In Ningguo Mansion——
As two experts from the Jinyiwei Mansion checked the accounts, the amount of money stolen by the Lai family from the East and West Mansion was also compared one by one. Comparing the account books for more than ten years, a total of 630,000 taels were missing.
As for the interrogation of Lai Da, he also confirmed the silver from Dongfu. As for the silver from Xifu, Lai Da only vaguely said that Xifu has been watching a lot. In more than ten years, only 40,000 to 50,000 taels have been taken away, and only 30,000 taels have been taken away a year. Four thousand taels of silver.
Sister Feng sneered and said: "Four to fifty thousand taels of silver? Four to five to five thousand taels of silver is about the same!"
He was obviously shocked by the figures revealed by the gentlemen who were inspecting the room.
Lai Da just complained and refused to admit it.
"You're still not honest! Brother Heng, look..." Sister Feng Danfeng asked with a sharp light flashing in her eyes.
Jia Heng picked up the tea cup and said: "Sister-in-law Feng, the people in Xifu are too arrogant. Even if there is a deficit, Lai Da cannot take it all by himself. Of course, there are not four to five million taels, but there are still two to three hundred thousand taels of silver." .”
There are four housekeepers in Xifu, Lai Da, Lin Zhixiao, Wu Xindeng, and Shan Daliang, who are in charge of external affairs, while their four daughters-in-law, Zuo, are the housekeepers of the inner house.
Except for Lin Zhixiao's family, the four major housekeepers are fairly well behaved, and one of the other three families is not a good person.
But because of this, there are more people sharing the cake in Xifu, and Lai Da cannot live as well as his brother Lai Er.
Lai Sheng has almost no one to control him in Dongfu. He only needs to coax Jia Zhen well, and the account books and expenses will follow his plan.
Sister Feng also heard the implication of Jia Heng's words and said: "Brother Heng means that we still have to check the account books."
Jia Heng nodded and said, "Ping'er has been gone for a while, should he be back?"
Sister Feng's beautiful face paused slightly and said, "Caiming, go..."
"Second Grandma, Miss Ping is here." At this moment, the woman outside the door said.
Ping'er hurriedly entered the hall, raised his eyes to look at Jia Heng, met Sister Feng's questioning look, and said: "Second Mistress Lian, the eldest master of Xifu has brought the accounting office at home and wants to check the accounts. Everyone has arrived at the warehouse and started We checked the account books, but they blocked the door and didn’t let Wanger’s account books.”
When Sister Feng heard this, her face changed slightly, and she said in shock: "Master, he also wants to check the accounts?"
With that said, he glanced at Jia Heng, frowned and said, "Brother Heng, the eldest master also wants to check the accounts. What should we do now?"
Because Jia She had a separate courtyard with a big black throttle next to the Xifu, he also set up an accounting office to take charge of the financial revenue and expenditure.
Jia Heng frowned and said in a deep voice: "It's really unprofitable and I don't get up early. I don't see him checking on weekdays. Now I heard that it is profitable, but he came to check the accounts. It's nothing more than chasing a smelly fly."
Jia She is greedy for money and lustful, even more so than Jia Zhen, and is a perfect scavenger.
Sister Feng had a strange look on her face as she listened to the young man mocking her father-in-law. She acted as if she hadn't heard anything and was silent for a moment, then asked: "Brother Heng, what should we do now?"
After questioning Lai Da just now, Sister Feng was already somewhat inclined to let Jia Heng make the decision.
Jia Heng pondered, his face thoughtful.
In fact, he didn't take Jia She's audit to heart. If a young man like Jia She, who was good at eating, drinking and having fun, could figure out the secrets, he wouldn't let Lai, Shan and Wu, the housekeepers of Jia Mansion, live a good life. It has been nourishing for so long.
Suddenly, the old accountant smiled and said: "Sir, this family is very clever at concealing their accounts. If I don't carefully compare them, I would be almost fooled by them. If I were an ordinary person, I would be even more clueless. Rongguo wants to check the accounts. You might as well let them investigate first, and wait until they can’t find anything fishy.”
These people are used to copying the goods, and they know the price of each item in the year when it was purchased. Such as the method of fictitious transaction prices and shoddy goods, in their eyes like a mirror, it is almost impossible to see them. Escaped form.
When Jia Heng heard this, he nodded and turned to Sister Feng and said: "Lai Da's confession just now contains some large sums of money related to corruption, which adds up to forty or fifty thousand taels. Let's do the math first! As for the account books Put it aside for now, I will take people to check Laida's house, if it continues to be delayed, carefully let them transfer the property and run away!"
After hearing this, Sister Feng felt that she still had more to say, but she also knew that what Jia Heng said was reasonable, and said, "Then let's ban the Lai family first, and then come back and reconcile the accounts slowly."
But it was said that Jia She and Mrs. Xing took the accountant and the servants to seal off Lai Da's general manager's house, and then went to Rongqing Hall to report to Jia's mother.
In Rongqing Hall——
Mother Jia looked at Jia She and Mrs. Xing who were coming from the opposite side, with a calm expression on her face, and said, "Since you are sick, you just go back and have a good rest. Why are you coming here in such a turbulent time?"
The mandarin duck behind him paused for a moment while squeezing Jia Mu's shoulder, knowing that this meant that the eldest master was ill and did not come to the Rongqing Hall for the banquet last night.
Baoyu, Daiyu, and Tanchun on the side looked strange.
Jia She pretended not to hear Jia Mu's sarcastic remarks and smiled and said: "Mother, early in the morning just now, Wu Xindeng, Dai Liang and Qian Hua came to see me and said that Dongbian wanted to check our accounts. In the past few days, There is a ghost in my heart, Baba has to come to my door to beg for mercy! My son thought, there is a lot of things in Dongfu. If we don’t investigate it ourselves, I will bring the accountant in the mansion over and collect all the account books of Yincang Liangsanku in recent years. Sort it out and prepare for the audit.”
Mother Jia frowned and said doubtfully, "I'm not just checking everyone for cheating, why are you checking the bank and the warehouse as well?"
Li Wan explained: "Lai Da is in charge of things. All expenses must be drawn from the bank."
"Mother, there is something very wrong with the accounts made by these three people. By the way, there is also Lai Da. My son was surprised when he heard that the clan leader had taken it. Even if it is Lai Da, it has nothing to do with the clan. Jia She pretended to be confused and said, "Why bother bothering the clan leader with such a trivial matter?"
Now Jia She was reasoning about clan affairs, and as he spoke, he even pinched his nose and recognized Jia Heng's name as clan leader.
Jia Mu said: "Brother Heng is a helper. He has already sent Feng Yatou to ask Lai Da."
This is something Jia's mother thinks is appropriate, because Sister Feng is both Jia She's daughter-in-law and Mrs. Wang's niece, so it is most appropriate for her to assist.
Jia She said: "Girl Feng is a smart person, but this is our own family matter. It is always unreasonable for the clan to intervene."
When Jia Mu heard this, she said, "You want to check the accounts?"
Her son couldn't sit still when he heard about the money, and he hadn't found out much shortfall yet.
Jia She said: "We can't control the affairs in the East Mansion. In the West Mansion, my son will settle the account first. If he can check it himself, it won't bother others. Mother said so."
When Jia Mu heard this, she hesitated for a moment.
But after thinking about it, I felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
Check the accounts, who checks the accounts?
Thinking of this, Jia Mu thought for a while and said, "Let's go through the account books first."
Jia She was very happy after receiving the permission and said, "Mother, my son is leaving now."
With that said, he left Rongqing Hall with Mrs. Xing and other women and maids from Wang Shanbao's family.
After Jia She left, Tanchun twisted his beautiful eyebrows and thought: "I'm afraid this account book is not that easy to check."
But this is a matter for the elders. She is young and not easy to talk about.
Jia Mu said: "Yuanyang, you also go to Dongfu to see what's going on with Brother Heng."
She was also a little curious in her heart, how much deficit could Brother Heng find out by checking the accounts of Dong Mansion, and what he planned to do with the Lai family.
Yuanyang responded, got up and left.
But it was said that Jia Heng led ten royal guards and headed towards the Lai family.
It was still early at this time, and Emperor Chongping asked him to go back and wait for the decree. However, the edict on the title of knighthood drafted by the cabinet was upright, but the procedure was a bit cumbersome. It required six disciplines to be followed, both at home and abroad, so during this period, Lai could be restrained first. Home.
The Lai family also lives in Shenjing City, and their residence is in Yongningfang, a few blocks away from Ningrong Street, which is not far away.
Jia Heng led Jiao Da and his servants to take a good look at Lai Da. Then he took the account books drawn up by the two accountants of Jinyi Mansion, and, accompanied by Qu Lang and ten Jinyi guards, mounted a fast horse and went to inspect Lai's house.
Yongningfang Laizhai
This is a vast house with red eaves, green roofs, and carved beams and painted buildings. It is smaller than Ningrong's second mansion, but it cannot be purchased in the Shenjing City without a family fortune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
There were actually two young men at the door, sitting on a long bench, cracking melon seeds and chatting.
"唏伦～"
Suddenly at this moment, several horses came clattering, galloping like lightning. The young man in brocade clothes on the horse pulled the reins, roaring and neighing, which shocked the young boy at the door to stand up and looked at a group of people wearing flying fish uniforms and embroidered spring knives with horrified eyes. of official duties.
"Who are you...?" the boy said bravely.
Jia Heng turned over and dismounted, pressed the Xiuchundao on his waist, looked at the almost smaller Rongguo Mansion, and said coldly: "Is this the Lai Mansion?"
"It's Mr. Lai's house... ah..." the boy replied tremblingly, and suddenly he let out a painful groan.
But it was Jia Heng who whipped the young man with a whip and shouted coldly: "Go to the backyard and ask all the ladies and daughters-in-law of the Lai family to come to the flower hall in the front yard!"
"Qu Baihu, first two people block the back door, don't let them escape!" Jia Heng said to Qu Lang who was standing aside.
Qu Lang responded, turned around and directed the two Jinyi guards, who then rode towards the back door.
In the backyard, Grandma Lai was having breakfast, accompanied by her grandson Lai Shangrong and Grandma Lai's two daughters-in-law.
Because Fu Shi was invited to a banquet yesterday and would not return until Haishi, Grandma Lai went to bed later and arrived in Chen in the morning.
This nanny is wearing a lavender silk shirt, with a fair complexion, and her hair is neatly styled and well maintained. For someone in her early sixties, her skin does not have many wrinkles. It is obvious that she usually powders it with pearls.
Grandson Lai Shangrong accompanied him to talk.
Of the two daughters-in-law of the Lai family, the eldest daughter-in-law Lai said, "Old lady, what do you think Fu Shi said?"
I don’t know what is going on in the Lai family’s mind. Not only does their residence completely copy Rongfu, but even the names they call in private are mostly old lady, madam, and grandma. If nothing unexpected happens, they will have to learn from Rongfu again in a few years. The government donated a Tongzhi general to Jia Lian and a county magistrate to Lai Shangrong.
Grandma Lai picked up the ivory chopsticks, picked up a mushroom, placed it in a porcelain bowl from the Xuande kiln of the former Ming Dynasty, and said with a contemptuous smile: "What else can I say? Fu Shi is also a man who sees money. He accepted the money and promised. Come down, I think I can meet the prison boss tonight, and then I can use some more money to save Sheng'er's life first and let him go to Jinling, and then I can take over after the limelight eases in a few years."
Lai's second daughter-in-law looked haggard. After hearing this, the worry in her eyes disappeared and she said, "Old lady, I have asked you to worry more."
"As a daughter-in-law, the family does not talk about the two families. Sheng'er was also implicated by Brother Zhen of the Dongfu." Aunt Lai comforted her and said, "If it weren't for Xu Fuyin being a scumbag. Yes, Sheng'er doesn't have to suffer the hardships during this period."
Lai's daughter-in-law frowned and said: "Now that the man in the East Mansion has become the patriarch of the clan with a side branch, everyone in the West Mansion is afraid of him. Yesterday, he even served a meal to welcome the people from the East Mansion."
"The men in Jia's house are having a fierce fight in their den, but our family is involved!" When Grandma Lai heard this, she couldn't help but get angry.
He turned to look at Lai Shangrong on the side with kind eyes and said, "Shangrong."
Lai Shangrong smiled and said, "Grandma."
"Grandma has been begging for help this time, but she can't find anything. She finally understands that our family can't do well without an official position. In a few years, when you are older, grandma will donate an official position to you."
When Lai Shangrong heard this, he was very happy.
Lai's daughter-in-law on the side was equally happy, but Lai Sheng's daughter-in-law was the only one with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
In this family, her man contributes the most, but now it’s Dafang who gets the benefits?
"Old lady, madam, it's not good, a group of guards came to the yard..." While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, a servant hurried into the side room and said.
"Jinyiwei?" Aunt Lai's expression suddenly changed. Could it be that she spent money on activities for her son?
"Shang Rong, go and see what's going on." Aunt Lai was frightened in her heart, but she kept her composure on her face and ordered her grandson to go.
But after a while, Lai Shangrong didn't respond. When he looked up, he saw Lai Shangrong's face was pale, his arms and legs were trembling, and he said, "Grandma, there are Jinyi guards outside."
Seeing Lai Shangrong's timid look, Grandma Lai scolded: "You have a wicked heart. I don't know how your grandfather and I have suffered for two or three lifetimes. How did you earn such a timid person like you!"
Jia Heng's face was already stern and his eyes were gloomy as he entered the main hall of Lai Mansion. Along the way, as far as he could see, there were rockeries, pavilions and pavilions in a well-proportioned manner. When entering this hall, the furniture and furnishings were also made of fine wood.
"The chairs for entertaining guests in the main hall are all made of huanghuali wood. The servants are more dignified than the masters!" Jia Heng's eyes were dark and he lightly knocked on the chair.
He remembered clearly that nanmu chairs were also used in the Rongqing Hall of the Jia Mansion.
Qu Lang, the guard in gilded clothes behind him, ordered, "You two guard the front and back yards and don't allow them to come in and out at will! You two go to the warehouse to check on the warehouse stewards, and the rest will follow me to the back yard to get people!"
Even though there were only eight or nine Jin Yiwei, they acted vigorously and in groups of two and acted separately.
Instead, Jia Heng was the only one left in the hall, waiting with his hands behind his back.
The surrounding servants were too frightened to move, and looked at the young man in brocade clothes in fear.
After a while, Qu Lang and several royal guards drove a group of women with their hair covered with pearls, silk and silk from the backyard.
"Sir, everyone is here." Qu Lang clasped his fists and gave an order, leading four guards in golden clothes to guard the entrance of the flower hall.
Aunt Lai looked at the military attache in golden clothes who was facing away from her with his hands behind his back, and asked bravely: "I wonder, my lord, what crime did my Lai family commit? To mobilize the troops like this?"
After all, he had served the old prince, and when trouble came and he couldn't avoid it, he managed to regain some composure.
Jia Heng suddenly turned around and sneered: "Mother Lai, do you recognize me?"
"My lord...who are you?" Grandma Lai looked into those sharp, gloomy eyes, her heart suddenly suddenly lurched, and she exclaimed in shock.
Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "I, Jia Heng, am the chief of the Jia clan. Since your son Lai was promoted to the head of the Ning Mansion, he has embezzled two, six hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver from my father. Now, in the name of the clan leader, I will recover the shortfall." ! In addition, I am the commander of the emperor's personal army. I heard that your Lai family spent money to bribe the subordinates of Jingzhao Yamen in order to help Lai Sheng escape from death. The emperor has decreed a case, how can you tolerate this deception of the emperor? !”
Before Grandma Lai could respond, Jia Heng shouted: "Come here, tie up this animal!"
Jia Heng never took it seriously when Mother Jia tried to save Grandma Lai's dignity. If he didn't destroy these slaves and destroy his family, he would be sorry for wearing the flying fish suit.
As if she was struck by lightning, Aunt Lai's face turned slumped, and she shouted: "Uncle Heng, I want to see the old lady. I am an old slave of the Jia Mansion. I have contributed to the Jia Mansion and served the old Duke... "
Chapter 151: Searching the Lai family
