While a few people were talking, it was already time to light the lamp.
Jia Heng, Jia Zheng, Jia She and others also came out of the general manager's hall, and their servants prepared a banquet in a nearby house to entertain several accountants of Jinyi Mansion and soldiers from the Beijing camp.
They drank wine and drank wine.
Jia Heng also drank two drinks with him, and then his cousins Dong Qian and Xie Zaiyi accompanied the guests. He left the courtyard and walked along the Chaoshou veranda. Suddenly he looked up and saw Ping'er carrying a lantern, coming from the Moon Gate. He raised his eyes. When he saw Jia Heng, he just smiled and came close and called out: "Uncle, Second Mistress Lian asked me to call you. The old lady has put some food over there for you to come and share."
Jia Heng nodded and said, "That's it."
Ping'er came forward with a lantern and said with a chuckle: "Grandma Heng, I just asked Feng'er to inform you that I've left some food here, so I won't go over there yet."
Jia Heng was startled for a moment, his eyes were warm, and he said, "Miss Ping'er is interested."
He was having dinner here in Rong Mansion, but he needed to be informed by Qing, but he was busy and forgot about it just now.
Looking at Ping'er like this, he is really a caring person.
At this moment, Jia Heng raised his eyes to look at the girl. The late autumn wind was already carrying a bit of chill. The lanterns hanging on the gallery were swaying in the wind. The bright candlelight dimmed circles of soft orange light with gradual changes in light and dark, which fell on the ground. On the beaded hairpin between the clouds and green bun, you can see a string of pearls shining brightly, one large and four small. Under the air bangs, the round and jade face becomes more and more gentle and soft under the light. .
Being stared at by a pair of clear eyes, Ping'er pursed her gleaming lips, her curved eyelashes drooped with a clump of shyness caused by the man's inspection, and an imperceptible blush seemed to float on Chuntao's beautiful face. He chuckled and said: "Uncle Heng, this audit is finally over. Second Mistress Lian just said that she was so tired that she was sweating all over. She went back to have someone take care of her to take a bath..."
As he spoke, his voice gradually became soft and inaudible, and his heart beat a little faster.
I thought to myself, what is she talking about? Grandma went back to take a bath, what did she tell this boy to do?
She didn't know what she was talking about in a daze just now. She always felt that if she didn't say something just now, her heart would be beating faster and she would almost be out of breath.
When Jia Heng heard this, his eyes narrowed and he thought to himself, it's time for Sister Feng to take a bath.
He just changed the subject and said casually: "In the past few years, there have been these big rats in Xifu who secretly do bad things. Sister-in-law Feng can support her alone. She is mentally and physically exhausted. Go take a bath, sleep and have a good rest for a few days. , pretty good too.”
Hearing this, Ping'er suppressed the thoughts that suddenly arose in her heart, looked at Jia Heng in surprise, her lips twitched, and said softly: "Uncle Heng is indeed doing great things outside, and he can understand the difficulties of the second mistress. "
She really didn't expect that this Uncle Heng would understand Second Mistress Lian so well. She could know both cold and hot things like this, which even Second Master Lian had never said before.
The second master would only say, "Good Feng'er, give me two hundred taels of silver. I need it urgently."
As Ping'er, the original novel of Dream of Red Mansions, said, "The second master, even if the money falls into the frying pan, he still wants to fish it out for flowers."
"Sister-in-law Feng has two mothers-in-law above her, and Baoyu and a group of sisters below her. She is like a rat in a bellows, suffering from both ends." Jia Heng chuckled lightly and said: "But who is not difficult? No matter how difficult it is for her, It’s not good to engage in such unscrupulous side businesses. You are her caring person. Please advise her more in the future. Don’t let her do things like collecting money from others and intervening in lawsuits. You need to know that good and evil will be rewarded in the end."
In the words of a certain big boss, don’t look at the joy of dancing now, but be careful about making lists in the future.
Ping'er was startled for a moment, confusion appeared on his face, and he said, "What did Uncle Heng say?"
Jia Heng looked at Ping'er's confused expression and said, "It seems that you don't know?"
Also, Sister Feng and Jia Rong presumably wanted to avoid Ping'er regarding the loan sharking, but if Ping'er didn't know anything about it, that might not be the case.
Ping'er's beautiful face changed slightly, and she said softly: "Although Second Grandma is usually more aggressive, when it comes to doing unethical business..."
"It seems that she is hiding something from you." Jia Heng said with a slight smile.
Ping'er and Sister Feng also hid some things from each other, such as Qiao Ping'er teasing to save Jia Lian, and helping Jia Lian carry money on Sister Feng's back to mourn Second Sister You, and the list goes on and on.
Hearing this, Ping'er said softly: "Second Grandma is the master, so she should hide some things from me."
Jia Heng said: "Okay, let's not talk about this for now. The front is Rongqing Hall."
Ping'er nodded.
Rongqing Hall
Mother Jia's hair was as silver as silver on her temples and she was smiling. She had taken a nap in the afternoon and was very energetic at the moment. She was listening to several people talking about the audit.
Behind him, Yuanyang, Amber, Jade and other maids were rubbing their shoulders.
I just heard Tan Chun say with a smile: "Old lady, Brother Heng asked the accounting masters in Jinyi Mansion to check everything, and found a total of 580,000 taels of silver that was not reconciled to the accounts. Then Wu Xindeng and the rest of them supported I can’t stop, I started recruiting, and I’ll make up for the loss in a few days.”
Hearing this, Mother Jia felt a little sad on her face, and said: "These things look good on weekdays, but I didn't expect them to be stealing the property in the house. Alas, it's hard to guard against thieves day and night."
After taking a bath just now, she changed into a light yellow dress, wore a golden eight-treasure bun with beaded hair, and was tied to Sister Feng, who was wearing the Five Phoenixes of Chaoyang and a beaded hairpin. Her fair and rosy melon-seed face was rosy and charming because of the bath. The spring flowers and autumn moon were shining brightly, and she said delicately: "Old ancestor, you don't know, these evil servants are so shameful, they arrange all kinds of things for the master behind their backs, even the eldest master and the second master dare to arrange it, but I don't have to do it with my grandson-in-law." said."
When Jia Mu heard this, she was stunned for a moment and asked, "How did they arrange it?"
Sister Feng said: "These are some bastard words that look down on the master. The eldest master and the second master are still angry at the moment."
Jia Mu sighed, not wanting to ask further questions, and said, "I have indulged them all these years. I thought they had served the house for decades, and the whole family and generations were busy. It’s not easy. It’s okay to live a decent life in private. I never thought...sigh..."
Sister Feng comforted her with a smile: "Old ancestor, you are kind and kind, but your heart is weak and you don't know what is good or bad. As you talk, people are trying to ride on your master's head."
Thinking about Lai Da's dignity in the past when she was in the mansion, all the servants in the mansion would call her "Grandpa Lai", and even her young master would have to show respect.
Mother Jia was silent for a moment and asked: "Wu Xindeng's daughter-in-law and Shan Daliang's family were taken away as well. What are you and Brother Heng going to do with them now?"
After all, I am getting older, and I still miss old feelings.
This is also human nature. The person who was waiting in front of me just now, chatting and laughing to relieve his boredom, was taken away the next moment.
Sister Feng said: "Old ladies, they have all been sent to Zhuangzi to farm, but the money they lost has to be made up by their men."
Jia Mu nodded and said: "They are all old servants in the mansion. Even if they have made a big mistake, it is not easy to throw them out and fend for themselves."
Sister Feng smiled and said, "How can that be possible?"
Apart from anything else, what if these people don't know the master's private affairs and are let out to chew maggots? Besides, if the money is not enough, you still have to work and farm to make up for it.
At this moment, the woman outside came into the house and said, "Old lady, Second Grandma Lian, Uncle Heng is here."
Hearing this, Mother Jia had a smile on her face and said, "I was talking about Brother Heng just now, but he came over without thinking. Yuanyang, go and greet him for me."
Li Wan, Daiyu, Yingchun, Xichun, and Tanchun in the room all stood up or stared.
Well, Baoyu is not here, and has gone back to write his thoughts after the visit.
Tomorrow night is the deadline for handing in homework as Jia Heng said. If it continues to be delayed, you can only say that you didn't bring it. However, not bringing it means you didn't write it.
Mrs. Wang was still sitting in the hall, looking up at the two figures, one tall and one low, reflected in the screen.
She planned to wait for a while to see if she could tell the found silver in front of the old lady.
Yuanyang responded with a smile. Before he could move to meet Jia Heng and Heping'er, he saw a man and a woman entering the hall one after the other. Whoever owns ringworm owns the world
Jia Heng's expression was indifferent, and he bowed to Jia's mother who was sitting on the Luohan bed. His eyes swept across the pearls in the Rongqing Hall, and when he found that Baoyu was missing, he frowned and asked, "Why isn't Baoyu here?"
Well, he was just curious. Gu Xi
Mrs. Wang: "..."
Sister Feng smiled and said, "Baoyu asked Xi Ren and She Yue to take care of him early and then went to write something."
Jia Heng nodded and said, "Let him write it carefully. I will read it tomorrow night."
The smile on Jia's mother's face did not diminish. She had already learned from Tanchun that the young man in front of her was "educating" Baoyu. It was hard to say anything, but she still knew the difference.
Mother Jia smiled and nodded, and said, "Brother Heng, thank you for your hard work this time. Yuanyang will move the embroidery pier over. Brother Heng and I will talk for a while."
Yuanyang responded, moved the embroidered pier and placed it in front of Jia Mu's right hand, and asked Jia Heng to sit down with a slight smile.
Jia Heng looked calm, nodded, and said, "You're welcome, old lady."
Sister Feng said with a smile: "It's the same for our ancestors. If a family doesn't speak the same language as the two families, it's just a heretic. However, it's not easy for busy people like Brother Heng to take time out to help check the accounts. You don't know, what you just said I took the time to deliver a memorial to the palace, so I was so busy that I didn’t even know what to call him."
When Jia Mu heard this, her face was a little moved, and she looked at Jia Heng in surprise.
"I have been busy recently with the emperor's mission assigned by the emperor, a major case that all civil and military officials are watching." Jia Heng took the tea from the mandarin duck and nodded to the girl with a pretty face and said: "Old Madam, when the Duke is here, you also know that the emperor is in a hurry to get things done, and they are watching from inside and outside, so the sooner it is done, the better."
Hearing this, Jia Mu nodded slightly, sighed, and said, "It's not easy for you to be an official outside."
"Old lady, why don't we start the banquet first?" Sister Feng said softly with a smile on her charming face.
Jia Mu smiled and said, "Okay, I forgot about it. Yuanyang, hurry up and ask them to serve the food. Brother Heng is also hungry now."
As they spoke, several people stood up and sat down on a round table one after another. Mother Jia sat at the top, Sister Feng accompanied her on the left, followed by Li Wan, Daiyu, Yingchun and Xichun.
Jia Heng and Tan Chun were sitting on the right side of Jia Mu. As for Mrs. Wang, she was still sitting aside.
Jia Mu greeted her, but Mrs. Wang just smiled and said, "I used some with Baoyu earlier, so I'm not too hungry now."
Tan Chun sat next to Jia Heng's right hand. The childlike girl seemed to have just changed her clothes. She was wearing a peach-blossom light pink dress. Her face was white and rosy, and she applied a thin layer of powder. A girl of this age, In fact, it is not suitable to wear too much makeup. Youth is the best rouge and gouache. The jade bracelet-wearing jade hand picked up a tea cup and said with a chuckle: "Brother Heng just said the emperor's mission, but what happened to you the day before yesterday?" Son?"
"I don't want you to know." Jia Heng put down the tea cup, turned to look at the girl with handsome eyes and eyebrows, and smiled.
As expected of someone who could be the princess in the original work, she is quite keen on these things.
When everyone at the table heard this, they all looked at the two of them, because Jia Heng was the center of attention at the moment. Every time he spoke or smiled, even Mrs. Wang on the side cast a cold look at them.
Tan Chun said softly: "This matter has caused quite a stir in the capital. My sister-in-law was also talking about it yesterday and she was a little curious. Brother Heng, just don't mind me talking too much."
"How could it be? It's rare for the third sister to be interested in these things." Jia Heng smiled and said: "However, because it is official business and the matter is confidential, it is hard to say more now. After a while, the dust will settle. , and then I’ll tell you the whole story.”
The girl had reminded him a bit before, and he could tell that the girl was quite interested in politics.
"I have many questions to ask Brother Heng for help." Tan Chun said with a light smile, his eyes filled with autumn water.
Because they are sisters of the same clan, and because Jia Heng is the patriarch of the Jia clan, no one thought there was anything wrong with this.
Jia Muyin laughed and said, "Aren't you going to be an official? Please tell me what to do. And during the meal, you are not allowed to talk about official business."
At the end of the sentence, he deliberately made a face, but obviously everyone knew it was just a joke.
Sister Feng also smiled and agreed, saying: "If you talk about this again, Brother Heng will punish himself with a drink in a while."
Jia Mu looked at this scene with a smile and thought to herself, how many years ago, when her husband was around, she was talking about some outside things during the meal. She listened quietly to the side, and everything in the past seemed like yesterday.
At that time, when he was still being relied upon by the palace, when did it start that there were no more of these things in Rongqing Hall?
Maybe at that time, she already knew that if she could support the Duke's mansion without losing its momentum, she would be worthy of the Duke of Guo who was under great pressure.
Now, from this branch of Ningguo, we can see some signs of revival.
After hearing this, everyone said nothing and started eating their dinner with their bowls and chopsticks.
…
…
The night is already dark, and a crescent moon hangs in the dark sky, casting thousands of cold moonlights.
In the majestic and magnificent Daming Palace, the lights are brightly lit, and the floor is as clear as water, reflecting the figures of palace maids and eunuchs standing with hands hanging down.
In the inner study room, Emperor Chongping had just served dinner to the eunuch. He was sitting behind the desk, reading Jia Heng's memorials by candlelight. There was clearly a copy of the spy lurking in Jia's house on the imperial desk. A summary of the detective stories sent from the Internal Police Department.
The memorial is Jia Heng's apology memorial.
Emperor Chongping put down the memorial, and a look of thought appeared on his resolute and cold face.
Dai Quan hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Your Majesty, this Jia Heng...isn't he a bit overstepping his bounds?"
When he read the detective report earlier, he felt frightened. Did he threaten to lend the Emperor Sword to Jia Huan? This is too bold.
But looking at what the detective reported about the moral power of the Emperor's Sword, I felt that this was not the case.
"Jia Zheng had three sons. The eldest son Jia Zhu died young, and the concubine Jia Huan, I heard, was raised in the hands of a woman. He was vulgar, stupid, and ineffective. Now Zi Yu is the head of the Jia clan. He uses the emperor's sword to learn from each other and educate his children in a normal way. , Ming Zun is inferior, if Jia Huan has made some progress in the future, why not lend him the emperor's sword?" Emperor Chongping's eyes fell on the memorial, but his mind was lingering on the detective's report, "Use his virtue instead of his power. , the Emperor’s Sword is both a sword of authority and a sword of holiness.”
In the Tathagata, the king and his ministers have a beginning and an end. This incident is recorded in the history of the country, and it may not be impossible to create a good story about the relationship between the king and his ministers.
When Dai Quan heard this, he secretly sighed that Jia Heng was really a member of the holy family. He thought about it and said, "Your Majesty, the Jia family has recently been rectifying the family affairs and checking the deficit. As far as I know, the front and back, east and west, The government has investigated the deficit of more than one million taels of silver. "
Emperor Chongping nodded, walked to the carved window lattice with his hands behind his hands, looked at the vast night, and said in a low voice: "Since I took charge, I have seen that the Ministry of Household Affairs has suffered a lot of deficits, and the Zhen family in Jiangnan, because they welcomed Taizu and the Supreme Emperor. During the southern tour, there was also a lot of shortfalls. They were in charge of the Jiangning Weaving House, and they misappropriated an unknown amount of official money to have Zhen's household utensils, food and clothing, and they were extravagant."
When Emperor Chongping said the last words, there was a bit of sternness in his eyes.
Jia Heng investigated the Lai family and other unscrupulous slaves and made up for the public's shortfall of more than a million taels of silver. If he inspected the Zhen family and other slaves of the Tian family, how much silver could he get?
Dai Quan's expression changed and he said, "Your Majesty, Nanny Zhen and the Queen Mother..."
"There is nothing more than Aunt Lai on either side." Emperor Chongping snorted coldly and said solemnly.
The situation of the Jia family is almost the same as the dilemma he is facing now. The old lady of the Zhen family had an old relationship with the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother even received favors from the deceased old feudal lord of the Zhen family.
Emperor Chongping pondered for a moment and then said: "You will pass on my instructions later and ask Lu Jingyao and Ji Yingtian of Jinyi Mansion to fully cooperate with Jia Heng."
When Dai Quan heard this, his heart moved and he cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will go right now."
Emperor Chongping watched Dai Quan leave. Deep in the heart of this wealthy emperor, there was a feeling of "jealousy" that he absolutely did not want to admit.
"There are nine disasters in ten places in the world. The barbarians in the north are causing trouble. The Ministry of Household Affairs has become increasingly unable to sustain it in the past two years. And the salt tax in the south is not good this year, and there is another three million taels less. Waiting for the next year, the Zhen family will Maybe you can try it."
It can be said that because Jia Heng raided the Lai family, it also brought a lot of excitement to the emperor, and he had already planned to raid the Zhen family in advance.
A mere servant has accumulated a million taels of silver in more than ten years. If the Zhen family is raided, wouldn't he get at least five to six million taels of silver? Give another blood transfusion to the treasury?
