After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 181
Zhou Shigong couldn't wait to run to the West Courtyard immediately to question his stepmother, Mrs. Ma, on where the money for the three bedrooms of the Zhou family had been spent over the years.Why is there only an empty shell of the huge property he should have owned? !

Could it be that everything she told him was a lie?The third family of the Zhou family has been on a downward spiral since their father passed away.Has the stepmother long ago wanted to abandon this family?That's why she tricked him into trying to gain control of the Bian Army, in an attempt to deceive the Bian Army into possessing the glass formula, and then took her confidants to the capital to seek refuge with her daughter and son-in-law? !
With the support of a powerful in-law like the Marquis of Yingchuan, and a glass formula that can continuously bring wealth, Mrs. Ma can also live a wealthy life in the capital, right?
As for his younger brother Zhou Shicheng, who is still in the northwest frontier army, with the Marquis of Yingchuan here, are you afraid that he will not be able to transfer people out of the northwest to find a future in the wealthy and comfortable place of the capital?
By then, Mrs. Ma, her mother and her son will be living comfortably in the capital, enjoying family happiness. As for the other people in the third room they left in Chang'an, who cares whether they are dead or alive? !
Zhou Shigong's face turned red and he walked out angrily, as if he was going to bring trouble to his stepmother.But as soon as he reached the entrance of the main courtyard, he stopped again, looking hesitant.

Zhou Ma stood under the eaves and looked at him in confusion: "Master? What's wrong with you?"

Zhou Shigong turned around and walked back: "I have no evidence...she won't admit it..."

Zhou Ma was anxious: "What kind of evidence do you need? I just need to ask her for her family's account books. Where did she spend her money? You can tell at a glance!"

"If the account books haven't been tampered with, you can tell at a glance." Zhou Shigong glared at his wife with hatred, "But she could lie to me, how could she not have tampered with the accounts?! If I hadn't been that day After reading the account books, I wouldn’t believe her words.”

Zhou Ma stamped his feet and said: "Master, you can't understand the accounts, come and look at it!" After a pause, he looked at Hai Xiya, "Besides, brother-in-law Hai is here too. He is a good accountant. If the account books at home are If there is a problem, it will definitely not be hidden from his eyes!”

Zhou Shigong wanted to reprimand his wife. How could the Zhou family's accounts be allowed to be inspected by outsiders?But then he remembered that his late father had asked his brother-in-law to settle the accounts.If his late father could do it, why couldn't he do it?
With this thought in mind, he looked at Haixi Ya year after year: "Brother-in-law, I will go back and get the account books for my brother. Maybe... maybe... I need your help to take a look at it..."

Haixi Ya sighed secretly.He had no intention of getting involved in the housework of the third room of the Zhou family, but thinking of the care that the old man of the third room had given him in the past, he couldn't bear to refuse, so he had no choice but to nod.

Zhou Shigong immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Since you want to check the accounts, it's better not to alert the snake for the time being. Later I will tell my mother that the glass workshop cannot be built, and I have to take stock of the family's properties to see if there is any other way to make a living. Do it." He hesitated, "When the time comes, I will ask my brother-in-law to help me tell the lie... As long as my mother can believe it."

Mr. Ma resisted the urge to roll his eyes and wanted to complain about his brother-in-law. Why didn't he just say that he wanted to ask Haixi Ya to come up with the idea of ​​​​opening the source?I still have to make excuses to cover up lies and so on...

Hai Xiya was very calm: "Brother-in-law, don't worry, I will definitely not make the old lady suspicious."

So Zhou Shigong canceled his original plan to question his stepmother and took his brother-in-law back to the main room to sit down.

This time, Zhou Ma and Ma also sat together with their husbands to discuss the next plan.Hai Jiao and Hai Tang ignored Ma's look that suggested they go out to avoid the situation, and sat quietly by the kang in the inner room, listening carefully to the conversations of the elders outside.

Zhou Shigong wanted to check the accounts and conduct a thorough investigation of all his property, but he was worried that the person responsible for managing the property had already colluded with his stepmother and would lie to him.

Zhou Ma gave him an idea: "Let's find a way to replace the housekeeper and accountant at home with the master's own people. Now the housekeeper only listens to the A family's words, and the accountant does not have the A family's warrant. Any money withdrawn from the account will be rejected. These two people must not be kept!" Zhou Shigong glared at her speechlessly: "You also know that these two people are mother's confidants. If I replace them for no reason, mother will definitely know. I have become suspicious of her. Now we must try our best to stabilize our mother, and we must not alert the snake!" What's more, he himself doesn't know whether the people around him are trustworthy, so how can he dare to entrust him with important tasks easily?

Zhou Ma shrank his neck and his eye circles turned red again.

Ma couldn't stand it: "Why is the brother-in-law angry at the eldest sister? Even the housekeeper and accountant in this house don't listen to the orders of the head of the family. Isn't it connived by the brother-in-law? The eldest sister's idea is actually reasonable. If even the stewards in important positions in the family are not loyal , Brother-in-law, why do you want to bring things back to order? Even if Mrs. Ma is trapped in the backyard, she still has the final say in this family!"

Zhou Shigong changed the topic sarcastically and somewhat uncomfortably: "The most important thing right now is to figure out another thing first. Mother suddenly came up with the idea of ​​a glass formula. I wonder if she was bewitched by others... I'm worried that she has something to do with it. My sister and brother-in-law conspired together, and may have other plans in the future... In case the Yingchuan Marquis Mansion wants to harm our Zhou family, I have to remind my cousin to prevent the Zhou family from being plotted..."

Zhou Ma was a little confused: "Huh? Although my aunt married into the Yingchuan Hou Mansion, she and her husband have always been at odds with Yingchuan Hou. At most, my aunt will build a glass workshop in the capital in the future and need to borrow Yingchuan Hou's help. I want to support the name of the government. But how can it be impossible for my aunt to help the Marquis of Yingchuan deal with my parents’ family?”

Zhou Shigong snorted coldly: "What kind of discord is that? It's just petty thoughts and squabbles between women. Marquis Yingchuan and Zeng's brother-in-law have always had a good relationship, and they have never separated, which shows that their families have a deep affection. Here! My sister has already given birth to children for the Zeng family. She has only come back once or twice for a kiss after many years of marriage. She has long been attracted to her husband’s family. Can I still expect her to go against her husband and children for the sake of her natal family? Wait until she gets the glass from her mother. For the recipe, we must work together with Marquis Yingchuan to build a workshop and seize the financial resources of the northwest frontier army. Marquis Yingchuan is a confidant of the Holy Sage. He has always disliked our Zhou family. Sooner or later, he will seize the Zhou family's military power and cut off the northwest's financial resources. However, It’s the first step!”

Hai Xiya coughed twice: "Brother-in-law, the relationship between the Holy Emperor and the Queen Mother has eased. Maybe you also heard in Chang'an that the Queen Mother took the initiative and asked the Holy Emperor to postulate his birth mother as the Holy Mother and Queen Mother..."

"I've heard about this, but so what?" Zhou Shigong disagreed. "The Holy Emperor is afraid of the Zhou family not only because of Tao Hui's pursuit of the title, but also because of the military power in the northwest. He thinks that his eldest cousin has too much prestige in the northwest. , too many northwest military generals come from the eldest cousin’s command, and he is worried that our Zhou family has a disloyal heart! In recent years, how many civilian and military generals have been sent by the imperial court to the northwest to divide the power of our Zhou family? It’s just that the people who come are not on our side. On the other hand, he was caught committing crimes and returned without success. How could the Holy One be willing to do so? At the moment, he is just trying to stabilize the Zhou family first, but in fact he is still secretly planning to find an opportunity to take away the military power of the Zhou family in one fell swoop!"

As the emperor's most capable general, Marquis Yingchuan would definitely become the emperor's vanguard in seizing power.

What Zhou Shigong said is not without any basis.His sister Zhou Shuyi sent him a letter from home not long ago, mentioning that Crown Prince Yingchuan intended to go to the northwest for training. The family was not at ease and wanted to ask Zhou Shigong to help Crown Prince Yingchuan find a safer place so that he could Learn real skills without encountering any danger.

When Zhou Shigong received his sister's request, he didn't feel anything wrong and enthusiastically helped to find out the news.Now that I think about it, it is clear that Marquis Yingchuan wants to move his eldest son to the northwest in order to seize military power in the future!

When Zhou Shigong talked about this incident, he still felt angry.But Haitang and Haijiao, who were sitting inside, immediately became alert.

(End of this chapter)