Chapter 303 The Thief Within

Chapter 303: The Household Thief

The weather was actually quite nice today, still cold, but when Meng Wan and the others made their way back around noon, the warm sunlight felt pleasant on their skin, bringing a bit of warmth.

Meng Wan accompanied Chang Jinhua for a stroll around the house, so she could get her bearings.

"...Mother, don't you think those two families are something else? It's wild." Meng Wan told Chang Jinhua about his morning visits to the Earl of Chengen's mansion and the Kou family.

Chang Jinhua's first worry was, "That old lady from the earl's mansion isn't really gonna come looking for me, is she? What would I even talk to her about?"

They strolled over to Chang Jinhua's courtyard in the back main compound, and Meng Wan looked at the rooms on either side, thinking about having them turned into two small separate yards after the new year. "They're just being polite—there's no way they'd actually show up. A woman like that, who's been high and mighty her whole life, wouldn't stoop to ask for help even if her family went bust. She's probably secretly sneering at us as a bunch of country hicks!"

Chang Jinhua didn't care one bit. "We can't control what folks say behind our backs. If they're not real people, we just won't have anything to do with them."

Meng Wan gave her a warm smile. "Mother's right. So, how do you want to fix up your courtyard? After the new year, I'll get someone to sort it out for you."

Chang Jinhua said without missing a beat, "No need to change anything. Come spring, I'll pull up the dead grass and plant some veggies. There's water right there, so I won't even have to haul it from the well."

Meng Wan had figured she'd say that. "There's a little creek near us, and a bigger river further out. The wells are full too, so hauling water won't be any trouble."

That was good news, but Chang Jinhua's face suddenly showed a hint of worry. "Living this close to the river—could it make the body damp and cold?"

Meng Wan couldn't help but crack up, and his laughter brought Song Tingzhou and the kids over, who'd been working out with Xuesheng and Chiyu.

Actually, it was A Yan who wanted to goof off and came running over first to ask, "Dad, what are you laughing at?"

Meng Wan laughed so hard he almost cried. He dabbed at his eye. "Your grandma said living too close to the river might make you damp and cold."

Everyone looked confused, except Song Tingzhou, who chuckled quietly a couple of times.

Chang Jinhua had spent so long in Lingnan that she'd unconsciously soaked up the local customs, and it just slipped out.

Chang Jinhua was confused. "What's so funny about that?"

Meng Wan waved his hand, grinning. "Nothing, nothing. Mom, I won't keep walking with you. I've still got some stuff to sort in the storeroom from yesterday—I'll go finish that up."

"With all these people, you still haven't finished after a whole day?" Chang Jinhua asked.

"There are still a few chests of jewelry left. Also, I want to take out a chest of gold and find a craftsman to make gold leaf, so I can paint a big picture to hang in your main hall." Meng Wan spread his arms out wide to show just how big.

"A chest of gold?"

"Make... paper?"

"Paint a picture?"

Chang Jinhua's mouth dropped open a little. She asked, hesitant, "How many chests of gold do we have?"

Meng Wan had just counted everything yesterday, so he said casually, "Twenty-some chests?"

"Twenty... some chests!!!" Chang Jinhua nearly shrieked, and even Song Tingzhou's eyelid twitched.

Neither of them had ever asked how much money the family had. They knew it was probably a lot, but they'd always been thrifty. The idea that gold wasn't counted in taels, skipped past jin, and went straight to chests was still mind-blowing.

Chang Jinhua shut her mouth and swallowed. "And how much silver do we have?"

Meng Wan said offhandedly, "About three hundred thousand taels."

The two youngest kids had no concept of money yet. Meng Wan found the adults' shocked faces hilarious—did they think he'd spent all those years in Lingnan doing charity?

Huang Ye followed Meng Wan to the storeroom, and the two kids tagged along to play. Since only about a dozen chests of jewelry were left, Meng Wan didn't call for many people—just Huang Ye, Zhifan, Zhimao, and Chiyu to help haul the chests.

Meng Wan kept the gifts from family and friends in his own room. The storeroom stuff was things he'd bought himself—mostly ordinary matching headpiece sets, a few said to be fine and precious work, and some uncut raw stones.

The pearls were counted separately, coming to about twenty chests. They were plentiful in Lingnan, and Meng Wan had bought a good number from Ge Quan's friend in Beihai—mostly top quality, meant as gifts for when they got back to the capital.

The small two-jin house on Shichun Lane had been too cramped to properly go through all this stuff, but now was the perfect time to also set aside the gifts for the Zhu and Wu families.

"A Yan, if you and Tong'er want to play, have Zhuyan string them into bracelets for you—don't throw them around like pebbles." Meng Wan called out to the kids who were grabbing pearls and messing around with them.

Tong'er obediently put the pearls back in the chest, keeping just one in his hand. Pointing at a tiny spot on it, he said, "Little uncle, this one's dirty."

Meng Wan patted him on the head. "It's okay if it's dirty—you can keep it to play with."

"Huh?" Huang Ye crouched down. "Young Master Ge, can I take a look at that?"

Tong'er put the pearl, a bit bigger than a peanut, into his palm. Huang Ye looked at the stain closely. "Furen, this looks like lip balm."

"Lip balm?" Meng Wan looked at the spot on the pearl in his hand—it did seem to be some kind of ointment.

He turned to look at the chests of pearls behind him. Pearls weren't like gold or silver—you couldn't count them one by one. Meng Wan had bought them on a whim, by weight. If a chest was missing two or three pearls, the scale wouldn't even show it.

Meng Wan told everyone there, "Come check the other chests, and the fancier jewelry with lots of ornaments—see if anything's missing."

Tong'er and A Yan came over to help too. The jewelry was in a mix of boxes and chests, all different sizes. After digging around for a while, they did find that a gilded feather was missing from the crown of an elaborate gold-and-peacock-feather headdress.

Huang Ye then handed over a flower ornament made of gold, kingfisher feathers, and gems. "Furen, this one's missing a gold petal too."

Meng Wan nearly laughed at the absurdity. "So we've got a thief among us?"

And the thief was pretty clever—stealing pearls, taking a few small ones that wouldn't be noticed, and picking off gold ornaments that wouldn't stand out, which could be melted down and sold.

Zhifan and Zhimao fell to their knees with a thud. Guifang and Guiyuan, the little ones next to A Yan and Tong'er, didn't understand what was going on but knelt down too.

Huang Ye and Meng Wan each had a key to the storeroom—Huang Ye couldn't have gone in to steal. The windows of all four storerooms had been sealed with lime powder yesterday morning, so the only way in was through the doors.

These items had never been unpacked from their crates from Lingnan to Shengjing, and the seals were still intact. That meant the theft could only have happened during yesterday's organizing, when there were too many hands around.

Meng Wan swept his eyes over the servants in the yard. "Everyone, get up. It's no big deal—we'll find the culprit and hand them over to the authorities. It's easy enough for us."

Theft by a household slave was way more serious than an ordinary thief—it would likely mean caning and then exile. In an ordinary household, a thief in the family would usually be beaten to death by the master. Neither option ended well.

Word got around that something had been stolen from the storeroom, and no one doubted what the furen said. The household got uneasy—the innocent feared being blamed, and the guilty darted shifty looks, suspecting everyone.

The servants slept four to a room, and with only a day's time, a thief in this situation wouldn't be able to move freely. Early the next morning, Huang Ye came to Meng Wan with the culprit.

"It's one of the girls we bought in Qinzhou—a fourteen-year-old, temporarily assigned to sweep the main courtyard. She saw the stuff while we were organizing the storeroom the day before yesterday and got tempted."

The girl was nearly faint with terror, clutching the stuff in her hands as she sobbed and hiccupped.

Meng Wan sighed. "Forget it. Give her the deed of sale and send her off. Whether she lives or dies from here on has nothing to do with the Song family."

"Please, furen! I'll never do it again—please don't kick me out!" the girl wailed. If she left the Song family, she had no idea where she'd go.

The kids from Qinzhou were all pitiful. Meng Wan hadn't taken any of the older ones—he'd only picked kids around ten or older.

They were still young, had gone through upheaval in their families, and were sensitive and insecure. Then again, if their families had had any other choice, they wouldn't have sold their kids. The world was full of the unfortunate, more than just one or two.

Once Meng Wan said someone was being sent away, there was no changing his mind. Guicheng and Guiqian immediately hauled the girl up and dragged her out. The two had come all the way from Xiwu Prefecture to Shengjing, and compared to the wild kids they'd been when they first arrived at the Song house, they'd grown a lot more mature and steady.

Meng Wan hadn't given any orders, so Gui Cheng and Gui Qian didn't strip the girl's padded jacket off her. In such freezing weather, if they had truly torn it off and thrown her out, she would likely have frozen to death.

"Now that we've moved and have some free time, let's find a palace matron to teach the servants some manners. Shengjing isn't Lingnan after all—if someone with bad intentions catches an opening, it'd be one thing after another." Meng Wan rubbed the tender spot between his brows, feeling rather vexed.

Racking his brains in business could rake in plenty of silver, but what was he getting out of rubbing shoulders with these big-shot families in Shengjing?

A light snow fell before they turned in, and by the wee hours it looked like it was picking up. The soft hiss of the falling snow roused Meng Wan. It wasn't really that it woke him, though—the floor heating had mostly gone cold by then, and cold air crept in from every crack. He turned over and yanked the blanket up as high as he could, leaving just the back of his head poking out, his whole face buried in Song Tingzhou's chest.

That position left his back feeling drafty. He squirmed around under the covers like a silkworm, briefly separating from Song Tingzhou, and cold air immediately rushed in from every side. Meng Wan felt like his hair was standing on end.

A strong hand from the other side of the bed hauled him back, his back pressed tight against Song Tingzhou's chest, not a sliver of space between them, and a warm hand settled over his belly. The other man's body heat wrapped around Meng Wan completely, and he let out a contented sigh.

Meng Wan pried one eye open. The bedchamber was pitch black, and his voice came out a little nasally. "Did I wake you?"

Song Tingzhou kissed the top of his head. "No, been up for a bit."

Meng Wan rubbed his cheek against Song Tingzhou's jaw. "The snow outside seems to be falling harder."

Hearing how wide awake Meng Wan sounded, Song Tingzhou half-sat up against the headboard. Without using much force, Meng Wan climbed on top of him without needing any coaxing.

Song Tingzhou lifted the bed curtain. The snow outside gleamed against the snow-white window paper, so the room was brighter than your usual night.

"Still cold?" Song Tingzhou pulled the curtain aside and then wrapped his arms around Meng Wan again, his voice low and gentle.

Meng Wan let out a small yawn. "Not cold anymore. I wonder what time it is by now?"

Just as he finished speaking, he heard the faint clack of the night watchman's rattle—five taps, it sounded like.

"So it's the fifth watch already."

Song Tingzhou tucked the blanket around him again and gave a soft "mm-hmm."

Meng Wan wasn't planning on going back to sleep. He rubbed his eyes and quickly tucked his hands back under the covers. "The New Year's gift for Senior Brother is ready. I didn't prepare too much—afraid those annoying censors would cause trouble."

Song Tingzhou immediately recalled the disrespectful Censor Ding from before, and an unreadable emotion flickered in his eyes. When he lowered his gaze, he saw Meng Wan's face with its dreamlike beauty. He pressed his lips against Meng Wan's cheek. "Tomorrow I'll send someone to deliver the New Year's gift to Yangzhou. It's too cold out—you stay home and rest."

"Alright~ I'll also get the gifts for the Zhu and Wu families sorted and set aside. Now that we're closer, I can just deliver them when we visit for New Year's greetings after the new year."

The two leaned together and chatted for a while, and Meng Wan unknowingly dozed off again for a short while. When he got up, Song Tingzhou was no longer in bed. Though he was on leave and didn't need to attend court, he had been accustomed to rising early since childhood. He had already finished washing up and was sitting on the heated brick bed in the outer room, reading.

"Husband, help me get my clothes." Meng Wan sat on the bed wrapped in the blanket, calling to him.

His clothes were hung every day on the folding screen beside the heated brick bed. Houses in Shengjing had both beds and heated brick beds—those without underfloor heating slept on the brick beds, while those with it slept in beds.

Large households kept two sets of everything. The heated brick bed was connected to the stove, serving a similar function to a daybed, where close female relatives could sit and chat.

Song Tingzhou's first task every morning was to add fuel to the stove, so that by the time Meng Wan got up, his clothes would be warmed through.

He handed a light blue robe to Meng Wan, the lining soft, fluffy, and warm. Meng Wan completed the remarkably difficult task of changing clothes under the covers. By now the underfloor heating was already going, but since the sealing wasn't as good as in modern times, it was still cold coming out from under the blankets—his hands, feet, and the tip of his nose all felt chilled.

After Meng Wan washed up with warm water, Song Tingzhou naturally walked from the brick bed to the dressing table to help him comb his hair. With practiced ease, he gathered Meng Wan's dark hair up, and when he took the auspicious cloud hairpin Meng Wan handed him, Song Tingzhou tapped his fingertip against the slightly bent and warped pin before fastening it into a topknot. "In a few days, when the weather warms up a bit, I'll take you to Bao Guang Zhai for a stroll."

Meng Wan had been in love with him for years, and knew what he was thinking the moment Song Tingzhou finished speaking. He agreed readily. "Sure."

Even if they had mountains of gold and silver at home, a gift from one's beloved carried special meaning.

After the meal, Song Tingzhou went out, and Meng Wan called Huang Ye to gather all the servants in the main courtyard. Aside from Liu Da and his wife guarding the gatehouse, and Zhu Sha, Zhu Yan, Gui Cheng, Gui Qian, Gui Fang, and Gui Yuan—servants Meng Wan had purchased in Xiwu—the remaining thirty-eight servants of the Song household had all been bought from Qinzhou.

Compared to other large households with two or three hundred servants, the Song family's numbers were truly modest. Moreover, few were personal attendants; most were assigned to sweeping and miscellaneous chores.

If not for the sheer size of the estate, even thirty-eight would have been too many for Meng Wan. It was too cold outside for him, so Huang Ye brought everyone into the central hall to hear Meng Wan's lecture.

"You were all bought by me personally from Qinzhou and brought all the way to Shengjing. You all know well enough what your families' circumstances were, don't you?"

The hall was packed with people, not one over twenty. As Meng Wan spoke, the slower ones hadn't yet figured out what was happening, while the sharper ones had already realized this was all because of the theft in the household.