The Rebirth of the Deposed Empress

Although Ye Buhuo was reluctant to leave Hua Wuke, he was also concerned about Hua Zhukong's health, so he immediately asked the warehouse to send a bunch of supplements for Hua Wuke to take back to Duke Dingguo's Mansion.

When Hua Wu Ke returned to Duke Dingguo's Mansion, he happened to run into Hua Zhukong having a meal.

Hua Zhukong's complexion looked much better than Xia Wu's, and there was less annoyance between his brows.

It seems that the tranquilizing soup is still useful, and Hua Wu Ke's heart, which was hanging in the air due to worry, finally settled down.

Seeing Hua Zhukong looking over, she pretended to be wronged and said:

"Grandfather actually ate alone without waiting for me."

Hua Zhukong lifted his beard and snorted.

"Humph, I heard you went to Prince An's Mansion as soon as I woke up. I thought my granddaughter had given her heart to someone else. How could she have time to have a meal with an old man like me?"

Hearing his grandfather teasing him, Hua Wu Ke smiled embarrassedly, then handed the tonic in his hand to the servant.

"Take these things down and make them into medicinal food. Be careful not to destroy the medicinal properties."

Hua Wu Ke sat down to have dinner with Hua Zhu Kong. During the meal, he saw that Hua Zhu Kong seemed to be in good spirits, so he tentatively mentioned the chief steward.

"Grandfather, the chief steward is someone who has been following you. Do you think he can be trusted?"

"Hua Yuzhong is a family boy who grew up with me. He has always been loyal to me, so I made him the chief steward. Why are you asking all this suddenly?"

Hua Wu Ke considered his words for a moment, then said:

"Qinglan checked Jiamingtang's previous account books a few days ago and found that many places did not match, so I wondered if there was some mistake on the part of the chief steward."

Qinglan has just taken over the management. If the previous account books don't match, she should go find the previous person in charge of the account books - Nanny Guixiang.

Hua Zhukong didn't think that Hua Wuke couldn't even figure out such a thing. There must be some reason why she suspected Hua Yuzhong.

"Then why did Sui Sui doubt Yu Zhong?"

"The main reason why the account book is wrong is that the rewards given by the emperor to my father and brother are not correct, and these things were handled by the chief steward in the past."

Hua Zhukong thought carefully about Hua Wuke's words and felt that her suspicion was not unreasonable.

People's hearts are fickle. He and Hua Rongyu have not been in the mansion for so many years, so it is possible that the steward has developed other ideas.

"Okay, I will look into this matter carefully."

Hearing his grandfather's answer, Hua Wu Ke felt relieved.

Let’s put Hua Jingqian’s identity aside for now, but the steward wanted to secretly take the money from the Duke Dingguo’s Mansion to give to the old lady, which is something Hua Wuke would never allow to happen.

Why should we give to a bunch of heartless people what our fathers and brothers fought for with their lives on the battlefield!

With Hua Wuke's reminder, Hua Zhukong immediately ordered several trusted confidants with strong skills to keep an eye on whether there was anything wrong with the steward.

I thought that even if there was something wrong with the steward, it would take several days to reveal the truth. I didn't expect that he would be caught opening the warehouse secretly that night.

When the steward was escorted into Hua Zhukong's yard, his face looked as pale as death.

He struggled internally for the entire afternoon, worried that Hua Jingqian would really get into trouble in prison, but he didn't dare to take the money from the mansion, fearing that the account books would not match.

He thought about stealing some of the stuff from the warehouse and selling them. There were so many things in the warehouse anyway, and no one would go in to check on weekdays.

As a result, he was caught by Hua Zhukong's confidant just as he was leaving the warehouse with a few things that were not easy to notice.

He was caught red-handed and had no way to defend himself.

He could only be forced into Hua Zhukong's yard with a pale face.

All the things in his arms were taken out and placed on the table next to Hua Zhukong.

"Have I wronged you?"

The steward knew he was in the wrong and didn't dare to look up at Hua Zhukong. He just stared at the ground and shook his head.

"If that's the case, why do you do such a despicable thing?"

"…I was bewitched for a moment. I know I was wrong. Please have mercy on me, Master, and forgive me this time!"

Thinking of Hua Wu Ke’s words, Hua Zhukong slammed the table angrily.

"Once? What about the things in the big room? You dare to say you didn't touch them!"

Unexpectedly, Hua Zhukong also knew what happened before. He shuddered and didn't dare to beg for mercy.

"It's the slaves who deserve to die."

Hua Zhu snorted heavily in the air.

"I trusted you so much and handed the affairs of the mansion to you. You really deserve to die!"

"Grandfather, please calm down. Don't get yourself hurt by being angry."

After catching the chief steward, Hua Zhukong sent someone to inform the first wife.

It happened that Hua Rongyu and his son returned at night, and the three people from the first wife came together.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Hua Zhukong was angry. Hua Wu Ke didn't care how the steward was brought down, and hurriedly persuaded Hua Zhukong not to be angry.

Hua Zhukong took a few deep breaths before he suppressed the anger in his heart.

He turned his face away and waved his hands, not wanting to listen to Hua Yuzhong begging for mercy anymore.

"Okay, Yu'er, send someone to escort him to the government office."

Hua Rongyu was about to give an order when he was interrupted by Hua Wuke.

"Wait a minute, Grandfather, this man cannot be sent to the government yet."

"Why?"

"The chief steward is in the mansion almost every day, and he has not been found to have any need for a large amount of silver. Moreover, the jewelry he used to embezzle is now missing, so he must have given it to someone else."

"In this case, it is not enough to just catch the chief steward, we also need to catch the person hiding in the dark."

Hua Rongyu thought for a moment and felt that what Hua Wuke said made a lot of sense.

"Father, I think Sui Sui is right."

Seeing this, Hua Zhukong agreed to Hua Wuke's words.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you. I want to see who dares to reach out to Duke Dingguo's Mansion!"

The chief steward was handed over to the first wife by Hua Zhukong. Hua Rongyu immediately ordered the chief steward to be locked up in an abandoned firewood yard and no one else was allowed to approach.

Later, Hua Rongyu and his son were busy going to the military camp. Seeing this, Hua Wuke took over the task of interrogating Hua Yuzhong.

The woodshed was dark and damp, and Hua Yuzhong's old body couldn't bear it at all.

He was only given a mouthful of food and a sip of water every day so that he would not starve to death, but he could always feel hungry.

In the past, as the chief steward in the mansion, other servants were all respectful to him. Although his clothing and food were not as good as those of the nobles in the mansion, they were not worse than those of the masters of ordinary wealthy families.

Being suddenly in such a situation, the steward could not bear it both physically and mentally.

After leaving Hua Yuzhong alone for several days, Hua Wuke finally came.

"Master, you used to have no worries about food and clothing in your mansion. Now you have fallen to this point, do you regret it?"

Hua Yuzhong replied weakly:

"I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, I deserve to die, please be so kind, Miss Third, and give me a chance to live."

"You have to earn your living, butler. How can I just give it to you so easily?"

Hua Yuzhong was puzzled and said:

"What does this mean, Miss San?"