Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 120 Deviation (42)

Zhou Yan was seething with anger, but with so many clansmen present, and given that his mother was indeed in the wrong, he could only swallow his pride and say, "Third Uncle, I'm sorry, my mother was confused for a moment..."

“She misappropriated the entire Zhou family’s public property, so you shouldn’t apologize to only me,” Zhou Rang said coldly. “Moreover, the time span was as long as five years. She wasn’t confused for a moment. If you sincerely apologize, you shouldn’t make excuses for her.”

Zhou Yan's face burned with shame and embarrassment: "I'm sorry everyone, my mother was wrong in this matter. I apologize to everyone on her behalf. I will make up for this money, and I will personally pay ten million yuan to compensate the public. Please forgive my mother this time, out of consideration for the fact that we are all Zhou family members?"

Zhou Rang remained silent, his expression still cold and stern.

The atmosphere in the council chamber was tense.

Seeing this, several elders in the clan began to act as peacemakers, speaking up for Zhou Yan and Jiang Yuechan.

"Third brother, this is a small punishment to teach her a lesson. I believe she won't dare to do it again. Let's just let this matter go."

"Yes, we're all family. If things get out of hand, we'll lose face and hurt our feelings."

Even the old lady spoke up, saying, "Third son, that's enough. Yuechan has helped the housekeeper these past few years, and even if she hasn't done anything outstanding, she has certainly put in a lot of hard work. Let's put this matter behind us. I will keep an eye on her from now on and make sure she doesn't repeat the same mistake."

Zhou Rang was sitting back in his armchair, one hand lazily resting on the armrest, when the old lady spoke. He straightened up slightly: "It's okay to turn the page. From now on, my cousin-in-law doesn't need to help manage the old house anymore."

Jiang Yuechan was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "No way! What right do you have to strip me of my housekeeping rights!"

Jiang Yuechan's lineage belongs to a collateral branch of the Zhou family. Her husband is useless and can't even get close to the Zhou family's central authority. Their family can only receive some dividends every year.

Jiang Yuechan was an ambitious woman. In order to create an opportunity for Zhou Yan to enter the Zhou family's management circle, she painstakingly cultivated connections in the old house. It took her nearly twenty years to win the old lady's appreciation and be given a portion of the housekeeping authority.

Only she knew how difficult it was for someone from a collateral branch of the family and a semi-outsider who had married into the Zhou family to have reached this point.

Now, the head of the family wants to nullify all her years of scheming and hard work with just a casual remark, and she is naturally not convinced.

Zhou Rang's attitude was cold and uncompromising: "If you make a mistake, you must accept the punishment. Otherwise, if every manager in the future accepts bribes and lines their own pockets like you, will there be any peace in the old house?"

"I'm not the only one who took bribes, why am I the only one being punished?" Jiang Yuechan said angrily. "Do you dare say that the others didn't get a single drop of meat on their hands, that they're all clean?"

The moment these words were spoken, everyone present changed their expressions.

Zhou Yan's eyelids twitched violently, and he quickly stopped her, saying, "Mom, stop talking!"

"Who else has shady dealings?" Zhou Rang asked.

Jiang Yuechan completely ignored Zhou Yan's words and said without thinking, "Sister-in-law and Sixth Aunt!"

The two families whose names were mentioned were immediately enraged and began to criticize her.

"Nonsense! Do you have any evidence?"

"Yes, there's evidence that you embezzled public funds. You're saying we took public funds just like you. Show me the evidence!"

Jiang Yuechan sneered: "Whether there is evidence or not, we can find out by checking. The batch of banyan trees that were replaced on the back mountain two months ago were purchased by Sixth Aunt. The market price is only four thousand yuan per tree, but the public account reported seven thousand yuan per tree. More than 370 trees were replaced on the entire back mountain. The amount of false reporting for this item alone exceeds one million yuan. Not to mention the potted plants and green trees that were replaced during festivals. There are many ways to make a fuss about this."

Aunt Liu's face turned ashen: "The loquat trees I bought are of the highest quality, much more expensive than ordinary ones on the market. If you don't believe me, I can contact the supplier right now and provide proof of payment to verify with you!"

"You've already bribed the seller. The money goes into his account first, then you get it back in cash or gold bars. You can fool others with your little tricks, but you can't fool me!"

"You..." Aunt Liu looked guilty, her eyes practically spitting fire as she glared at her.

Seeing her put up a fight, Jiang Yuechan, believing that there were many people involved, continued, "And my sister-in-law too..."

"Mom!" Zhou Yan roared, cutting her off, "Shut up!"

If we keep talking, we'll offend everyone in the main house.

How will they be able to stay in the main house then!

Jiang Yuechan was startled by him. Turning her head, she saw that Zhou Yan's face was extremely ugly. She retorted, "Why are you shouting like that? I'm just telling the truth. If others can report me, why can't I report others?"

At this point, she gave her sister-in-law and sixth aunt a meaningful look: "Besides, who knows who reported me? They're making my life difficult, and I won't let them have their way!"

She had always been at odds with these two, exchanging barbs and trying to trip each other up. She was certain that their involvement was related to her being reported this time.

Zhou Yan's temples throbbed with anger. When he saw that his uncle and Sixth Master's men were all looking at him with displeasure, he knew that this feud was now officially settled.

“We will accept whatever punishment Uncle gives us for this matter. My mother is in a bad mood, so I will take her home first.”

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, he ignored Jiang Yuechan's struggles and quickly dragged her out.

West Third Building is the courtyard where Jiang Yuechan's family lives in the main house. As soon as she entered the courtyard, Jiang Yuechan burst into tears.

"It must have been Aunt Liu who reported it. We had a fight last week over something trivial. She's been holding a grudge against me for a long time... I won't let her get away with this!"

Zhou Yan was annoyed by her crying: "Alright, stop crying. What's the use of complaining now that it's already happened?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuechan glared at Zhou Yan: "Are you blaming me for being greedy like them? Who am I doing this for? Isn't it for our family? Otherwise, with your father's good-for-nothing attitude and how much he squanders money, what can a few million in dividends a year do!"

At this point, Jiang Yuechan wiped away her tears again: "Zhou Yan, don't forget how you got your first investment. If I hadn't helped you build connections at the old house, would you be where you are today?"

Zhou Yan: "..."

He couldn't refute that.

He wasn't a particularly quick-witted person, and his business acumen was only so-so.

The initial capital for starting his business was not only provided by his mother, but also by his mother, who had been attending various social gatherings and networking events for him over the years as a member of the Zhou family.

Without his mother, he wouldn't be who he is today.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yan softened his tone: "Mom, that's not what I meant."

"No matter what you mean, you didn't speak up for me in the council hall just now. All my efforts over the years have been in vain." Jiang Yuechan was in a terrible mood. "From now on, I will not be involved in anything related to money at the old mansion. Unless all the women of the Zhou family are dead, I can forget about managing the household."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Jiang Yuechan became more and more upset as she spoke: "What kind of bad luck has our family had this year? We married a daughter-in-law who can't help us at all. You lost your job at Huimei, and I lost my power to manage the household... If I didn't know what kind of person your third uncle is, I would suspect that he is deliberately targeting our family."

Zhou Yan was taken aback: "Deliberately targeting me?"