Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 382

Chapter 382: Chapter 379: Hard to Escape Blame_1

Chun Tao stepped forward and took the bamboo slip from Mr. Gu’s hands, handing it to Bai Qingyan.

Mr. Gu raised his head, his gaze torch-like as he looked towards the Clan Leader. His voice boomed like a bell: "All these years, the Bai family in Dadu has sent treasures back to the clan. The Clan Leader, claiming to be prudent, always took them with his eldest son, Bai Qiyun. Whenever I mentioned reconciling accounts with the clan steward, the Clan Leader would question my trust in him in front of the King of Zhen. Thus, the matter always ended unresolved. Who could have imagined such filth behind it all?"

Before Mr. Gu finished his words, the King of Zhen realized that the Clan Leader was greedy. But he dismissed it, thinking that one must sometimes turn a blind eye for family harmony. He never expected it to result in this.

Bai Qingping looked utterly shocked. He didn’t know that his grandfather had embezzled the Silver sent back by the Bai family in Dadu.

After all, Bai Qingping didn’t manage the household and was never fully aware of its finances. He only received his monthly allowance.

After roughly looking over the bamboo slip, Bai Qingyan handed it to the guard beside her, her expression indifferent as she spoke: "Take it and let the elders look at it."

The guard obeyed and brought the account book in front of the few remaining elders, who eagerly grabbed the bamboo slip and began to flip through it...

One bamboo slip detailed the total Silver Coin sent back each year by the Bai family in Dadu. Comparing it to what was recorded received by the clan was shocking. The Clan Leader’s greed grew more and more... and, in the end, he embezzled more than half of it.

Another bamboo slip detailed the imperial gifts sent to the clan. Each item handed over by the Clan Leader was noticeably fewer.

The more the elders read, the angrier they became. Those items originally belonged to the clan, yet the Clan Leader, leveraging his position, had pilfered them!

"I see why just now Bai Qiyun’s wife held Bai Qingjie... saying she’d find a way to ask Lord Zhou for their release! The Clan Leader is indeed rich! The entire Bai family in Dadu risked their lives to bring honor to the Bai Clan, but you took the Silver meant for the clan and lined your own pockets. You let your descendants bring harm to the people, tarnishing the Bai Clan’s reputation. Using the Silver bought with their lives to save your own descendants! Very calculating! Truly calculating!"

"Years of deceit... you’ve embezzled more than anyone else, yet you pretended to be selfless, exhausting yourself for the clan. What a good Clan Leader! No wonder your descendants are like this. It turns out, the rotten roof corrupts the columns as well!"

The oldest elder, remembering the Clan Leader’s background, sneered sarcastically: "A concubine’s son is always a concubine’s son! No matter how much you try to legitimize him, you can’t change his essence. The previous Clan Leader, though greedy, knew restraint. But this Clan Leader, he’s just like his lowborn mother, grabbing everything good and fragrant for himself, and shamelessly denying he took anything!"

Bai Qingyan saw Shen Qingzhu standing outside the door through the corner of her eye and nodded slightly.

Shen Qingzhu clasped his hands in salute and swiftly left.