The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 381: blame
Chapter 381: The Blame
Chuntao stepped forward, took the bamboo slips from Gu Lao’s hand, and handed them to Bai Qingyan.
Gu Lao raised his head, looking at the clan leader with a sharp gaze, and said angrily, “Over the years, most of the clan’s belongings have been sent back by the Bai family. The clan leader said it was to show respect, and the clan leader and his eldest son Bai Qiyun always took over. As soon as I mentioned that I wanted to reconcile the accounts with the clan manager, the clan leader asked me in front of King Zhenguo whether I didn’t trust you, the clan leader, and the reconciliation was left unresolved. I didn’t expect that there would be such a mess behind it.”
The old saying was not finished yet. King Zhenguo knew that the patriarch was greedy behind his back, but he always felt that he was not stupid or deaf, and was not a good person for the family, so he indulged him. He did not expect that his indulgence would turn out like this.
Bai Qingping was surprised and shocked. He didn’t know that his grandfather had actually embezzled the money sent back by the Bai family.
After all, Bai Qingping was not the head of the household, and he had never been very familiar with the family’s income. He just received his share of the expenses every month.
After Bai Qingyan took a quick look at the bamboo slips, she handed them to the guards beside her and said indifferently, “Take them and show them to the elders!”
The guard responded and brought the account book to the few remaining elders. The elders could not wait to grab the bamboo slips and open them…
On one of the bamboo slips, there was a record of the total amount of silver and money that the Bai family of Dadu had sent back to the clan every year in recent years, and below it was a record of the total amount of silver and money received from the Bai family of Dadu in the clan accounts. The comparison was simply shocking. The clan leader was getting more and more greedy… and in the end he even embezzled half of it.
There was also a pair of bamboo slips that recorded the imperial gifts sent back to the clan, as well as what was missing from the clan leader’s handover to the clan.
The elders became more and more angry as they looked at it. These originally belonged to the tribe, but the tribe leader relied on his position as the tribe leader to embezzle them!
“I was wondering why Bai Qiyun’s wife was holding Bai Qingjie… and said she would try to ask Lord Zhou to release him! It turns out that the clan leader has a rich family background! All the men of the Dadu Bai family sacrificed their lives to bring honor to the Bai family, but you used the money that the Dadu Bai family gave to the clan to enrich your own pockets, allowing your descendants to harm the people and damage the reputation of the Bai family. You also used the money that the Dadu Bai family sacrificed their lives to save your descendants. What a calculation! What a calculation!”
“For so many years, he has been deceiving his superiors and subordinates… He is more greedy than others, but he still pretends to be incorruptible and dedicated to the tribe. What a good tribe leader! No wonder his descendants are like that. It turns out that if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked!”
The oldest elder thought of the clan leader’s origin and sneered sarcastically, “A bastard is a bastard! Even if the name is recorded under the legitimate mother, what is in his bones cannot be changed, and it is not something that can be put on the table! When the previous clan leader was alive, although he was also greedy, he still knew how to restrain himself. As for our clan leader, this clan leader is exactly like his bastard mother. He takes everything good and fragrant into his own nest, and dares to open his eyes and say that he didn’t take it when his claws are stretched out!”
Bai Qingyan saw Shen Qingzhu standing outside the door out of the corner of his eye and nodded slightly.
Shen Qingzhu clasped his fists, turned around and left quickly.
The clan leader forced himself to calm down, holding Bai Qingping’s hand but it was shaking constantly: “This matter has nothing to do with me! I don’t know about this matter! Cousin, I respect your age, you can scold me! I have no complaints! But my father is dead, no matter what, I am your elder, cousin, you still need to be more kind.”
Over the years, the clan leader had never been involved in the exchange of money between the clan and the Bai family, and had always let Bai Qiyun handle it. Bai Qiyun had been expelled from the clan, and it was obviously hopeless for him to succeed the clan leader, so he could not lose his position as clan leader. As long as he was still the clan leader, he could still protect his son with the power of the clan leader! If he lost his position as clan leader, he would no longer be able to protect his son and grandson.
The clan leader made up his mind and gritted his teeth and said, “Over the years, Qi Yun has been in charge of the handover. I originally thought that Qi Yun would be the next clan leader, so I let him hone his skills! Princess… Lord Zhou, why don’t you call Qi Yun back and listen to what Qi Yun has to say? Qi Yun is my son… I believe that even if he is a troublemaker, he will not embezzle the silver and money given to the clan by the Bai family in Dadu, and the imperial gifts.”
The clan leader knew that if he insisted that his son was the one who did it, he would be in a bad position, so he acted as if he was the one who would investigate.
As soon as the clan leader finished speaking, his old wife came in crying on crutches: “Boss…Bai Qingyan’s guards, along with the guards from the Prince’s Mansion, rushed into our house, smashed open the door of the warehouse, and took away all our belongings like bandits. What on earth are they trying to do!”
The patriarch almost couldn’t breathe.
Soon, Shen Qingzhu and the guards of the Prince’s Mansion entered the courtyard slowly, carrying jewels, jade articles, as well as furs and cloths that were tributes awarded by the emperor in previous years, under the watch of the people.
Although it was already dark, the flickering torches made the area around the Bai Family Ancestral Hall as bright as day.
The people looked at the boxes of dazzling jewels and corals, which were being carried in without covering their faces. Their eyes became hot and they cursed in their hearts that the patriarch was a good-for-nothing for greedily hoarding so many treasures!
The remaining members of the tribe were so angry that they were out of breath and wanted to skin the tribe leader alive.
The elder clan elder sneered: “Is this what the clan leader doesn’t know? The things have arrived at your warehouse, and you still don’t know? Are you blind?”
The patriarch’s old wife didn’t understand what was going on and looked up at her husband.
The clan leader’s face turned pale, and he looked in the direction of Bai Qingyan. Then he understood… Bai Qingyan came prepared. She didn’t just want to expel those children and Bai Qiyun and the others from the clan, but she wanted to clean up the clan, including him, the clan leader!
Shen Qingzhu came in with the bamboo slips in his arms, and clasped his fists to Bai Qingyan, saying, “My lord, according to the list that Gu Lao and the clan manager had compared, I searched the clan leader’s storehouse and found items that the Bai family sent back to the clan but had not been included in the clan’s accounts. Many of them were tributes, so it’s not difficult to check! I have circled the missing items with a red pen, please have a look, my lord.”
As he spoke, Shen Qingzhu placed the bamboo slips on the small table beside Bai Qingyan that was temporarily placed to hold tea cups. He then looked at the clan leader’s wife who was standing uncomfortably in the courtyard. “When I sent someone to move the things, the clan leader’s wife tried to stop me, saying that these were their private belongings and no one was allowed to touch them. I had no choice but to… offend the clan leader’s wife and hold her down. Please forgive me, Princess.”
Bai Qingyan did not look through the bamboo slips, instead he tapped his fingers on the small table: “Patriarch… you really wasted my grandfather’s trust!”
The clan leader stood there for a long while without opening his mouth to speak. The things had been searched out of their storehouse. No matter how much he said, it would be all just excuses. After a long while, he said, “I really didn’t expect Qi Yun to do something that was so shameful to the clan. As Qi Yun’s father… I can’t shirk my responsibility and I dare not accept the position of clan leader anymore.”
Bald author: I am begging for monthly tickets at the top of my lungs…