Outside the courtyard of Ritual Master Xu.
Separated by a wall, all the ministers were dumbfounded.
They looked towards the wall in disbelief, gazing upon the densely grown tall bamboo trees within.
"Ritual Master Xu, I never expected you to be this kind of person."
"Burying silver under the upright and virtuous bamboo!"
"This is simply outrageous, simply outrageous!"
A resounding voice came from Master Liu.
"The monthly salary of the Ritual Master of the Imperial Academy is fifty-nine taels and three qian and three fen, and six dan of rice!"
"Where did you get this whole chest of silver?!"
The ministers standing outside were stunned.
Xiao Yunzhou snorted coldly, then pretended to be surprised as he walked in.
The other ministers suddenly snapped out of their trance and followed him.
The old man guarding the gates of the Xu mansion wanted to block them and go report the news, but was stopped by Wei Zheng who summoned the guards to usher him aside.
The entourage of the Emperor passed through without obstruction, directly entering the bamboo grove courtyard behind the Xu mansion.
They heard Ritual Master Xu still raging at Master Liu, as well as his evasive defense, "Master Liu, don't bully me too much!"
"Even though you have been promoted to a fourth-rank official working in the Censorate, without the Emperor's edict, and not being part of the Imperial Guards, on what grounds can you search my home?!"
Ritual Master Xu and Mrs. Xu stood firmly in front of the Liu couple.
At the feet of Old Madam Liu, the soil pit had already revealed the lid of a redwood treasure chest.
This wooden chest was opened about a third of the way, and the dazzling official silver within was neatly arranged, gleaming in the sunlight.
"This is a chest of silver I have painstakingly accumulated over twenty years of being an official. I just like burying it under the bamboo garden, to protect it from thieves at home and abroad! And now even you, Master Liu, want to get involved?"
Ritual Master Xu cried out hoarsely.
"Preposterous! Nonsense, the Ritual Master's monthly salary is fifty-nine taels."
Old Madam Liu stepped forward and spat right in Ritual Master Xu's face.
"Aside from the money spent on buying houses in the capital, and the daily expenses of feeding and maintaining horses, carriages, servants, and the whole family, at most there is only over a hundred taels left!"
"This chest of silver, you would need to save for at least ten years to accumulate, let alone the fact that what is exposed and discovered by us is at least dozens of chests!"
Old Madam Liu's fighting spirit was even stronger than her husband Master Liu.
After all, she was the one managing the household, so she understood much better than her husband how much of the Imperial Academy's salary could be saved.
"Our Liu family is still renting carriages in poverty, while you, Ritual Master Xu, have already used ten chests of silver to grow bamboo!"
Old Madam Liu's eyes reddened as she launched a barrage of sarcasm at Ritual Master Xu.
Normally she was a refined woman, but today she couldn't hold back.
Thinking about how the money in front of her, which should belong to the national treasury and her grandchildren's future, was being greedily hoarded by this patched-up-robed head of the Imperial Academy, Old Madam Liu simply couldn't sit still.
The way she looked at Ritual Master Xu was as if he was a thief who had stolen her family's cabbages!
"Sir, don't waste time arguing with him! Quickly go to the palace and report to the Emperor, I'll keep an eye on them here to prevent them from moving and hiding the silver!"
Old Madam Liu put her hands on her hips.
"You, you shrew—" Ritual Master Xu was so enraged he couldn't even finish his sentence.
Mrs. Xu was even more ferocious, wanting to claw at Old Madam Liu's face.
But how could a refined official's wife match up against a farmer's daughter who used to climb trees and shoo birds?
Mrs. Xu charged forward, and Old Madam Liu simply gave her a firm push with one hand, sending Mrs. Xu falling into the soil pit with an "ouch" as she landed on her face.
This caused the pit, which had previously only exposed two or three chests, to now have dust flying everywhere, revealing the edges of another two or three wooden chests.
"Speak properly, don't resort to physical violence." Old Madam Liu patted her clothes, quite unhappy. "After all, you are the Ritual Master's wife, how can you behave this way?"
Ritual Master Xu was furious, but seeing his wife fall without any fighting ability, he was both shocked and fearful.
He directly knelt down in front of Master Liu.
"Wen Chang, speak softly, don't shout loudly."
"As for these silver, how about I give you half?"
Master Liu narrowed his eyes, silently looking at him.
"Half is too little? Alright, I'll give you sixty percent, seventy percent, how's that!?"
Ritual Master Xu knelt and begged Master Liu.
"Don't make a fuss, just tell me how much you want, and say it directly, don't accuse the Emperor!"
The footsteps of Emperor Xiao Yunzhou suddenly stopped in front of the screen wall outside the bamboo garden.
His gaze turned towards the standing Master Liu in the courtyard.
The group of officials behind the Emperor, including Grand Tutor Fu, were all sweating nervously.
The Emperor was still so suspicious.
Even though Master Liu was the maternal grandfather of the Fifth Prince, and had helped the Emperor suppress the rebellious Prince Liao, establishing great merit, the Emperor still harbored doubts.
If the Emperor didn't come out now, and just stood outside the bamboo garden, it was a test for Master Liu.
"Wen Chang, I'll tell you secretly, seventy percent, I can give you a million taels."
The Grand Tutor and the Six Ministries officials all took a sharp breath.
Not only Master Liu the pauper, even they themselves would have a hard time resisting the temptation of Ritual Master Xu's bribery.
After all, in the backyard of a Ritual Master, who would know?
The officials outside the bamboo grove momentarily looked sympathetic, as if they had already predicted that Master Liu would agree, and be caught red-handed by the Emperor listening from outside.
But just then, they heard Old Madam Liu's clear and powerful voice from the garden.
"You shameless Xu! Not only are you greedy for money, but you also want to drag my husband down with you!"
"I spit on you!"
"I'm telling you, not even if it's five million taels, are you allowed to step foot in the Liu family home!"
"If Liu Wenchang dares to take this dirty money, even if I'm called a shrew, I'll break his legs! Hang him on the wall and whip him!"
Ritual Master Xu was dumbfounded.
The ministers outside forgot to breathe.
Even Emperor Xiao Yunzhou was stunned.
The mother of Madam Liu, so valiant?
He suddenly felt that Madam Liu was actually too gentle in her usual manner.
The Emperor was relieved to have broken into a slight sweat on his back.
But Old Madam Liu... truly a virtuous and upright female hero!
"You, you..." Ritual Master Xu in the garden was so enraged his eyes turned red, "What business does a woman have in a man's conversation! Wen Chang brother, don't listen to your wife's nonsense! At worst, I'll just divorce her!"
Master Liu's brows furrowed, wanting to stop it but it was already too late.
Old Madam Liu's anger level had risen, and she quickly pinned Ritual Master Xu's hands behind his back and pressed him to the ground!
"Sir, what are you still hesitating for, hurry and go to the palace to seek the Emperor's instructions!"
"I want to see how much of the common people's money this filthy thing has greedily hoarded!" How much of the treasury money has he robbed from my grandchildren!
"Sir, I'm telling you, if you want to get rich like him, abandon that idea early, otherwise if you dare, I'll uphold justice and eliminate my own flesh and blood, just try it!"
Old Madam Liu didn't care about her old husband, the key was her grandchildren's future.
In history, the rulers who lost their kingdoms either committed suicide or were killed. And princesses who met a bad end were often raped and died in the palace.
Whoever now greedily coveted the national treasury, endangering the future of her grandchildren, was her enemy!
"Shrew, vile woman!" Ritual Master Xu tried to struggle, but couldn't break free at all.
Mrs. Xu also rushed over, wanting to claw at Old Madam Liu's face.
Just as the situation was about to escalate further, they were stopped by the group of people that entered the courtyard.
Emperor Xiao Yunzhou was leading the way.
The Grand Tutor, the Three Deputy Grand Tutors, and the heads of the Six Ministries were all following behind.
Mrs. Xu's face paled.
Ritual Master Xu's body trembled.
"Bring a seat for Old Madam Liu."
Emperor Xiao Yunzhou, holding the sleeping little princess Chu Chu who had been jostled too much in the carriage, waved his hand graciously towards Old Madam Liu.
"Old Madam Liu, you've worked hard, have a seat for a while."
"Wei Zheng, have people dig! Dig this entire bamboo grove until the bottom is exposed for me!"
Ritual Master Xu collapsed to the ground.
How did the Emperor arrive?
Had Master Liu previously notified the Emperor?
Impossible, impossible!
How could they have possibly imagined that this man, who normally patches up his official robes, would be so greedy as to bury the embezzled silver under the elegant bamboo garden?
How could they have known about this in advance?
[Beep.]
[Emperor Xiao Yunzhou's affection for your grandmother, Old Madam of Liu Family, has skyrocketed.]
[Ah, so even women can be on par with men, as the ancients rightly believed - the Emperor thinks so.]
[Congratulations host, the side quest - Elevating the Status of Women - has been completed 0.5%.]
Chu Chu woke up, confused by the system's voice, and rubbed her eyes in bewilderment.
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