The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 489 Win both
Although Jia She was annoyed, he heard Jia Huan's tone, which seemed to indicate that he was willing to negotiate, so his expression eased a little. However, he sneered and said, "It is not your turn to bargain in this matter. If you are sensible, hand over the secret recipe for making honeycomb coal obediently. Otherwise, I will beat you up first. Even if you end up in the old lady's house, you still have to hand over the secret recipe. Why suffer this pain in vain?"

Jia Huan sneered and said, "Should we give it to the public official or to the master?"

Jia She and Jia Zhen looked at each other and secretly cursed Jia Huan for being a smart kid. It seemed that it would be difficult to get the secret recipe for making honeycomb coal by intimidation alone without giving any benefits.

It turned out that the main source of income for the Jia family was the farmland. The annual rent from the two mansions combined was about ten thousand taels. If an adult man had a title or an official position, his annual income had to be handed over to the government for supporting his family, but he did not have to hand over his private income.

Jia She and Jia Zhen were both greedy for money, and they were extravagant and wasteful. Naturally, their daily expenses were high, and their demands for money were insatiable. If a high-profit business like honeycomb coal were handed over to the public, it would certainly improve the public finances of the mansion, but it would take some effort to get the money into private pockets. But if it was not handed over to the public and only used as private income, there would naturally be no need for trouble, because it was all their own and they could spend it however they wanted.

Jia She and Jia Zhen went to see Jia Huan privately this time without informing Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang. Their purpose was naturally to embezzle the business and put all the profits into their own pockets. With Jia Huan's intelligence, he naturally saw through the two guys' inner thoughts at a glance, so he deliberately asked this question.

Jia She glanced at Jia Huan, stroking his sparse beard, with a sanctimonious look, but he said bluntly: "Give me the secret recipe, and I will give you 1,000 taels of silver every year, how about that?"

Jia Huan sneered, "One thousand taels? Master, are you sending away a beggar, or are you treating me like a child? You want to give me a date in exchange for the hen that lays golden eggs? I'm not afraid to tell you, Master, the future profit of this honeycomb coal will be 20,000 taels a year, and I own 60% of the shares, so I can get 12,000 taels a year."

When Jia She and Jia Zhen heard the figure of twenty thousand taels, they all showed greed. Twenty thousand taels was enough for the rent and tax income of the two mansions' farms for two years, and this had to be a year of good weather and good harvests.

Jia Zhen said in a fierce voice: "Huan Lao San, don't be ungrateful. Giving you one thousand taels a year is already a lot. If you don't accept it, I will beat you half to death right now."

Jia Huan said disdainfully: "I have the honor of being a juren, but I don't even kneel when I see an official. How dare you, Jia Zhen, touch me?"

Jia Zhen was immediately hit in the sore spot. The reason why he was stripped of his title was because he was implicated in the case of Wang Ren accidentally injuring the seventh prince. Wang Ren's accidental injury to the seventh prince was also related to Jia Huan. So he became furious and shouted, "Huan Lao San, I am the clan leader. Even if you become the top scholar, I can still punish you according to the clan rules."

Jia Huan asked calmly, "Oh, I wonder which clan rule I broke?"

Jia Zhen was speechless immediately after being asked this question. After a long while, he shouted, "You... are disrespectful to your elders and the clan leader."

Jia Huan's expression turned stern, and he retorted, "Shut up, you are worthy of being the clan leader? You are worse than an animal, don't force me to bring out all the dirty things you have done and criticize you. If you still have some sense of shame, you should resign from the position of clan leader, so as not to tarnish our ancestors and bring bad influence to the Jia family. You are such a piece of trash, you are not worthy of the position, and you still want me, Jia Huan, to respect you? Dream on!"

Jia Zhen was so embarrassed by Jia Huan's scolding that his face turned red. He pointed at Jia Huan and said with a sneer: "You...you are talking nonsense. You are slandering me."

Jia She's face also felt a little hot at this time. Although Jia Huan didn't scold him, he was also an elderly and disrespectful person. He was not worthy of his position, so he was inevitably hurt by the crowd.

"Well, we are all family. How can you scold me like a shrew?" Jia She coughed lightly and scolded me like an elder: "Brother Huan, Brother Zhen is your cousin after all. Speak politely."

Jia Huan had already made a secret plan and was just waiting for the Jinyiwei to take action. The reason he came to see Jia She today was just to delay time. There was no need to break up with the two of them, otherwise it would not be worth getting beaten. So he decided to stop while he was ahead, snorted coldly, and said nothing more.

Seeing that Jia Huan was silent, Jia She was clearly giving him "face", so he said with a slightly relieved expression: "Forget it, Huan'er, you are a smart man. Tell me, what do you want in exchange for handing over the secret recipe of honeycomb coal?"

Jia Huan said calmly: "It is impossible to hand over the secret recipe, but..."

Jia She's face darkened, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said grimly: "Huan'er, my patience is limited. Don't refuse a toast and drink a forfeit. Don't think that I really can't do anything to you. I have all kinds of means to make you commit a crime."

Jia Huan's heart trembled, and he subconsciously touched the flintlock in his arms, and suddenly he felt relieved. As the saying goes, it is better to be prepared than to be caught unprepared. Although he did not want to make it to this point, Jia Huan still made preparations for both situations and carried the flintlock pistol made by Mandarin with him in case of emergency.

"Master, don't you intend to listen to me finish my story?" Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows and said lightly.

Jia She's expression changed constantly, as if he was considering something. After a moment, he snorted coldly and said, "You say!"

Jia Huan continued, "I can hand over 40% of my shares, but there is no way I can hand over the secret recipe."

Jia She remained silent. It was not that he could not accept this condition, because Jia Lian already had 30% of the shares. If Jia Huan handed over another 40%, even if he gave 10% to Jia Zhen, he would still have 60% of the shares, which meant an extra income of tens of thousands of taels of silver a year.

Seeing Jia She's silence, Jia Zhen knew that he was interested, and hurriedly said, "Master, please don't be fooled by Huan Lao San. This guy is very cunning. If he doesn't hand over the secret recipe, he will control the business."

Jia She nodded and said, "That's right, Huan'er, you can keep 20% of the shares, but you must hand over the secret recipe."

Jia Huan shook his head: "Impossible. If I hand over the secret recipe, I'm afraid I won't get even one tael of silver, let alone the 20% dividend."

Jia She snorted coldly: "Uncle, I always keep my word. Do you think Huan Ge'er doesn't trust me?"

"I really don't trust your character, old beast!" Jia Huan thought to himself, but said, "It's not that I don't trust the master, but I feel at ease when I have the secret recipe." Jia Zhen took the opportunity to say, "See, I said this kid is cunning and crafty. The master doesn't need to waste time talking to him. First, have someone tie him up, then accuse him of molesting Yanhong and trying to rape her, beat him half to death, and see if he will hand over the secret recipe!"

Yanhong is one of Jia She's concubines. His nephew raped his uncle's concubine. Tsk tsk, this vicious plot is so damn vicious. Not to mention anything else, Jia Huan will be ruined first. It is obvious that this is the ultimate trump card that Jia She and Jia Zhen had already discussed. If Jia Huan refuses to submit, they will destroy Jia Huan!
"Huan boy, you'd better think it over carefully!" Jia She stared at Jia Huan expressionlessly and threatened.

Jia Huan was furious and murderous intent flashed across his eyes. It seemed that he had overestimated the bottom line of these two beasts. They could actually use such a vicious trick!

At this moment, Jia Huan really wanted to pull out his flintlock rifle and kill these two scums, but after thinking about it, he felt it was not worth it. He had already made arrangements, and it should be effective soon. There was really no need to get himself involved at this time, so he pretended to be unwilling and said: "Master, you have a good trick. Well, I will hand over the secret recipe."

Hearing this, Jia She smiled smugly in his heart. No matter how smart and clever you are, you are still a child. How can you be a match for me? Jia Zhen even mocked him, "I thought you were so tough, but now you are scared? You won't cry until you see the coffin. If you had handed over the secret recipe earlier, everything would have been fine."

However, as soon as he said this, Wang Shanbao came running in, tumbling and crawling, and said in panic, "Master, the Jinyiwei broke in and said they want to arrest Master Zhen."

Jia She and Jia Zhen were horrified and asked almost in unison: "Why?"

Before Wang Shanbao could answer, a group of Jinyiwei in flying uniforms and holding embroidered spring swords rushed into the hall with ferocious looks and shouted, "Who is Jia Zhen?"

Jia Zhen was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he stammered, "I...what crime have I committed?"

"Hey, someone is suing you for reselling salt permits, arrest him!" The leading Jinyiwei shouted, and immediately two Jinyi captains rushed up and locked Jia Zhen with an iron chain.

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Jia Zhen was so frightened that he almost peed himself. He struggled and shouted, "It's unfair! Who sued me? Master, save me!"

Jia She was also panicked at this time. Yesterday, the noble families joined forces to "pay New Year's greetings" to the retired emperor, and the retired emperor also put pressure on the emperor. He thought that the emperor would have some reservations, but he did not expect that he would take action the next day, and the first one to attack was the Jia family.

The leader of the Jinyiwei glanced at Jia She and asked, "Who are you, sir?"

Jia She calmed down and said, "I am the first-class general Jia She."

"Jia She, capture him too!" The leader of the Jinyiwei waved his hand, and the iron chain was locked around Jia She's neck with a click.

Jia She was both shocked and angry, and shouted, "I am a general of the highest rank, how dare you do that to me!"

The Jinyiwei leader sneered disdainfully: "What's the matter with a first-class general? Prince Yizhong was captured by me personally. A first-class general is nothing!"

Jia She's legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees. He said in a trembling voice, "What crime have I committed? You can't just arrest people casually."

The captain of the Jinyiwei said in a low voice, "The charges are the same as reselling salt permits, and there is also an additional charge of robbery. A victim has accused you of robbing him of twelve priceless ancient fans. Come, search for the stolen goods!"

The Jinyiwei immediately scattered in all directions in great joy, turned the house upside down, and actually found twelve ancient fans.

"Hehe, now that we've caught them red-handed, there's no denying. Take them away!" The captain of the Jinyiwei sneered and gave an order, and Jia She and Jia Zhen were forcibly escorted out of the hall.

The captain of the Imperial Guards glanced at Jia Huan and asked, "Are you Jia Lian?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said calmly: "I am Jia Huan!"

The captain of the Imperial Guard immediately stood up in awe and said, "So it's Master Huan San, I'm Zhuge Jin, sorry for the intrusion, please come in!"

Jia Huan felt happy and walked out of the living room. He didn't expect that the Jinyiwei would arrive so timely. It was great!

Jia She and Jia Zhen were surprised and suspicious to see that the Jinyiwei were so respectful to Jia Huan. Jia She even shouted angrily, "Huan Lao San, are you doing something behind the scenes?"

"Shut up. You won't cry until you see the coffin. You don't even know what you have done. The person who reported you is your adopted son Jia Qiang!" Zhuge Jin shouted sternly.

Hehe, the debt from the King of Hell comes back quickly. Jia Zhen just mocked Jia Huan for not crying until he saw the coffin, but he was immediately retaliated against.

(End of this chapter)