Gu Zhong left and returned with four shopkeepers. After bowing, Gu Hongzhang asked: "Are you shopkeepers at Qinglan's shop?"
Shopkeeper Zhou took a step forward and bowed his hands: "Yes, General, we are all old shopkeepers of the young lady's dowry shop. Two years ago, the boss Liu Jie was appointed by the second wife of the Lin family, and he was dismissed on unfounded charges."
Gu Hongzhang: "The Lin family already knew about Liu Jie's actions and sent him to the official. The tens of thousands of taels of silver that he had embezzled were also recovered. If it was for this matter, there is no need to say more."
Shopkeeper Zhou: "General, Liu Jie's greedy money must be more than ten thousand taels! A few days ago, the villain was called to the Lin Mansion. After learning that Liu Jie was investigated, he felt relieved and went to talk about the past with his old friend who had been fired before. , only to find out that the shop they were in before they were fired was in the same situation."
Another shopkeeper in green shirt also stepped forward and said: "General, what shopkeeper Zhou said is absolutely true. The villain Chen Wenzhao was the former shopkeeper of Baibao Pavilion. He also recorded the account books before he was dismissed. In just over two months, The new shopkeeper, Liu Shoutong, embezzled as much as 4,000 taels of silver, which caused the store's deficit, but it was all blamed on the villain, and he used this as an excuse to fire the villain."
Upon seeing this, the other two shopkeepers also stepped forward to complain.
"General, I was the former shopkeeper of Xianyaolou. Two years ago, I was fired by the new shopkeeper on the grounds of poor management. But I was really unjust. It was clearly the new shopkeeper who secretly withheld the business income every day. The accounts were in deficit."
"General, the villain and several shopkeepers had the same experience. A month after the second lady took over the store, she sent a new shopkeeper to check the accounts and manage the shop. But the new shopkeeper started short-selling the accounts not long after he arrived. , greedy for money and money. Then he dismissed the villain on the grounds of shortfall, please ask the general to make the decision for the villain."
The four shopkeepers said in unison: "Please, the general, make the decision for the villain!"
Lin Yanqing was furious after hearing what the shopkeeper said. The shopkeeper's complaints and words asking the General's Mansion to make the decision made the Lin family and his son even more embarrassed.
When his own family caused such a scandal, the owner of the misfortune also let the General's Mansion make the decision.
Lin Yan Qingqi's cultivation could hardly be suppressed: "This is really unreasonable!"
Lin Siyuan also had an angry look on his face: "Why don't you come to the Lin family? My mother used to be in charge of the shop. If something like this happens, you can come to my mother and explain it to me."
Shopkeeper Zhou cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Lin, it's not that we didn't look for it when we were first dismissed. But the second lady controlled the middle feeder, and the concierge didn't let us in at all. After learning that we wanted to appeal, Liu Jie even sent officers and soldiers to threaten us. He said that if he dared to tell the General's Mansion and the Lin family too much, he would definitely make his family uneasy. As a commoner, the villain dared to fight with the officials, so he had to change his job. Last year, his family suffered a disaster and there was no way to seek help. I just came to see the general’s wife to try my luck. When I came to say thank you a few days ago, the general’s wife asked me about this before I dared to talk about it.”
Chen Wenzhao also said: "The villain also came to the General's Mansion, but Liu Jie sent people to follow him. They dragged him to an uninhabited alley and punched and kicked him on the way. He lay on the bed for half a month before he could get off the ground. How could the villain dare? It’s words.”
"The villains are all ordinary people. They really don't dare to offend the government."
"That's right. There are seniors and juniors. You really can't endanger your family's lives just for a living."
