, he did not get angry as people imagined, but instead his movements were very calm. This was inconsistent with his usual irascible personality. Not getting angry now didn't mean he wouldn't investigate, it's just that in front of Wei Cen and Ren Yu, he wouldn't do so.

  Wang knew this point, so he also knew that if he wanted to turn the situation around, he could only think of a way to suppress his anger before Wei Ren left.

  She shot a glance at Xie Hong and scolded: "Don't you retreat? Haven't you seen Master dealing with Ai Jie's matter here?"

  Xie Hong was also clever and immediately pulled Ruan Shi aside as soon as he heard her say that.

  And the people in the house suddenly remembered that Wei Xiao's matter had not been settled, and their eyes immediately focused on Wei Xiao and Xie Wei again.

  However, Xie Qigong, who can manage the large Xie Mansion in an orderly and prosperous manner, is not someone who can be led by the nose. He glared at Wang Shi and said, "What's your hurry?" Wang Shi trembled with fear before he turned his gaze back, speaking in as calm a tone as possible: "Let's not mention Ai Jie for now. Qi Jie, come out."

  Xie Qi had a bad premonition as soon as Xie Hong and his wife arrived. She wasn't unaware of the private dealings between Wang Shi and the head of the household, and she also knew why Xie Hong suddenly had money to spend on her recently. Now that she was being called out by name, her heart couldn't help but rise to her throat.

  "I asked you, how did you end up going to Cuīyí Xuān with Yuǎn Gēr last night?"